You so proud of me!

The other day, I helped Lou tie her shoes. When finished, she smiled at me and said "Thanks mom!" Then added, "You so proud of me." This has happened several times since whenever I help her do or get something... I think she means to say is, "I'm so proud of you," but either way, its very cute.

A Happy Birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth

We weren't planning a trip to Disneyland this year... but when my Aunt Pika (aka "Our Fairy Godmother") invited us to join her and Uncle Paul for a three day visit that happened to coincide with a conference Fisher needed to attend - the opportunity was perfect. So, we celebrated my birthday in Disneyland, a place I haven't been for 17 years.

Curly and Lou were in Princess Heaven...discovering gifts from their "Fairy Godmother" every day... including the pink mouse ears that Curly is sporting below.


Pika is a master planner and thanks to her research, we had a very productive visit - riding every ride that we wanted at least once, and our favorites several times. Curly loved the roller coasters, Lou probably would have loved them as well if she was big enough to ride.... she got used to waiting patiently, but that doesn't mean she liked it...

Curly right after her second time on "Splash Mountain" and right before she said, "Can we go again?" which is what she said after every ride.Lou did get to ride the Toon Town rollercoaster, and like her sister, she has no fear.
Lou takes a picture of "It's a Small World"... which is still running through our heads and now is stuck in yours...

During Muppet 3-D, Lou fell over backward in her seat and laughed out loud when "Fozzie" blew a snake party favor toward the audience.
Sporting more 3-D glasses on "Toy Story Mania"

And here we are with the famous mouses...

I wasn't expecting any birthday gifts, but my Grandpa and Grandma Woodbury surprised me with a character breakfast at "Storyteller Cafe" in the Grand California hotel. It was delicious food for me and lots of fun for all of us to see so many "stuffed animals" as Lou called them.
After breakfast we hightailed it to "California Adventure" and spent much of the morning in "Bug's Life land" which had some great rides for preschoolers.
... and adults

Pika scheduled time for lunch and a nap in our room every afternoon - which was so nice for ALL of us. She brought a few crafts for the girls to do during this down time. We took a cold swim one day and usually ate an early dinner before heading back to the parks for the evening.
Ready to spin on the classic eacups. My memory of these is my sister vomiting in the bushes as soon as we got off...my dad was the master teacup spinner. Fortunately no vomiting this time.



If it weren't for our amazing Aunt Pika and Uncle Paul, this vacation would not have happened. We are very grateful!!

The finale of our vacation was a princess dinner at Ariel's grotto. The Fairy Godmother came through again with Ariel and Cinderella wedding dresses for the girls.

Delicious food, good company and plenty of attention from the princesses - what a happy ending!

The Valentine that keeps on giving...

Holidays are more fun with children, and Valentine's Day is no exception. After catching on to the idea of giving Valentines, Curly began making them with gusto. I don't think a day went by this week that she didn't make a valentine for someone. Even this afternoon I found a Valentine had been slid under my bedroom door, along with a ziploc bag of 4 green sweetart hearts labeled "MOM" in 4 year old scrawl. The Valentine looked similar to the one above, but read "MOM, I (heart) U, Curly" I love you too!

We're so glad when grandparents come!!!

With great excitement, we anticipated the arrival of Grandpa and Grandma Lovell (my parents). Curly and Lou could not stop talking about when "grandma comes". It was a short visit but we had a lot of fun. My mom notices details and thinks my kids are cuter than I do :) so she is always ready with her camera - I wouldn't have most of these pictures if she hadn't been so quick to take them! So here they are without further adieu...

The little pom-pom people that Curly and I made (and didn't quite finish) - Curly put them on Grandpa and Grandma's bed to greet them when they arrived late Wednesday night. (See what I mean about details)

Playing Peek-a-boo in the big suitcase... There is a story behind this suitcase. It was empty but needed to be transported to our house. My Grandma Woodbury and Aunt Pika managed to pack one of our live houseplants (that we didn't have room to move) into the suitcase along with other various fillers (treats). My parents checked it on the airplane and the plant arrived looking the same as when it had left! If you ever need something packed carefully- call my Grandma and aunt!


And true to form - my mom also remembered to get a video of Curly riding her bike without training wheels.


After a morning of bike riding and playing in the backyard, we were all worn out. Curly and Lou snuggled up with Grandma for a nap.

My dad and Fisher went to work organizing the garage - they hung these shelves and some tool organizing hooks on another wall. ..

and ta da ... we now have an organized garage. Curly and Lou keep saying "Our garage is bigger!" Thanks mom and dad!!!

We took a hike to a different peak in "Thunderbird Park."

Lou and Curly were very excited to make it to the top!

We saw the sun beginning to set. Because of the recent rain, there was grass sprouting up everywhere - Green in arizona?!

Nothing like an In n' Out burger after a good calorie burnin' hike :). I can't believe my mom shot this picture at the perfect moment. Curly and I managed to dump a glass of ice water in my lap! It apparently attracted some attention (see all the nice people looking at us)

Saturday morning we headed to the park for Curly's soccer tots class. Grandpa was her "parent".

Their visit flew by much too quickly and we found ourselves saying sad goodbyes at the airport on Saturday afternoon. I think Lou was in mourning at church today - Her nursery leaders thought she was sick because she just lay on the floor and wasn't her usual bubbly self :( I think she just misses grandma. Thanks for coming mom and dad! We miss you already.

A visit from the North

This week we were very lucky to have a visit from Fisher's brother and his family. They flew down from Tri-cities Washington. We spent a lot of time outside - parks, a hike, and playing in the backyard. The girls loved having cousins to play with and eat with and have sleepovers. I loved sharing/learning cooking tips and secrets. Fisher and I enjoyed having someone to play "Ticket to Ride" with and good conversation with family! We are very happy that they made the effort to come! THANKS!

Our neighborhood park

They couldn't stay away from this "climbing tree" in the backyard

It's rare that a picture of Fisher and me makes it on the camera! Hiking at Thunderbird park a few miles from our house.

All of us, including the kids and my brother in law's wife (who is 7 1/2 months pregnant) made it up this mile long trail without breaking a sweat :)

Cute cousins - Instead of "enjoying" the view they spent our few minutes on top looking for their imaginary butterfly named "Sugar"

In other news - Fisher is ready to give birth...

To some big-lipped babies!