Tuesday, May 7, 2019

A few months of FUN

Since his first day in January Nixon has loved every single day of preschool!


Reading, painting, playing; he enjoys it all and wants to go every day of the week (he only goes mon-wed).  One of his favorite days each week is Wednesday because the kids get to bring an item for sharing that represents the letter of the week.  Here are a few of his choices from previous weeks:

Bear for B (he shared Uncle Shawn's bear Josh),


 watch for W (his NIXON watch),


ZERO for Z (we had to creative when he insisted on bringing a zero).


Presley says she is sad that she doesn't get to go to preschool anymore.  Apparently Kindergarten is hard work and she misses school that "lets you play all day."  At least she gets to dress up every morning. That and seeing friends are the two things that keep her excited to go each day.


Every now and again, on special occasions (I think it was the 3rd Monday in February), Mom lets Presleys stay home "sick" from school.  This month they went to the San Diego Zoo where they spent the day seeing the dragon (kimodo dragon), and every kind of cat they had.




Before we knew it, Macie, Presley, and I had survived 100 days of school for the year.  The older grades don't celebrate the day, but the Kindergartners get to have a party!

For breakfast that morning Mom made Presley special waffles and cream cheese.


Each Kindergarten class had a fashion show and each kindergartener had to wear 100 of something.  Presley chose to wear 100 rhinestones and Mom made her a huge tulle skirt using 100 ft of material.


She loved prancing about the room showing off her outfit...


Later in the week it was fancy day at school.  We adored this day!




That weekend, while Macie was competing at State Cup, we met our cousins in Big Bear for a family weekend in the snow.  









Back at home the following week we celebrated Valentines Day.  Nixon couldn't wait for his big party at school.




He had a great time, and Mom and Dad LOVED the valentine craft he made for them!


Later that week Dad and Nixon went to Dad's night at school.  They got to watch a movie and eat treats together.


For the rest of the week we stayed at home, ran errands, and played in the yard.


Presley and Nixon loved all the rain we were getting because it meant they could hunt for worms.




We had a day off of school and since we have been on a Greatest Showman kick at our house, Mom thought it would be fun to go to the circus!




The show was awesome and afterwards we got to take pictures with the entertainers!



To celebrate Grandma Judy's birthday at the end of February we took a trip to Mammoth.  Macie and I couldn't wait to hit the slopes and Presley and Nixon were thrilled to ski for the first time.




Mom signed them up for ski school and couldn't wait to see how they did at the end of the day.


Nixon's class finished first and he was so excited to show Mom how he could ride the magic carpet and ski down the hill:



Since Nixon's session ended a couple hours before Presley's Mom worked with him on the lower mountain and by the end of the day he was doing really well.


When Presley's lesson was over she didn't want to leave.  She adored skiing.  And the 5 boys taking a class with her.  She was full of smiles and laughter as she made her way down the hill.  She is going to be the cutest snow bunny ever!


We all had an awesome time on our first day!


It started snowing later that day and didn't let up for the rest of our trip.  Even in the white out snow conditions we had a blast.







On our last day on the hill Mom stayed in with Presley and Nixon while Grandma Judy, Macie, and I got some runs.  When the car was packed and the unit was clean Mom took the little ones out for some fun in the snow before our long drive home.


That weekend we celebrated birthdays with our friends.  We went to an indoor trampoline park with Giuliana and Presley didn't stop smiling the whole time.


Macie showed off her Ninja moves on the warp wall.


On Sunday we celebrated cousin Avery's birthday at a park.  Our favorite part was the face painting!






Back at school the next week Nixon and Hayden kept charming the masses...



Mid March Uncle Will showed up for a visit.  Lucky for him he showed up in time to help Mom prepare for St. Patrick's Day.


Mom had a little too much fun making a mess this year...  


Not only did the "leprechaun" get into the laundry, but he opened food, knocked our trap over, and had a party with streamers, balloons, and poppers.


Mom had promised us that she would sleep on the couch this year to try and foil the leprechauns evil plans of making a mess.  After she laid down Uncle Will helped to cover her in laundry and streamers to make it look as if she slept through the whole ordeal.

Yes, Mom is over the top.  Don't pretend you thought otherwise...


The next day was full of laughter.  We all got a kick out of the leprechaun and his destruction.   It was nice to spend time at home with Uncle Will playing through the morning.



In the afternoon we went over to the Garrett's house for an afternoon of cooking and fun.  All of the kids cooked the meal for dinner.  We made all the fixin's for taco salad as well as some mini pies for dessert.



After the feast we smashed open a piƱata full of St.Patrick's Day treats.







The next day we went to LegoLand with Uncle Will to celebrate Presley's birthday and Nixon learning how to read.



Since it was the start of Spring Break we had to wait in longer lines than normal, so we took lots of silly photos to pass the time.







Presley was so thrilled Uncle Will was with us because she finally got to go on the spinning rides. 






Our day at Legoland was full of fun, and to top it off Uncle Will bought us a Lego Shark kit!!!


At school the next day we participated in the annual FUN RUN.  Nixon went with Mom to cheer us on before he had to go to school.



Presley wasn't too thrilled to be running, but was more than thrilled to be on "stage" with eyes watching her while she showed off her moves...


We all kicked booty and more than met our goals.





A few days later Miss Andrea took a cruise out of San Diego and Mom got to hang out with her for a few hours before her flight.  They went down to La Jolla and walked around the shores catching up.  As usual Andrea asked Mom to take a picture with her, and as usual Mom gave it her best try...


As they were walking back to the car Mom came across this seal and couldn't help but pose along side it.  Twinning...


The next few weeks were spent going about our usual schedule.










Even when we aren't doing anything "fun", fun happens to find us...


At the end of March I got to fly out to Scottsdale, AZ to celebrate my friend Dean's 12th birthday.  I was so excited to fly alone for the first time ever!  Mom couldn't believe how grown up I looked, and acted, as I set off on my journey.



My first fight alone went well despite sitting next to an annoying kid who played fortnite the entire time.  He was really into his game and kept making energetic noises out loud.  Thank goodness I had noise cancelling headphones and a good book!  I arrived in Phoenix on time and met Nana and Papa at the gate.  They drove me straight to Dean's so that I could celebrate with the boys and enjoy a cupcake before bed! 


The next day I got to ride shotgun in the Porsche (and then the Tesla) with Miss Andrea.  I was sure livin' it up on my vacation !


After watching Dean and Owen play baseball we drove down to Gilbert for some fun on the FloRider.






While I was in Arizona, Macie and Dad were in Las Vegas for a soccer tournament.  After a day of winning her weekend was made even better thanks to a couple Golden Knights hockey tickets.  She had a BLAST at the game and loved every minute of the excitement.



The next day I enjoyed spending time with the Ketcham's and was sad to get back on a plane home.




I arrived home just in time to click my heels and wind up dressed to impress at cotillion.


Macie ended her weekend on a high with another tournament win for her soccer team.


To celebrate, everyone went to Circus Circus and rode rides for hours.


That next week at home Mom was busy preparing for our schools first annual Mother Daughter Tea Party.  This years theme was Alice in Wonderland.  As soon as Mom heard the theme her heart skipped a beat and she couldn't wait to put together some costumes.

Macie and I didn't want to dress up as a character and instead chose to wear fancy dresses.   Presley wanted to be Alice so Mom decided to make a Mad Hatter outfit for herself.  She worked hard to make a top with ruffled lace sleeves, a collar, a belt, lapel accessories,



and best of all, a hat.  From scratch.  Apparently making a top hat was much harder than she had imagined.


 I loved the fancy lace dress and fascinator Mom designed for me.  I was in my element for sure!


Presley made the perfect little Alice,


and Macie's black lace dress she chose made her feel super fancy.



Miss Jessi and Ava came over to accompany us for the evening.


While taking pictures Miss Jessi asked us to pose like we were drinking tea.  I guess there was something funny about the way we drink tea because Mom and Miss Jessi couldn't stop laughing...


With Mom finally dressed we took a few more pictures then took off for the party.




As you can see, Mom embraced the MAD Hatter's persona quite well. 


 All of us had a fantastic night together with friends.





April is almost here and we can't believe the year is flying by so quickly.  Lots of big events are coming up for us, so check back soon to hear all about them.