The "Magic" question is...

How many times can you visit Disneyland in a twelve month period and still have fun? Ask the Mendenhalls because we have the experience to prove that at about the 10th visit of the year it finally starts to get a little old. Here's my top 5 ways to tell if the Magic Kingdom is losing it's Magic for your kids:

1. Buzz Lightyear walks by and your 5 year old son doesn't even break his stride, turns back, waves at Buzz and mumbles something like, "wassup, dude?"

2. You have fabulous pictures from every ride that takes your picture (I can name them all but I won't bore you with details) because you know the exact place on the ride when they snap the pictures.

3. You start to believe that the corn dog stand on main street sells really good food.

4. You start fantasizing about what you'd do with the employee discount you could get at the Star Trader store if you got a job there.(Of course, they'd hire you in a second because you know all the merchandise better than most of the employees they already have.)

5. You decide to surprise your kids with a special day at Disneyland and your oldest responses with, "oh, yeah, I figured that's where we were going..."

I guess we've got our money's worth!!

Where's that stinkin' Pollyana when I need her?

Please excuse this post for what it is, a gripe-fest. I hate be a downer, but for the sake of using this blog as a personal journal, I'm going to do a little venting. I'm not sure what is up, (ok I am pretty sure what is up), but I am in major grumpsville. It started when I woke up from a nap on Sunday aftenroon and it's just gone downhill from there. Today was the first time at work that I actually had a crappy time. My feet and legs ache, my brain is mush and frankly I don't want to go back tomorrow. What to do? Oh well, I guess I'll just get up tomorrow morning, throw my legs out of bed, kiss my babes good bye and head out again. I have gained a whole new appreciation for my "old life" and I swear not to take it for granted when I get it back. (hopefully soon!!!)

The End of an Era

The time was right and I finally changed the name of our blog. Hopefully "Mendenhall 5" will be a little easier to remember and type! To my blogging friends, when you get a chance, update my link on your blog with my new address. Upward and onward....

I love how excited the boys get about decorating for Christmas. Frankly I'm not sure where they get it from because I personally don't really enjoy any of the process! (Sad, I know...) James was particuarily thrilled about decorating the tree. He took great care to place each ornament (initially). Then near the end, he just started throwing the lighter ornaments at the tree until they stuck. It gives a real nice random effect. The kid's got talent. David's interest lies mainly in making room for gifts under the tree, placing the stockings in a clearly visible spot, and of course breaking out the Christmas pajamas. We've both got the holiday jammies this year. I sure do love these kids. David is such a little love bug, I love his hugs and kisses. Maybe it's because I haven't been around them as much because of work or maybe it's just because they know Santa is watching, but they have all been on particuarily good behavior lately. I'm relishing every moment!!

Y Fans? The blood runs Red.......

Last night was a blast at the SDSU vs.

BYU football here in San Diego. Clearly, we tried to be true to the Blue, we fully outfitted our kids in the appropriate attire, and Mark and I did wear blue, but as the game went on, I began to have trouble curbing my loyalty to the Aztecs. For the record, I did attend SDSU from 1991-1993 and Mark attended from 1995-1999(he graduated from there, I obviously didn't), but we had our share of years of routing for the Aztecs. To make matters worse, I come from a Uof U bloodline and I did attend my Radiation Therapy program at the U's hospital, so on many levels I felt hypocritical cheering on the Cougars. In reality, I was clearly there for the social aspect of the experience and hopefully I didn't make too many enemies when I wore the SDSU hat for the last half of the game.

The kids had a great time running around and playing with their buddies. James was thrilled that he got his hat signed by Cosmo. (I just learned who that is..)