Virginia's (second) 6th Birday Party

Last Saturday we had our second (and final) birthday party for Virginia and her kindergarten friends. Since they were different people, we had much the same party...making pizzas again. It was very nice ...not too many kids, but almost all of Virginia's favorites were there. The kids ran around, spun each other in the spinning chair, made hats, made pizzas, had cake and did a great job on the pinata! It took three times through the line (of maybe 10 kids) to break the thing! And nobody in that line had a weak arm. But then Virginia herself busted it. In fact, she decapitated it. :) Chris wanted to keep this paper unicorn head but I thought it was creepy and tossed it. Finally we had cake...pizza cakes!...and opened Virginia's gifts. Then it was time to go. A very nice party.

PICTURES 4/25/09

Beach, Birthday Party, Backyard

The pictures linked to here are from the day over Virginia's spring break when she, John and I spent a lovely day at the beach. It was a little chilly, but that never bothers the kids. The tide was exceptionally far out that day--the lifeguards weren't even letting people out in the water because the land was dropping off so close to the shore. Because it was out so far, there were many pretty rocks exposed and we had fun collecting them. Well, V and I did. I got the ones on the sand, she got ones from the water's edge. John spent his time hurling them back into the sea. Narrowly missing V's head a few times. That boy! As soon as possible we are going to divert his energy to more constructive pursuits like martial arts and baseball.

There are also pictures from a birthday party we attended at an indoor playground called Bright Child. This one (the first of three that week) was for three of our neighbors' four children.

Finally there are pictures from a play date we had at our house with friends from V's preschool. It was one of our really hot-90 degree-days last week so we made popsicles and got out the water toys.

Enjoy!
PICTURES 4/24/09

Easter Sunday

Pictures from Easter Sunday...also Virginia's 6th birthday! First, witness Virginia's new candy apple red Fender Squier 3/4 size electric guitar. It rocks. We started our Easter Sunday quite early with an Easter egg hunt. The Easter bunny did things a little differently this year. Normally, he leaves a trail of clue eggs around the house that lead each child to their Easter basket. This year, Easter bunny said that he had hidden all our real Easter eggs (dyed and glittered!) around the house along with ONE clue egg for each child to find their basket. After all the eggs and baskets were found, Virginia said she wanted to open all her birthday presents! She gots lots of great stuff (thank you to everyone) including some Care Bear dolls and videos, some cute clothes, new crafts, jump ropes, and a Cinderella play dress! Next we attended Mass. Then we hurried home, packed our picnic lunch and headed to the LA Zoo...along with many many other people. It was super-crowded but we had fun making and wearing our bunny ears around all afternoon. After the zoo, we stopped off at Red Robin for supper. We were lucky we got there early since they were closing at 6pm for the holiday. There were very few people there and only one waiter...who was sitting and chatting with his girlfriend and parents when he was not serving! It was kinda fun and you can watch a video of John dancing around at the end of the meal while Virginia was having her birthday sundae. There weren't enough waiters, our guy said, to do the birthday song. :( When we got home from THAT, we quickly assembled and iced a bunny birthday cake...but we totally forgot to sing! Oh well. Virginia will be having another birthday party NEXT weekend for her kindergarten friends. All in all, a very full but fun day celebrating our beautiful daughter.


The pictures will repeat themselves a bit because both Chris's pics and mine are here together.

PICTURES 4/12/09

Fillmore train, classes, etc.

Here are some older pictures that got overlooked the last time I posted here. First there are a bunch of pictures from the trip John and I took with his Horizon Hills preschool class on the Fillmore train. It's a real full-sized train that takes short trips (maybe 30-50 minutes) up and down the local train track. You go past beautiful mountains, orange and lemon groves (blooming at this time of year) and (when the track isn't being repaired) you can get off at a local fish hatchery and feed the fish. We had to drive to the hatchery, but it was close and really quite cool. The fish go NUTS when you throw the food pellets into the pools.

PICTURES 4/2/09

Beautiful Flowers

Here is a link to some more pictures from our visit to the Descanso Gardens. These pictures were all taken by Chris. There are some really beautiful flower pictures here...I think I'm going to have to make a photo collage.

PICTURES 4/4/09_Chris

Power Out and Proud of V!

Hi, all. Well, we had a pretty eventful couple of days this week. On Wednesday, about 5:30pm our electricity went out...right in the middle of my dinner preparation and laundry! It didn't come back on again until 4:45 AM. Luckily, the meatloaf was basically done, but we had to finish cooking some of the sides on the grill. As you see in the pictures, we did our bedtime routine by candle light. Which was pretty fun! And since it was not really cold , we didn't have to worry much. I was just a little annoyed that my load of laundry had to sit under water all night. We didn't lose any food in the fridge or freezers, so that was good.

On Thursday, Virginia had a very big day! She was named one of the Peach Hill students of the month exemplifying the core virtue "integrity". That same day, she also received a certificate for a free meal at Mimi's Cafe for having the most reading minutes in her class! Plus she celebrated her birthday at school that day and had dance class and got to choose Panda Bear for dinner! Big day for V!

Also in this set of pictures are some photos of John in his preschool class at Horizon Hills. And with his two best friends William and Billy.

PICTURES 4/10/09

Heidi!

Hi, all. Last weekend my very oldest friend, Heidi, came to spend the weekend with us! On Friday she took the train up from San Diego (where she was attending a conference) to Moorpark. Saturday we started our beautiful sunny day at the Descanso Gardens. The kids and I visited the gardens once before with Aunt Ellen and loved it...and we loved it again this year! It's not a very formal garden, though it is divided into themed areas. There is always something in bloom every month of the year and there is a real air of peace and beauty there. After a yummy lunch at Zankou Chicken (where they have the BEST garlic spread EVER), we headed home for a nap. But later in the afternoon, we headed out again to pick strawberries! We took a tractor ride out to the strawberry field and each picked a pound of berries. In the evenings, after the kids were in bed, Chris and I introduced Heidi to the joys of Guitar Hero! She rocked! Finally on Sunday, Heidi and I got to have a ladies-only lunch and go shopping!

PICTURES 4/4/09
PICTURES 4/5/09