Childhood Memory Lane

This last weekend Shannon, Abby, Kate and I made a quick trip to Mesa. We left after work on Friday and went so Shannon and I could go to the temple and we could all spend our Christmas gift cards. Braden and Logan did not have Christmas gift cards, so they were spared the shopping weekend and instead got to spend a fun filled weekend in Duncan playing in the sand pile, watching movies and playing Chutes and Ladders.

Abby got a Build-a-Bear gift card from Santa and so she had the best time picking out her new friend and getting her decked out. It is very interesting to be a parent at this age. She is very shy and very reserved about checking things out, but at the same time does not want any input from parents. It is fun to try and figure out how involved to get and when to step back and leave her alone. From the pictures, you can see that we got it all figured out and she named her new friend Tara. Also you can see from the pictures that Kate was very tired, but was as good as gold the entire day. Tara received an outfit with sequins and bright silver shoes. Those who know Abby are not surprised at the flashiness in the least. I think if I had been able to build my own bear (I mentioned having to step away and leave her alone some times. This led to a lot of time for me to browse...the Build-a-Bear store. What are you going to do? I ended up getting into it and designing my own bear in my head.) I would have chosen the Koala bear and dressed him in a flannel bathrobe.

I bought some books and Shannon and I both bought new shoes for Disneyland as our current tennis shoes were a mess. Finally, as we were getting ready to leave Barnes and Noble, Shannon found a book she loved as a child, Harold and the Purple Crayon. I had had that book as well and it was totally cool to see it again. We decided to get it and give it to Logan. This morning, Shannon gave it to him and he said, "I don't want this one." She told him it had been her favorite and we just needed to read it. She sat down and read it to him while I made breakfast and it was cool to hear it again. Of course as she is reading it, both he and Braden are loving it and when it was over, Logan immediately begged to hear it again. It totally reminded me of some of my favorite books when I was a kid. My absolute favorite picture book was "Cranberry Thanksgiving". I loved that book so much I have tried to find it again and it is out of print. I could spend $80 and get a copy but even childhood memories have a price limit.

Also, now that we are under a month before going to Disneyland, we are now in full fledged talk about it mode. Since Logan is the newest family member to go for the first time, he gets to pick whatever ride he wants to go on first. Our first two kids chose the Dumbos. Logan had been saying he wanted to go on Buzz Lightyear, but now he says the Dumbos also. But after that, his main priority is meeting Mickey Mouse. He is way excited for that. That also took me back this morning to remember my first trip and when I met Mickey and he kissed me on the head. Fortunately, we were going through old movies a while back and we have that on video now.

So this morning, nothing catches me as overly humorous. I just find myself remembering back to some of my favorite childhood memories and being very thankful that I get to be here and see my kids create some of their own.