Disneyland 2010

In June we got to go to Toppers in Los Angeles. We had a great time. We visited Mike's sister and family and went to Disneyland. The above picture is of Allyson on the way down. She is very much like her mother. We would rather fly than drive. I think Rylee was sitting here contemplating asking to use the bathroom for the 100th time.
Here we are near Splash Mountain and the Winnie the Pooh ride. We took this same picture last year without Nate or myself though.
The older girls really loved California Adventure this time. Emily even rode Screamin' which goes upside down and it turned out to be her favorite. This picture was of the girls on another favorite ride, the water ride made to look like rapids. There was no avoiding getting soaked on this ride.
This is Ally driving the car at Disneyland. She started out terrible. Rylee and I were jerked around quite a bit. But after a few minutes she seemed to get the hang of the turns and the rest of the ride wasn't as bad. Maybe there's hope for her someday.
Emily had to drive with what they called a cast member because Mike had to sit out with Nate.
Here's Ally after Mike accidentally let Ally take a bite of a frozen banana with peanuts. Minor slip but it made her really sick for about an hour and a half. Thankfully she recovered right when we were thinking about leaving.
Ally riding Thunder Mountain. She had her hands up the whole time.
Nate at the Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant. This is my favorite picture of the week!
Rylee, Nate and I went to the Playhouse Disney show while Mike took the kids on bigger rides. She LOVED this show. It was live on stage and very interactive with dancing and hand motions. It was right up her ally. We had to get creative finding things to do with the younger two while the older two went on their rides. I know Rylee got more ice cream and Popsicles than her sisters.
Mike and I dressed up for the real reason we were in L.A., Toppers. This was the black tie night.
One of the days we met up with my sister in law and her four kids and we hit Huntington beach. It was so fun. The water was perfect and there were dolphins swimming just off shore the entire time.
This is Rylee all messy and looking innocent right before she decided to go on a walk. I had told her, as she lay there to go down to Mike in the water to rinse off. She didn't want to and I was holding a tired and mad Nate so I didn't push it. A couple min. later Mike came up and we were discussing how we were going to get eight kids cleaned off and in the car along with all our gear. I look down and Rylee is gone. I figured she was playing in the pit they were working on the entire time we were there and I just couldn't see her. So Mike and I continue to make plans. I start to walk down to the hole they were digging to get the kids. No Rylee. Turns out she had taken a long walk down the beach. She stopped to talk to a grandma and her daughter and grandkids and when she started to move on, they figured it was probably smart to stop her. Especially since she said she didn't know where I was. When Mike got to the lifeguard station, they asked if Mike knew her name. He said Rylee. She paused and said, "ok, that sounds right I guess. She said her name was Ry RY. How old is she?" Almost 3, he said. Pause. "welll, ok, she said she was 5 but she looks more like 3. She talks really well so we thought maybe she was small." Mike passed the test to make sure he was her dad and she came walking back to us. When asked if she was lost, she looks confused and says, "no."
The pit they were digging and filling with water.
We bought them boogie boards and they were so excited, and then didn't use them.

Last Day of School and Swimming

Summer and swimming are in full force at our house. We recently stayed at a hotel that Ally could touch the bottom and she was so excited. Generally she is somewhat afraid of the water but she jumped right in here. She had a blast. Rylee was also fearless. I turned around to talk to my mom and she jumped right in from the steps. I didn't even hear her until Mike told me to get Rylee. She was bobbing up and down like a cork. Luckily she was doing pretty well. Nate was ok being in the water but as soon as we got to the pool area he got scared eyes and started crying. I'm not sure if it was the kids splashing or what, but he didn't like it.
The girls in their new suits waiting by the elevator. I found great deals on cute suits at GAP in San Diego.
Below is Rylee in the Lazy lagoon with Mike. She really enjoyed that. Ally, not so much. Like I said, unless she can touch she doesn't really want much to do with the water.
One thing Ally does want, though, is to do everything Emily does. Emily now rides all of the rides at waterworks. This, for all you non-redding people, is the Avalanche. A ride that is shaped like a U and you go straight down, then up until you slow down at the bottom. I tried to tell Ally she wouldn't like it, I don't like it. But since Em did it, she insisted. I thought her face at the bottom was classic. She hasn't ridden it since.
Ryee loves the water this year. The first day we went was kind of cool and she didn't care one bit. She stayed in the water the whole time. Except for the five bathroom trips in 2 hours. One of those times, I had Nate so I told Emily to take her. Rylee is really bad about goofing off in the bathroom and not listening to her sister. But, having four kids, it's necessary for her to go with Emily sometimes. So I gave Ry a big pep talk before leaving that she is absolutely supposed to obey Emily or else. So I'm sitting with Nate way across the park and I'm watching the bathroom area. Sure enough I hear Emily yell "RYLEE, COME HERE!" And just as I hear that, Rylee rounds the corner...totally naked and is running from Emily laughing. Emily is chasing her carrying her bathing suit trying to get her to stop. Mike, who is at the concession stand near the restroom hears nothing. They run right by him. So I jump up and intercede her streaking across the entire park. As I get halfway to her, I see/hear two ladies, (mom's probably), look up and bust up laughing. Now I'm totally embarrassed but realize how funny it is so I'm laughing and trying to get the suit back on while telling her she wasn't being a good girl for disobeying Emily. I don't think I got through to her though! Poor Emily, she looked horrified and says, "Mom, everyone was staring and laughing at us."
No more pictures mom!
Emily had her last day of school yesterday. She is very ready for the break. We had an amazing teacher this year, Ms. Henning. She was so good. She had lots of experience and kept the kids engaged all year. We are so thankful she was able to have her this year. I hope she's still teaching first grade for my other kids.
The first grade class did a class picnic for the last day and the families were all invited. This is Emily with Cassidy and Sydney.
Ally and Rylee eating their sack lunch. They were so excited to get to eat with the kids at school that day. Ally can't wait for preschool next year.

Easter 2010

We started our Easter weekend out by dying eggs on Saturday. Mike had the girls dye 3 dozen eggs. We now have a lot of hard boiled eggs in our fridge. Good thing Emily and Ally like them. The girls had a lot of fun mixing the different colors together and dipping the eggs. Overall, they did pretty good not breaking any shells.
Rylee had a lot of fun just stirring the colors, she got a little messy but it kept her busy.
Ally loved to let the eggs soak a long time. She would roll it around forever. She had the brightest eggs in the bunch.
Here's the loot Easter morning. They all got glittery tattoos, they love tattoos right now.


Nathan had a little bit of a rough day. He was kind of cranky that morning. I kept trying to get a picture of him with his basket without his pacifier but he would have none of it. I was lucky he let me put him down at this point.
He loves his bunny! He is very much a cuddly baby. He likes to put soft things up to his face.
This is their pre-rain Easter egg hunt. After breakfast we told the girls to go upstairs so we could hide the eggs then when we called them down Mike was going to let Rylee get a headstart, then Ally then Emily. But as we opened the door, it was starting to sprinkle with dark clouds quickly rolling in. So I told Mike to let them loose. They all got a pretty good amount of eggs.


The girls in their Easter dresses before church.
All the kids in their Easter clothes.

Happenings

Nothing too exciting is happening in our lives right now but it's super busy. Mike and I were just discussing how four kids can really consume all your life. We love each minute with our kids but it is WORK! So here are a few highlights right now, boring to you as they may be! The above picture is of Ally learning how to change Nathan. She's probably the most into him right now. She insists on sitting next to him in the car so she can give him what he needs and loves to hold him as much as possible. She also hugs his poor little head all of the time, but he honestly doesn't seem to mind it too much. She definitely is my little mommy of my girls.

Emily just got awarded Top Reader and Powerful Thinker at school. She was so proud and was thrilled to receive a Baskin Robbins coupon for an ice cream cone. She's doing so well in school, it comes so natural for her. Her teacher said she can read 208 words a minute and at this point in 1st grade she supposed to read 24. Her teacher said she's the top reader in all of first grade and she's pretty sure 2nd grade at least. She loves her books, just like mommy! She also does really well in math and comprehension. She needs to work on her handwriting but if you look at my handwriting and Mike's, I'm not sure how much hope she has!
Allergy season has hit our household again. I'm so thankful Rylee doesn't seem to have allergies. Emily also has them but not like Ally. So between Zyrtec, eye drops, benadryl, and her nebulizer, we're keeping her in check. It was funny, the other night her nebulizer broke and lets just say she wasn't heartbroken over it. Then she realized that Nana had an extra and the fun didn't last. She really doesn't like doing them and it's been a year now that we've been on them. I don't really see her getting off of them in the next year. I can tell when she's missed one. So we'll plug on keeping her breathing well...it's kind of important, right?

Rylee is potty training and doing amazing. On her third morning I was taking a shower and comes in asking for help because she had gone "number 2". I couldn't imagine that she went on her own the first time but sure enough she did, and she did it again later. I'm a firm believer in waiting until they're ready, it's so much easier. She did prove her newness on potty training when we went to Walmart. I was, of course, alone with all four and she went on the floor in the middle of the store. Thankfully I had wipes in my cart.

Nate is such a happy little guy. He's almost 5 mo. and is almost 13lbs! He's gained almost 2 lbs. in a month. That's huge for him. I really think nursing him wasn't giving him the calories he needed. He also loves him some bottle! Too bad it's so darn expensive.

Mike and I will be celebrating 9 years on Wednesday. It's gone by so fast. I can't wait to see what our future holds together!

Soccer and Rockets

This past weekend was great, the weather was perfect for playing outside and we did just that the entire weekend. Saturday we slept in and then went to Ally's first soccer game. I forgot my camera so I'll have pictures of her playing another time but she had a huge grin the entire time she was on the field. She loved every minute. It's funny because her coach always asks Ally before she takes the field if she is thirsty because she's already known for asking for drink breaks a lot.
Then it was home for lunch and rocket building. The girls have been begging Mike to launch the rocket he bought last year so we decided today was the perfect day to do it. However, when Mike opened the box it was a lot more complicated than we expected. After 1000 "is it done yet, daddy" questions we finally got it in the car and over to the school track near our house. It took a few tries and one run to the store for more vinegar but we got it launched. The girls were sooo excited. It had quite a good kick to it. Mike didn't let go of it quick enough at one point and it actually popped his shoulder out of joint for a second, (an old dislocation injury so it's not uncommon for him).

Here's Nate kicking back in his cute new summer outfit and matching hat Nana had bought him that day so he wouldn't get sunburned outside. After our rocket Mike and the girls ran the track some and played soccer. Emily turns out to be a pretty good runner. She ran 1/4 mile and kept ahead of Mike almost the whole time. Mike has been wanting to run with her and maybe Ally for quite some time. Ally enjoyed the soccer part more than the running part, but she gave it a shot.

After that we went to Nana and papa's house for rotisserie turkey. It was yummy and I didn't have to cook so it really completed our day.
This is the much needed bath after a busy day. He was very ready for it.
This is our rocket we launched. It stayed in tack so we can launch it again sometime soon...and I do mean soon as our girls ask every day.

3 mo. pictures

Emily- 7 Allyson- 4 Rylee- 2.5 Nathan- 3 mo.