California Adventure

We spent some time at California Adventure. It is another theme park that is connected to Disneyland. The Pixar parade was so cute! The floats shot out water into the crowd. It was fun! The kids loved the rides there. Soaring over California and the Grizzly Run rides were their favorites.

Legoland

At Carter's request we squeezed in a trip to Legoland. Legoland is about 40 minutes from Disneyland. Legoland was defiently interesting to look at. All the lego structures were just amazing! The rides were not that impressive, we agreed that we prefer Lagoon's rides over legolands. I posted pictures of some of the lego structures we saw.

Aquarium of the Pacific

We had a lot of fun at this aquarium. The kids wanted to see the shark tanks first, which was very surprising. The aquarium had lots of hands on exhibits and touch pools. They had the hugest stingrays I have ever seen. The sawfish in the shark tank was also very interesting to see. They also had scuba divers give underwater presentations in the huge fish tanks. I love the pictures of Matt and the kids playing with seals through their tanks.

Newport Beach, CA

We included a quick trip to the beach. The kids have never been to an ocean beach. It was slightly cold and there was no one there. We managed to enjoy the beautiful views of the waves.

Back to school for Ashlynn

Ashlynn started school last week. She was so excited to see her friends that she met last year. Her friends are spread out over several different cities that commute to the dance preschool. So, we didn't get to meet up with them during the summer. Ashlynn goes to preschool 3 days a week for 3 hours. She has dance and tumbling included in the curriculum, they are getting ready for their Halloween performance. Ashlynn is not excited that she is going to be a scary mummy for the dance. If you know Ashlynn she is all about pretty and princess things. Since the kids are both gone in the morning I started walking in the morning with some friends. It is just a weird feeling not to have to push a stroller. This maybe selfish to say, but I am enjoying a few hours of just me time. We all need it, right?

Ashlynn on her first day of school with her poster all about her.

Ashlynn and Carter headed off to school. No, I did not plan them to match each other.


Ashlynn on her first day of dance. She was practicing her ballet poses.

Ashlynn and her Dad dancing together. So cute!

Silly Ashlynn...she loves to make people laugh.

Kite Festival

Above are pictures of Antelope Island's Hot Air Balloon and Kite Festival. The weather was a little unpredictable to launch the Hot Air Balloons so, we had fun flying the kids kites. There were some really neat kites being flown around. Carter and Ashlynn got the hang of flying kites pretty quick. Carter got his kite really high almost to the end of his string. He had fun! Ashlynn on the other hand was always on the look out for the dressed up buffalo walking around the park. She was deathly afraid of it. She was in panic mode when it got near her. I could feel her poor heart just pounding in her chest as she was crawling up me. She is very scared of anything dressed up in a costume with a mask. I am a little nervous how she is going to react at Disneyland in a few weeks. She has already told us that she doesn't want people dressed up in costumes to talk to her. We shall see! On the plus side we won't have to wait in lines to see the characters.

Back to School for Carter

I can't believe that Carter is in 1st grade. I still remember when he was in preschool just 2 years ago. He really likes his teacher because she is not a grandma (according to Carter). Also, he loves to eat lunch at school (what kid doesn't). The first week of school they had popcorn day, fruit salad day and if you know Carter this is his worst nightmare because he does not like fruit and can not even be by someone that is eating it or even smells like it. Then on Friday they had a "P" party. All the kids in the class brought food items that started with the letter "P".
It is definitely a change to have Carter gone all day long. I look at the clock at lunchtime and think Carter should be home by now. The house is so quiet. Ashlynn is having fun with helping me around the house and she just gets lost in her toys with no one to bother her. She starts school next week and she is very excited!