San Antonio

Sam had some vacation time to burn, so we made a last minute trip to San Antonio. We stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country 2 nights and spent 2 half days at Sea World. My favorite part of Sea World was feeding the dolphins, but Grace was afraid that they would bite our fingers. Madeline enjoyed throwing the fish to them, but I think she would have been more excited feeding farm animals.

Feeding sea lions and harbor seals...

Feeding lorkeets...Madeline wasn't afraid, but got aggravated when the birds kept trying to get in the stroller. Grace finally worked up the courage to feed a special bird named Brucie, who looked rehabilitated.

The girls enjoyed the dolphin/beluga show, but at the end of the orca show, Grace began to cry when she realized we weren't in the splash zone.

The weather was perfect and there were no crowds at the hotel so we had a great time each afternoon and evening swimming and tubing the lazy river there. The girls especially liked the beach area there, where Grace could swim and Madeline could play in the sand. Charlotte took a little nap in the shade.

A big dinner and evening swim was not a good combination for Grace's stomach, but bouncing back as kids do, wanted smores at the fire pit just 5 minutes after throwing up. It seemed nothing could spoil such a great weekend.

Song for sister

Charlotte was not wanting to take her nap today because of all the noise in the living room, so I asked Grace and Madeline to give me 5 quiet minutes to put Charlotte to sleep. When I left Charlotte sleeping in her room a few minutes later, I found them in their little tent in Grace's room. Grace was singing sweet made-up songs to Madeline, who was quietly laying beside her.

Grace's fish

We took the girls to a close neighborhood pond to try to catch a big bass we had seen earlier. Grace got frustrated with Sam's fishing technique, took her princess pole and walked down the bank away from us. She casted her hook out as far as she could, sat down, and told me, "What you have to do is be patient." I returned to where Sam was and while we finished our conversation, Grace said "I got a fish." Sam said, "Great job, honey!" and I gave her 2 thumbs up...we thought it was so cute how she was pretending.

When Grace started reeling in, the bass she HAD hooked jumped out of the water. Of course we then ran to her laughing. She sure showed us.

Bowling

Since we had our 5th snowstorm this winter, we thought bowling would work off some indoor energy. Madeline's ball doesn't get halfway down the lane before she starts asking for another. Grace is all about doing it herself and showing off her form, and for both, it's all about the high fives.

Grace turns 4

Grace was fortunate to have a drawn-out birthday celebration this year. She dressed up and ate lunch with princesses in Disneyland on her actual birthday, where she had the first of 3 cakes.

She got a call from Goofy, wishing her a happy birthday.

After a great dinner with family, she had ice cream and beignets.

Finally, after we came home, we had a small celebration with her weekly art group friends.

Disneyland

We were due for a Disney trip, so we took advantage of the perfect weather right before the crowds and higher prices of spring break...it also coincided with Grace's 4th birthday!

Sam and I set out clues around our home as a scavenger hunt for Madeline and Grace to tell them about our coming trip to Disneyland. Despite a little hiccup when our dog, Gus, ate one of the clues...it went well and we enjoyed watching the girls run around and get excited for our trip! This was Charlotte's first time to fly, and she did wonderful! Except when we were in our hotel room for baths and sleep, Charlotte was almost always in the carrier on my chest...which she still expects after coming home.

Lovie was able to be with us for the fun. We're always grateful for her extra love...and help. The 1:1 adult/child ratio was great! We stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel at the park, which made it so easy to get into the park and go back to the room whenever we needed to (like for a nap attempt or when Grace sits down in water and wants a pair of dry shorts).

On Grace's actual birthday, we had a character lunch at Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure. The girls met and took pictures with all the princesses...so of course they got to dress up like one.

Papa, along with Zaza (Aunt Lisa) and Nana (Aunt Jeannie) joined us for Grace's birthday dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. After we ate, we walked around and the girls danced for an hour in front of a street musician.

Grace was just tall enough to ride many of the big kid and adult rides. She went on her first mini roller coaster and loved it. She was very patient in the lines (thankfully we didn't have many) and loved everything we went on.

Since Madeline doesn't even like the swing at the park, I expected her not to like the rides...I was very wrong. They could not go high or fast enough, and they were always too short. Each time a ride would end, she would ask and sign for more then start crying when she had to get off. The only temper tantrums we had on the trip was pulling a kicking and screaming Madeline off each ride that had ended. She could never get enough!

My sister and brother-in-law, Audrey and Noah, and their sweet Abel joined us on our last day. It's so nice for the girls to be around a cousin! Each of my girls are apparently too stubborn to give it up and take a nap in the stroller, but Abel knew when he had enough stimulation and got a quick nap...which is what all the adults wanted by then.

It was interesting to watch how Madeline and Grace each acted around the characters they met. Madeline went right to the characters like Pluto, Chip and Dale, Mickey, etc..laughing, giving them hugs and high fives, while Grace was very reserved. But when Jasmine or Cinderella were in sight, Grace lit up while Madeline acted shy.

Visit from Tia

My sister, Erin, came to visit us last weekend, which ended up being way too short. She spent the entire weekend with at least one little girl in her arms. We all had so much for with Tia...we miss you!!!