Three times in a week... why not???

This morning Libi went to school in her finest (and shortest) patriotic dress.

She had no idea that after school we were heading to....

Disneyland!!! For the third time in a little over a week-- what a lucky little girl!

We met up with some of my scrapbook friends / Annual Passholders for a sneak preview of the Ariel ride.

We found her while waiting in the queue...

and once inside on the giant lobby mural.

Libi was super excited to hop into those clam shells!

I tried to get photos...

but many of them didn't come out too well.

Tami, my scrapbooking pal, had much better luck!

Thanks Tami for sharing your photos with me!

The ride was such fun!

It was full of music,

special effects,

our favorite characters,

and a little romance!

I can't wait to ride it again to see what I missed the first time.

It was totally worth the drive!

We crossed over into Disneyland and went on a ride we haven't been on since Libi was 9 months old.... the Mark Twain.

We got prime spots at the bow of the ship.

Perfect for some silly photos...

and to see the sights along the river.

Once we docked we took a few more photos...

before we cast off for home.

Returning to normal...

Normal in this house is a little girl dressed in a princess outfit.

Normal is everyone working together to make the house run-- cooking, cleaning, laundry-- we all pitch in to help.

Normal is seeing seasonal decorations up on any surface that will hold still long enough to hold them.

I have not been normal for almost a year... but it feels really good to be back in a routine and to make our house really feel like our home again!

My poor husband even thanked me for asking him to lug in the 4th of July bins-- that is not normal :)

Goodbyes and gift cards...

This morning we had to say goodbye to Rev. Cindy.

She and Susan were both ordained at the same time and have been huge assets to our church.

Three woman priests in one church-- I say, "Yes please!!!"

Libi and Evelyn have been good friends with Cindy's daughter Jordyn.

These three sillies will miss each other!

After lunch Libi decided it was time to use her Claim Jumper gift card from the Easter Bunny.

When the bill came she confidently signed the gift card receipt...

she was so proud that she had paid for our meal! Way to go big girl!

Par-tay!

To help Aunt Andrea celebrate her matriculation Ron agreed to DJ her party.

Libi challenged everyone to ping-pong while....

Andrea hung out with her friends.

Her cake was beautiful...

and dinner was yummy!

Family came to help celebrate too!

Our little party animal!

We all assembled for gifts.

I gave Andrea a jar full of Grad School cash which I cut out with vinyl from the Circut. It was my first attempt with vinyl, but it certainly won't be my last-- it came out really cute!

The three CSUN grads and two future grads posed...

before the main attraction!

Ron remains victorious in his ping-pong realm. It was a fun night for all... until it was time to leave :(

Clean carpets...

Ron lovingly bought me a carpet cleaning Groupon/Screaming Coupon/Living Social-- one of those sites that lure you into buying a service for a deal and then you forget to use it before it expires. We remembered this one of the day it expired and they were nice enough to let us schedule for today-- over a week after the coupon expired. Whoops!

Our carpets are still original to the house (which was built when I was in 5th grade-- you do the math!)

The poor man who came said that he couldn't take everything out but that they would look better. These carpets have gone through two dogs, a newborn, and many years of foot traffic so I wasn't expecting miracles!

Libi was fascinated by his truck...

AND she got to eat lunch in the studio upstairs. Super bonus!!!

We had to stay off the carpets for a bit to let them dry....

BUT, they look amazing!!!!! Miracles do happen :)