Monday, May 10, 2010

The Happiest Place on Earth


Our trip to The Happiest Place on Earth was bitter sweet. For months we had been talking about it and looking forward to it! But about two hours before our plane was to take off, we found out Stuart, Kristin and Ava weren't going to be able to come. They had done in vitro fertilization a few weeks before and a few days before our trip had found out it had failed. But right before we were about to leave, a blood test and ultrasound showed that Kristin could have an ectopic pregnancy. Her doctors and nurses advised her not to get on an airplane or go on a trip, as it was too big of a risk of her tube bursting and bleeding. So instead of partying with Mickey, eating out, and riding rides, they had to stay home in cold, snowy, SLC while Kristin had to take a chemotherapy drug to terminate her pregnancy. Needless to say, we all found ourselves feeling sad and angry and also worried about how Ava was going to feel. We all blubbered several times on the trip, especially whenever we would see Tink, as she is Ava's favorite. It was so much fun to watch Addison experience Disneyland with her grandparents and Uncle Graham, but it was still sad not to be all together as a family. It's a good thing there will be other times we can go together! Stuart and Kristin are taking Ava to Disneyland in a few weeks (and my parents are going again with them). We are excited for them go to and can't wait to hear all about it!


A special surprise from Gamma and Gampa on the plane! Princess markers and book kept her entertained the entire way to California!

Our first character breakfast at the Disneyland Hotel where we stayed. (Which by the way is a gorgeous hotel, and the ONLY way to experience Disneyland! It was awesome to be able to walk right into the park in a matter of minutes!) Addison's first few hours at breakfast and in the park were spent in utter confusion as to what all these weirdo characters were doing?! She spent the first little bit of our trip being shy, crying, and having meltdowns. But, by the afternoon on her first day, she was having fun!

Happy girl right before what we will forever call the "Alice in Wonderland Fiasco". The first ride we took Ad on was Alice in Wonderland. (perhaps the scariest ride in Disneyland) Her parents (being very inexperienced Disneyland goers) took her on the most frightening ride, and she cried the entire way. We quickly learned not to take her on loud, scary rides in the dark with weirdo flourescent characters. Sorry Addison! :)

We went on the carousel next to try to get Addison's mind off Alice and the cheshire cat:) It was so much fun to have Uncle Graham there with us. He was so nice to go on all the kiddie rides and to be so accommodating to Addison's needs.

Princess Addison in her "magic" wheelchair! Gampa got this wheelchair because of Gamma's knee replacement surgery, but Addison ended up riding in it most of the time. Thanks Gamma!

Classic castle picture. We had just come out of the Bibbity Bobbity Boo store, shopping for princess dresses. It's so much fun to have a little girl!

Finally having fun! Addison giggled and laughed and waved the entire time on this ride. I think it was her favorite.

Gampa spoiling this little girl in a store on Main Street Disney.

And now she's REALLY having fun! By chance we were on Main Street about 45 minutes before the parade started, so we got a really good spot. The performers started singing and dancing and the characters came out... and Addison came alive! She was cheering and clapping and our little extrovert ran out into the street and started doing the TWIST with the performers! Our sweet girl is definitely going to be a dancer. She loves music and immediately starts dancing whenever she hears any kind of beat.

What an angel face...


Out shakin' her booty with the performers and kids!

April 30th... she's TWO!!! Right when she woke up, she reminded us that it was her birthday and that she's TWO!

Happy Birthday to YOU!!! For Ad's birthday, we had breakfast in the park. While we were waiting to get in, she wanted us to sing Happy Birthday to her. It's funny, even though she is only two, she certainly was understanding that this was her special day.

The breakfast was in a beautiful old building with crystal chandeliers, the food was yummy, and only the coolest of the coolest characters were there.

Poor "Uncle Guy" suffering through another character breakfast:)

Silly Tigger!

Hands down my favorite picture of the trip. Fairy Godmother sang the entire song of "Bibbity Bobbity Boo!" to Addison, while she was signing Ad's autograph book. Thanks to Sarah and Kelsey, who so thoughtfully made Addison her cool autograph books for all the characters and princesses to sign! It was so much fun to try to get all their signatures! I'm sure Addison will keep those books forever and that they will help her remember her trip. Thank you Sarah and Kelsey for thinking of Addison!

Puffs anyone? Addison had a tasty spread full of strawberries, sausage and eggs... and yet she wanted her precious puffs. And, I don't think she's too thrilled to see Dale...?!

Addison was a little shy while meeting Pocahontas. She was gorgeous and spent a lot of time talking to Addison.


Right when we got to New Orleans, Princess Tiana was performing live! She had an amazing voice and her band was awesome. Of course, Addison ran right up there to be a part of the festivities.

After nap time, Addison received some special Disney gifts from Gamma and Gampa. A Minnie Mouse outfit, an Ariel shirt, and a pretty bracelet.

Happy spoiled girl with her grandparents!

Princess Addison being wheeled to Ariel's Grotto for her birthday dinner!

At last we have arrived! We had been looking forward to this birthday dinner for a long time!

Meeting Ariel and getting her autograph!


At the beginning of dinner, they announce each Princess and one by one they come out and walk around the room and meet everyone. Some are better than others:) Our favorites were Princess Aurora and Snow White. They were both so talkative and really spent the time to make the evening special for Addison. Aurora was a great conversationalist and Snow White was so sweet and had an amazingly high pitched voice!

After dinner they brought Addison her own personal birthday cake in a Princess Jewelry Box. They loudly announced it was her birthday and the entire restaurant sang to her.

What a great night! It really was magical...(and yes, even at 33 years old, it was magical for me). The food was absolutely fantastic, the princesses were beautiful, the birthday cake was tasty, and we all had so much fun watching Addison enjoy her night.

And then the sugar kicks in... About 5 minutes after eating birthday cake, Addison started jumping up and down on the bench and thinking it was really funny:) Uncle Graham was egging her on.

Drawing cheshire cat with Alice...

Waiting for the train, but not for too long... thanks to the wheelchair! Boom.

Still got it! And still as ugly as ever...

So sweet...

Oh no... It's a Small World... give me cancer now...

Mom and Dad pretending to enjoy themselves during Small World. But really I'm sure they were wanting to poke their eyes out...:) Can you believe Clint hadn't ever been on Small World before! Crazy!

In Pixie Hollow meeting TINK! We actually had to wait quite a while to see her, but she was certainly worth the wait! She was funny and witty and really cute!

Wearing green and her hair in a bun... just like Tink!

Waiting for the parade... again. Addison loved it so much, we went back a second time!

Out havin' fun and doing the twist! What a little pip squeak!

Goodbye Disneyland! Until next time!
It really was a magical trip. It was so much fun to watch Addison and to have her spend so much time with her grandparents and Graham. We have been home for almost two weeks now, but Addison is still remembering the trip. Tonight after we bathed her and got her ready for bed, she would lay flat on her back on the carpet and pretend to be asleep. We would have to kiss her to "wake her up". So I think she is remembering and thinking about Disney and what a great time she had. Even though she was little when we took her, I hope she'll always remember it... or at least look back at pictures of our trip and know that her Mommy and Daddy had a magical time with their sweet little princess.

Princess Addison is TWO!!!


We started off our April by dying Easter Eggs at Mom and Dad's house. Things got pretty silly when Addison stopped decorating eggs and started decorating her face with jewels and stickers.







Cheese! For most pictures now, Addison will say "cheese" and flash her pearly whites. On Easter Sunday, it was weird not going to church. We lounged around in our "comfies" and watched General Conference. Instead of getting an expensive Easter dress and a large Easter basket full of gifts and candy, we gave Addison a sand and water table. We figured she would have much more fun getting dirty and wet! She played with her table all morning while we had a yummy breakfast and watched conference. We did get Ad a pretty Easter dress, and she is going to get her two year old pictures taken in the dress next week!

Easter Sunday evening was spent at Gamma and Gampa's house! Mom and Dad fixed us a tasty ham and potato dinner and then it was off to hunt eggs! Addison had her grandparents all to herself and was surprisingly in to hunting for all of her eggs.



He did it! We are all so proud of Clint, Stuart, and Clint's team for completing the Salt Lake City Half Marathon on April 17th! Clint completed the Half (13.1 miles) in under 2 hours! Pretty amazing for his first try! Race day was warm and sunny and finished at The Gateway. Thankfully Clint wasn't one of those dudes they hauled away on a stretcher once they finished. He did really well, but did hobble around like an old man for about 3 days after the race:) Clint is now talking about doing a full marathon and a 1/2 Iron Man... OH BOY! Well, I guess once you've accomplished something great, it's off to see how far you can push yourself the next time!






There's that cute cheese face again! So happy that the train is up and running again at the Hogle Zoo! Although it is sad that I can still quote the entire train script throughout the ride, even after not riding the train for a whole summer:)

Addison has started being very vocal about what outfits and shoes she wants to wear. And, she now wants to get dressed by herself. Oh this little girl is going to be very independent. (which is a good thing:) But not when you are in a hurry and have to wait 20 minutes for her to put her pants on. Whenever she wants to wear this outfit, she growls like a leopard, because of the leopard print:)


Playing over at Ava's house! In this picture, they are all smiles, but afterwards there was kicking and hitting and crying. They are more like sisters, rather than cousins. They love each other so much and squeal and laugh when they see each other. But soon after that, the fighting begins. Whenever we go to lunch or dinner or the park or zoo... Addison will say "Aba", because she wants her BFF to be there with her. Addison has also been calling her "Bubba". Cute. Kristin and I were joking at lunch today that for the rest of their lives we are going to have to buy two of everything exactly the same, so these girlies don't fight over things. I think they pretty much have all the same toys and books, so there is two of everything... so they don't fight!

Being silly (as always). Look at those pretty eyes and sweet curly hair. Every single place I take Addison, usually one or two people will come up to me and tell me how beautiful they think she is. I will always catch people looking at her and saying "Oh my gosh, look at that cute girl...!" Most people comment about her hair and will ask if it's naturally curly. Yep!


Princess Addison getting ready for her special birthday party! Here she is in Mommy's bathroom getting her hair and make-up done... and of course putting on lots of glitter.

My first (and maybe last) attempt ever at making a birthday cake. I had no idea what the heck I was doing, but it turned out okay. Blue frosting is kind of gross, but Ariel had to sun herself next to the ocean! We did a Little Mermaid themed party, because Ariel is Addison's favorite. It's funny that even at two years old, a kid will pick and choose their favorite things and characters. Ariel is definitely Addison's favorite, and has been for quite some time!

Princess Ariel with her doggies.

Daddy taught Addison how to do the splits, so she does it all the time now. Very un-lady-like to do the splits in a dress, but at least she has on "comfies" underneath! Almost time for the party!

Pretty girl at her party! The party room at Fat Cats is always a fun place to have a party. You could tell Addison was excited and that she thought she looked pretty. Before the party, she kept looking at herself in the mirror while holding up her dress and swaying back and forth.

Can't believe our sweet baby is two...


It wouldn't be a Little Mermaid party without getting fun Ariel things! Thanks Peyton, Miley and Holden. You can't have too many Ariels!

Gamma and Gampa Anderson gave Ad a special ballerina music box and jewelry box... and basically her entire spring and summer wardrobe. Gamma and Gampa spoiled this baby rotten with a million darling outfits, and $100 to the education fund they started for her when she was born.

Stu, Kristin and Ava drove all the way to the Disney Store in Provo to get Addison a special Prince Eric doll. Now Ariel doesn't have to dance with Princess Tiana all the time (not that there's anything wrong with that:) Anyway, Ariel is very happy to now have a handsome prince to be with. They also gave Ad some cute paperback books that have been a favorite.

All the princesses!

Everyone (minus Heather who was out of town) eating pizza and breadsticks. Thank you so much for coming to support us and our princess.

The most amazing part of the night, was that Grandma and Grandpa Blackwood and Great-Grandma Blackwood.... drove all the way from Idaho to come to the party! They drove all afternoon, came to the party, and then turned around and drove home that night! I still can't believe they spent over 6 hours in the car, just to come to Addison's birthday party. Amazing. Thank you, thank you for making such a great effort to be there for Addison! They also came bearing gifts... sidewalk chalk and "The Squeakquel"!

Great-Grandma Blackwood gave Ad a gift certificate to get ice cream at Dairy Queen...

Kissing baby Clint. So sweet! Heath and Stefanie came with baby Clint and gave Addison a cute little dress...

Happy Mommy and Daddy... because we have our miracle girl.

Grammy and Grandpa Anderson came to The Little Mermaid Party, and also stopped by before our trip to give Addison a new dollie!

Laying out with Gampa hoping to catch some sun! Addison received more gifts from Gamma and Gampa... an Ariel towel and sun glasses... and some comfy jammies! Spoiled rotten...

Helping to fill up the pool! Bring it on! We are ready for summer! We are sick of snow and rain and cold weather! We are excited for the next season... going for walks, playing at the park, going to the zoo, eating "pop sips", and hanging out at the pool... here's to looking forward to summer!