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.

Last camping trip of the season

Lauren on the Columbia Icefield glacier

Luke and Lauren jumping off the boat launch at Maligne Lake

Angel Glacier

An ice cave at Angel Glacier that some geniuses thought would be safe to walk around in.

Our last camping trip of the season was to Jasper National Park. I asked some friends from my MOMS group if they wanted to go and they agreed and we had a great time. We saw Angel Glacier, Maligne Lake and the Columbia Icefield glacier during our time in Jasper. We couldn't have asked for better weather or company.

Berry Picking

There is a berry up here called a Saskatoon. It is kind of like a blueberry and they are pretty tasty. There are a few family owned farms on the outskirts of Calgary where you can go berry picking so we decided to do just that. We got buckets, slapped on the sunscreen and started picking. We picked 2 buckets worth of berries and the kids had a good time. Luke liked squeezing the berries and getting the juice but now he says he doesn't like them. Go figure.

What were we going to do with all these berries you may wonder? Well there was a pamphlet that gave all kinds of recipes and we have tried a few. The first was a Saskatoon berry pie and it was good. Next we tried the smoothie but none of us are really big fans of smoothies so that didn't go over very well. The muffins were really good and I also made some freezer jam. After all that we had a whole bag left over so I froze the rest. Hopefully I can bring some down at Christmas.

Maxcey's visit Maxcey's

Luke and Ben discovered this toy and thought that it looked like a light cycle from Tron.

We were so excited when our Maxcey cousins came to visit us this summer. The kids were beside themselves and we had a countdown to when they were going to arrive. We had a fantastic time with them. We went to Lake Louise, did the Banff Gondola ride and went out to Ol'Macdonald's camping resort. Needless to say the visit was way to short.