Girls Trip Part 4 - Last one, I promise

Okay, we spent time at the beach playing - without the chinese dresses on, so I have to document that...I LOVE these photos...

Girls Trip Part 3

Okay, I just had to add more photos. This first one I LOVE. We were waiting to watch Fantasmic, and had eaten by the river, and were saving a table and chairs in order to watch Fantasmic - for over 3 hours. Seriously, so worth it! Some of us would go on rides, while the others waited in our seats. I snapped this photo at Sunset -clouds had rolled over, giving me darkened skies. I LOVE it! I may have to frame it. If you don't know, it's overlooking Splash Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion. The bonus is that on the right is the Pirate Ship. Oh, by the way, Fantasmic is my FAVORITE part of Disneyland. I get all giddy when I hear the opening music...GO MICKEY! I tried to get a photo of Mickey, but didn't get a great one! I am posting it, but maybe I'll get a better one next time. These photos were just taken during a normal day at Disneyland...
Kristin wouldn't go NEAR Cruella.


They had to check to make sure it wasn't real...


This is the pouty lip I get whenever I tell Haley I am leaving.

Funny how Kristin has no problem with Chip and Dale but won't stand by Cruella, and Haley is scared of Chip and Dale but is okay with Cruella. I love this series. I think it's funny how Chip (of Dale - don't know the difference) was bowing cause he got Haley to cry. Thanks for rescuing her Dave!

I only have one post left in the Girls Trip Series. Just a few more from the beach. I know, you can't wait!

Girls Trip Part 2

After our day on the beach, we had 2 days of Disneyland! The first day my brothers joined us, and the next day was "Princess Day". Both days were GREAT! Because I know the secrets of Disneyland, we got on all rides with no crazy waiting in line. I feel so blessed. My girls really are so great! They didn't throw a fit. NOT ONCE! THE WHOLE WEEKEND! My mom buys my kids whatever they pick at Disneyland - one thing. They look in stores, check things out, then my boys usually pick $5 sucker, and the girls a baby minnie doll or something - nothing ever really big. So, Kristin saw that by the Princess Faire, they did face painting. She asked if she could get her face painted. I told her if it was more than $10...NO. I went and asked, and it ranged from $12-18. I went back to where my mom was waiting in line, and I told her, and my mom said, "Let's do it!" She took Kristin to get her face painted. Kristin takes things VERY seriously. She picked out her "style" and got her face painted. She came back to where I was waiting in line, just BEAMING. She was so excited about her face paint! Haley had to have it done too, but not as much as Kristin. Kristin was on cloud 9 all day. She even leaned over to my mom and said, "Grammy, since you got my face painted, you don't need to buy me a treat. This is all I want!" HELLO!!!! What 5 year old girl says that? I am just so grateful that my girls were so sweet, gracious, thankful, for their fun weekend. What a lucky mom I am! My mom had bought each of my girls a princess dress from Costco a week before we left. (They were $18 each. In Disneyland, the cheapest princess dress was $65.) Kristin picked Cinderella and Haley got Snow White. I did Kristin's hair like Cinderella's on Monday morning. I tried to put a bow in Haley's hair, but she had it removed before we left the hotel room. Oh well, it was a nice try. We were off. We headed to the Princess Faire where we met the princesses. How lucky were we, that Cinderella and Snow White were 2 out of the 3 princesses that were there at that time!? We decided to eat at Ariel's Grotto. Totally expensive but the food was divine. Seriously. My mom and I thoroughly enjoyed it! On with the pictures! Here are my photos from our "princess day".

Girls Weekend Part I

Our girls weekend started out Friday afternoon. We drove to Las Vegas where we met Erin and Elyse for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. The girls LOVED seeing each other, and playing. I enjoyed eating dinner with Erin! I wish I would have remembered my camera! That night, we took the girls swimming at the hotel pool. Haley was a daredevil, and decided that she'd just jump into the pool. I had to save her, but that still didn't stop her! That girl has NO FEAR! The next morning we headed off to California! We checked into our hotel, and met my brothers David and Jason at the beach. David recently got back from China and had bought my girls these cute dresses! I LOVED them, and naturally had to make a photo shoot out of it! Here are a few photos...







Okay, now for my almost favorite photo...but first an explanation. We ate at a little Thai place in Corona Del Mar. It was yummy. As we left, this dog was just tied up to this bench. I don't even like dogs, but I LOVE this photo...for all you dog lovers out there... Stay tuned for more of the adventure...(I only watermarked these photos to protect my girls, if you are a family member who wants a copy of this photo, just let me know!)

Haley starts preschool!

Yep! Little Haley started preschool last week. She doesn't turn 3 until November, but when every other kid in your family goes to school, it was something she wasy DYING to do. My friend, Jen, started a preschool this year instead of going back to teaching, and I jumped at the chance to have Haley go to her preschool. Her cousin, Makenna goes with her (I don't know yet if that is a good thing or a bad thing...time will tell...those two stinkers...). Haley loves it. It's only 4 hours a week. Just perfect. So, that means, 4 hours of every week, I have time to myself. I am using that time to help in my other kids classes, but I am determined to use that time how I want to...I try to get up early on Tuesdays and Thursdays and get all my stuff done, so that I could take a nap, watch a movie, do a project, or just do what I WANT to do instead of what I HAVE to do...I'm sure you know, that I usually do things I have to do, but it's okay. Here she is. On her first day, she got to color her own tshirt. I tried not to help. I am a firm believer that she should do it on her own...it's not my project, it's hers...I'm totally okay with the outcome! (I did write a 'Y' on the tshirt of one of the stick people, and when Haley brought it home, Kristin commented on how impressed she was that Haley knew how to draw a 'Y' - apparently in our family that is just something you learn at an early age.)


I am leaving for the weekend. It's our first annual girls trip! My girls and I - along with my mom - are headed to the land of sunny beaches and mickey ears! Yep, Disneyland! We are doing whatever my girls want to do. My mom bought them each a princess dress to wear to Disneyland. We can't wait! Stay tuned for fun photos!