Benson Turns 5!

 This amazing kid turned 5! He looked forward to turning 5 for a long time. He would make comments like, "Mom, when I'm five I'm not going to cry anymore." And "When I'm five I'm going to be really tall!" Benson has grown a lot this year. He and Brig are only one size difference in clothing. He has learned so much at pre-school and is looking forward to Kindergarten (most of the time, haha). He was one brave boy when he had to get his booster shot for Kindergarten. We waited for his turn at the clinic and watched kid after kid walk out crying and upset. When it was his turn he didn't even flinch or squeeze my hand! Benson is still our little artist. He spends a good part of his day drawing and creating things out of paper, cardboard, tape etc. He also loves legos, play-doh, music, and of course animals. I will often hear him singing a song word for word- he has an incredible memory and vocabulary. Just the other day I was driving him and his friend Brooklynn to preschool and listened to him correct Brooklynn on how to say mouse in the plural form...He is quite particular. He is a really good brother and is looking forward to becoming a big brother.
We celebrated his birthday a couple days early while at Disneyland. He got to wear a big birthday pin and his face lit up every time a Disney worker wished him a happy birthday (which was just about every ride.) When we got home we had a small family birthday party. He requested Star Wars decorations just like Brig had for his party and he wanted a chocolate cake with red frosting, sprinkles, berries and whipped cream on top. Easy enough! WE love you Benson, and can't wait to watch you have another great year!

Disneyland!

These are some excited boys to get on the airplane and head to Disneyland! Even after running on very little sleep, miles of walking, and being soaking wet within one minute of leaving the hotel, the boys were so good the entire trip! The first day was spent at Magic Kingdom and it rained most of the day. The ponchos kept us fairly dry, except for our shoes. The best thing about all the rain is that it kept the crowds away! We never waited longer than 20 minutes in any ride. We didn't even bother with fast passes with the lines so short. Benson's favorite ride was the carousel and Thunder Mountain Railroad. Brig liked Pirates of the Caribean and the Star Wars ride the best. Jared's favorite ride is Splash Mountain and mine are Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones. We did all the rides we wanted, some of them multiple times, by the early afternoon.

The second day we went to California Adventure and it was raining even harder. Because of the rain and the flash flood warnings, most of the rides in Cars Land were closed. We were pretty bummed about that, but it did give us plenty of times to check out the other rides. I think we rode Soarin' at least 4 times. The boys loved it and it was nice to be inside. Next, the boys wanted to try Guardians of the Galaxy (tower of terror). I wasn't about to go on it (I black out on free fall rides) and was surprised the boys wanted to go on it. I waited in the lobby for their picture to pop up on the screen. They looked like they were in shock so I was surprised that they wanted to go again. But not right away, haha. Brig was also brave enough, and barely tall enough to go on the new Incredicoaster. Jared said he was silent the entire time. Brig said he liked it but didn't go on it again. I think our favorite ride overall was the Toy Story one which we rode many, many times. Benson also really enjoyed Turtle Talk with Crush from Finding Nemo. He even got to ask Crush a question.

The 3rd day the rain had stopped and we went back to the main park. It got busy fast due to it being a Friday on a 3 day weekend and it was the only day of the week they were doing the nighttime firework shows. So we hit up some of our favorite rides and a couple we hadn't done and left the park around noon to rest and swim at the hotel. We headed back in the evening for the shows. Benson got lots of extra attention while at Disney because of his upcoming birthday. He got to wear a birthday pin and every worker that saw it wished him happy birthday! He loved every minute of it. However, anytime he got sad or upset about something he would say, "I wanna go home!" And to nobody's surprise, when we got home, he said, "I wanna go back to Disneyland!" LOL. So do I buddy.

 I am so happy that we got to take this trip with our little family and make some great memories. They boys were the perfect age: they were tall enough to go on all the rides, walked  most of the time, and will hopefully remember a few things from the trip.

Space mountain. The boys got a little scared on this one and I got motion sick from it being so dark. Yuck

The boys were most excited to meet the Star Wars characters. They are a bit intimidating up close. It took a lot of convincing for Benson to get close to Chewy.

The Lego store was a lot of fun!

We enjoyed trying out some of the Disney foods. Benson is our little carnivore and almost ate the entire giant turkey leg all by himself.

Jared was so loud yelling and hollering on this ride!

Can you tell this picture is from day 3?

This is probably my favorite picture. Benson was insistent he ride in the front of the log after going down a few times. We told him that he wasn't going to like getting splashed in the face. He wouldn't listen though, and guess what we heard afterwards? I wanna go home! LOL

We convinced him to go again tho, this time in the 3rd seat.

Our favorite treat by far, Mickey Mouse shaped Beignets!

The castle was under construction while we were there.

Benson fell asleep before the night time shows started

Our hotel had an awesome breakfast and Brig wasted no time eating 1 or 2 donuts every morning