Smoke on the Water

Have you heard?  We're stuck with lots of smoke around here and we're a little tired of it. Instead of staying inside (again) the other night we went boating.  At the end of June the lake is usually JAM PACKED with boaters.  Not this week!  We had great, albeit smoky, conditions. (You should have seen the sun as it set.  Gorgeous!)  Good times!  Thanks P's.

Jesse turned three on Tuesday.  We tried to wish him happy birthday but we couldn't drag him out of the water.  

Here's Molly, looking mischievous again. She's always up to something.

No Heidi, not until you're 16!

Here are Blake and Cecilee, the other two waterbugs of the night, looking wet and happy.

Emily did a great job swimming in the lake and continued her tradition of doing so without getting her hair one bit wet.  Good work!

The Great Mouse Adventure

Emily and I, along with Savannah and Erica just had the MOST EXCITING TIME EVER! We spent two days at Disneyland for the cousin adventure. The girls knew there was an adventure coming up and they knew they were going to stay in a hotel but they didn't know anything else.  

Emily told me she hoped it would be at Top It Off Yogurt (Hummm.  Maybe we could have saved a bit of money . . . ) but after we told the girls our destination they were more excited than any large yogurt with candy bar toppings could ever make them.

Here are the girls on the first big day for the obligatory castle photo.

We were lucky enough to get photos with nearly every princess!

Savannah and Emily were such good sports.  Erica and I are kind of, well, Disney Nazis.  We wanted to be sure we got to do everything, see it all, and pack as much Disney in as we could stand.  The first day we left the hotel at 7:30 and arrived back after 9:30.  (The girls are watching fireworks in this photo.)  

The next day we left at the same time, went back to the hotel for a few hours in the afternoon for a nap that they didn't want so we ended up swimming for a few hours instead.  Then we all went back until - ready - 11:30!  We were so, so tired at the end of the second day and honestly, we're still recovering.  

The next morning we took the girls straight from bed to the car and left before the sun went up.  Erica and I thought the drive might be more enjoyable if we could drive most of the way while the girls were still knocked out.  Here are some action shots of the girls saying good bye to Anaheim as the sun went up.  

We are looking forward to the next cousin adventure when Molly and Carolina turn 5!  It's a good thing that's not for a little while.  

You Can't Stop It!

The beat, that is.

Surprise, surprise, Emily had a Hairspray birthday party on Saturday.  It was lots of fun for Emily and probably pretty fun for the rest of the kids who had not ever heard of Hairspray. They were just excited to wear fancy clothes.  

Emily in her "Tracy" dress.  She wanted brown and yellow hair for the party but I told her she'd just have to settle for big yellow hair.  The brown will come, be patient.

I helped out as my alter ego, a 60s housewife.

We gave out customized cans of hairspray and combs as part of the party bag.  Molly and Emily had already used theirs up three hours later.  But really, I think the stick-up hair is a good look for Molly.  We should have let her keep it for church the next morning.