Cory had to work on a Saturday, which is very rare, but luckily the kids and I had a fun day planned.

In the morning the kids took their scooters out while I ran.

We get a thumbs up for clear sidewalks.

Then we had a fun birthday party to go to. I need to start planning Emmy’s 5th birthday in April (cue the tears, 5 seems so big).

The party was so cute, they had Mirabel from Encanto come to the party and it was so cute.

When Cory got home from work Cannon helped him put together a new cart for our school. I love how much Cannon likes to help, with anything really, he has a heart of gold.

Then we had our family over for dinner, I don’t want to take for granted that we live close enough to have family dinners often.

Do you live close to family?

We got out for a family run in the morning which might be one of my favorite things ever.

Cory went into the office after our run so we played in the back yard then invited some friends to come over to play. We didn’t want to waste any of our warm, sunny day.

How Self-Talk May Influence Long-Term Adaptation

Loved this article by David Roche about self talk. It’s important to be kind to ourselves.

I don’t have much to report from today other than the Tooth Fairy made their first trip to our house.

Cannon got a very special coin to keep and a sparkly five dollar bill (glitter hair spray). He was so excited to find his little baby tooth replaced with these treasures in the morning.

He was also excited to go show all his friends at school.

It was a school day for us so that means I spend most of the day in the car running kids around. In the fall things are going to be really crazy with two kids in full day school and three soccer practices a week!

If you have kids, do you do Tooth Fairy visits?

We had a lovely little Valentine’s Day.

We started our day with pink heart waffles and little gifts for the kids.

We love to give books for all holidays.

Emmy had a party at her preschool and we got to join her for the last 30 minutes. She is loving school and being with all her friends.

We spent the afternoon playing outside looking for hearts, we love to collect heart shaped rocks.

We didn’t find any rocks today but we did find this leaf.

We got Indian food for dinner because it’s the food we all love most and the kids and I made Cory’s favorite cake (death by chocolate).

We love to celebrate love day together.

We spent all day running kids around to school and prepping for our trip.

We are headed back to Rifle Gap but this time in the winter so we can visit Rifle Mountain ice caves.

We have all been missing camp life.

I packed up the kids

These two are always fun to hang out with even when just doing errands.

We are all so excited to get out and see some more of why Colorado is so awesome in the winter.

Do you have any plans to travel soon?

We have taken a few trips to Disneyland now with our kids and feel like we have a pretty good system going. We have visited the park when the kids have been 9 months, 2.5 years, 3.5 years, 4 years, 5 years and 6 years old.

We have been for Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Christmas time and loved every visit.

Here is what made our visits not only manageable but fun for all of us:

1. BRING THE BIGGEST STROLLER YOU CAN

Our stroller was the command center for every trip!

Babies, toddlers and little kids need a lot of things and can’t walk the 10 miles that a day at Disney requires. We store all the things we need for a day in the parks like snacks, water, changes of clothes, diapers, etc. in the stroller so we don’t have to carry everything.

The stroller worked as a great place for the kids to nap when they were younger.

We weren’t sure if we would have to return to our hotels for nap time, but both kiddos were able to nap in the stroller while rolling around the park.

Even at five and a half Cannon would get tired and want a break in the stroller. It was especially helpful as we usually stay in a hotel close to Disneyland but not on property so walking back to the hotel at night the kids would always fall asleep.

Our stroller also has a great rain cover that really helped when it rained during our visits. I think having a good stroller is key to having a good visit if you have little ones.

You can rent strollers at Disneyland if you can’t bring one with you but I am not a huge fan of them, they don’t look comfortable and don’t have a lot of protection from the elements. Still better than nothing but highly encourage bringing your own if you can.

We LOVE our double Thule Cougar Chariot.

2. IF YOU HAVE A BABY, WEAR THEM

When we took Emerald for her first visit when she was nine months old. We brought our Becco baby carrier (as well as a stroller) and wore her while in line and often on the rides. She was comfy and happy to take naps and just hang out with us.

3. BRING YOUR OWN SNACKS AND WATER.

I am a BIG fan of Disney snacks, we particularly love a popcorn bucket to share while waiting in line. But we also bring lots of our own snacks so that we aren’t spending tons of money as well as the kids aren’t getting sugar overload. It’s nice for their tummy to have snacks they are used to getting. We also save special snacks to have while waiting in longer lines to make the time go by faster.

4. BRING PORTABLE PHONE CHARGERS

More and more you need your phone to make plans, check the wait times and take millions of photos. I love the Disneyland App but it also drains my phone’s battery quickly so we bring portable charges to be sure our phones can make it through the day.

5. FIND TIME TO PLAY

Waiting in line and sitting on rides isn’t a great way to get energy out of little bodies. It’s important to find time for them to move and play. Toon Town, Tom Sawyers Island and Red Wood Creek Challenge are great places to let kids run free.

5. TAKE A BREAK

When we are visiting for more than a couple days we like to take a break day.

On our trip in October we thought we would spend the day at our hotel pool then in Downtown Disney. It wasn’t very warm so we headed to the beach instead and had a great time before jumping back into the parks.

5. WHEN YOU DON’T NEED A STROLLER STILL BRING A BACK PACK

When we are visited Disneyland Paris we didn’t have our stroller with us so we went without. We stayed on property and the kids were 4 and 6 so we just carried a backpack. We carried a change of clothes for both kids, chargers, snacks and water bottles. We did not have the kids carry their own bags because that is difficult getting on and off rides. The change of clothes was very helpful for when we all got soaked in a sudden downpour!

Most importantly take your time, enjoy the little things and know you might not do everything but you are making memories and bonding as a family!

What are your favorite tips for visiting a Disney park?

It’s a recovery day for me and I am definitely a little stiff after yesterdays eight mile run.

We started our day with some Kodiak Cakes and strawberries.

Both Cannon and Emmy approved. We did some school work and then were out the door to a dentist appointment for the kids.

They should have video games and movies on the ceiling at adult dentist offices, we would all enjoy going more!

Good reports all around! The dentist showed me that Cannon has his first loose tooth and I am shocked. I feel like I just checked them, but here we are, he is growing up so fast.

Emmy wanted a steamer for her treat so we got starbucks and hung out in the backyard for a little bit. I was cold but nice to be outside.

Then we had ballet and basketball in the evening.

When did your kids lose their first tooth?

It was warm (for this time of year) and sunny and lovely on my run.

Warming up is always nice but it also means that our trails get sloppy!

It was a leave your shoes outside of the house kind of run.

In the afternoon the kids took a friend to see a movie for her birthday. It was really fun and still a little weird that we get to do these things now. 2.5 years of Covid precautions, it feels good to mostly be back to normal. It also makes us appreciate these things more.

It’s feeling a bit like the quiet of winter, it’s dry and cold and dark. But the light is returning, days are getting longer and we are looking forward to more adventures.

After I dropped Cannon off at school I got a run in before picking up Emmy.

It’s always a joy to get to be with this girl.

While waiting to get to go pick up Cannon we played in the snow in the back yard.

Emmy had gymnastics, which she is LOVING!

And we had a friend over for a playdate.

My attempts to love winter this year are *mostly* working. How is winter going for you?