Princess Tea Party

What better way to spend your lunch than dressed in princess dresses with your friends?

Discovery Museum

An awesome friend of mine decided to take the initiative and get a bunch of moms together to go to the Lied Discovery Museum here. If you get a certain number, you get a discount - so glad it all worked out. We had lots of fun:

Catching up with old friends



Just hanging out


Playing with bubbles



Loving the water table



Even Zach got in on the fun!



I think we might have to take dad here on one of his days off - I think he would have fun with us too.

Curls...

I realize I have not been so good at posting and updating things here. Now that we have a little more regular schedule, I will be working on that. A few weeks ago we tried putting rag curls in Madi's hair. We had made a previous attempt about a year ago, but it didn't work. So here is attempt two:





It turned out super cute even with Madi trying to comb it out. I think she was just shocked at how curly it was once the rags were removed. We had several tears about it not being what she wanted which resulted in a quick bath after church to straighten it.

Four Years Old!

I can hardly believe how time has flown by! Madi turned four years old this year! She got to celebrate several times this year - even at Disneyland. Two cakes and a lot of fun times with grandparents and cousins.




We are so grateful for her happy spirit! I admire her determination (*most days...other days it can be wearing...) and the joy she finds in so many little things. I love that she will watch old musicals with me - her favorites right now are "The King and I" and "Singing In The Rain". It cracks me up that she tells me she wants to be a parent when she grows up. Her favorite colors are red, purple then pink (in that order - just ask her she will be happy to tell you). She loves to read - and does quite well at it. Here's looking to birthday number 5 kiddo!

Catch Up!

I realized it has been a long time since I posted anything here. It's amazing how time flies by. We have been keeping rather busy lately. Here are a few of the highlights:

California Trip

I catered a wedding in July for a friend of my family in California. We took the opportunity to have some fun after the hard work. Madi loved the beach. Zach - not so much. His like of the beach wore off after a little bit.





We went to the Scripps Aquarium at UC San Diego, played with sparklers, went to the new library near Grandma's house, celebrated Madi's birthday - twice, feed ducks and went to Disneyland. Here are a few of our favorite Disneyland pictures. We discovered on this trip that Madi absolutely LOVES roller coasters. As we were riding Big Thunder Mountain, I thought she was screaming because she was scared - much to my relief she was screaming and laughing at how much fun it was.




My sister in law was the designated photographer, so we didn't get as many pictures as we thought. We had a blast. Madi and Zach got to spend time with their grandma and cousins. It was a lot of fun - although when we do this again, we will not go in the summer. I forgot how busy it gets - two strollers plus a party of 10 proved to be a little much!

The Big 4-0

Brad rarely tells me he would like to do something; when he does I take note. Around Thanksgiving (Nov 2010), while watching tv he saw someone flying a fighter jet. He then said something about how he would like to do that. Mental note taken. The search began. I found several options - all of which were beyond the budget I had set for myself. After expanding my options to experiences other than just a fighter jet I found a company that allows people to mock dogfight out of San Diego (Barnstorming Adventures). The planning began. It took me just about six months, but I was able to coordinate with his brother so they could pretend to fight one another. I should mention that Brad is not really a big fan of surprises, but he was pleasantly surprised! Here are a few shots of the big day!

Prior to getting into the plane, the two pilots the "referee" the dogfight and fly the plane give brief instructions about basic aeronautics and fighting techniques.



Brad's pilot was kind enough to take a pretty good picture of him inside the plane while they were flying.



And a shot of the fighting...



His mom, aunt, sister, brother and his family were all able to come to San Diego and celebrate with us all without his knowledge until just shortly before the trip. It was a nice little get away for all of us - here's to a wonderful husband and father and wining dogfighter.

Nevada Southern Railways - attempt #2

So a while back we tried to visit the Nevada Southern Railways. They were closed. We finally made it back and had a fun train ride. Madi was so excited!



Zach was happy for a little bit in his car seat.