Dancing with dad...kind of

Last night was the Father-daughter dance at Mikayla's school. She missed it her first grade year because I kept forgetting to take the $20 for the ticket with me on the walk to school. After being told by several moms, whose daughters went, say that it was such a wonderful father-daughter bonding time, I felt sad that Mikayla had to miss out on such a fun night. (OK, part of it was that I didn't want my poor hubby to have to "make friends" with the other, dressed-up dads after a long day of work. It turns out that several of the dads that we know had been there last year. He would have been fine. Can you just see me rolling my eyes?)

The night began at 6:00. I found a really cute dress for Mikayla a few weeks ago and we did her hair up pretty and dressed her in her new shoes (I don't think she's ever owned a pair of white Sunday dress shoes before) and she was ready to go.

A few pictures before she left... and a few with daddy...Oh, and then she had to get silly. I'm actually shocked that I got a normal picture before this next one. Apparently she wanted to show off her moves (and her dexterity) so this is what I got for the next few frames...
Can you see that Daddy is hardly phased? That's because it's normal to have Mikayla's legs flying which is why the daddy-daughter dance was perfect for her.

The night went well, according to Daddy. Once the girl posse hit the dance floor, however, daddy hardly saw his little girl. I urged him, before he left, to take advantage of the time with Mikayla but I guess it was kind of hard getting her alone without a gaggle of girls following after.

I couldn't help but think of the future as I watched her get dressed up and go out on her "date." Guys. Dates. Dances. Kisses. Marriage. Whew! I get carried away quickly. I'm not sure I'm ready for all that stuff. Thankfully, for now, Mikayla just loves being with her friends and tonight was a time, away from school, that she could make memories and dance her heart out!

Beach Day!

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of celebrating my mom's birthday (a big one but I won't reveal her age without her consent) and my Nana's birthday the week. Our way of celebrating? Taking all 5 children, many snacks, sunscreen and cameras and hitting the beach! But not just going to the beach...riding the train to the beach!! Double exclamation points!! The kids were so excited to ride the train. Of my kids, Tyler was the only one who had ridden a train but he loved it and my girls were excited to have a new experience. Lynnea was a little nervous, especially at the Lynnea-sized gap between the curb and the train step, but she got over it very quickly and talked my mom's ear off the entire way to San Clemente. Thanks, mom, for enduring that long trip...

The kids waited anxiously for the train.The adults preferred the benches.
My sister and I don't get a chance to hang out together. It was such a blast to be together all day! I wish it happened more often. (Cara on the left, Riva on the right: just thought you might need a hint.)
My dad walked up and down a little with the kids while we waited in anticipation for the huge, loud, automotive to come chugging down the rails.
After a little joking with Will about his height, the men got together for a picture. Thus, the look on my husband's face...
With his little girl. The hair didn't stay in place very long, much to my chagrin. I spent a long time on that braid!
When we got to the beach, the kids spent hours in the sand.
My camera has a "beach" setting but, to be honest, I think this picture would have turned out even better with the "every-camera-has-this-normal-setting" setting. Good grief. Too many settings can just be too many sometimes. Try as I might, Lynnea still looks like a shadow.
Playing by the pier.

After the train ride home, we ate at the Spaghetti Factory where the staff embarrassed my mom and my Nana with one candle each on their ice cream and some very loud singing. Add to that my daughter with only one shoe (somehow she lost it in San Clemente) and enough food for the day to go into hibernation, and you can see that the day was well-spent. I think dad will have to work some extra hours since it was his generosity that made every detail happen. Thanks, dad!
Happy Birthday to 2 of the most wonderful women in my life! May you be blessed with many more years!!

My Violets

A little while ago I bought some African Violet plants for my kitchen window. They weren't your average Violets - no basic red, purple, blue. No, I got lavendar and white and burgundy with tons of petals. They've been blooming like crazy so I picked 2 off of the plant and gave them to my girls. With their deep sparkle and ruffly beauty, the flowers looked just perfect in their hair.So beautiful.

Gotta Love Family

If you've been keeping up with my blogs, you've read that my parents helped me out so much with the transformation of my backyard from "The Land of Weeds" to "Pretty as a Park." I caught dad relaxing with the kids on one of those days. Thank you, mom and dad, for all of your digging, shoveling, cutting, hauling, and planting. I love my new garden!Next time, dad, I promise I won't let the weeds control me...I promise! I decided that this time around I wouldn't plant anything frou-frou (also known as high maintenance). No small little dainty plants. No you-have-to-snip-it-once-a-day plants. Just the bushes. Flowering bushes. So, here's a picture of my upper garden bed with the hibiscus and the orange tree with a few azalea bushes and a calla lily. I love it.In my lower garden bed is this beauty, among several other plants. Mom got me a beautiful, fluffy, pink climbing rose. I think I mentioned it in an earlier post but now I actually have a picture of one of them. Isn't it fluffy and gorgeous? Honestly, how many petals are IN that thing?
For lack of a better transition, I'll just jump into the next topic. Our visit from Uncle Dannie.
As is our tradition, we headed to sushi. The past few times with the kids and sushi have left them hating teriyaki chicken (who could ever not like teriyaki chicken?) so we drove through McDonalds and then went over to Niko Niko Sushi. Everyone was happy. This picture is all of the kids and Dannie talking with Aunt Kathy since she and the kids couldn't make it this time. We missed you guys!!I love my time with my family. It doesn't happen often enough since we're so far away from most relatives but the time with them is always treasured.

Lots of Legos

This past Saturday, we took a trip to Legoland with some friends of ours and had so much fun. One thing I will say about this place is that I have never seen more legos in all my life. I was truly amazed at all that the "Lego-engineers" created in this make-believe world and took lots of pictures to give you a little taste of their genius. There was a Star Wars Miniworld that had just been built so they had several sand artists create a 3D sculpture to welcome it to the park. I didn't take any pictures of the mini Star Wars exhibit because really, besides the little Ewoks, I have no interest. I think Will took a few. Anyway, here's the sand sculpture.
New York was one of the largest recreations at the park. I could use the word "incredible" here but I think the words "incredible, amazing, and fantastic" would be overused in this post so I'll just let you see the slide show at the end of the blog entry and you can say "wow" at each one without reading it over and over and over again from me.
My little one admiring the azaleas (MOM! I know what they are!! Aren't you proud?? All that gardening wisdom is rubbing off on me.)
Mikayla waiting for the "Indiana Jones" inspired ride that sent my youngest into terrified screams.
With Aidan. Oh, look, Lynnea's picking her nose. Isn't that attractive...
All 6 of the kids in front of the mariachi band. Why the mariachi band? No reason, they were just all standing there at one time and we seized the moment.
Tyler and me in the helicopter ride.
The other side of New York. This is Times Square I believe. Incredible detail. See? I'd use that word again and again if I could. This place is creative genius.
Lynnea even posed with R2-D2.
Unfortunately, the park closes at 5:00 so, while it was still light, we packed up our things and headed home but we had a great time with some great friends. Thanks Mina and Aaron!!

And, because I can't fit all of the great pics into this post, I've put together a slideshow of all of the pictures I thought were "fantastic, incredible, and amazing." ALL MADE WITH LEGOS! Enjoy!

Yesterday

So it was hot here yesterday. I mean REALLY hot. My mom and I lost about a quart of liquid, each, as we finished up planting my new flowers in my newly weeded garden bed. We both opted for a shower to beat the heat but my kids decided to do this...Fun! And reminiscent of my younger years with my sister.Lynnea enjoying the water...and, yes, adjusting her swimsuit...