Fire Station Field Trip

Lila's joy school was organized by a wonderful group of ladies and they scheduled each Mom to host a party or field trip once during the year.  Dayna and Luke coordinated a tour of a fire station and it happened to be on day the rest of the kids were out of school so they got to join us.

The kids enjoyed seeing where the firemen eat, sleep, and study. They got to walk through the firetruck and look into the ambulance (did you know that 80% of the calls to the station are medical related--they are all at least EMTs). Then one of the fireman got dressed in his gear and gave all the kids high-fives (it was a good idea so that kids aren't scared of fire fighters if they see them in their gear during an emergency). They also reviewed stop, drop, and roll and encouraged families to have a plan in case of a fire. 

After our tour we went next door to the park and played for an hour.  It was a lovely day (weather included)!

Trick-or-Treating Party Style

Once again the weekend before Halloween was a big long party.  On Friday (Oct. 26), Ellie wore her costume to piano lessons and played her Halloween song so she could earn a candy bar. Ellie also had a birthday party so my sister, Nessa took Lila to the gym Halloween party with Izzy. Then we went to their trunk-or-treat that night.  Saturday Ellie had another birthday party at "Scary Hill" (Cherry Hill).  My parents took Steve and the rest of us out to lunch for his birthday.  Then Lila helped me make Rice Krispie treats for Izzy's birthday party.
 

We had to leave her party a bit early because our ward was having a Halloween Carnival and Trunk-or-Treat that I coordinated.  So off we went.  It was a huge success and I had so much fun running the Primary cupcake walk and meeting so many people and their families.

Then on Sunday, Nessa and Nate blessed Siena.  It turned out to be a bit of a crazy day because they lost power due to a car accident so they had to come down to our house to get ready while we went to our church.  Then we went to their sacrament meeting where Siena was blessed. We had a nice luncheon at the Durbanos and then home to relax after a crazy week.

Jake and Marcee chilling with the girls while everyone scrambles to get ready.

 I helped with Ellie's class party and we made cookie spiders.

Then Nate, Nessa, and Izzy came down to go trick-or-treating.  We made mummy dogs (pigs in a blanket but wrapped to look like mummies) and baked potatoes for dinner.

This is the only picture I have of the girls' costumes this year. Really life is crazy right now!

Then we celebrated Steve's birthday on Nov. 1.  Honestly, when we were newly weds I never realized how close his birthday is to Halloween, but now that we have kids--it makes it interesting.  I also happened to be going out of town that day to spend some time with my friends from Tucson at Time Out for Women in Phoenix.  So I got up early and went and got Krispy Kreme donuts so we could sing Happy Birthday.  I also left him a candy graham and an ice cream gift card for him to take the girls out.  (He also got a bike trainer a month ago and recently purchased a snow blower so he got some good presents!).

Today we had Nessa and her family and Stephanie and her family over for his birthday dinner of ribs, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and of course Miami Beach birthday cake (which Stephanie didn't set on fire this time ;).  

We LOVE you Steve!!  He truly is amazing and has really stepped up his game to support me and assist our girls more since I have recently been tasked with some new responsibilities.  I cannot imagine life without him.  He is genuinely concerned for our family's happiness and it shows in his actions.



Here are the girls I got to spend the weekend with.  I love each of them so much!!  I'm so grateful I could spend an uplifting weekend with them.

Here we are eating at the Cheesecake Factory way past our bedtime.  So nice to be able to visit and laugh together!

First Snow of the Season

The weather man said there would be snow down in the valley today.  Well, he was right.  I woke Ellie up by telling her it had snowed and to look out the window.  When Lila came down stairs I told her to look out the window at the snow, but I guess she didn't because at breakfast when it was lighter outside she noticed the huge snowflakes coming down and got really excited.  She hopped down from breakfast, even though it was her favorite blueberry pancakes, and went upstairs to change clothes.  She knows she can't go outside in her pajamas so she took off her pajamas and came down with snow boots and a hat on--nothing else.  Today was also hat day at school so Ellie was ready and excited to play in the snow at recess.  The girls could not wait to go outside and play in the snow together as soon as Ellie got home from school. They were sad that most of it had melted, but Ellie quickly finished her homework and then outside they went to make this great snowman (they didn't even ask for help).

Seattle

Well, we went to Seattle for UEA weekend. My Dad and brother went with my Uncle last October to Canada to fish and had a wonderful time.  They immediately began planning for next October.  They invited Nate and Steve, but Steve doesn't enjoy fishing enough to commit to it.  The boys fly into Seattle and then drive to Canada.  My sister, Venessa wanted a break and planned to fly to Seattle and have some girls' time.  I wasn't for sure if we could go because I now have a first grader and cannot travel willy-nilly, but it so happened that the trip landed during UEA weekend so we flew out Wednesday to meet them in Seattle.

I have to admit the trip almost did not happen.  I was having a really rough day Tuesday feeling a bit (more like quite a bit) overwhelmed with all I have going on and thinking I don't have time for a trip and all the work that goes in to getting ready, packing, and unpacking and cleaning for this weekend trip.  But we had already told the girls and they were practically chanting Seattle, Seattle, every time I turned around so I pushed on.  Kids are really the reason why we do things like this right--I mean I would be fine staying home locking the door and having a stay-cation, but kids get so excited to go some where new.  So we went and the girls loved it!!

First can I say traveling with my two girls is a totally different experience now.  We have traveled a lot with my girls on planes (Ellie has been on some 30 plane trips and Lila is in the teens some where) so we are used to the huge carry-on, a stroller, diaper changes, activity-after-activity and they traveled wonderfully at such a young age, but this time, I made them each their own activity back-pack with snacks and they loved having their own bag to carry which meant Steve and I only had to carry one back-pack too.  There was no stroller and Ellie even pulls one of our checked bags.  Traveling was pretty simple and good.

We showed up Wednesday around 11ish and Izzy was so excited to see the girls and ran around giving them hugs.  We had a quick lunch and then went to the Aquarium.  It was so fun.  We were able to watch a diver feed the fish, and the sea otters and seals get fed.  Then we went back to the tide pools and touched sea anemones, star fish, sea cucumbers and then saw a huge octopus.  The girls were excited they could get a smashed penny from the aquarium for their collection.

Then we walked around for a bit and went past Pike's Fish Market, the gum wall, and picked-up yummy sandwiches from PotBelly.
























Thursday, we were going to the zoo because the baby snow leopards would be out.  Before leaving for the zoo Marcee asked the girls what they wanted to see at the zoo.  Ellie of course said, "A zebra."  They are her favorite.  Lila said, "A rainbow camel."  Ummmm. . .what?  "A rainbow camel."  As we got to the zoo the penny machines were right at the front so we let them pick their pennies and Lila kept looking at all of the options for a "rainbow camel".  We finally convinced her that a komodo dragon was pretty cool and trust me they are!

Ellie loves to be the guide with the map.

Just like her Dad.

Komodo Dragon--totally cool.

My girls love getting their pictures in these things. :)

Feeding the ducks.

The zoo was amazing!  It was very well designed so that the animals seemed to be in their natural habitat and that you were exploring with several good viewing spots for each habitat.  We saw lots of animals we have never seen before and really enjoyed our day!

Mimi bought lunch and let the girls ride the carrousel.  Izzy and Ellie loved it!  Lila wanted to sit on a chair in the middle that wouldn't move, but I made her pick a horse that would go up-and-down like a carrousel should and she was screaming and holding on to me and not putting her legs across.  As the ride got started she screamed louder and then started to relax--just a little she still had a death grip on me and was only slightly whimpering by the time the ride ended.   I know she has a weaker stomach and I try not to push too much, but once in a while a push on an adventure isn't bad right?  Silly kid.

We saw the flamingos as we were exiting and Ellie wanted to have a flamingo contest to see who could stand on one leg the longest, as soon as we got back to the hotel.

That evening we went to dinner at Duke's Chowder House.  It was across the street from our hotel down on the bay and had a great view of the space needle.  The food was great and the atmosphere was so fun.  The girls love seeing the space needle (sometimes they get confused and call it the space shuttle) and were looking forward to going up in it which we did first thing Friday morning.

They took a free picture for us, but now I know why it was free they didn't really care if we had our eyes open or if they put a big stamp over Steve's face.  Memories :)

After our adventure up in the Space Needle we went next door to the Pacific Science Center.  My girls loved exploring.  They have a butterfly house we spent at least 30 minutes in watching the butterflies and Ellie sit as still as possible in hopes of having one land on her.

Guessing smells.

Grandpa bought us tickets to ride the Monorail to downtown and then we rode the tram back to the hotel.  It was fun and the girls once again collected a smashed penny from the Monorail.

 




















Friday evening Jake took Marcee out on a hot date.  They went to a fancy restaurant on the bay and then Jake rented the VIP booth on the new Ferris Wheel and proposed to Marcee.  We are so excited for the two of them and couldn't be happier.

Other notes to remember: Lila held my hand on the plane, she doesn't like the taking off and landing and snuggled up--LOVE IT!  She was having so much fun all the time that she was skipping and running in fun patterns so cute--LOVE IT!  Ellie is growing up so fast now that she enjoys hearing more about everything like the animals or the space needle or how the plane works and I LOVE watching Steve take the time to explain it to her.  So I guess the morale of the story is that even though vacations are not really relaxing (I almost titled the post "Sleepless in Seattle" because Lila has been getting up at 5:30 am so I was always out in the living area with her for over 2 hours before the others began to stir) they are worth the memories for me and my children.  Remind me of that next time I get overwhelmed with life and all I have to do before the vacation even starts.  Thanks Mimi & Grandpa and Seattle!

SCORE!

Ellie scored a goal today at her final fall soccer game.  She was so excited.  Her coach has been wonderful and really teaching the girls the game of soccer.  He left her in as a forward the whole game in an attempt to help her score.  We stopped at the Dollar Store to get a prize on our way home and the girls were in heaven.  Can't wait for spring soccer. :)

Recently Steve has taken to correcting Ellie's grammar.  The other day she used hear in the wrong tense and Steve told her it was heard.  Ellie replied, "I heard you and I hear you."  It was so funny like she was annoyed with his correcting and she had to prove that she could use both forms of the word in a sentence.

The D says d

Lila and I hosted joy school this week.  So much fun to see all of these cute kid's personalities come out as they get comfortable with each other and the Moms.  Lila was so excited to host and show her friends around.  We Danced, played with play-Dough, Decorated construction pumpkins, read Dancing Dinos and If You Give a Dog a Donut, constructed Dogs and Dinosaurs out of uppercase and lowercase Ds and snacked on vegetables and Dip and homemade banana Donuts.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we have to do this and associated with the wonderful people involved.

I love how unique each of the creations turned out. Some wanted their dog to be excited or scary.

Lila's excited Dog and Dinosaur.

Last week they went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and learned about how pumpkins grow.