halloween and mickey pumpkins

man, am I so behind on so many posts.  these days I'm averaging a post a month, which isn't excellent.  hopefully a new computer will help me stay on top of things more in 2019.  mini films of our family is something that I love to do more than anything, but they can be time consuming to put together, especially on an old computer.  but they are always worth it.  ev and I will sometimes stay in bed on a saturday morning just looking at old photos or our little films from past trips.  getting to relive those moments is always worth the effort.  and why I need to kick my butt back into blogging.

this wall is still one of our favorite new photos walls, added during last year's pixar fest.  I recently re-did the gallery wall in our house, and these images of us with ev are some of my favorite prints added to the display!

back in october we took a trip down to disneyland with my mom to enjoy the parks in all their spooky glory.  everly rode space mountain for a second time, but immediately noticed a change.  as we were going up the first ramp, she looked at me and exclaimed, "the music is different!"  from that point on, she was on to the fact that the ride had a halloween overlay, something I didn't think she was going to notice, because she sits so low in the car, I figured she wouldn't really be able to see the fire ghost graphics on the walls.  well, I should have known that little miss music would have remembered what the music usually sounded like on that ride, even though she had only been on it once before.  she did survive the experience, but determined she never wants to ride space mountain again for halloween, just regular.  and in other news, my mom rode space mountain for the first time since she was a teenager.  she swears she remembers it going backwards.  I think she really just hated it, and so it felt like it was going backwards [in my disneyland history research, I couldn't find anything to confirm her backwards track theory for the record].  she was a trooper, not sure if she will go on it again, but she sure took one for the team.someone also decided it was time to see minnie mouse again.  it has been years, but I think the adorable witches outfit really pushed her into the moment.  I love this photo, everly is explaining her minnie dress features to minnie herself.  so space mountain during halloweentime, no, minnie during halloweentime, YES!

I was dying while editing this film.  how many days were we there???  pretty sure it was just a long weekend, but by the look of how many outfits everly wore in the parks, it looks like we were there for a week!

the wall outside sprinkles cupcakes is a great backdrop for photos - but everly did not care for the cupcakes.  she's more of an 'inside the parks' kind of treat kid I guess.  whenever you can find a great wall, stop and take a photo.  it is a great trick to getting great photos in disneyland, and make it look like you have the park to yourself.  which we know, there are literally thousands of people behind me while shooting this photo!

this little hallway by rancho del zocalo can be timed just right in the mornings.  very little foot traffic over here at that time, and a great place to snap a park photo, sans people in the background!

always beignets for these two.

another new moment this trip was when everly and I rode guardians of the galaxy together for the first time.  I hadn't even been on it since the marvel update, and I really had no idea how ev was going to do.  the entire fastpass line, families were giving me looks like I was torturing my child.  it really could have gone one of two ways, awesome, or my daughter would never trust me again.  I got some great selfie footage of her on it for the first time.  lots of big eyes, then terrified looks, then smiling and dancing along with rocket.  in the end, she loved it.  and also stated, "mom, I thought it was a roller coaster.  it just went up and down."  for anyone who has been on tower or terror or guardians of the galaxy can tell you that yes, she is right, but man, no one else would explain that ride in that way.  she even took a ride on it one more time with grammie.  again, grammie was quite the ride trooper this visit, but I think one and done with this particular attraction.

here's a little bit of our first ride -

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and our mini-film from the trip: Halloween 2018 Disneyland from Lyndsay Lewis on Vimeo.

music:
"When Can I See You Again?" - Owl City, Wreck it Ralph Soundtrack
"This is Halloween" - Vitamin String Quartet

this year we decided to take a break from our annual passes.  the crowds have been so intense lately, and will only get worse with start wars land opening this summer.  so, we might not be back until a halloween party this fall. 

so, good thing we have lots of disneyland videos to get us by, we have never gone an entire year between visits!

2018, the little moments easy to forget

last year, right around january, I started seeing people sharing their One Second Everyday videos from 2017.  of course, I was immediately intrigued.  creating little films of our family is my absolute obsession.  and finding a way to compile those little photo moments that are not worthy of an entire trip/event/holiday movie made me smile.

so, here it is.  one second, most days, or maybe many days, of 2018.
I can't even handle how old ev has gotten this past year.  I now have a new nickname for her.  she has the soul of an 80 year old, and when it really shines, I call her gertrude.  or gertie for short.

these days I've really been noticing how much she doesn't act like a kindergartener, so I'm thanking her for being my gertie often.
2018 - little seconds, most days from Lyndsay Lewis on Vimeo.

music:
Sam Smith - Palace [because she LOVED that apple ad so much]
Family of the Year - Hero   [because I love the way she sings this song in the car]

merriest christmas season with american girl and my little

we had a whirlwind of a holiday around here - I'm sure like most families.  this year I had a blast finding gifts for everly; she just seems to be at an age where everything is so mature and fun.  and it was truly an american girl holiday.

I'm at the age where I just missed having my own american girl doll, but my younger sister had molly, and I always remember how special she was for her as a kid.  but I did have the books. in fact, I realized that reading the books for felicity and addy may have really sparked my love of history.  it turned into my favorite genre to read as a kid and young adult, and might even be a reason why I love teaching history.

everly and I have been watching so many of the american girl movies over winter break.  if you have girls and haven't checked them out, I highly suggest them.  there are three new movies featuring maryellen, melody, and julie streaming on amazon prime.  also, everly was gifted the dvd's of the earlier movies, also very enjoyable to watch.  I love all of the messages and themes.  very female forward and I love all of the historical connections.  they have been such conversation starters for everly and I.  we've talked the gamut; everything from polio to WW2, children working in factories to the civil rights movement.  she loves the stories and even loves to state what the 'big idea' was at the end of each movie.  after watching the one about samantha at the turn of the century, she turned to me and stated, "so, that one was about factory workers and how it was bad for kids".  talk about a happy moment for this history teacher mama who has many middle schoolers that have no idea that children ever had to work, or do still today.

santa brought everly the airstream trailer - part of maryellen's collection.  it has been so cute to see everly take her time picking the perfect doll.  and the perfect doll for her was tenney grant.  however, I guess this little apple doesn't fall far from the vintage loving tree, because she really loves all of the 50's accessories that come with their midcentury doll, maryellen.

all of the attention to detail has not been lost on my little organizer.  she loves getting all of tenney's outfits just right in their wardrobe, and setting the plates and accessories in all of the little compartments of the airstream.  what an amazing way to spend some time away from the classroom [for both of us].

merry holidays to you and yours. 


movie suggestions:

streaming on amazon prime video -
An American Girl Story - Melody
An American Girl Story - Maryellen
An American Girl Story - Ivy & Julie

available for purchase/dvd -
An American Girl Story - Kit, Samantha, Molly, & Felicity

her first nutcracker ballet

in just a year, everly has developed a love for ballet so intense it is amazing such a little one can be so devoted to one experience.  from her very first class she showed her focus and excitement for dance.  the past two days have been such an amazing end to her first year of ballet.  she has performed in the nutcracker three times in two days with another two rehearsals prior to that.  and even with all of that, as we left the theater last night, I could tell she was a little down.  when I inquired what was wrong, she just told me that she was sad it was all over, and that she wanted to be on stage again.  while twirling down the steps in front of the theater, she quickly changed gears to, "I wonder what I'll be in the June recital" and then continued by listing every part she one day hopes to play in the Nutcracker.

this year she played a girl in the opening of act I, a tapping soldier, and a snowflake.  it was a whirlwind that first night, but it was such a fun experience to have.  every where I turned there was a mom from one of her classes there to help me.  while I tackled a hair change, another mom helped her with her gloves.  when the soldier skirt was just too tiny and wasn't quite flowing like the other girls, another mom went over to the rack and changed out her skirt so that everly matched the rest of her classmates perfectly.  and when it came time to finally make our last costume switch, only large sizes were left of the snowflake dress [I learned a few tricks for next year - rookie mom here].  another mom pulled the safety pin off her daughter and helped me fit the dress to everly.  talk about a positive female experience for my daughter to be surrounded by.

so here's a look at our time on stage for everly's first nutcracker.  these photos were taken over the two nights, some shots were even taken during their rehearsal. 

^one of my favorite shots the mr. took - you can tell she's a little terrified of the porcelain doll.  we had many prep talks about them, I don't think they helped^

on night two we got to see so many older dancers on pointe, everly was in heaven.  

and for the record, I'm pretty sure my tiny dancer was wearing the costume on the right

it's okay, she pulled off the floor length snow flake dress!

thanks Trick's Dance Studio for putting on an amazing Nutcracker with some of the tiniest dancers around!