March Birthday Weekend on Whidbey

This past weekend, we made another trip up to Whidbey to celebrate the March birthday boys. And what a great weekend it was!!

On Saturday, we rose bright and early (much to Annika's chagrin) to catch the 8:30 ferry to the island. Honestly, Annika didn't complain much about getting up early on a Saturday (aside from a few groans of "its already time to wake up???" because it was for her that we had to get there by a certain time. Eric's mom had offered to take Annika to an on-island needle felting class and Annika wanted to participate. During the class (which she loved), Annika learned how to make a needle felted bunny. After the the class and returning to the house, Annika proceeded to make a whole family of bunnies! (You know what they say about rabbits multiplying!)

Conor was curious about the felting process, so Annika very sweetly taught him the techniques she learned during her class. Both kids learned the hard way about aiming the felting needle ... multiple bandaged fingers this weekend!

While Annika and Bestmore were at their class, Conor, Eric, and Bestefar busied themselves on a secret project in the workshop. (I wasn't allowed out there because of the surprise element, so I busied myself making the lemon meringue pie for that evening's birthday festivities.)

Little did I know that the guys were busying themselves making a Canada good napkin holder for our kitchen table. Bestefar has a project book with the template and had the idea all sorted out before our arrival. Together, they cut out the wood pieces and set to assembling the final product. Eric used his dad's wood burning tool to outline the goose and Conor did all of the shading himself. (I'd like it pointed out I didn't hear a single report of anyone getting burned or hurt ... talk about a workshop win!) Conor even burned his name and the year on the inside of the napkin holder, making it extra special.

Our kids have been completely clueless about some plans that have been in the works for going on a year. When I say clueless, I mean NOT A CLUE. Eric's parents have decided to continue their incredibly generous tradition (that started with our two older nieces) of taking each grandchild on a trip to Europe for a week-long tour with the Tauck Bridges program. This weekend, the kids learned about their upcoming trips.

This summer, Bestemor and Bestefar will take Annika to Ireland and in a year or two, they'll take Conor to Italy. The kids were over the moon with excitement as we told them about the trips and all that they'll do. Annika will get to do her Irish dancing while in Ireland (HOLY MOLY), as well as sleep in a castle, learn how to make Irish jewelry, go on a treasure hunt in Dublin, take a train through the Irish countryside, take an Irish cooking class, and more!!

Yup! She's excited!

When Conor's trip rolls around, he'll take a gladiator class, tour the Roman Catacombs, see the Sistine Chapel, visit St. Peter's Basilica, go to Pompeii and a family farm (to learn about how olive oil and cheese are made), take a pizza-making class, and more.

Conor still processing all that he is hearing about his Italy trip

Needless to say, both kids are beyond excited for their upcoming adventures and can hardly wait until it is time to go. Conor had an extra bit of excitement when he realized he'll get the kids' summer nanny for himself for an entire week this summer while Annika is in Ireland. (They do love Miss Emma!) That's his bonus for having to wait longer for his trip. :)

As if learning about big trips wasn't enough, we had THREE birthdays to celebrate on Saturday. (I told you, this was one heck of a fun weekend!) Conor received a really neat present from Bestemor and Bestefar - Bloxels. It is a kit (of sorts) that helps kids learn about computer coding and how that ties in with video game creation. One of Conor's current future career goals is to be a video game builder, so this is perfect for him!

Eric received a new X-box video game controller. We seem to go through them a bit faster than anyone would hope or expect due to people who shall remain nameless (cough cough ... the kids) dropping them on the floor. I have a feeling Eric might keep this one under lock and key so he's the only one using it!

Bestefar received some really neat gluten-free flour called Einkorn and a baking book specifically tailored to use that kind of flour from Bestemor, a golf book from Annika and Conor, and a snow blower from Eric/me, Eric's brother/sister-in-law, Eric's sister/brother-in-law, and Bestemor. (Eric's dad shoveled their driveway during Snowmageddon 2019 and I decided that a snowblower was a better alternative... everyone else agreed!) Of course, this probably means we won't get any snow for a few years. HA!

The rest of the weekend was filled with playing card and dice games, catching up, playing with the dogs, lounging around, and just being together.

OH! Eric's dad and I got a little time together in the shop, too. It is always fun to build something in the shop with him because he's great at teaching what to do and why you do it a certain way. He even taught me how to confirm a measuring tape's accuracy ... something "many of those young construction guys don't know how to do". Now I'm feeling official! Because I haven't given the item we made away yet, I'll keep it as a bit of a secret for now. Shhhh....

Spring Break Surprise, Pt. 2

Before I recap more of our trip, I want to post some of the fireworks photos I took from our balcony. If you feel the need to "ohh... ahhh.... oh!" while taking in the amazing pyrotechnics, feel free. We won't blame you or judge you. We watched them almost every night and "ooh'd" and "ahhhh'd" every time!

Yes, that really is a smiley face

On Easter Monday, we girded our loins (metaphorically speaking, of course) and prepared ourselves for the crush of humanity that awaited us at Disneyland. Fortunately for us, the crowds weren't as bad as we had feared. Don't get us wrong, it was crowded, but not uncomfortably so.

The weather was wonderfully cooperative. Each morning, we had a hazy cloud cover that protected us from the direct sun and insanely hot temps we somewhat expected. Of course, my poor Norwegian family was convinced they were dying from the heat ... pretty sure we didn't even reach 70 degrees at that point! HA!

As soon as we walked in the gate, we noticed Goofy off to our left, and made a bee line to get a photo of the kids with him, as well as a couple of autographs. I don't envy the people who wear the character costumes as part of their jobs; it has got to be incredibly hot inside the costumes with the sun beating down on them like that.

Throughout our week, we saw many of the iconic characters, including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle, Mr. & Mrs. Incredible, the green army guys from Toy Story, Ariel (Little Mermaid), Captain Hook and Peter Pan, Lightning McQueen (Cars), Dr. Facilier (from The Princess and the Frog), Chip and Dale, Darth Vader and some storm troopers, and more.

We followed up our time with Goofy with rides, rides, and rides, including riding the Matterhorn, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (an arcade-style ride that was a surprisingly enjoyable ride... so much so that we went on it again on our last day in the park), Star Tours (Star Wars ride ... ridiculously fun), and Pirates of the Carribean.

In addition to the rides, we took advantage of the photo ops along the way. As part of our tickets, we purchased the photo pass, which made capturing our vacation on film (so to speak) a bit easier. We had some great photographers along the way, which made the experience that much better.

The Olson Four

Blinded by the sun in Tomorrowland

The Jedi uniform really needs to include sunglasses

Lookin' fierce!

Best toe-pointing Jedi ever

She makes Vader quake in his big black boots

Annika and Eric wanted to hit the Haunted Mansion, which Conor had no desire to do, so he and I split off on our own for a bit while our gutsy family members took on the ghosts and spirits. Conor and I happened across a Star Wars show in Tomorrowland. There's just nothing quite like seeing Darth Vader up close and personal to make your day complete! 

Got Vader?

Once the show wrapped up, Conor decided we needed to go on the Finding Nemo submarine ride. When I was a kiddo, the ride had mermaids underwater ... those women had some serious breath-holding skills! Nowadays, the ride has a Nemo theme. It was a long wait for a rather uninspiring ride, but it was nice to have a few quiet moments that were rather calm and gave us the chance to catch our breath a bit. 

Conor and Mama waiting in line for the submarine ride with the Matterhorn in the background

In the submarine

Once we reconnected with Eric and Annika, we continued checking off our "to do" list items and After about 8 hours in the park, we were about as done as you can imagine. We spent the rest of the day smiling about our day's successes and counting our blessings that a hot tub was waiting for us back at the condo. Never had we been so happy to sit in a bunch of bubbly hot water before!

Spring Break Surprise, Part 1

About 13 months ago, Eric and I started making plans for a whiz-bang 2018 spring break for our family.... to Disneyland. Over the past year, the kids have made off-hand comments about wanting to go to Disneyland or how sooooo many of their friends have been there but they have yet to visit the Magical Kingdom, we'd stifle our grins and explain how big trips like that take a lot of planning and saving. As those sentiments poured out of our mouths, our inner voices were giggling and saying, "If you only knew what we're up to!"

We were very stealthy with our planning and packing efforts. Eric and I would refer to "Operation Orange" whenever talking about the trip, just to make sure the kids didn't catch on to what we were talking about. I even pre-packed our suitcases when the kids weren't home and then put the suitcases back on the shelves in the storage area just so the kids wouldn't see the luggage out of place. We were THAT dedicated to keeping this trip a secret. I'm proud to report that all of our secrecy and sneakiness paid off. The kids had NO CLUE.

Last Saturday, we snuck into their rooms so we could wake them up and soon after, head to the airport.

Once the cobwebs cleared, the kids were raring to go! We dropped off Buca with the dog sitter and headed down to SeaTac Airport and then on to Orange County, sunshine, palm trees, and the land of Mickey Mouse himself.

We spent our first day in Anaheim getting settled and figuring out our approach for the week. Our condo had a prime view of Disneyland (just under a mile away). Little did we know until our first night in town that we had an optimal view of the nightly Disney fireworks show right from our humble abode. No need to venture out late at night for us! We could watch them from the comfort of our own "home" and even wear our PJs! Bonus!!

The only thing that was set in stone was the next day ... Easter. We woke up to celebrate Easter day with the kids (Annika was THRILLED to have chocolate again after having given it up for Lent!). 

After our Easter festivities, the four of us piled into our rental car and drove up to LA so we could spend the day with my college roommate Rachel and her family at the Griffith Observatory. Rachel and I have known each other since we were 18 and are so lucky to have so many years of friendship and shared experiences. We've seen each other through so many stages of our lives, but it still doesn't seem possible that we've known each other over half of our lives. 

We opted to meet at the Griffith Observatory not realizing it and it's surrounding parks/trails are quite a destination spot on days like ... oh, say... Easter. WHOOPS! Parking was a bit of a challenge and left us on a mini hike we didn't anticipate. Fortunately, it all worked out and we met up with Rachel and Jason, their girls Hannah and Eliana, and Rachel's mom Peggy. We learned an incredible amount about the universe during our visit to the observatory. I have to say, though, that the coolest part had to be the Centered in the Universe show. It was shown on the large dome in and had a way of drawing in its audience in an almost magical way. When it depicted the big bang, I happened to look over at Conor and couldn't help but laugh at the fact his eyes were about the size of dinner plates! It was one heck of a big bang! :)

Hiking to the observatory from our parking spot

Griffith Observatory

Hey! Look what we could see from the observatory!

Conor watching the Foucault Pendulum

Eric and Annika

Yup, this is how Conor looks through a telescope

Eric and Conor

Sunglasses girl posing with her telescope

Waiting for the show to start

Infrared Conor

The Olson Four (plus Eliana) at the Griffith Observatory

College roomies!

After we got our fill of science for the day, it was time to fill up on lunch. We drove to a local restaurant to share a meal with the Moss family and continue catching up. Rachel and I haven't seen each other in quite a few years, so getting some face time was beyond special and cherished.

Eventually, it was time to head our separate ways and say "until next time" to Rachel and her family. Eric, the kids, and I headed back to Anaheim to spend a bit of time in the pool and then gearing up for our next full day in California .... at Disneyland.