My Baby

About 5 years ago I talked to my Grandma about moving her mother's piano out of the basement and into my house so someone would start using it again. I was living in duplex with some friends at the time and we had the perfect place for it. Then we got a new roommate who brought her piano with her and so my Great-Grandma's piano stayed in the basement. Then I moved into my condo, which, while very nice, isn't that large, and is on the third floor of the building. So, again, I figured I would have to go without a piano for awhile. For my 30th birthday I decided I was tired of living without a piano, and that I would pay to have the piano moved as a birthday present to myself. Of course, then winter hit and life got busy and it never happened.

Dan and I have a tradition of playing Christmas music together every year. Although there is a rule in our house that we can't start listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, we can "practice" Christmas music after Halloween. So, when Dan and I started practicing our Christmas music at my parents house last year, I decided I didn't want to go one more Christmas season without having a piano to play at my house. So on a nice fall day in November, I finally got my baby. My very own piano.

Everyone that comes to my house wonders how in the world we got it in the house. That was the easy part, you pay professionals! It took them all of 10 minutes to get it up the three flights of stairs, tight corners and all! It was pretty amazing to see.

The hardest part was figuring out how to arrange all the furniture and make everything fit. It has been so great to have a piano in my home, and it is especially meaningful to think of my Grandma and her mom and her brothers and sisters playing on the same piano.

Halloween at Disneyland Part 4 - Mickey's Halloween Party

Our last night in Disneyland was the big Halloween party.

At 6:00 the night of the party, the park closes to regular guests and you have to buy a special ticket to the party. You get to dress up and go trick or treating in addition to the rides, a special "spooky" firework show, and parade.

They even put up some special decorations for the party.

I loved the fog they had rolling in from the river and all through New Orleans Square.

We got SO much candy. We only went to two of the trick-or-treat stations, but it was enough! I still have candy leftover!

Julie and I decided to go as Princess Aurora and Fauna (the green fairy) from Sleeping Beauty. I made Julie's skirt for her, not bad for a first time attempt with no pattern!

Lauren and Dan went as Peter Pan and Captain Hook. I made Dan's costume as well (well, I made the collar and put the cuffs on the jacket) now it should make a lot more sense why I was so exhausted by the time we got to California - I was up sewing all night the week before! :)

We absolutely loved this other group of Peter Pan characters, especially Tinkerbell!

We waited in line for about 30 minutes to meet Peter Pan - unfortunately they changed over right before we got to the front of the line and brought in Captain Jack Sparrow. Lauren was SO disappointed! We left the line and came back later when Peter Pan was back, Lauren was so happy to FINALLY get a picture with Peter!

We went on Pirates of the Caribbean one last time, and then it was time to go home.

Halloween at Disneyland was SO much fun! I can't wait to go again!

Halloween at Disneyland Part 3

We spent the next two days playing in the parks.

I LOVED all of the Halloween/Fall decorations.

I also loved Space Mountain with the added Ghost Galaxy effects.

Julie was a good sport and sat in the front on Splash Mountain, you can barely see me hiding behind her. Thanks for taking one for the team sister!

Every time we went to Disneyland with Lauren she would run to see if the canoes were open, and they were always closed, so she was THRILLED that they were open on this trip.

We spent an afternoon in California Adventures. ..

And took a break to have a treat and watch the Pixar Parade.

We got a wheelchair for Dan because his ankle was still pretty sore. He especially enjoyed being able to sit and nap while we waited in-line. We decided it was worth it to push him around since it meant shorter lines for a lot of the rides.

It also got us front row seats for the new World of Color show. Great view, but you get splashed!

We had to go back over to Disneyland after the show to take more pictures with all the Halloween decorations.

I decided it was Dan's turn to push me.

Our first stop our second morning was the ice cream shop so Dan could get his ice cream fix. Lauren had to work that day, so it was just the three of us. We decided to mimic Lauren's infamous interpretive dance moves to show her just how much we missed her.

"You can see" that we missed her.

I love the teacups, but everyone else gets sick on them. Julie made the supreme sacrifice and went on the teacups with me. She stared straight at me the entire time and happily didn't get sick. What a fabulous sister!

One of my favorites things on the Indiana Jones ride is the movie they play while you waiting in line. The lady makes the most ridiculous face that we were trying to imitate on Splash Mountain.

Since there was absolutely no line, Julie and I finally got to go on the Winnie the Pooh ride.

We stopped for dinner and had Mickey Mouse shaped gingerbread beignets - Delicious!

After dinner, we started seeing people wandering around in costume (can you believe this was not a Disney cast member!) so we decided it was time to go change into our costumes for Mickey's Halloween Party.