Surprise Trip to Disneyland

With the help of my mother-in-law, I was able to convince my husband that they kids were old enough for Disneyland! He was set on waiting until EJ was old enough to remember. But why should we make Sophia wait for her brother to be old enough?? She's turning 4 and clearly recalls events from 2 years ago. She's ready and so am I! I haven't been to Disneyland since I was 13. I mean, this is why you have kids! To do all the stuff you've been wanting to do but felt funny about doing without kids.
Luckily, I have a high school friend that is not only a huge Disney fan but also a travel agent for Disney! Score. I send over our wish list for the trip and she does all the work for me. Seriously, don't plan it yourself. She sent me so many tips and features, I would have not know about. Bonus, a promotion came out after we booked and she was able to apply it to our existing trip and got us a refund! Yeah, she's cool like that!
I decided to keep the trip a surprise. Do you know hard it was to keep a trip to Disneyland a surprise??? I was busting at the seams with excitement!! Not only was the trip a surprise, a few of her classmates from LA were meeting us at the gates!
We planned on waiting until we were at the gates of Disneyland to tell her where we were but we were bursting at the seems and broke the news once we arrived.

This is what being a parent is all about!!!!

The next morning we arrived at the gates and she was surprised by her friends and some friends and family!! We had a fantastic 2 days that my princess will remember for a lifetime. <3 p="">

Happy 4th Birthday Sophia!

Hard to believe that my little lady turned 4 years old! We planned a surprise trip to Disneyland....you know how hard that kind of secret is to keep in???? The week leading up to the trip she started asking if we could go to Disneyland. Hubby thought she was onto us. I had to remind him that she is only 4 and isn't mature enough to play off a ruined surprise. HA!
I told her we were going to visit Grandma's house in San Diego and we'd have a little party there. She seemed a bit sad about a party with no friends so I quickly threw together a cover party before we left town. Of course, a Frozen themed party. All the decorations were from Amazon and the cute little themed labels were from Pinterest. Everything came together so easily and turned out super cute.
Now I love cooking but I haven't done much baking so I did cheat and buy a cake mix in a box. Madhava Chocolate Cake Mix from Whole Foods. Seriously try it!! I did make a homemade buttercream frosting. Not only did it taste amazing but I NAILED the color with gel food-coloring.
At the end of the day, I had a very happy little girl. Simple party that left the biggest smiles....that is until she saw we were at Disneyland!

Slow Cooked Chicken

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes and it's super quick and easy to prep! Well as long as you remember to get it cooking at lunch time! LOL! A few times I've remembered at 3pm and unless you want to eat at 10pm....ha. 

If you're short on time, purchase mirepoix from your grocery store. It's onion, carrot and celery already chopped for you. Trader Joe's has it for sure.

Throw everything into the slow cooker and 6 hours later you have super flavorful, juicy chicken. I prefer crispy skin so I carefully remove the chicken and broil for about 5 minutes.

I normally pair it with yukon potatoes, carrots, red bell peppers and onions. Chop, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 for about 30 minutes. I like to wait until the ends of the onions start to get dark and crispy. YUM!

Perfection!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/slow-cooked-chicken-recipe.html