Legoland

Since we were already down in southern California, we decided that we would stay an extra day and take Timo and Cameron to Legoland. It's something that I've wanted to do for a while but kept waiting until they were old enough to be able to ride all the rides. And I'm also glad we waited until they had a full understanding and love of Legos.

We didn't tell the kids about Legoland until the morning of...I didn't want it to overshadow Ashley's graduation.  We would have been hearing "when are we going to Legoland???" all through her ceremony.  So I had "Lego Mail" that morning to announce where we were going...they were SO excited!!

Being early May, the park wasn't very crowded and we had time to do and see everything.  Our mappers setting out our plan for the day.

Cameron decided Dinoland would be the first thing we did, of course.  I didn't want to spend too much time in the digging fossils area but the Cameron could have spent all day.  After a roller coaster ride and a safari ride, we were off to the next land.

I like that most of the ride were for their age.  There were one or two Cameron wasn't big enough for and there were tears, but at least it was only one or two.  I'm glad we waited till they were 5 because some rides were by age.  And, of course, there were plenty of Lego stations to play at while you waited in line.

Cameron's newest love is rock climbing.  She has always liked the walls at play grounds but recently got a taste of a full wall and harness at a birthday party.  As soon as she saw this she just had to climb it.  I was afraid she wasn't big enough but she just barley met the height requirement so they let her on, saying she try to climb the first section.  Before we knew it she was through the first and almost done with the second section.  I kept expecting her to let go and float down but then she hit the third and highest section!  They crowd at the bottom started cheering her on and she made it to the top to ring the bell!!  She was so happy and proud of herself. 

Timo and Daddy somehow found all the water shooters all over the park...and there were lots!  We got soaked on a few rides (thanks for the tip about bringing towels with us Daryl).

While the boys played with water, the girls walked around checking things out and riding a few more rides together.

Timo had been waiting patiently all day to reach the Star Wars area and took his time examining each and every detail.  You could just see the wheels in his brain turning, trying to figure out how ships were built, what scene they created and, more importantly, how could he build the same thing when he got home!

At the end of the day we allowing the children to pick out one souvenir from the Lego store.  Cameron said she didn't want a toy, she wanted face painting.  So we had to walk around the park to find one still open.  Daddy and Timo disappeared in the BIG Lego store, emerging with a Star Wars ship.

I really liked Legoland and feel we went at the perfect age.  I think they would have out grown it in another year or so.  I also liked how they don't have "junk" at every corner, enticing the kids to beg the parents for.  It was small enough to do in a day but big enough for the children to feel like they are in a different world.  I expected a more Lego building type events, maybe teaching cools things to do with your legos but at the end of the day, it was a theme park just for kids to have fun...which was just fine for us.

Ashley's Graduation

Last weekend we headed down to Riverside CA to watch our dear friend, Ashley Busbee, graduate from collage.  Her dad, Phil, passed a way about 3 years ago and was a close friend, our pastor, married us and dedicated the twins when they were babies.  We've known Ashley since she was 12 years old and we are so incredibly proud of her and the way she has overcome so many obstacles the past few years.  We were so blessed to be there with her Mom and family on this special day.

As typical, the graduation ceremony was long but luckily Ashley was close to the beginning to walk across the stage.  As soon as we cheered her on we exited over the side to let the kids move around and find some shade (it was HOT).  We actually had to wait until everyone walked before the ceremony was over, so we were there a few hours.  This was my idea of entertaining the kids and keeping them cool, walking the balance beam in the shade.  It was fun...for a while.

This was Young's idea of entertaining them and keeping them cool...popsicle!  I think Daddy's idea was better, ice cream helped pass the time.

But it was all worth the wait...Claudia's sister, who lives in Riverside, hosted a big graduation party for Ashley.  On top of amazing food, they had a pool and a really cool playhouse/structure.  I've met parts of Claudia's family here and there at different events but it was great to see everyone all at once to catch up.  And Phil's mom was there, and it's always nice to see Honey Mama!

This was our first swim of the season so the kids were a little rusty on technique.  Once Timo remembered how to put his face in the water he was unstoppable.  They swam a few hours and had a few minutes in the play house before it was time for us to leave.

Congratulations Ashley!!  Thank you for including us in your special day...we are so proud of you.  We pray the Lord watches over you and continues to bless each step you take.

5 Year Check-Up

Since we're starting kindergarten next year, we needed to get physicals as a requirement of the public school system.  We got our eyes checks, hearing checked, height, weight and blood pressure...the kids loved the blood pressure cup and stethoscope.

Our pediatrician give books at each year check up and this year we got one of our favorites...Caps For Sale.  We've checked it out of the library several times so the kids practically know it by heart.  They were impressing everyone around them by "reading' it in  pharmacy waiting room.

And then, two days later, we were like this...high fevers, cold, coughs and missed days of school.

I swore, after last year's experience, see here, I would never take healthy kids to the doctor again.  It's just asking for sickness being around all those germs.  But because I had to turn their physicals in, I had no choice, we had to go in and get checked out.  And I was so vigilant about not touching too much, washing hands and using hand sanitizer, ugh.  I'm just grateful there were no emergency room visits this time.

Stretching

We were going to meet Daddy one evening for dinner, about 5 blocks from our house. The kids asked if we could jog down, so we got all ready for a short run down to sushi. I was locking up and come out to find the kids doing their stretches! I asked where they learned that and they said they see Daddy doing it before he goes jogging. Just goes to show your children are watching you and learning from you, even when you least expect it.

Dinosaur Imagination

Cameron has decided she wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up and her love of dinosaurs continues to grow and grow.  She loves to read her books and we check out more books and dino documentaries from the library.  I can see her absorbing all the little facts about these creatures.  And she will spend hours setting up her dinos, creating scenes and telling me details about each one.  I like that she even gathers the trees and bushes from Lego sets and Timo's Indians set for the plant eaters to munch on.

Then I noticed this one day...all these dinos were gathered around a fallen dinosaur.  She explained they were the meat eaters having lunch!  Oy!  Poor dino...

And then I found this on the coffee table yesterday!  Her beloved T-Rex was having a little snack on her Lego Brontosaurs.  Most girls play with dolls and dresses up like princesses, but my little girl sets up dinosaur feeding frenzies.  That's my Cameron!

CAIS Kite Day

Timo and Cameron' school had their annual Kite Day a few weeks ago and this year we were able to go.  It was a beautiful warm sunny day that day but unfortunately, not much wind.  There were a few guest that came up so we were able to get the kites in the air a few times.  They had kits to make your own kite at the picnic but we bought the kites the twins got for Easter and flew them.  We quickly noticed the string wasn't as long as it needed to be.

Since there wasn't much wind, everyone tried to fly their kite at the same time with the same gust of wind, causing lots of lines to get tangled.  But the kids didn't seem to mind, it was fun just to be out there with all their friends.

Aidan was there to meet Cameron when we arrived.  His mom said he kept asking and asking when Cameron was going to come (we were a little late, coming from church) and Cameron was equally excited about seeing Aidan.  He even had a little flower for her, Daddy was trying to get it tucked into her dress for her.

The wind died down and everyone took to their blankets for snacks...or a nap as Timo decided to do. I'm glad we made time for Kite Day this year...lots of fun memories to take with us, we're gonna miss our CAIS family when we start kindergarten next year.

Making Pizza and Being Satisfied

I normally wouldn't blog about something somewhat uneventful like pizza after baseball practice one night but the ending was too funny not to share.  It was one of those moments when you think your kids are getting so much older, at the ripe old age of 5 years old, they can pretty much over come most unexpected situations...

We started out having lots of fun for "make your own pizza" night at Georgioe's Pizza.  You pick the toppings you want and they bring it all out for you to build your own pizza.  Timo got just cheese and Cameron got salami and pineapple.

Lots and lots and lots of cheese...

It was taking a really long time, longer than normal but finally Cameron's pizza arrived and it looked so big and delicious.

Then Timo's arrived, looking nothing like Cameron's big and delicious pizza..it had burned spots on it, the edges were all folded up and somehow it managed to get a few peperoni on it.

What happened?  The runner just dropped it and left, leaving me to try to explain to a very sad little boy what might have happened to his pizza.  No matter how much I told him it was the same pizza and we could just pull the 3 peperoni off, he just was not gonna eat it.  Lot's of tears.  He just couldn't deal with the fact his pizza didn't look like Cameron's.  Our waitress then came over and asked it everything was ok, saw his pizza, saw his face and insisted "there must have been a mistake", bless her heart.  She took the pizza away and ordered up a new one pizza for him.  I thought about it after and wondered how long before we hit the "roll with the punches" phase?  I thought 5 was it, but maybe it's 10??  Oh well, we had a happy ending, we got a new pizza and Timo was then satisfied...