Abbie in May

Posted on July 12, 2011 by admin

Abbie ended up having a great time in track this year. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go out as the Club VB season was just coming to a close… she ended up being so HaPpY for going out as she realized she’s quicker than she thought she was AND she loves to sprint! She also stepped in and ran the 4 x 100 / 4 x 200 relays with a group of her buddies!

She tried out for and made Drum Majorette! She and another 8th Grader led the band in the Hazel Dell Parade! I was so proud of her and wanted to chase the band the entire parade route… Her look at me when I started jumping up & down screaming her name told me a very different story… I stayed put!

Nana & Granddad made it up for the weekend and got to hang with us at the parade and watch their “Little Angel” march by!

James enjoyed the candies & popsicle that were handed out during the parade!

Easter

Posted on May 17, 2011 by admin

The bunny visited our house, hiding eggs & baskets full of candies & treats!

We spent the afternoon at my Aunt & Uncle’s house. It was a great time! We had a lovely meal and participated in both a kid & adult egg hunt.

The kids all got a chance to pet the Mama donkey & her baby, Donkey (That’s it’s name!).

After finding all the eggs they could find, the kids went inside to count their loot!

We had such a wonderful day with family…

~ Granddad, Abbie, Nana ~

Best Cousin Friends!

~ James & Amara ~

We ended a beautiful day at the Solari Family Home – They had us over for a tasty meal & dessert! What fun!

~Sofia, Abbie, Marco, Enzo~

Easter was a perfect day full of Family & Friends!

Happy Birthday, Amara Ann

Posted on May 12, 2011 by admin

Amara celebrated her 5th birthday in April! It’s hard to believe she will begin kindergarten this Fall. I remember flying down from Alaska to be part of the celebration on the day she was born! How time flies…

Happy Birthday my sweet Amara!

Cousin’s James & Aristan celebrating!

Steph has been taking cake decorating classes and made this beautiful Rapunzel cake

(from the movie Tangled)

The cake itself is impressive, with the river & grass…

…while the tower was amazing!

Make a wish & blow out your candles…

Stephanie had a beautiful lunch made for all the party guests

With some old family favorites!

Wow! presents, pReSeNtS, PrEsEnTs!!

Have a wonderful year being 5 years old!

More School

Posted on May 10, 2011 by admin

Miss Abigail has made the Honor Roll each trimester of her middle school career ~ we are so proud of her! As she is coming to the end of her middle school days, we celebrated her and many of her friends at the grand finale of Honor Roll breakfasts!

Abbie & Lauren good buddies who are both on Wildcats VB & being honored at the breakfast!

A few days later, the girls head to work with Josh for “Take your Child to Work” day. They loved spending the day at a big middle school ~ they went to band, home ec., and had a pizza party for lunch!

James’ class recently studied Careers ~ each child was to create a vest with the career they are interested in -

Meet James, the commercial fisherman!

Connections

Posted on May 7, 2011 by admin

School is so much more than academics.

Abbie as Paula Abdul judging the performances the MS Talent Show

James running to earn money for Run for the Arts: a fundraiser at the Primary School that raises $$ for the Arts in school.

We have met many of our close friends through Abbie’s school friendships. With James now in school we are meeting and creating friendships with families of his school friends!

James & Sofia

Having a toast to friendships: new & old!

This bottle was sent to us by friends we keep close to our hearts and we decided there was no better way to drink this bottle than with new friends!

A toast to all my friends near, far, old, new!

It’s the friends we meet along the way that help us appreciate the journey – Author Unknown

Amara’s Friend Party

Posted on May 7, 2011 by admin

Amara celebrates her birthday with friends at JJ Jump!

Maya wasn’t so keen on jumping & sliding, so she used her Daddy as a jungle gym!

After all the bouncing they could handle, the kids entered the party room for some pizza, fruit, and juice. After this Amara blew out the candle on her cupcake!

She opened her gifts with some help from Mama.

As she thanked her friends for coming, she handed out the BEST party bags – Boys got bug hunting gear * Girls left with fairy wings and tutus!

**the above fairies were the big girls invited to the party (Abbie & Chan)**

Disneyland

Posted on May 7, 2011 by admin

Our family loves to travel the hour and a half north while in San Diego to spend a day at Disney… it is never long enough, but we get in as much fun as possible in the time we have there! We lucked out on the day we visited, the park was open ’till midnight!

I knew it was going to be a perfect day as we walked right into Mary Poppins & Bert as we entered the park! She was my favorite when I was a little girl… I still dream of having the Mary Poppins bag – you can pack it full of anything & everything!

We went straight to the rides – we all wanted to ride as many as possible… Josh & Abbie each had their own plan of attack on the best way to navigate the park. Both being stubborn, neither would budge… and we ended up hopping around to the shortest lines possible.

Thunder Mountain Railroad

The day got even better when Justin surprised us and drove up to play for the day! It was awesome to visit in the long lines and catch up. The kids loved having their Uncle there to drag around on all the rides too!

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!

We waited 75 minutes to ride Space Mountain – it was worth the wait & we were in good company.

The rain began to fall for about 5 minutes – out came umbrellas, parkas, and people running for cover. We enjoyed the view in California Adventure Park.

Day turned to night quickly. The only ride James could not ride was, of course, the one he looked forward to ALL day. He was about 2 inches too short. Poor boy, he was devastated! So, while Josh, Justin, and Abbie waited in line to ride the coaster at California Adventure… James and I found a place to turn him into a scary pirate!

We also found a great fishing spot. This made James very happy!

While Josh & Justin waited in a long line to ride the Tower of Terror

The kids and I played in A Bug’s Life land

We met up here after the rides and headed back over to Disneyland for some night riding fun!

We ran into some great characters in the late night – it was perfect, no lines!

We played until midnight and helped close the park.

It was a perfectly-fun-exhausting day!

We slept well and woke up refreshed & ready for the long drive home!

Our week in Southern California was just what we needed. It was perfect!

~the photos that look professional come from Justin and his excellent camera! Thanks for hanging with us all day at Disney & sharing these fun pics, Justin!

Friday Fill-Ins

Posted on April 30, 2011 by admin

This is fun ~ I found it tonight here at my friend, Tiffany’s, website.

1. I love to be pampered.

2. Be happy and a smile.

3. It’s how you perceive the world...

4. If it’s a surprise, don’t tell me! I love surprises!

5. Well, would you be counting down the days ’till school’s out? (I am!)

6. What is Spring? Let alone, spring peepers? We have rain, RAIN, and more rain.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to good sleeps, tomorrow my plans include a haircut & style and Sunday, I want to work in my yard!

San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Safari

Posted on April 28, 2011 by admin

aka: Wild Animal Park

It was on this day that I realized our son is a complete poser (just look at him through this post)!

We love, LoVe, lOvE the San Diego Zoo ~ though this time we thought the Wild Animal Park would be fun for James as he could see animals in their ‘natural’ environment.

After a ride on the Safari Train – we needed a stop for drinks.

Then a walk through the Petting Zoo

Some posing ~ James was grouchy cause he wanted the BIG ears!

Jumping over lily pads – motivated, huh?

More Posing!

My sweet little family.

and just a little more posing – he’s a baby bird!

and that night we had a bar-be-que at Grandpa’s house! They laid out a BIG piece of cardboard for the kids to draw on! It made it nice to visit – without worries of kids being needy!

A Day at the Beach

Posted on April 28, 2011 by admin

You know, we used to live here (Pacific Beach). We could walk to this exact spot. It was beautiful everyday. Expensive too! What a perfect place…

…we enjoyed every moment we had reconnecting with the beach. It was soothing-fun-refreshing!

Except for when Abbie thought I was acting too much like a tourist – and then it wasn’t so relaxing… she was so irritated with me!

Josh and Abbie rode the Coaster (at Mission Beach)

James was a few inches too short – he was WAY bummed! I can’t imagine why?! We did my favorite – and can you believe, he would not let me choose an animal near him? He wanted me to find something far away!

James loves fishing (not sure where the love came from, since we aren’t big fisher-people) ANYWAYS… now that he can read, he saw a sign on Crystal Pier that said: Fishing $15 an hour