Tag Archives: Disneyland

I Still Call It Easter Break Hodgepodge

Time again to answer Joyce’s questions for Wedneday Hodgepodge. 

1. We’re in to a season students call ‘spring break’. Did you/your family travel over spring breaks when you were growing up?  Tell us something about a ‘spring break’ you remember (from childhood or adulthood, either one). 

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s we always had Easter break. I forget when it was changed to Spring break. I’m not sure if we had the full week leading up to Easter off or starting on Good Friday for a full week. My family did not travel over Easter holidays. My mother was too busy baking Kulich (Russian Easter Bread) and making Seernaya Paska and sewing Easter dresses to go off galavanting. 🙂 We would fast on Good Friday and then attend a Good Friday evening service and when the service was over we would break our fast together with a meal at church. On Easter Sunday we would all dress up in our Easter finery and celebrate Jesus Christ’s Resurrection and come home to a luncheon of Lamb with colored Easter eggs and of course the delicious Russian Easter Bread for dessert.

In 1997 I had an epic road trip during our kids’ ‘Spring Break’ to Southern California. Dear was working but our two sons and daughter, our oldest son’s girlfriend (whom he married in 2001) and our middle son’s best friend, joined me as we traveled down I-5 with stops in Yuba City (at Dear’s mom’s condo) and then to our destination in Yorba Linda at my Mom and Pop’s home.  Our oldest son was accepted to Westmont College in Montecito (Santa Barbara) and would be attending there come August so we made a trip there on one of our days. We had beach days, cousin days, a Disneyland day and Baba and Dzeda days before we headed home stopping in Clovis (at my cousin’s home), and Yuba city to have one more visit with Gommy (Dear’s mom). That stop and visit on April 18th/19th was the last time we would have with Gommy as she died on May 6th of that year, unexpectedly. Collages at the end of this post are from this epic road trip to Southern California. The photo at the top of the post was from this road trip, too.

3. March 7th is National Cereal Day…are you a fan? What’s your favorite? If not cereal what’s your favorite breakfast? Your typical breakfast? 

I do enjoy breakfast cereals like Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini Wheats and Granola. My favorite breakfast is our family traditional meal of Swedish Pancakes and little smokies because we are all sitting around the table enjoying that breakfast together. If we eat breakfast at a restaurant I enjoy Eggs Benedict.

A typical breakfast would be high fiber cereal with blueberries or toast with avocado.

4. Break ground, break of dawn, break down, break the bank, break one’s stride, break the ice, break a law, break a habit, break bread…choose one of the idioms listed and tell us how it applies to your life currently. 

I’m in the throws of trying to break the habit of going up on the scale after I’ve gone down on the scale. So far so good. The up and down and up again has been a yearly habit so it would be nice to break that cycle this year and stay on the low end.

5. Where do you go to connect with friends and family? What do you like to do most when you’re home alone? 

Because of our moves later in life I’m disconnected from my longer established friendships. We’ve been in our current country location for 4 years and we are establishing new friends. We go to church to connect with friends. We connect with family and friends in our home or in their homes. I’m thankful for friends and family that come visit and stay overnight. Also thankful for trips to see friends and family.

I’m a list maker so when I’m at home alone I like to tick off my list. I like to have at least one day a week where my calendar has nothing on it and I can wile away the morning in my jammies and robe.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

March is my birthday month and this part of our state is not ideal for travel on my birthday, usually. We are re-thinking a night away and postponing that to the beginning of May, Lord willing. We’ll check the weather and try to get down to Spokane for a nicer meal than we would get in Colville on my birthday but time will tell. We also want to get to Spokane to see ‘Jesus Revolution’ while it is still in theaters. Growing up in Southern California we had experience with the Jesus People at Calvary Chapel (the original one) and want to see how it’s been portrayed in this film. Have any of you seen the movie?

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April 12th we traveled in a rented van from Bothell to Yorba Linda. We made a rest stop to kick the soccer ball around. If I remember correctly we stopped in Yuba City for an overnight (or maybe that was an overnight on the way home) before we made it to Yorba Linda. Cousins came to visit us at Baba and Dzeda’s house on the 13th. On the 14th we headed to the Huntington Beach where our rented van broke down. I worked on getting that remedied while the kids enjoyed the beach.

On the 15th we drove to Santa Barbara (Montecito) and visited Debbee (cousin/niece) and to check out the campus that Josh would be attending.

On the 16th we had more cousin time playing card games.

On the 17th we had a Disneyland day with my sister and a cousin Melissa.

On the 18th we hit the road with stops planned in Clovis to visit cousins and then in Yuba City to see Gommy again.

Disneyland 2023

DisneyCaliFam Vacation day at Disneyland, Tuesday January 17th, 2023!

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This post is going to be a photo dump of the photos Auntie LoLo and I took during our day at Disneyland. Fair warning: It’s a long post!

We decided to order matching shirts for our day so it would be easier to spot each other. At Christmas we had Katie draw out a design we wanted for the shirts. We have a company in town called ‘Your Design Here’ that ordered the shirts and printed our design on the shirts. There were twelve of us at Disneyland on Tuesday January 17th. We had sunshine with cool temperatures for our day.

These days you have to reserve your spot and purchase your tickets ahead of time for Disneyland in Anaheim. You also have to reserve parking in their structure at the park. Because we had an oversized van we were directed to park on the main level which worked great for us.

From the structure to the Tram. They have a wheelchair car that worked our nicely for Granny Great.

Jamie made special ears for Addy and JJ. Dan ended up wearing JJ’s because JJ’s Dinosaur ears didn’t cooperate with his three year old self.

Pins are a big deal at Disneyland and Auntie LoLo surprised us all with a special pin for the day. I wish I would have thought to get a photograph of each special pin. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, LoLo! Update: After reading this post dear Auntie Lolo sent me a collage of all the pins! Thank you, LoLo!

It was Addy and JJ’s first time at Disneyland so they picked up their First Visit Buttons. Josh, Dan and Jamie picked up their birthday buttons. The Disney workers and cast members (or are they all called cast members?) noticed the badges throughout the day and acknowledged them. That was fun.

Badges all set and ready to go. Strollers are a must for littles, in my opinion.

You can see Andrew and Katie’s pins here on our first ride of the day.

Dan decided to wear JJ’s dinosaur ears.

 

The Disney characters rotate out during the day getting breaks. Before we made it to the characters Minnie Mouse rotated out much to Addy’s dismay. We assured her we’d do all we could to meet up with Minnie sometime during the day. Every character that walked off the job for their break stopped to greet Granny Great waiting out of the line in her wheel chair.

 

 

The Star Wars Ride, Rise to the Resistance, was the longest wait we had for a ride. Addy and JJ did so well in the waiting. Addy was not pleased with the ride, though. She did not like the drops and wanted calmer rides after this one. JJ had no problem with the fast more roller coaster type rides.

It was my favorite ride. It is one of the ‘newer’ rides and they have done an exceptional job making you feel like you are soaring through space.

 

Chewbacca and Rey greeted our family and we had a great interaction with them.

Time for a turkey leg break.

I had cheetos and a banana for over $6. Yikes! I needed something on my stomach as I was taking Ibuprofen to try to keep my back and legs going!

On the wishing well bridge we were able to witness a proposal of marriage. Fun! She said yes.

Promises kept, Auntie Lolo asked a employee where we could find Minnie and she made a special effort to call and find out for us!

 

JJ was content with Mickey.

After the castle photos Josh took myself, Dear, and Granny Great back to our home away from home. Granny Great was a trooper but it was time to get out of the cold and put our feet up. Josh drove us home and we all enjoyed leftover soup. He went back to the park to join the rest of the family for the next couple hours until the park closed at 8pm.

This crew enjoyed dinner from Galactic Grill before Josh made it back and they finally got to step into the boat at Pirates of the Caribbean. Earlier in the day when we tried to get on that ride the whole French quarter of Disneyland shut down just as our crew’s boat arrived for some reason that we are not privy to. They had to turn around and exit the ride and the French quarter. This was a ride that the whole crew enjoyed!

Addy and JJ saw so many kids in the park with these Micky bubble machines and their mom and dad surprised them with their own at the end of the evening. I think they were delighted!

Goodnight to Disneyland. A very good day at the Happiest Place on Earth.

As I promised this was a very long and photo intense post. It will be something to look back on over the years and a benchmark for Addy and JJ’s future trips to Disneyland, Lord Willing. Thank you to Auntie LoLo for all the photos added to some of mine.

 

Happiest Place on Earth Hodgepodge

Three of our nieces, our son Josh and daughter in love, Laura at Disneyland in January of 2020 before the lockdowns. Happy Birthday Mickey!
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1. It’s Mickey Mouse’s birthday (November 18)…happy birthday Mickey! He reads here, right? Have you ever been to Disney, any of the parks at all?
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Yes, I’ve been to Disneyland in Anaheim. I was there shortly after it opened in 1955. I was there with my whole 9th grade class for a graduation from Junior High excursion. Went there on school busses. That would have been in 1965. I still have part of a ticket book from when rides were classified as A,B,C,D,E.  The E ticket was for the best rides and where the saying “e ticket”, the ultimate of thrills, came from.
Dear and I were there before we were married.
We took our kids there in the 80’s and 90’s and they’ve gone on their own now that they are adults.
I’ve also gone a couple times on my own with my extended family as an adult.
1986 with our two sons and Katie was a wee babe and slept a lot on this Disneyland adventure.
1995 Me with my sisters, our mom, my nieces and daughter, Katie.
2009 with our niece and grandnephew.
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Are you a Disney superfan or something less than that?
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I’m a fan of all the great memories but not a superfan.
Some of these loved ones are superfans!
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They’re open right now so tell us, would you go if you had the time/money/a free trip?
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I wouldn’t go until the mask mandates were lifted. Once that happens (please Lord) we’d love to experience Disneyland with our grandchildren. We were actually planning a trip to Disneyland for March of 2021 but we have cancelled those plans.
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2. Your favorite place to go when you want to be quiet as a church mouse?
Anywhere that there is no artificial noise.
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Would those who know you well describe you as more church mouse or perhaps more like mighty mouse?
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“Here I come to save the day, that means that Mighty Mouse is on the way…”
I’m neither a church mouse or a mighty mouse. Somewhere in between. I have had my “mighty mouse” moments in protecting my loved ones through the years.
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3. The day before Mickey’s birthday happens to be National Homemade Bread Day. Did/will you celebrate? Do you bake your own bread? Last time you had hot out-of-the-oven homemade bread? What’s your favorite kind of bread?
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I love good fresh bread of any variety. Last night we were at our Colville kids’ home and we enjoyed fresh rolls and the Instant Pot potato soup our daughter in law made. Both the rolls and the soup were delicious.
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4. What’s something you might say is ‘the greatest thing since sliced bread‘?
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I know I’m going to be saying “why didn’t I think of that?” when I read your answers. For now I’m going with remote controls. I do remember when we had to get up and go to the TV to change channels. Mind you there were only a very few channels back then.
And Dear just said, “how about luggage with wheels”?
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5. Let’s keep the gratitude theme we started last week rolling on through November. Share with us five little things you’re grateful for today. Small blessings. One catch-they all must start with the letter T. Gotta keep us thinking, right?
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Time with my family and friends.
Tall people at the grocery store when I need something at the back of the top shelf.
Trees, tall trees, tiny trees, trees that I can see from my windows.
Towels, large fluffy (but not too fluffy) and absorbent.
Texts. I didn’t used to text but now I really am a fan for keeping in touch with loved ones, especially when they are on the road.
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6. Insert your own random thought here.
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We made a last minute trip to Spokane yesterday for some electrical supplies Dear needs and we made stops at Costco, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby and At Home. We were relieved to see that people weren’t panic shopping because of the current mandates. We were even able to buy some Bleach wipes that were in stock but going fast.
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Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions!

Living Vicariously Disneyland

Tuesday January 21st was Disneyland day for Josh and Laura with the three cousins who took the day off.

Some of the cousins have year long passports to Disneyland.

What a beautiful day in Anaheim!

So thankful my nieces and Laura have such a special relationship.

One of the newest attractions at Disneyland is Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge with the Millennium Falcon.

Sisters!

Such a fun photo bomb by Chewbacca!

Josh and Laura ran into our favorite defender from the Seattle Sounders Soccer team who just retired this last year, Chad Marshall. They also met up with Laura’s best friend from college who was there with her family, too.

Dinner at the Blue Bayou with the crickets chirping from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Night time at Disneyland.

Oops! Captured!

An epic day of fun and laughter at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Thanks Kristin, Michelle and Laura for letting me copy and paste your photos from your day at Disneyland!

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Yorba Linda

From Wildomar to Yorba Linda. My parents decided to sell their home in Wildomar and move back to the “city” in 1987. They found a home in Yorba Linda which was in a good location for our family to gather more frequently. They lived in this home from 1987 until 1997 when they decided to sell most of their possessions to return to Russia as missionaries.

Their move was just before the time we were deciding on relocating from California to the state of Washington. This was also during the time of planning for our youngest sister’s wedding in July of 1988. July of 1988 moving vans loaded all our earthly goods and Dear’s mother’s goods to move with us to Washington State. Dear’s father had died in October of 1985 and we eventually had Dear’s mother move in with us and then she relocated with us to Washington state.

Father’s Day 1988. Moisi with all his grandchildren at this time plus our two nieces on Dear’s side of the family. At this time Katie was the youngest granddaughter.

A trip to Descanso Gardens in Spring of 1988.

We were in Southern California over Christmas and for Katie, Nina and Stephen’s birthday, December 27th, 1990. This is in the dining room in Yorba Linda.

 

 

We traveled from Washington State to Southern California for a few Christmases until it just wasn’t practical for us to continue.  For Katie’s fifth birthday since we were in Southern California we decided a trip to Disneyland was a good idea.

Moisi barbecuing meat for a birthday party in the backyard in Yorba Linda. You can see part of his garden to the left.

In 1994 we spent a good amount of time in Southern California for World Cup. We stayed with my folks in Yorba Linda.

The kids and I made a road trip during Easter break in 1997 to say some goodbyes to Moisi (Dzeda) and Nadia (Babushka) who were getting ready to spend an extended time in Russia.

 

My Tuesdays with Moisi posts will be fluid as I come up with more photos or memories.

God Holds the Future in His Hands ~ Hymns

God Holds the Future in His Hands

Dread not the things that are ahead,
The burdens great, the sinking sands,
The thorns that o’er the path are spread,
God holds the future in His hands.

Refrain

God holds the future in His hands
And every heart He understands.
On Him depend,
He is your Friend,
He holds the future in His hands.

We know not what tomorrow hides,
Of sun or storm or good or ill;
We only know His dear hand guides,
And He will be our Father still.

Refrain

His hand created earth and sky,
The zephyrs and the storms that rage,
And years to come and years gone by
To Him are but an open page.

Refrain

Live close to Him and trust His love,
Assured that while on earth we roam,
Whate’er may come, He bends above
To guide His children safely home.

Refrain

Words by James Rowe, 1922.

Zephyrs are west winds in case you were wondering…

Lots to be Thankful For…

So many blessings to think about and be thankful for. Today I’m joining Susanne at Living to Tell the Story with Friday’s Fave Five . My Favorites for this week will revolve around Katie’s trip to Southern California. For those of you who don’t visit very often our daughter Katie has been living with us since September while our Son-in-Law, Andrew is serving with the Marine Corp in Afghanistan. She will be with us until his return sometime in the Spring. When we get a more definitive return date she and I will drive their car and some belongings across country from Washington to North Carolina and try to set up some type of living arrangement before his arrival. Now I’m ready with the Five…

1. That Katie could spend some time with my dear old pop while she was in Southern California. The photo above is of the two of them from last year at the senior apartment building where he lives.

Disney winter

2. That Katie was able to spend 2 fun packed days at Disneyland with some of her cousins. The goal was to see Disneyland while it was still all decorated for Christmas. Katie’s cousins have Disney year long passes and Katie was able to get a great 3 day pass for a good military discount.

3. I was talking to my pop this morning and he was telling me that he thanks God every day for his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. It is so pleasing to see how well this group of cousins gets along and how much they love each other. The above photo was taken in Southern California in March of 2013.

T-Day and after 001

4. From December 3rd thru January 19th we celebrate the birthdays of four of our children. I’m so thankful for each one of them and how unique they are. I’m also very thankful that they love each other and can talk to each other and laugh at each other! Tonight we will be celebrating Josh about 9 days early but he’ll be gone next weekend serving at Junior High Winter camp so like always we go with the flow and celebrate whenever we can.

P1040734This photo is from Laura’s birthday celebration early in December…

Andrew training

5. We are thankful for our son-in-law, Andrew. He is serving all of us in harms way. I like to post this photograph every so often to remind anyone who visits here that many of our young men and women are away from the comforts of home serving our country and to remind us to pray for them that they will return home safe and sound. Semper Fi!

What are you thankful for today?

Signs of My Summer…

It’s that time of the week again when I scramble to find photos that will fit the Alphabet letter of the week. This week we are up to the letter S. I know it’s Wednesday and not Thursday yet but I’ve got something special to post tomorrow…

Jenny keeps us all on track with Alphabe-Thursday so click on over to join in the fun.

Signs are my choice for the letter S!

Sisters by marriage at Julienne.

I was happy to even find some signs in my archives that had words that began with the letter S.

This is the original Starbucks in Downtown Seattle across from Pike Place Market.

This next sign is from a couple summers ago from Central California. It just made me chuckle.

Summer made a slow appearance here in Western Washington but these last weeks of August have been very nice. Even though Fall is one of my favorites I’m happy that the sun and warmer temperatures finally blessed our region. Next week Dear is off and we are going to head to the Oregon Coast and then inland to Bonneville Hot Springs. I probably won’t have a chance to participate with the letter T. Hope you all are still enjoying your summer…

Sometimes It’s Fun to Be a Princess…

…or a Queen!

I’ve lived long enough to know that things can change and sometimes the change is abrupt. A good rule of thumb in life is to enjoy the days you are given. If things are especially nice why not just bask in it. When I consider things I can’t wrap my mind around like “the love of Christ, which surpasses knowlege” I am blown away. Considering what Christ has done for me is the best antedote to whatever comes my way. So I’ve had my Princess days and they are very nice. I’ve also had my dungeon days. Thankfully I knew they wouldn’t last forever.

On Saturday night my laptop got a nasty virus that took over and damaged many of my files, mostly my photos. Boohoo! Truth be told I’ve been thinking I needed a new computer with longer battery life and more room for my photos for a while. Anyhoo, on Sunday after church we went to Costco and bought me a new computer…yes I felt blessed that we could do that. Sunday afternoon we found someone to repair the old one so now Dear can use that one. He doesn’t store photos etc. so it will be great for what he does. There have been many seasons in our past where we wouldn’t have been able to replace a computer this easily.

My new computer has fingerprint technology that allows me to log into all my stuff including remembering my passwords with a swipe of one finger. Pretty weird and cool all at the same time. Dear says if I die he’ll have to cut off that finger so he can use the computer. If I die he can clean off my desk, too.

So I’m in a new learning curve around here with all this new technology. I also need to take some photos because my picasa is very very low on photos since my other computer ate them all up!

Hope all is well where you are…

Celebrating the Twins!

Today my youngest brother and sister who are twins are celebrating their birthday. The Bag-O-Rama Jamboree invaded Disneyland yesterday and at one point we were 15 strong. We had the twins pose for these shots at the “Happiest Place on Earth”. I survived and even made it all the way to the fireworks before dragging myself home to bed.

 We are having a barbecue at the beach to celebrate Leonard and Lana this evening.

Happy Birthday to you Leonard and Lana. We thank God for all the fun life experiences we have had with you all through the years!