Monday, April 26, 2010

Quentin's 7th Birthday!

It seems like just yesterday that we found out that we were expecting Quentin, our very first child.  Little did we know that this little boy would grow so fast and be such a wonderful friend and example to us all.  Quentin is still very full of life and is always so willing to help in any way he can.  He is an amazing boy who loves to learn and is growing in many ways.  We love having him in our home and in our lives. 


Quentin asked for a Mario party which was one of the most hardest things to find stuff for, not to mention that we only had a week to plan and get things going for it.  I was getting a bit worried about this party, that is until my wonderful husband came upon this blog.  http://jacobsonfive.blogspot.com/2008/05/super-mario-birthday-party.html  It was the most helpful and life saving site for me.  Besides decor and such, it also gave me great ideas for games and party gifts.   Then 2 days before the party we had to cancel and move the party to the next week, which aloud me to get a few more things ready. 

On this web site the writer told about doing a buttercream freezer transfer.  This sounded a bit more complicated then I was looking for, so I made a mushroom cake and put a Mario and Lugi firguring on the top.  The figures can be found at any game store.  We actually got ours at Blockbuster.  For the Mushroom cake, I made a circle and a pie tin cake, putting the pie cake on top upside down.  Then I cut the lower cake in just a bit.  I froze the cake for a half hour and then frosted it.  That way the cake didn't pull apart on me. 


We did not play all of the games she mentioned, but I did find pictures of everything on the internet which I printed up instead of painting them.  We played the Yoshi egg hunt game, the Gomba stomp game, and the Chomper bash game.  If the weather had cooperated, we would have played the Mario dash, only we were going to do an obsticle course instead of the ball game she mentioned. 


We had a lot of fun with the colorful hats, the fake mustaches and everything else.  For the party favors we just picked up some fun cheap toys at the party store to give out with their candy and coins they got with the games. 

Quentin seemed to have a lot of fun with a friend Kayden from Eagle Mountain and a whole bunch of boys from our ward here in Orem. Happy late Birthday Quentin!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Disneyland and Easter

We had a really fun Spring Break and vacation.  We also celebrated Quentin's 7th Birthday at Disneyland.  He will be having a late party with friends, but thought is was the best thing ever to be at Disneyland on his Birthday.  He got to wear this special Birthday pin that told everyone it was his Birthday.  He was very proud. 

We headed out Friday morning the 2nd and went to see Justin's grandparents for a couple of days in Ridgecrest, CA.  It was really great to see them again and help out in any way we could.  We also got to spend Easter with them.  We colored eggs and did an Easter egg hunt in their back yard.  The boys got to meet their second cousins and run around with them while there as well.  They also had a lot of fun playing a really old Sega Genesis.  They were in heaven and we had a really hard time leaving Grandma and Grandpa Grattan. 



The boys really loved playing with Sassy, Grandma and Grandpa's dog.  They especially loved chasing her around and making her howl.  It was fun, but loud. 



On April 5th we headed for Disneyland.  We had the most amazing hotel which everyone should stay in if they go.  The Residence Inn by Marriott.  We had two bedrooms, with bunk beds for the boys and a King bed for Justin and I.  Each room had it's own bathroom, so 2 bathrooms.  We had a full kitchen and living area, which separated the rooms.  The room was also controlled by an AC unit like in  your homes, not the traditional wall unit.  So we controlled the whole temp on the hotel room.  The hotel also included a full cooked breakfast and a light dinner which we found filled us up as much as we needed.  So we only ate out for lunch while we were at Disneyland.  So the money spent was not nearly what it could have been.  It also had a great swimming pool which we enjoyed almost every day there.  The hotel was a mile away from Disneyland, but it provided a shuttle which ran every 20 minutes and only stopped at one other hotel.  So we rarely waited for the shuttle.  It was a great place to stay.


We spent 3 days at Disneyland.  The first day, the boys were tired and only rode a few rides, but we did a lot of swimming that day.  They were very happy to swim.  We also went back that night for fireworks, which the boys really enjoyed.  The only down fall was that the people in front of us decided to stand and would not sit down.  So they weren't viewed as well as they could have been.  But they were still fun to watch.   The second day, we slept in and hit California Adventure.  We road a farris wheel, got to see some Characters and get pictures with them, and saw the Mickey Mouse Playhouse show.  I highly recommend this show for all of those with small children.  It was especially nice to get out of the heat for a while.  We also hit bugs land and road a few rides there.  The last day was the most successful day, probably because we were willing to get to the park by 7 am.  We were able to ride almost every ride we wanted with no more then a 20 minute wait.  It was a great day for rides.  The boys surprised me with the rides they were willing to go on and enjoyed.  Even Zayne road at least 5 rides or so.  I definitely recommend going early to the park if given the opportunity.  We only spent until lunch time the last day and went back to the hotel for more swimming and a cheaper lunch. 








On the way home we stopped in Cedar City to see Brian and Audrey.  They were so kind to fix us lunch and join us in a windy day at the park before we hit the road again. 

Over all it was a great trip and break from life.  Unfortunately we had life waiting for us when we got home, but we had a fun time.  I know the boys had fun and hopefully will remember it for a while. 

Sorry I rambled on for a while but here are just a few pictures from the trip.  If you would like to see some more, feel free to check out our web site.   http://justinhead.com/pictures/main.php/v/justin_family/vacations/disneyland/