Disneyland Recap - Elias

Here's to another picture overload of our trip to Disneyland. This time we will focus on the trip from Eli's perspective and they are definitely not in order. But let's begin!

Eli was a huge fan of the airplane and rode with the "boys" on the plane.  He loved looking out the window and this was just a glimpse of things to come for him this trip.  Eli had been to Disneyland in my tummy at 20 weeks pregnant (I know that doesn't count, but he kept me off a lot of rides, so I'm counting it!), and then again when he was around 18 months. So it had been awhile since he has been there, and he definitely didn't remember the last time.

This kid was up for anything. In fact, his biggest disappointment was that he couldn't ride Indiana Jones or the big rollercoaster Screamin.  I have full confidence now that he would have loved both of those, but once he grows a bit more he can have at em!  I had no idea how much of an adrenaline junky this kid was.  I wasn't sure what rides he would be willing to do, but after begging me non-stop for 2 days to ride the tower of terror, I told him "fine, go do it."  In hopes that after he experienced how scary it was, he would leave me alone about it. But nope, the kid loved it!  

My tiny 4 year old is hiding somewhere behind all the big people in these pictures.  I still can't believe he liked it.   

His very favorite of the trip was Space Mountain which is all decked out in Star Wars theme right now.  So extra bonus for him there! He looks thoroughly bored in most of the on ride photos, which I find pretty funny!  

Cars was of course a winner too! 

The kids got the opportunity to meet Darth Vader.  While they were initially excited, he freaked them out a bit in person.

He was a real charmer with the princesses

And of course there are the mandatory photos at Elias and Company!

This kid was go, go, go from one ride to another in the park, but when he dropped, he dropped!  

This is how they rolled! 

He's in that soaking wet raft somewhere. 

Silly boys! 

And that's a wrap.  We thoroughly exhausted all of them!  There is no doubt that Eli has our Disney DNA, but what would you expect from a kid named after the man himself!  

An Epic Disneyland Vacation - Malachi

Our family (minus LB) just got back from an incredible Disneyland vacation.  We've been planning and preparing and counting down for several months now and were just so excited to get to go.  I wasn't sure the best way to go through this trip, so I will start at the top and go through the trip from the perspective of different kids, so there may be some repeats in the mix.  

The last time Malachi was in Disneyland, was back when he had just turned two.  He had also gone with us soon after we brought him home around 6 months old.  For some reason, the trip was very scary for him at 2 years old and so we told him we would wait and take him back when he was 5.  We held true to that promise with our first family Christmas trip to Disneyland.  Before we knew it, we were on the last link of our paper chain and on our way to Disneyland! 

It has been a couple years since he has flown on an airplane, so the whole trip was full of new and fun experiences!

He found himself dancing in the street with excitement as we waited for our ride to Disneyland. 

Our first night was spent just chillin, but we did find Santa! 

Then it was our first day in the park!  It was an exciting day! 

Now all the pictures are not in order, but the kids were doing great on all the rides and wanted to try out space mountain.  So we let them give it  a go. It was a little scary for Malachi but within another day he was willing to give it another try and liked it much better! 

He did however, LOVE Cars! 

 Even though he wasn't thrilled at first to meet the princesses, he quickly turned on the charm.

Autograph books were a fun way to interact and meet all the characters. 

He showed Anna and Elsa how Iron man flies, so Anna was giving it a try! 

Since typically it is loud noises that scare him, a set of headphones was great for him to have!  Here he is waiting for Star Tours, his favorite ride of this trip! 

Another favorite was Big Thunder Mountain 

And of course, a favorite from the last trip, the teacups! 

Not only did our big Ironman fan get to see all the suits

But he got to be Ironman too! 

Another super sweet moment from our trip, we saw this Santa Clause with his wife Mrs Clause several times during our trip. They were always decked out in festive red colors.  Before we left, our elf on the shelf Henry had told the kids that Santa would be vacationing in Disneyland and they would get to meet him there.  They did meet Santa the first night there, but then we saw this guy with his wife ON vacation and Malachi yelled to him "Hi Santa" so he came over and gave each of the kids a candy cane.  Malachi was just amazed that Santa was indeed vacationing at Disneyland!

Another favorite ride!  The weather was just perfect for this trip, probably the best we've ever had because it wasn't too hot or pouring rain on us.  It was sunny and 80 all week!  Perfect getaway from the cold if you ask me!

Another highlight for Malachi was building his own lightsaber.  We gave the kids tasks around the house before leaving (gotta work it when you can) to earn Disney dollars that allowed them treats and  a custom lightsaber during the trip.  He was thrilled to get to bring it home with him. 

Yep, it was an amazing trip with my amazing family! Stay tuned for more from Eli's perspective! 

Called to Love..... By Grace

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend for the 3rd year Called to Love.  Called to Love is an amazing retreat for adoptive and foster mom's.  This was a much needed resource for our region and I am so blessed by the fact that a group of women felt called to provide this resource for us mom's on this sometimes unique journey.  The fact is, in day to day life our families look and act much different than your "typical" family.  I almost feel bad for any waiting mama's at this thing, because they hear a lot about the "hard" with adoption.  As our last speaker stated, adoption is a calling, and it's not always an easy path to walk.  For us or our children.

In our previous years of attending, the focus has been a lot on our children and things we can do to help them on their journey.  It has always been good.  This year, I didn't really know what to expect. Seeing the list of speakers and breakouts, I was just kind of indifferent but sure something would stand out to me this weekend.  Can I just say, I was truly blown away this weekend.  The theme was Grace, and the focus in my mind this year was not so much on my kids, although I gleaned lots of wonderful information for parenting them too. But it felt more soulful in restoration and grace for us mama's. This season of life with 4 little's has just been exhausting for me. In a good way, but also it can be extremely difficult.  All the kids are quite little and constantly pushing us in different directions with appointments and extra-curricular activities. Then you throw in the normal daily life stuff and homeschooling and things have just been exhausting.

 This weekend was great for self care.  I came home truly refreshed and with fresh perspective.  This journey with ALL my kids is soooo not about me and I can't do it without much grace from God.  Even in the days since retreat, I have focused on taking care of myself.  If I take care of my needs, I am better equipped to take care of my kids. And if the day to day stuff is going to stress me out and in turn make me impatient with my kids, then it isn't worth doing. It was much needed to take a step back right now, let me tell ya, and just let go of some of that mommy guilt.  

I truly just adore the family God has given me.  They are a true and wonderful blessing from above.  I will finish this post with what I believe is a very simple but profound word given to us adoptive mama's because this is at the heart of why many of us chose adoption in the first place.  Not only did one speaker feel led to give us this word, but two.  Now when two separate speakers are given the same verse to share with us, I think it is worth paying extra close attention to.

John 21: 

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep."

In the past few days, I have been reminded and reflecting on the 3 themes the retreat has had thus far, they combine quite wonderfully into one theme:

Called to Love, love like crazy, by grace!