B-more than the second letter of the alphabet



as a baby with the intended use



Riley has a no scratch mitten as her lovie, wooby, security thing. I have no idea how she started to use this as her thing to hold while she sucks her thumb. The good thing with having a mittie as her security lovie is that she has 10 of them and it's OK if we loose one or 20 because I can always go and get more from the store. They have to be a certain brand/color but they are a regular item Babies R Us always stocks. She used to have to have it on her at all times. She now will leave it at home if we have lots of errands and if she brings it in the car it typically stays in the car when we leave to go inside somewhere.

She does nap with it and goes to bed with it at night. It's funny because she likes dirty ones. If there is not one in her crib, or if we cannot find one in the house at bedtime and I reach inside her drawer to get a new one she throws it. It HAS to be one that has scent to it. I now have learned that if I don't see one in her crib, I can throw one in there before she comes in her room and she doesn't discriminate against it that way. She got mittie specific for about three days and I thought I was going to die because it's so small and to be honest we have lost a good 10-15 of them over the past year.

I have no idea why she named it "B" but she started asking for her mittie by name back around Christmas. It now is mainly called B and rarely mittie. She does walk around with one at home and she loves when she finds one that is somewhere within the house. She yells out, "There's B!" I do not mind her or Devin having a security blankie/mittie while they sleep at their ages. I had a blankie when I was a kid and I think I turned out just fine. Neither one of my kids were allowed to have pacifiers after 4-5 months old because I did not want to have to break them of that habit when they were toddlers, and also because a baby who needs one to sleep does not sleep as well as one who does not use one. The minute that thing pops out of a baby's mouth and they wake up and cry, making mom get out of bed to put it back into their mouth.....yeah no way was I going to get out of bed and put a pacifier back in my kids mouth over and over again. They can learn to self soothe and fall back to sleep on their own. Riley used to drop B behind her crib while she slept, but that thankfully has stopped. I would have to do a mittie sweep behind the crib once a week and wash the pile she had back there.

They definitely keep me on my toes.....at all times.

Having a 2 year old and just turned four year old is definitely a challenge. There are days that I wonder if I will make it until Frank gets home at 5:30/6 pm. I know my days are not as challenging as some, but I mean come on! Take today for example. Riley had a snotty nose Friday and Saturday but was clearing up by yesterday am. She never had a fever or cough but I was concerned since she was loosing her voice and was raspy. I called the ped this am and they told me to come on in today. Making a 9:30 appointment means I need to leave by 8:45 since it is a solid 35 minutes away (and I don't do late.) I feel like Riley and Devin do everything in their power to piss each other off in the car. I am going to become a millionaire when I figure out how to develop and install a plexiglass center divider in our car. It needs to be like a taxi cab divider-totally durable and something they cannot injure themselves with. We get to the doctor and Miss Riley got weighed....and is officially 24 lbs 6 oz. I almost fell over! She was dressed, but how much could her tshirt, panties, shorts and flip flops weigh? I cannot believe she is 24 lbs. I know that sounds ridiculous, but yay...she is gaining weight finally. In the exam room Devin was playing his Leapfrog explorer (thank you to whoever invented this!) and Riley was eating her all time favorite snack of goldfish and pretzel sticks while we waited for the doctor to arrive.  The doctor did a rapid strep and it was neg and told us that she was either bothered by irritants in the air or she was sick last week and it is now dead and coming out. Who knows, but she is not sick and I thankfully do not have to worry about it.

I had made plans to meet with my girlfriend today and since I did not know if Riley was sick we decided to meet for a bagel and coffee so Riley can stay away from her son and her since she's pregnant. Down the street from the ped is a Starbucks that's next to a bagel shop. We got breakfast and sat on the veranda so the kids could make noice and we could enjoy the (not) so hot weather. Riley had to go number 2 about 3 minutes after we sat down, which is no big deal since she has no issues with going in public. What I do not understand is why kids cannot poop and pee at the same time. How does she not urinate at the same potty time as pooing? Needless to say, 5 minutes after we got back outside from taking her to poo we had to go back inside to let her pee. OK fine, no problem. I can sit back down again and finish my iced tea. No, Devin now has to potty but didn't 2 minutes ago when Riley did. I told him to hold it and go throw some money in the fountain. He and Riley were looking at the fountain about 15 feet away while my girlfriend and I sat at the table and chatted. HOLY SHIT I see Devin walk over to the bushes and pull his shorts down. I have not gotten up so fast and yelled NO quite as quickly as then as I held my still injured boobs and ran over to him. Mortified, I quietly whispered to him that he cannot do that and that we have to go inside. He told me he could 'hide in the bushes." Oh my dear God. Two tables sitting at the fountain thankfully had young couples at them and they were laughing at Devin. I could only imagine what the old couple with their backs to Devin would have said to me had they seen what almost went down. We walked inside while Riley stayed with Richale so he could pee in the restroom. Thank God I was watching him like a hawk because if I had slacked I would never be able to show my face at that Starbucks again. I swear Riley was trying to figure out how to climb in the fountain for a swim while Devin was trying to water the bushes. Yesh.

Riley hates clothes. No actually, she loves picking out clothes, getting dressed alone-then 10 minutes later undressing and then refusing to put the clothes back on again. She would be nude all day, everyday if I let her. I do require at least panties on her at all times. This is for a few reasons. Mainly for sanitary reasons and also because she plays down there and it skives me out. I asked the ped about that today and she assured me it was normal, but again, it grosses me out-so in turn if I keep undies on her she doesn't really touch anything. People really should warn you about how touchy feely toddlers are. I never knew they would be so curious at such a young age. I know it is all phases, but I would like this phase to go quickly. She went through two outfits today and by dinner she was down to her underwear and I was done trying to get her to put clothes back on. She even walked down the street with Devin and I to a neighbors house to deliver a Thank You card in her purple Monday panties and some Buzz Lightyear flip flops. This is not just a house down, but 5 or so-and yes a few people drove by. I guess I am that white trash mom who lets my kids walk around in their undies. Oh well, judge me-but by 7 it was not worth the fight since she was coming back simply to jump in the shower and go to bed.

Kids were both asleep by 7:30 and all I can say is-sigh today was a long day. Once we got home around 11 I spent until 6:30 cleaning our house. The only thing left to do is mop my disgusting floors. I even went through underneath our bathroom vanities and cleaned out all the drawers. I found medicine that expired in 2004! Why the hell would I move to Las Vegas in 2007 with expired medicine? How did I have an entire bottle of prenatals that were never opened? Better yet, how did I not take advantage of all the vicodin/lorotabs/codeine prescriptions I had? I guess it was all the pregnancies and breastfeeding back to back. I did the responsible thing though and threw the pills in the trash and did not flush them since I know the public water gets too polluted with prescription drugs that are flushed. I also peeled all the labels and recycled the bottles. It was so awesome to declutter and chuck some much stuff that I typically ignore. I need to do a toy room purge soon as well as a paper shredder party and my house may be in better shape.

The Best thing I ever ate-Cheese

Frank and I went out to dinner last night at Union in Aria. The restaurant is a American fusion with Italian/seafood/steak. On the menu was an appetizer titled Crispy Baked Mozzarella-Parmesan bread crumbs, spicy red sauce $17. Now who doesn't love fancy mozzarella sticks? Let me tell you, if you are a fan of the Food Network's show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" you understand when I say this dish would be on mine if the show was about cheese. I wish I had taken a picture of this AMAZING dish. Picture a brick of Philadelphia cream cheese, but now make that fresh mozzarella hand breaded, then baked and sitting in a pool of spicy marinara. Now on top was a half a plant of fresh basil and the server poured more spicy marinara on top. OMG! The sauce was spicy, the basil was sweet, the cheese was salty and so fresh! It was so amazing. Definitely the BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN with cheese! I would go to Aria solely for this cheese appetizer! If you live in Las Vegas-you have to have it! I wish I took a picture of it.

I have not been able to work out for 5 weeks since the surgery so I have been watching what I eat. Last night was not a night I cared about calories. I bet I consumed 2000 calories between dinner and drinks combined. After the amazing brick of cheese, I didn't know if my entree could compare. Oh it did, and I was in heaven. I ordered Chilean Sea Bass-creamy risotto, rock shrimp and lobster broth. I ordered it without shrimp since I am not a shrimp fan and they made my risotto lemony instead. The fish was so buttery and rich and the risotto was fresh and light and not overly heavy. Frank ordered Three meat bolognese. He said it was delicious. I am guessing the meat was lamb, pork and beef. It came with it's own little garlic bread and freshly grated Parmesan. We both had martinis with dinner. Dinner wasn't too bad either. For the appetizer, two entrees, 2 martinis each the tab was $160. We then walked over to Eva Longoria's Beso for another drink. We sat at the bar and just hung out. Her restaurant was a posh steak house and it was jam packed. The cocktail napkins were made to look like Eva blotted her lipstick on it, giving everyone a little smooch from Eva. Cute :)





We took the kids to the Barnum and Baily circus yesterday as well. I must say, I was very disappointed with it. Everyone knows the tag line is "The Greatest Show on Earth." I was not impressed at all. The majority of the show was filler of clowns. lame acrobatic people and dancers. The tigers and the elephants did not come out until the end of the show. The kids were into it for the most part, but would loose interest with all the lame fillers. I am glad we got 30% off our tickets because I would be really upset if we paid full price for this show. We had great seats sitting center ring row H which gave the kids great viewing capabilities. Honestly I would say it was a second rate circus and not worth going to again.

The Kids are alright.......

So Riley is getting much better at talking and almost daily (will) say more things. I have no doubt that she knows everything I am saying and understands everything. She chooses not to talk a lot and I think it is because Devin is SO talkative. I know this is not uncommon for second children to do and I did confirm that with the pediatrician on Thursday when I took Devin in for his 4 year well check. Now here is where it gets me upset when people judge her. Yes, she is 2 and 3 months. Yes she is fully potty trained and no she cannot recite the alphabet without skipping letters. I had a lady at the store the other day ask how old she was and she playfully was talking to Riley. The lady was astonished with the fact that Riley cannot sing her ABC's without skipping letters. I looked at the lady and was like wtf? What does it matter if my kid can/cannot sing the ABC's. She can say what letter it is when I do flash cards with her, but she has not been able to verbally get the whole 26 letter alphabet in a song in order. What is more important? Uh hello, I would much rather my child know what letters are what instead of be able to sing a stupid song. And by the way, last time I checked those were two different skills. Any kid can sing the ABC's but not all actually know their letters. I would rather the latter over the singing. That said, she is talking more and more and it is funny to actually be able to converse with her and her carry on her side of the conversation well. On a plus side, we were at dinner Friday night and I was next to Riley. Frank and I were talking and she was trying to get my attention. I did not turn my head when she said Mommy, but she then paused and said, "Excuse me Mommy." I immediately turned my head, praised her good manners and listened to what she had to say. Yay for good manners!

It brings me to the thought that all kids really do process and develop differently. We play with another little girl who is a week older than Riley. She is adorable and very verbal. She speaks very well, (somethings it is jumbled when she gets excited) but for the most part she speaks in sentences clearly. She has been talking for a while now and when she and Riley are together they talk to one another. It is hysterical to watch them. Riley is not on her level yet, but she can hang none the less. Now when Riley cannot talk like this young gal can, Riley has been potty trained for 2 months while this girl doesn't mind to walk around in her poopy diaper. It amazes me that two girls roughly the same age can be so different developmentally. Both kids are excellent to be around and very self sufficient-but they have their own advantages/disadvantages. Neither better or worse, just different. That whole age range with development thing really is true. I know it is hard not to compare, but it is important to keep in mind that it will happen, eventually.

Riley is now finally able to dress herself completely. She can get her clothes and put them on along with her shoes. She sometimes gets her legs in the same leg hole of her shorts and I have to help her out...but man is it awesome to be able to go and tell her to get dressed and she does! Devin has been able to do this since about 2.5 as well. I am NOT the mother who enables laziness from kids when I know they are able to complete a task but won't because I do not make them. There is no reason why a kid over 3 should need help getting dressed especially when the clothes do not have any buttons or belt buckles. Riley like all kids has favorites to wear. Her all time favorite color is blue and she has a lot from a line from Gymboree that is blue. She would wear those outfits everyday if she could (and does at last twice a week.) Other than that, she loves dresses and two fish outfits we have. I think she would never wear the rest of her wardrobe if I did not chose things for her sometimes. I cannot blame a girl. Why would you want to wear sear sucker capris with pleated top when you can wear a cotton tank with jersey shorts?

Devin weighed in at 32.6 lbs (fully dressed in cargo shorts, pique polo, leather belt, undies and socks.) I am guessing that he is under 32 lbs :( still. Which is 20% for weight. He is 38.5 inches tall and that is 12% for height. He is proportionate for his height and weight, just on the small side. She said that he is super healthy and that his low weight is good. She said that since he doe not eat a lot of fatty, processed crap that he is at an advantage over heavy kids who eat normal Americanized kid diets. She reassured me that since I do not feed my kids processed/salty/fatty foods that they will probably stay skinny for years to come. She said they may follow after my body build of being petite. I definitely would NOT describe myself as petite anymore....Devin does have a speech impediment and she wants to see how he is doing around December to see if we need to send him to speech class. Apparently in Las Vegas you can send your pre K student to the public school for after school speech classes for free. Cool! I like free. Devin will be going to Challenger again for 4 year preschool this fall so we will see if they can correct it there, if not he will be going to our local elementary school. Other than that, he is happy, healthy and fully of energy!

Turning 4 was a total success, Leapfrog Explorer is awesome!

I went back and forth with what to get Devin for his birthday. I really wanted to get him a hand held game system, but I wanted to make sure it was educational and not just video games. After a lot of research and asking around I chose Leapfrog simply because Nintendo DS systems are not educational. DS games are video games (some have minimal educational aspects) but that was not what I wanted. I wanted mainly educational with some gaming. I love our Tag and Tag Jr Readers and what they can do. I knew that Leapfrog is a great company so I felt confident in choosing them for a gaming system.

I went with the Explorer simply because it was the newest edition and had the best memory etc. The age range also went up an extra year over their other system called the Leapfrog Leapster 2. I highly doubt that Devin will be playing this to the age of 9, but with hopes it will last until at least 6 yrs old or so then we can hand it down to Riley. (Poor kid will always get hand me downs.) We also bought Dora's game and the new Cars 2 game along with the carrying case. He LOVES it. I LOVE it. It is a total success. Not only does he stay interested with problem solving and listening to directions, but he is being tracked with progress. After his is done I plug it in to the computer and it tracks what he gets correct, incorrect, how long he is on each game and what learning aspects he practiced today with the percentage of success! I mean come on, how awesome is that. It also breaks it down to Spelling, Mathematics, Social studies, World Cultures, Literacy etc. Each category then shows what books (on Tag reader) or games (on Explorer) he used and their breakdown too for duration on the individual item and what he did.

At school they have Spotlight time in lieu of a birthday party. I had to fill out a questionnaire about his favorite activities, animals, when his actual birthday is, what are his best attributes etc. He sat in front of his class and answered all the questions that the teacher asked. He then showed the class a baby picture and family picture (as requested by school to bring in.) It was adorable, he walked around all holding the pictures one by one to show all his classmates. They then sang two versions of Happy Birthday and then got to play Freeze Dance. I love this age. I videoed the whole thing and hopefully one of these days I will figure out how to covert the mini DVDs to a file that will be able to upload to the Internet. If anyone knows how I have a Sony Handy cam....please help! :)

We went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes for his birthday by his choice. He could have chosen anywhere or had me make anything and he chose a salad bar restaurant. He loves the foccacia bread pizza they have there and the fact he gets to get Oreo crumbles for dessert. Since he cannot have the soft serve ice cream they offer, he is allowed to eat the Oreo cookie crumbles in a bowl.  Great nutritional dinner, but it was his birthday and I was told not to make him eat fruit and veggies if he did not want them last night. I guess one night a year is ok if he eats crap. We did not have cake and ice cream last night since he is allergic and it is really not worth it to make special cakes for him since he never eats them when I do. I am going to make some vegan brownies over the weekend for him so we will see how he takes to those since they seem pretty easy to make.

It is amazing to me who showed Devin love yesterday and who did not. He got birthday wishes from some of our friends and some family. Some really good friends, and some friends who I talk to less frequently. It warms my heart to see people take the time to say Happy Birthday to my little boy and saddens me when people who should take the time actually do nothing. No happy birthday call, no card, no gift. Gifts are not even needed since he is only 4, but a card or call would be nice. I guess some people really just do not care about him like they should. So thank you to all of you who read this and wished him a happy birthday. He loved hearing who was texting, FB-ing, calling and of course loves getting mail.

Really with the crying?

Parenting is definitely a learning curve. Devin is completely different than Riley personality wise and they were raised the same way. He is emotional, dramatic and sometimes too smart for his own good. Ever since he turned three and a half, he has been whiny and overly (fake) emotional. I really have no patience for the breakdown crying over nothing. I know he is doing it for attention but MAN ALIVE I just want it to end. He is not always like this, and I definitely do not think it is caused from exhaustion or hunger as it is during random times of the day. 

Riley is one tough cookie and really only cries when seriously injured or when Frank and I raise our voices at her. We do not do it often but for the rare occasion we do she turns the lip and it quivers then she cries. SO sad, but I know that she knows I am serious and the bad behavior stops. Devin on the other hand is not defiant, but just emotional. It is so odd. For example, Riley hit him the other day with a Duplo block tower. Not hard and I know it did not hurt, but since we were sitting there he broke down into tears and cowered in Frank's lap. What? Come on kid grow some! We both told him he was fine and we knew that it did not hurt. I reprimanded Riley for hitting him and made her apologize which is when he stopped crying almost immediately. It is not like he is ignored during the day or just a number. I am a stay at home mom who interacts with her children the majority of the day and he goes to a preschool he loves. I know he has lots of friends there and that his teachers adore him. So what gives? Why so emotional now, why try for all this negative attention now? I have read in a past Parent's Magazine that this is normal and that a lot of mothers go through it with their children. A friend of mine with a boy who turned 4 in Feb said she is going through the same thing. She feels the same way I do, and parents much like I do so we have talked about it.  We both hope it blows over soon because it sure does wear on you. It is really only when we are home, and almost never when we are out playing with his friends. He sometimes gets whiny around Riley's friends, but rarely around kids his own age. 

Last night he came into our room wanting me to make him a bed on his floor? Mind you this is 2 am and I just said fine, walked in his room and made a bed on the floor. I have no idea why he wanted one and I sure as hell was not going to ask then. He laid down and I went back to bed. Five minutes later he came back and wanted me to make him a bed on our floor (since he knows the bed is off limits). I asked what was wrong with his bed, or the bed I made him. He simply said he does not want to sleep in his room. I told him no, go back to bed or sleep on the couch. He has never done that before and was a little confused as to why I would offer that. He tried it out and then came back a minute later. He said he did not like the playroom and I told him to go to bed and not to open our door again. We woke up this morning and he had slept outside our door on the floor.  I asked him this morning why he did not want to sleep in his room and he said, "I tried to, but it was not comfy." He has been in that bed since he was 19 months old! WTH! He may just need to get used to sleeping in his own room again since he went to bed on a homemade bed on the floor in our room then woke up in the living room on the pull outs mattress on the floor while on vacation. I definitely need some sleep!

It really is amazing the amount of destruction these two can do in a day (or just hours.) When we got home from CA, Meghan had straightened up the house. In the true nature of the children, they went from room to room and had to touch and play with everything. By bedtime Saturday night the house looked like a bomb went off. We spent Sunday morning recleaning and putting everything away again. Hopefully we can keep the house in order for a few days. Meghan leaves Thursday and she is going to be missed. Not only because of her help, but because she is great company. Being home during the day can get kind of lonely and monotonous. Devin's last day of school is Thursday and he is so excited for it to end and have "lots of days to play with friends" this summer. How does he already look forward to summer break? All I know is, we left for CA and the weather was perfect 75-85 and now its 90-95 which means it will only get worse than that. BOO. We will be swimming a lot this summer. 

back from the The great Golden State

The last week was a real whirl wind. We fit so much in during the 7 days that we were in California. Saturday Mom and Dad Skinner arrived in the late afternoon so we stayed local that day. We went to the farmers market in Laguna Beach and played on the beach for an hour in the morning. When we got back to the villa we hung out at the pool until they arrived.

Sunday was a day to show Mom Mom and Pop Pop what was around and we really just hung out. We made a morning trip up to San Juan Capistrano to the mission. It was beautiful. It is the only mission in all of Orange County and let me tell you how cool this place is. The buildings still stand for the most part and the history is amazing. I did receive one of those listening things, but sadly it was in French. Had it been in Spanish I probably could have hung in there. I am not Catholic, but being a Christian I definitely have a respect for the work these Catholic monks performed. The sheer size in this place and structure was so great.

Monday we went to Huntington Beach (Surf City) which was only 15 minutes north of us via the PCH. Since we drove through shore towns it took a bit longer than if it were highway driving. (think driving from Harvey Cedars down to the south end of Beach Haven with all the local traffic and lights). It was a beautiful day to be at the beach and thankfully our warmest day so far. By warmest, I am talking 72* which for me is a bit chilly to be at the beach. Since I could not swim, it was warm enough just to sit in the sun and play with the kids in the sand. The ocean was a chilly 54* and all the surfers were wearing full wetsuits with some even with booties and hood. I mean it is cold, but come on wussies. I think I even saw a dry suit out there.... Kids had a blasts making sand castles and running from the cold waves coming in. It is funny to see the differences between the Atlantic and Pacific. The Pacific did not have any sea shells and had HUGE sea weed type stuff, when on a beach in at the Atlantic you have lots of shells and little seaweed. The waves break differently and come in sets that come and crash multiple times when at the Atlantic you typically get a good wave that you can ride in to the shoreline and that is it. I can honestly say that the peaceful feeling I get from just sitting in the sand and having the salt air blow in my hair with the waves crashing as my background is just Heaven to me. All annoyances, head aches and really anything negative go away when I got settled down there. The kids follow after me when it comes to the beach. They LOVE it. They could sit and play all day. Frank is not a beach person. He is bored within 15 minutes of being there. He was not raised as a kid going to the beach everyday of the summer like I was so he is not on the same page as me when it comes to going and just "being" while there. I could sit there all day, everyday and would never get bored of it. Since it was Memorial day there were lots of sales at the stores along the road where the beach was and lots of people watching. Mom and Dad Skinner are not beach people either so while the kids and us were playing in the sand and water, they walked around the pier then the shops up at the street level for a few hours. Perfect day :)

Tuesday we went to Legoland in Escondido, CA which is just about an hour away from where we were staying. It is about 30-40 minutes north of San Diego. We have been there before when Riley was 9 months old and Devin was just over 2 so we knew what to expect whatnot. Devin is really at the perfect age for this park. Riley was able to ride on a little over half of what was offered and that was great for her. She LOVED LOVED LOVED riding on every single ride that she could and even cried when she was not tall enough to ride on the bouncy ride. We packed lunches and ate halfway though the park which was a great refresher for the kids since they were starting to loose it by then since they were so over stimulated and had empty bellies. Devin loved everything about this park and was asking to go on every single ride. I think there were really only one or two that he was not tall enough for. He got his first big boy Lego kits as well and he and Pop Pop put the together. Devin really was into these and that scares me because those pieces are so little! Both kids slept the entire way back so it was a nice car ride home to the villa.

Wednesday was a relaxing day.  We went to Fashion Island for a lil bit of shopping and for lunch. Fashion Island is The District/Town Square meets Palazzo. Or for you NJ folk its Promenade meets KOP. The kids both built new bears at Build A Bear. Devin received his for his birthday from Mom Mom and Pop Pop and Riley got hers from them just because the love her. Devin picked out a Panda bear and a wizard outfit, while Riley picked out a blue bear (her all time favorite color is blue) and Mom Mom picked out Princess Tyanna's outfit for her. We went out to lunch with the kids and then a little more shopping. We were stopped by an agent walking around because she was turned on by the kids. I gave her our info and let her know that although we live in Vegas, I can come to LA anytime if she finds something. We may never hear a word, but I think it is cool that we were stopped and talked to. 

Thursday we went to Disneyland. We have never been there before so it was all new to us. The drive was not bad (only about 22 miles) and we left around 8:45 in the morning to head up to Anaheim. Let me tell you, Disneyland is definitely not like going to Disney World. First it is smack in the middle of a town off a highway. Second, its much smaller. Third and most importantly, it is not well marked for parking. The only parking open was a parking garage and that was not well labeled at all. The satellite lots were not open yet, since it was the day before the grand re-opening for the new season. It took 35 minutes to get settled in the garage after we got off the exit which was SO frustrating since it was literally 1 mile away. Devin and Riley both LOVED going on the rides there, and unlike Disney World there were not many height restrictions at Disneyland. Devin and Riley both were able to go on almost every ride and they did. The park was not overly crowed but did have a steady stream of 15-20 or so minute lines at each ride. That is nothing! While at Disney World last April, we started pin trading necklaces for both kids. They both received a year pin and Devin got one extra one to trade (last year.) This year we got them both a year pin again and I bought a variety pack of 7 for them to trade with pin traders throughout the park. Devin also got to pick out a special pin (as his special gift at the park) and he picked out Pirates of the Caribbean. They traded the cheapy pins I bought for some really great ones. They both also got a pair of Mickey Ears with their names embroidered on them. Riley ended up napping in the stroller for a solid hour which is awesome so we were able to stay until 5 pm.

Friday was our last day at the villa. We checked out mid morning and Frank, myself and the kids drove to the beach. Mom and Dad Skinner went up to Downtown Disney for the day to shop a bit and go to lunch. We went to Hobie to grab a new pair of flip flops for me and they suggested Corona del Mar for a beach to play at and it was just perfect for us. We left there around lunchtime and made our way back up to Anaheim to stay for the night. We stayed at the Marriott right in Anaheim which was perfect considering it was only 2.4 miles from Angels Stadium where Frank, his dad and Dev went to the game Friday night. Mom Skinner, Riley and I went to Downtown Disney for dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Saturday am we were up by 7:30, ate breakfast and were on the road by 9:15. It was a fantastic trip. Definitely glad to be home....but we made some great memories while there. :)