DisneyLand

The Thursday before last, we woke Miller up and gave him a present to open. It was a Disney T-shirt and we told him he might want to wear it when we go to meet Mickey Mouse at DisneyLand in two days. He wasn't sure what to think at first (video to come in the next post), but he got more excited the more we talked about it. Jud parents stayed here with Miles as we weren't ready to brave it with an 18 month old (good decision).

This is right after we got to our hotel room and he was super excited just to look at the brochure. I'm pretty sure this could be an ad for Disney.

Breakfast at the hotel before we head to DinseyLand.

Heading into the park.

Right when we walked in we spotted Mickey. Miller was super excited.

Then Pinocchio.

Then Pluto. We scored big right at the beginning. Here's Miller running to give him a hug.

In front of Walt and Sleeping Beauty's Castle (I always thought Cinderella's castle was at both parks, but it makes perfect sense).

Miller and Daddy waiting in line for Dumbo.

In the boat heading into It's a Small World.

Completely mesmerized.

Miller driving on Utopia.

Starship Troupers.

Nemo Submarine ride - one of his favorites.

Sitting on Pluto's bed in Mickey's house.

Being goofy with Goofy.

The Queen from Snow White. Miller loved her. She was super funny and called Mickey an overgrown rodent.

We told Miller he could pick out one thing to get at the end of the day and he chose a really cool blinking sword. Here he is trying it out while we were waiting for the parade to start.

The parade...Minnie and Mickey.

The Genie from Aladdin.

Peter Pan and crew. Peter came over to Miller and talked to him (story and video to come in later post).

Last ride of the night - Buzz Light Year. He was super excited and loved it!

Walking out of the park and doing crazy things with his sword and the camera.

The second day we headed to California Adventure Park. It's the other Disney park right across from DisneyLand. They are opening a Cars Land there this summer and Mater and Lightning McQueen were already there. So fun!

The green army men from Toy story put on a small show. Miller loved watching them, but he would not go up and participate with the other kids.

Riding the Rocket Swing. Can you see them peeking over?

Goofy again in his flight gear. We rode his flying roller coaster right after.

Miller and Woody.

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!!

The Toy Story Ride - one of our favorites. We rode it three time that day.

Chip and Dale.

Loving the Disney Jr. Live show.

Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates (one of Miller's favorite shows).

Ready to watch A Bugs Life 4D Movie. If you know my phobia, this sign is pretty funny.

Stuck in a Toy Story Toy Box. HELP!

California Adventure Park has a water show similar to The Bellagio Hotel in Vegas, but with lights and video. It's such a great show even though you have to stand the whole time.

Amazed by the light and water show.

The Mickey Ferris Wheel all lit up. This is the one ride Miller would not go on (he even went on Space Mountain) and we could not talk him into it - we tried all day long. He said it was just too high.

Miller was so great and it was such special alone time with him. We had such an amazing trip and we can't wait to go back with both boys in a year or two. Truly magical!!!

Half Marathon

Jud decided about two days before the half marathon that he was going to run. Yep, he hardly runs at all and he was just going to go out and run 13.1 miles. Don't you hate people like that?

Our friend Collin was planning on running with his dad and sister and they both were not able to do it. So, Jud became Anna for the day. Collin is a great pace keeper so Jud knew that he wouldn't have to worry about that. Of course he finished and even ahead of Collin (he got a leg cramp about mile 10 and told Jud to keep going). Now he can check that off the list.

I'm so proud of you honey! Way to go!

New Years in Kansas City

On New Years Day we rented a car and drove from Lincoln to Kansas City to visit our friends Ricky, Shae and Amelia. That night they had a little NYE shindig at their house with some friends and family. They served a fabulous steak dinner and the kids had so much fun with glow bracelets and confetti shooters.

New Years Day we just hung out at the house and watched football. Miles took his first bath with a girl (baby Amelia).

Dad's, clean kiddos and Kona dog all goofing off on the bed.

We thought it would be fun for Shae to take some pictures of the boys while we were there. She is so good behind the camera. For some reason we didn't take advantage of the nice weather the day we arrived and waited for it to be super cold and windy. They lasted about five minutes.

We then headed to the Plaza to go to Hallmark Kaleidoscope. It's a fun place where kids use leftover materials from Hallmark cards processing to make art. How great is that?

Miller gave the Lego train conductor a hug.

The highlight of the day was Fritz's. It's a burger joint where your food is put in boxes and brought to you by a train above your head. Then lowered down on a small elevator platform to your table. You even place your order on a telephone that is at your table. The kids thought it was so cool. The food was mediocre, but no one even cared.

Miller, Miles and Biddy (Amelia) before we left. We had so much fun. Thanks for everything Paradise family!

*All pictures taken by Shae Shae . . . because when she has her camera out, there is no reason to get our camera out.

Lincoln Christmas

After we got all our Santa gifts we packed up and headed to the airport to jet off to Lincoln. We actually had an uneventful trip there besides a non-napping cranky Miles.

On Monday we woke up and had our Martin Family Christmas. Here are the kiddos (cousins Bekah and Max) excited to do their stockings. We got lots of fun goodies from everyone - thanks!

Miles and Bekah became fast buds since Miller and Max were never apart.

All bundled up and ready for a walk to the park. We actually had nice weather and no snow while we were there.

Cousins in their new matching pj's.

Max and Mary had a Rowoldt Christmas get together for those in town. It was so nice to see everyone.

The Martin clan.

The big kids went to a science museum one day and had so much fun.

Bekah and Miller checking out the dinosaurs.

Miller acting like he's being eaten by a tiger.

Miller and Max "digging for dinosaur bones".

We had so much fun in Lincoln. Thanks for everything Max and Mary!

Santa!

Miller and Miles were on the "Nice" list this year as Santa came to our house. Jud took this picture of the loot before the boys woke up.

Here they are coming around the corner. Miles had no clue what was going on and really just wanted me to hold him.

Santa brought Miller just what he asked for ... a new big bike, a light saber and a dagger/small sword like Peter Pan's.

Miller on his new bike with his little duck measuring tape. He loves to measure things.

Miles wasn't quite old enough to "get it" this year, but he sure does like his new car spinning race track. Miller likes it too.

Thanks for all the goodies Santa!

Christmas Eve

We decided to go to the Children's service on Christmas Eve this year. I had heard great things. We had planned to take Miles to the nursery, but it wasn't open when we got there. It might have been a Children's service, but taking a busy 17 month old to hour long church is not fun. I really didn't get to worship and celebrate Jesus' birth. I'm glad we tried it, but next year I think we will stick to the traditional service and make sure the nursery is open for Miles.

Here are the boys all dressed up in their Christmas duds.

This picture make me want to cry because Miller is so big.

Sweet Miles.

Argue Family Christmas

Well, I'm just now getting around to updating the blog. We had a great Christmas here and then we went to Nebraska and Kansas City and had a great time there as well. We just got back on January 3. I'm going to separate all our Christmas celebrations out, basically to make it easier for me. So, just bear with me.

Since it was the Martin Christmas year, we celebrated early on the 22nd with the Argue clan. We had a great Christmas dinner on Wednesday and we all spent the night at my parents that night so we could have "Christmas morning" there. If you remember, last year we had matching footie pj's, entered a contest and won (see last years blog post here). We won $1000 worth of pj's so of course we got matching ones for this year. LOVE IT!!!

Miles and JoJo ready for stockings.

The "kids" with our full stockings from Noni and JoJo.

Sister love. I think we have this same picture ever since Evan was born. I should go back and find them all.

I just love my three boys!!!

After stockings we had a big yummy breakfast to get some energy for present opening. One of Miller's favorite gifts was his marshmallow shooter from Evan and Blake. I'm not too thrilled about it.

After opening presents, the boys love to play in the bows. Miles thought it was so funny to put one on his head. There was glitter everywhere.

Thanks to Noni, JoJo, Evan and Blake for all our fun gifts. We all got some great stuff and had so much fun.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Martins.

I do have to say...I have three good looking boys in my life!