Weatherford Kids Christmas Party

 We actually got Lauren to go near Santa!!

 Luke is all about Santa!

Lauren’s amazing butterfly face paint.

Camping in B.C.

We went camping in Radium Hot Springs in B.C. I don’t have as many pictures as I would have liked but what is important is that we had fun. Our campsite was in a valley and we were right next to a river. I mean right next to it. I was thinking that we would have nice soothing white noise from the water but it was like raging rapids. I was fine, Jeff however, needed ear plugs to sleep. On Saturday morning we went to Fairmont Hot Springs, per the suggestion of a random person that I met at swim lessons a few days before we left. I ask everyone I meet up here where they like to camp. Anyway Fairmont was awesome. It is a huge pool that is built around the springs. Apparently there are some natural ones that you can go sit in up somewhere in the mountains but these were nice because they had showers and such. We were there for 2 hours and then went for a late lunch and then went back for another few hours. The kids had a blast. The top picture is of Luke determining that he likes roasted mini donuts. The second is a picture of a park that we thought would be nice to go to on our way out of town on Sunday but it turned out to be pretty gross. Apparently a lot of animals have a favourite potty and that is this park. Gross. But there were people in the water and playing in the sand. Ew. We will definitely go back to Fairmont though and we got lucky because the following weekend they had a mudslide and there has been a massive clean up since then.

Summer hike

We had a 3 day weekend in July and decided to go take a hike. We went out to Johnston Canyon which we had heard from several sources as a really nice hike. Sources proved true. The kids did well, for the most part until it started raining on us. We took shelter in a restaurant after we finished our hike and the food was surprisingly good (especially the nachos, go figure) and not too pricey. At the end of the trail you are treated to a beautiful waterfall and this is after walking along the rock face following a river. It was beautiful.

We went to Montana’s on Lauren’s birthday. 

She got to wear the moose hat and the waiters sang to her.

                            Getting all dressed up for the princess party

                                  What’s a party without a piñata?

 Lauren wanted a ladybug cake so I obliged. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun to make and I was very pleased with the finished product.

    We had 14 girls come to Lauren’s 5th birthday party. I think that they all had a great time. While some of the girls were getting on their princess attire the other played Just Dance on the Wii. It was a beautiful day outside so we were able to enjoy the sunshine as well. Lauren loves being a 5 year old.

California Trip 2012

                                           The kids decided to dance to the music.

                                           TRON!!!

                                           ‘A Bug’s Life’ at California Adventure was a huge hit with the kids.

                                                        Lego Darth Vader

                                           Lego Chewie and R2-D2

                                           Luke saw the Legos, need I say more.

                                           We got our feather for Dumbo’s flying elephant ride.

                                           Ahhh, the beach.

                                           Autopia, Lauren at the wheel, she loved driving.

                                           Lauren enjoying a Tigger Tail, they were soooo good.

                                           Lauren dressed as a princess and in Cinderella’s carriage.

                                           On our way home. 

We decided to take the kids to California, specifically Legoland and Disneyland, as birthday presents this year. We had a fantastic time and many people made that possible. A big thank you to my Aunt Melanie and Uncle Bill for opening up their home to us, my cousin Kim for coming with us to Legoland and allowing us to enjoy some time at the beach and the use of her house and Jeff’s cousin Jill and her husband Marv for making a wonderful dinner and letting us stay with them the night before we left. We had a super busy week. We left on a Tuesday, we woke up and asked the kids where they wanted to go if they could go anywhere. They did not disappoint, Luke said Legoland and Lauren said DisneyWorld. She was fine with Disneyland, thank goodness. We packed up and had a long day of travel. On Wednesday we decided to go to California Adventure which turned out to be really great. We wanted to see the Tron exhibit there which was really neat and the park was much better than Jeff and I remembered. Thursday we went to Legoland and had a great time. Luke was so very thankful and couldn’t believe that he was actually there. His favourite part?? the Lego store. On Friday we made it to my happy place, Disneyland. It was rainy and we had to actually leave during the torrential downpour that would make Texas rainstorms jealous and come back later. This worked out well because we met up with a friend of mine from elementary school (who I hadn’t seen since high school) and she was monumental in helping us get through lines faster. Thanks Melissa!!! We stayed at the park until 11:30!! On Saturday we headed down to San Diego, picked up our friend Phil, and went to the San Diego Zoo. What an amazing place! It was a beautiful zoo and we had a great time. Sunday we went to visit cousin Kim in Seal Beach and got some beach time. The kids were thrilled. They LOVE the beach. After we were done there we went and did some American shopping. We miss being American consumers. Monday it was back to Legoland, this time hitting the water park. It was a bit windy but we had a lot of fun. Tuesday it was back to the magic at Disney and even though we had less time there it was still great. We left early so that we could head up to Jeff’s cousin’s place. It was wonderful to visit with family and the kids had a great time meeting new cousins and playing with some they hadn’t seen in a while. Wednesday morning we got up really, really early to come back home. Our vacation was fantastic and we can’t wait to go back to California. 

Christmas 2011

The shock of having a Lego man!!

Tron recognizer=excitement Christmas morning

Lauren showing us the enormity of the gifts.

It has been a looong while since I have posted so I will post with some of the pictures that I have accessible. Here are a few from Christmas morning in Houston. All of my late night shopping expeditions in Houston paid off, the kids had a really good Christmas and they enjoyed what they got. Among the top gifts: the robes that Nana made (yellow for Luke and a pink one with hearts for Lauren). Luke wears both of his robes now that Nana made...at the same time.

Fall Kid Pics

I finally got a new camera that I love and decided to take some pictures of the kids after the leaves turned. We went to the park and the kids got to play and I got to as well. I love my camera and having adorable subjects helps too.