Swimming with Calli

Calli invited Brayden and I to go swimming with them today at her sister's pool. At first, Brayden wasn't thrilled with sitting in the new inflatable turtle that he got for his birthday, so I held him inside of it as I walked around the pool. Next thing I know, he is completely passed out.

I was able to transfer him to the wagon without waking him up. So Brayden took a little nap while I played with Calli's kids.

Once Brayden woke up, he was in a much better mood. He was a lot more comfortable in the floaty that I borrowed from Calli's sister. All in all, it was a really great day. Hopefully Brayden warms up to his turtle though.

Trip to the Zoo

Dave and Calli convinced up to accompany their family to the zoo today. Since we beat them there, we set up a little PB&J picnic outside of the park while we waited for them to arrive.

Craig and I had a lot of fun taking Brayden around to the different animals, but Brayden was pretty clueless to what was going on. When we tried to point out an animal, Brayden would stare interestedly at the railing in front of it.

Even at the bird show, Brayden looked the other way when the flock of doves flew over the audience. It was hilarious! Maybe next year he will realize what going to the zoo is actually about.

Random Pictures from May '09

Taken Sunday the 10th: Craig's mom had all of her kids over to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. It was great to eat out on the deck. Thanks to Brayden's Aunt Tori for entertaining him while we ate.

Taken Thursday the 21st: Brayden got his first milk mustache today. He's cute enough to pose for a milk commercial.

Taken Sunday the 24th: Shortly after Brayden was born, we had to live with my parents in order to make ends meet. Now that we are doing a little better, we are able to rent a room from an old friend and his wife, Dave and Calli Van Ness. We don't plan to be here long, but it's one step closer to being in our own place again.

Disneyland Honeymoon - Day 4

It's Friday, the last day of our vacation and we are hours away from living a dream. To pass some time, we took a ride around the park on the train.

I was too excited to do much, so we finally stopped at the Court of Angels to wait until it was time for our lunch at Club 33. So, yesterday we received a confirmation call from the club explaining the rules and how things were to work the next day. They instructed us to stop by the information desk before we left the park that day to pick up our tickets for today. Let me explain, yes we had already purchased tickets for today, but you get into the park free when you eat at Club 33. Since that meant that we had two extra tickets, we found a family in line to buy tickets and gave them our extras.

It was finally time for us to check in at the club. We went to the door marked "33" in New Orleans Square, opened a panel to the side of it and rang the bell. A receptionist answered and asked for our names. Once she had confirmed that we were on her list, she pushed a button that allowed us to open the door. The lobby was beautiful. It still had the original elevator lift and it worked! She asked if we would prefer to take the stairs or the lift. That was an easy choice. We'll take the lift please.

This is the table that they sat us at. I was beautiful. The window to the left overlooked the Rivers of America. The balcony outside would have been the perfect place to watch the Fantasmic show at night.

There are a few things I want to point out about this picture. First off are the decoration behind Craig. The dark wood and curtains were perfectly set off by the creams surrounding them. It felt like a very grand, wealthy place, but I was very comfortable there. It didn't feel cold or standoffish at all. The other things that I wanted to mention was the water. I thought it was funny that the waiters walked around with bottles of Smart Water to fill our glasses with. There was no drinking from the tap at this place.

Then it came time to order our food. The menu they brought us was very simple. We had less than a dozen choices to choose from. I picked the pan-seared Chateaubriand and Craig picked an Italian dish that had four varieties of pastas on one plate. I'm not going to lie, my dish was much better than Craig's. Even the mashed potatoes and gravy were to die for. But before lunch was brought out, we were encouraged to check out the two buffet tables. One was a cold salad buffet complete with shrimp, salads and fruit. When I spotted the other table, my mouth almost dropped. There was a wild assortment of incredible looking desserts. One of the chefs noticed me looking, so he stopped to explain what eat dessert was and persuaded me to at least sample each one there. They had so many different and exotic flavors. I was in heaven!

One of my favorite things about Disneyland is it's lack of liquor/beer distributed to the masses. It's hard to keep it family friendly when you have drunks stumbling around. However, I had heard rumors that Club 33 was the only place within the entire park where liquor was sold. Well, those aren't rumors. It is totally the truth. They have a full bar and you can order anything you would like, but they reserve the right to cut anyone off in order to maintain the family friendly atmosphere. When the bartender came to our table to ask what we'd like, I had no idea what to tell him. He asked what kind of things I liked and then suggested that I try the Pirates Punch. It was delicious!

Just before we left, our waiter offered to take our picture on the balcony outside. I loved listening to the people outside wondering how we got up there. On our way out, there was a display case housing the different souvenirs that could be purchased. They said that you cannot buy this stuff anywhere else in the world (unless you happen to find it on eBay). We couldn't leave without something, so we purchased two pub glasses that had Club 33's symbol etched into the sides. Once we finished paying for everything (food, drinks, tips, souvenirs) our total came to $250. That is easily the most I have ever spent on a single meal, but it was totally worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

The last bit of magic that happened before we left for home was meeting Momma Pat. One of the cast members said that we had to go find her and by the time we did, she had already been told about us. She chided us for not calling ahead and letting her know that we were coming. She told us that her only job at the park is to make people's dreams come true. Even though it was short notice, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve for us.

This really was the most incredible trip I have ever been on and the perfect honeymoon. I can't think of a better place where I would want to spend the day with my husband. This place all but forces me to believe in magic.

Disneyland Honeymoon - Day 3

We are headed off to California Adventure today. It opens a touch later than Disneyland, so we had time to stop into Denny's for breakfast this morning.

Now that our tummies are happy, it's time to get going.

This street has to be the most amusing street to walk down. Can you tell where it ends?

The first time I watched the movie, Wall-E, that little robot stole my heart. He is so cute. I was hoping to see him this weekend.

This is where our trip really took a turn for the incredible! Notice, Craig and I are wearing lanyards with pins on them. Once you buy your original pins, you can wander the park switching them out with the cast members that you see. I had misplaced the back to one of mine, so I approached this kind gentleman, Dan, outside of the Hyperion Theatre and asked where I could buy an extra. He just gave me one of his and then we started talking. He is an incredible person! Dan gave Craig his own lanyard as long as Craig promised to go buy some pins and start trading. Then things got really crazy. Dan asked us if we had ever heard of the place called Club 33. Wow! I had just discovered the existence of this club mere weeks before. Well, Dan happens to be a member and he offered to sponsor us if we wanted to get in. A lady walking behind us was blown away. She told us that she had spent years trying to figure out how to get in. I couldn't believe it. Dan fixed everything up for us to have lunch at Club 33 the following day. This trip just keeps getting better!

Now that I am on Cloud 9, we continue to explore the park. Here we are, underground, just about to watch "It's Tough To Be A Bug". I always for get that a giant spider shows up, but even if I did remember, I'd probably still go see it. It's cute.

As the day got really hot, it was time to head back to the Hyperion Theatre to hide in the AC. This picture was taken while we were exploring the Beast's Library.

But apparently Dan wasn't finished with us yet. We ran into him inside the building this time and he got us front row seats at the Animation Academy. Here, we learned how to draw Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Craig and I did a pretty good job, but it was nothing compared to the teacher. Just before class was excused, the teacher gave us his drawing as a wedding gift. Then he let us take a picture with him on stage.

Our last bit of magic today were the VIP seats to go see the live performance of Aladdin. If you have ever seen this show, you will know that the lines are ridiculous. As you can see in the picture above, we are the only two in this line. Eventually a dozen or so others join us, but that's it. There were umbrellas to keep us cool and we got to enter the theatre first. Our seats were perfect and the show was great. What a day, but I have a feeling that tomorrow will be even better.

Disneyland Honeymoon - Day 2

Finally! I'm so close to entering the park. I barely slept last night. I woke up really early and got all ready. I had already finished, but Craig was still asleep. As I was shaking him, I told him that I was leaving in five minutes whether he was coming with me or not. Because he loves me, he jumped out of bed. We were out of there within five minutes. I wanted to go straight to the gate, but the park wasn't even open yet, so Craig convinced me to stop for breakfast first. We ate as we walked and we were the first person in line.

Well, they finally opened the gates and let us in...kind of. Apparently the shops on Main Street, USA open an hour before the rest of the park, so we had another line to stand in before we could go play. While we were standing there, one of the cast members congratulated us on our wedding and informed us that there was a kiosk that we could go to that would give us a button to wear on out shirts saying that we were celebrating our honeymoon.

I was also able to take this picture while we were waiting. I've never been able to take this picture without hundreds of guests wandering through it. Minus the two cast members that I caught, it is perfect!

I had to take advantage of this photo opportunity. Besides, Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite Disney movies.

About two weeks ago, I met a girl that is as obsessed with Disney as I am. One of the things she told me about were the hidden Mickeys. I didn't remember all the details, but when they were creating the Disney parks in Florida, people in charge only wanted Mickey to show up in Disneyworld and none of the others. The creators didn't agree, so they found ways to slip those three connected circles into the weirdest places. Since then, hidden Mickeys have popped up all over the place and it has become a kind of game for the guests to find them all. Here I am finding one of them in the landscaping.

Another thing this girl told me about was Club 33. If you go walking through New Orleans Square you will notice that every shop has a numbered address next to the door. Most are rather small and unobtrusive, but #33 isn't. As you can see, it is quite large and it leads to a locked door. She told me that if you know the right people you can get through that door and into an exclusive restaurant. She also mentioned that it is the absolutely only place in the entire park that you can order alcohol. How cool! My interest was piqued. If I would have know what was going to happen the next day, I think I would have gone crazy, but I'll save that story for tomorrow.

Here is Craig screwing around at Mickey's piano in Toontown. If you look closely, you'll notice that the notes are little Mickey heads. Every so often, Donald Duck's head will pop up.

Craig had a lot of fun while driving through Autopia in Tomorrowland.

Since the day was getting hot, Craig and I shared a Mickey ice cream pop.

One of the other things I found out about before coming was this little spike that Craig is pointing out. Under Sleeping Beauty's castle, Walt Disney marked the center of the original park. The park has grown quite a bit since then, but the spike remains.

I just had to get a picture with my Princess Aurora. I don't care what anyone says, she is easily the coolest princess and she is one of the few that has a relationship with their prince before they fall in love. Besides, I'd love three fairies taking care of me.

While we were visiting Tarzan's tree house in Adventureland, Craig caught sight of the dreaded tiger. Obviously he isn't intimidated.

We have had so many incredible stories for one day. Everyone has been so nice to us. I was a little worried that the cast would feel that Disneyland is a place for kids and would think that I'm too old to be acting like this. On the contrary! They were amazing. A few of them would give us "wedding gifts" in the form of passes that would take us to the front of any line. It was a great day, but it got even better at dinner.

Craig had never been to the Blue Bayou (a New Orleans type restaurant adjacent to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride), so I wanted to take him today. Because I'm a little foolish, I didn't think to make reservations a head of time, so we waltz up the the restaurant and wait in line until it is our turn to talk with the host. The couple directly in front of us hadn't made reservation either and they were told that the restaurant was full. They would have to come back later. I wasn't surprised, but before we left, the maître d’ approached us, congratulated us on our wedding and led up straight to a table. I'm not kidding, this place is magic! Especially for me. You are never too old to be entranced by this place. And I still have two more days before this has to end.

Disneyland Honeymoon - Day 1

Ever since Choir Tour in high school I have always wanted to spend my honeymoon in Disneyland. Because we already had the cruise planned, it wasn't practical to try to throw in Disneyland as well. But now that I'm done breastfeeding our baby, I'm running away with my husband for our third honeymoon in Disneyland!

I was awake at 4:00 this morning ready to get going. As soon as Craig shifted in his sleep I was asking if he was ready to go. Craig starting out our drive to California. We left at 4:30 am. Sometime around noon I took my turn to drive. I was so excited to get there. I wanted to make breaks as few and as far between as possible.

We arrived at our hotel just after 2 o'clock (California time) which left plenty of time to get freshened up before heading out. By the way, we couldn't have gotten a better hotel. We bought bought the hotel and park tickets through Phil's military work discount. We ended up staying at the Anaheim Camelot Inn & Suites which is literally across the street from the entrance to the park. It was also next door to a McDonald's so breakfast was going to easy.

I was so excited to be in California. From where we were standing when I took this picture you could see some of the rides rising above the fence across the street. The whole feeling of this place makes all stress melt away. I know that we have been married almost two years by now, but it wasn't hard to believe that we were newlyweds.

Once we got all ready, we went shopping at Downtown Disney. There is one store in particular that I wanted to hit. I don't remember the name of it, but it's huge and I'm sure that if it is sold anywhere in the park, you could find it there. My goal was to buy my very first pair of Mickey ears. There were a few wedding ones to choose from, but these were by far the coolest. Now everyone will know that we are celebrating our honeymoon.

For dinner, Craig took me to the Rain Forest Cafe in Downtown Disney. I've walked past it every time I've come here, but this was my first time going inside. The food was delicious and the decor was awesome! There were so many vines and flowers hanging from the ceiling. It felt like you had just walked into a wonderland. The best part about the place was the mock thunderstorms that would happen periodically. I love the sound of thunder. I was surprised how intimate and romantic it made dinner.

Before we headed off to bed, I had a little photo session with our adorable new hats. There were so many cute details that were added. I mean Craig's had coattails in the back. How cool is that!

Brayden's 1st Birthday Party

In order to celebrate our baby turning one, we threw a party for him at a park by our house.

I was honestly impressed at how many friends and family showed up. We had a lot of mouths to feed.

Craig and I provided polish dogs, hot dogs,drinks and cupcakes for everyone. Then we had a lot of people bring salads and chips to finish off the meal. It ended up being quite a spread.

I wasn't sure whether Brayden would want a cupcake that was frosted or not, so we offered both which was ridiculous because he took both. Duh!

Then everyone gathered around while Craig helped Brayden unwrap his haul of birthday presents. He got so many cool things. This is why you have a birthday party!

The Guests:

Grandma and Grandpa Capizzi

Emma, Nana, Erika, Krystal, Madison, Aunt Tori and Aunt Courteney

Uncle Matt

Dominik and Uncle CJ

Aunt Megan, Uncle Steven and Zoe with Lincoln on the way

Kali and Uncle Eric

Deana, Dorothy and Kapri

Kailey, Carissa, Garrett and Eli

Nathan, Brandon, Casi and TJ