Disneyland!

Ash and cousin Alex
Alex, Gavin, Ash and Aunt Cathy ( Dave's sister)
Goofy's Kitchen
Cooling off in the splash zone

We had a fun trip last week to California. Ash and Deb stayed with Deb's Grandma who lives just 15 minutes from Disneyland. We met up with Ashley's cousins who are 5 and 3...it was their first trip to see the Mouse. We went on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Dave flew down Friday evening so he could join us Saturday, then the three of us flew home Sunday. It is so nice to go to the park off season!! The park is only open from 10am to 8pm but it is plenty of time because there are no lines! We did 2 character meals, one at Ariel's Grotto with Disney Princesses and one at Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast. I preferred Goofy's Kitchen... the food was much more fun for the kids than Ariel's Grotto. The best new ride is Toy Story Mania in California Adventure. Ash LOVES everything Toy Story so it was a big hit with her. She is almost 36 inches so we were able to take her on some big kids rides like the Matterhorn:) I wasn't sure how she would react, but she loved it and wanted to do it again. Ash is pretty fearless, with the exception of fireworks. She does not like any loud pops or bangs so gunfire and fireworks scare the heck out her and she cries huge tears. I'm sure she will grow out of it. FYI...Disney just announced that for the 2009 season you can go to Disneyland or Walt Disney World on your birthday for FREE!!! Who hoooo! You must actually go to the park on your birthday and show picture ID confirming your birthdate to get in for free. Go to Disney.com for more details and to register members of your family if you plan to go. When I told Dave about it he just rolled his eyes thinking about how many times we may end up going to Disney in the next year:)

POOP!!

Last night Deb went to work and Dave left Ash downstairs in front of Toy Story...her favorite movie. 15 or 20 minutes goes by and Dave goes downstairs to check on Ash and smells something funny...as he gets closer to Ash he realizes she has poop all over her hands and all over her clothes! She had very runny poop and put her hands down her pants to see what it was all about. Dave had to pick her up to get her upstairs to the bath and ended up with poop all over him! One hour and 2 baths later everyone was in PJ's and sleeping with no further pooping! Poor Daddy:)

Nana and Papa -Deb's parents

Nana, Grandma Gertrude, Ash and Deb
Grandma Gertrude age 96!!!

I spent last week in Seal Beach CA with my Grandma and my parents to celebrate Grandma's 96th birthday! She is still driving and living on her own...amazing. I hope I inherit those genes!

We even managed to squeeze in some time at the beach. The is a great inlet 10 minutes from Grandma's house that had no waves and lots of sandy beach. It is perfect for little ones' then they are not afraid of the ocean. It also has a great playground.

Ashley August 2007
Ashley August 2008

Every year we go to Island Park Idaho for a week long stay with Dave's family in a large cabin. Believe it or not we manage to share this cabin with 15 people and only one bathroom!! Showers are a rare luxury during the week:) Each year I've taken a picture of Ash on the backyard swing set to see how she has grown up....so fast! We spent the week fishing, swimming in Firehole River in Yellowstone, rafting Henry's River and watching lots of movies. We share cooking duties and clean up duties and we had a great time as always.