Mom's Visit & Disneyland

A couple weeks ago my beautiful Mom and her hubby, Vince, came out to visit for my brother's wedding. Jacob and I set up a bed in our guest room and they made themselves at home. It was so nice to have my mom stay at my house; and it was the first time we've entertained long-term guests.

While they were here, we did some fun "tourist" things. Vince has visited California once before, but this time we had more time to traipse around town. On Wednesday, we went to Hollywood Blvd. to see the Grauman's Chinese Theater and look at the stars along the way. Then we went to the Griffith Observatory; which was just beautiful - packed with amazing views of Hollywood.

Disneyland Adventure!

Jacob & Me in Tomorrow Land

The real adventure was on Thursday when we went to Disneyland and California Adventure. We had a nice group of 8 people including: me, my Mom, Vince, Jacob, Tim (my older brother), Rachel (Tim's new wife), Sandy (Rachel's mom) and Sarah (Rachel's sister).

Tim & Rachel in Tomorrow Land

I hadn't been to Disneyland since I was a little kid and I wasn't expecting much. I thought it would just be a nice relaxing day. While it was relaxing, it was also so much fun! The lines were only about 15-20 minutes per ride, so we got to experience so much. Plus, we got the park hopper tickets so we also got to go on some rides in California Adventure. Here are some of my favorite pics from the day:

Tim, Rachel, Sarah, Mom, Sandy & Vince

Tim & Jacob waiting for the Buzz Lighyear ride

Mom & Vince with Buzz

The Jungle Cruise

I don't know about you, but I love the Jungle Cruise - cheesy jokes and all.

Front Row on the Tower of Terror

This ride was definitely one of my favorites. You'll see Jacob and I in the front left. Then there's Vince, Sarah and Tim on the front right. I don't know if you can tell from this pic, but Sarah is holding on to both Tim and Vince for dear life. lol

Carousel in California Adventure

Now, we come to the perfect ending to our day - the carousel ride in California Adventure. If you've never been on this carousel, it's not a normal carousel. They have the carts "hung" so that they actual slide back and forth as it moves; making it about 100 times more scary. They were able to fit all 8 of us in one cart and it was so frightening and hilarious at the same time. By the time we were making our first descent, the cart was swinging like crazy, and the guys rocking it more didn't help. The picture above was taken while we were freaking out. My Mom was screaming and crying (she thought we were going to swing off the carousel into the water), I was losing my mind, and as you can see - the guys were just laughing and enjoying every second.

Carousel Ride in California Adventure

 On the other side of the cart, we have Sarah, Sandy, Rachel, and Tim. This picture was taken during a calm moment of our ride. Sandy was sharing with my Mom the "we are going to die" feelings. lol.

This day was so much fun, and it left me with a reminder of how thankful I am for my family. I love them with all my heart and I'm so glad that it's expanding to now include Rachel's family too! I'm so thankful for this daydream I got to live out!

Make Your Day Dreams Happen
~Amber~

Guest Post: Rogue Baby Boutique

Today I am delighted to have a guest post from Ricki at Rogue Baby Boutique. We met on Etsy and we are now blog buddies. Here's her wonderful post:

Hi! I'm Ricki from Rogue Baby Boutique! I am a wife, mama, crafter, blogger, and cooking enthusiast. I love to make custom diaper wipes cases, hair pretties, and baking! Today, I'd love to share with you one of my favorite new recipes. Bananas gone coconuts muffins! Yumm! For other yummy recipes and fun stuff, please visit my blog at www.roguebaby.blogspot.com

In my house, we tend to always have bananas in the house. We all like them when they are still a tinge of green, so once they start to get those brown spots, they are destined for banana bread or to be frozen for protien shakes. But not anymore! Those bananas have found a new purpose.
Introducing... Bananas Gone Coconuts Muffins!

These sweet babies are made from just about as "scratch" as you can get. And are pretty easy!

Here's what you will need:
3 cups flour
3 ripe bananas
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 sticks salted butter (melted or room temp)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (evaporated or coconut milk would be a good substitute)
1 cup shredded coconut
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas. beat in sugars, eggs, and butter. Then blend in flour, baking soda, vanilla extract, and milk. Lastly mix in the coconut.
Makes 24 standard cupcake size muffins. Boo Boo calls them cupcakes, and my hubby agrees, a good homemade cream cheese frosting would turn these quickly from "muffins" to cupcakes! )

Ricki also has a lovely little shop on Etsy with adorable baby items! Here's my favorite item from her shop - a very fashionable baby wipes case:

Thank you so much Ricki for sharing your wonderful recipe - I can't wait to go make it! If you haven't had enough blog reading, you can also read my guest post on Ricki's blog about homemade cleaners.