Dennie Kids: March 6, 2009

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)

• Reagan spending the night with Nonna and Pops
• Anderson waking up feeling much better-he asked about "my rea rea" once but never seemed to notice she was gone this morning
• Graham sleeping until after 9
• Mom having to sit on Anderson with his head between her knees but he took his medicine!
• The boys going shopping to Target and Kohls with Mom-she scored some good deals
• Reagan coming back home with Nonna
  
• Nonna bringing lunch and Anderson had a few chicken nuggets-more than he had eaten in a day or two
• Afternoon naps for all the kids while Mom walked on the treadmill
• Reagan and Mom playing Boggle and Go Fish until Graham and Anderson woke up at 5
• Running a few errands with Dad
• Riding bikes until bedtime-we didn't want to go to bed!
  

Dennie Kids: March 5, 2009

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)

• Back to the real world today - Graham waking up 6:30 and Dad having to wake Reagan and Anderson up (only on school days!)
• Anderson woke up with a fever so he got to skip school today
• Dad taking Reagan to school where we made a duck puppet as we worked on the letter "P" and we got to go outside and play
• Anderson and Graham hanging out with Nonna & Pops. Anderson even got to go to the grocery store for a long time
• Mom picking Anderson and Graham and heading to the doctor. We got to see Dr. Bynum today. Dad and Reagan joined us while we waited for the doctor. Turns out the fever was a symptom of two major ear infections for Anderson. Graham just has a cold and the doctor said Reagan was in great shape
• Anderson & Graham took a nap while Reagan and Mom made brownies for tonight's class meeting
• Dad & Reagan running to Burger King real quick while Mom did some laundry
• Reagan going to Nonna & Pops while Mom was at class meeting while the boys stayed home with Dad
• Anderson decided he did not want to take his medicine and tried every bit of Dad's patience for an hour & half. After much negotiating, tears and finally being worn down - Anderson took his medicine and then got to get every toy out he possibly could

March 4, 2009 - California

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)
We woke up this morning with Anderson stirring. After getting his pants wet, he demanded to put on his shoes and socks. So he tossed and turned in bed for the next hour or so wearing his pajama top, shoes and socks. The phone rang soon after-the airline! Our flight was delayed so we would miss our connection. They had rebooked us so we would get home at 10 instead of 6. After breakfast we loaded up to fight the LA traffic and get to the airport. Since our Randy's Donuts was on the way, we decided that we would take one more try at finding it (see Sunday's post). Well, our GPS was right on the money this morning and we drove right to it. Anderson, who said "eat donuts?" for hours after not finding in the other day, was the first to find it today. Reagan was so excited and kept thanking Anderson for finding the donut place. Mom had her picture made and Dad bought everyone a donut. Dropping off the van at the rental car place was easy and we hopped on the bus and were quickly at the airport. We were actually surprised at how short our wait in the security line was. We had a little time at LAX before heading the Denver. Flying over the mountains near Denver was the roughest plane ride we had ever been on. Reagan didn't seem to notice and the boys had slept the entire time. At Denver, we walked across the whole B concourse-seriously, we walked for over 20 minutes to get from one gate to the other. Fortunatley, James caught a cart and beat us there. After a snack and a little downtime, we were back in the air to Little Rock. The boys went back to sleep on this plane ride and Reagan and Mom read books. When we get on the planes, Anderson finds his seat and then puts his backpack under the seat in front of him. The Dennie kids are seasoned travelers. One time Dad asked Reagan what had favorite part of Disneyland was and she grinned from ear to ear and exclaimed "the escalator." The off-duty pilot infront of Robby laughed out loud and then told the guy in the seat next to him! Yes, our kids would enjoy the mall as much as anything else. But Mom and Dad are making lots of memories! Jason was there ready to pick us up and the kids were all in bed by 11ish. Mom and Dad had a little bit of unpacking and blogging to do before bed.

March 3, 2009 - California

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)

The kids started coughing around 6 this morning. We told them they could get in bed with us-Reagan did, Anderson did too and then promptly got out. He didn't think there was enough room! We got ready and headed to breakfast after waking Graham up-he was tired after drinking 2 bottles in the middle of the night!

It was only a short trip to Disneyland from our hotel. Robby dropped everyone off and went to park the car. He was able to park about half of a mile away and walked back since that was probably quicker than taking the tram. We all walked to the entrance gates and claimed our spot near the first of the line. The park didn't open until 10 but we were let in the gate around 9:45. James rented a scooter and we met up with everyone at the Dumbo ride. We had copied a Disneyland plan from a book and the plan was titled "Dumbo do or die in a day." On the way to Dumbo, we ran into Mickey Mouse and had Reagan and Anderson's picture with him. Anderson said Dumbo was his favorite ride and it was also Graham's first Dumbo ride and he enjoyed it very much.

Afterwards, we rode Peter Pan's Flight and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. We needed a carousel break next. Graham rode with Mom on the carousel. He loved the rides and would just stare at everything. On one ride, he was even leaning backwards to see more stuff. Snow White's Scary Adventure and then Pinocchio were next. As, I mentioned James had his scooter so we were able to hop to the front of the lines. However, the park was not crazy crowded today so we lucked out. After a little walk, we rode the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It was pretty cool and almost put Anderson asleep. We headed back Fantasyland to ride Alice in Wonderland and It's a Small World. Small World had just been redone and contained some Disney characters which was neat to see.

We next went down the hill to Mickey's Toontown to ride Gadget's Go Coaster. This was Reagan's favorite ride. Anderson just keeps the same expression throughout any of the rides. He enjoyed it too and didn't seem as scared as at Disney World. After the coaster, we walked through Mickey's House and Chip and Dales treehouse. Afterwards, we had lunch in Toontown. We boarded the Disneyland Railroad and traveled to New Orleans Square.

We all rode Pirates of the Caribbean which had two decent sized drops-pretty good little drops when you are trying to hold a baby in your arms. Haunted Mansion was up next. The kids don't seem too spooked by any of these rides. After Haunted Mansion we rode Winnie the Pooh and walked along the Rivers of America. We took pictures in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Her castle was not as ornate or large as Cinderella's castle. Reagan even noticed and said "it's small." Dad told her that real estate was more expensive here in California.

Next we walked to Tomorrow Land and rode Buzz Lightyear. After Buzz, the Monorail was next. It is sleeker and red but seemed smaller and more crowded that the DW monorail. We then rode Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin and finished the evening off with the Go Coaster again.

We did most everything we wanted, there were a few rides we missed out on. As we left the park, Reagan saw the Astro Orbitors and said "Daddy, there is a little kid ride that we forgot to do"-so her Dad told her we would come back. And we will since we were very impressed with Disneyland. Also, when we were on the train we stopped at one stop, Anderson saw the Autotopia cars and said "me off, ride those." It was a whirlwind day-we rode 17 rides and were at the parks for nine hours with 3 kids. They did great, well, as good as a baby, 2 and 3 year old can do.

After picking up a Christmas tree ornament and James dropping off the scooter, Robby picked us back up. Needless to say, we were all tired on the drive home. So tired that Anderson and Reagan fell asleep on the way home. Reagan woke up to eat some supper and drink some milk but Anderson never woke back up tonight. Graham had taken a few naps at the parks and was ready to play tonight but went to sleep pretty quick after helping Mom and Dad pack up a few things. Our flight is in the morning, and we plan on trying to find us some donuts on the way to the airport.

March 2, 2009-California

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)
The night seemed to fly by but we all woke very well rested. After another breakfast at the hotel-cinnamon rolls for everyone-we loaded up and headed out to Joshua Tree National Park. The morning traffic wasn't too crazy and we were able to use the HOV lane so we made it to Palm Springs with just one bathroom stop. The drive to Palm Springs was beautiful. In some areas there were hundreds of wind turbines which were quite different to see. We drove the strip in Palm Springs and walked through the visitor's center. Afterward, we walked along a trail leading to their welcome sign. Reagan really gets into taking pictures and Anderson tries hard but his "cheese" only lasts about 2 seconds and then he is distracted.

We soon needed another bathroom stop and a milkshake. Reagan and Anderson split a sundae and the rest of us had milkshakes-Graham just glared at us as we ate. He wanted one too. After a short nap by Tara and the kids, we had made it to the Oasis Visitor center at Joshua Tree National Park. We browsed the gift shop and headed for the park loop. The Joshua trees were quite interesting to look at and the rock formations were unique. We decided to stop at the Hidden Valley trail. It was a 1-mile hike and started off. We almost made it 1/2 way at the trail became more rocky so we turned around. Reagan and Anderson enjoyed hiding behind the big rocks and Graham just enjoyed riding in the front carrier. The weather was just great too-cooler than yesterday. After driving out of the park, we needed a little snack and grabbed a bite to eat.

The drive back was much quicker even though the traffic was a little heavier. We drove around the Crystal Cathedral and even saw their "In-Car Worship Area"-which we think is a pretty good idea! We may actually start doing that at home. It was still early but we have covered this town fairly well and the kids needed to get out of the car for a little bit. After washing some clothes and a snack, we are going to head to bed.

March 1, 2009-California

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)
After going to bed around 2 (Little Rock time), we slept pretty well. Reagan woke up once screaming about a spider, Anderson bumped into the nightstand a few times but never woke up and Graham needed a bottle sometime in the middle of the night. Still, we were all up and at 'em before 7 and headed to breakfast shortly. The breakfast was good and the kids ate like they hadn't eaten in days-omelets, sausage, juice and cinnamon rolls. Graham even finished his cereal in no time.

We were on the road around 8:30 and drove to Disneyland to buy our tickets for Tuesday. After circling the park and accidentally driving into the parking garage, we finally found the spot to buy the tickets. Rob and Virginia quickly hopped out and while we hung out in the van and watched the monorail drive by-it was red. We found Watt's Towers next. It was an interesting stop to say the least. The Dennie's had seen it on Jeopardy and it even made it into our book. We can say that we have been there!

Next stop was supposed to be Randy's Donuts. The GPS programmer had put in Randy Donuts instead so we were 5 miles away. But Rob found the address and we headed there next-to find a Jack in the Box. It just wasn't meant for us to eat donuts today. We will do a little research and hopefully can find it the next time we are in L.A. Our day was much smoother as we headed to the Hollywood sign. We drove to our viewing spot high in the Hollywood hills (it is a great spot that we found in a book and have now been there 3 times). The kids enjoyed posing by the sign before driving back down the hill for lunch at Pink's Hot Dogs. The line was long but moved fairly quickly. Tara had the Martha Stewart dog and Robby had the Super Strech Chili Cheese Dog.

We needed a good walk after our lunch and walked around the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We passed the Kodak and the Chinese theaters. Reagan was so excited to get to put her hands in the star and was a little disappointed when she didn't get to make her handprint. Anderson saw a Spiderman and gave him a high five-we didn't take a picture since we would have to pay! After our walk, we needed some ice cream so we stopped at the Cold Stone Creamery. On the way back to the parking deck, Reagan and Anderson got to ride the escalator a few times. And this is what they said was their favorite part of the day!

We had fought traffic all day but there seemed to be alot on our way to Griffith Park. Our plan was to stop at the pony rides and railroad part but the lines looked crazy so we just headed straight to the carousel. It was a good stop and the kids loved the fast carousel. Virginia was holding Graham and he just jumped and jumped while listening to the music. After the carousel we then drove awhile to get to Huntington Beach. They were having their kite festival. We arrived at sunset and there were only a few kites left in the sky. We walked along the beach and chased the water. It had been hot earlier in the day but now was quite cool.

We needed another nutritious supper and decided to stop at In and Out Burger before calling it a night. The hamburgers there were great so our tummy were full as we headed to the hotel. Graham got a bath in our room and Reagan and Anderson took a bath in Virginia's room. After they played for awhile, we turned off the lights and gave everyone their milk. No one is asleep yet-but hopefully we will sleep as well as we did last night.

February 28, 2009-California

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)
We started our Saturday morning off fairly lazily. We took Graham's 7 month pictures and video (since he won't turn 7 months because there is no February 29). Reagan and Anderson rode their bikes around the house, had mostly cheese to eat all morning, had baths along with Graham. And all the kids took an early nap-Graham even had two.

Jason picked us up to head to the airport around 1. We loaded up and Reagan questioned Mom the whole way if we were going the right way to the airport (she didn't want to miss our plane). The Dennie's were unloading as we pulled up. We dropped off our one bag, made it through security and boarded our plane in no time at all. The flight to Denver was 2.5 hours. Reagan spent most of her time coloring and writing with Grannymom, Dad and Anderson played play-doh and Mom, Graham and Grandpa slept! The flight was smooth and we landed early. In Denver, we had quite a walk to our next gate so James caught a ride. After a layover and supper, we were back in the sky. This next plane was the largest one the kids had been on (767-300) and I don't even know if they realized there were flying since they were in the middle section. Everyone was great again and Graham stayed awake this whole flight. We landed around 10 our time and found our luggage and our rental van (exactly like ours but no movie). We had about a 30 minute drive to our hotel near Knotts Berry Farm. After a stop at Walgreens, we pulled into our Holiday Inn Express. The kids had baths and everyone has found a spot to sleep-Graham in the bathtub, Reagan on the floor beside Mom and Anderson is laying on the floor beside Dad's side of the bed (no pack'n'plays here-but he fell right asleep-maybe since it is 1 our time now).