The Best Zurburts

Mercy loves to give and receive Zurburts. You know ... the farty sounds that you make when connecting mouth to belly and blowing. This post falls inline with my last post where I talk about Mercy playing with her brother so sweetly, only this time it is less girly and more neutral. He'll get her back someday. In the meantime, enjoy the video ... and excuse the part where I have to save my daughter from toppling off the couch. She is not the most balanced kid.

A Man's Man ...

It takes a real man to let his sister decorate his face with My Little Pony stickers. My son will have to reach into his soul to maintain his manhood right now as he has inheritted many of his big sister's toys. Not only do we make him use the very pink bouncer when we need to let him sit without mommy, but we let his sister decorate him with pink stickers. I am sure his therapist will hear all about our disastrous parenting in 20 years. Still, what do you expect a two-year-old girl who loves stickers, dolls and bows to do when you ask her to "play with her brother." I am just thankful that she really enjoys her brother ... so far ... and he seems to get a kick out of her too.

Mini Vaca ... The Happiest Place On Earth

This last weekend Tim and I took a mini vacation from life and headed to "The Happiest Place On Earth" ... the Anaheim Hilton. Ok ... so we also stopped by the other place by that name, Disneyland. But, let me tell you, with the number of people at the "Mainland" (the actual Disneyland vs. California Adventure), it really couldn't be called "The Happiest Place On Earth". In fact, I saw at least 30 children sorely in need of naps and their parents frustrated that they just paid 70 bucks a pop to stand in line for, maybe, four rides in eight hours and then wait an hour-and-a-half for a fireworks show that lasted all of 10 minutes, which ended up being less than Disney standards ... maybe they should just show their usual display and forego the holiday show. We did hit up California Adventure the next day to find that it was less busy and rode at least four rides in a two hour span. We watched the highly anticipated 4th of July fireworks display on the 3rd, which saved us a huge amount of time on the 4th (more about this later).

So, I hold to the fact that the Hilton was The Happiest Place On Earth. It was a great one-day stay there without the kids. We enjoyed the jacuzzi and our pool-deck room, which gave us an outdoor entrance from our plush room. It may have been only one day at the Hilton, but the best part I haven't told you about yet ... I got to sleep the whole night! It was my first full night's sleep in probably 6 months. With no real agenda, it felt good to know that if I wanted to sleep until 10, I could without guilt. We missed the kids, but knew they were well taken care of (thanks to Tim's parents) and that we would see them very soon.

I have to add that we did get a second night of our mini vaca, but it was at the Double Tree instead. We couldn't get the same room at the Hilton last minute for the second night, let alone any room at the Hilton. Apparently it was being invaded by a Barber Shop Quartet Conference. You heard me right! The whole hotel was booked by this group that was there for a Barber Shop Quartet competition ... or conference ... whichever. While waiting for our room the first day, we were serenaded by several groups echoing in the lobby of the Hilton. We got a kick out it. Tim and one of our "Dave" friends (we have at least 5 Dave's that we spend a significant amount of time with, so I call them all Dave and only clarify when which one I am talking about when needed) took time to interview several of the Quartet aficionados. Apparently, this is a very serious event ... even if some people like to find the humor in it, the participants will not. Like I posted on Facebook, where is Andy Bernard when you need him? Who can forget the time Andy Bernard set his phone to ring a song that he sung all four parts to. Anyway, it was entertaining, to say the least.

We ended up at California Adventure the second night to ride a few rides that we usually cannot ride when we have the kids along. There was barely any waiting, even for the newest attraction, Toy Story. This line is usually at least 45 min. But we got on in 15 minutes or less. It was great! We did have Gracen with us (we only had enough milk stored for one full day away), but we let him hang with the other couple that we went with while we rode the rides. One of the rides that we all enjoy is Hollywood Tower of Terror. It's a hyper version of a free-fall ride where they take you through a haunted hotel and then drop you in an elevator several times over. I bring up this particular ride only because this time, when I rode with my friend Robyn, we were somehow singled out to ride it ALONE. Hold on ... What?! We were sent to a different line thinking they needed to make room for the people behind us and the next 18 people that usually fit on the ride would soon fill in behind us. But NOOOOOOOO! They sent us in alone. The guy doing the "elevator man" part was creepy enough, but he decided to make it worse by staring at us for a while before sending us through. We were pretty freaked out. When we got off he handed us a sticker that said, "I took the dare." This implied that we were offered and, therefore, allowed to accept or deny the dare to ride alone (we assumed). If given the choice, which we weren't, we may not have been so freaked out. In fact, I am not sure either of us would have accepted, however, we were treated to a private party at the Tower. Good times!

We ended our second night at Disneyland wading through a sea of people, which were waiting between the two parks and all along the Downtown Disney promenade to watch the fireworks show. As stated above, they may have had a riot on their hands from people who were seriously disappointed to find that they had just paid $7 or more to park and then another hour or more of waiting to see a shabby display, to then figure out a way back to their cars with the other 3000 spectators who were ready to head home all at once. We got out of there just before the show started and were driving out of the parking structure just as the show ended. Disaster averted.

Lesson Learned: All-in-all, a mini vaca is totally worth the time and money. We felt rested when we returned and were looking forward to the next one. As with any trip when you leave the kids with their grandparents (at least the kind that spoil your kids when you're not around), Mercy has had a hard time adjusting back to not having someone's complete and undevided attention with the added bonus of "ask and you shall receive." Still, that's what grandparents do, and the break was well worth it.