Boothroyd Family: May 2009

The kids have worked so hard this year in school and keeping their rooms clean we thought it was time for a well deserved vacation! We always tell the kids where and when we go a vacation EVERY time so I thought it would be fun to surprise them. We planned it so that they would get up and get ready for school as if it was any other day. The day before I packed every ones bags and put them in the suburban during school so they wouldn't see ANYTHING! We told them we had to make a stop before taking them to school. Kayla was so concerned the entire time we were driving and watching the clock. She DOES NOT like to be late for school! When we pulled up to the plane Jimmy told the kids he was going on a trip and that he would be back in a few days. Kayla was getting all teary eyed as Jimmy got out of the truck. Just as the kids got out of the truck, they seen Grandma Anna come out of the plane and Kayla started to get all chocked up:( I felt so bad that Kayla was getting so upset. Jimmy has gone on vacation without us before and she has always taken it really good. I told the kids we had a surprise for them and that they were actually going to miss school for the day. The look on their faces were PRICELESS!
Anna had already told the pilots that this was a surprise so they kids had NO idea where we were going. Kayla was so funny, she said she felt like a rich person going to have lunch in another state. Anna had gotten each of the kids a backpack filled with all kinds of snacks and things to keep them busy during the trip. It was like Christmas all over again:)

When she realized we weren't going to give in an tell her where we we going she got comfy.

As soon as the plane landed the guessing game started again. The lime drive was also informed of the surprise they couldn't even get it out him. The kids were trying to find signs that would tell them where we were.(Yes Anna I know you won't like this picture but the look on both your face and Kayla's was just too good to pass up!)

As soon as the driver started getting close to our destination I knew it was only a matter of time before Kayla was going to figure it out. Just as we turned to corner into the hotel parking lot there was the BIGGEST sign

WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND!!!

The kids were so excited!! When we told them we were staying for almost a week they were ecstatic!! NO SCHOOL:)What an awesome vacation this was. We had plenty of time to see everything. I thought I was going to have all this down time while the kids took naps. Boy was I WRONG. Kayla and James were ready to Go Go Go.

Kayla

Kayla was finally tall enough to go on all the rides. Her favorite rides were

Splash Mountain and the tube ride at California Adventures.

We were totally shocked at how much she loved the fast rides. The faster the better!

Kayla makes the craziest faces.

Whenever I try to get a picture of her she thinks that it is so funny to mess it up by doing her weird faces. Little does she know everyone going to see them NOW!!

After this vacation I am convinced that Kayla will travel the world when she's older. She is always talking about where she would like to visit and has has such a big interest in other cultures. Every night she packed her backpack with her water, sunglasses, camera and signature book. I never had to ask her twice to get up in the morning. She was always ready to GO! She was in front the whole way, wanting to guide the way.

She had TOURIST written all over her.

James
James loved the Pirates of the Caribbean. I think we rode on it about 20 times. Every time we would come to the end he would say," AWW man I was going to get the buried treasure and someone already got it."

He also had us cracking up the whole time. He always has something crazy to say and he can go from happy to sad in a second!

Haylie

Haylie LOVED the It's a Small World ride. She sang and danced the whole time. It's funny how I remember this ride from when I was a kid. I thought it was so cool and now I look at it and it is SO CHEESY:) Great ride for a 2 year old!

I knew Haylie would want to walk around so we got her a monkey backpack that has a leash on it. She loved it! The only problem was that James wanted to hold onto it and the two of them get crazy when they are together. She loves to be goofy with him but it's not fun when your in a crowd of people!
The pic below is of her waiting for the kids to come down on a water ride. Every time the tube would come down it would get this area soaked. She thought it was so funny to take a chance and get in as close as she could. As soon as she would see it coming she would step back and hold her face. TO CUTE!

Splash

Kayla and James wanted to go on this ride so bad and boy was I glad when they convinced Grandma to go with them.

Meeting New Friends

Haylie has been addicted to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and loves Goofy. We couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she got to meet them. YA, that didn't go over so well. See loved to see them from a distance but she was not fond of them getting close to her. So I ended up being in ever picture.

WHO...ME??
This was SO embarrassing. I'm just standing in a crowd of people watching these guys preform. This crazy man comes over, grabs my hand and asks me to do some crazy dance in front of EVERYONE! If you know me, I DO NOT like to stand out in the crowd. It's just not my thing:) So what was I suppose to do. Again if you know me....I laugh. Whenever I'm embarrassed or uncomfortable I laugh. So that's what I did laughed the whole time, laugh and look like a total dork dancing.

I think this is a vacation the kids will remember FOREVER! It was so fun to do it as a surprised. They are still thanking us for the BEST SURPRISE EVER:)

This year we decided to do have a party for James a little early. June is always so hot and and James really wanted to have a Pirate party and search for treasure. I had so much fun planning this with the help of Anna!

I like to make the food for all of our parties to match the theme. I knew I wanted to do the the octopus hot dogs but I couldn't think of anything to put with it. The night before the party Anna and I were getting everything ready and Anna came up with the best idea for a side. The shell mac & cheese. I wanted something that the kids would eat and every kid likes mac & cheese. PERFECT HUH!!!!

They looked so cute!

The only problem was most of the kids wouldn't eat the legs!

James has been on this cupcake kick. For any party lately, his request is always cupcakes.

I MUST admit, these were the best cupcakes EVER!!

Now that their tummies are full, it's time for a a treasure hunt. Each of the kids made an eye patch, telescope, and got an official pirate hat to help them on their treasure hunt.

I split the kids into 3 groups. Each group had their maps to find their treasure. They find the clues that led them to the treasure. They had a blast running all over the yard looking for the clues.