Playing Around the House

Rob here. It has been much too long since I’ve posted some of our around-the-house photos. These were taken on a lazy day in January (that’s right, January). Our kids are not always shiny and spiffy clean (I’m sure you really thought they were…). Sometimes they are a little less comely and are still wearing PJ’s at noon, especially at Cara’s age. It is important to get photos of them in their natural setting with random and goofy looks. I’d hate to forget all of the normal and less dressed up part of life. 

Nice face Madi! I can hear her giggle in my mind just like when she finished this face.

Nate was doing some important screw tightening that day. On a side note some of our outlet covers were cracked as part of this routine and important work. Ha!

A suspicious look from Madeleine. I imagine I’ll be seeing more of these over the years.

Ah to dance. Mad’s favorite activity.

A classic, “help me” look from our youngest. I can also imagine her cry of alarm.

Eli H.

Here’s Eli. Sweet, sweet Eli.

 

                 

 

Savannah is one of my favorite people on the planet.

 

After having three completely delightful daughters, Savannah and Dan brought Eli into the world.

 

I don’t think Dan could be more thrilled to finally have the son he always knew was waiting to come.

                          

 

 

I love this family.

                                                    

Girly Shots

A couple of Sundays ago, on the spur of the moment, I wanted to take some pictures of my kids all dressed up before church began. We drove up the hill behind our chapel and sat them down with 10 minutes to get some shots before Sacrament Meeting began. It was too late in the morning for the sun to be in the optimal position for natural light portraiture and I knew this going up there, but I wanted to get some anyway. Just because.

Because of the light, the girls are all squinty. Nate, however, couldn’t stand the sun in his eyes and was physically unable to cooperate :)

Caroline wasn’t thrilled with the idea in general. Can you tell? That doesn’t make her any less cute, though!

Here, Madeleine is only pretending to be mad.

  

  

So, that was our super-speed, sunlit session! There are a couple other pictures here.

California Vacay: Disney’s California Adventure Part 2

I can’t believe we only took ONE picture on our second half of the day to California Adventure. I guess we were just having too much fun to worry about stopping and photographing. I’m bummed about it, but I’m glad we were having such a blast. Unfortunately, we didn’t even get a chance to go on this ride, which is too bad, because it’s one of my favorites. By the time we came back for the afternoon the fast passes were finished being distributed and this ride probably had the longest line in the park at 60 minutes.

Grizzly River Run: Rob and Nate grabbed some fast passes for this ride earlier that morning. It was their first stop for the afternoon. The line was very short and they both had an amazing time. Both Rob and Nate got fairly wet and both had a blast.

Disney’s Aladdin—A Musical Spectacular: This was a full-stage production of Aladdin inside the large Hyperion Theatre. The kids and I went to this while Rob hit California Screamin. I wasn’t sure if Caroline would sit through the whole thing but she did. I’m not a “play” person, but I thought this was really fun. The special effects were great and there was enough going on to keep us all very entertained.

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!: We all hopped on this ride which usually has a long wait, but didn’t at all. It was a little loud, but the scenery from the movie was cool.

ElecTRONica: Now I’d have to say that this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. My kids have loved the movie TRON: Legacy for a long time. We always turn the Daft Punk soundtrack on VERY loud and dance, have battles, and ride light cycles around the family room. ElecTRONica is a night-time dance party at The Hollywood Backlot Stage area. As the sky went dark, the glowing, neon lights turned on, the music was turned up, and the dancing began. There was a DJ spinning, lit hula hoops (which I so enthusiastically rotated around my hips), and glowing lemonade was served up. The whole place looked just like the club scene from the movie. There was even a man doing tricks with a laser. We all had a blast. Rob and I would’ve loved to stay longer and dance the night away, but the kids were ready to go on a few more rides before we had to leave the park. Here is a video of the laser man.

Tuck and Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies: These are bumper cars that the kids enjoyed driving. Madeleine was nervous at first and didn’t want to crash into anyone. After a few seconds she warmed up to it and started ramming people.

Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train: The kids thought this was pretty cool. You basically ride Heimlich around and drive through food that he has eaten. At each stop you get sprayed or misted with the scent of the food. The kids though this was hilarious.

It’s Tough to be a Bug!: Nate liked this for a few minutes but the 4D experience scared him a few times. He didn’t like it when the spiders started attacking from the ceiling. hehe.

By this time it was pretty late so we ate a really late dinner while we saw part of the World of Color show that was taking place on the water. We decided we needed to leave the park before the show ended in order to beat the crowds to the shuttle. On our way out, Rob ran into the Disney store to get Madeleine’s souvenir, a Little Mermaid doll set.

We all loved Disneyland and California Adventure. We are all ready to go back again soon. We always wondered why so many people go there almost every year. Now we understand.

Silly Racheal

My niece was being silly.

Here are a few other silly pictures of the Raines kids.

Dancing

Dancing brings joy to her soul.

   

She is such a beautiful girl with a beautiful spirit. We sure love our Madeleine.

Giddy-up, Aiden!

Those eyes! Those bubbles! Awwww.

California Vacay: Disney’s California Adventure Part 1

On this morning, we were just as excited to get to the park. Disney’s California Adventure opens a couple of hours later than Disneyland, so we didn’t have to get up early or rush at all. I even had time to run to the grocery store and pick up stuff for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. That saved us a lot of money.

Toy Story Midway Ride: We heard this was THE ride for kids, so we hit it first. This ride didn’t have a fast pass so we used the immediate entry pass we earned the previous day at Disneyland. It’s a 4D shooting game which the boys especially enjoyed. Instead of a gun, each rider has a wheel and a ball on a string that can be pulled. You can aim and pull the ball to fire. The fun part is that the 3D glasses combined with artillery that varied throughout the ride made the popping balloons and shattering plates a complete blast! This ride is amazing.

California Screamin’: I got a single’s pass to get closer to the beginning of the line for this roller coaster. I think it’s so fun. I love the weightless moments. Rob hit this one later on in the day and was equally thrilled about this amazing ride.

Mickey’s Fun (Ferris) Wheel: Madeleine had been eyeing this ride for a long time and it was at the top of her “to-ride” list. The whole time waiting in line she wanted to get in a pink car but ended up in green, much to her dismay. What was even worse, was she and Nate decided they really wanted a swinging car. Well, once we were in and got higher and higher and even higher, Madeleine started getting nervous. Then once we peaked at the top and started to go down and the car began its swinging, boy, that was it! She flipped out! She hung on for dear life and started screaming and crying! Caroline was also freaked out but only had a super scared look on her face, which I thought was hilarious because I’ve never seen her scared before. Nate was just fine and totally enjoyed the swinging but what I think he enjoyed the most, was listening to his sister scream. Hahaha. Rob and I also got a kick out of it; probably too much of a kick.

 

King Triton’s Carousel: While Rob went on the roller coaster I took the kids on the merry-go-round. After the ride ended, I lost site of Nate for a minute. I couldn’t see him from where the girls and I were riding and he got off before we did. When we exited, he wasn’t there. I looked around the area and couldn’t find him. After I made sure I was calm, I looked again at the carousel and there he was, running around and around it, not being able to find the exit. I called to him a couple of times but he couldn’t hear me. After a minute of this, he finally found his way out and straight to us. I’m so glad I didn’t lose him!

Golden Zephyr: The girls and I went on this low-key ride. Madeleine had recovered by now.

Silly Symphony Swings: Nate and Rob went on the swings. We could see them from our ride. Nate and Rob rode together in the same dual swing. They had a few extra restraints for the younger kids. He loved this ride!

Ariel’s Grotto: The girls and I went on this new ride and they both adored seeing Ariel and her friends and listening to the music.

Redwood Creek Challenge Trail: After waiting in lines all morning it was time to run around so we went to the play area. The kids loved this. Madeleine thought the rope net things, that you walk on and climb all over, were really cool. I also loved these so much when I was younger but sadly I never see them anymore. Caroline loved climbing through the tunnels. Nate loved exploring and finding everything to do on the map.

After this, we headed back to the hotel for a much-needed rest before the evening excitement.