18 November 2018

I made it!  The work week before a week of vacation always seems so much longer!  We had a great week and we actually had to turn on the heater, it got pretty chilly at Two Jack this week.  On Monday I worked overtime as the kids were at their dad's for the Veteran's Day holiday.  I picked them up after work and took them for dinner before we headed home.  I had to drop the kids off at school in the morning on Tuesday because Felicity had a model of the solar system that needed to be turned in.  She worked on it over the weekend and specifically asked that I not help her, she wanted to do it herself.  It turned out really well.

Tuesday's are pretty busy for us.  In the afternoon I picked up Arlo and he and I did some chores and then drove to the bus stop to pick up the sisters.  Felicity had soccer practice and Helen had band practice.  We then did our egg deliveries and picked up compost before heading home for a quick dinner as we had to be back at the church at 7pm for Young Women in Excellence.  Felicity participated with the other girls in the Beehive class who performed a skit.  She didn't have a display to showcase because I just didn't get around to helping her with that, but it was a fun evening.  I'm so grateful she has such a great Young Women's program in our ward.

Arlo and I hung out together after school on Wednesday and then he and I picked up Helen from choir.  We headed to Corona to watch Felicity's soccer game only to find we had yet another flat tire.  I took it over to my parents to put air in it, but it wouldn't hold, so I had to change it.  We made it back to the school in time to watch the second half of Felicity's game and I'm so glad I made it in time.  She was playing hard and aggressive and within the first ten minutes of me being there scored a goal.  It was her first game goal and I was so proud of her.  Last year she was timid and afraid of making a mistake and this year her coaches have given her the confidence that she needed to really start to play more boldly.  Her team won 1-0.  We took the tire to Walmart when we were done with the game and got something to eat while we waited for them to finish, they ended up having to replace it.  I really should get a print out of how many tires I've gone through since we bought our place.  We were able to make it back to Corona for an 8PM appointment with the Bishop for tithing settlement, although I was in dirty jeans and a sweat shirt, Felicity had her uniform on, and Arlo had on a pair of plaid shorts with a Christmas sweater.  We looked ridiculous, but I made a judgement call that the bishop would prefer we come looking like a mess than not at all.

I worked late again on Thursday, but it worked out well as all three kids stayed home from school. Felicity was genuinely sick with a cold and the other two took advantage of an opportunity to be home "sick" too.  When I got home from work we did a quick dinner and then I took Arlo back to the elementary school for his first grade musical performance.  They were doing a Thanksgiving theme.  They had the option to come in costume, so I decided to make Arlo a crocheted turkey hat.  It turned out really cute and the performance was fun.  He did such a great job singing and dancing which is really out of his comfort zone, he pretty much won't sing or dance at home.  He told me in the car that he tried his hardest even though it was embarrassing and did a good job dancing although he didn't do all of the hand motions because some of it was childish.  He's a hoot!

Everyone was backed to school on Friday and I muscled through my last work day for awhile.  In the evening the kids and I went to the Family Movie Night at Copper Ridge.  We hadn't been to one, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It was a little chilly for an outside movie, but we had a good time.  We pre-ordered a pizza from the PTA and enjoyed Hotel Transylvania 3.

The kids and I worked on chores on Saturday morning and in the afternoon I took Felicity to see Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.  We both really enjoyed it!  I was hoping it would give us something to talk about that wasn't about The Hunger Games.  Felicity has now read all three books twice and has seen the movies and evidently when she has screen time at her dad's house watches Youtube interviews with the actors.  She talks about it pretty much non-stop.  Early in the week she started a sentence with "Jennifer and Josh did [such and such]" and I asked her who they were thinking they were friends at school, only to find out she was referencing Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, the actors  from the movie.  She ran some errands with me, including grocery shopping before we headed back home.

Maggie has one blue eye and one brown eye...its a little unnerving if I'm honest

In the evening we met my parents at Red Lobster to have dinner and celebrate my birthday.  It was pretty good and we had a very nice time.  I came home a little over-full!

We enjoyed our church meetings on Sunday and went over to Mom and Dad's to have dinner when we were done.  We had a nice visit and when we got home I started a crochet project, a hat that I'm giving as a gift, since I didn't have to be at work bright and early Monday morning.  I'm going to love being off!

11 November 2018

It was a week of milestones at Two Jack Ranch.  The weather has been so beautiful and we are really enjoying the nice temperatures.  I haven’t run the AC in several weeks and the kids are spending a lot more time playing outside.  I’m excited for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Since it’s an “off Friday” week, we get Wednesday and Thursday off for the holiday, and then off on Friday as usual.  Seeing as I’m getting three days off for free, I might as well take Monday and Tuesday off and make it a true break.  That being said, I didn’t want to use the last twenty hours of PTO so I worked overtime this week (and will next week) to use for the holiday.  My mom picked up the kids on Monday and then went to Felicity’s soccer game.  The girls won and I heard it was a really good game.  I got home in time to make sure everyone got bathed before family scriptures and bed time. 

 Tuesday the girls had Activity Days and Young Womens in the evening, so Arlo and I hung out together.  The kids had a half day on Wednesday so I picked them up around noon and then finished my day from home.  When I was done with work we went out for dinner and to the movies as our Family Home Evening activity.  I had a gift card for Red Robin, so we went there again.  I was actually pretty disappointed.  The kids wanted an appetizer, but they brought out their appetizer with their meals, so the chips and salsa pretty much went uneaten.  I waited and waited for my salad to come out and it just didn’t.  Once the kids were done with theirs the waitress came over to tell me that they’d given my salad to someone else, but they were making me another.  By the time it came I was pretty well annoyed and had to eat fairly quickly as the kids were bored and a bored Arlo just spells indigestion for me.  Luckily they deducted the price of the kids’ meals so we got out of there at a discount, but I wasn’t very happy.

 We went to Harkins and saw The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.  It was beautifully done, we really enjoyed it.  The kids were enamored and raved about it on the drive home.

On Thursday after work I took Arlo to one of our neighbor’s houses to help with a chore they had.  As part of my ministering assignment I look after two elderly women who live within our ward boundaries, but don’t make it to church.  They have a rescue donkey and needed some help replacing a shade structure for the donkey.  Arlo and I helped another couple with the chore and Arlo got a kick out of petting the donkey, although it made me nervous as he didn’t seem to understand how important it was not to get behind her. 

Friday happened to be my 38^th birthday.  Birthdays just aren’t as significant as they once were.  My kids don’t remember and I just don’t make a big deal out of it.  I pretty much stuck to my normal routine.  I dropped the kids off early at the bus stop and headed to the temple.  When I was done at the temple I came home and decided to put in a few hours of work.  I also was able to clean the house, do the laundry, and get my grocery shopping done.  In the evening the kids went to their dad’s for the weekend and my sweet friend Leona came over and brought me dinner.  We ate, watched movies, crafted, took a midnight trip to Walmart for some ice cream and stayed up way too late for a couple of old broads!  I’m grateful for our almost 20 years of friendship and that she took time away from her family to spend an evening with me on my birthday.

 I slept in a little on Saturday and then drove to Green Valley to meet with a friend I made when we were in the 3^rd ward in Sahuarita.  Sister Stockwell had some art glass she wanted me to try and sell for her, so I picked that up and stayed for an hour or so visiting and catching up.  When I was done there, I went to my parent’s house and set up a new computer for them.  On my way home from there I stopped and got some straw to put in the pig pen now that it’s getting a little colder at night.  I spent a few hours in the yard doing chores.  I didn’t work on the doghouse, so hopefully I will get that done next weekend.

Instead of a sad picture of the two of us today, one of a thousand happy memories together (Sept. 1985)

 Sunday morning I decided to go with my mom to visit my Grandpa Gene.  His health has been declining in recent weeks and I wanted to make sure that I was able to see him and visit with him.  When we got to Grandma’s to pick her up, the yard looked awful, so while Mom helped Grandma get ready to leave, I mowed the front and back lawn.  It didn’t take me much time, but it sure looked a lot better when I was done.  We went to Copper Canyon and Grandpa was sitting in the lobby when we arrived.  He didn’t interact much and he didn’t know me at all, which is a first.  It’s so hard to see the people you love trapped in a body that just doesn’t work the way it should.  We stayed for an hour and a half or so and sat with him while he had lunch.  When it was time to go I knelt down in front of him and patted his hand and said "goodbye Grandpa, I love you".  I helped my dad set up some speakers on his computer when we got home.  I didn’t pick up the kids since they don’t have school on Monday and I have to work.  When I got home I worked on crocheting a turkey hat for Arlo who has a Thanksgiving musical next week.

So this week not only marked my 38^th birthday, but I had two additional anniversaries as well.  It would have been my 13^th wedding anniversary and it was the 5 year anniversary of my divorce.  5 years seem to have gone so quickly and yet it also seems like this is just the way things have always been.  When I filed for divorce, I had to attend a mandatory parenting class.  During the class, they mentioned that 85% of people attending would be remarried in the first five years.  I thought that sounded comforting; reasoning to myself that I had a lot to offer in a relationship and that I felt I had been a good wife and I wanted to be married and work through life with a partner, the odds were in my favor that I wouldn’t be alone for long.  And here I am.  And you know what?  I’m happy.  In those five years I’ve been on a handful of dates.  I had an “easy out” present itself within the first few months and was so proud of myself for not taking it because I knew I wasn’t head over heels and while it would have provided me with the opportunity to have financial stability and to stay at home with my kids, I knew I would always wonder if I settled to avoid being single.   A couple of years after that I got myself into a mess with someone else’s drama and got my heart, my kids, and my good name drug through the mud.  It was the hardest thing I’ve endured, but when I came through it I was finally able to see that of the three relationships I have had as an adult I consistently pick emotionally unavailable men who use me and then walk out of my life without the consideration of an explanation.  I learned and grew and became more aware and in the end felt much more confident in my ability to recognize a poor choice.  And now at the five year mark, I have reached a place where I am genuinely and fully content to be single for the rest of my life.  I was sealed in the temple and my children are sealed to me, I have fully and completely honored those covenants and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a wife and have had the blessing of being a mother.  I fully trust that my Father in Heaven has my (and my kids’) best interest in mind and has a plan for me and if that does not include a loving and mutually beneficial relationship in mortality, I’m perfectly okay with that.  My kids are healthy and happy and are in a great school, I love my ranch, I call my own shots, and if I’m completely honest, I think fully trusting someone else would be a hard obstacle to overcome.   Getting divorced was one of, if not the, best decisions I have ever made and not one single day has gone by that I have regretted it.  I lament that my kids have to live in a broken family, but that is because of my initial deficient choice in companion, not my decision to show them a better example.  I have come to truly understand that we accept the love we think we deserve, and I'm holding out for something great.

04 November 2018

Happy Halloween from Two Jack Ranch.  It was a busy, off-nominal week.  Felicity was excited to continue official soccer practice after school this week, she was the first pick for the “B” team and we both agreed that one more year on the junior team would be good for her.  She will get more playing time and they’re starting her at center forward.  She was really happy with the outcome.  She had her first game on Monday and played 85% of the game.  She took a couple shots on goal, but didn't get one in.

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening.  I pulled out some of my old patterns and the kids picked their favorites and set to work.  Felicity carved Maleficient (in dragon form), Helen chose Emily from The Corpse Bride and Arlo worked on Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  They all turned out so well, and I was really impressed with how patient and careful Arlo was; he was really pleased with his finished pumpkin.

I was able to finish Arlo's Halloween costume, Luke Skywalker, just in time for our Tuesday night Trunk of Treat at the church.  The ward did a really nice job with a chili and hotdog dinner and carnival games for the kids and then of course a trunk-or-treat.  We had a great time.



The younger kids were excited to wear their costumes to school on Wednesday and they were surprisingly willing to do homework and chores when they got home...hmm, go figure!   We went to my parent's neighborhood to trick or treat, and honestly I was disappointed, I would say only 40-60% of the houses were participating which meant we did a lot of walking between houses.  However, the kids came home with an awful lot of candy!   

Thursday I was standing in the kitchen making dinner and I watched a big coyote walk right up the driveway through the gate.  I know they've been getting in the yard because I've seen their tracks around the coop, but right in the front gate in broad daylight?  So I told Felicity to grab my gun.  I came out the front door, put my boots on.  I rounded the side of the house and here he comes trotting across the back yard.  He was moving pretty quickly out of view behind the house, so I kept taking steps around when a bigger one came out from behind a mesquite tree.  I took aim and he saw me and started to run.  It wasn't a very good shot, he was running and I was still walking, but he yelped and stumbled after I fired and then headed for the back fence.  I got him, but he didn't drop.  At the very least, he and his friend will think twice about coming onto Two Jack Ranch again.  Next time I think I'll grab the shotgun, in hindsight I shouldn't have taken that shot with the rifle. 

Helen and Arlo swapping candy

The rest of week was as good as a sugar-fueled week could go.  On Friday we cuddled together for a movie and pizza after school and were up early on Saturday morning.  The kids helped me do chores around the ranch.  One of my goals was to asses the dog house that was left on the property and decide if it could be salvaged for Maggie.  The kids and I decided to take the rotting plywood off the frame and reuse the frame.  We got it deconstructed and I'll hopefully be able to get the new plywood and roofing shingles and put it back together next weekend.  I'll also be relocating it to directly behind the house and then put the fence around it. 

When we were done with chores we met my dad to go shooting in the desert.  The girls and I need to get as much practice as we can before our hunt.  We shot for a little over an hour and then headed back home.  On the way home, we stopped at the feed store for some pig feed.  They were having their fall festival and I received three raffle tickets when I bought my feed.  When I went to put them into the raffle, they were getting ready to draw the winners.  There were several raffles going, as I recall one for pig feed, bird seed, dog food, etc.  The gal behind the table asked if I had pigs and when I said I did, she said to put in for the pig feed, no one had entered that raffle.  So I won three bags of pig feed on the spot (about $60 worth).  So it was a good afternoon!

 

We enjoyed our meetings on Sunday and I taught primary.  After church we had dinner at my parent's house which was nice.  I'm glad to have Halloween behind us.  This is always a very busy time of year.  I'll be fixing Thanksgiving dinner this year and then there's our annual Gingerbread FHE to plan and all the great things that come with the holidays.  I am so incredibly blessed and happy and there are so many good things in our life to be thankful for.

 

 

28 October 2018

It was another great fall week at Two Jack Ranch.  Arlo and Helen had “Red Ribbon” week at school that included a lot of fun activities.  A helicopter landed at the school and they met police dogs and there was always something exciting for them to talk about when they got home. 

Monday evening we went to dinner at Red Robin for Family Home Evening.  We were so excited to see that they had built one on Irvington and I-19 so we had to try it out.  Arlo created some art while we waited for our table.

 I continued to work on Halloween costumes this week, I almost have Helen’s done, which isn’t leaving me much time to get Arlo’s finished.  On Friday morning I went to the temple which is always nice.  I adore having a temple close.  I love being able to go every couple of weeks and have it only take the morning, as opposed to driving to Mesa which I only got to do once a month and it took all day.   I did my grocery shopping on the way home and pretty much finished up my household chores before the kids came home from school.

On Friday evening the kids went to visit their dad which freed me up to make some good progress on sewing.  I also had an appointment to take Maggie to the vet for a checkup and her first round of vaccines.  She did such a great job.  We sure do love having her on the ranch.

By Saturday afternoon I had finished Helen’s costume and the remainder of my Marvel Marathon.  Which ended with Infinity War and Ant Man and the Wasp.  I was surprised at how many of the movies I hadn’t seen.  I loved Ant Man and Thor: Ragnarok.  Infinity War left me definitely committed to paying to see the next Avengers in the theater.  It was really fun. 

I went to pick Helen up early from her dad’s on Saturday night since she had her field exam on Sunday morning.  Felicity wanted to come home too, so we stopped at Chipotle on our way home and then had a girl’s night in.  Felicity had just finished reading  Catching Fire so we watched the movie together.  I love how invested she gets in the things she’s reading, she is such a great example to her siblings.

Sunday morning we left for the Sierra Vista shooting range nice and early for Helen’s 8:00AM field day.  Arizona Game and Fish requires that hunters between the ages of 10 and 14 complete an online Hunter's Safety course, pass an online exam, then attend a field day where they have to demonstrate marksmanship.  They also learn tracking, matching ammo to weapons, and some other pertinent information and it culminates in a 75 question written exam.  The closest open field day to us was in Sierra Vista, so that's where the girls and I headed.  Helen did a great job, enjoyed learning, and passed her written exam.  She got a new hat and certificate and will get a card that certifies she is eligible to hunt in Arizona which will come in handy seeing as she has a whitetail tag to fill in late November.  We stopped and had lunch on our way home before picking up Arlo. 

21 October 2018

 We had a great first week back to school from our break.  Felicity had soccer try-outs after school and Helen is enjoying both choir and band.  I was able to get some running in this week. I ran the road between the time when I got the younger kids home from the bus and when I needed to turn around and get Felicity off of the activity bus.  I was super slow, but was grateful to get back out there.  I figured it had been cold enough in the evenings to not have to worry about snakes anymore, but I was wrong as I came along a beauty of a bull snake on my run one afternoon.

We had a pretty low-key Family Home Evening on Monday.  With soccer practice and homework we didn't have time for a fancy activity.  I taught Felicity how to make Grandma Lo's cornbread as our activity.  Don't tell her, but I put an egg in it...no sugar, but I did put an egg in.  We watched a movie when we were done with dinner.

Helen had a deadline to start her science fair project this week.  Since I can't reuse last year's project (which got two uses and one 1st place and one honorable mention) we had to come up with a new idea.  I think we have a good one!  She and I did the initial work and the paperwork to submit it for approval.  On Friday morning, Felicity stayed home with me and we went to her orthodontist appointment.  She has a back tooth that is really taking its time coming in fully, and it has set us back several weeks.  After her appointment she and I had breakfast together at Denny's and enjoyed our morning. 

My mom had put me in contact with a woman that she met on Facebook who had Australian Shepherd/Blue Heeler puppies that she was wanting to rehome.  I have wanted to get a ranch dog, but wasn't 100% committed to the idea.  Well, the woman contacted me to meet so that I could see the puppies and Felicity and I met her in Green Valley after breakfast.  She sent me a message that morning and alluded to the fact that her intention was to send us home with the puppy.  So I did what I usually do, I jumped in with both feet.  We decided to bring the puppy home with us.  Luckily we have a fenced area with an outbuilding in the yard, so we set up a kennel and her basic needs.  We've named her Maggie and she is such a good puppy so far.  She loves to follow us around when we do chores and she comes when she's called and I am very happy with our decision to become puppy owners.  I will need to fix up the large dog house that was left on our property for when she gets bigger, and eventually I want her to be able to roam the property and chase rabbits and squirrels and keep coyotes out, but I think that I have some fence work to do first.

The kids helped me with chores on Saturday and then in the afternoon I dropped Felicity off at the church where the young women were going into Tucson for their mutual activity.  They went to a haunted house in Trail Dust Town.  Felicity had a good time with her friends, although she said she didn't last inside the haunted house long before she decided she would rather wait outside.  I don't blame her, I don't like haunted houses either.

We enjoyed our church meetings on Sunday.  When we were done with church we went to my parent's house and had dinner and the kids played a game with Nana.

14 October 2018

 I worked some overtime this week since I didn’t have to be home at any particular time with the kids gone.  Work is going well and I've had some tasking lately that aligns with my strengths and I'm enjoying what I'm doing.  I'm working in a project manager role and that is going really well.

I continued to work on sewing Halloween costumes in the evening while watching my Marvel movie marathon.  By the end of the week I had Felicity's costume pretty much done and was ready to start on Helen's.  I'm hoping Helen's will go much more quickly now that I'm familiar with the pattern.

I went to the temple Friday morning and then stopped at Sam’s Club for groceries before heading across town to pick up the kids.  They had a fun week with their dad camping in Sedona and told me all about it on the way.  In the evening we picked up Nana and went to dinner at Serial Grillers on Houghton.  It was really good, but also very crowded. 

When we were done with dinner we drove downtown to see Disney on Ice at the convention center.  It was a lot of fun and Arlo especially enjoyed himself. 

On Saturday, we worked on chores and getting ready to head back to school next week.  Helen had an invitation for a sleepover at her friend Morgan’s house and while we don’t usually do sleepovers, I decided that we could make an exception.  Morgan’s mom sent me photos of the evening's events which included making slime, crafting, and watching movies.  When Helen came home on Sunday morning she had had such a great time.  I’m grateful she has such a sweet friend.

We went to church on Sunday and had a quiet dinner at home in the evening.  We got everyone's lunches packed and clothes laid out in preparation for going back to school after fun three week fall break.

07 October 2018

We had a pretty mundane week for a change.  The kids stayed home the first part of the week while I worked since they were still on fall break.   On Monday evening we went to dinner and a movie for Family Home Evening.  The kids wanted to see “The House with a Clock in its Walls”, so against my better judgment I took them to see that.  It was downright scary and quite frankly a little disturbing.  Arlo asked to "go to the bathroom” no less than four times during the movie, mostly because it was a little too intense for him.  The girls said they liked it, but I don’t think that one will be joining our home movie collection.  We stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen on our way home.

Embarrassed, Arlo wore a hoodie, but you can still see the self-hair cutting disaster

At some point in the early part of the week Arlo decided to "save you [me] some money" and cut his own hair.  He took a large chunk right off the top almost down to the scalp.  Needless to say I was not very happy with him.  I took him to the barber on Tuesday and asked her to fix it the best she could, which basically meant shaving his head.  He teared up a little when she grabbed the clippers, I'm hoping it was a lesson learned and a stunt that won't be repeated!

The kids left on Wednesday night to spend a week with their dad.  I would like to say that I had a very productive week with no kids at home, but alas I spent most of my week inside with the cold that I had picked up while on vacation.   I did however start two new endeavors.  One was to work on the kids' Halloween costumes.  The second was related to the first in that I like to watch a series of movies while I sew or craft so I don't have to decide every couple of hours what I'm going to watch next.  This time I decided to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in chronological order.  Between my private collection, Netflix, and Amazon Prime I was pretty well set.  I think I got through Iron Man 3 this week.  The girls wanted to go as the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland for Halloween, so I started sewing Felicity's costume first and found that I had picked a pretty challenging pattern.  I think, however, they're going to turn out great.  Luckily Arlo wants to go as Luke Skywalker, so I should be able to bang that one out pretty quickly.

On Friday evening I drove into Tucson to meet Leona at the park to walk.  We walked for quite awhile and talked and it was good exercise and conversation.  I was grateful to be able to enjoy General Conference from my home office on Saturday and Sunday.   It was the spiritual uplift I really needed.  I continued my sewing throughout the weekend and was ready to go back to work on Monday.

30 September 2018 Disneyland

Our fall break vacation finally came!  Instead of trying to talk about our trip in order, I'll just share some pictures and add my thoughts.  We were in California Adventure on our first day since Disneyland was closing early and we just had to start with the Incredicoaster.  It did not disappoint, it was incredible!  I loved that on our first ride of our trip we did the scariest coaster and Arlo and Felicity got to ride in the front.  It was SO much fun!  We ended up riding it multiple times over our four day stay, and I don't think we waited in line for more than ten minutes.

We made it a point to try lots of new foods this trip and pretty much ate our way through the parks.  We tried pumpkin churros with cream cheese, Mickey Mouse cookie ice cream, and Felicity had an amazing churro sundae in Adventure Land.  Helen found a stand in Fantasyland that sold giant pickles and she was in giant pickle heaven.  Arlo and I shared some bacon mac and cheese from the Cozy Cone and oh, my was it good!  Arlo got to try a frozen, chocolate-dipped banana and we tried the most delicious green chili smothered burritos in California Adventure.  Of course we had some tried and true favorites too like soft pretzels and Dole whip and our traditional carmel apple on Main Street on our last night.  All of the walking I did was completely negated by all the delicious calories I consumed!

One of the kids' favorite rides is the Grizzly River Rapids and because it was a little cooler, or at least not hot, there was never a wait to ride it.  So we rode it several times.  Have you ever watched people on that ride from above?  Have you ever wondered why several people will get off mildly wet and one in 15 or so will come off completely drenched?  Well I found out.  I knew that there were some geysers off to the side of the main course which go off at intervals.  I've ridden it enough to have noticed that.  They create some mist and ambience and are fun.  What I didn't realize is that there is a geyser in the middle of the course.  I mean the dead middle.  It doesn't go off as often as the others, probably only once every five minutes or so.  Unfortunately I didn't come to this realization while watching from above.  We were on our ride and almost done with the course when out of no where water started to bubble and then shoot upward.  It was timed so perfectly (or tragically) that it came up right as the raft was headed into it and the force of the geyser kept the raft from moving forward, holding it hostage while dumping gallons of water on the person who disastrously picked the seat in that exact spot (me).  I was soaked, soaked.  I held our bag out in front of me trying to save it from the drenching.  It seemed to last for an eternity.  It was fun, I was soggy.  We stopped on the bridge above that particular spot when we got off and watched for awhile.  It was hilarious, I'd say it hit maybe every 10th raft or so, but nobody seemed to get it as badly as I did!

 We sat in on the Animation Academy in California adventure and got to learn how to draw Piglet, they turned out so cute!  The girls wanted to go again, so they got to draw Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas while Arlo and I went to check out Turtle Talk with Crush.  We had never done that before.  It was so neat.  There's a movie-like theater with a large screen and seats for adults to sit in the back and space on the floor for the kids.  Crush the sea turtle from Finding Nemo  appears on the screen and interacts with the kids through a helper with a microphone.  He's animated, but interacts in real time and sounds just like the turtle and changes expressions, it was cool technology.  He wanted to talk to Arlo and I first and asked Arlo questions and answered Arlo's questions about sea turtles and gave me a hard time about sitting on the floor close to Arlo instead of with the other adults!  It was funny and we really enjoyed it.  Definitely a hidden gem in California Adventure (I love finding those) for younger kids.

Space Mountain was dressed up for Halloween as "Ghost Galaxy" and Helen and Arlo didn't want to ride it because they were afraid it would be scary.  It was more like the original format of the ride (before they made it Hyperspace Mountain) where its basically just a coaster in the dark, but with scary music.  While we were over in that area we were able to sign Arlo up for Jedi training.  I like the way they do it now where you sign up in the morning and they tell you what time to come back to participate as opposed to being picked from the audience when the girls did it a few years ago.  He was SO excited.  We signed him up at 9:30 and his time wasn't until 3:30 and he asked me all day, "is it time for Jedi training yet?"  I don't know that I've ever seen him that excited for anything in his life.  They dress the kids up and give them a light saber and teach them some basic moves and then bad guys show up and the kids get to fight them.  He took it so seriously.

Felicity really wanted to ride the Guardian's of the Galaxy and I was the only one willing to do it with her.  I had never ridden that one before they re-imaged it from the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  I pretty much avoided it because I don't really like heights and drops and that's basically all that one is;  but when you're a mom and want to set a good example for overcoming your fears, you go.  It was terrifying, and fun, and exciting, and scary, and so clever.  We loved it!  And then didn't do it a second time!  The souvenir that Arlo and Helen just had to have came from the shop under the ride.  It was a baby Groot with a magnet in its bottom that allowed him to ride on your shoulder.  They loved them and wore them most of the day.

The Midway Mania was super fun, but for some reason the line was unbearably long both times we rode it!

We didn't spend hardly anytime in Fantasyland, but we did ride King Arthur's Carousel.  I forget that just because Arlo is big enough to ride the big kid rides it doesn't mean he doesn't want to ride the little kid rides in Fantasyland.  So we did ride Alice in Wonderland and of course It's a Small World and the kids did the Teacups (which I never ride because they make me sick).

Radiator Springs is always fun.

The weather was really nice.  A little chilly in the morning and the evening, but great in the middle of the day.  Wait times for rides and the general number of people in the parks was pretty much the same as it always is.  I don't think there really is an "off season".  The Haunted Mansion had the longest lines and the Matterhorn was closed for renovation.  The water rides had slightly shorter lines, but there were still people everywhere.

Arlo served as our Master Navigator.  He really got a kick out of the maps and was pretty good at orienting himself around.

On our last night Arlo lost a tooth at dinner.

 

Our drive home was relatively uneventful.  The kids went to their dad's for a week starting on Saturday morning which gave me the opportunity to unpack and rest from a busy week.  I caught a cold while we were gone, so I was ready for some down time.