Disneyland 2009: Take 1

I know what you're thinking...Disneyland again? WE LOVE IT! And by WE, I mean all of us, not just Chase. We decided to make Disneyland our vacation spot for the year because we could get "cheap" tickets through Greg's brother in Southern CA...or so we thought. We should have known this was not going to be a bargain trip when we started off our first day paying DOUBLE for our shuttle bus pass. (Greg claims technical problems at the machine...technical or operator?) Anyway, then we meet his brother at the gate and they won't let him buy the Southern CA pass for us. We didn't work it right, and by then we were just wanting to get in and play. Long story, short: we are now full-fledged annual pass holders and will be spending a few more long weekends at Disneyland to make it worth our money! It was a standing joke for the rest of the trip that we might as well pay double for everything...why change now?
We started off with Chase's favorite rides from last time: Dumbo, tea cups, it's a small world. There were absolutely NO LINES. It was awesome. It was also a Tuesday in February and a little chilly. We had gone on four rides in seriously less than an hour.
I guess a lot can change in a year, because Chase's new favorite ride is officially the race cars. You can just barely see him hanging out the side of this one. He had to ride with daddy every time (go figure) and said he was taking daddy and Pluto on a dew run in the car.
Pluto went on every ride with Chase. The poor dog was carried all over Disneyland and California Adventure. The nice part was that Pluto's blanky has handles so Chase could wear Pluto almost like a purse and not drop him all of the time. Maybe that's one favorite that will never change. I had tears in my eyes watching Chase hug Pluto on our last day. It made his whole trip, and mine too.

Wannabe Runner

I've always been impressed by all of you runners out there that can just lace up your shoes, head out the door, enjoy the weather, and get a workout at the same time. So, I finally decided that Gold's Gym stinks...I'm not nearly enough of a musclehead to work out on their weights by myself every morning...and their group-x classes are now often fee-based...and cancel my membership. I decided that I'm just going to be a runner and get my cardio that way. The first couple of days I'm sucking wind before I even hit the corner. After a few days I feel AWESOME to be able to run all the way to the bike trail/greenbelt (less than 1/2 a mile). Then, a couple of days later I feel a little discomfort in my left ankle when I walk. Luckily for me, the flu hits and I'm off of my ankle for a week. Try again this Wednesday. WOW! I must really run retarded because my ankle has been killing me ever since. I probably should have stayed off of it yesterday, but decided to stand on it for two hours at the park, run to the grocery store, and also the library! I'm not very good at sitting still.

Anyway, long story short: I've got to stay off of it until we go to Disneyland next week or I'll never survive the happiest place on earth for three days. I'm feeling like a huge, lazy, blob. Does anyone have an exercise DVD that they absolutely love? I like anything from step to cardio kick-boxing to pilates. I just don't want to buy one that looks good and have it turn out to be lame. I'm sorry, but the background music on the Total Body Workout on the BYU channel does not do it for me. OK workout, happy people that don't sweat, boring music.... Help!

Handy Helper & Gym Class

I guess it's a good thing when your three-year old wants to do EVERYTHING you do. Of course, I think it's darling when Chase pulls out his tool box to help Daddy attempt to fix the washer...at the same time I KNOW it takes ten times as long to do anything with him right at your feet (that's where he usually is...but under me, not Greg!).

Chase has always wanted to go to the gym like Mommy & Daddy too. (At least maybe that's one GOOD habit he's seen?!) So, I signed him up for his first "gym" class. It is a Tot Gymnastics class and he is one of about 3 boys and 23 girls. Great odds! It's nice to see that we named him properly (he has a tendency to run away occasionally), that he doesn't really listen to directions from anyone (not just me), and that he's adorable, curious, and energetic no matter what!

We are counting down the days until our next Disneyland trip. I don't know who is more excited out of the three of us. Greg is helping Chase put a Mickey sticker on each day of the week until we go...only one week left! Chase wakes up each morning saying "weekend", "go to Disneyland", and "pack my backpack". We probably should have waited longer to tell him we're going. We couldn't help ourselves!