Superstar!

Another milestone was conquered this weekend. Miss Makena is no longer in need of her training wheels and she couldn't be more proud of herself!

Makena in her best "superstar" pose....couldn't help but think of SNL's Mary Katherine Gallegher :)

Congrats baby girl on your latest accomplishment! Your sisters are eager to follow in your bike tracks!!

The Animal Farm

Halloween 2010 was a big success!

As far as the girls were concerned, warm costumes + candy = perfect evening.

We even made it home in time to see the Giants win game 4 of the World Series ;)

Here's the cast of farm animals.........

Alyssa as "Spot" the Dalmation

"Spot" with Riley as "Tony the Tiger"

And last but not least, Makena as "Banana" the Psycho Monkey

The Animal Farm

The Farm in action

The animals sorting their loot.

They have been busy cataloging each and every piece of candy in every way imagineable. Plenty of math lessons can be created from this holiday!

Baseball Fever

World Series fever is alive and kickin' in our house! Thanks to Grandpa Hank the girls now have their orange pom-poms to cheer on our favorite team.

GO GIANTS!!

NICU Reunion

Over the weekend, we took the girls to their first official NICU reunion since they were discharged 5 years ago. We had our own unofficial NICU reunion 2 years ago when the girls turned three but we were more than ready to go back.

The girls were happy to pose with one of the furry friends who were walking around...Disneyland flashback anyone?

They got their fill of cotton candy!

Alyssa painted a pumpkin :)

We enjoyed caramel apples....a sticky mess!

And who can pass up face painting?

They ate some more while taking a train ride around the hospital.

And luckily, we ran into some of our favorite people.

Nurse Tess with the girls

Nurse Cathy with the girls!

We missed our favorite Neonatalogist and two of our other favorite nurses, but it was a great day! We are so thankful for the care we received in the NICU and feel like we can never say thank you enough to all of the special doctors and nurses who cared for our girls.

Who's Ready?

BOO!

The countdown to Halloween is on! It's looking like a totally random year in the costume department. I was almost certain that I would have 3 Disney princesses, but I think it's going to be more like a zoo around here (hint-hint).

Future Cheerleader?

Time is just flying by and the old blog has gotten neglected. Since the girls have started kindergarten I find myself buried in homework packets, sight words, Rah-Rah books and making lunches in my free time.

Rest assured, the girls are really enjoying school and it's fun to see the growth they have made in just one month. When they get in the car everyday, I rarely get much info out of them when I ask them how their day went. But if I just keep my ears open, little bits of their day slip out when I least expect it. I caught Alyssa showing off her cheer for T-H-E that she learned the first week of school. I can see some pom-poms in her future!

Last Days of Summer

We spent our Labor Day weekend soaking up the sun at two of our fave places...the lake on Sunday and the pool on Monday! Although I will miss the freedom that summer time brings with the relaxed schedule, I look forward to the cooler weather and holidays.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer...three smiling, sun-kissed girls!

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Cheap Entertainment

Maybe I should have thought twice before I cut their hair.....who knew it could be so entertaining?

Three Wise Monkeys

Easier said then done right?

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil

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FIVE

Sunday was the big day. My babies are five.

We had a family party at home to celebrate. The girls had their birthday cakes made by their daddy....which has now become a tradition.

Makena...wise beyond her years. She keeps me on my toes. Her latest thing is to tell us that when she gets older she is moving out so she can do whatever she wants!

Alyssa....sweetest heart ever, but just as stubborn! Most of the time she is easy to please but if something gets her going, watch out!

Riley, the comedian. She has the cutest giggle ever and loves to make us laugh.

Girls, you continue to amaze me with your humor and intelligence on a daily basis. We are so truly blessed to have our happy, healthy girls! The luckiest part for me is that even though they are five, they still snuggle with me most of the time.

Goofy's Kitchen

When planning our trip to Disneyland, one of the first things I did was visit the Disneyland website to take a look at some of the current attractions and familiarize myself with the different areas in the park. It had been a good 12-15 years since my last visit so I wanted to make a list of things that were "must-do" activities for the girls.

I discovered that there are a few places that you can go to experience "character dining" and I thought it would be a perfect way to let the girls meet some of the classic Disney characters up close and personal. Although there was a princess-themed dining experience, it was a little out of our price range....maybe next time! We ended up making reservations for a buffet breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.

During the meal, the characters walk around the restaurant and each and every one of them will come by your table, interact with the kids and pose for pictures. It was a perfect, stress-free way to start our day!

We were greeted by Pluto as we waited to be seated.

Gasp! Snow White was there too....Makena was thrilled.

Goofy came by and goofed off with the girls!

Both Chip and Dale were there!

Alyssa was the only brave soul to give Baloo from the Jungle Book a big squeeze.

The girls jumped out of their seats to watch Goofy bake a cake.

The girls were treated to an early birthday cupcake....what a way to end their breakfast!

On our way out, we broke the rules and climbed onto a Mickey statue to pose for a picture. So much fun!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Kindergarten

Sooooooo the girls started kindergarten today. Although we've been preparing for this day, it is still a little bit hard to believe that we have reached this milestone! A little part of me is sad that I wasn't making our drive into preschool today...we will miss the teachers and staff there so much and the sheltered preschool life. Mama has to put her big girl pants on and adjust to making lunches x 3 every night, getting out the door on time every morning, and of course homework.

The girls are all in the same class and I am hopeful that we will have a great year.

My big girls outside their classroom.

Makena, my first born.

Alyssa, my mini-me...she's going to love school as much as I did.

Riley....she was so over mamarazzi taking pictures of her this morning!


Mommy and daddy are so proud of you girls! We can't wait to see how much you grow this year. We love you to the moon and back!

Disneyland-Day 1

Our first day at Disneyland started bright and early with the girls eager to get to the park and find out what it was all about.

I don't get to dress the girls alike very often anymore now that they have their own favorite colors and preferences for clothes. BUT, in Disneyland we didn't give them a choice. It was easier to keep track of them if they were all wearing the same thing.

Miss Makena found some Mickey ears to stand on.

So once we had the Disneyland map, we knew our first stop just HAD to be the Princess Fantasy Faire. I was so excited to see the expressions on the girl's faces when they saw their favorite princesses up close and personal.

Sleeping Beauty with Riley and Alyssa. She is Alyssa's favorite princess. Any guesses why? She wears PINK.....of course that would be her favorite!

Snow White with Makena.....so exciting!

Cinderella (Riley's favorite) was available for pictures for about 5 minutes before she left so poor Riley was SO upset that she didn't get to take her picture with her. This began our quest to track down Cinderella....we didn't see her again on Day 1.

We wandered over to Pixie Hollow to see Tinker Bell and her friends. Not sure who this guy is dressed up as....one of Tink's friends I guess.

The girls with Miss Tinkerbell

We took the girls on the carousel, It's a small world, Pirate's of the Carribean, the Mark Twain Boat and a few other rides on Day 1. They loved a small world (one of my faves). The crowds, lines, and lots of walking totally tired the girls out.

Stay tuned for Disneyland Day 2.....Goofy's Kitchen was our first stop!

Oh Mickey, You're so fine

You're so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Mickey!

(Sorry, couldn't resist a little 80's flashback)

We survived our first trip to Disneyland....I have lots of pics to share but haven't had a chance to go through all of them yet. I will try to tackle them this weekend after I crawl out from under the piles of laundry.

And by the way, there is this little thing called KINDERGARTEN that starts on Monday!!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Eat, Sleep, Swim

We're very serious about our swimming around here....

The Harvest

It's carrot picking time in Auntie Jessica's garden so the boys next door invited the girls over to help with the crop. The kids had SO much fun picking carrots right out of the ground, rinsing them off with the hose, and eating them on the spot.

Auntie taught the girls how to grab the stem close to the ground, wiggle it around and pull!

Lissy was so proud of herself.

Riley found a little cluster of carrots and pulled out a handful at once.

If I wasn't such a poor gardener, and by poor I mean the kind of gardener who forgets to water her plants, we would definitely plant a garden of our own. So instead, I'll just send the girls over and let Auntie take advantage of the three additional child laborers when her crop is ready to pick. They work for carrots.....and the occassional jellybean which was used to bribe them all into standing still for a picture!

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