Disney Halloween

Halloween is quickly creeping up on my favorite time of year. No shopping and weeks of preparation. No long hours in the kitchen or wrapping presents. Just lots of fun with little people in costumes and of course - candy. I thought it was fine as a kid, I did look forward to it. But it was pretty much one night of the year, no big deal. As an adult, I'm managing to drag it out all month long for my kids! And Disneyland is a great help:). Tuesday I took the kids and met up with some friends to do the Mickey's Trick or Treat party. The park is always decked out, the candy is flowing big time and there's characters everywhere. This was our 3rd year going and I just love it. The candy "trails" were all over this year and moved quickly. We even got on a couple of rides. Laurel looks so cute in her costume and her recent obsession with pigtails looked great with the ensemble:). I also brought some face paint and tried to give it a go!

These faces

These faces make everything worth it, every day.  No matter how trying, how many tantrums or exhausting errands.  They are sweet, loving and so very fun.  They're my companions day in and day out.  They are always up for anything and are patient with me when i'm not at my best.  I always wish for and want the best for them.  They're my babies, my life's best work.

First bike

Laurel's birthday present of note this year was a tinkerbell training bike from us.  Here's a quick shot of her "in action".  She's quite excited!  She'll grown out of this size quickly, but hopefully it will help her learn and move on to the next stage.  She always enjoyed riding her trike down the sidewalk, so now we're growing up.

Vegas 2011

We made it to Vegas again this year to meet up with the Ondercin family.  A smaller group this year, but it was nice to see the few that could make it and have some fun time out of the house.  We stayed for a few nights in the meeting hotel of choice, The Flamingo.  Laurel loves the novelty of staying in a hotel.  She always asks when we'll stay in a hotel - especially one with a pool.  So we spent lots of time at the pool:).  The water is always colder than I'd like, but we go in anyway cuz that's what the child demands, lol!  Audrey loves the water and enjoyed the trip in her own way.  Still being pushed around since we still have no crawling action.  She's starting to show a little zest in her temperment - doesn't like anything taken from her without her ok.  But she travels well, sleeps fine in the pack n play.  She's content with her tray of snacks in her stroller and takes it all in.  We journeyed to the bellaggio fountains and conservatory as always.  Saw the animals where we could.  In honor of our anniversary, Megan stayed with the girls and we went out for dinner.  We detoured for dessert and found the yummies restaurant that had a happy hour dessert/drinks bar.    Anne also moved to the city just this summer and so we met up with her as well.

Happy 4th Birthday, Laurel!

Laurel's 4th was celebrated with a picnic and games a the park.  It was a hot, hot day.  But that was probably the only bummer - everything else was great and the kids had a lot of fun!  We picked a local park that has a playground and picnic benches.  We had aimed for the pavilion, but this particular park didn't allow reservations and I think the person that took over the pavilion showed up at dawn or something!  

  

Laurel's friends - Ryder, Delaney, Lauren, Kalia, Aidan, and cousins Sierra and Amber were there.  So was family and parents.  We made picnic food - chicken and tuna salad, fruit salad, veggies, chips, etc.  The kids played on the playground and we took mini breaks for games.  The party was strawberry shortcake themed - Laurel wore her favorite strawberry dress:).  

I made strawberry cake pops and a cake to look like strawberry shortcake's house.  Overkill to have so much in the end - i even made strawberry shortcake cups with shortcake from scratch, for the adults.  But I enjoyed planning it and making all of the details:).  Laurel was thrilled to have all of her little friends around.  It was a great day!

Birthday prep mode

Here's a few pictures prepping for Laurel's party this weekend.  I found tons of great ideas on Pinterest and am making most of them - regardless of how much leftover food that will mean in the end!:)  The cake pops were very easy to make - I made a sheet of chocolate cake and crumbled it up.  I mixed in a tub of icing and then molded the strawberries by hand.  For future, I would refrigerate the pops to keep them more firm.  I bought red chocolate chips and melted it.  Keeping that liquid enough to dip was difficult.  But they ended up turning out ok!  I made the cake out of a 2 layer circle and lots of fondant.  I think this was my best cake yet!

End of summer camp

For about 2 months this summer, Laurel has been attending a summer "camp" through the mar vista parks system. Not sure if I've mentioned it. It's play-based, so they spend time outside on the play ground, make crafts, play with toys and dress up clothes, sings songs, etc. It ended up being a good decision to try this out with her because she's going to be continuing in through the school year. Most of her little school friends from her 3 year preschool have other arrangements for 4 year. Plus, the cost is a fraction of the cost of the first preschool. I do like the intimacy of the first one, and it was around the corner from the shop. But with the change of kids and the pricing, we decided to move her to the same school as her camp. Not much will change during the year from the camp, it will run on the same basic schedule. The class is larger, about 20 kids instead of 10 or so. They also do very little academic prep, so I'll be trying to continue that at home. I really believe play time is important since every year after this will be devoted to academic learning, and some day, working. Laurel enjoyed her summer and finished it off with a mini concert with her class. It sure is sweet to see the little ones sing, even if they're mostly disctracted and wandering off at times:).