Ice Cream!

After church this morning Karen and I went out to lunch with the little ones. They were both really well behaved in the restaurant which was a blessing since we had to wait a while for our salads as the system had a "computer glitch." This glitch was great too though since it prompted the manager to come to our table to apologize and give us a free appetizer platter. Yay! We love free! Then we had to run some less-than-exciting errands and the kids were pretty good then too. So we decided to finish the day up with a trip to the ice cream parlor. Its so funny watching their little personalities emerge when we let them each choose their own flavor rather than just ordering "something for the babies." TJ wanted green ice cream and found mint chip, which he loved. Emma wanted pink and found the brightest, most garishly colored pink and purple swirled ice cream flavored like cotton candy. She thought it was great. :) We sure have been enjoying these warm spring days lately. Unfortunately I hear we may be in for some rain again soon though...

Citrus Festival!

We met up with our friends Erin & Sophia and Stephanie & Gavin this morning. The original plan was to head over to Lowe's so the kids could build kaleidoscopes at the craft center but the craft station had been moved up the road to the local Citrus Festival. So we headed over there. We had a good time checking out the festival and seeing all the booths. The kids all got balloons, stickers, coupons for free kids meals, lollipops, and even little stuffed horses for free! We decided not to build our crafts at the Lowe's booth though since it was so crowded. So the kids each got to bring home a kit to build a kaleidoscope and a pair of safety goggles. We were even able to score an extra kit for TJ! We also got to check out some puppies at the animal shelter booth and tiny turtles too. Emma & Sophia were also very interested in folklorico dancers who were performing. We decided to head over to Carl's Jr for lunch and so the kids could play in the playground for a while. Then we headed home to take a nap, or so I thought. Emma was excited to play with TJ though and we never did lay down to rest. Instead we built the kaleidoscopes and then played outside in the water and ate popsicles. We had a great day! Emma & TJ were both so wiped out that they fell asleep at the table during dinner.

Back to work!

We headed back to work and daycare Thursday. Emma did NOT like being awoken at 6am again, but was her usual sunny self by the time we got to school. She's getting a little big for her britches though as she told me to get in the backseat because she wanted to drive now!

One More Disney Day...

We have to head back to work and daycare on Thursday so I thought we would get one more Disney day in before then. Grandma and Christine came with us too. We had a nice day, very relaxed despite the growing crowds at both parks. We didn't ride too many rides, but got a chance to see some shows and other attractions. It was a good day!


Waiting in line for the first ride of the day, the Matterhorn. Little Miss Sass telling me, "I not scared of this. We go 'Whee' and splash into the water!"


Mommy & Emma on the Matterhorn.


We finally got Grandma on the Matterhorn!


Waiting in line to meet the princesses. Emma was watching video clips on my phone and, every time I tried to take her picture, she tried to take mine!


Mommy & Emma with Princess Tiana


Emma & Princess Jasmine


Emma perched atop Snow White's Wishing Well.


Walt Disney's original Disneyland vision. You can see the miniature Sleeping Beauty Castle and all of Fantasyland above the end of Main Street.


Catching the bubbles at the Playhouse Disney Live show. ~ Always a favorite!


Emma LOVED the Bug's Life 3D show and wearing her "bug eyes."


Emma was very interested in Auntie Christine's Ipod. Here they are enjoying some tunes together while we waited in line for the ferris wheel.


Christine, Emma, & Mommy on Mickey's Fun Wheel


Emma & her Mickey Mouse Cookie!

Self Control is NOT Emma's strong suit!

This morning I left Emma unattended for a few minutes while I was busy making coffee and she decided to make her own "breakfast." Notice that she only eats the middles out of the Oreos, which I think is so funny because that's my favorite part too!

A couple of hours later I left her watching cartoons while I was in the bathroom getting ready for us to leave. By the time I came out, she had removed all the couch cushions, stacked them on the floor and was sitting atop her throne surrounded by even more licked-clean oreo cookie halves. I exclaimed (okay, yelled), "Emma! I told you to stay out of the cookies!" Emma just looked embarrassed and didn't answer me.... So I said, "No more cookies! Do I need to hide the cookies to keep you out of them?!" Emma had a very long pause, then sighed, looked at me and responded, "Yeah Mommy. I think you do."

This little girl is so funny! I wasn't even sure what to say to her at that point. So I just laughed, had her help me clean up her snack aftermath, and we headed off to meet Grandma, Uncle Scott, and Uncle Kenny for lunch at the sushi bar!

Universal Studios ~ The last batch of photos!

These are just some more miscellaneous pictures from the day...

Heading into the splash zone...



This has got to be my favorite picture from the day. Its so sad but funny at the same time. My poor, soaking wet, baby girl. She had headed off so happily to splash and play a bit. She was happily climbing up and down the stairs when the countdown started. 10...9...8... I pointed out to her how a big bucket of water was going to dump on the middle of the play area but I did NOT see that there was an identical bucket filling up right above her head.... 3...2...1... Whoosh! Something like 50,000 gallons of water dumped right on top of my girl! She was so freaked out and it was like she was glued in place. She was just running in place on the step she was on when the water started and trying to move but couldn't. I darted in there, swept her up and carried her to dry land. That is when I got this shot. She kept telling me, "I was a playin on da stairs and then it just rained right on my head Mommy!"



Katie, after she said she was just going to follow the little kids into the water area and cool down a bit.



Emma, zooming across the baby zip line! She loved it! & I was impressed at how well she hung on!



Emma & TJ loved playing in this ball room. There were millions of foam balls and all these tubes and vacuums that you could use to suck the balls up and shoot them across the room.



Group shot (minus me) at the Amazing Animals Show.



Karen, so worried about getting her beautiful hair wet, actually bought a poncho to wear while we rode Jurassic Park! It takes a strong woman to rock this look!



Arrrggghh! A dinosaur! A Brontosaurus, I think, to be exact.



Sharks? What sharks? We aint scared of no stinking sharks!

More Universal Studios Pictures!

Here are some more pictures from our day... One of the best attractions at Universal Studios is the 45 minute tram tour. They take you through the backlots of Universal and you get to see remnants from famous movie and television scenes that were actually filmed there. We all really enjoyed this ride, even the little ones who (I assume) didn't "get" all of it but were still excited by the special effects. What really surprised me though was that the older girls have never seen these movies either! No Jaws, no Jurassic Park (I love that movie!), no Psycho... They have seen The Grinch and (oddly enough) Desperate Housewives though!

Most of our group as we started the tram ride. Karen, TJ, and Scott in the back row. Grandma, Kayla, & Tim in front.



Pretty girls! Emma, Katie, & Lucy on the tram ride



And finally, a shot of Emma & I together, in the same picture! Thanks for taking this Scott!



This was the "set" from King Kong as the ship approached Skull Island. It looks enormous in the movie but was actually shot on a tiny little pool with a painted backdrop, mini mountains, and a little toy ship!



We got to see how Hollywood creates explosions on film as these cars burst into flames right in front of us.



We got to see some prime real estate. Maybe we could move here, to Wisteria Lane, and become neighbors with some Desperate Housewives...



Who wouldn't want to live in Who-ville? This was from The Grinch who Stole Christmas movie.



Here's one place we definitely do NOT want to live! This is what was left of the suburban neighborhood from War of the Worlds after the plane crashed down.



Hey Norman, whatcha doing with Mother? Here we saw Norman Bates as he exited the Bates Motel with his mother's body. In the background you can see the house from Psycho as well.



Anyone up for a swim at the Amityville Beach?

Universal Studios!

We went to Universal Studios Saturday. Being a school employee finally had its perks, as Universal Studios was running an "Educator Appreciation Program" this month. So Mom & I each got in for free and we were each able to purchase an additional 3 tickets at half price. With that kind of deal, we figured we might as well bring all the kids. Plus Emma & TJ are still young enough to be free. But they are old enough to still have a good time! How awesome an age is that?! At the last minute Scott decided to tag along too and we enjoyed having him with us. There were not as many attractions geared towards the little ones as there are at Disneyland, but we had a great time none the less. I took over 100 pictures that day, but here are some of my favorite character ones...

Karen & I, having a cold beer with our brave astronauts. Good times, good times.



Tim, getting a lift from Frankenstein.



This is as close as I can get to having Emma's picture taken with a character. She did not want to go see Spongebob but was more than happy to stand in his home with TJ once he left! She is too funny! That girl knows what she wants!




The kids on the streets of "NYC" posing with a taxi cab.



D-d-d-d-Dora! Dora, Dora, Dora, the Explorer! Emma & TJ were excited to see Dora & TJ went right up with his sister for a picture. Emma, of course, did not.



Katie and her new Beau! Hahaha! Beetlejuice loved Katie!



Beetlejuice with Mikayla & TJ. I can't believe this little man will just go up and pose with any and all of the characters while Emma keeps telling me, "Hims scares me!" Ok, in the case of Beetlejuice, her uneasiness is understandable, but this is her reaction to ALL characters!



Curious George with some of my favorite monkeys... Of course, Emma opted out of this picture too!



The many faces of Fred and Wilma Flintstone...