Weekend with cousins

Because Glenn's work blacks out holidays for vacations, the 4th of July was celebrated here at home.  Our neighborhood hosted a parade so Emma and I decorated her wagon and her and the neighbor dog, Sophie, displayed their American Pride to all!

This last weekend was a fun filled one with family.  Kelly and her 3 kids - Kara, Kylee, and Hunter, drove from MT to spend the weekend before heading further south to Newport to visit Kelly's sister in law.  We had a blast with them at the zoo and then on a day trip to Newport where we visited the aquarium and beach.  We were so fortunate to have beautiful weather there!  Click on the picture below for the entire album.

July

Disneyland Adventures

So we just returned from Disneyland yesterday afternoon and despite being absolutely exhausted, we had a wonderful time.  Emma asked if we could stay a few more days and even though we would have loved to, it was time to come back to reality.

We arrived on Friday, the 10th in the afternoon.  After heading to the grocery store and getting checked in to our condo, we decided to walk to Downtown Disney.  This is a shopping and restaurant district located right outside of Disneyland and is actually owned by the company.  We didn't realize what a walk it was!  2 miles each direction!  Yikes!  Anyhow, we enjoyed the sights and sounds before heading back.

Day 2 was our first day at the park.  Emma's mouth just dropped at the sight of everything.  We headed straight to Fantasyland where Princess Aurora read a story.  Next was the Dumbo ride, teacups and the carousel.

Day 3 was Adventureland, New Orleans and California Adventure.  I was so proud of her being "brave but a little scared" of Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.  She does seem to love the big rides!  For dinner, we had reservations to Ariel's Grotto.  The dinner food was very expensive and not that great, but we got priority seating for World of Color - the most awesome water and light show!  Emma loved it and her draw was dropped for most of it. Think of it as Bellagio water show on steroids.

Day 4 was a trip to San Diego to Sea World.  We had a bit of a late start so our day was a bit truncated, but I think we saw everything that we wanted to.  Most importantly was the Shamu show.  They also had an event called dining with Shamu which was by reservation only.  We called and they happened to have one opening right then.  Dining with Shamu was an all you can eat buffet of wonderful yumminess about 5 feet away from a pool.  They would have a trainer and an orcas there doing training stuff while you eat.  It was awesome to see an orcas jumping in the water literally 10 feet from where we were eating!  We also got to see the sneak preview of their turtle exhibit which didn't officially open until today.

Day 5 was Emma's big surprise day.  First thing in the morning we took her to Bibbiddi Bobbiddi Boutique in Sleeping Beauty's castle.  The fairy godmothers in training transformed her into a beautiful princess using a full tube of hair gel and a ton of glitter.  Next, we got some pictures at the castle and headed back over to California Adventure for breakfast at Ariel's Grotto.  What she didn't know is that not only were the princesses going to be there and go from table to table, but we were meeting her friend Michael who flew in with his family the night before!  She was so excited and in dream land!  She loved the princesses and hugged each one.  Needless to say, she hardly ate!

Day 6 was spent exploring Disneyland again and meeting up with more princesses, catching the parade, fireworks, and Fantasmic (she was asleep for that one).  I think the highlight of that day was when she met Belle again, Belle asked her to dance!

On Day 7, the parks were closing early for Grad Night, and since it was our last day, we rushed around to see everything we hadn't seen yet as well as go back to rides that we wanted to repeat.  Emma loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, but Soaring over California was hands down her favorite.  We went on that one three times!  Shockingly, she also loved Grizzly River Run - this is a ride where you sit in a big round raft and go down a rushing river that includes a big waterfall.  She got a little wet, Glenn got SOAKED and I stayed nice and dry!

Our adventure was awesome and we can't wait to go back someday and do it all over again.  I have to say though, it was nice being back on my own bed last night though!

Disneyland Vacation 2011

May Full of Birthdays

It is the end of May, and technically speaking we still have one birthday left - Emma's and we are EXHAUSTED!  This month has been busy as all get out (I love that phrase!) and we have the pictures to prove it.  Not only has Emma already had two birthday parties of her own, but we also attended a few as well!  Her actual birthday is going to be low key and then we will be ramping up for Disneyland!  Two more work weeks and we are outta here!  Click on the picture below to view May pictures!

May

April Showers

Despite the crappy weather that has been April, we had a couple of nice days to do things as a family.  It also helps that Glenn took this term off from school so we could have some more family time.  This month has brought us camping at the ocean, Easter, hiking and a trip to the Oregon Ag festival.

As for Emma updates, she is getting ready for kindergarten and is currently learning to read and write.  Hard to believe that she will be starting school in September.  We had kindergarten round up at the beginning of the month and the next morning she asked if she got to start yet!  I suppose that's a good sign! 

Click this picture to take you to the April slideshow: 

April

Long time coming

Time flies when you're having fun I guess, because I haven't posted at all this year (by this year I mean 2011!) Actually things have been pretty uneventful, so perhaps that's the reason...

Let's see; On New Year's Day, Emma had a New Year's at noon party with her friends where there was a celebration of toasting apple cider and noise makers when the clock struck noon (actually more like noon o'one since we had to wrangle all the kids together)

We took a trip to the zoo to see the new baby cougar.  She is sooooo cute and loves to chase her mommy around their enclosure.

Emma had a winter concert where they sang 3 songs in front of family and friends.  I couldn't go since I just had oral surgery that morning and as I tried to get into the car to go to the concert, I got too sick.  Fortunately Glenn had both the camera and camcorder so that I could enjoy from home.

Lastly, Emma and the new neighbor dog have become quite the best friends.  We go over there about once a week so her and Sophie can play.  She asked me to take pictures of Sophie and has since created a shrine to her on our pantry door that includes a picture of Sophie cut into a heart and masking tape with her name on it.  Goes with my decor nicely.

Lastly, I am ramping up for Hood to Coast.  This is a 127 mile running relay that goes from Mt Hood all the way to the Oregon Coast.  My team is being underwritten by a charity called the Ashleigh Mackay Foundation which benefits preemies and newborns.  In exchange, we are all responsible for raising $1000 each.  I have decided that one of my fundraisers will be selling crocheted beanie hats.  You can see them in the pictures and if you can think of anyone who would like one, feel free to pass it on.  I can do all sizes and colors and I am charging $15 each with all the profits going to the foundation.  I am buying the yarn out of my pocket.  This is a great charity, so all the help we can get would be great!

2011

Happy Holidays!

Well, that holiday race is over and we can now sit back and figure out where the heck we're going to put all the new toys...  I think I say the same thing every 6 months - to hire a professional organizer or not...  Wow!  What a spoiled kid!  We had a great Christmas thanks to family and friends!  We loved spending time with all!  Enjoy the photos!

Month 54 November 2010

Month 55 December 2010

Santa is Coming to Town!

I am loving this new website called Groupon.com. You can buy gift certificates to different local places for uber cheap. Anyhow, I got one to see Santa at our mall for $10. If you haven't been to see the old man in red lately, the cheapest picture package is $24! So being that I paid this money ahead of time, I was getting Emma on Santa's lap! We went to the mall this afternoon and spent nearly 2 hours in line. The whole time Emma is excited and talking about seeing Santa. The second it was our turn and we rounded the corner, she came to a screeching halt! Literally froze in her tracks. I took her over to him and she was fighting and running behind me. He was so jolly and trying to engage her in conversation, but the only way to get my $10 bucks worth was to have a family shot! The funniest part was Santa insisting that Glenn sit on his lap!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Fall!

Happy Fall! So far it's been great with all of the beautiful leaves and fairly nice weather; although I say that when it was in the high 40's today. That's okay though. Most importantly, we had the best Halloween weather ever! It wasn't cold, it was a bit windy and not a drop of rain! Certainly made it more enjoyable for all!

As for us, we've done the requisite pumpkin patch visits, the group Halloween party, and a trip to the toy store to see Skippy John Jones (very famous kitty cat who thinks he is a chihuahua.) Hope you enjoy the pictures!

OCtober 2010

Fall is here!

Because we have not been so adventurous in the last month or so, we have been lacking in the picture department, but we have made some progress! We introduced Emma to bowling and I think I see a scholarship in her future. You can see by this picture, she actually bowled better than me!

This weekend Emma and I went to meet Skippyjon Jones, a character from a children's book.  He is a cat who thinks he is a chihuahua.  Emma even got his autograph!

After that, off to the pumpkin patch!  We had absolutely beautiful weather and had a lot of fun!

Enjoy!

OCtober 2010

Wild Kids, I mean Animals!

Emma and I went up to Seattle on Saturday morning and came back on Monday morning (this is labor day weekend, of course). Sunday morning, Emma, my mom, and I drove up to Seattle to pick up Angie to spend a few hours at Woodland Park Zoo. On the way, I got a hold of Shaun and he, Jessie and Jessie's two kids said they would join us as well. When we pulled in, we then ran into Angie's good friend Jenny and her daughter Taylor. Kids galore! It was a fun but very exhausting day! I realized that the Woodland Park zoo is much bigger than the Oregon Zoo and I think they feed their animals caffeine since theirs are actually awake and moving around. Well, that is except for their gorillas; we actually witnessed them eating their own poop. Disgusting! Anyhoo, enjoy the pictures. You will see there are also a few pictures from our zoo trip on Thursday to the Oregon Zoo. Can't get enough!

Month 52 September 2010

Busy times

Wow! Let's see if I can go in some kind of chronological order on this one!

The middle of May the fam and I went on our annual camping trip. This year it was at Potholes State Park in Eastern Washington and we had a BLAST! Even though the temps were near 100, it wasn't that bad since we spent our days down my the lake on two rented jet skis. Wouldn't have been the same without those for sure!

The following weekend Emma hosted a tea party with he friends from school. They had a blast dressed liked princesses and sharing "tea" with real china and finger sandwiches! I think the mom's had fun as well! :) The day after the tea party was our 4th annual birthday party with our birthing group. I can't believe how bog they've gotten! What a handsome bunch of little men! Of course they all have siblings now too.

Lastly, last Wednesday night I got a Facebook post asking if I wanted to run the Hood to Coast relay on that Friday. I have been wanting to do this for a few years now and despite the fact that I haven't been running hardly at all, I said yes! Hood to Coast is considered the "Mother of all relays" and has 1000 teams of 12 people that run from Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood all the way to Seaside, OR (197 miles). Each person generally runs 3 legs at anywhere from 4 - 7 1/2 miles each all the while passing off a bracelet to each team member. This goes on for about 30 hours straight with your time when you're not running, sitting in a van with 5 other team mates and a driver. There is hardly any sleep involved. I can honestly say that I have never gone out for a run on Hwy 30 at 1:30 am! Anyhow, despite the fact that I spent my 30 hours in a van with complete strangers, I had a blast and made some great friends (it also helped that there were 3 nurses and a Dr on my team which came in handy for pain control!) In the end, I was running for a team that had been running and fund raising for a great cause and I look forward to doing it again next year! http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/dchf/about/news_7-10-08_ashleigh.cfm
http://manuforti.org/

Month 51 August 2010

July is here and gone!

Ok, I know I have gone against what I said about keeping up on the blogging and pictures, but I have a good excuse; I swear! Well, more than one good excuse since it is summer time and so busy… Well, since the last blog we had 4th of July (we didn’t do anything spectacular or worthy of any fireworks), went to Montana (had a BLAST!), finished our front yard (definitely worthy of fireworks), and had fun at some local parks and Cannon Beach with some friends! As you can see, Emma has gotten a hair cut which her and I both love, but for very different reasons. Enjoy the photos!

Month 50 July 2010

Eventful Times

Emma's had one more birthday, with her friends this time.  We had it at the Children's Museum which shares a parking lot with the zoo.  It was our luck that in between rainy days, her party was on a very nice day which meant that everyone in Portland made the trek to the zoo, therefore filling up the parking lot to capacity.  A special thanks to all of the parents who toughed it out!

Last weekend Angie (my sister for those who don't know) graduated from University of Washington.  We sat in the hot sun for 3 hours watching people in black robes receiving their diplomas, but alas, I did not see her! :(  The next day we had her graduation party.

Enjoy the pictures, there are a lot and many of people you probably don't know!

Month 48 May 2010

Birthdays, Fairs, and More!

Emma is one lucky birthday girl; she gets 3 birthdays!  One with the fam in Seattle, her real b day with her mom and dad, and her birthday party with her friends next weekend!  Anyhow, the pictures from her family birthday have been posted and more will follow over the next few weekends.

Today, Emma and I (Christina, because we all know that Glenn wouldn't actually write this!) went to the Multnomah County Fair.  It was a nice day (rain was expected but we got none!) and Emma had a blast!  The best part of the fair was that it was free - that and watching the dog jumping competition.  Emma and a great time at the petting zoo and on the rides.  This is the first year she has shown interest in them (the rides I mean). 

With all of the presents came some major clean up and organization.  I even went as far as checking out a professional organizer.  At $85 an hour, I decided I would try my hand at it first (and in the meantime, realized I am in the wrong line of work!)  Anyhow, here are the before and after of post-birthday Emma room:


                                              

Slightly better!  Anyhow, here is the entire photo album!  Enjoy!

Month 48 May 2010

Playing Catch Up

The last few weeks have been unbelievably hectic so I am trying to play catch up! Since my last post, we have had a few events of note. First, the day before Mother's Day, Emma was playing around on her ballet barre, attempting some sort of aerial acrobatic move that involved somehow hanging upside down. Either way, she should have used her stunt double because she landed face first and knocked out one of her front teeth. I know I covered this in my previous post, but I wanted to follow up with the fact that her other front tooth was also traumatized (as was her mother and father) and had been hanging lower than it had. We took her to the dentist to say all looked good and that it is a good thing she is tall for her age because she can blend in with kindergartners and first graders now! He also told us to have her wiggle away because her other tooth won't get tighter and we might as well try to get it to come out too. Apparently with baby teeth it is okay to loose them early (although not ideal), whereas if these were her adult teeth, she wouldn't be able to get an implant until she was 16. Being that I don't want to move to Kentucky anytime soon, I think we will get her a mouth guard for the remainder of her childhood years.

On Mother's Day, I took Emma, Glenn's Mom and my niece Daeja to the Doll House Tea Room for Mother's Day tea. It was a really cool set up that included dress up complete with jewelry, hats, shoes, etc for adults and kids alike; hair and make up for kids; and tea and sandwiches for lunch. The girls had such a great time and I even dressed up in some old prom dress!

Another recent discovery was Emma's love for Lady Gaga. She informed me the other day that she had to send an e mail to LG to invite her to her birthday party. If only I was that rich! While doing her business on the toilet the other morning, she was singing "Paparazzi". She also loves "Bad Romance". I'm not sure that this is the best role model given some of the content of her songs, but they are catchy to say the least!


Signing off for now, I'm sure there will be lot's more to write soon!

Last Monday Emma did a face plant on the playground and knocked her two front teeth loose and had an impressive scab under her nose. Yesterday (Saturday), she was playing around on her ballet barre and fell on her face on the living room floor knocking on of the front teeth out! After a lot of scary blood and a call to her dentist, all will be all right. Her dentist said that she just sped up the natural process of tooth loss and that the tooth fairy had clearance to land.

This morning Emma woke to a new book and a $1 coin; she was a little concerned though because she didn't hear the tooth fairy's wings last night.

Vacation

Vacation planning is on and it looks like Disneyland is the destination - a little over a year to go! Plan is for next May and the condo is already booked! Yippee!

Ag Festival Day

Thanks to a co-worker, I found out about a great event called the Ag Fest down in Salem at the state fairgrounds. Emma and I headed down and we had a blast especially her, the animal lover. The first barn we came to was full of animals, all available to pet. We got to see and pet sheep, llamas, lambs, pigs, cows, ponies, miniature donkeys, chickens, and baby goats. We even got to see sheep shearing! Emma's favorites were the baby goats and "the sheep getting hair cuts". We took a hay ride pulled by 2 draft horses to the next barn where we got to plant trees, tomatoes, sunflowers, and marigolds and got to take them all home.

This was quite an event and was worth the 45 minute drive! We will definitely be looking forward to this again next year! Here is the link the April album with pictures from today:

042510

Another Day

Emma is very much into dresses right now. She will NOT wear anything else. On Wednesday I made her wear stretch pants because she had yoga class, but man was it a nasty fight. I promised her that when she got home, she could put on a dress. When I came and picked her up at school, she informed me that she had to use the restroom. She came out wearing nothing but her shirt and underwear! She was ready to put on that dress!

When I went to pick her up yesterday, the daycare director stopped me and told me about a little incident. Apparently Emma got paint on her skirt, so they wanted her to change into her spare clothes. In her backpack was jeans and a shirt. She threw a fit and went into the bathroom and wouldn't come out for like 40 minutes! She even missed recess! It sounds like they eventually got her in her clothes for a short period of time and they were able to throw her skirt in the washing machine and get it washed and dried for her so she could put it back on. I'll tell you what, I am not sure there are enough dresses in the world for this kid!

Swimming

Emma graduated to the next level of her swimming! Next session she can begin Water Safety 1; what a superstar! Two weeks ago she swam the width of the pool by herself. I got a video of her tonight and here it is:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm also catching up on my pictures and here are two albums (March's you've already seen some of the pictures, but the program puts them in there anyhow because of date):

Month 46 March 2010

And April: