Back to School

Mommy: Zach, let's get you dressed so we can go meet Cody at the park.
Zachary: Will Luca be there too?
Mommy: Nope, Luca's at school today.
Zachary: Will Karoline be there?
Mommy: Nope.
Zachary: Oh, is she stuck going to school too?

Bye Bye Baby Signs

As Mackenzie starts to speak, we are bidding a fond farewell to baby signing. We still use it in conjunction with speaking . . . but it will naturally fade away as we aren't the type to press on with it. I will ALWAYS be glad we did it though! I think our kids are advanced verbally because of it and on a instant gratification level, as I watch moms in the moms club or at the park struggle to communicate with their little ones, I have been thankful mine could communicate with me their basic needs & thoughts.

In order of appearance, here are Mackenzie's first baby signs:
kitty
hello / bye bye
all done
more
doggy
bird
food
bunny
tubby
thank you
mouse
daddy
book
hot
milk
water
monkey
fish
sleep / night night
shoes
help
banana
train
pig
baby

And since I stopped paying attention to the order in which she started using them, Kenzie has learned how to sign horse, cow, moon, sun, light, up & down, socks, car, music, friend, elephant, giraffe, play, alligator, bear . . . and probably a handful more that I am forgetting.

My favorite: I love you!

Weekend of Champions

If there was a vote, I think this weekend might just rank up there in my top 10 weekends ever! We managed to fit so much in, have a wonderful time with a lot of different, wonderful friends and have everything go as smoothly as it possibly could!

We started our weekend a little early. Kenzie, Zachary & I drove out to Disneyland on Friday to meet up with Mateo, Karoline & Luca. Mateo's birthday is Monday so we made a special trip! We only stayed for about half the day (but the Rendon's stayed till late) . . . but we squeezed so much into the EMPTY park day!


We arrived about 30 minutes after the park opened and yet got to park outside on the ground level in the 1st row!!! The park was all ours and we rocked it! Teo & I went on Space Mountain 1st (that was his birthday wish and who am I to deny him?). I felt a little bad that Karoline had to stay with all of the kids . . . but Teo didn't want to go alone. So off we went. I've been wanting to go on Space Mountain ever since they redid it . . . but the line is always too long. This time we just walked on!!!

Then we headed over to Fantasyland to do some of the kid things. Luca wanted to go on Peter Pan, but Zachary adamantly refused. But when I went to sit out with my kids, Kenzie threw a fit because she WANTED to go on Peter Pan. The little girl who hasn't left my side in months LEAPED out of my arms and into Teo's. She then stood in line with the Rendon's for 15 minutes and went on the ride like a big girl!

We then hit Dumbo, Casey Jr. and headed off to Toon Town. There we played around in some of the houses, took some pictures, went on the Roger Rabbit ride and headed back to Fantasyland for lunch. After lunch the kids and I headed home so the Rendon's could enjoy the rest of Teo's birthday trip as a family (and the kids could nap).

Friday night Justin came home from work a little early and we all went out to dinner. We tried a new mexican place we've had on our to do list. We had a very nice night out but sadly the restaurant did not make our "to do again" list.

Saturday morning my good friend Magenta came to visit for the weekend. She has been down in SoCal for about a week making the rounds visiting friends and we get to wrap up her trip. We started by dropping the kids off at Karoline's house and heading over to Disney for a screening of The Princess & The Frog! I missed it at the wrap party . . . but it was worth heading back for. Disney did a great job with this one! And Tiana is a fantastic new Disney princess!

Then after the movie we headed out to Simi Valley for Cheyanne's 3rd Birthday Carnival! We always have a great time there! One of the things I love most about being at the Losino house is the feeling of belonging and camaraderie that is overly abundant there. There are kids everywhere and everyone truly takes care of them all. You can relax and enjoy yourself knowing that you are playing with all the kids and everyone else is too. That and the fabulous backyard with fabulous toys! We all just have such a great time there! It's so fun watching Zachary & Cheyanne grow up together. They really are cute little friends!

And then, as if that wasn't enough, after all that Shelley came over to babysit the kids so that Justin, Magenta & I could head down to Orange County for Amie's Friends & Family Caroling Show. This was our 4th or 5th time getting to go down to Amie's show and it was as fun as always. I have to admit that I haven't been a Christmas fan for several years . . . and between Disneyland and the Christmas carolers, I find that I am actually looking forward to the holidays this year. The carols, especially, really struck a chord this time around and made me start thinking about all of the things I have to be thankful for.

Today we got up early (but brilliantly not too early - both kids slept until 6:15am!!!) and headed back down to Orange County (that makes 3 times in 3 days - probably a record for us) to go to Disneyland with Amie for her birthday! The day started out perfectly. Until about noon, the park was as brilliantly empty as Friday. We did something new that I am a huge fan of! In honor of Magenta's visit & Amie's birthday, Justin treated the gang to breakfast at the Plaza Inn. It is a scrumptious breakfast buffet where the characters simply wander around visiting with you throughout your meal.

It was so much fun having all of the different characters come to you! We got to relax and enjoy our meal and everyone seemed to simply be happy (well, except for Kenzie who appears to not be a fan of characters at the moment). It was a really nice experience and made for a great start to the day. After a quick pit stop at the baby care center (LOVE IT!) we headed over toward the castle for pictures . . . but we ended up doing the castle tour too. Then we headed to the carousel and It's a Small World. Small World was redone this year and had some cute new additions in addition to being decorated for Christmas. I have to say it might have been one of my favorite rides of the day.
Then we headed around to Pirates of the Caribbean . . . but on the way we saw the new Princess & the Frog parade & riverboat jubilee. The show they've put together is fantastic! Really, really cute and everyone there seemed really excited about seeing Justin's movie! The we did Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, the entire circle tour on the train and the Haunted Mansion before calling it a day. Then we meandered slowly toward the exit getting some lunch and doing some shopping on the way.

The only thing that might have made the day more perfect would have been calling it an hour or two sooner (the kids were a tad cranky on the way home). But we ordered dinner in and now Justin is putting the kids to bed while I play with pictures.

I had a fantastic weekend spent with great friends! Spending so much time with such good friends makes me realize that I need to work harder at surrounding our little family with family & friends. It really does make all the difference in the world. Luckily we get to follow up our fantastic weekend this week with a trip home next week for Thanksgiving!

Following in Zs Footsteps

So, Kenzie was much slower to start speaking than Zach. No big deal, they are, after all, different kids. But in the last couple of weeks we have hit a language EXPLOSION and Kenzie is quickly catching up.

This morning we were reading Elmo Goes to School . . . Kenzie counted from 1 to 10 (minus five which she routinely skips), sang the entire alphabet and correctly pointed out by name a circle, square & triangle!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Zachary is much more timid and hesitant than his wild & crazy baby girl. We went to Disneyland for a couple of hours today to let Karoline, Mateo & Luca in for Teo's birthday . . . and Zachary was afraid to go on a couple of rides that Kenzie threw a fit when she thought she was going to be deprived of. When Mateo offered to take her she just about leaped out of my arms trying to get into line with the Rendons!

We had a very good morning enjoying a VERY empty park! We arrived about 30 minutes after the park opened and still got to park on the ground level outside of the garage. We waited about 15 minutes for the submarine ride . . . but everything else we walked on (including a quick Space Mountain detour for Teo & me).

We also have a very busy, very fun weekend planned. To start with, Magenta is coming to visit for the weekend. That alone will make the weekend great. Tomorrow morning the kids are going to hang out with Luca & Karoline so that Justin, Tanya & I can go see The Princess & The Frog over at Disney. Then we are heading out to Simi Valley to celebrate Cheyanne's birthday. Then Tanya, Justin & I head down to Orange County to watch Amie's annual caroling show (I'm a little nervous for the sitter who will be stuck with our crazy kids). Then Sunday we head back down to Disneyland for Amie's birthday.

Should be great!

Prep & Landing

Prep & Landing is ABC's first television special produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The half-hour holiday special reveals the never-before-told tale of an elite unit of Elves known as Prep & Landing. It will premiere Tuesday December 1st at 8:30pm PST (following Charlie Brown).

Justin's name will not be in the credits . . . but you should watch anyway! It is going to be really cute! One of the first NEW shows to be added to the 25 days of Christmas line up ever!

Behind the Scenes

Our Moms Club planned a tour of the local grocery store for activity day this month. I wasn't sure what to expect . . . but it was really cute. And the kids had a great time!

The kids got to pet live lobsters . . . and we went through the entire back of the store. The kids got to go in the dairy fridge & the freezer & the meat locker. Zachary didn't like the meat locker at all . . . said it was scary. So we had to wait outside for that part. We saw the baler squish all the boxes for recycling and watched a truck pull in to get unloaded. The kids got balloons & cookies & grocery store goody bags!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go . . .

So, Zachary has this little Thomas the Tank Engine computer that he got for his birthday last year. Just recently has he been able to manipulate it enough to play any of the games. Anyway, last night he was walking around with his little computer and he said, "this is my work." I thought it was the cutest thing in the world that he was imitating his daddy.

Then tonight, he was typing on his little computer when Justin asked him to do something. He jumped up and said, "just a minute, I'm working on an event."

Not sure if that is cute or a little bit sad. But that's my sweet, smart boy!

That's A Wrap!

Justin's wrap party for The Princess & The Frog has come & gone. It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress and a lot of work! But it was successful in the end!

Amie, miraculously, was able to be home for the night . . . so she stayed with the kids while we partied the night away. Our camera had a slight mishap on the way out the door . . . so this is our only picture of the evening.

Disney did the Pasadena Civic Center & Auditorium up in style like usual. They had a red carpet set up out front with a live feed of the interviews projected on the screen inside. The speeches ran on & on & on like usual . . . but this time, the longer they ran the less of the movie I got to see. I was able to sit with Justin through the speeches & through the first 30 minutes of the movie (which was great)! Then I had to head over to get my staff situated for the party.

Working with my staff ended up taking most of the night, which I wasn't expecting. I staffed extra people on the party thinking they would be able to handle covering each other for breaks & such. But in reality Justin & I spent the majority of the evening wrangling fortune tellers & magicians. I was able to sneak back to the theater just in time to watch Justin's name roll through the credits and that is always cool. I am so proud of him!

The party was fantastic! Disney did the ballroom up like all of the different areas of New Orleans depicted in the movie. There was a section dedicated to Dr. Facilier's Voo Doo Lounge, Mama Odie's Tree House, the French Quarter, the Bayou, etc. And all of the decorations in each area were straight out of the movie. At one point we were standing in line for food & I was looking at some balloons up in a tree. My first thought was, "that's unfortunate that they got tangled & popped . . . this is such a nice event." Then I realized that it was straight out of a scene (that I did actually see) where the frogs are flying on some helium balloons that get stuck in a tree & pop.

The food was really cool too. Disney is the only company I know that can follow a theme through down to the last detail. There was a soup station set up with gumbo & lobster bisque. The main buffet served jerk chicken & blackened catfish . . . and the dessert station had mini beignets, bread pudding & creole cheesecake.

To start the evening there was a big jazz band with singers & dancers . . . then a DJ took over to play the rest of the night. There will be a new Princess & the Frog parade at Disneyland that was brought in to perform on the stage . . . and the decor all around was fabulous! The only thing missing (that is always missing) is sufficient seating for guests.

Overall, we had an amazing time! This was a major coup for Walker Event Entertainment . . . and a big night for Justin! We didn't get home till 2am or into bed until 3am . . . so Kenzie waking us up at 5am was not so pleasant. But I guess that is the price you pay for a fun night out!