Disneyland, Take Two

On our second day in Disneyland, we got in an hour before the park opened.  Wow, was that a HUGE difference!  We got right on several of the more popular rides, without having to wait in the usual long lines. Nice!  We also got to see several characters.  

No princesses here!

 Even the treats at Disneyland are special.  Mickey cookies and chocolates were a big hit with the Beilmans!

 We met Woody!  Definitely one of the highlights. :-)

 Carter & Sean on the Finding Nemo submarine ride. This was one of the rides that I remember from 1982, when my parents took me to Disneyland! (Although it had a different name back then.)

 Donald and Dale were in the Halloween carnival area.  We even got to color pictures with Donald!

 Davis couldn't resist squeezing Dale's nose. Sorry, Dale! (Or, is that Chip?)

 Davis & I rode Dumbo!

 Yes, we paid a visit to Ride Makerz in Downtown Disney.  It never gets old for this crew.  Even Sean built his own Ride this time! It is such a fun Father/Son bonding experience for them...plus, these cars are a lot cheaper than Sean working on his real street rod!

Beach Boys

Our third day in California, we rented a car and drove to Laguna Beach.  The boys had never been to see the ocean, so this was a big deal.  It was one of my favorite days of our entire vacation because it was so relaxing.  The boys had fun playing in the sand and making new friends.  

First glimpse of the Pacific--WOW!

Let's get wet!

 Beautiful coast.  We even saw a wedding on the beach while we were there.

 Sean buried Davis in sand, just like he wanted. 

 Next, it was Carter's turn! 

 This is one of my favorites...so sweet!

We climbed the hill to Ruby's Shake Shack for lunch.  It. Was. Awesome.  Burgers, fries, and of course milkshakes!  It was seriously a perfect day.  I mean, check out this view!  

Let's Back Up...Disney Day 1

We took a morning flight and got to California after breakfast.  We were checked into our hotel (across the street from the park) and into California Adventure before lunch.  

 Davis wore his Mickey ears from Grandad & Grandma on the plane!

 The view from our hotel balcony.  Over the palm trees is Disneyland!  

 Our first stop had to be California Adventure because we were dying to go to Cars Land.

 Welcome to Radiator Springs.  It was seriously amazing how cool this place was.  It was like you were walking into the movie Cars.  Disney does magic very well.

 Sean was on cloud nine. :-)

 The Cozy Cone Motel!  And Mater!!!

 Then later, we met Lightening McQueen!  I mean, how cool is that?!

 We did a lot of carrying and stroller pushing.  Those little legs get tired quickly.  Mom & Dad were exhausted at the end of each day from all the walking.  We had a lot to see!

 The dance party in Cars Land was hilarious.  Both boys had some sweet dance moves, but Carter had several fans by the end of the party.  ;-)

 Davis thought the giant Mickey ferris wheel was pretty cool!

 We loved the 3D Toy Story ride.

 The Pixar Parade was so fun!  Great first day!

Happy Magical Birthday

We planned & saved for a year and took the boys to Disneyland to celebrate Carter's 6th Birthday!  It was such a wonderful trip.  Sean and I definitely had just as much (if not more) fun than the boys did.  We told Carter a week before that we were going to see Mickey instead of having a birthday party this year.  He was fine with that!

Carter woke up to birthday gifts from Mickey!

 Disney has people taking photos at all of their major photo op spots, so we got several family pics!  This was just after we got into Disneyland on Oct. 11.  We stopped at City Hall for a special birthday button for Carter.  He got several "Happy Birthday" wishes from strangers throughout the day.  So cool!

 We watched a Star Wars show & even got to see Darth Vader (coming out of the fog here)!

 And see all of the original Iron Man costumes from the movie!  Sean loved this one...

 Yes, we did wait in line for an hour BUT we got to meet Mickey!!!!!!!

 The birthday boy on the Teacups.

 I love these two stinkers!  So glad we rode the Teacups when we did--they were closed for refurbishment the rest of our trip.

 Carter and Davis built their own Light Sabers with their Disney Dollars.

 We ended the big day with dinner in Downtown Disney, but both boys fell asleep before we could finish eating, so it was a very anticlimactic cab ride back to the hotel for us.  BUT, what a birthday to remember!

Thirty-One Consultant?!

How did that happen?!  Yep, I just added another title to my resume: Thirty-One Consultant.  If you've never heard of "Thirty-One", it is a Christian-based company that sells high-quality, cute, functional bags and home organizing products at a reasonable price.  They sell only through direct sales (Think Mary Kay or Pampered Chef) at home parties and catalog parties.

I honestly never set out to sell these products...I mean, who has time for that?  My neighbor sells Thirty-One and hosted a big party at my house last month.  It was a ton of fun and I absolutely love the products, especially the fact that I got so many of them for FREE!  You know I love free. :-)

After the success of the party, my neighbor encouraged me to consider being a consultant and I gave it a lot of thought.  I mean, I hate pushy salespeople and I didn't want to be pounding the pavement trying to sell this stuff.  Then it dawned on me.  What I love about my job as a nurse is that I get to work with other women/moms and socialize, support and encourage them.  I think I will get the same thing out of Thirty-One.

Honestly, I don't know how this is going to go, but I am excited about it and truly think these products are great...I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe that.  My goal is to have a ton of fun with it and introduce other women to things that could help them make life a little easier.  If you are interested in learning more, you can check out my Thirty-One webpage.

Thanks so much!  I'll keep you posted!