Pumpkin Patch!!

Today was the first of two trips to the pumpkin patch for us. It was Lauren's turn to go with her preschool class. I am always so amazed at the spectical that is the pumpkin patch in California. It's a simple city block corner, usually all concrete, jazzed up with some hay and tents and transformed into a pumpkin patch. While they are fun to visit, everything usually costs an arm and a leg. Fortunately attending with a field trip tends to keep costs down and kids happy. For a small fee, Lauren got to feed the crazy goats, jump in the jumper and take home a small pumpkin! She really wanted to ride a pony, but that was another $8. Seriously people!! Plus, due to bad weather earlier this week, there was about 200 3-4 year olds running around. Crazy! But we had a great time and Lauren loves her pumpkin!

Lauren's First Trip to the Dentist!

Last week, Lauren had her first visit to the dentist!! She is so brave, seriously, nothing really phases this kid. Of course, I think it helps that she gets to watch Emily do everything first. She did not shed a tear and was actually excited to have her teeth cleaned. In the end, a very successful trip...no cavities and the discovery that she has an extra permanent tooth in between her front two adult teeth. Apparently very common, but still a little weird to me. That will definately have to be taken care of in a couple of years!

Girl's Trip 2010!!!

So this year, we, the "Hall girls" planned ourselves a nice little weekend get-away. Thanks to the generosity of Michelle's parents, we had a beautiful condo in Huntington Beach, CA to stay in. We spent 3 full days and 4 late nights doing wonderfully fun stuff. We started our out with a full day of Disneyland magic. I wish I could tell you the weather was magic, but it was not. It was actually brutally hot but we managed and had a great time. Although I was exempt from most rides, almost all the girls braved the biggest and scariest rides and some of smallest and wimpiest!

Each night was spent talking to all hours of the night. It was so fun to get caught up with everyone.

The second night we had a yummy dinner at Ruby's on the Huntington Beach Pier.

On Saturday, we ventured out on the Balboa Ferry (a 4-minute ride) over to Balboa Island and shopped and walked the island!

We ended with a craft-fest on Saturday night.... Martha would be proud!!!
Sunday afternoon we finally got to the beach before heading the the airport.

Thanks girls for a great trip.....A special thanks to the dads that stayed home with the kids...you're the best (and my in-laws for coming down to help with my kids).

A great tradition for sure!!!!

Baby Update!

No, there will be no side profile shot included in this post! I wouldn't want to scare people. Actually, in reality, I am still feeling pretty good. Besides the fact that our hot summer has decided to come now, I think I will make it! My c-section is scheduled for Friday November 19th and we are all anxiously counting the days! The girls are crazy excited. I have put off getting out any baby stuff for a few more weeks just to keep them under control. Sometimes I think Lauren is more excited about all the "baby stuff" than about the actual baby! She loves all things baby...i.e blankets, bottles, pacifiers, clothes, shoes, etc. I'm sure she'll be a big help :) This month we are trying to fit in everything (doctor's appts, day trips, working at schools, etc) before the time comes when we get nothing done. We are super excited and of course will keep everyone update!

Soccer Season is Here Again!

Emily has started soccer again this fall. Once again, she loves it and is always super excited for game day and practice. Unfortunately, her mom hasn't been so good about taking pictures. Not really sure what's she's doing here but we'll definately have to get some better ones. One thing we've noticed this year is she is a natural born defender. Last year, she liked to try and go up and score and she'll still try this year, but as soon as the other team gets the ball, she turns into a defensive machine!!! She loves to steal the ball or block someone! It 's pretty fun to watch.

First Day of School!!

So this is only 5 weeks late, and I realize that there is a gaping hole between June and September but we've all got to start somewhere, and the first day of school seemed l is soike a good place. Emily started kindergarten this year and Lauren started pre-school. Both girls got to have a little celebration the night before their school started they chose the menu and got balloons. Emily chose spaghetti with meatballs (specifically homemade meatballs), corn on the cob, bread and fruit with chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Lauren was a bit easier with pizza and root beer floats. I think it's so funny because their choices represent their personalities in so many ways!!!! Both girls thoroughly enjoyed their individual celebrations, looks like a fun tradition.
Emily is is a kindergarten/1st grade combo class and is loving every minute of it. She just thinks she so big and cool!!! She is especially excited about homework (you know, the very advanced kind the do in kindergarten!

Emily's special dinner night!

First Day!! September 8, 2010

Lauren's Special Dinner Night!

Lauren's First Day! September 20th, 2010!

Girls Rule....

and boy drools!! Just kidding, Jason doesn't drool but his world is about to get a little pinker....because we are expecting little girl #3 in November!! We are so excited! The girls ademently wanted a girl, I was actually a little worried what would have happened if it was a boy!!! I was even a little nervous it might be a boy, what do you do with a boy? I don't even know. Anyway, we're super happy and more importantly it looks like the baby is very healthy. Jason keeps telling me this means I don't really need to buy anything, but have you seen all the cute girl clothes out there?

Free Fun!!!

Where we live, free is not a word you here too often. Even if something is advertised as free, there's usually a small catch but a couple of weekends ago, we found an advertisement for a street fair in Palos Verdes. It advertised a lot of things being free, including parking (unheard of). So we decided we'd give it a try. True to their word, most everything, besides food and the big rides were free. Parking was truly free and not 10 miles away and more importantly for our kids the pony rides and petting zoo were free. We had a blast!! The girls rode the ponies multiple times, due to a short line and we got tons of time in the petting zoo. We enjoyed the boothes, even got coupons for more free stuff!

Both girls loved riding the ponies, it helps that they were super small.

Emily feeding the goats, they were quite aggresive which made Lauren really nervous!!

I love this next series of pictures!!!

Happy to be close to the goats!!

Maybe a little to close!!!! WAY, WAY too close. Jason claims there was no actual contact but I'm have my doubts!!!
This was the cutest mini-garbage truck.. The girls thought it was so cool, we hope it's not a occupation consideration by them!

Spencer's Baptism!

This last weekend was my nephew Spencer's baptism. Somewhat last minute, we decided to drive up to be there for the weekend. Our girls love to be with cousins and we thought it was a great chance to see one of their cousins get baptized. We invited Deb and she brought Kaitlyn, which made the weekend perfect for Lauren. We pack into Deb's car and made the drive. The girls were great travelers and we had a great weekend. My parents were also in town, which made for a a very special Father's Day!! The baptism was wonderful, the weather was perfect and the company was even better.

I can't even begin to explain how funny these two are. Lauren and Kaitlyn were made from the same mold and the LOVE each other. It's so fun to watch them play and be mischevious together!!
Emily with Spencer, the man of the hour.

My parents with the grandchildren (and great-grandchild) that were there for the weekend!

Last Day of School!

The girls' last day of school was a couple of weeks ago. They don't do a graduation, but both classes had fun parties. It's pretty crazy to think that next year Emily will be in kindergarten, especially since here it is all day long! What will Lauren do without her? We have loved our little preschool and are excited that Lauren will still get to be there.

Emily and her two teachers!! She love, loves them!
Taking a swing at the pinata!

Lauren at the playdough table one last time (until next fall!)