Recital Vid

I'm Waiting For My Prince

Annalise has been going to her princess ballet class for a few months and is always asking when class is. Here are some photos from her 1st ballet recital just this last weekend. Honestly, I thought she'd have stage fright given the not-so-stellar performances she gave us at home leading up to the recital. However, some sort of magic turned on when she went on stage! We're so proud of her hard work and accomplishment.

Comparo: Halloween Costume

Comparison of our kiddos at the same age, same place.

Snow White and the 2 Dwarves. With special guest,"Lion."

"Really. When she looks back on the effort you spent in making her the Snow White costume, she'll be so thankful that you did. You will, too."

I'd like to think my words of encouragement helped motivate her into finishing the Snow White costume, but really, it was Tracy's desire to see her little girl in a hand crafted princess outfit. Thus far Anna has been a Lady Bug, a Bee, and now a fictitious Disney princess with an affinity for small woodland man-creatures. With each, we have distinct memories, but this year would be different because of how aware she is of things, and (lets be frank) this year she'll actually eat the candy.

"As for Russell, just throw him in whatever fits. He wont care. He's a boy."

The first of the weekend's activities was going to our church's Harvest Party. If you haven't been to one or would like to attend our's some time, you should! A Trick-or-Treat alternative with lots of games, activities, bounce houses, food, and candy. Russell preferred riding on mommy's back instead of being in his warm Lion outfit.

Anna with some friends. (Love the matching black eye with the boxing outfit)

Snow White and the 2 Dwarves + Russell

By far, one of Anna's favorite carnival activities: The Bounce House!

Cruisin...

Snow White taking part in one of the games.

Snow White meets up with 2 Bee friends

Her first cotton candy......and her last for a while.

Surprisingly, she didn't eat the whole thing.

The Lion emerges and is on the prowl! (with some help)

Snow White meets up with a fairy (good friend Abby)

The Lion and Snow White

Running on empty

We went for a run today and the kiddos managed to be nice to each other. We were pleasantly surprised to find they were asleep when we got home!

Daddy Daughter Date

Momma and R-man went to some boring craft festival so A-bug and I had nearly the entire day to ourselves. While, a trip to Costco for her favorite samples and then 20 laps at the local train park would've satisfied the same, I thought it'd be fun to do something we don't usually do. After saying goodbye to the rest of the fam, Anna and I went to Mission Bay Park where we managed to nab the #1 spot at Belmont Park's parking lot. Get out!

From there we assembled the bike stroller and went for a 20 min ride around the boardwalk and parts of Mission Bay. We found a nice spot the two of us could enjoy our lunch while overlooking a cove within the bay.

The view

Lunch time!

Our bird-brained, lunch 'guest'

Our guest stood and watched us eat our food. For some reason he inched closer and closer to us, but would leap away when I stood up and bared my savage predatorial teeth. My celebration ended, when bird brain settled back into the viewing position moments after I sat back down. Alas, he really wanted that fallen piece of bread. Witness Anna feeding the birds.

After some good bird rousing (and a challenging feat to use the wasteland they call a restroom), we went to the park and played.

..that's me...

A quick 20 min bike ride back to the beach to play on the beach...

The beach was quite windy and cold, so we left a bit earlier then we wanted, but not without a quick stop on the merry-go-round!

On the way home, we stopped by Ranch 99 for a special treat (custard pancake thing) which Anna happily gobbled down. So quickly, in fact, I didn't have time to take a picture. We had a wonderful day together and began a ritual to be continued into the years to come!

Bro Sis Comparo

Russell now and Annalise (2 years ago). Same equivalent age. Interesting to see their similarities and differences.