Just a typical Mother's Day Post

Mother's Day Breakfast:
-Omelets with grilled peppers, cut up steak bites, and cheese
-Waffles with fresh berries, homemade vanilla ice cream,  homemade buttermilk syrup and for some of us crazy folk even some chocolate covered blueberries just to show that we like to do things just like Will Farrow on Elf does around here. 
Clearly taste, and not health was the objective here.  It was wonderful. Jaron and the kids are great cooks. They got two thumbs up from me. The omelet was my favorite part. So good. 

This picture kind of makes me sick just to look at it, because of all the sugar involved, but it sure was good.


The Mother's Day loot.

I told Jaron on Saturday that I had already bought myself a mother's day present, i.e. a new trash can (sounds lame I know, but you've no idea how much my other trash can was hindering my happiness on an hourly basis). So, I said "seriously don't spend anything sweets". So J took the kids to Costco, that wonderful place, to pick out a treat and some flowers which was so sweet (yes this will be a run on sentence) because Warner kept saying "Mom I picked these out for you". The best part of the loot that I got to open on Sunday morning was the kids homemade gifts. Is there anything better than a homemade gift? Ok besides an iPhone.

 Here they are.

 See that big orange creature on the left? That's me, I was informed. See the little creature in the top right? That's a ghost. Warner's got a sick sort of fear/fascination with ghosts. And that bottom right little smiley man? Yup, that's Warner. When he handed it to me he said "Mom that's you as a giant". Awesome. So that's how you view me.

 And here's what was on the inside. Tenderly picked out prizes from their very own collections. It might not look like much, but to them it was a big sacrifice.

My attempt at getting a picture with all three of my kids. (Buster wasn't in the mood to humor me I guess). 

I'm so grateful to be a mother of three beautiful children. In November of this year we will be adding a fourth to our energetic posse.  It is so hard to believe that is me holding those children in the picture above, and that I'm going to be 30 this year and that I'm going to have 4 children by the end of the year. I look at that face and realize how inadequate I still feel. I keep wondering when I will stop feeling like I'm still a young 20 year old, and start feeling like an adult, but that day hasn't really happened yet, thankfully.

I know I'm late, but Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful wonderful Mom's in my life and out of my life. This world would not work with out you.

This will be my last blog about our southern, CA trip.

Well, I didn't get any pictures of the pool, but I did snap a few photos after we had been at the pool for five hours.  

 

One night J and I were lucky enough to go on a date with our friends Eliot and Kim. We hit up a fabulous Mexican restaurant in San Diego and then the Padres game afterward. Eliot's Mom was kind enough to watch all of our kids (which totaled up to be 7 under the age of 8). They were so nice to do that. San Diego was playing the Giants and though we didn't get their until after the fourth inning it was so fun to be out with friends at such a beautiful stadium. You can see the ocean from the stadium and it's right in down town San Diego. It's a cool place. We were especially excited to see our favorite Buster Posie up to bat.  He had some good hits. But our friend's didn't like that we were cheering for a giant's player. When we told them it was just because he has the same name as our son, they were friendly towards us once again.  The best part of the whole night was watching how excited Eliot, Andy, and Jaron were to watch the big huge soft ball player's who came out after the 12th inning to hit soft balls out into the audience. Seriously it was like watching a bunch of puppies who are about to get fed. Us ladies got a big kick out of them. Nobody in our group went home with a ball, but I think it's just because they were too nice to knock down all the little girl's in the audience who were catching the balls. :) 

On what was supposed to be the second to last day of our trip (I'll explain later) we hit up sea world. My favorite part of Seaworld was the dolphin show with the divers that dive down to the water from 60 feet in the air. I liked it better than the Shamu show. But it was fun to see Shamu's baby. Olivia was hilarious  She really wanted to experience the dolphin show first hand by sitting in the splash zone. When she was still dry by the end of the show she was very disappointed and was complaining about it profusely. So, when we went to the Shamu show we sat front and center, and do you know what happens when shamu splashes her big, fat, giant tail and your sitting front and center? This is what happens. . .

See Liv's face? Not the look of happiness. I think she learned the lesson that you have to be careful what you wish for. See Warner's face? I would say less than happy. See Buster's face? Well, he just looks confused. See Jaron's face? Pure bliss. I finally got to cheer the kids up by saying "Hey now you can tell all your friends that you have been splashed by a whale!" Ok, it didn't really cheer them up, but it should have. 

 Liv's favorite was the polar bears. Remember her little stuffed animal polar bear that she named "friendly" that grandma Brown gave her like four years ago? That bear goes everywhere with her. She was so excited to see the real version of the animal at Seaworld. We spent quite a bit of time gazing out at the cozy white bears. 

 

  So back to the explanation of why it was supposed to be the last day of our trip. The long of the short of it is, we all go the flu. One of us even ended up in the E.R. to get rid of that nasty spell of dehydration that happens when you are in the CA sun throwing up every 30 minutes for 24 hours. So, instead of flying home on Tuesday like we were supposed to, we hung out in the hotel one more night, went to the E.R., and flew out the next day. I tell you what. Throwing up is no fun, but it didn't ruin our trip. At least it was at the end, and at least they didn't charge me to change our plane tickets. 

Goodbye CA. It's been real. 

Oceanside

We spent the last four days of our trip at the beach. Jaron was happy because he got to surf every day. He was especially happy, because for one of those surf sessions was with one of his old roommates and great friend's Eliot Pierce and his little brother Andy. He said he felt like he was back in Hawaii with not a care in the world. That made me happy. I was happy to see Eliot and Kim too. They are some fine quality of people they are. 

My kids loved getting one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa, which is kind of a rare thing in a family as large as mine. Grandpa bought these fun kites for the kids to fly. Olivia loved flying her kite with Grandpa. She even wrote about it in her journal. She said, "Grandpa flew a kite with me. He loves me". So cute. And so fun to be with Aunt Jenny, who loved the sand. I couldn't believe how happy she was digging in the sand for hours and hours. She is such a doll. I love her. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Buster was sort of happy in the sand I think, though I'm not sure based off his face. 

Crescent Bay with an old friend

One day we headed to this gorgeous beach. It the prettiest beach we went to. My friend Laura knew the secret spot and there was no one there. It is the perfect beach to play with kids, because there are huge mountains on either side of the beach cutting off the beach so if your kid runs one direction you can see where he's going, and your not so worried. Behind the beach were multi-million dollar mansions that were fun to peek at. At one point a woman walked down this beautiful little path-way no doubt coming from one of the said mansions, in her robe, pulled out a chair, and started reading a book, and I thought "Hu, so that's what life is like for the rich and famous".

It was so fun to see Laura, my long time friend of 25 years. She is such a great Mom and is as beautiful as ever. I love her. 

Here's some pics. I wish I would have taken more. I didn't take any pretty ones. 

Jaron Body Surfing from Jessica Brown on Vimeo.

The Magical Kingdom

          Four years ago, I had just gotten back from a friend's house who is a Disneyland zealot. She and her family take a trip to Disneyland every year with their kids. She had photo albums dedicated to pictures with princesses, autographs from characters, and other Disney paraphernalia tucked in corners all around her house. 

          That night as I lay reflecting upon my visit to her house, I said to Jaron "Ya know sweetie, some people are just Disneyland people. I think that's great, but I don't think we will ever be that family. I see us camping, beaching, hiking, and doing outdoors things more than going to a theme park with our kids".  At the time, Jaron agreed. 

          And then. . .  we had a little girl, whose whole world was filled with fairy tales and princesses and magic well before she even laid eyes on any Disney princesses. So. . . the long of the short of it is, the desire was planted, the money was saved, and the trip happened. The kids and us started a "Disneyland Fund" jar a year ago, and all our extra coins and cash went into it. The kids each earned their own money, working hard on Saturdays to do chores so that they could buy souvenirs at Disneyland. Every time I was tempted to be lazy and order take out or swing by Wendy's on the way home from running errands, Liv would say "No Mom, we can't! We have to save for Disneyland." 

         In short, we went on our trip. We are back now, and though I never thought I'd say this, Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth. I guess that means we are now a Disneyland family. No not really, not to the extent of some, but seriously, Jaron and I were pleasantly surprised by how much fun we all had. I was amazed at how many rides Buster could go on. That made me really happy, because I was expecting to sit on the sidelines for most of the time, but I went on every ride I wanted to. 

          For those of you who have never done Disneyland and are considering charging it with your little kids and doing it all in one day like we did, here are some tips. 

1.Get there right when it opens. 

2.Take in your own food.

3. Pace yourself with a nice balance of rides and then shows where you can sit down for a bit like the (Tikki room, and get yourself a nice pineapple whip while your at it. Yum.) 

4. Find yourself a cute down syndrome girl that can get you in on her disabled pass so that you don't have to wait in any lines. (I know a cute one, and trust me she would love to go again)

5. And the best advice I can give. . . are you ready? Is to. . . TAKE YOUR PARENTS WITH YOU! We could not have done Disneyland without my parents. They were so great and so helpful. I can't imagine doing it without them, especially since in our family, our children outnumber Jaron and I, and also we have a four year old that has no sense or fear at all of getting lost in a crowd by wandering away from us. I can't tell you how many times I turned around and had to say "Where's Warner".  So, yes, I'm so grateful to my parents came. They were such a help. 

          Welp, without further adieu here are our Brown Family Disneyland memories: 

* Full of breakfast and eagerly anticipating that step out the door. She has saved for so long, waited so long for this day and it's just an elevator and a bust ride away. 

 

* Waiting for the bus with the best people on this earth.  

 

* The kids were so excited to see the Disneyland castle. They have seen it in so many movies. So naturally the first place we headed upon entering the park was Fantasyland. We ran into some princesses along the way. Liv kept asking if they were real. "Of course they are real. They are princesses that live at Disneyland". She was so happy with that answer. 

 

 

 

* David and Jaron REALLY wanted to get in a picture with Belle. Their dream came true.  

 

* Snow White was my favorite of all the princesses that we met. She was so sweet and genuine with the kids. Actually I was amazed at how much time all of the princesses spent with each of my kids. It made their day year. 

 

* Jennifer was an absolute doll at Disneyland. I loved being with her. She is such a kid at heart. She was giddy seeing the princesses. She would clap after she hugged each one and look up in to the sky with closed, raised fists, and give a happy squeal. 

 

 

 

* The teacups were a huge hit for the kids, especially the smallest Brown family member, who rode them twice. I have a video I'll post later of his joy so you can see for yourself. 

 

 

* The Buzz Lightyear ride was super fun. It was Warner's favorite. He kept saying "I won Mom. I shot all the bad guys"! 

 

* It was almost noon and we had not found Cinderella yet. Liv was anxious to find her. She is Liv's favorite princess. Liv had drawn her a picture before we came on the trip and had been carrying it around waiting to give it to her all day. Cinderella was thrilled with the gift. It was so cute. And Liv was asked by Cinderella for her autograph so that made Liv's dream come true.  

 

* Oh, how I love this picture. Cinderella was so cute with Jenny, she kept saying "Do I know you from somewhere? Have we met?" and Jenny was just giddy. 

 

* I know that the movie The Little Mermaid was made in the 80's so I guess that is the reason for her poofy bangs, but I thought in real life she would be a little prettier. I wasn't too impressed with Ariel, I don't know, the hair just bugs.  Warner on the other hand, was enamored by her. She is his favorite princess. 

* We had all kind of walked away and Warner was still standing their just staring at her. She smiled at him and gave him one more hug and this is the picture I got. Get that smile off your face boy. 

 

* Kicking it by the castle, eating a snack with Grandpa. And a scowly Jaron in the background. 

* Liv could have spent hours just playing around the castle off in her pretend world. That's the other thing I was so impressed by. It seems like most theme parks have areas that are kind of ugly, but not Disneyland, everything is thought out in such detail and done so well. From the plants to the bathrooms, everything is right in line with a magical kingdom theme.  

* We loved the boat ride. It was just fun to be on a ride all together, and nice to rest our legs. I loved looking at all the miniature plants. I loved the landscaping. 

* Olivia started crying in Pirates of the Caribbean, when the boat took a quick drop. I think if she had expected it she wouldn't have been so scared, but she started crying. Which is why I was so surprised that she didn't get scared in star tours. The kids loved it. It was Jaron's favorite ride. The really wanted to keep the glasses, don't they look great on Warner's small head? 

* In total we went on 17 rides. We rode everything we wanted to except Space Mountain which unfortunately was closed.  It was so fun to watch the parade at the end. Especially since we got to watch it with these fun people: the Packards. It was good to see Leslie Ann and Dave we have missed them since they moved. Their kids all looked so grown up. Liv and Annie acted like they had never been apart. 

* Buster especially loved the parade. In fact he loved it so much that he ran out into the middle and started dancing with them. I wish I could have got it on video, but my Mom, who happened to be Johnny on the spot, got him before he got twirled up in a princess dress. 

* Our long day came to an end, and the night settled in. After the rides closed we made our way to the stores to pick out the kids souvenirs that they had saved and saved for. Warner chose this little R2D2 spinny toy, and a sucker, and yes he spent all his money just buying those two small things, because what can I say? Disneyland likes to suck your sweet money right out of your pocket and leave you feeling happy about it in the end. Liv bought a sucker as well along with a little Polly Pocket Cinderella kit.

* Buster deserved a sucker too, because he went all day running around Disneyland with out a single nap and never had a single break down. He earned it. Nothing like ending a full day at Disney land with a big sugary sucker.  

* Goodbye Disneyland.