Lion King

After a year of talking about wanting to see the Lion King we finally did it. We were able to go last Saturday with The Sondrop family in our ward that we just love.

We did leave Aliza at home with a babysitter because I just didn't think she would enjoy the show for a whole two hours. Which also meant that we wouldn't be enjoying the show either. I felt guilty about leaving her at first, but after talking to her she was so thrilled to have one of her favorite babysitters coming over for pizza and treats. She didn't seem to feel left out at all. The Sondrups have a cute little boy who also stayed at home with them that she loves to play with.

It really was AMAZING!!! This is a picture of our cute kids before the show. Both Abbie and Avery are begging to go see it again. Avery taped all sorts of Lion King pictures on her bedroom door, and the songs are being sung over and over again at our house. We all had a great time, and we are so glad we finally made it to the show.

Thanksgiving in San Diego

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit San Diego for the whole week of Thanksgiving this year. My mom had the wonderful idea of renting a beach house as our Christmas gift. I loved this idea considering my kids have enough "stuff" and they really don't need a lot for Christmas. I figure spending quality time with the family is better than more "stuff" any day.

It was so nice being right by the beach. We could go out for a walk, play in the sand, or go on a sea shell hunt at any time we wanted. In fact it was so hard to pry the kids away from the sand once they started digging with their shovels. We were lucky to get them inside long enough to eat Thanksgiving dinner with us.

We made a lot of sand angels which would leave lots and lots of sand everywhere that I'm surprisingly still finding in the laundry.

Not to mention sand in their ears. I don't know how they managed to get so much sand in their ears. Yuck!

We had passes for Sea World, Wild Animal Park and The San Diego Zoo. We took full advantage of being able to visit these parks whenever, and as much as we wanted that week. We even spent two full days at Sea World, and one full day each at the other parks. The picture above is at the Wild Animal Park. They were a few wild animals themselves. :)

It really was fun to ride in the bus/train (I'm not sure what they call it) through the wild animal park. We were able to see a few new baby giraffes and learn some fun facts about the animals there.

I think all of us really enjoyed feeding the birds nectar at the Wild Animal Park. The birds would just hop right on your arm for a treat.

Avery was able to get two at a time.

Aliza was thrilled considering she had just purchased a bird stuffed animal from the gift store. I love this picture because you can see the excitement on her face.

Like I mentioned before we did spend two full days at Sea World. They were begging to go back right after we left the first day, so we went back for more. Avery and Aliza LOVED the tram ride that took you over the ocean. We did that two times too.

In Sea World they do have a fun section with a Sesame Street theme. It was full of rides and fun activities for young kids. Aliza was in heaven.

Abbie and Avery claimed that they were too big for Sesame Street, but they seemed to be having a great time too. All of the rides seemed to be suited for all ages.

Abbie's favorite activity of the whole trip was feeding the sea lions. She used her own money to buy fish for them to eat (3 times), and to my surprise she didn't even mind handling the dead yucky fish (Eeeww). It was fun to see all the sea lions begging for food. We just had to watch out for the swooping seagulls overhead who were very aggressive. Micah and I would have to be on lookout whenever she brought out a fish to feed them.

Abbie was always so torn trying to figure out which one to feed. They had their begging down pretty well.

The girls loved the shows which we did see a few of them twice too. It really is amazing what they can do with these animals. Both days that we were there it never seemed overly crowded which was nice. We were always able to get in to see the shows, and never waited in line for anything.

Look at all those people.....

Touching the star fish and sting ray's is always fun.

Aliza needed a little boost to touch the sting ray's.

They thought we had food and would come almost out of the water which gave us a good look at them.

Our last day in California we did attempt the Zoo. Unfortunately everyone else in California was there that day too. It was REALLY busy, and a bit cold that day so I didn't get many pictures. We did wait in line 30 minutes to see a new panda bear cub which was really cute. The mom panda and the baby were playing together which was fun to watch. The mother actually chased the baby up the tree and shook the baby out of the tree. As the crowd gasped the zookeeper informed everyone that it was normal for them to do this, and the baby was fine. Interesting way to toughen up your baby I suppose. We had a fantastic trip! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Chidester!!!

Mt. Charleston

A few Saturday's ago we decided to take a one hour drive to Mt. Charleston for a hike. We had heard that there was a little bit of snow on the mountains, so we didn't know quite what to expect. We didn't see any snow, but they were getting all of the ski slopes ready for the winter season. It was still fun to see the ski lodge and get more familiar with the area.

Where we chose to hike wasn't the most beautiful in terms of tall trees with fall leaves, but we made the most of it. It was the perfect temperature outside for hiking. My favorite part of the hike was eating pine nuts right from the pine cones on the ground. The girls had so much fun picking out the nuts and eating them all along the trail. It reminded me of my cute Grandpa Kent who would always have pine nuts at his house whenever we would visit. It was so fun to remember him and share some stories about him with my girls while we hiked.

Even little Lizzie did great on the hike. She only asked for Micah and I to carry her through a small section. She loved picking out walking sticks all along the way. She would walk with one for awhile and then discard it for a new one.

We always have to squeeze in a silly picture.

Halloween Continued.....

Our Halloween festivities felt like they just kept going and going this year. I didn't realize how much I really do love Halloween. I was just as excited as the kids to figure out their costumes and decorate the house. We started out the festivities with a school trunk or treat and carnival. Their new school really does know how to throw a party. I'm always shocked at how much time and money they put into all activities.

Aliza had her face painted at the festival. She was thrilled with her kitty whiskers. We also attended a ward trunk or treat, and Aliza's nursery teacher was kind enough to invite us over for a little get together.

Because we didn't head home to visit family for Halloween like I had originally planned, we decided to have a little party for the girls instead. We had so much fun planning and buying fun supplies for the party.

We had pizza, breadsticks that looked like fingers w/blood dipping sauce, and cupcake eyeballs.

The mummy wrap was very popular this year considering they did it at each of the school parties too. Each group decided who they were going to wrap. It just so happened that they picked Abbie, Avery and Aliza to be mummified. I had to keep checking to make sure they could breath.

Avery the mummy.

Abbie the mummy.

It wouldn't be a Halloween party without the doughnut on a string game. Micah tied three at a time on a stick. It was so funny to watch each of them try to eat the doughnut.

It was taking them so long that we finally had to give a time limit and then decide between the three which was the winner.

Aliza was begging and begging to give it a try. We finally tied one for her and this is what she did. Smart girl :)

Bobbing for apples was fun, but wet. I didn't expect them to get as wet as they did. We had a great Halloween, and the girls are already talking about what they want to dress up as next year.

Halloween Costumes 2010

It's so hard when the stores start putting out the Halloween costumes in August. My kids start thinking about Halloween way too early, and change their minds several times in those few months. So this is what we ended up with after all was said and done.

Abbie was a very cute witch for a few of our Halloween parties, and then after her tights ripped at school she was a pirate (from last year). I really loved these tights that she picked and couldn't resist buying them really early. It's a good thing she didn't change her mind.

Avery was originally going to be Hannah Montana, but then switched to her vampire costume from last year when we pulled it out of our Halloween costume bin. I was happy to take the Hannah costume back and save some money by reusing an old costume. She did have some great vampire teeth for the parade at school.

Our little Lizzie wanted to be a mermaid for months. I finally caved and bought her this Ariel costume when I realized she was not going to change her mind. It must be a popular costume for her age because three out of the six girls in her preschool class were mermaids. She was in heaven with this costume on. She was even caught several times walking with quite a little sway in her step while wearing it. She was too cute!

Carving Pumpkins

I love how every year when we carve pumpkins getting all the seeds out is quite an experience. There is a constant Ewwww and Yuuuuck coming from the girls. Aliza was especially grossed out by the glop inside. She finally politely asked if we could just do it for her.

It is a yucky mess, but Micah makes us toasted pumpkin seeds which makes all the digging and yucky hands worth while.

Abbie was insistent that we take a pumpkin head picture. Very nice!

This is Aliza trying to smile like her pumpkin. She told Micah she wanted a happy pumpkin with triangle eyes. Unfortunately with the triangle shape eyes he doesn't look so happy. We just won't tell her that.

The final product is always fun to test out with all the lights off in the house. They did a great job carving their pumpkins! Yeah for the yummy toasted pumpkin seeds!

Giant Post

Well, it has officially been over a month since my last post. Life has been CRAZY to say the least. I finally feel like we are all adjusted to school, pre-school, and extra activities. Here is a quick overview on what's happening here in Henderson.

Abbie is doing well in fourth grade. Her teacher warned us that this year would be very different, and it is. A lot more is expected of her, and she is learning to step up to the plate of responsibility. We were really proud of her this year for trying lots of new things. She decided to run for class representative in her class which was a fun experience. We made the posters (which I'm now thinking I should have taken a picture of) and she wrote a adorable speech ending with "You won't be crabby if you vote for Abbie". It was kind of discouraging when we found out that practically the whole class was running, but she did it anyway. She originally didn't win, but then the winner from her class had to move classes and she was the next runner up. So, she now is officially her class representative. She attended her first meeting last week, and is excited to help out. She also was courageous and tried out for her school choir which she is really enjoying.

This is Avery's picture pose lately. She finally got her wish of starting ballet the past few weeks which she has enjoyed. She has also been busy taking a fun class at the library called "I can read to animals." Every week they have been learning about different animals and then they actually bring the animals into the library for the kids to read to. She read to chickens, cats, dogs, and turtles. The last week of the program they sent her home with a giant stuffed animal dog which she is responsible to take care of. Now Buster the dog is part of our family which is perfect because he is the perfect pet. :)

Our little Lizzie started pre-school and ballet which has been so fun. There just happen to be six little girls her same age in the ward, so we decided to do a little pre-school co-op. Each of the moms take turns teaching on Tuesday mornings for a few hours. I had my turn last week and they were just soooo cute. She is also really enjoying her ballet class too. She also has a little class at the library that she looks forward to every week.

I had to stick Micah in here because he celebrated his 33rd Birthday on September 30th. We had a fun dinner together as a family with lemon bars for dessert rather than cake (he doesn't like cake.) With us only being five months apart in age he teases me relentlessly those five months that I am older than him. We are now officially the same age!

We went on a fun hike up Red Rock canyon yesterday. The girls had school off so a friend and I took our kids for a fun day out. We have done this hike a few times now, and love it more every time. It's the perfect hike for all ages. There are lots of fun rocks to climb on, and it's not too long. Even Aliza can do the whole thing herself.

I really did not expect Vegas to be so beautiful. The temperatures have finally cooled off, and it is really gorgeous. Last week Abbie took a few pictures on a walk of all the beautiful flowers in bloom this time of year. It really is amazingly beautiful to see all the desert plants.

Like this one.....

and this one.....

and this one!

Although I think I will never get used to seeing scorpions, I don't freak out as much as I used to. I really do enjoy the occasional visit of these little lizards in our back yard. They are so cute!