December Update

Since Thanksgiving happened so late this year we felt like we got pushed into December rather hastily and because we were still working on our dance room we had to wait until mid month to really start enjoying this Holiday season...

Dave wrapping the lights around our pine tree... Totally forgot to take pictures of our outdoor lights this year but it really turned out great!

Let's start with our home improvement report:-) Before Violet started to crawl we wanted to replace the dog pee stained(previous owner's fault) carpet in the addition with laminate and at the same time planned on moving the bed and a dresser into the office/Madison's work space... Let me tell you the whole process took FOREVER! like a month and a half to be exact. Anyhow we painted the new bedroom wall, we put up crown moldings and replaced the ceiling light with a new and modern ceiling fan with a remote... We found out that caulking is your best friend and experience we got from trying to replace ceiling fan ourselves is priceless. Especially the first one we got was broken but of course we didn't know that and thought we did something wrong until our friend Ron who is a contractor came to our rescue with his handy machine and declared the receiver broken:-) After this experience replacing much bigger ceiling fan in the dance room was completed with much more confidence:-)

This was a picture from when the house was listed... Since we moved in we've updated it by removing the panels and painting the wall to be used as our office but I guess we never took pictures of it...

We were so happy when we were able to fit in our huge platform bed and a dresser in here...

Our first crown molding job! Dave did all the measuring and cutting and it was trial and error but he did a great job:-) 

Once we were able to move everything out of the dance room Dave got busy ripping up the carpet and I started priming the walls during girls' nap time which was never long enough... It was so much to paint but relaxing at the same time so I really enjoyed it...

Since we walk through this room after using the pool and since it was the cheapest option we decided to use laminate and we were able to get everything under $500... And help from our friends was a must! It took them about a day and a half to finish:-)

As soon as there was a finished space Madison wanted to bring her toys there and nest... Very cute:-)

We originally planned on painting the ceiling too but we couldn't fit it in within the time we had before our xmas party so we will probably hire someone to do that down the road BUT we did replace the ugly ceiling fan with a modern ceiling light:-) Also priming the wood paneled walls was all we could fit in so we will probably tackle that this summer!

Can't start the Christmas celebration without the ginger bread house 

"A ginger bread house on a gummy bear lake":-) 

Tried the ginger bread house kit from Trader Joe's this year... Probably go back to the Wilton brand next year so I don't have to prepare the frosting...

Around mid November Dave came home with an opening statement and pretty good arguments to convince me that we should get back on the Disneyland wheel and get the cheapest annual passes so I can take the kids during the week but still have our Summer and Holiday times free to do whatever Southern California has to offer... I lost but in my defense I was caught off guard... I guess this will be a good use of our money since we will have some place to go and run around during the week(Yes, I know we have regular playgrounds and parks to do the running around but you never run into Mickey and friends there...:-) and since Dave gets home around 3:30 we can spend plenty of time at the park on those days... Madison has been missing Disneyland sooooo much that we wanted to surprise her somehow, so we wrapped up our 3 passes and hoped her bright little mind can put the two and two together... Here is a video...:-)

We found this out with the Xmas present from Santa that she has some what low key, kind of shy reaction to things she really wanted so that's what we got...

 As I previously mentioned, we went to see Frozen in Downtown Disney on Black Friday and afterwards Dave sneaked over to the ticket booth while I distracted Madison with shopping and renewed our passes and we had to keep that a secret until Dec. 7th when Dave was "slightly under the weather" and we got to go to Disneyland and celebrate our getting back on the Mickey wheel...:-)

Oh how we missed you Midway Mania!

That day we had one and only goal to achieve... A Christmas Family Picture!! We dressed the girls in matching white lace dresses and grabbed Madison's princess dress to change into later and we were off:-) The place was same as how we left it and the fast pass line to the Cars Racers as long as before, nothing had changed... We were back!

On the 11th, we hosted the Christmas Party for families with kids mostly 7 and under... It was a lot of fun and we were so glad for the space we have to host a party like this:-) We decided to do "Minute to Win it!" games as the entertainment and it was a hit! Kids got into it and even more the parents! We have a surprise rubber band shooter among us so watch out:-)

Since we were going to be out of town for the actual Christmas, our Christmas took place on the 21st. Madison and I made the cookies for Santa and now that she really understands what is happening this might have been the first year she had trouble falling asleep:-)

Madison got the Elsa dress and Violet got the Olaf stuffed toy from Santa...:-)

Our happy mess!

Klein Family Reunion 2013

The Klein Family Reunion took place March 28th - April 7th. Anna had designed this shirt which everyone wore to Disneyland, as you will soon see. Also if you click on the picture and can view it larger you can participate in finding a hidden Mickey! We did this as a bonus game during our Disneyland Trivia with the family and guess who ended up finding Mickey first (and no it's not the one in the ferris wheel)...Grandma and Grandpa!! Who were also so generous to buy all of us park tickets except Madison who is the only one in the family who still has a working Premium pass:-)...

good until the end of May if anyone wants to visit and take her :-)

The first Saturday was without Robert & Holly's family. Brave family members enjoyed our arctic pool...:-) Here we are attempting a cousin photo op but it's always one person not in a mood, we just can't have it all...:-)

Brave ones... in my defense, I didn't want to shock the minnie-mouse(baby) to come out too early...

So glad that Lily and Grace didn't seem to be bothered by the water temp! 

Our make shift slide... was popular...

Since Madison shared her bedroom with cousin Lily and Grace, most nights were fun group story time! Each of them took turns and picked a book to read...:-)

Easter Sunday is here! All the girls enjoyed opening gifts from G-parents...

 

Love Lily's reaction to a chocolate bunny! Priceless!

Baby Minnie Mouse got some gifts too so Madison got to open them for her:-)

Just like last time when we were together for Easter all the cousins got matching dresses... I usually don't like anything pink but this dress was super cute so Alyson and I were very happy to have found it in all sizes we were looking for!

Can't believe how we don't take enough family pictures! Gotta get better!

Another cousin pic opportunity... definitely challenging but every single one was cute in it's own way.

        

Two oldest cousins knew what the Easter egg hunt is all about so they were off and running around. This was the first year Madison really got into the searching so it was very fun to watch!

Very successful Easter egg hunting 2013!

Good job Madison:-)

It was funny to see how she was more excited when she found coins in her eggs than candies...

A bunny cake girls and g-ma Linda made...

On Monday we took the Idaho Kleins to a Science Center by USC

Tuesday we headed for San Diego where the Grandparents, Idaho Kleins, and us hit the San Diego Zoo and Old Town in San Diego for some authentic Mexican food. The Manchester Kleins hit the friendly skies and took a late night flight into San Diego. 

On Wednesday the Klein Family Reunion was officially in full swing. Our first stop was Aliso Beach near Dana Point, CA. It is an incredible beach with a nature preserve and tide pools with starfish, anemones and other marine life just hanging out. 

So hard to get your toddler to look at the camera or have a normal human smile:)

Thursday was day one of the main event...Disneyland and California Adventure...everyone came proudly decked out in their t-shirts (great job Anna)...

We actually started our day at California Adventure so that we could get Fast Passes to the new ride in Cars Land...still super popular.

I (Dave) took everyone's cards so that they could go enjoy the park while it was virtually empty (since everyone seemed to be waiting in the Cars Land fast pass line :-) It was then we found out Madison was just big enough to ride Soarin' Over California and it turned out she loved it!! (Except for the fireworks at the end :-)

Friday was recovery day...Madison got really sick (I don't think she is getting sick here even though it looks like...on Friday. We didn't think we would make the Saturday Disney Day, but she pulled through well enough that we decided what better place to be sick then the Happiest Place on Earth and she did really great.

 

The Manchester Kleins apparently love their lemons so we were happy the ones on the tree were still fresh for them to take back to Connecticut. 

 

Idaho Kleins coming back from a bathroom trip in California Adventure

 

A Bugs Life in California Adventure...we haven't seen it in a long time and can't remember what the caterpillar is called whose ride this is...but he talks funny and likes to eat. Madison wasn't still feeling great so you can kind of see her frail look which I do not like... but definitely glad we decided to come instead of staying at home feeling sick:-)

Front row of the mezzanine at the Aladdin show...that genie is so funny. Anna was trying to get the whole family in the picture but lost half of them due to the lighting...

Racing in Autopia...

Madison was feeling so much better by then and got to see her usual silly-ness we love:-)

        

California Screamin' Anna got a great shot of us taking off...

I do not miss this...and am not necessarily looking forward to it :-) Creative use of a trash can lid though...and she made the train :-)

The boys wanted to visit the Lego Store in Downtown Disney and Uncle Robert seems to have a thing for monorails so we went with them so we could eat at Earl of Sandwich and head home for the night. Well we got the yummy sandwiches but they unfortunately had to turn right around and take the monorail back before it stopped moving for the fireworks...

Sunday was our last day together so we had a nice BBQ lunch and enjoyed each other's company...

Still to come: Of course we couldn't allow family to visit without doing a project or two...or three...or four :-) Stay tuned for pictures on our next episode :-)