The Happiest Place on Earth.

I know, I KNOW! Its been a week since my last post.  The past week has been a doozie!  I'll just jump right in....
Last Thursday George and I both were able to work in the classroom at Georgie's school.  It fascinated me to see ten children with ten completely different personalities. It was a ton of work.  We left around 12:30 pm and George and I both felt like we were beaten with a stick.  A Cooperative Preschool is no joke.  I even cleaned the potty.  My favorite part was at the end when they have circle time.  They sing a song about who is at school.  The teacher holds up a picture of one of the children who is present.  The kids are supposed to sing the song and then say the name of the child in the picture.  Every time George would half sing the song and point to the child who was in the picture for the entirety of the verse.  It was so cute to see him recognize his friends.  We all crashed for a nap after lunch at home.

Friday we went to the happiest place on earth......DISNEYLAND!!!! It was worth the price you pay. I rarely feel okay about forking-over ten bucks but I had no regret whatsoever about the amount we left behind at Disneyland.  We got off the bus and Disney music blared over the loudspeakers. What did I do? I cried.  Yep. Totally had tears in my eyes. It was just so surreal. It just hit me like a ton of bricks. Everyone remembers the moment you enter Disney as a child and so as I shared that experience with my first born child, it was all just too much.  I wish I could bottle up that first experience for him because it truly was the best day we've had as a family in a very long time.  We arrived as the park opened at 9:00 and headed to the Cars Park.  We had been advised to do that first.  We got lucky and met Lightning McQueen and got a family picture.  We rode every ride that George was tall enough to ride.  We stopped for every snack we felt like, Pineapple soft serve at 10:00 am included.  We enjoyed this while we waited for the Tiki Room show to get us in the Hawaiian mood.  We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, did the Jungle Cruise, rode the Disney RR, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Tarzan's Treehouse, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster, and Autopia- the gas powered cars that anyone can drive (Big George's favorite).  George got his face painted like a dragon that "spits fire".   He sat completely still while the dude painted his face. I could not believe my eyes. I have never ever ever seen him that still for that long. At around 4:00,  it felt like we had walked about 20 miles.  We saw the Parade and after it was over, about 5:00, we decided we would try to get a table at a really neat restaurant called Blue Bayou.  It was inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and looked and felt like a Louisiana summer night inside, complete with frog and cicada noises.  Although it was still light outside and people bustled about, we got a table in this dark, quiet, lantern-lit room. I tell ya, Disney has it figured out.  George was so well behaved-probably because he was dog tired and dehydrated.   He stayed right in his chair the whole time.  The food was good and our feet thanked us for the break.  After we left, we walked over to the other park and did the Muppets 3D movie, Ariel's Adventure, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi's Flying Tires, and King Tritons Carousel.  We tried to stay for the fireworks/ light show but realized we had forgotten about poor Dean.  We left the park after a few tears and one last purchase- a sparkly light up thing, gotcha again- around 9 pm.  Yes, you did the math right, the Edwards family stayed ALL day, twelve hours, with no nap.  George was hilarious and cute the whole day.  He was such a trooper and walked most of the day. We did have to carry him a lot but it was sweet. We bonded so much as a family.  One of his favorite things to do was watch Splash Mountain.  He said, "When I get tall- this big- we gon ride dif one" I think I have a little thrill seeker on my hands.  I will post a whole bunch of pictures from Disney so you can experience it a bit also.  I hope they will make you smile.

Saturday was low key because, lets face it, George and I are old and need to rest after a day like Friday.   Then Saturday evening the George's hung out together and I babysat for Lauren and Tyler while they went on a much needed date to the LA county fair.  I think they had a blast and I had fun too.  Tac is so darn cute and easy.  To watch someone else's child is really almost as good as having a break yourself. And they have ESPN!

Sunday we went to church and then I helped clean out, organize and clean the nursery with some other young adults.  I love to organize, its a gift, what can I say?!?

Then it was off to my softball games...wait...nope one more stop....Dick's Sporting Goods to buy some cleats.  Why did I bring my glove and not my cleats?  A stop at Dicks might sound easy but its not that easy when you don't know where it is.  And then to find the fields after that....oh wait, where's my glove? Crap, I left it at home....back home...kiss George....out the door....find the fields....will they like me? Will I fit in? Will I play like crap? Will I overthrow and loose the game for the team?  I hope I am dressed appropriately....wait, was that my turn?.....ok. there's the fields.  what color did he say they would be wearing again? These people look intense....I am in over my head....They are way better than me...wanna toss?  OK. ok.  ok.  Two overthrows with the best girl on the team.  great becca, just great. Make the short stop run after the ball not once, but twice.  get it together girl!  Last batter, sit out the first inning... ok. guess its gonna be like that huh? Its been a while since I have had to work for my position thats for sure.  I got a hit! Woo hooo! Next inning....Right field, major sun in my eyes, please don't hit it to me, note to self, grab my hat and sunglasses next inning...grounder to me, good job, nice throw to second, cool.  OK next at bat, DOUBLE!! woot woot.  OK, next inning, third base? you sure coach?  You see I was twelve the last time I played 3B...alright, made it through that inning only one ball got by me.  Not too bad.  Another at bat- got on base again and scored!

The rest of that game I played short stop, catcher, second base, and catcher again.  The next game I played a different position each inning.  It was SO stressful because I am so used to outfield but I did okay I guess.  Everyone was so nice and positive, the exact right amount of competitive-ness and just good 'ol fun.  Perfect team for me.  Coach was totally fair and let everyone take turns on the bench and in every position.  I basically had the best time ever.  I absolutely love softball.  I hope I can play until I am too old to walk.  I just love it that much.

Monday I cleaned the house.  Oh so fun, but gotta be done. George did not make it home until 9 pm. Tuesday we had our first playdate at our house after preschool and George decided not to nap after they left.  Then Lauren and Tac came over for snacks and played until evening.  George did not get in until 10pm. I was already asleep when he got home and then he left before I woke up.  I know he did come home because of the clothes strewn about the living room in his sweet attempt not to wake me.  Poor thing.

This morning we went for a run with two mom's from Preschool.  Their two were in school so they were solo and I pushed the stroller.  Its been a while since I ran with anyone and it was a challenge. One of the ladies was really fast and it was good for me to break out of the mold a little.  Then she lent me her pass to Kidspace (a children's museum in Pasadena very near where we ran).  That was so nice of her and she even said we could keep it for a while, her kids are tired of it.  So we went after our run and George loved it.  I can't wait to take him again because there were lots of school groups there and all the play areas were super crowded.
We got home and he went down for a nap. I was able to pack for my trip to a dear, dear friend's wedding this weekend.  We fly into D.C. Friday and  I am super nervous about the trip because it will be my first time on a plane by myself with George.  I am sure we'll do fine, but there's always that little bit of anxiety....

I sure hope George gets home for dinner tonight, because Thursday night he has conference until late.  Tonight might be the only time I get to see him this week before we go out of town this weekend.  Life of a fellow.....
Check back for some pictures of DISNEY!!