D-I-S-N-E-Y-L-A-N-D 2012

September 27, 2012

This year we decided to go to Disneyland just after they put up the Halloween decorations!  We've never seen Disneyland at Halloween-time so we were super excited!  Our kids were awesome on the drive down from Las Vegas - and astonishingly well-behaved when we got to the park.  I mean, NO whining or complaining.  Just pure FUN from sun up until dark!  As the kids get older, our Disneyland trips keep getting better and easier.  This year they tried going on rides that used to scare them - and LOVED them.  And we were able to stay out later because they weren't burnt out by dinner time.  Whether we saw fireworks or the World of Color water show, we were able to get just enough sleep to do it all over again the next day!  

Welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth!

 First ride... Big Thunder Railroad

First time on Star Tours! 

Natalya and Branson LOVED Star Tours.  Irelynn tolerated it.  She didn't say she disliked it, but it definitely wasn't her favorite ride.  

Annika had three favorite rides... the carousel, It's a Small World, and the Monster's Inc. ride.

World of Color
California Adventure

I loved capturing the look on Branson's face as he watched World of Color for the first time.  

Radiator Springs

It was also our first time visiting Radiator Springs at California Adventure!  Branson used to LOVE Cars, but he started growing out of it a year or so ago.  It was still super fun to walk down Main Street and feel like we stepped right into the movie.

We saw Mater, Lightning, and Red as they took turns driving around town.

We didn't get to ride on the new race track because the line was over 2 hours long, so our favorite ride at Radiator Springs was Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.  The baby tractors whip you around in circles and figure 8's.  The kids were squealing and laughing the whole time!  Even Annika kept asking for 'more'.  

Monstropolis 

One of Annika's favorite movies is Monster's Inc.  So taking her on the ride was hilarious!  She kept trying to interact with the characters...

She kept gasping, pointing, and waving to all her favorite characters.  It was darling!  

Dancin' With Disney

Surprisingly, one of our family's favorite attractions at Disneyland this year was, "Dancin' With Disney" at California Adventure.  It was a huge, air conditioned, carpeted room where you could dance along with various Disney characters.  And every 20 minutes or so, new characters would rotate in.  Party music played constantly...

Clapping for The Queen of Hearts as she exited the room.

Branson break dancing!  

It was awesome having a large room and not tons of people there.  Our kids were free to dance how they wanted without anyone telling them to stop or slow down or be careful.  :) 

Irelynn dancing the Tango with mom.

Annika stole the show!  The Disney characters gravitated to her and she wasn't at all shy.  They had her dancing and singing and giving high fives to everyone there.  

 She especially loved King Louie from Jungle Book. 

Cruella De Vil kept picking Natalya as her dance partner! She even got her to twirl like a disco ball because of her sequined shirt.  

 The Haunted Mansion... at night... Halloween-style... Wa-ha-ha!!!

This was our first time ever seeing it decorated like the Nightmare Before Christmas.  We gave it two thumbs up! 

We all liked the Nightmare Before Christmas version of the Haunted Mansion just as much or even better than the original.  

We had a great time at Disneyland!!  But our vacation was not over yet.  On day three we went to the San Diego Zoo...

Naughty Annika...

September 13th and 15th, 2012

Annika can be a naughty little girl. She has this mischievous sparkle to her eyes that says, "I'm a trouble-maker but I'm cute".

Whenever she's missing or it's a little too quiet in the house, we spread out looking for her in every toilet and bathtub. She loves to splash in the toilet water and fill the toilet with toilet paper.  She also loves to turn the tub water on and take a bath, with or without clothes.  She even managed to plug the bathtub herself!  Naughty, naughty Annika... 

She might look innocent but she knows what she's doing.  I can't ever take my eyes off of her!  

First Day of School 2012

August 27, 2012 
New year, new school! 

Our kids were so lucky to get into Somerset Academy this year.  We applied last year and didn't get in, so we tried again this year. Natalya was accepted in July and Branson was accepted just the Friday before school started!  What a blessing! 

Our public school district is underfunded and suffers in many areas. So when Somerset Academy began opening campuses in Nevada we were really excited to have a choice when it came to our children's education.  

Somerset is truly a cut above the rest.  I'm very pleased with the quality of education my children are experiencing and look forward to their new campus being built closer to our home.  The Sky Pointe campus will be ready August 2013.  Irelynn has already been accepted and will be joining her brother and sister when she starts Kindergarten in the fall!

Branson, 1st grade and Natalya, 3rd grade

Branson and Natalya love their uniforms!  (Aren't they adorable!?)  I spend less money on uniforms than I would have if I bought "back-to-school clothes", and having uniforms makes it a lot easier to get dressed in the morning.  I didn't realize that I would be such a uniform-advocate, but I am!

We carpool with an awesome family, the Yoakum's. (You can see the back of Jackson's head, Austin, and Walker in this picture.)  Our kids all get a long and it's really nice to carpool with someone when the drive is 25 minutes long!

Branson's teacher is Mrs. Reed.  She's amazing!  And absolutely perfect for Branson.  Mrs. Reed is kind, sensitive to her student's feelings, encouraging, happy, and super organized.  He's lucky to have her. After a few nervous tears, Branson settled into his classroom and ended up having an awesome day!  He was grinning from ear to ear when I picked him up.  His only complaint was that  7 hours was a long time.  Branson doesn't usually like to try new things and is sometimes afraid he won't know how to do it or what to do.  So I was so impressed with how well he adapted to his new school.  I'm sure Mrs. Reed had a lot to do with his success!

As expected, Natalya jumped right into her new class.  She loves her teacher, Mrs. Goetz, and made new friends right away.  Natalya is so happy with her new school and gratefully doesn't express a desire to return to her old school. As a mom, I couldn't be happier with the transition that we made from one school to the next.  What a blessing it was to have gotten accepted into Somerset Academy.  It was the right choice for my family.

After morning drop-off... 

We met Brittany and her kids at Einstein Bagel for "second breakfast" to celebrate the first day of school.  

September 4th, 2012

Irelynn's first day of pre-school

Irelynn has one more year of pre-school before she enters Kindergarten at Somerset.  She will be very prepared!  Her teacher, Melissa Brown, is excellent.  Irelynn was SO excited to start school with her friends.  She loves being a big kid. 

Irelynn, Karlee, Addy

Off she goes!

Irelynn has been at school now for about 5 months and is already reading.  Her writing has greatly improved and she loves to spell.    (One of her favorite in-the-car activities now is spelling whatever I ask her to spell.)  She asks to do her "homework" almost every day loves it when I do flash card words with her.  I can tell she's going to follow in her big brother and big sister's footsteps when it comes to schooling.  I'm glad they all love to learn.

Irelynn Turned 4!

Here's a look at our temporary house.  Again, we lived here only 2 and 1/2 months.  But we made it our home...

August 18th, 2012 - Irelynn's birthday 
Our little tom-boy princess turned 4 on August 18th! Irelynn is such a sweet, pretty little girl who loves to get dirty and play tough like the boys. She's brave, strong, and resilient.  But she's also kind, thoughtful, and PINK.  That's why when she requested a garden-themed party for her 4th birthday I wasn't at all surprised!  It suited her perfectly...

Irelynn's birthday morning 

Her favorite presents were her bike from mom and dad and her Dream Lites from Nana.

Garden Party

strawberries and raspberries

flower pot cupcakes with crushed chocolate Oreo dirt and lollipop flowers

butterfly and flower PBnJ sandwiches

butterfly nectar

colorful mini marshmallows

"Irelynn's Garden Party"

"Paint a Pot and Pot a Plant"

Back row: Mia, Natalya, Addie, Karlee, Irelynn
Front row: Aubrey, Eva, Ashlynn

They each decorated their own flower pots using acrylic paint pens.  After painting they set them out to dry.

Meanwhile, the girls got to "Dig for Critters" in two sandboxes.  One held ladybugs (pinto beans that I spray painted red and spotted black with a Sharpie).  The other held various rubber bugs such as caterpillars, butterflies, dragonflies, etc.  They used green ice cream scoopers and tweezers to find and capture their critters.  

Once their pots were dry, it was time to plant!  The girls really enjoyed scooping dirt and planting their flowers.  My little Irelynn LOVES to play in the sand and dirt and be creative.  She was in heaven!  

After watering their plants and leaving them in the sunshine, we gathered the girls together to sing and dance like bees!  They each held a popsicle stick with a bee attached to the end and ran around the room pretending to be bees to the music.  They loved all the silly songs and jumping and twirling like butterflies and bees and other winged insects.  :)

Irelynn loves her friends and totally enjoyed every aspect of her birthday party.  In her mind, it was a perfect day.  Happy 4th Birthday, darling!