Ariel Party

A couple months ago, when I started thinking about Grace's birthday party, I couldn't decide on a theme. I decided to print out a page of all of the different themes that I found on one of the birthday party store websites. I showed the page to Grace and let her pick which one she wanted. She immediately picked Little Mermaid. I was really excited because I have loved Little Mermaid since it came out, it's one of my favorite movies of all time.

Since Grace picked the theme so many months ago she has been asking me almost everyday if her Ariel party is today. Finally, the day of the big party came on Sunday. We held the party at the same indoor play area that we had her party at last year, Playtown. We ended up having 34 adults and 16 kids! The party was a blast, all of the kids had a lot of fun. Cake was the only thing that got the kids to sit down for a minute.

Grace got so much great stuff. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Happy Birthday

Today our sweet baby girl turns 3!!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Good-bye Penny Girl

We had to say good-bye to our beloved Penny girl yesterday. Tim had Penny before he met me and when I fell in love with Tim, I fell in love with Penny too. Penny had a good long life. We are going to miss her more than words can express.

4th of July

I need to start by saying I LOVE FIREWORKS!!! In the past few years we haven't had the opportunity to go see any. Grace was still so little and would get really cranky if we went off of her sleep schedule. Plus, she doesn't really like loud noises, she covers her ears when the gardner comes or if a motorcycle goes by.

When I was little our tradition was to go to my Grandma's house for a BBQ then all of my aunts, uncles and cousins would pile into cars and head out to Shaler Park (Pittsburgh) to watch the fireworks. We would bring blankets, chairs, and snacks and we would settle in for the firework display. My sister would always sit in front of my mom or Grandma and they would cover her ears because she hated the loud booms.

After we moved to California we didn't really get into the swing of creating a tradition for 4th of July. A couple years in a row we would take a picnic dinner to a park that was about a mile away from the fireworks. We could see them, but we wern't right there getting the full effect of the fireworks. As we got older we kind of all went our seperate ways for the 4th.

This year, Corona (where my parents live), moved their fireworks to this huge park across from my parent's old house. We decided to make a picnic dinner and make an evening out of it. We got to the park at about 6:00 PM and the festivities were in full swing. They had a band that played the entire time, jumpy's for the kids, a rock wall, games, and food booths. Grandma brought a pinwheel for Grace and she was marching around with it like she was the leader of a band. We were sitting on a hill and Grace turned so her back was facing down the hill and she fell backwards and realized that she could do backward rolls. I picked Grass out of her hair for days from her rolling down the hill! Finally it was time for fireworks. I was worried that Grace wouldn't like the fireworks because of the loud noise, but she loved them! It was such a fun and perfect 4th of July!

San Antonio - Days 3.4. and 5

The next day we decided we wanted to take it easy. We were pretty tired from two action packed days of fun. A lazy day by the pool is just what we needed. I think the pictures say it all ...

























After after all of the pool fun and naps we headed downtown to expolore the Alamo and Riverwalk. The Alamo is smaller then what you picture, but the history there is so great. The Riverwalk is like nothing I have ever seen. It is a beautiful, tropic, meandering river with tons of restuarants, bars, hotels, and nightlife. We took the boat tour and then had dinner.


















On our last full day in San Antonio we went to the San Antonio Children's Museum. We have been to a lot of children's museums and this is one of the best. It had a lot of Texas culture in the activities. One of our favorite things at the museum was the fake cow that you could milk. After the museum we went to the Buckhorn Saloon for lunch. It was a very interesting, old saloon. All of the walls were covered with animal heads.

Later that evening we went back to the Riverwalk for dinner and then we sat outside and listened to a band play while we had some ice cream. Grace was digging the music and even showed off her dance skills a little. I will add a video of Grace and her dance soon, so please check back. It was the perfect end to our wonderful vacation!