March 2017- The Funnest Month

We finally saw some sunshine this month and it was just in time. The month began with celebrations of my birth and continued all month long. My favorite part was eating Etheopian food with our family/friends the Barbers and the Bohmans.
Every time the clouds parted and the sunshine shone, Otto and I would throw open the garage door and bring out the toys to play in the backyard and driveway. We took advantage of every vitamin D soaked ray with walks, playing at the park, and digging in the sand at the volleyball court. I am still very skeptical of walks around the lake as it still gets a bit chilly in the wind.
I have been making the  most of our time starting each day at a nearby church where a group of women go to work out together. We do weights and cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Zumba on Wednesdays and Fridays (my favorite). One hour each time has me working pretty hard and I hope gets me swim suit ready for Summer. The most amazing thing about these workouts is that we are moms of children of all ages that come to play while we are exercising. We are tough enough to push ourselves, sweaty and strong, while toddlers cry, babes on our hips, and balls are thrown past our heads. I love it!

We had some family fun activities. We took Otto bowling for the first time. As expected, he tried to run down the lane first thing and fell flat on his back in tears. After explaining to him how the game was supposed to work, he had a great time.
Needless to say, I kept the bumpers up for myself too.




Otto and I hosted another Story Time with Dr. Seuss theme on St. Patrick's day. We may have only had one visitor, but we had a great time playing with salt dough.










We had to get ourselves ready for our much-anticipated trip to Disney, so I got my hair done up in rainbow roots! It is the most amazing thing I've ever done to my hair. I only wish it lasted forever. It took 6 hours and had 5 different colors.

My art students finished up their last projects. I know they all enjoyed learning and I hope they continue to practice their skills. I had a great time being their teacher and I hope I privileged enough to have art students again someday. I was so proud and amazed at their abilities as we progressed 12 weeks.




The best part of this month was DISNEYLAND!

The happiest place on Earth is the truth. We had an amazing time with Chris, Jena, and Jordis Barber. The first day, we were in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. We went straight to the Peter Pan ride first thing and told Otto we were going to go flying! We rode the rockets and the Buzz Lightyear ride where we let Otto do the spinner while we were shooting. We got very dizzy and didn't score very high.
We ate at the Rose Tavern for lunch, which had a long line thanks to the release of the infamous ROSE CUP that came out that day. We had the grey stuff, and it was absolutely to-die-for delicious. Later, I got in line at Maurice's Treats for their Boysenberry Apple Freeze drink. I waited 1.5 hours because the rose cups were a limited edition. So, of course, I bought one while I was at it.
We ate fried chicken at The Plaza Inn as the sun went down and we were exhausted!


The second day was spent at California Adventure. We ran to the toy story ride first thing while Matt and Chris got fast passes. We were done with all the best rides by lunchtime! We enjoyed lunch at Carthay Circle restaurant for a fancy dining.
My favorite ride there is always the Little Mermaid and Otto and enjoyed it too. We loved the Frozen show and all the little rides at the Bugsland. Otto's favorite place (no surprise) was Carsland. He met Tow Mater in the tin! He told him, "I love your movie!".  He rode the tractors and Luigi's tires a few times.
We ate dinner at the Pacific Wharf Cafe and had the most amazing bread bowl. I go to Disney as much for the food as anything else.
The third day, we did Disneyland again and hit up Critter Country first thing. We could have rode Splash Mountain over and over if we wanted, no one else was there. We didn't, but we did go to the Mint Julep and get Mickey Begnets for breakfast that were still hot and delicious. Matt and Jena got Jolly Roger juice drink that was so fruity and perfection. We rode the Haunted Mansion right after. I thought Otto would get scared, especially since the ride stopped just as we sat in the graveyard and watched a ghost pop out in front of us over and over. However, he understood it was just for fun and not real so he had a great time.
We went to Toon Town, Otto rode his first roller coaster, and saw the Micky Mouse and the Magic Map show.

We ate lunch at the Golden Horseshoe and Matt and Otto went back to the room for a nap. The Barbers and I rode a bunch of the rides that Matt and Otto didn't like or couldn't ride. We met at The Jolly Holiday for a dinner of crispy grilled cheese and tomato bisque.
The fourth day we went to explore an area of Anaheim at the Meat Packing District with some unique and delicious dining experiences. We went shopping at Downtown Disney, watched live music, and had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen to finish off a great vacation.
We were exhausted, well fed, and aching from head to toe. I would do it all over again.