Quotes of the Week

Rylee clogged the toilet in the girls' bathroom by using half a roll of toilet paper in one sitting.

When Cailyn had to go to the bathroom I took her to my room and told her that her potty was broken.

She asked "It needs new batteries?"

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We were driving past a park and I pointed out some kids hitting a pinata. Rylee said "It's someone's birthday! Can we go?" I told her we couldn't because we weren't invited and we didn't know them. She said "Yes we do know them! I'll ask them their name and say my name's Rylee and then I'll ask them if they want to be my friend."

(I just LOVE how she loves to make friends with anybody and everybody.)

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We went to the beach today. Tonight we went to get ice cream. In the car, Cailyn asked "Where the sun go, Mommy?" I told her that it went to bed and she asked "It tired?" Rylee piped up "Yes, it's very tired cause it was very busy shining in my face all day today."

Happiest Place on Earth

We've been wanting to get annual passes to Disneyland since we moved back to California.

We got them this week! (So if anyone wants to come meet us there sometime in the next year, we're game!)

Quinn's birthday was on Tuesday, and he had the day off, so we decided to make that our Disneyland day.

Last time we were there, Rylee was just about Cailyn's age and Cailyn was 5 months old; it was so fun to go this time with both kids being old enough to appreciate it!

The first character we saw when we walked in was Goofy. The girls' faces lit right up!

The birthday boy...29 years young! What a fun dad to spend his birthday at Disneyland with his kids (:

Next stop was Pixie Hollow...

Just love this one!

When we asked the girls who they wanted to see at Disneyland before we went, Cailyn always said "Fairy God Mother!" I didn't say so, but I seriously doubted that we would bump in to her. Well, I was wrong! Bibbidi Boppidi Boo and there she was!

The Dumbo ride is of course always a favorite!

Our CindeRylee managed to kick off and loose one of her shoes while on the Merry-Go-Round...

Luckily we had a stroller, and even luckier when we went back an hour later, it had turned up and the princess got her slipper back!

Cailyn didn't want to see Aladdin and Jasmine for some reason, but Rylee sure was happy!

What a fun day!

Come on out and visit us...give us a reason to go back (:

The Surprise Un-Birthday Party

Uncle Colin turned 18 on December 12, but was so busy with school, plays, etc. that there wasn't any time to celebrate...so it caught him totally off guard when his friends came to our house last week for a surprise birthday party!

Mom planned lots of fun "minute to win it" type games, and everyone had a blast!

We love you Colin!

Why do little pictures never line up how they look in the preview on here? Sigh.

Sister Anne

The girls had lots of fun with "Sister Anne" when she was in town. (I think they called her this because whenever they hear me talk about her I say "my sister Anne." At any rate, it was pretty funny!)

In addition to having Anne here for Rylee's birthday and going to the beach, she helped the girls paint the tea set that she brought for Rylee's birthday present, took silly pictures with them on her computer,
and went on a walk.

Thanks for coming to see us!

Just Another Day in Paradise

After Rylee's birthday party, we headed down to the beach. So while most of the country was covered in snow (it's right about now that I don't miss living in Utah), here's what we were doing:

I took two of my favorite pictures I think ever of Rylee (:

Aunt Anne (or Sister Anne, as Rylee and Cailyn called her) is the most fun to play with!

And, in classic Anne style, she did some Iron Man training in the ocean.

I got lots of Liam snuggles in.

After her swim, Anne gave surfing a shot!

It was a perfect way to spend a warm January afternoon in San Diego!

Four (going on five...)

When Rylee woke up on her birthday last week I said "You look so old and grown up! You look like you must be four!" She said "No, I'm three." I asked why she wasn't four yet and she told me "I haven't had any cake yet!" All day when people told her happy birthday and asked how old she was, she told them she was three...until after she blew out these candleson the cupcakes that we brought in to her preschool class, at which point she officially declared herself four years old.

That night at her family birthday dinner she blew out the candles on her second cake of the day. I think that at this point she still said she was four.

But I think we had one too many candle-blowing out ceremonies, because after her Cinderella birthday party, she insisted that she was five!

I made these invitations for her party:

Apparently what I thought was a clever way to say that Rylee was having a Cinderella party (the "CindeRylee is turning four" line) was a bit confusing; I got an RSVP email for one of the girls in Rylee's preschool class saying that Amanda would be attending Cinde's party! Oh well...

My sister, Anne, was able to come in to town for the weekend, which was fabulous for many reasons...including that she helped me make these cakes!

Rylee was very excited that we got her a Cinderella "Piana" as she calls it.I just love this little face.

Rylee was very excited when her friends showed up! We had a little reverse Cinderella moment when Rylee helped Jack take off his shoes.

These two totally crack me up...they are always hugging and wanting to sit together, and one time I even heard an "I love you!" as we were leaving preschool!

All the princesses and princes made crowns

Oh, how I want to just eat those little legs up!

We played a ball sweeping game...I intended it to be a relay. Note to self for future reference: three and four year olds aren't quite old enough to grasp the concept of a relay race! They had fun sweeping the balls around anyway though!

Is there anything cuter than little girls in princess dresses?

If I weren't as tired as I am, I could come up with a funny caption for this one...

The cakes were a hit!And Rylee hit the Barbie Princess jackpot with the gifts!

Fun was had by all, but afterwards I was too tired to think about what to do for Quinn's and my birthdays this week...I'm thinking about filing a request to officially change the birthdays in our family! Cailyn's is 2 1/2 weeks before Christmas, Rylee's is 2 1/2 weeks after Christmas, and Quinn's and mine follow right afterwards. Too much celebrating if you ask me!