I’m always a little amused with our neighborhood. It’s pretty urban, and besides our neighbors who have a pet pig named Penelope, it only has cats and dogs. The other day though, we were all getting ready to sit down for breakfast, when we heard a commotion in the living room. Miss Piggy and the cats were excited to see we had a new visitor on the yard. A chicken.

We locked the cat door to keep the animals inside, and tried to figure out where the chicken came from. Big T was unfortunately knocked out of The Great Chicken Race early, because he jumped and landed his foot on a lone sprinkler head. Little T couldn’t help, because he would have frightened the chicken with his enthusiasm. He wanted to be included though, so we gave him the task of making sure the animals inside the house didn’t get out of control. He took this job very seriously, and every once in a while we’d hear a little voice shouting, “STOP LOOKING AT THAT CHICKEN”!!!

With the help of Erica (my friend and chicken expert) we decided to build a chicken trap. First we put out some chicken food and led a trail to a cage with the hopes that the chicken would run inside. The chicken didn’t go for the food, but instead decided to eat Theo’s pretend corn, which for some unknown reason, happened to be in the backyard near the chicken on this day.

And here is the empty cage….chickenless….

Then we decided that maybe we could use broom sticks to encourage the chicken to go into the cage. At this point, our neighbor who helps with our yard showed up and saw my mom and I in the backyard trying to get the chicken into the cage with the broomsticks. My mom shouted over to him, “do you know how to catch a chicken?” He mumbled something about coming back later and quickly retreated the way that he came.

After our attempts to get the chicken into the cage with the broom failed, we decided we needed to kick things up a notch. We built a more elaborate chicken trap using our old vegetable garden beds….

I was actually really impressed with myself for coming up with this trap, and Big T wobbled out and whispered….”I think this might work”. Heh heh, that’s why you married me, Big T. For my chicken catching skills. 😉 My mom stood in the vegetable bed to keep the chicken from flying over it, while Big T wobbled around and I tried to chase the chicken into the chicken trap. Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes of this, the chicken grew tired of us and flew into the neighbors yard, the yard with all the big dogs. She was in there for less than a second before we heard dogs barking and she retreated to the roof of our neighbors house.

We all had a busy day and pretty much forgot about the chicken, but then later that night, we had to get into the car to run an errand. Little T was shouting at us to look and was pointing down the street. I was the only person to turn and look and realize that the chicken was over there, crossing the road. :insert chicken road crossing joke here:

I ran down the street to snap a photo. You can barely see him, but he is walking in the distance off into the sunset, with a sense of freedom in his step. Needless to say, I think the chicken had a good day. 😉

Take care, little chicken. I hope you find what you are looking for. 🙂

So many things to be thankful for this year. We’re so fortunate to have each other, good friends, a loving family, jobs, and a place to call home, filled with stray animals, mix-matched furniture, and an old piano in the corner with a few missing keys. 🙂 Thanks to everyone who has supported our family with encouragement and love, and I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving. We’re going to watch the parade and ride bikes before heading over to dinner with family. This year we’re even going to try the Native Foods Wellington! I may or may not be counting down the hours! 🙂

Also, I’ve spent the past few days taking photos for Little T’s school because they needed someone at the last minute. Isn’t Little T looking all grown up? I just can’t believe it!

Photos that make you look young, but make you feel old. 😉

Taking a work break to find eligible bachelor cats for your single cat:

Getting mail from Muno:

Finding a cotton plant and telling Little T about growing up on a cotton farm:

Those rare and special days where you get to stay up late for a change:

chatting with Preston:

Riding the wrong way.

Three out of four photos feature duck lips:

Learning from cowboys:

And the end of the scavenged hunt;

Sitting in on a lecture:

And the tiniest cups I’ve ever seen. 🙂

It would have been impossible not to compare, right?

Pirates of the Carribbean:  Disneyland~we thought Disneyland was longer, better themed, and more charming.

Thunder Mountain: Disney World~maybe because it was a new experience?

Splash Mountain: Disney World~we thought the animation was a little better and we liked the seating.

Haunted Mansion: We liked the Disneyland attraction, but we preferred the Disney World queue.

Peter Pan: Disney World~the animation was nicer.

Space Mountain~Disneyland~we missed the music and the atmosphere of Space in California.

Tower of Terror: Disney World~there was more to the attraction than California Adventure.

Rapids at Animal Kingdom: Disneyland, or California Adventure~this really was no comparison. The attraction at Animal Kingdom was so short!

Midway Mania: Toss up!

Disney World Vs: Disneyland

We loved them both, but we have to say Disneyland. We liked that it was all in one place and that you were immersed in Disney from the moment you walked in the door. At Disney World, it was so spread apart that you could always tell you were in Florida, which broke the show a bit for me.

Favorite Parks at Disney World: 

Momma J: World of Harry Potter, then Animal Kingdom

Big T: Animal Kingdom and Epcot

Little T: Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Our last two days at Disneyworld were hard ones, because we knew the trip was coming to a close.

We started out Day 5 at Epcot on Test Track, one of Little T’s favorites. Obviously, the bigger the car, the better. 😉

Afterward, we explored the World Showcase. We had delicious couscous in Morocco, and found some nice treats in Paris. We couldn’t pull Little T away from the train in….wherever that place was, I kind of can’t remember now. :p

After exploring, we took Little T back for a nap, then dropped him off at Simba’s Kids Club so we could have a date night. I’m not going to lie, we felt really guilty, so we called thirty minutes after we left. He was having too much fun to say hi on the phone, which was a huge relief, and we felt like we could really enjoy our date after that call. We went back to Paris at Epcot, and I had wine while Big T had chocolate croissants and crepes.

When we got back to the kids club, Little T introduces us to all of his new friends. He talked about a little boy named Devin for the rest of the trip, so I think he really did have a great time.

More Epcot photos:

The next day, we went to the Magic Kingdom. We took a boat from the Polynesian, which Little T liked a lot.

We did all the rides we hadn’t gone on yet. We started out with Belle’s Enchanted Tales, then went on the Stitch show, and did a few others befor going on Thunder, Splash, and Pirates again. We ended the day with a vegan root beer float on Main Street.

After Little T’s nap, we has dinner at Sanaa, then let him play in the arcade. It was raining too hard for the pool, which he was pretty sad about. We promised we’d take him to the pool the next morning.

I forgot to mention it, but I did have a moment to sneak over to the wedding pavilion. 🙂

On our last day, we played at the playground and the pool until it was time to go home.

Little T had a bit of a meltdown when it was time to go. I kind of can’t blame him. 😉

The trip home was hard, but we kept telling Little T that we’ll be back someday. We made a memory book for him to remember everything he did, and told him he’d definitely earned a basketball hoop for when we got home. (We told him we’d get a big boy basketball hoop for the yard when he is potty trained, woohoo)! So that’s it! Now were back at the house. As much as I miss it, it is nice to be home. 🙂

I have to admit, we were all pretty tired after our first two days, so we moved a lot slower on day 3. We started out by going to Downtown Disney, it was an unexpectedly challenging trip for us because Little T was not patient at the shuttle. He was tired and ready to explore and despite our best efforts, we couldn’t keep him entertained. The shuttle took over 30 minutes to arrive, so it was rough on him. Then it took another 45 minutes to get there. By the time we arrived at Downtown Disney, it was close to Little T’s nap time. We went to Babycakes for vegan goodies, ordered vegan chili from the place next door, then enjoyed some desserts from Babycakes. We got Little T’s pirate costume for the Halloween party, then decided the trip was a bust for Little T. Big T took him back for a nap and the rest of us stayed to look around. We had a nice time wandering around after that, and decided to use a taxi for our trip tonight instead of the shuttle. When he’s older, I think the shuttle should be fine.

Little T took a long nap, and woke up in a much better mood. We had leftover vegan chili for dinner and leftover corn bread from Babycakes. Our decision to take a taxi to the park and use the shuttle on the way back, started the trip on a much better foot. We dressed Little T like a pirate and took him to Mickey’s Halloween Party at the magic kingdom. He had a blast!

The coolest thing about the trip so far has been the magic bands. They’re so easy to use. At the Magic Kingdom, we used them for a special pirate scavenger hunt. We had to find places on the map and use our magic bands to activate them. Little T thought this was the neatest thing ever.

Some of us were better at the scavenger hunt than others. :p

Speaking of Magic Bands, we can use them for dining, getting into our hotel room, fast pass, and purchasing items at the stores. We have a special code to enter when we buy things, so there isn’t the chance of losing it and having it being used by anyone else. They’re also water proof, which makes it a lot easier for adults to buy a glass of wine at the pool (heh heh). Overall, Magic Bands have been pretty magical. I hope they give them to AP’s at Disneyland, it’s so easy.

Other fun things:

When we got back to the hotel, we had a few fun surprised waiting for us. An elephant had gotten a hold of Little T’s paci:

And the family of one of my brides had arranged to leave us a very special gift, full of lots of snacks and goodies! It was the nicest surprise, and we all sat around and tried different goodies from the bag, instead of saving them for the rest of our trip, teehee.

The next morning, we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I was in heaven. I wish I could live there, or at least stay there for maybe a week or two. 😉 The butter beer was amazing, the decor was amazing, and the people and rides were amazing.

Little T didn’t want to take off his pirate hat:

At Harry Potter:

There was a point where I had to leave the group and run to our stroller. As I walked around Hogsmeade, I could hear the Harry Potter music playing and I had this really happy feeling. I just felt like I was in that world. It was heaven for this Harry Potter fan, I hope they do justice in the new park they’re building in California, and maybe expand it to be larger. Or maybe just have an entire park on it’s own! Okay, I’m just getting greedy now, but I don’t think I could ever have enough Harry Potter. 😉 

Dr. suess area:

We ended the day at the pool in Kidani Village. Little T had the best time. I think it felt good on his little muscles, and he went on the water slide over and over again. We took turns going with him while the others stayed back in the jacuzzi. It really was heaven.

OH! And vegan eatings:

Breakfast: Soy milk and Cereal and Instant Oatmeal for Little T.

Lunch at Harry potter: Baked potatoes

Snacks: Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, and Popcorn

Dinner: Burritos from universal, and white rice from Panda Express, but we mixed it with lemon and hummus for Little T. 🙂

Dessert: Vegan Babycake Brownies, which we could find in the lobby of our hotel. A deliciously dangerous discovery!

That’s it! Onto day 5!

My mom spent last weekend with us, and as she left she gave me an exhausted hug and said, “man, your life is crazy.”

I think she’s onto something there.

I really wanted to make individual posts for everything we did over the summer, but I keep putting it off until I have more time. That day may never come, so I’ll do a summary of Little T’s summer instead.

A big part of our summer was Little T’s physical and occupational therapy. He just finished with the regional center and will be moving to our insurance. We already miss his therapists (Kelly and Dahlia). They’ve been with us for the last two and a half years!

Little T was officially diagnosed by the neurologist with mild cerebral palsy on his right side. It wasn’t a surprise for us, and it was more validation of what we’ve been noticing than anything. It is very mild and it only shows up when he’s tired, wakes up in the morning, or is sick. Our orders are to keep him active so he continues to do well. He’s a smart cookie with a lot of support, so we are very confident that he is going to be fine. 🙂

Theo at physical therapy:

In addition to the PT and OT, we had lots of adventures:

Family vacation at the beach! There were more kids than I can count on both fingers, in other words: Little T was in heaven.

The OC Fair:

We found new ways to travel:

Camped at the beach:

Engaged in epic battles at D23:

Turned three and had a birthday party at Ridemakerz!

Was fitted for a suit:

Then declared he needed a motorcycle. I don’t know what this means, but it worries me… 😉

Pinned the tail on the donkey at Arsh’s first birthday:

And got the appropriate tools to help mom build her studio.

M’s bachelorette party was in San Diego this past weekend. I’ll post more later, but I wanted to quickly pop in and say that we had a wonderful time. We were definitely overdue for a girls trip.

We did lots of fun things over the last three days, but mostly? We danced…

And danced…

And danced…

And then took a push up break:

And then danced again:

My feet are tired and it’s good to be home and back with my little family, but It is nice to dance the night away every once in a while. Thanks again J, for planning such a fun weekend. xoxo

Little T has started to give impromptu talent show performances. This particular show was called “the sticky hands show”. The inspiration behind this performance were his….sticky hands, of course! Watch for the dramatic finish. 😉

I’ve had a few people who are close to me ask how Big T and I feel about Trayvon Martin, so I thought I’d over-share and write about it here. I want to preface this post by saying I’m not writing to start a debate or an argument. If you are looking for a debate, this isn’t a good place for it because I’m about to partake in a game of hide and go seek with Little T, and will be too busy to respond. I’m simply sharing my perspective as a mother who worries about her little boy. Her little boy who adores Snow White, singing, dancing, laughing, and who happens to have a different skin color than mine. I wish I could say that it doesn’t matter what the color of his skin is, but that wouldn’t be true.

The thing is, one day our baby boy is going to grow up into a teenager, and we’re going to need to have a conversation with him that we never needed to have when we were growing up. When he’s walking around without us- like teenagers and kids often do, our sweet, funny, and polite little boy may not seem sweet to others who haven’t met him. Even at this age, we’ve had friends comment about how tough he looks when he isn’t smiling. They don’t mean it in a rude way, but the thing is that Little T isn’t trying to look tough. He just isn’t smiling. He’s probably thinking deeply about the difference between play dough and mashed potatoes. The last thing on his mind is “toughness”.

One day we are going to need to teach Little T to go out of his way to not “look intimidating”. We’re going to tell him not to walk with his hands in his pockets, and not to wear a hoodie (even though mommie and daddy wear one when they walk and it’s cold). He’s going to have to learn ways that he can keep himself safe.

The same way that I don’t have the freedom to feel safe when I walk to my car alone at night, Little T won’t have the freedom to feel safe when he walks down the street alone. It’s a sad truth, that I hope will change someday.

Here’s where I need a little help. What do I tell Little T to do if an adult in plain clothes starts chasing him down the street in his own neighborhood at night? Pre-Trayvon Martin, I would have told him to defend himself. I would have told him to do everything he could to survive because the idea of anything happening to Little T is unbearable. What should I tell him to do? To stop and let a strange-grown man tackle him onto the ground? Trayvon didn’t do anything that I wouldn’t have done in the same situation.

That’s why the whole thing makes me worried for my little boy. One day, I’m going to need to look up street strategies for him, and hope that some crazed vigilante doesn’t decide he’s too intimidating to be walking through his neighborhood. In the meantime, I’m hoping that the tragedy for Trayvon and his family, will make it safer for all the Little T’s out there. Hopefully someday, there wont be a need for that conversation.

Thanks for listening, friends.

~Jenna