Married with Children: Birthday and Wedding Celebrations

We just got back from a family-packed long weekend in California. The main reason for our visit was to attend my brother's wedding but the timing was perfect for me to celebrate my birthday while we were down there too. Friday was my birthday and what better way to spend it than at Disneyland!! I got in for free since the park is doing their birthday celebrations for the year 2009 and Craig got in for free using our Disney points from our visa card. My mom and step-dad watched the kids for us the whole day so we could spend the day by ourselves. We felt a little guilty knowing the kids would have a blast but not enough since we didn't take them with us. The day was perfect hitting all the rides first thing in the morning before the crowds came. After a late lunch in the park, we walked around visiting all the shops and did a couple last rides before meeting all of my family in Downtown Disney to have dinner to celebrate my birthday. We ate at Tortilla Jo's and the kids got an unexpected surprise when an employee at the restaurant came around and made them balloon characters. I had the best day and couldn't have asked for a better way to spend it than with family at the happiest place on earth!!

Saturday was the wedding at the Newport Beach Temple. My dad stayed outside with the kids while Craig and I attended the ceremony. Then came the waiting around outside for all the picture taking to be over to then drive to the reception. Sadly, I was so busy with the kids and trying to keep their clothes relatively clean that I didn't get any pictures of my brother and his wife. Once we got to the reception, I was ready to eat and get off my feet which were killing me!! At the restaurant where the reception was held was so small and had no air conditioning so it was hot and difficult to keep the kids from wandering off. Everything was beautiful though and went smoothly but it had been a long day. I was exhausted and ready to head back to my grandpa's house where we were staying.

Sunday was pretty much a day of just hanging out with family with me taking off for a couple hours to have lunch with some childhood friends. We had a great time catching up and they each were so thoughtful and brought me a baby gift and my friend DiAnna even made cute pink and brown cupcakes that matched the baby outfit she bought me. Unfortantely, all 4 of us forgot our cameras and we all assumed that someone else would have one!! Later that afternoon and evening, the kids had a blast doing bubbles in the backyard while the rest of us got to relax and enjoy the great CA weather.

Presents from Grandma