Disneyland ... Twice!

May has flown by, so far. And it has become a month full of fun, surprisingly. We seem to have had things going every weekend, and most days or nights this month!

We've had the missionaries to dinner twice (two different sets of elders). I've had meetings and visits to do for Relief Society, which is always good. Our new Relief Society Presidency had its first funeral to organize and carry out about a week and a half ago. I was asked to play the organ for the service, which was really nice and turned out really well, I thought. I had asked Denae Garrison to watch Brooke for the hour and a half that I would be playing for the funeral; and I asked the sisters who were preparing the luncheon to help me with Camille. As I prepared a musical number for the funeral and then played for the service, I saw Camille being held and taken care of by 3 different women. And I thought of what a beautiful thing it is: the gospel produces people who love to serve each other. It's not a revelation to me; I watch this sort of thing happen all the time. But that day, I saw the whole thing come full circle, and it was really cool.I had a number of women serve me that day so that I could serve another family. 

A couple of Fridays ago, Brooke and Daniel went to a ward fundraiser for the Young Men/Young Women programs. Camille and I stayed home because Camille hadn't slept well that day, and I couldn't justify going to the activity with a baby who needed to sleep. But I'm sure Brooke loved having a little Daddy-Daughter date with her favorite. And I, of course, don't mind hanging out with and taking care of my precious little doll. :)

I finished my spring training challenge with Lindsey Brin at the beginning of the month. I thought the whole thing was great, and just the sort of thing I felt like I needed to get my workout routine back on track. I've kept working out this month, and I've even started running a bit in my routine. The first Saturday of the month was the Annual Holbrook Family 5K. Daniel and I both did it that day. It was a hot day, even early when we did it. Because of girls naps and such, we couldn't do it together; Daniel went first, bringing in a time of just over 25 minutes, and then I went, coming in at about 38 minutes. I hadn't really been running all that much before the 5K; so I walked and ran it. I ran as much as I could and walked the hills and when I had to. I came back tired and very red in the face, but proud that I did it in under 40. The whole thing kind of motivated me to start training for my half. So I've been trying to throw in some walk/runs into my workout routine. Trying to mix it up a bit. And, I've lost a few more pounds and inches! I have 5 more pounds to lose before I'm at my pre-Camille weight, 10 more pounds before I'm within my desired range/pre-Brooke weight, and 15 more pounds before I'm at my target/pre-marriage weight. It's all very exciting. It took me over a year to get to my pre-Brooke weight, I was working really hard to lose my baby weight, and then I got pregnant with Camille right when it happened. This time it seems to be happening more quickly.

The past few weeks, whenever the girls decide they both want to nap at the same time for a couple of hours together, I've been making cards. I put on a show or movie, take out a basket with a few stamping supplies, and start making 1 card design, a few times over. I usually only get out 5-8 cards within the one or two hours that they are both sleeping. But it's been fun to get a little creative. I haven't done something like that in a long while.

Daniel and I took the girls to Disneyland on Wednesday, the 6th. He took the day off work, we packed a bunch of snacks and drove down. It was such a fun day! The weather was perfect. It was overcast and cloudy for most of the day, cool and delightful. It was fairly crowded, but not too badly. We didn't have to wait in any lines longer than 20 minutes. Except for maybe when Daniel and Brooke went on the Dumbo ride together.

Camille did not handle the no-napping thing very well. We put her down for a several naps, but only one of them was at least an hour; all the rest were shorter. She struggled, and she was fussy a lot, especially right before she fell asleep. Poor thing! I hope she had at least a little fun. I think she really enjoyed the Small World ride. That was Brooke's favorite ride when she was Camille's age.

Brooke, of course, had a grand old time! She couldn't seem to get enough! She loved the Carousel, Small World, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh. She met some fun characters. Before we went into Disneyland, she said she wanted to see Ariel. We weren't especially hopeful, because Ariel's rides and things seem to all be over in California Adventure. But then, when we were waiting in line for Casey Junior's Train, who comes jaunting up behind the Dumbo ride, but Ariel! And because she was kind of hidden behind rides, not many people saw her and there was no line! It was pretty fun for Brooke to talk to her. Daniel took Brooke on the little roller coaster in Toon Town. Brooke met the height requirement for that ride by a hair, so they went together. Daniel took the funniest video of her on the roller coaster: super excited as they are sitting in the ride and anticipating it, then we see her face drop as the ride gets going, and she is so scared. It's funny! But then when we ask her if she liked the roller coaster ride, she always says yes, even if with some hesitation.

It was so much fun taking the girls to Disneyland that day. I like when we go by ourselves, with just our little family. We get to take it easy if we need to, we get to go on the rides we think are important, or the ones that we thing the girls will like (multiple times in a row, if we want!). We had to stop and nurse the baby or put her to sleep several times throughout the day. So we had a more relaxing day at Disneyland that day.

Then, last Sunday, Mother's Day, Bekah, Chris, and Mom Holbrook came down with the little girls. Bekah and Chris had planned a Disneyland vacation for their family, and we were their pit stop on the way down. We had dinner with them (Daniel had made dinner for me that day, since it was Mother's Day. So sweet! He cleaned up and cooked while I played with the girls up in the loft. It was the best day ever) and visited for a short bit before they went off to bed.

Tuesday, the 12th, I took the girls to the zoo and met up with some friends from the ward, Allison Leishman (and Lucy, Brooke's little friend) and Brynn Candell and her son, Jude. Camille, again, struggled with missing naps. She was quite fussy, and finally took a short nap in her stroller after I nursed her. It was a bit hard, too, because the double stroller won't fit in our car, so Brooke had to walk the whole day. I could only stroll one girl. And Brooke is an awfully slow walker. We were always lagging behind the group. It was a nice cool day, perfect to be at the zoo. But it was just a bit stressful for me, what with Camille being so fussy and not sleeping, and Brooke being so slow and tired from all the walking.