Friday Fun!

Today Sophia came over to play for the afternoon and the girls decided to have a fashion show. Finally the dress up clothes are getting some use again! Then we met up with Erin, Chris, and Jon at the 66ers game in the evening. It was not only Jon's birthday, but Superhero Night. How apropos. The girls looked super cute running around in their super capes. And Jon enjoyed sitting in his new chair that we got him for his birthday. It was a fun day.

Rainbow cookies

Today I decided to bake with the kids. We used the rainbow sugar cookie dough we got from Sophia's fundraiser. They couldn't believe that it was COOKIE dough and not play-do so they could really eat it!. The cookies turned out pretty tasty too!

Bridging Ceremony

Tonight we had a bridging ceremony at girl scouts. The 3rd grade brownies became juniors and the 1st grade daisies became brownies. Although Emma didn't bridge to a new level this year, she enjoyed being there to support her sisters... and to partake of the tasty snacks & cakes Speaking of which, how cute are these cakes?! They were super tasty too!

Summertime Hair!!

For a kid who was bald for so long as a baby, Emma sure has grown a head of hair! It is forever tangled and snarled and I was dreading dealing with it over the summer when we spend so much time swimming and playing and making general messes of ourselves. So we decided to get it cut shorter. It's not too short - still long enough for a pony tail - but MUCH more manageable. Isn't she cute?!

Super Seller!

Emma was the top cookie seller for her troop this year! Along with Caty (the top fall product seller), she got to go to a special top seller event this weekend. All the top troop sellers in the region got to go to a private screening of the new kid's movie, "Epic", and the got popcorn & candy & stuff. Plus she got a special patch and a certificate. Way to go, my little entrepreneur!

Kindergarten Graduate!

I am so so proud of my "baby" girl. She was promoted to the first grade today and has done WONDERFULLY in kindergarten this year. Her teacher never had anything negative to say and stressed that Emma always works hard and does her best. The only problem she (occasionally) has is a bit of an attitude problem - surprise, surprise. My girl has exceeded standards in many areas and is ready to move on to the next grade. She also did a few songs and spoke up on stage during the end of the tear performance. I love her so!

Ladybug Girls!

We finished up our first Daisy journey yesterday evening. This was the "Daisy Flower Garden" journey and, at the end, we needed to do a "take action" project with the girls, something that would benefit the community. Since they seemed to be very into bugs throughout our lessons, I decided to build on that. So we met at the park and went on an insect hike, looking for other bugs. Then we released 1500 ladybugs into the flower beds to help the plants. We finished up by decorating sugar cookies to look like ladybugs using red frosting and mini chocolate chips. The girls had a great time!
Below, I also included some pictures from our other Flower Garden journey meetings. The girls had a lot of fun learning about plants and insects this year.

Cali-Girl!!!

Well, we  made it. This past weekend was Cali-girl. This was the 2 day, all expenses paid, Disneyland trip that Emma wanted so much and that we sold so many cookies to be able to attend. What was really cool was that, since Em is still a Daisy (and needs a 1:1 chaperone), I got to go too! We had 8 girls from our troop earn this trip and 5 moms/ chaperones, so we had a great group. But we were only one small part of the whole trip. Total, there were 1200 girls who earned the trip and over 400 chaperones. Whew! We took over the park!!
We were up and at check-in at Cal State at 5am Saturday morning. Then we boarded the buses to Disneyland for the awards, pictures, and then set off to explore the parks. We had 2 fun-filled days full of laughs, rides, waterslides, friends, characters, and excitement. It was amazing. We even got to stay in the Disneyland Hotel overnight and Emma was enchanted by the headboard that played the melody to "A dream is a wish your heart makes" as little lights twinkled like stars... It was such a great trip. In fact, after we got home Sunday night, I asked Emma a few questions about our weekend and here is what she had to say...
Caligirl 2013 Weekend, according to Emma...
- Best Ride? ... "Tower of Terror."
- Most exciting part? ... Getting ready to get on the bus to go to Disneyland and I didn't know what we were going to do first.
- Most Fun part? ... Playing in the waterpark & being "swim buddies" with Alison.
- Silliest part? ... When Gina kept tickling me trying to make me laugh & I was trying not to.
- Happiest-in-my-heart part? ... Getting to spend the whole weekend with you, Mommy!
- Saddest part? ... I missed TJ.
- Best Hotel part? .. Being roomates with Jayden.
- Best food? ... My pretzel with cheese dip and I mixed in mustard too.
- Most Relaxing part? ... Going to sleep in the hotel with the fireworks lights on the wall.
- Most Exhausted part? ... Riding home on the bus today.
Best part? ... Being silly with my friends. I really like Jayden & Alison & Alivia & Rachel & Madisen & Caty & Briana, Mommy! We are all friends even though some of us are Daisies & some are Brownies...