Princess Hops-a-Lot

AKA Princess Poops-a-lot! For a few days it looked like we had a new pet rabbit. The neighbor girls came over one morning and asked if we had seen this rabbit before. Nope, not us. But we did have a small pet cage (for Emily's future guinnea pig) so we put up signs and waited for an anxious owner to show up. It took almost a week, but Princess was finally reunited with her owner. In the meantime, the girls and the neighbors had a great time playing with, holding and spoiling (with many, many carrot snacks) a very friendly rabbit.

Merry Christmas!

No Christmas season would be complete without a trip to see the big man himself. Emily asked for an MP3 player and Claire wanted a toy box with her name on it.

We spent Christmas Eve in Thousand Oaks with Jenn's side of the family. The girls got new PJs and lots of time with Grandma Holly and their cousin.
We drove home late Christmas Eve so we could be home for Christmas morning. For once, Emily was up bright and early and Claire slept in. We waited and waited for Claire (there didn't seem to be a good reason to make a grumpy Claire later in the day) but finally around 8:30 Sleeping Beauty woke up. Around 8:31 this picture was taken:

And by 9:00 this one:

The girls had a blast tearing into everything. We spent the rest of the day checking everything out. Daddy used his birthday present and deep fried a turkey for our dinner.

Ice Skating

At a mall near Grandma Holly and Papa Rich's house, they make a (very) small skating rink. We've made it a tradition for the last few years to get over there during the holidays. Claire is a little unsteady on her feet still but she loves holding hands and giving it her all. Emily is good at staying on her feet all by herself, but she just loves to have company and hold hands anyway.

Christmas came early this year!

Christmas came a little early for the girls this year. Mommy and Daddy decided to upgrade the backyard swing set. We found a really nice one on eBay and won the auction! Thanks to both sets of grandparents for actually buying it!!! Daddy and Papa John took an entire day dismantling it from its former home. Papa John spent a week sanding and painting it until it looked new again. Today they reassembled it in our back yard! It didn't take long for the girls and their friend next door to move in to the clubhouse. I see lots of picnics under the clubhouse this spring!

Thanks Grandma and Papa!

Happy Birthday John!

John celebrated a big birthday this year. Let's just say it rhymes with "shorty". =P We had a nice party with family. He got a turkey frier and an 18 year old bottle of wiskey. Sounds like a dangerous combination!

Happy Thanksgiving

Claire had fun getting ready for Thanksgiving at pre-school. First they learned about the Indians and had a pow-wow where they dressed up, ate Indian food and danced.
Then they learned about the Pilgrims and had a Thanksgiving feast. Claire did a prayer for our family where she was thankful for "houses, horses and family". Later we learned that we cut her off before she could give thanks for pigs.

That turkey sure takes a long time to cook! The girls and their cousin passed the time playing and watching a DVD on the smallest screen in the house.

But the wait was worth it! Gotta love those turkey legs!

Being turkeys with Aunt Kim:

First Grade Picture

We got Emily's first grade portraits today. Isn't she cute!!?? She decided after she got them back that she wanted one of the other backgrounds - a library, beach scene, forest, etc. But I like just being able to see her.
Also, she lost her 2nd tooth last night. She didn't put it under her pillow though because she wanted to show it to everyone at Thanksgiving dinner. Lucky for our family, the tooth fairy will come tonight and she can just talk about it instead.

Happy Halloween!

It was a "super" Halloween at our house this year. Claire had a fun party at school where they carved a pumpkin and trick-or-treated to each of the classrooms. Emily's school has a Halloween parade where all the kids march around the playground blacktop and show off their costumes to the rest of the school. Halloween night some friends came to have dinner and trick or treat with us. It was a little odd heading out before it was totally dark (darn Daylight Savings Time!) but the kids came back with a good haul of candy.

Oak Glen

After worrying for a few days about the air quality from the SoCal firestorm, we decided to head up to the mountains for a taste of fall and APPLES! Oak Glen is known for its apple orchards and generally being a great place to go for a day trip. The girls had a ball collecting acorns from all the oak trees. We took a nice walk around a nature preserve. Unfortunately, Claire lost her sunglasses in the pond while looking at a fish. Could have been worse we suppose! Of course, we had to stop by the pumpkin patch since it was just a few days before Halloween. This time we were able to leave without a pumpkin. Our own personal patch at home was quite full already.

They're Growing Like Weeds!

Emily and Claire saw their doctor this week. They are both totally healthy (yay!) and growing like mad. Claire is now 35 pounds and 40.5 inches. Emily is "square" at 48 inches and 48 pounds.

September's Student of the Month

Emily is off to a great start this year! For being a hard worker and setting a good example to others in her class, she was named Student of the Month. We are so proud of her!

Claire started Pre-K!

Claire started pre-K class today. She liked the play-doh and playground time. It was fun to see friends from last year and be in the "big kid" class with Miss Cami and Miss Renee.

Emily is a First Grader!

Emily started 1st grade today. She likes her teacher, Mrs. Fosco, so far. Her math book is "HUGE!". The class got to go on a tour of the school and get their passports stamped. No more little kids!



At her desk - all ready to learn!

How Cute Are We?

We got some new professionsl portraits done. I think they came out pretty well. See for yourself!

Carpenteria

We had our 2nd annual trip to Carpenteria. The girls loved being able to ride bikes around the circle where our tent was. We spent plenty of time at the beach. Mommy modelled for our mermaid sculpture. Claire added eyes and mouth. Emily collected sea grass for the hair.

March Mommies at Disneyland

Arwen and family were visiting Disneyland and invited Wendy and us to join them.

Jenn, Arwen, Noah and Wendy relaxing in the Disneyland Hotel pool.

Claire, Faith and Emily with Ariel in her grotto aka the hot tub.

Look Ma! No Tooth!

Since my camera is the old fashioned film type, I don't have instant access to my pictures like 99.9% of society. So sometimes our breaking news is a few weeks old...

On August 3, Emily came running into the kitchen holding a bloody thing in her hand and smiling a new smile. The tooth that had been wiggling for weeks had finally, with a little help from Daddy, come out! The tooth fairy visited our house for the first time that night bringing a note and 2 "Fairy Dollars" aka the new President Dollar coins. Her grown up tooth is coming in nicely already.

Ventura County Fair

Today Emily and Claire went to the Ventura County Fair with Grandma and Papa. They went on rides, saw animals, ate junk food and were completely spoiled! They even got to play at the beach for a little while on the way home.

Wisconsin, The Dells & Chicago

This year we decided to save money by flying into Chicago. By the time we added up the extra travel costs I think it was a wash. But we did have a great time visiting the Dells again and seeing John's brother and his family.

We spent about 2 weeks at the cabin. The weather was about as perfect as it can get. On a cooler day we went to Appa-lolly Ranch and took a trail ride. Emily was very excited that she was allowed to ride Iceman all by herself! She was especially happy that he listened to her when she gave him a command. Claire and Mommy doubled up on Zelda.

The girls spent lots of time with cousin, Joe. Mostly it was in the water but one night he invited us up to his cabin to make s'mores. While we were waiting for the coals, the kids fixed Joe's motorcycle.

Frogs were a theme this year. Emily and Malaya kept these two all afternoon. When it was time to release them, they were too traumatized to even hop away quickly.

Four cousins working on "Frog Kingdom" castle. They kept a royal family of frogs in fine style.

At the Polynesian Resort in the Wisconsin Dells, Mommy and Claire had fun riding tandem.

Emily is now a strong enough swimmer to be able to ride alone.

We rode the Empire Builder from the Dells to Union Station Chicago. It was a great way to travel.

In Chicago, we spent the day at Navy Pier. The girls and their cousins explored the Children's Museum and the rides. All of us rode the giant Ferris Wheel. It gave us a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline.

Us with the skyline: