Disneyland

A few weeks ago I found myself contemplating about running over to Disneyland for 'one last trip'. We have annual passes that expire in April, and Tori is still free to get in until this summer....so I tell myself of course, that the trip is practically already paid for---and how can we not go?!
So, over Jimmy's Spring Break from school we went down to Disneyland for 3 days. The crowds were so lite that we never needed to use the FastPass system, we found ourselves not having to wait in long lines, and the kids had the chance to visit with any character that they wanted to. We were able to do everything that we wanted to 2-3 times each.

And, if that is not good enough, the kids were on their best manners! No temper tantrums, no crying, no being sick, no sunburns----Nothing! It was blissful. :)

Whenever we were on a ride that wasn't their favorite ride, they learned how to cope in their own way. Tori does not particularly like the beginning parts of the ride for Pirates or Haunted Mansion, so she would just close her eyes really tight, cover her ears with her hands, and bury her face into me. On the 'kiddie' rides, such as Small World, Jimmy would just lean his head back & say he was taking nap.

It was very fun to see how their personalities played out at Disneyland and I was very glad that we were able to go back for 'one last trip'. I told the kids that we would probably not go back to at least 2012 when all of the current and new construction is completed-----we'll see if we can last that long.

Jumpin' Jacks

Jumpin' Jacks is the most favorite indoor playground that my children like to visit. It is a large warehouse that is full of about 8-9 full-size bounce houses.....the kind that you see at carnivals, state fairs, etc. The price of admission for children is actually more expensive than the price for an adult. The last time that we went, Tori was able to figure out how to climb all of the way up a 'ladder' by herself and then peek over the edge to see the slide. The slope of the slide was a little too intimidating for her, so instead of going down the slide, she would choose to just 'drop' herself down the 'ladder'. She did this over & over again until I became concerned that she was going to injure herself, and I had to pull her away kicking & screaming to different area to play in. I was unable to get any pictures of Jimmy this time because he was moving entirely too fast between each of the bounce houses for the camera to be able to catch him.

Bike Riding & Rock Climbing

Jimmy has had a bicycle for a while now, but has only showed minimal interest in learning to ride it, as there can be anxiety with acquiring a new skill---especially a skill where you can crash and get hurt. I have since set aside one day each week where we devote an afternoon to a personalized bicycle lesson in a vacant parking lot(of course the price for this lesson is an ice cream cone for the obedient student). One day while Jimmy was focusing on riding his bike, Tori took up a new recreational activity of rock climbing. She would find a rock that was low to the ground, sit on it, or lay her body on it, and say, "Look at me, look at me. I am rock climbing!" You could just tell that she was so proud of herself for accomplishing this daunting feat.

City Parks & Trails

The area & city that we live in invests a lot of money into the Parks & Trails Systems. Jimmy & Tori love to visit the parks, and take a lot of fun walks on the neighboring trails. Last summer we did a "Park Tour" where we took one day a week to visit a different park with a different splash pad feature. It took us all summer to visit each of the different splash pads. We had so much fun that we are looking forward to doing it again this coming summer.

Last fall we had some fun friends come to visit us, and we were looking for something new to do. We were able to visit a park that we had not been to before. It is a non-traditional park; referred to as Kompan playground equipment and Goric swings. If you are interested in learning more about this style of parks, you can look it up at: www.goric.com

Jimmy had such a blast running around and trying out all of the playground equipment. We will definitely be visiting this park again. Let us know if you are ever in the area and want to try this park out.

~Curly Hair~

In January Tori received her 1st official hair cut. She received a cute, traditional, bob cut. A few weeks later I received the instructions from her Dance Studio of how I was supposed to style her hair for the upcoming dance pictures. The instructions stated; " Curly, curly, curly." I scrambled over the next week of trying different curly hairstyles, none of which lasted more than an hour or two, before the hair went back to being flat & drab. While on the computer one night researching little girl hairstyles, I stumbled upon instructions of how to do 'rag curlers'. The following are pictures of our adventure with trying out rag curlers. The 1st attempt was way too curly...more like frizzy. The only thing I could do was pull it into pigtails until I found the time to wash it out. By the 3rd attempt it seemed that I was starting to get the hang of it, I was able to use a small curling iron, to work with, and fine tune the curls. We were able to keep the hairstyle for both Saturday & Sunday. Tori's hair turned out really cute.. but I don't see myself doing this frequently. Just for things like pictures and special ocassions.

Ready or Not?!

Tis' the Season for dance recitals. Jimmy & Tori have been attending a dance studio since August and have been preparing for their Christmas recital from the first day of class. Just a few days ago it was decided that the "All Boys Hip-Hop" class that Jimmy is a part of is ready to start performing at local venues. He was able to perform at the Jubilee of Trees last Saturday, and has a few more opportunities soon as his class will be performing at Christmas functions around town. Here is some brief information. I will post more definite information as I receive it.
1. Dickens Christmas Festival, Saturday, December 5th, 2:00pm: $3 kids/seniors & $5 adults
2. Tuacahn Christmas Festival, Saturday December 5th, 6:00pm and 7:00pm -Free-

The 'official' Dance Recital will be on Saturday, December 12th at Snow Canyon High School. Both Jimmy & Tori will be performing on this day. The recital will be from 5:00pm-6:00pm, there is no cost to attend.

It should be great fun to attend. See you there!

Halloween!

Last year after an evening of successful trick-or-treating Jimmy exclaimed that he had just had the '....bestest day of his life!'. Ever since then, he has been consistent in stating that Halloween is his most favorite holiday.

This year Halloween was very busy. There were school class parties, dance class parties, friends & family parties, the annual school Spooktacular Halloween Carnival, and then of course, trick-or-treating.

Jimmy chose to be Darth Vadar for Halloween, which was easy, since he was Darth Vadar last year. BUT, Jimmy put an interesting twist on the idea, this year Jimmy did not want to wear the Darth Vadar mask, he wanted the mask off so everyone could see him showing the scary face of Darth Vadar. After patiently sitting through 2 hours of make-up construction Jimmy was able to see the results of his wish.

Tori wore 2 different costumes this year. Sometimes she chose to be a bumblebee and sometimes she chose to be a leopard. She had a lot of fun at the school carnival, especially with the hula hoops. On Halloween night she was asked if she would like to get her make-up done for her leopard costume.................she took one look at her brothers make-up and politely declined. :)