Horray!

Kyle started clapping yesterday! He still has some struggles with his hands so it was so exciting to see him figure out how to clap. You can tell that he is excited too.

Pre-K

Today Abby started the Bright Future's program at the elementary school. She was very excited as you can see from the picture. Most of her friends have started Kindergarten so she is really excited to be able to go to school too. She came home asking me if she gets to go back tomorrow. She is growing up so fast and we sure do love our Abby. (By the way...does anyone know what we should do with the giant pumpkin plant in the background? It does not have any fruit on it yet, should I just be patient or should I rip it out?)

Finally Updated

Well I am starting to feel like I am returning to the land of the living after a battle with pneumonia. Please don't feel obligated to read the gazillion posts that follow this, I just needed to get them blogged for journal keeping and my poor memory. I will never get that far behind again!

A Visit From Grandma and Grandpa Griffitts

While we were in California we had some special visitors. It was so much fun to be able to spend a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Griffitts. We went to Knotts Berry Farm and had a blast. This is Abby on her first ride and Grandpa taught her how to put her arms up over her head. She is such a brave little thing and loved it.

This is the girls getting ready to ride the race car. I say getting ready because right after this picture was taken the ride broke and they had to get off.

To make up for the broken ride Grandpa let them get their faces painted, which if you know my girls is something that they LOVE. Emma chose a butterfly that matched her shirt.

Abby chose two swans. I always like to see what she will pick because I never can guess just what she is going to choose.

We rode the train and survived a hold up. The gun shots scared the girls but they had a good time.

Emma is not a very big fan of roller coasters but she found one that she liked and wanted to ride it over and over. It is called the Pony Express. It could have something to do with the fact that you sit on a horse that she liked it so much.

Posing with Grandma...what great looking girls.

This ride was probably the favorite. It is a mini version of those rides where they take you up and drop you a little bit at a time. The girls rode it over and over because there was no line.

They realized that if they put their hands up it was even more fun!

What a goofy looking bunch. They sure know how to have a good time.

After Knotts we decided that we needed a beach day. Kyle really liked the beach. By the end of our trip he was getting a lot braver and really enjoying the sand. I put sunblock on his head which made his hair stick straight up.

It was a chilly day but that did not stop the girls from having lots of fun.

Towards the end of the day they took a walk down the pier to Ruby's and had yummy shakes.

She is trying to stick crayons up her nose. I was still on the beach and take no responsibility for this picture...

...but this one is even better. That is one brave Grandma.

The next day we went back to Disneyland. Another great thing about Disneyland is that it is so big that we did lots of things that we had not even seen the week before. We went to Toon Town and met Minnie in her house.

We also got to meet the big man himself. It was pretty cool.

The girls really like the bushes that were made into dolphins in front of Its a Small World.

The girls want to meet some princesses but the wait was TWO hours!!! We decided to wait to see Tinkerbell instead. The wait was still long but it was worth it. Tinkerbell was so friendly and fun to talk to and the girls got to show her their Tinkerbell shirts.

We had another great day at Disneyland and a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa. We love you and can't wait to see you again.

Horse Riding and Aunt Rachael's House

The girls had one of their dreams come true while we were in California. They got to ride on a horse. Now they have both been on the horses at the zoo but these were different because these horsies ran. Pure joy on Abby's face. She loved every second of it and was so sad when her turn was over.

This experience was probably a close second only to Disneyland for Emma. She loves horses and want to move to Texas just so that she can be a real cow girl.

After the horses they got to go on an 8 minute train ride through the park. The girls loved it. Our zoo trips will never be the same after this experience.

After the horses we went over to my Aunt Rachael's house were Emma got to celebrate her birthday again! What a lucky girl.

Aunt Rachael gave her a jewelry box and another necklace.

The kiddos really enjoyed their cake and ice cream.

After cake the kids got to play with Rachael's pretend jewels. Emma still remembers doing that the last time we were there two years ago.

So many rings and just not enough fingers.

All the kids with their beauties. Aunt Rachael is a favorite for a reason! Thanks for a great day.

The Happiest Place on Earth

I love Disneyland!!! There is something magical about it. I think that it has something to do with being able to feel like a kid again. This year Disney is letting you in free on your birthday. We could not pass it up so we took Emma for her big day. I was very impressed with the workers. Emma was given a button to wear that said her name and that it was her birthday. Everywhere we went Emma got happy birthday wishes. It really made the day even more fun. I don't know that this birthday will ever be topped. I really like this castle even though I remember it being so much bigger as a kid. It is like a gateway to a place were magic happens.

Waiting in line for Dumbo. She is never this happy waiting for anything...see this place really is magic.

Flying in Dumbo. Emma wanted to make sure we were the highest elephant and I think she succeeded.

We all loved It's a Small World. They have added new dolls since the last time I was there and it was lots of fun to play find the Disney characters.

I was not a very good photographer, but we rode lots more rides and then needed an ice cream break. Now that Emma can read there is no tricking her. As soon as she saw the menu she knew exactly what she wanted. A double cookie sundae...how could I say no! She was great at sharing but she really did eat most of it on her own.

This is her opening her present from Aunt Kaylee. It was a necklace with her name and Mickey ears. She loves it and has worn it almost every day since.

By this point Kyle was passed out in his stroller but we could not resist the great photo spot.

Eating pizza and waiting for the electric parade.

When we went to Disney three years ago at this time of night Abby was sleeping on Aunt Shayla's shoulder. She made it all the way to the end this year.

We had a great time and can't wait to go again when Kyle will enjoy it too.

Beach Days

We spent lots of time at the beach and really enjoyed the sun and the sand. I am always amazed at how entertained the kids are with no toys some sand and their imaginations. There must have been some crazy storms off the coast while we were there because the waves were HUGE. The last day we went we could not go in past our ankles without getting knocked over. This picture does not even do the waves justice, but you can see from all the white water just how hard the waves were crashing.

It is rare to see either of my girls running from a wave but even the little ones had Abby scared. It only took getting knocked down and sucked in once for her to learn a little fear.

We got some good boarding in on other days. Abby really perfected her skills.

For some reason getting buried is always a favorite. After digging sand out from places it should never go you would think it would loose its charm but it never does.

Emma loved the boogie board too. She was not a fan of the seaweed that seemed to take over the beach but she did say "I will have to deal with because I am a mermaid and I need to be in the sea." Who can argue with that. We love the beach and miss it already!

Sea World

We had a great day at Sea World. I had not been there since I was a little girls and it was just as fun as I remembered. The girls loved watching the Shamu show although they were sad that we did not sit in the "splash zone" I did not have any desire to walk around all soggy the rest of day so I used Kyle as and excuse and we stayed dry.

Kyle was a trooper. He was content to be passed from person to person and just be happy.

This was my favorite part of the day and actually the only thing that I remember from going as a kid. We got to touch the dolphins. You buy a little tray of fish and they swim right over and eat and you got to pet them. Abby LOVED it.

Emma was a little more hesitant but she ended up doing it and LOVED it too.

Kyle just happy to hang out.

So toward the end of the day Emma decided that she wanted to ride the roller coaster. I was not very excited about the idea because it was late and getting cold and I did not really want to get wet. Well Grandma saved the day and took her on the ride. I think that they were both nervous but you can tell from their faces that they had a good time even if they did get wet.