Valentine's Day

Our family made Mail Boxes so that we could give each other valentines throughout the month. It was sweet to get little notes here and there from the kiddos. Although I don't mind the guaranteed date to go out with my sweetheart, I wonder if Valentine's is more of a young person's Day; they really know how to have fun with it:

The girls requested buttermilk, heart shaped pancakes for breakfast (how could I refuse?).


Sarah and Hannah have loved a website that was recommended to us for cute girls hairstyles: cutegirlshairstyles.com That is where we found this adorable hairstyle for the girls; perfect for Valentine's Day and so easy to do! Playing with my girls' hair has gotten a lot more fun!

February

Other than Valentine's Day, February is really kind of a boring month. Not that I'm complaining.

¡Ajuua!

We discovered a new-to-us Mexican Restaurant--Ajuua!!

What we love about it is the refreshingly diverse menu. It's not the same old burrito/chimichanga fare (though they have that, too). This place was born as a Mom n' Pop restaurant, but has grown to four or five stores, while still maintaining the flavor that made them great in the first place. The service was very reminiscent of what you'd find in a family-owned place: less-than-perfect mastery of English but excellent care for the customer. Everyone seemed invested in our enjoyment.

Location: where the old Zio's was in Aurora at Iliff and Abilene.
Salsa: 3 stars--not the least bit of spice, but good flavor for both the red and green. The red salsa was sweet, and the green had strong lime overtones.
Entrée: 4.5 stars--I actually let out an exclamation when I took the first bite. The serving sizes for our dishes, the discada and the alambre, were so big that we could have easily shared. The only thing keeping it from five stars was that the beans and rice tasted like they do in every other Mexican restaurant.
Drinks: 2 stars. The horchata was slightly weak, and the tamarindo was very watery (I think it's the way it was supposed to be, but I'm used to the strong, thick Dominican stuff). I'll likely just stick to water next time.
Dessert menu: Don't know yet. We really wanted to try it (again, not the same old stuff), but were way too full. Lots of fruity options like Strawberry chimigangas and banana enchiladas (or something like that), as well as the stand-by fried ice cream.

We'll be back, to split an entree and dive into that yummy-looking dessert menu. Wanna come with us?

Disneyland is History

We could probably create 20 more posts about Disneyland, but this is it. We'll just have to blog about the happenings at home, I suppose.

One of the cool things about Disneyland is the nods to the park's history. I made mention of this earlier, but here are a few of our photos that help illustrate the point.

Many of the windows on Main Street USA reference the people that helped make Disney and Disneyland what they are today. This is just one example--Don Edgren was one of the original chief engineers who designed Disneyland.

Most of the critters in Splash Mountain (including the geese, birds, gators, buzzards, porcupines, etc.) are not from the movie "Song of the South", but rather from the extinct "America Sings" attraction.

This is one of a couple of tunnels that used to be part of the old "Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland" ride. It can be seen from the walkway between Fantasyland and Frontierland and really does not look out of place in any way. In fact, right across from it sits Big Thunder Mountain, which makes use of the old building façades from Rainbow Ridge.

This is an actual car (bronzed to look like a statue) from the old "Midget Autopia" ride, which closed in 1966 to make way for Small World.

I took this photo in the Winnie the Pooh ride (you have to look up and back to see them). These guys were once part of the Country Bear Jamboree, which occupied the spot on which Pooh now resides.

Thanks to MiceChat and Yesterland.com for all the trivial park info that I would otherwise have never known.

Hidden Mickeys

When we were at Walt Disney World in 2008 we discovered the phenomenon of the Hidden Mickey. Throughout the park, seemingly innocuous patterns and shapes every once in a while manifest themselves in the form of a Mickey Mouse, most often the "three circles" head and ears shape.

We casually found a couple in Orlando (the coolest one we found was in this photo from Spaceship Earth--can you spot it?),

but became consumed with the phenomenon at Disneyland.

I got a "Hidden Mickeys" book for my birthday, and David became the official seeker of the Mickeys at the park (the ubiquitous book is evident in a couple of our bloggg photos from Day 4). Below are a few of our favorites (for which we actually got still photos, at least):

This one was in a wall in ToonTown.

The holly berries form a Holiday Hidden Mickey in Small World.

Not only does the license plate sticker at Autopia have the Mickey,

but this plate features my initials!

Check out the light-colored portion of Duffy's face.

The placement of these three ovals qualifies as a Hidden Mickey.

This one's from the floor in Pinocchio (it's upside-down here).

This is one of a many 'crests' in the Matterhorn Bobsled queue (but the only one with a small black Mickey in the middle).

The crest on this armor has a Mickey, dead-center.

Tough to see, but really cool.

This one's in the pavement out in the plaza between the parks.

This was serendipitous, but undeniably Mickey.

Plug for a Plan

I used to think that going on vacation meant no itinerary, do as you please, relax, sleep, take it easy. While some vacations lend to this kind thought, I have since converted to a "plan" when we go to "THE parks." It all began when a good friend offered to make a plan for our first trip to Disney Land. "Why do we need a plan?" I thought to myself, "We've been to Disney World, and did just fine....didn't we?" It ended up being a wonderful learning experience for myself as I learned the art of navigating an amusement park to make the most of your time (bonus: more bang for your buck too!) I learned new terms and ideas like: slow loaders, peak season, fast pass, count-down to open, short cuts (did you know that the shops that line the Main Street of Disney Land and Disney World are all connected on the inside? If you can't get through on the streets because of a parade or event and you want to get out--go right down the center of the shops and bibbidi-bobbidi-boo: You're out! A short cut. Good luck not getting sucked in by the Disney merchandise.)

Our friend brought over this amazing map to point out how itinerary would work and his reasoning for how things were planned. He even planned in a nap in the middle of the day because we had small children (Hannah was 1 at the time). Being at the park before the park opens was key to the plan: less crowds=short lines. But we couldn't miss out on the night shows which are late (much later than my children were used to staying up)--thus a nap was necessary. However; we found we needed the nap just as much as the children. We went to Disney Land in the middle of July (peak season), followed the itinerary, and didn't stand in a line longer than 15 min. Not an exaggeration. We saw everything and enjoyed the full Disney Land experience in 2 days. I was sold! I didn't feel tied down like I expected. It was more like a Treasure Hunt, following the clues to enjoy the magic to the fullest extent. I compared my experience to the last time I had been at a Disney park wandering around wondering what we should do next, standing in lines for hours at a time thinking this was just the way it was done. Not so; there really is a better way. We enjoyed our time even more because of having a plan. (this sounds like it could make a great analogy for a life plan or even the Plan of Happiness...kinda like how the commandments don't tie us down but help give us our life line so we can FLY like a kite...ahem, re-focusing...) So, needless to say we always make a plan before we go to the Disney Parks (twice since the first time with the plan).

Jenkins family, with itinerary, 2004

Is the plan perfect? Not really. We live and learn, tweak and adjust. There has to be an element of flexibility when it comes to who you are with, the age of children, and unexpected events. Having a plan is a great way to start as long as you don't forget why you are there in the first place--and that is to make memories. If a kiddo wants to "ride again" (even if it is the 3rd time)--then I say, "Lets enjoy the ride!"