Archive for 'Personal'
The girls and I were invited to a BBQ at my sister & brother-in-law’s house Friday. With fresh San Diego carne asada, cotija cheese and fresh homemade salsa (tomatoes from the garden)on the menu, we of course jumped on it. The kiddos were far more interested in the mini golf game auntie Beka brought out, but the food…Mmmmm…was fabulous. Most of the fam was there to enjoy the feast. Great job on the grill Chris!!
We got our yearly fill of sparklers, ground flowers, fountains, and every other non-dangerous firework(thanks to our neighbors), but this time the girls would actually hold them. In fact, they got quite possessive. That and the fact that they have no understanding of combustion made things interesting. It went a little something like this:
“Dad, can you light my sparklers?”
“Sure. Can you point it away from my face first? Ok, here we- No, that’s my leg. Teagan…Tea- OWWW!!!!”
Anyway, I asked them to all make their sparklers go in a circle for a photograph. As you can see, Reilly had a little trouble with the circle concept, as well as a wardrobe malfunction.
Hope you all had a Happy Fourth!
About a month ago, I received an invite to Star Trek themed birthday party at the drive-in from a fellow photographer. I was on a session and unfortunately couldn’t make it. So when Stef and I got an invite from some friends last week, we decided to saddle up the kids and check it out.
I didn’t really consider what time of year it was and forgot it has to be um.. dark for the movie to start, so showtime wasn’t until 9pm…about an hour after our girls normally go to bed. Well, they made it (I almost didn’t) and I had plenty of time before hand to go and explore this interesting place.
Teagan decided last winter that she wanted to quit gymnastics for a while and try out tap and ballet dancing. After almost 6 months in her new class, she just had her first official recital this week. I will be totally honest–she was not what one would call passionate about this hobby. I would hear the other moms talk about how their little girls would go home from class and want to tap everywhere, all the time. Well, Teagan came home and never once did a dance move….not one! As her performance drew closer, I had my concerns about what she would do during her performance, if anything. I just had to hope that putting on her poodle skirt costume and being with all the other girls would excite her at least a little. Thankfully she loved her costume when she put it on, so there was at least that if nothing else. I dropped her off at the side door ready to go, her hair done to my best abilities for how short it is. I apologized to her teacher for not getting it into a bun as instructed; she said “don’t worry, I’ll fix it right now.” So I think to myself, “knock yourself out!”
Fast forward to us sitting front row and her whole group entering the stage and beginning their dance. We had no idea where Teagan was. I was so distraught I was almost in tears. I just knew she had either chickened out at the last minute and refused to come out, or that she was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep in the “holding room” and they didn’t wake her up. I couldn’t believe that we went through all of this for her not to appear in the show. I continued scanning the girls and about halfway through the routine, finally discovered Teagan in the line-up. Her teacher had made sure all of their hair was completely slicked back, including bangs. I had never seen T without bangs, so none of us recognized her! I was relieved she was there and bummed I had missed seeing half of her dance! Truth be told, I don’t think I missed much. She tried, but was clearly nervous and not too sure of what came next. Who cared at that point? At least we found her, and I was quickly reminded of why she has bangs! Here are a few snaps James took after the performance–she was super excited because we were taking her to Big Spoon to celebrate. Dance class is now over…back to gymnastics with big sis next week!
Been a while since I’ve taken some photos of Reilly performing at gymnastics. I don’t think I realized how far she had come until her competition. Flips, jumps, rolls and everything you can think of was in her arsenal and she did great. Here she is taking the floor…and taking the prize!!
In an effort to get the preschoolers accustomed to writing their names, Mrs. Ralston has the kiddos trace a template every morning. All the kids do the job faithfully and simply, but for the last few months, one student has been giving a little “extra” to the signature.
I’ll give you one guess which kid that is…
The temperatures soared today and so did the girls on our super swanky Slip N Slide. Who knew $14.95 could buy so much entertainment? Word got out fast, and soon there were a couple of neighborhood kids wanting a ride. I never saw our girls so proud of a piece of plastic.
p.s. they are not in jail, I had to shoot through the fence to keep the exuberant splashing off the camera.
Some photos from Teagan’s birthday party at Wacky Tacky. If you haven’t been, think McDonald’s playground on steroids. The girls (and boys) went crazy for about an hour then replenished the spent calories with some pizza and cupcakes. Miss T loved being the star and the center of attention. Hmmm….reminds me of someone…
Stef agrees.
Miss T turns four today. How this little ball of fun turned into this…big..ball of fun, I can hardly remember. Everyone says it, but it is just crazy how fast time flies by with kids. Happy birthday Teagan! p.s. save me a donut.
p.p.s. Umm…Teagan? I think your buns were bigger in your 6 month photo than they are now!
We snuck away for a short R&R trip to Carmel with the girls. Stef is awesome about planning impromptu things like this, and I am truly grateful. It was a wonderful time. Weather was perfect contrary to the reports, and the girls had a great time playing on the beach and exploring the town at our leisurely pace.
