We decided to use our hard-earned frequent flyer miles (from all our medical trips to Philly) to go to Disneyland! We had a great trip. Here are some of the highlights:
Both Nolan and Nicole thought Sleeping Beauty's castle was pretty cool...just like the pictures! Nicole especially loved how it was lit up and "purplish-pinkish" at night.
All three kids loved the Buzz Lightyear ride. Sydney couldn't decide what to look at...so many bright and colorful things everywhere...she kept whipping her head from side to side trying to take it all in. 
The USS Mark Twain. The kids thought it was cool enough...but somehow I remembered it being a lot more fun when I was little :) All I noticed this time was the overwhelming smell of exhaust.
Nolan and Kevin on Splash Mountain...Kevin is in the red shirt in the middle, Nolan is in light blue right behind him. This was one of Nolan's top two rides, along with Space Mountain.
Nicole with her favorite princess! What a lucky girl to meet Snow White twice in a year! "Snow," as Nicole calls her, noticed that her autograph was already in Nicole's book and said in her perfect princess voice, "Oh, I see that we've met before!" I said, "On the Disney Cruise last year..." and Snow said, "Yes, of course, I remember you!" Nicole just smiled and nodded.
Syney and I had to get in on the Princess fun :) While we girls were meeting Snow White, Nolan was down the street meeting Mr. Incredible. Too bad Kevin didn't think to get a stinkin' picture!!! No bitterness there, really. None.
Two spoiled-rotten kids! 
Sydney with either Chip or Dale (Nolan can somehow tell the difference but he's not here to ask right now). She thought he was pretty funny.
And Chip (or Dale) thought this was pretty funny...Sydney the Bandit.The 2nd night we decided to finish off with a bang, so we splurged and bought dinner at Woody's BBQ. All you can eat ribs and chicken and a chance to meet Woody and his gang. It was yummy food and lots of fun!
There was also a live show going on during dinner...they asked if any kids out there knew how to yodel, and Nicole, whose Mom randomly taught her how to yodel just a few weeks ago, jumped out of her seat and was up on stage before we even knew what was going on.
Sydney and Woody were flirting with each other. She was actually laughing out loud at him!
Nicole and her "Corn Castle". Yeah, she likes corn.
Goodbye Disneyland! We had two perfect days at the Happiest Place on Earth. You can barely see the Mickey plant landscape in the back.
We decided to head south to Legoland the next day. The kids had fun, but Kevin and I thought it was a rip-off and dumb. Just for the record. This is our one and only picture of all of us from the whole trip! I hate it when I realize things like that AFTER we get home!
Nolan and a giant Bionicle at Legoland. He told me he was pretending to run away.
Nicole and her favorite Star Wars character, "tootie tootie". She called him that when she was really little, and now it's what we all call him.
For our final three days we headed to Kevin's aunt Betty's house, planning to swim the whole time. However, the weather was cool and the pool water was FREEZING! Here are the kids as they attemped to swim. They lasted about 3 minutes. Bummer deal, huh?
We found other things to do besides swimming...flying helicopters with Uncle Lonny...
...going to lunch with family, shopping at IKEA, going to the movie "Up", eating TONS of fresh California fruit (the strawberries were to die for), etc. We still had a great time.
A few hours before our flight home we headed to Newport Beach, hoping for decent enough weather to just stick our feet in. But...the sun came out so we stopped to buy a couple towels and sand toys and suited up the kids! They played for a couple hours and didn't want to leave! It was a great way to end our fun week.
There was also a live show going on during dinner...they asked if any kids out there knew how to yodel, and Nicole, whose Mom randomly taught her how to yodel just a few weeks ago, jumped out of her seat and was up on stage before we even knew what was going on.
Sydney and Woody were flirting with each other. She was actually laughing out loud at him!
Nicole and her "Corn Castle". Yeah, she likes corn.
Goodbye Disneyland! We had two perfect days at the Happiest Place on Earth. You can barely see the Mickey plant landscape in the back.
We decided to head south to Legoland the next day. The kids had fun, but Kevin and I thought it was a rip-off and dumb. Just for the record. This is our one and only picture of all of us from the whole trip! I hate it when I realize things like that AFTER we get home!
Nolan and a giant Bionicle at Legoland. He told me he was pretending to run away.
Nicole and her favorite Star Wars character, "tootie tootie". She called him that when she was really little, and now it's what we all call him.
For our final three days we headed to Kevin's aunt Betty's house, planning to swim the whole time. However, the weather was cool and the pool water was FREEZING! Here are the kids as they attemped to swim. They lasted about 3 minutes. Bummer deal, huh?
We found other things to do besides swimming...flying helicopters with Uncle Lonny...
...going to lunch with family, shopping at IKEA, going to the movie "Up", eating TONS of fresh California fruit (the strawberries were to die for), etc. We still had a great time.
A few hours before our flight home we headed to Newport Beach, hoping for decent enough weather to just stick our feet in. But...the sun came out so we stopped to buy a couple towels and sand toys and suited up the kids! They played for a couple hours and didn't want to leave! It was a great way to end our fun week.
This is her 2nd time trying the super saucer. She still has yet to touch any of the fun gadgets, but she loves looking at them!
Today we woke up to 1 degree weather, so we thought it was a perfect day for nice, cozy HOODIES!
Well, Santa Claus didn't disappoint this year. Nolan got a Nintendo DS (which we somehow didn't get a picture of him opening...but here he is opening a new solar-system pillowcase to match his bedroom).
And Nicole got a new dollhouse!
Peekaboo Nikki!
After Christmas we spent a week in Utah and then a few days up at our family cabin. The kids had a great time playing in the snow for hours at a time.
