Time to Party

For you blog readers, you're the first to know...Game time has been set!! Yippie! Game starts at 12:30. The party will begin at 12:00 so that everyone can sign into up in the pool to win some fabulous prizes during the game! Look for your invitation in the mail tomorrow.
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Last night, Charlie was trying to be a good little helper for her big day. She is no help at all. She is literally running away from me with party favors in hand. This repeated itself several times before I finally had to barracade the room from little toddling feet.

Kite Sights

Today we enjoyed the Seal Beach Kite Festival. We had told Ryan several days ago about it and she remembered! That child simply amazes me sometimes. It was a ton of fun and really beautiful to see so many kites in the sky at one time.

From the pier you could watch kite "masters" make their kites dance to music. One did a batman theme and one had 7 kites in the air at once all in unison. It was amazing. There were others but Ryan was really, really, really wanting to get down to the sand where all the excitement was. Buggy was content right where she was at. I think she especially enjoyed seeing the spectacular colors of the kites.

Ryan even got to make her own kite. She did a great job keeping it in the air too.

Charlie's Birthday Party

We just wanted to let our friends and family know that there is still no word on what time the USC vs. Washington game is going to start for Charlie's birthday party on the 7th! We are so sorry to keep you all hanging like this. If I had any idea it would take this long... ugh! so frustrating! Well, I am checking the website daily (actually more like hourly now) and as soon as we know, we'll let you know. Steve seems to think it will be a 3:00 or 5:00 game and we wanted to start the party an hour before gametime so tentatively you can plan on an afternoon party time. Again, we're so sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for being so patient.

Ryan's First Day at Preschool

Okay... let's try this post again. Blogger seems to be working again. Ryan started preschool last Friday. Steve took off work a little early so that we could both take her together. She was such a trooper. No tears. And she said things like, " I can do it by myself." And, "No, mommy this is my school." She even had no trouble going up to another little boy who was early to school and asked him to play. His name was Rocco. Such a cutie. Steve already gave him the evil eye. I tell you, that man is so nervous about his girls growing up and dating that he is instilling the fear now in every little boy that crosses their path.

It's official... her name is on the class list on the door.

Adalyn (Addy) is the only other 2 year old from Ryan's daycare program that got into preschool this fall. This works out great for us because these two are already great friends. I think seeing Addy there helped out with the first day jitters a little.

Here is Ryan eyeing all the equipment on the playground.

Mommy was able to sneak the camera into the doorway of her classroom just as class was beginning. Can you tell in the picture which student is already doing the talking and has the captive audience of all her classmates?

Charlie's First Day at Daycare

Charlie had her first day at daycare yesterday. Here she is playing with the toys from the moment we got there. It was weird to drop off Charlie but not Ryan. It seemed so backwards. It took Charlie 20 minutes to realize that I had left and of course, she lost it. Today she cried from the moment we pulled up to the house. What a quick learner. At least today, she had her sister there with her for support.

Can you tell? Charlie is standing all on her own. She is walking too. Such proud parents:-) I saved these shoes called "Robeez" from Ryan. She didn't get much use out of them because she was still at home (on carpet back then) when she was learning to walk but for Charlie they are perfect. I don't have to worry about her slipping on the hardwood and they have leather soles so they allow the baby's feet to act as if they were barefoot. I guess now I'll have to get these in every color (just like bathing suits and dance outfits). Ha-ha

La Jolla #7 - "Other Memorable Moments"

I could probably just go on and on with the photos from our vacation. Every moment seems to be worthy of it's own "post" but this is going to be the last one. (To be honest, I'm getting antsy to write about Ryan's first day of preschool). We had so many great times on our vacation and will be heading back for sure.

Daddy having some play time with his girls. Daddy got to do alot of this because he didn't have to work so much. They loved having their daddy around.

Uncle Jeff and Ryan with their favorite past time. Squirt guns. Thanks to Grandpa Kudron for the bright idea!

Our trip to Sea World. Look at fearless Charlie. In the mix with all the other kids. No mommies or daddies allowed. Go get 'em girls!

Mommy's best friend from college, Jenn, lives in Del Mar so she and her husband, Trey, and son, Holden came over for the afternoon for some fun and sun. Very relaxing. So glad you guys could make it. Always a good time just hanging out.

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SEE YOU NEXT YEAR LJBTC!

La Jolla #6 - "The Camp Out"

Well... not really a camp out but a little bonfire on the beach. Jeff visited us down in La Jolla from Saturday through Monday. We all had a great time. We love that Jeff lives so close now. He has really gotten close to the girls in this past year ("girls" including me too!) Gotta say, I got lucky with Steve but Jeff as a brother-in-law makes it a two-fer for sure. As always Jeff, thanks for making the trip. We really enjoyed having you there with us all.

This is what the beach looks like on a weekend night. Everyone is outside either BBQing, having a bonfire, or both. It was incredible an incredible sight.

Jeff getting some love time with Charlie. They really bonded over vacation.

Jeff and Ryan hanging out by the fire. Look how she is holding his hand. She really loves him alot. They are super cute together.

Jeff obliged in taking a family photo for us. Here we are. Sunburnt and all.

La Jolla #5 - "A Day in the Life of Charlie"

Charlie loved the water. And the sand. And eating the sand. And everything in between. That little girl is afraid of nothing. She wanted to be in the mix the whole time.

Here is Charlie playing in the sand. What you can't see in this picture is that it is right after she went in the water with mommy so she is soaking wet and now completely sandy. Didn't phase her a bit.

Charlie LOVING the water with daddy.

Charlie liked to climb the lounge chairs. One of her favorite activities on the beach.

More sand toys. One of the greatest parts about The LJBTC is that there are tons and tons of complimentary beach toys for kids to play with so every day the girls got to try out new items. And if you didn't know... new toys = more independent play time! And that makes mommy's margarita taste all that much better:-)

Napping with daddy after a long day of fun.

La Jolla #4 - "A Day in the Life of Ryan"

Ryan had the time of her life hanging out on the beach. Here are a few snapshots to capture her moments of bliss. Ahhh... to be two again.

La Jolla #3 - "The Zoo"

On Friday, the girls and I went to the zoo. I know it doesn't look like Charlie is having fun in this picture but she totally was. She was so excited at every new animal we saw. Making all kinds of squeals and sounds. It was adorable.

Ryan kept her hat on all day because "mommy said so". She got sunburned a little under her eyes the day before (mommy learned how to apply sunscreen more thoroughly after that).

The elephants were one of Ryan's favorites.

Daddy was a little sad that he missed out on all the fun but I didn't feel too sorry for him. While we were trekking up and down the hills at the zoo (with a double stroller + a 31 lb. kid + a 23 lb. kid + our big bag), daddy was playing golf at Aviara. Boo-hoo Daddy! Oh p.s. speaking of hills, Ryan never did get to see the lions and bears because they were at the bottom of this steep, steep hill. Ryan said, "You can do it mommy, it's not hard." I don't think she realized that mommy would have to hike back up that hill.

La Jolla #2 - "The Set Up"

Our daily set up. Mindy was a favorite beach assistant. Every day she would set us up with chairs, tables, and two umbrellas to keep the pack and play and a play area for Ryan in the shade. Of course, Ryan chose not to sit in the shade. Directly up those little stairs in the background of the picture is our room. Oh, and see the little red flag attached to the chair. That's how we'd order grilled cheese sandwiches and strawberry margaritas without leaving our seat. Hmmm... I wonder which one of us ordered what????? Ha-Ha!

La Jolla #1 - "The Big Girl Bed"

Hello everyone! We're home! We just got back a few hours ago from our 8 night stay at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. We loved it. Can't wait to go back. I certainly can't do justice to all the wonderful moments in one blog entry so I will break it up into many over the next day or two. This first entry depicts the best decision of the trip... bringing the big girl bed! Steve thought I was a little crazy at first suggesting it but admits it was worth it. And you all wondered why we needed such a big car!! This is Steve's car packed up and ready to head to La Jolla. The girls and I drove in my car.