Twister and bowling

Not much of a story to tell here... It's twister!

Today the girls and I had to go get new tires for the car. Considering this was going to take about 2 hours of waiting, I wasn't totally sure how I was going to keep the kids entertained. Luckily the tire shop was across the road from the bowling alley so once we dropped the car off we headed over. The girls did really well this time. They were super happy off the total surprise of showing up to bowl that I think it improved their game  ;)

After we went to the arcade and won some prize tickets. The girls tried for the first time a dancing game. They were not that successful but it was still fun to watch.

When it came time to choose prizes they each got a dog figurine and they each got a piece of candy. Most kids from the 80's probably remember the super sour candies called warheads. I mean, these things are painfully sour. The girls had never tried them. The pics below are their faces when trying them. 

I nearly wet myself laughing. They were so sour the girls spit them out almost instantly. 

One last picture to share. Danika starts first grade tomorrow. I think this is harder for me than her first day of kindergarten because it just seems like now she is really in elementary school. This is her asleep in her bed tonight on the eve of becoming an even bigger "big girl" . Love u Dani xo

Anniversary and popping tags

This August 5th Craig and I celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary. The girls joined us to celebrate at Morton's Steakhouse for dinner. Craig and I love our own time together but really do enjoy being able to bring the kids to enjoy with us. That's how it always was for me growing up. My parents never got babysitters. Brett and I would always go out with my parents on their anniversary and it was always so fun to be included. I mean, they are a big part of our love for each other so why not include them? Anyhow the girls dined on mini hamburgers and Shirley temples to drink. Craig and I of course had steak. It was a really nice time together. 

The next day the girls and I took a trip to the park for a picnic. Reese was busy most of the time making new friends in the playground and Danika spent the whole time perfecting her scooter riding lap times around the park.

Afterwards we decided to go to the thrift store to find some dress up clothes for the girls. Macklemore has a new song out called "thrift shop" which the girls love so I figured I would show them what a thrift shop was. We didn't have much success finding anything worth buying but the girls had fun anyhow.

Step Right Up For the Greatest Show on Earth!!!

About a week ago I saw the Ringling Brothers Circus advertised on TV. Thinking back it had been at least 28 years since I last saw a circus, so I thought what a great thing for the 4 of us to do. Summer is quickly coming to a close so we needed one more big ticket item to add to our memory bank, and the Circus definately did not disappoint!

We headed down to the Honda Center in Anaheim and arrived there about 90 minutes before the show started. This was on purpose as the circus hosts an all access time before each show so people can visit the animals outside, and then go inside for a meet and greet with the performers, and some smaller acts to keep everyone entertained. The kids saw the lions and elephants outside, and met with some clowns and performers inside. Danika got to jump rope with some of the performers, and we watched some clowns acts and dance acts.

We got some pretty good seats, 5th row in the middle of the performance area so we were able to see all the show really well. Some of the highlights for me were the Tigers, the Elephants, the Dancing Dogs and the Girl getting shot out of the cannon. They pack a lot into the show. In all it was just over 2 hours. You really get your monies worth, and the performers did such a good job. You can really see how hard they must work. Capturing all this action was difficult, but here are some pics for your enjoyment!

Visiting the elephants pre show 

Performer meet and greet

The elephants were amazing!

There were about 15 tigers ranging from your orange to your white. Beautiful!

Dancing poodles

Reese's reaction to the dogs.

The cannon

Tight rope

The cutest clown in the world 

The finale.

We had such an amazing time. I am so glad we did this together.

Pool Party!

Danika and Reese attended their first ever pool party this last weekend. The four of us attended and we all had a blast. Danikas friend Sophia was turning 6, and her little sister Lauren was turning 1 so it was a double header.

Danikas swim lessons paid off as she was able to swim on her own with her friends. Reese had a blast bobbing around in her floaties. Some highlights of the party were the jumpy house, tattoos, swimming, pizza, hula hoops. Probably the best part was when an ice cream truck showed up as a surprise for the birthday girls. Everyone at the party was treated to ice cream cones, shakes, sundaes, you name it.

Here are some photos from the day....

Thank you to the Hayman Family for such a fun day!!! Nice job on the party Jackie & Jordan!