Happiest Place on Earth

We just came back from a whirlwind trip to Disneyland and California Adventure.  We surprised the kids with the news and less than a day later, we touched down at the John Wayne Airport.

The last time I felt such bliss and pure joy of truly being in the moment of an experience was witnessing the total solar eclipse for 2 minutes of totality. I was overcome with emotion and felt unexpected tears of joy on my cheeks at moments in the park. Incredibly over the top cheesy sounding but so true. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing whether it was bonding with my family, taking all the sights in, or while on a ride.  They are all so good!  I was simply in awe of this man-made "happiest place on Earth."  What does this say about me having had a similar reaction to a man-made wonder as to a natural wonder?

 I had been such a skeptic of the park and didn't give it much thought throughout my life besides thinking about the crazy crowds, high prices, and long lines.   I regret not planning better and taking my Disney-loving sister and brother in law along.  I thought I was doing them a favor by not schlepping them along with our family tornado but we had such a memorable and fun family trip;  we missed not having them there too.  

The new Star Wars ride "Rise of the Resistance" in Disneyland is the best ride I've ever been on.  It's a 20 minute ride, interactive elements, fast ride through various scenes, simulations, holograms, and special effects.  Blew me away. I know Nate would say the same. Kids loved it but they were a touch scared at moments. Thinking about all the rides we took, there wasn't one ride we didn't like.  The other rides that stood out for us were Space Mountain, Autopia, Thunder Mountain, Astro Blasters, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's A Small World, Radiator Springs, Toy Story Mania, and Incredicoaster. Finishing off our whirlwind trip with the World of Color water show was some damn good icing on a delicious cake.

The level of commitment to creating the different settings inside the parks is top notch.  Every single detail as well as the customer service was mind blowing.  The fast pass technology was a smart decision by Disney - it's engineered so wisely with getting to do the rides you want with minimal wait yet making sure they are spaced out enough that you have to decide whether to wait in a longish line to take a ride you can't get a fast pass for.  Genius.

So, yes based on my blog post, it's quite possible that I had more fun than my kids.  We had to sugar them up with churros to keep their energy going late into the night.  Nate and I were not done. 

Hi, my name is Nicole, and I'm a Disney convert and a newly minted Disneyland fan.  

Iconic family shot

Elise's favorite ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad.  She rode it twice.

Goofy Sky School.  Paul was all about the rollercoasters until motion sickness kicked in towards the end of our trip.  Good thing there are plenty of non-rollercoaster rides too.

 Walking into Cars Land on our way to the Radiator Springs Racing ride.  Crazy cool. 

 Space Mountain.  Can you find our kids in this pic?  Yes, they were a little scared.

Autopia was a blast for my kids getting to drive cars with what Nate thinks were lawnmower engines.

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge area.  I had no idea that every detail of the area would look like you are in the Star Wars movie.  Even the vendors selling coke - coke was spelled differently as well as the shape of the bottles

More Star Wars

Sugaring them up with Churros to keep it going into the night.

Very happy and giggly Elise driving horribly on purpose to knock our car around.

 Pixar Pier

Toy Story Mania Ride - Lily's favorite

 While waiting in line, a ladybug came to say hi to Lily

Nate was really the only one to get wet on the Grizzly River Run splash ride

 Lily had her moments of freaking herself out before rides but she still went for it and always raved about them afterwards

 Learned how to draw Pluto at the animation academy

 After a great dinner at Lamplight Lounge, we got close up seats to watch the incredibly creative water and light show "World of Color." Just thinking about all the hours the engineers worked on this in the middle of the night to test it out.

2020 Start

I'm grateful for the pictures to help remember some really fun moments since 2020 began. It hasn't been the smoothest of starts to the year but no complaints. We've had a lot of fun moments and the kids are learning and laughing.  Besides soccer and tennis, Paul is spending a good amount of time trying out sarcasm and air quotes these days. I heard Paul tell Lily that Micky Mouse called and he wants his robe back.....it made zero sense but good effort.  He works hard for a laugh.  Elise treasures any time she gets using the Storyboard and Monument Valley apps, time with her friends, and eating sweets.  Lily is very focused on school, tennis, volleyball, and piano; she is having a rough go of it battling nasty lingering viruses. Feel for her. 

We have fit quite a bit in recently...gosh especially Elise looking at all the pictures.


Fondue family night is a tradition to mark the end of a year and the start of a new one.

STEM Like a Girl workshop at PSU was impressive.  Highly recommend. They had to design a moving sculpture out of the supplies provided.

 Girl Scout Cookie season is no joke.  Marked improvement for Elise's selling skills since last year .  Not so shy this year.

Lily and her friend Izzy co-hosted the school talent show.  They were quite the comedic hams up there with several wardrobe changes.

 Date with Elise getting a behind the scenes tour at the zoo.  Thanks Girl Scouts.

 It has now been a year since Lily and I started our weekly 6am tennis date mornings.  Love that time with her.  Love the sunrise on our way home from the courts.

 Oma and Opa despise the squirrels.  Don't mess with Oma and her bird food.  A couple shopping clicks later and now Paul and Opa enjoy squirting squirrels off the bird feeders with a water gun.  

 Super fun night with friends trying out the sport of Curling.  Definitely recommend.

 One of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen

  Nate has been busy taking the kids to the mountain when schedule allows.  Elise is really taking to snowboarding. 

 Presidents Day weekend in Seattle for Lily's 3 day volleyball tournament.  The trip was a total bust due to a nasty virus but Nate, Paul, and Elise managed to escape for a day to downtown Seattle.  

 Drove Paul up to Tacoma to take home a 1st place trophy in a tennis tournament.  Wait - Paul said he would never play this tournament again because he didn't actually get a trophy.  Getting 1st place didn't suffice.  I can't say it enough - playing tennis with any of my kids brings me such joy.

 Elise got to take a friend with Dad to a Blazers game for a belated Christmas present

Moxie has definitely landed quite comfortably into the hearts and laps of Oma and Opa.

Elise has been living it up with Girl Scouts lately.  First Aid lesson with a doctor, tour of an animal hospital, behind the scenes zoo tour, upcoming overnight troop trip at a horse stable, and here powering the water hose at the local fire station.  Elise is living it up and learning lots. 

2019 - That's A Wrap

We didn't sing as many Christmas songs as in years past or read as many of our Christmas books, yet our house was still full of music and dancing thanks in large part to Lily and Santa.  5 months of rehearsals, 8 shows, fighting through a nasty cold, and never complaining once highlights the joy and commitment Lily showed being part of her first community musical theater cast for Alice in Wonderland, English Panto style.  It was a damn good show and Lily truly loved the whole experience and the new cast family she really felt a part of.  It was contagious and Paul and Elise have been quite into performing at home for us to songs like Time Warp, Old Town Road, and There Are No Cats In America.  Santa gifted the kids headphones to use on their tablets to explore Amazon Prime Music library.  It's the first time they truly have the freedom to explore music and figure out on their own what they like.

We missed seeing Eric and family for Christmas this year but very much enjoyed having the rest of the Biegansky crew together in Portland. Right when you think Oma and Opa have reached the pinnacle of hosting mastery, they one-up themselves and spoil us yet again a bit more.  I have no problem admitting there is a very wide gap in cooking and hosting skills between us and while I strive every year to close the gap just a little bit, I'll always thoroughly enjoy their spoils.  Thanks Oma and Opa.

Nate turned 43 a couple days ago.  He's not thrilled but like many years in the past, at least we weren't on a plane.  It's safe to say he had a great day seeing Star Wars with Paul and Lily, choosing to go extra fancy for a dinner out with me, popover breakfast with the family, and a tough spin class.  It's been fun to have him home the last week or so for the Holidays.  In the not too distant past, I would have said helpful before fun because I really just wanted help at home with the kids but this current phase we're in having 8 and 10 year olds has put us back into fun mode.

It's the end of a decade in just a few hours.  Our Christmas stuff was all packed away today.  Fresh start tomorrow...whatever that means.  Almost every single morning gives me a sense of hope that it will be a great day and even though it usually wanes by early afternoon, just try again the next day.  As for New Years resolutions, all I'll say is that I hope to write more again and let the process take me in whatever direction it wants.

Cheers to 2020!  It's going to take a little bit until the year doesn't sound so futuristic to me.


A clip from the play.  This was at the very end of the show with the entire cast.

Cast - Lily is in the lower left corner in the green dress.

Family dinner out with Jeanne and Keith.  Thank you for making the trek down to support Lily.

Tradition - Decorating Christmas cookies with Oma

Paul is ready for Christmas - Elton John style

We may be outgrowing Playmobil (that's a tough truth to swallow for me) but their last Advent calendar gift was Santa's bakeshop that I was pleased to see they enjoyed getting.

One of the many random performances we got in our living room

Christmas Eve Dinner - Steak and Great Oma's "pink" salad.

Quiet before Christmas morning enjoying the view

I'll enjoy looking at these pictures of them over the years on Christmas morning in years to come.

Had to do one family snapshot

No questions or doubts when Christmas arrived.  Lily stayed quiet and twins seemed to still be believers.

Christmas Day Dinner - Oma outdid herself with a delicious homemade dessert

You were missed Ken.  Ski (and snowboarding for Elise) day at the mountain was a success.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed exploring the town while the others played on the mountain

First Christmas with 6 month old Moxie.  

November Birthdays and Paul & Elise turn 8 on December 8th

After an action packed November full of family birthday celebrations, we kicked off December with Paul and Elise's golden birthday, turning 8 on the 8th. We went big (I think I say that every year) with a private party at a Ninja Warrior Gym (they love the show American Ninja Warrior), old school video games, and movie night.  

The Ninja warriors

 During a very funny game of Telephone at Elise's get together

video game playing with his oldest friends

Paul is a sports maniac.  He loves playing and watching sports. We wish he'd read more than just before bed and play with Legos more but he's doing great in school and stays on top of what we ask him to do... most of the time.  He's more knowledgeable about fancy fast cars than I am by a landslide and it is often a topic of conversation during car rides.  He'd rather do push ups than hug his sisters but the moment a teammate scores a goal or hits a run in, he is all about initiating celebration hugs.  What I really didn't expect from him is how much he enjoys and is good at playing with babies and little kids.  He's that kid who will play peek a boo with a baby he doesn't know. Go figure.  He is a Nike loving, shorts in cold weather wearing, whistling, goofball.  

Elise keeps me guessing.  She wears her emotions loudly.  Every facial expression you can imagine is exaggerated.  She does not hide her feelings, only candy and her tablet from time to time to sneak screen time.  She's a complete ham when she's in the comfort zone and likes to provide the element of "what did she just do and say?" on a regular basis.  Whether it's saying she wants to be a boy so she can pee standing up, saying blood is her favorite food, saying she wants to change her name to Malificent or defying something Mom and Dad ask her to do on a daily basis.  She loves to read, listen to music on her boom box, and come up with random things to create and do on her own. Elise is a jean shorts over tights wearing, book loving, homebody.

Paul and Elise won't admit they love each other yet love playing together.  They wrestle and make up creative games regularly.  They fight like crazy but make up quickly.  Paul is quick to walk away and cry and Elise is quick to yell and get mad.  They continue to be in the same class at school but with different friends and different interests at choice time and at recess.  Elise says he tattle tales too much on her and Paul says Elise shares too many secrets about him to others.  

Turning 41 this year was heartwarming.  I enjoyed my entire Birthday week by spending time with my favorite people.  Watching the sunrise after a morning tennis session with Lily and getting surprised by a breakfast get together with friends were definite highlights

My Dad turned 82 and he loves good food and family traditions.  He has great taste.  Jake's Crawfish is fantastic.  He definitely dined exactly how he wanted and we were all happy to take part.

 Oma turned 78 and she definitely deserves a do over.  Knee pain mixed with agonizing tooth pain made it hard for her to enjoy the day.  She's a trooper and rallied as much as she could to enjoy a very low key day with family.  Moxie decided to jump on Oma's lap on her Birthday for the first time.  I truly believe cats can sense when something is off.

We hosted Thanksgiving this year with my parents, just the 7 of us.  I'll remember Nate made really a moist turkey, we enjoyed a visit from friends for dessert, introduced the tug toner to my parents, and got an improv silly performance from my kids after dinner.

Our yearly Girls Night crew family get together, friends for almost 20 years.  13 kids between us in the last decade.  Boof.

Moxie is ready for the Holidays.