Disneyland!

What do you do when you have the end of tax season, 2 birthdays and an anniversary all within a week? If you're the Crockett's you go to DISNEYLAND to celebrate it all! We are having a BLAST! Here's some quick summaries and pics, I'll try to add more later after our trip! There are lots of pictures of the younger boys 'cause the older boys are usually running ahead of us before we can get a picture.
*BEWARE PICTURE OVERLOAD AHEAD!*
Saturday was our anniversary. We drove in the morning and spent the rest of the day in the park. Pirates was the voted on 1st ride of the trip/day!
See this post for more.

Sunday, we went to the beach (after a quick trip to Target 'cause I forgot my swimsuit :P). It was a bit cold in the water, but my boys LOVE the beach so there was no stopping them. Brayden wasn't too fond of the water, but had lots of fun digging in the sand and burying Ryan.

Later that night, we met up with Wes, Linda, Brittany and Ashley (my oldest brother, wife and nieces from Utah) in Downtown Disney for dinner at the House of Blues and played in the Lego store. Good food, fun, and company!
Monday, the park was DEAD! Apparently a heat wave (100+*) has the same effect as a rainy day and scares people away! Not for us hot-blooded Arizonans! We were able to hit Fantasyland and ToonTown with little or NO wait on most rides all day! It was AWESOME! We finally did the Finding Nemo Submarine ride 'cause the wait was only 20 minutes (it's been over 3 hours in past trips!). Brayden totally LOVED it!








Tuesday was Ryan's birthday, See this post for more!

(PS, I decided to just add the rest of the trip to this post and be done!)
Wednesday, we spent most of the day in California Adventures since we didn't spend much time there yet. The kids loved Grizzly River Run. After riding twice, we were all SOAKED!



Thursday, we packed up and checked out of the hotel to spend as much time as possible at the park before we had to drive home in the afternoon. :( Poor Brayden fell out of the stroller and scratched his face, but was smiling again by the time we got to Small World. Mckay LOVED ALL the fast roller coasters! Kenny took a couple pics of him while on Thunder Mountain before we left. Judging from the HUGE grin on his face, I think he liked it!

Ryan's 8th Birthday!

On our tickets, we had one "Magic Morning" where you can get into the park an hour before it opens to everyone else. We went today for Ryan's 8th birthday! We were able to hit many of the Fantasyland rides before it got too busy. In one of the stores, Ryan received a birthday phone call from Goofy. Later Ryan wanted to head over to the Pirate's Lair (which has taken over Tom Sawyers Island). The boys LOVE climbing and running around through all the caves and forts and tree house.

Because we were at the park so early (and it was over 100* in the park) we went back to the hotel in the afternoon so Brayden (and Kenny) could take a nap while I took the other boys to the pool. We went back later and met up with Wes and Family for dinner and more rides and stayed until the park closed.

During the day, Ryan got a birthday pin to wear (and they gave the other boys "Honorary Citizen" pins so they wouldn't feel left out), so all day people kept saying "Happy Birthday, Ryan!" Before long, he was embarrassed and put it in his pocket most of the day. It wasn't until the end of the day he found out he could get free stuff (most importantly a dozen tortillas in California Adventures) if he was wearing it. Now he plans to wear it everyday the rest of the trip.

This year at Disneyland they are giving Free park admission on your birthday. Since we already had a multi-day ticket, they gave us the choice of either a $60 gift card (equal to the cost of a 1 day ticket), a Birthday Fastpass (which we didn't need 'cause the park was so empty), or a 1 day ticket to be used anytime within the next year. Ryan went for the $60! He has LOTS of big plans with his money, so we're making him wait until he REALLY knows what he wants.

11th Anniversary at Disneyland!

On Saturday, our 11th wedding anniversary began at 5:00 am, loading up the car with kids and luggage and on our way to our favorite place, DISNEYLAND for the week! Around 2:00 pm, we checked into the hotel and headed straight to the park! We all stayed and played until 11:00 pm, then went back to the hotel to crash! Not the most romantic day, but a great day spent with our favorite people!! Kenny also surprised me with a new camera for the trip! The boys even took a picture of just the two of us (after a very long hot day) in front of the castle! How sweet! Love you, babe!

Happy Birthday (and Tax Day) Kenny!!

Isn't it ironic for an accountant's birthday to be on tax day? He can NEVER take the day off, but he usually gets the next day off and it makes it a GREAT day to celebrate!
At his firm, his manager and then a partner signs off on every return, so most of his clients returns were completed the week before to give time for review. This week he's been busy filing extensions for clients who aren't ready to file their returns. But we always celebrate the end of tax season (and an end to crazy work hours), and the opportunity to have our Dad and husband back! We went to dinner with Krissy and Taylor, Tuesday night to celebrate.
Today, Kenny worked a full day then we all went to Serrano's for dinner for his birthday. He couldn't decide what he wanted (and we are leaving for Disneyland in days!), so we gave him a card and some cash to spend however he wanted. The office is traditionally closed on April 16th, but because they had some network problems during tax season, the company needed to upgrade the computer systems and chose to also close the office on Friday while they made the upgrades throughout the long weekend. Since we had scheduled our Disneyland trip for the next week, this all adds up to 11 days off work for Kenny! Happy Birthday, huh!?! He's going to be sick of us by the time he goes back to work!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNY! WE LOVE YOU!!

Happy Easter!

Easter was pretty low key this year.
We haven't been brave enough to take all the boys to the Easter pageant in years. Since it's during tax season, and usually on a school night we usually skip it. But this year I decided the boys were old enough to help me out and pay attention. I decided Thursday night would be best 'cause it would be a late night and the boys were out of school on Friday. I packed up some subs, drinks, apple slices, and chips for dinner and some blankets and jackets then headed out. Kenny met us there for dinner (since it's so close to his office), but had to leave 'cause he had several hours of tax work to complete and wasn't excited to stay up way past midnight doing it. (The life of a tax widow during the final week of tax season!) Ryan fell asleep within the first 1/2 hour (which I should have expected, he is SO NOT a night-owl), but the other boys liked it. It was a great way to remind them what Easter is all about!

On Sunday, the Easter Bunny found us, but since it was a fast Sunday for our ward(what a cruel trick!) he left a note to wait until after church for the candy, as well as toys and things to keep them busy (mostly things for our upcoming Disney trip). Happily it worked! Later we went to my parents' house for a yummy ham dinner. :)

I am so grateful for Easter and the atonement and sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us so we can repent and live with our Eternal family again. I am so grateful for my family and their love, and the opportunity to teach them the gospel, and everything they teach me in return. I'm thankful to know that whatever our trials and pains are, He knows our pain and can comfort us and help us to overcome our trials. I am grateful to be a member of His church and to have this knowledge. I hope to live my life in a way that would be pleasing to Him.