My Handsome Young Man!

Frightmares '09

It's not Disneyland, but it's still fun!
Gibson and Grandma on the new "Dragon" ride!

Mommy and Gibson on the "Dinosaur Drop" (MUCH more exciting than the "Jumping Jellyfish" at Disneyland!)

Lukas eating a french fry!

Astronaut Gibson!

Brookie, Gibson and Lukas!

My mom and I!

Brookie & Gibson

Halloween Party '09

There were a lot of GREAT costumes this year at the Halloween Party!

We celebrated Steph's birthday!

Bobbie's wig made the rounds...

A true pirate!

Our version of "Where's Waldo". In this last set of pictures, the goal is the find the rat in each one!

Fall Fun '09!

Carlsbad Beach - October 2009

So after blasting from Legoland, we headed to the beach. Not just any beach - the BEST beach we have ever been to. The beach in Carlsbad was AWESOME! The waves were huge (big enough to body surf, but not so big that you couldn't play in them). It wasn't too crowded, the sand was soft, the temperature was perfect and the parking was free! Couldn't get any better!

Playing in the surf...

Legoland - October 2009

I'm surprised by the amount of pictures I have for Legoland, given the small amount of time we were there. By chance, if you haven't heard me complain yet, we did NOT enjoy Legoland. The rides were just too juvenile for Gibson. There were a lot of neat things made out of Legos, but looking at Legos does not fill up an entire day. So after 2 hours, we blasted and went to the beach! We did return for a few hours that night to go trick-or-treating.
Such a shame - I had such high hopes (both Gibson and I are HUGE lego-maniacs).

They had all of Las Vegas built out of Legos!

A slow, leisurely (boring) ride.

Gibson with a Lego Spongebob. This picture was taken in the giant Lego store - and even it disappointed. The selection sucked! The Lego store at Disneyland is MUCH better.

Trick-or-Treating.

So there were these tables set up where kids could build a pumpkin out of Legos and put it in the pumpkin patch. I couldn't resist! Give me a table of Legos and I'm a goner. This is the pumpkin that I made. I even got a ribbon for it!

Universal Studios - October 2009

It had been a few years since we'd visited Universal Studios, so we made the trip up there again this year. A lot of fun - worth the crappy traffic!
A "before" picture on the Jurassic Park ride. I figured we'd get really wet and then want to take an "after" picture - but we lucked out and didn't get a drop of water on us! (despite the HUGE drop down the waterfall).

My most favorite ride at Universal "The Mummy". We managed to get Gibson to go on it one time before he realized it how scary it was (he doesn't like rides in the dark).

Gibson and Brady in front of The Mystery Machine!

On the Jurassic Park ride. Gibson ended up just loving this ride and we rode it a few times. We lucked out by not getting wet. If we'd gotten wet, I'm sure he would not have gone again!

Jaws!!

Aren't we cute?

They gave Gibson this cute Halloween cookie-decorating kit at one of the restaurants. Kept him busy while Brady and I ate our dinner (I love this look on his face!).

Gibson in front of the "Gibson Ampitheatre" at Universal Studios. And, YES!!!! I have seen the Pet Shop Boys here!

A surprise water-dumping at the Curious George water playland!

Disneyland - September 2009

We timed our trip to Disneyland this time so that we could be there during Halloween Time - specifically for the "Haunted Mansion Holidays". The Haunted Mansion is completely transformed and becomes "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Brady and I had been to it before, but Gibson had never seen it. So we really wanted him to be able to see it. And it was so worth it - just AWESOME!

The new "stretching" pictures in the elevator at the beginning of the ride...

And instead of a body hanging from the ceiling, this is what you get to see:

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I "accidentally" took a flash picture inside the ride (it was worth the reprimand I got over the intercom).

Of course, there were many great things about visiting at Halloweentime. The decorations were really neat!

The Halloween fireworks show was INCREDIBLE. This picture and video don't begin to do it justice. (There are great videos on YouTube if you want to see the whole show).

At the beginning of the fireworks show, Zero (from "The Nightmare Before Christmas") comes flying out from the castle.

Gibson got to visit the petting zoo for the first time.

The first day we were there was the only day that whole week that "Pirates of the Caribbean" was going to be open. So I think we rode it at least 5 times that day! Gibson had to wear his full Pirate garb!

Splash Mountain!

I can't believe that as many times as we've been to Disneyland, that there are still places we haven't discovered yet. This trip we found a cool little shortcut from the castle to Adventureland and this fountain along the way.

On The Jungle Cruise!

Gibson looks like he's pouting, but he was actually deep in thought: "What ride to go on next?"

The Toy Story Mania ride at California Adventure. It definitely became one of our favorite rides when he visited last February. It's a "must" for first thing in the morning before the line gets too long.

Gibson being an adventurer on Tom Sawyer Island.

Gibson was so cute this trip - he had to carry his own map in his pocket and he would take it out and study it very religiously and then show us the path we were going to take!

The "Jumping Jellyfish" ride. It was so boring that you would have thought we were at Legoland!

Gibson LOVES the tire swing in the Brother Bear play area.

This trip was the first time that Gibson was tall enough to ride "California Screaming" (a HUGE rollercoaster in California Adventure). Needless to say, he has a new favorite ride! We went on it OVER and OVER - Brady had to stop riding because he was getting sick!

My favorite picture!

So there are a few rides where they take your picture and try to sell it to you for $20. I just take a picture of the picture. They don't turn out that well, but you get the idea!

"Space Mountain"

"Splash Mountain" (Gibson is there - you just can't see him wedged between Brady and I).

Splash Mountain again.

EVERYTHING in Disneyland is BEAUTIFUL!

Gibson's bed at our hotel. It's a bunkbed and we wrap the bottom bunk up so he has a fort! (And mommy and daddy can have some privacy).

Gibson fell in love with "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and really wanted this "Scary Teddy" stuffed animal. He sleeps with it every night!

From our hotel room - you can see the crosswalk to the Disneyland entrance - that's why we love this place!

We did the "Hidden Mickeys" this time and it was so much fun! (I recommend getting the book). Here are 2 of the many and many we found.

From the "Mickey Fun Wheel" you could see a lot of the construction in California Adventure. Here's the new "Cars Land" they are building.

They have drained the lake in CA and are building the "World of Color".

OKAY..... I'm ready to go back now!