80's DAY

Today is "80's day" at the kids school. The girls (and I) had a fun time coming up with outfits and accessories.

Here are Rena and Maleah -- notice the side pony, off the shoulder shirt, leggings with leg warmers and the bracelets.....

AND an 80's look would not be complete without the pretty blue eyeshadow.....

Poor Cameron -- all we could come up with was a polo shirt with the collar up......

Heading out the door -- Jacinda, Cameron, Maleah and Rena.....

Funny stuff -- as we were picking out outfits yesterday Rena got her leggings dirty and Cameron said to me "that's ok -- they probably didn't have washing machines clear back in the 80's so people probably wore dirty clothes more often". Then, as he's getting dressed he asks "did they have belts back in the 80's?" and on the way to school this morning Jacinda says "hmmm.......who knew dressing up like the 80's could be so much fun?". Funny kids!!

CAMERON IS A DUCK

Cameron's first baseball game for Spring Season was on Saturday. The team didn't do very good (actually they got their butts kicked), but it was just the first game -- there's time for improvement! :)

Cameron got on base a couple of times.....

The girls took MANY things to keep themselves busy during the game. And they made a new friend.....

OPEN HOUSE

The kids had an Open House at their school on Thursday night and we got to go check out their rooms and see a little bit of what they've been doing.

We had one hour to make it to all 3 rooms. We did it, but it was a little more rushed than the kids would have liked, especially Cameron's room - which was last!

Cameron at his desk.....

Rena's first grade classroom.....

In Rena's room we had to find "her" on her chair -- she was pretty easy to figure out.....

Maleah was our tour guide in her room -- with a hat and all.....

Maleah back at home with her front page newspaper......

WHICH ONE IS RENA?

Some nights, in the dark, I can't figure out which little blonde head I should kiss goodnight!

As if getting themselves ready for bed isn't enough, Rena and Maleah also have to get their baby dolls and animals ready for bed every night. After they get their own pj's on, floss, brush, swish and pee (which nothing is accomplished with any speed).....then we start the process of making sure their dolls and animals are comfy for the night.

Here's what Rena sets up in her bed.......she's got her dog and hippo pillowpets, her Hello Kitty stuffed animal, her Koala (named "koala"), Polar Bear (also with an original name of "polar bear"), then she's got her baby dolls on the left -- Macy, Bambi (from G&G Keyes for her birthday), Alice (from The McCullough's for her birthday), and on the right she has Julia - along with Julia's own special pillow and quilt made by Grandma Lynne......

Now, that was only at the head of her bed. At the foot and along the side she has big penguin, 2 puppies, 3 snuggimals, small penguin, pillows and lots of books. How did we get to this level of "things"??? I'm not really sure, but she just loves these animals and dolls. The good (and bad) thing is that she actually plays with these animals and dolls throughout the day. The good part is that she really does like them. The bad part is that we then have to go through the same, long process every night of making sure everyone is tucked in and comfy!

Now for Maleah -- not quite as bad, but she's getting there. She has to sleep with her unicorn and ladybug pillowpet, her doll Audrey and Max, the dog from the story "The Grinch who Stole Christmas". She also has lots of pillows, blankets and books to situate and organize before being able to climb into bed for the night......

Maleah also has to tuck Grace into bed and make sure her dog, Barbie, is set-up on his rug in front of the t.v.......

If these girls get anymore dolls or animals to sleep with we are going to have to start bed-time at 6 o'clock every night to get them to sleep by 9 o'clock!!

(A funny story about Rena's big penguin -- she got it one Saturday morning when her and Jeff went "garage saleing". The people were asking $2.75 for it, but she negotiated them down to $2.00 -- she was so proud of herself -- and so was Jeff!)

SAFARI PARK

We spent the afternoon yesterday out at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The kids and I had all been there one time before (at different times) on school field trips, but we hadn't been when we could just explore on our own. It was really a fun place to visit and I'm sure we will be going back often (especially since we now have a yearly membership - that is good here and at The San Diego Zoo).

Here is just a little bit of what we did and saw.....

Look behind everyone for animals -- here's a rhino.....

Hard to tell, but those are flamingo's behind Rena.....

There are all sorts of animals out there roaming behind Cameron & Maleah.....

Obviously.....giraffe..... :)

Just ducks here.....

On the way out we had to sit in an egg (just because we could!)...... :)

MOVIE NIGHT

Saturday night was Rena's birthday party with her friends. We had a total of 12 girls and 2 boys (Cameron and a friend) over from 5pm to 8pm for movie night. We started the party with some pizza.....

.....and then moved into the living room to watch Alvin and The Chipmunks, The Squeakquel. We transformed the living room into a movie theatre with the big screen, popcorn and drinks.....

We paused the movie for a bit and had some cake and ice-cream.....

.....and opened some presents.....

The girls had a great time with "Rena's Dad" during the party. They wanted him to sing and dance like the chipmunks, but they settled for dressing him up with bows and ribbon.....

Rena had a great party, despite the fact that she spent the whole time in pain with a fat lip. The poor girl crashed on her new bike in the driveway about 10 minutes before her guests were scheduled to arrive. She had to skip the pizza, but suffered through the popcorn and, of course, was able to eat the ice cream!

Rena's birthday is now over for another year -- we definitely all had a great time celebrating with her! Happy 7th Birthday Rena!!

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Rena had a great day on her birthday. Here she is with her hat that her teacher made her during class.....

Here she is getting her new bike -- Jeff told her to go outside and grab the newspaper off the driveway and when she got out there she found her new bike. Unfortunately she stubbed her toe on the way out and was a little distracted when she finally made it to the driveway, but when she realized that the bike was hers and she recovered pretty quickly.....

Dinner time -- Rena picked the menu of hamburgers, fries and jello .....

Time for presents and WOW did she get a lot of nice things -- this one is from Grandma Gail and Grandpa Jim -- a doll that looks like her......

Everyone knows what Rena likes -- more baby doll stuff from The McCullough's -- another baby doll, bag and stroller......

AND from Grandpa Steve and Grandma Bonnie a new outfit.....

Now we are preparing for one more celebration on Saturday -- movie night with 10 first grade girls.....YIKES!!

IT'S RENA'S BIRTHDAY

Today, February 23rd, Rena turns 7 years old!!!!

Here were our morning celebrations -- Cameron and Maleah would not let Rena come downstairs until her surprise breakfast was ready. Cameron made the pancakes and Maleah set the table, then they made her come downstairs blindfolded (they guided her so that she didn't fall down the stairs or run into walls!).

SURPRISE -- pancakes with strawberries, whip cream and sprinkles.....

Stay tuned for more festivities tonight (and this weekend!).....

ANOTHER BEACH DAY

Since the kids were off of school on Monday we headed to the beach. We went North to Oceanside where they have a nice pier to walk out on and have a fun bigtoy for the kids.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

I celebrated my 29th (ok, plus 10) birthday on Saturday. I got to spend the day with my dad and Bonnie, Rena and Maleah. Cameron and Jeff had a camping trip that they went on with the YMCA Adventure Club over the weekend so they missed the actual day. I had a good time celebrating, though. We started the day with doughnuts and coffee and then went out to eat at Red Robin followed by a movie. Bonnie took the girls to a kids movie and dad and I went to an "R" rated movie -- haven't been to one of those in a theatre in awhile -- it's usually all "G" in my life! :)

Here we are at Red Robin with our sundae deserts......Rena got one too to celebrate her upcoming b-day.....

After the movie we headed home for cake and ice-cream......and some leftover movie theatre popcorn! :)