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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Playing at DisneyLand

Well, we just had to go back. We love DisneyLand and now that Gabe is a bit taller, we can go on so many more rides together as a family. Last week we all got to go on Splash Mountain together for the first time and the kids and I went on Star Tours (which he and Ashlyn both love!). We also went on Soarin' Over California, which was a really cool ride.

Our whole family went to Disney & California Adventure together on Sunday but we only spent a few hours there... it was so HOT! We were lucky enough to catch the High School Musical performance and sat in the front row. Ashlyn has just recently gotten into HSM and when it came time for the performers to choose kids from the audience to dance with them, one of them invited Ashlyn. She was so excited! She had fun dancing in front of everyone.

We ended up going to the hotel and swimming for a few hours to cool off and Brian had to go home to be at work Monday morning. But the kids and I went back over to DisneyLand that evening when it finally cooled off. We watched the fireworks show and went on the newly remodeled Small World ride.

The next day we met up with friends of ours from Utah and spent the day with them at the parks. It was another hot one!!! Thanks Mars, Mel, Avery, and Gracyn for letting us follow you around the parks for the day.

The Pixar Play Parade was so cool.
The Cars were awesome!
Mater!!!

This is Gabe as he watched Lightning McQueen coming
down the road. He was in total awe.



Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo


Gabe & Gracyn

A pic of the kids on the tram.

Brian & Ashlyn went on Indiana Jones together
but the ride broke down in the middle of it so they decided
to take some pics of themselves.
(The ride was fixed quickly and they got to go again)

This water sprayground is such a relief on
a hot day!

Ashlyn all cooled off!

Gabe on the take out food ride in Bug's Land.


Melanie, can you please come back??? Somehow I didn't get a pic of you and I together and I really wish I had!!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Girl Scout "camp"

Ashlyn & I had SO MUCH FUN at the Girl Scouts campout. Okay it wasn't "real" camping but I didn't get to shower for 2 days! That has to count for something, right? Oh and I slept ON THE FLOOR too. Ashlyn had a blast! She LOVES being a Brownie. I think we may have found her niche. She was busy from sun up to sun down with activities and work. They had to prepare meals, wash dishes, really take care of themselves and the adults basically just supervised. They made tons of crafts and she really loved that. They made t-shirts, dolls, pony-bead animals, and more. We went on a nature hike where they really took the time to notice the birds and the plants. It was pretty cold all weekend and it rained quite a bit so we did most of our activities inside (fine by me, I was freezing!). But in the end, Ashlyn said how much she loves being a girl scout and she can't wait for the next campout.

Ashlyn making her yarn doll.
On the nature walk.

The girls looked for living things in the creek.


The first morning, the girls had to follow clues to find their
breakfast. This was called a "Monkey Breakfast".


All tucked in and ready to sleep.

We really had a great time and Ashlyn got to know more of the girls.




Easter Celebration

Our HOA had an Easter celebration last weekend for the kids in the neighborhood. They saw the Easter Bunny (not a very good one, but Gabe didn't notice), hunted for eggs, had treats, jumped in a bouncy and played games. It was a nice (hot) day and the kids enjoyed it.

Gabe eating his cupcake. He doesn't like to get his
hands dirty.
Ashlyn with her cupcake.

We brought Ashlyn's friend Taylor with us.
The 3 of them did this on their own and we thought it was so sweet.


Ashlyn was so sweet. She had her basket FULL of eggs but
when she saw a bunch of smaller kids who didn't have any
or very few, she walked around and filled their baskets.
She kept just 4! I was very proud of her selflessness.



Gabe with his basket of eggs.






Thursday, April 9, 2009

City girl hangs with the Girl Scouts

Well Ashlyn has joined the Girl Scouts. We had our first meeting with them on Monday and today we (as in Ashlyn & I) are headed to our first Girl Scout camping trip. I shouldn't really call it camping, since we're staying in a sort of lodge. We are sleeping on mattresses on the floor, does that count? This is just the first campout to sort of get the girls ready to go on a "real" campout outdoors.
We'll be hiking and working on earning patches for her sash.
Be ready for pics early next week!