Disneyland

I have to say Disneyland with a 1 year old

wasnt as bad of an idea as I thought it'd be.

It turned out we could go on a lot more rides

than I expected.

Ginger was a happy girl all day.

Especially when I let her have a bite of my churro.

The best part of the day though

was early morning when I pulled out my

gigantic camera that I rationed would be worth

carrying around to get those fantastic shots...

only to find out, I left the battery in the charger.

Well of course I did.

Good thing Casey had his point and shoot in the car

and made the ridiculous trek back to retrieve it.

Im so happy we went with the Treese clan.

There was a good rotation system

and they are Disneyland pros,

they knew exactly where to go and when and how and why

and Casey and I were happy to follow their lead

because we were clueless.

And a special shout out to Clay who walked Ginger and Lacey

around in the stroller for E ver... to get them to take a nap.

It was a wonderful weekend.

Hello California

I am trying to recover from a very busy and very fun

weekend.

And that's the thing about vacations...

you need a vacation to properly recuperate from a vacation.

So I was all, Listen Ginger... Im super exhausted

so if you could just make your own bottles and scramble

your own eggs today, that'd be awesome.

To which she replied with a blank stare.

Saturday we met up with my brother and sister in law

Nikki and Cody and their adorable kids.

Clive

Tessa

Don't they make beautiful children?

Meeting up with them proved to be an awesome decision.

1. We had a blast.

2. They're moving to Texas so it was great

to spend time with them before they go.

And 3. Because if you ever go to the beach... you should go

with them.

Need some shade... they got a tent.

Thirsty? Here's an ice cold diet coke.

Bored? Here's a football and a shovel.

To bury a football?

Basically... they're prepared beach goers.

Ginger loved the sand. and surprisingly didnt

shove handfuls in her mouth like I thought she would.

Tessa is my most wonderful photography subject

to practice on...

You can see why.

I've got 42 more examples.

The last picture is of her "throwing a snowball at me".

A few reasons why I LOVE kids at the beach:

1. They call balls of sand- snowballs.

2. They aren't uptight like adults. Sand in their armpits

and mouths... Who cares?

3. Sand can provide hours and hours and hours of entertainment.

And whats a trip to the beach without

someone getting buried in the sand?

Tessa was a very willing participant.

Man I love that picture.

Ginger got in on the action too.

Ta dah!

Hello Sunshine.

Hey man walking his dog in the background...

Get out of my shot! You're ruining my moment!

Keep going sir.

Forget it. Ginger move up a little... Now to the right,

there we go.

Wasn't that fun?

I'll show you our Disneyland action tomorrow!

I promise.

A day in the life...

Here's a typical uneventful Monday at the Treese house.

Wake up: 10:00 a.m. snack: apple jacks. show: sesame street

Elmo keeps her entertained while I hunker down and get to my monday bunnness.

laundry.

Woe is me.

Time to get serious.

Let's see who can balance a diaper on their head the longest.

I won.

All 27 times.

In Ginger's defense

she was being tickled by her super competitive mother

who couldn't bear the thought of being taken down by a 14 month old.

Some people will stoop so low to win.

11 ish am. brunch. strawberries and an E.G.G with ham and cheese.

That's what lazy people call breakfast.

Were lazy people.

While she eats I carry on with my Monday cleaning bunness.

I hate Mondays.

Because we are super off duty during the weekend.

So my house looks like this...

How. Embarrassing.

After brunch comes a bath.

Especially because Ginger has decided to rub her food in her hair.

Ah, Much better with Moses.

Then time to moisturize this situation.

Meanwhile Moses tries to catch up on some R&R while Ginger goes down for her noon nap.

He needs it because when G get's up she'll be all rested for some dog chasin.

I tried to warn you...

Normally we go on an afternoon walk or bike ride

but Las Vegas has been cursed with wind.

cursed!

So we go hang out on my bed and finish watching Monsters inc on my laptop.

But then she gets restless.

She

IS

BoRED

So down for her second nap.

Then we head over to my lovely In-laws for Family Home Evening.

Where we learn two things:

1. Sometimes uncles don't notice when they're sitting on their nieces.

2. Little sisters want to be just like their big sisters.

That's all.

Try not to fall over from excitement.

Happy Mother's Day

Sam I Am

When Ginger was a few months old

Casey spent a Saturday afternoon working in the garage

on this;

At the time this piece of wood was our coffee table.

Casey noticed Ginger spent a lot of time lying on her back

looking up.

So he wanted to give her something to look at.

He took the pages from the Dr. Suess book Sam I Am

and modge podged them to the bottom of the table.

He mixed up the pages

and turned them into an analogy for the gospel.

And for a personal touch, you can find

three names on there;

Casey, Ali and Ginger Estelle Treese.

I know.

Totally sweet.

When he showed me I just looked at him awe struck.

it was so special and such a testament of the kind of father he is.

Ginger is so fortunate to have him for a dad.

After Ginger started being more active we decided to

take the coffee table out of the living room.

Now that Sam I am piece of wood is sitting on two sawhorses.

And is used as a desk.

And Ginger is still captivated by it.

Books; part two

Remember how last Friday I said

I'd post more reading recommendations the following day?

Silly me.

I meant the following week.

Here we go.

Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd.

This is a fun read.

Definitely a book that allows you to escape your own reality

if but for that one hour before bed.

Pattie has led an incredibly fascinating life.

You know the Eric Clapton song, Wonderful Tonight...

of course you do.

He wrote it for her.

just a little ditty while he was waiting for her to finish getting ready.

You know, no big deal.

Oh and before she was with him,

she was married to George Harrison, the beatle.

again, no big deal.

I like Eric Clapton.

He was once in a band with a drummer named Ginger.

Ginger was a lush.

That's how we came to even consider the name Ginger.

Beautiful, huh?

A drunk drummer.

Anyway. The Beatles... Eh.

Not a huge fan.

The Rolling Stones are more my style.

But oh my goodness, was the Beatle life

a crazy, ever evolving, fascinating life?

And she had front row streets.

And she gives you the meaty stuff.

I hate it when autobiographies are safe.

Safe equals BORING.

This book is not boring.

The End.

2. Catcher in The Rye by JD Salinger

Recently we had friends over for dinner.

I made flank steak with a lime marinade.

Billy Joel's recipe.

It. was. Gooood.

What does that have to do with the cost of tea in China?

Or the cost of tea and china.

Nothing.

I just wanted to give myself a shout out.

Great Marinade Alexis!

Hey thanks.

Anyway.

My friend's husband says over dinner

"You know what book I did not like at all? Catcher in the Rye."

Whaaaaaaaaa?!

Them are fighten words boy.

Then he goes on to say Holden is fake.

And he hates how he calls everyone phonies.

Meanwhile, I'm counting backwards from ten

because I dont want to go loco at my own dinner party.

I say in my slightly quieter, monotone voice

(the one I use when I dont want to come off as too strong)

Actually I completely disagree.

I get a wee bit attached to books,

so Holden Caulfield might as well be my brother

JD Salinger my dad.

that's how personally offended I was.

Then I decided due to the high probability of me

pulling a new jersey house-wife and flipping the table over

in the heat of debate, I better just squash it.

So he made his point,

I made mine and then quickly ended it with...

Let's agree to disagree.

My opinion was/is... I have never came across such a perfect

fictional protagonist as Holden Caulfield.

And I get him. I feel like I am him.

He gets pretty serious at times

but then he'll start talking about horsing around

and I am laughing out loud.

That's pretty awesome when a book makes you crack up.

And I know the phonies he's talking about.

And my heart bleeds when he talks about

being the catcher in the rye.

(my heart bleeds?)

I think I was a child in the rye...

And Holden caught me...

and stopped me from being a phoney.

No. Seriously.

I know it sounds melodramatic.

What can I say?

I'm not doing this book justice.

I just think it is perfection.

Will you read it and tell me how you feel about it?

Thanks.

Oh and PS...

Dear David (the Holden hater),

You're wrong.

But youre a kind and fun guy.

So we can still be friends.

Cordially, Alexis.

Please share with me your picks.

Thank you friends.

Have a lovely weekend.

What have I done?

What have I done?

to deserve this piece of Heaven?

Beauty

I am sitting here crying.

I can't stop.

It feels like someone is stepping on my chest.

All for good.

I came across this picture from our trip to Mt. Shasta

and I cannot even began to express all the emotions that it pulled from me.

My sweet Great Grandmother, Estelle. Ginger's namesake.

She's incredible. I promise.

I'm sorry you probably will not know her.

My great grand-father left behind a letter to be read after he died.

He said to his children,

She is one in a million.

I hope to be a wife and mother esteemed so highly.

I love how she's looking at Ginger.

With such a natural peace.

I love that Ginger is in my mom's arms.

I love that they are in the kitchen in which I feel most at home.

I love that Ginger is looking out the window.

I love that out the window is a perfect view of Mt. Shasta.

I love that above her head hangs my wedding bouquet.

I love that she gets to be a part of this very important part of my life.

Of my personal make- up.

I love that this is now part of her life.

I am so grateful.

I am grateful for my religion.

for my testimony.

Grateful to know that Ginger will know Grammie.

Whether it's here on earth

or in Heaven.

Grateful to feel that peace in my heart.

and grateful for this great legacy of love and kindness my Grammie will leave for me.

Life-Ruiner

For the first 3 months of Ginger's life

all I could talk about was baby crap.

I'd be talking about breast-feeding or something

and at the same time be thinking...

Oh my gosh, Alexis, shut up

you are boring the hell out of this person.

I kind of feel like my blog is falling

down that deep dark boring hole.

And Im sorry.

but this is pretty much Ginger's baby book.

So here goes another entry.

I'll call this...

The Baby Gate Tragedy.

She thinks, I'd like to go downstairs now.

I'll just open this gate and be on my way.

(note, the latch is up, but thanks to baby proofing- she still has to lift the gate and pull at the same time to open that sucker, and believe you me...if that happened, the title of this would be; My daughter- the genius)

What the what?!?!

This is baloney,

keeping a girl all locked up like this.

I'll just reach up and

push that button and I'll be on my way.

Why?!?!?!?! Whyyyyyyyyyy?

Woe is me!

Why isn't the button pushing working!

Okay. think Ginger...

maybe if I squeeze my head through here..

Nope, that didn't work.

Hey, there's mom. I'll just stare at her

until she opens it.

And that's when I say,

No, sweetheart. We don't need to go downstairs right now.

Wha?!?! You're ruining me life!!

Well shoot.

I thought I'd have to do a lot more

to ruin my daughter's life.

Like tell her she can't date until she's 16.