DISNEYLAND

Gabby wanted and got to go to Disneyland for her 6th birthday. I had not been since I was that age!! We did a mother-daughter trip and crashed in Sandy's hotel room and Grandma Debi got to come along as well. We had a splendid time... This was as we were leaving the hotel upon arrival - the excitement can barely be contained!

 As we walked through downtown Disney - what store did we find?? What princess did we see?

 We then went to California Adventure Park as we had early entry there and that is where you go to have breakfast with the princesses.  A few snapshots with mom and daughter...and then we were able to meet Ariel, Tiana and Cinderella! We had a yummy breakfast and it was perfect weather!

 Then we hit the rafting ride - this was the last time that Grandma Debi saw her visor and was dry! We also watched the movie in Bug's Land and it was great. One of Gabby's favorite memories was going to her first musical of Aladdin - great choice!

 We rode the Cars Ride twice - it was a lot of fun!

We had some yummy ice cream.... and then we saw Disneyland! I do not have as many pictures from Disneyland as Gabby and I did this park by ourselves and just enjoyed each other. We hit most of the rides/attractions and the only one we wanted to do but couldn't was It's a Small World.  Gabby did a LOT of walking these 2 days and was a trooper but by 10:30 on the 2nd day - she was ready to go home. She slept the whole way home and was exhausted.

 We had a great trip and I feel very fortunate to get to have this experience with her. She loved every ride and was not scared on any of them. She really is growing up and is turning into a lovely young girl!

Murray Farms

On Saturday I took the girls to Murray Farms.  We had a great time! The girls enjoyed the Butterfly House and we ran into cousin Lee who is working there! They also ran into Natalie and Lucas on the jumping pillow and had a BALL... they jumped for a good 45 min.  Then we all hiked a ways to pick out our pumpkins and halled them back in a wagon. Thank goodness Gabby was there to help pull the wagon - I needed another pair of arms.

Gabby's Bday Party at LRSH

Gabby celebrated her birthday on October 17th at LRSH.  It started with a trip to the doctor's office because her ear was hurting but even that couldn't keep her from enjoying her special day! Lots of pizza, grapes, carrots, chips and chocolate chip cookies!  She ahd a blast and enjoyed her special day. You know your kid gets older when they want pictures with friends and not mom and dad anymore :)

1st Tooth Faity Visit

Gabby had said her tooth had been hurting and that it was loose. I must admit at first I didn't believe her as she has said this several times before. When I looked - sure enough - it was loose.  Yesterday when I picked her up from school - she had lost her 1st tooth.  She was so excited to see what the Tooth Fairy would bring...it is so fun to watch kids experience things for the first time.  So we neatly tucked her tooth under her pillow last night and the Tooth Fairy visited her and she was thrilled this morning.  She was happy to learn she did not need to eat only bananas last night as she had thought.

Gabby's Bday Party Highlights

Gabby had her 6th birthday party this past weekend.  It was a low-key affair with about 25 kids and parents. The kids just played in the back yard and played pin the tail on the donkey.  No other games or entertainment, no gift bags...just wasn't going to do all that this year!  I don't think the kids cared. They had a great time running around, swinging, jumping on the trampoline and playing in the tree house. It was perfect.  Food was great and the people that were able to come had a good time (I think...).  I didn't get too many pictures as I was busy. No family pics and several times throughout the party I had to stop just to locate Maddy! She was hanging with the big kids!! Gabby was a very lucky girl and got a ticket to Disneyland - we are headed there this weekend :) The best part for me was baking her cake - she wanted an Olaf cake. My mother and I did our best and I think he turned out pretty good - all things considered. Hard to believe she is 6....but she is turning into a wonderful young lady. So proud of our Gabbers!

Lilly's a Star Student

Lilly is our free spirit.  She is such a happy girl and can be so much fun but is also a lot of work because she likes to do things her way.  We have been working on her sitting in her chair during morning lesson.  She is doing a much better job of listening to Ms. Isabelle and on Monday was the star student of the day (see her hand stamp).  This picture captures her smile and the twinkle in her eye.  Love our Lilly Bug!

A fun Weekend

We had a full weekend vacation! The girls had a blast. We started the trip off with a good trip to the zoo (and I didn't get any pictures!).  It was hot so most of the animals were not out so nothing incredible although the leopard was good. We then hit the beach.  We ran into one of Gordon's friends, Reggie and it was great to see him.  Lilly loves her new swimsuit and was modeling it for the camera.  That evening we then went to Del Mar to the Pumpkin Station.  We have done this every year since Gabby was a little one and it is perfect for little kids.  There are pumpkins, rides and petting zoo - nothing better for kids. Since it is early in the season - there were not too many people there so there were no lines and the kids got LOTS of extra rides and time on the rides.  We had a blast going down the giant slides and the girls got a workout doing it!

The next day we hit the beach early and then went to the Children's Museum.  The exhibit is food and the girls had fun. They sang, played the instruments, played in the food tumble area, the rain house, the bubbles, the hanging lines, the clay, the paint, the chalk, the blocks...you name it, they played there.  We had so much fun that we left Maddy's pink blanket there (Yikes!).  We went back for the blanket as we didn't want to ruin her trip but that meant that Gordon did not get a nap the 2nd day.  After the museum, we went BACK to the beach! Then had a topper that evening at the pumpkin patch again.

Sunday was packed as well, we did the beach but the waves were small so we went to the USS Midway.  It is such a big ship! The girls had fun sitting in the cocpits of the planes, the back of the helicopters, seeing all the ships and then getting to go down and see the inside of the ship (the kitchen, sick bay, mess hall, etc...) it was pretty cool. There are flight simulators that we will be going back to ride in for sure. After the ship, we went BACK to the beach for one last dip in the ocean.  The girls had so much fun.  Lilly rode the Rocket Sled, Maddy played in the waves and Gabby was doing some great boogie boarding.  Gordon got to swim out a little ways a look for sharks and I got to run Torrey Pines in the morning. At 3 o'clock, we packed up and headed home...it was hard to leave as we had so much fun. But....we will be back in a couple of weeks :)