Imagination is wonderful

We like to build tents, but they can be very hard to set up, especially for a 5 year old. That didn't stop Nathan, he found a better way than sheets and chairs - for him anyway.

Out with the old...

This was our Mazda Tribute. It was a good car, we bought it new in 2001.

But it's time had come. I've been without AC for a few months, it was on a solar charger as to not completely drain the battery because a fuse was defective and the whole box needed to be replaced, and it would randomly stop working - Oh and how could I forget the back window wouldn't latch, so any bump it would pop open. So, before it's value was zero, we decided to trade it in.

Last night we went to see what we could get. They were generous with what they gave us for the Tribute, it decided to have one of those random moments, where it wouldn't start. Go figure!

...IN WITH THE NEW(to us)!

Here is our new, to us, 2007 Mazda 3, a little sport sedan. It drives very nice, and looks amazing. It's previous owner loved their car, and I am very happy about that. We love it! Yes, it will take a little adjusting, going from an SUV to a sedan, and a low one at that. Nathan said it was like being in a race car - I felt like I was driving one, it was fun!

Summer Vacation Trip Part 2

Saturday was a huge street fair and a local kids sandcastle event. We walked around and saw some of the creations.

Here is one of the more inventive kids creations. They used a lot of colored sand

Nathan enjoying the water, he just loves the sand and water.
Unfortunately, we never got to chance to really stop and play, it was SO crowded

Here's a good idea as to how many people were there. It was just as crowded on the streets

More of the kids creations

Saturday evening we went back to my aunts house to hang out with the family
There were 16 of us there. Thanks so much for coming guys, it was a nice evening.

Nathan and Gabe(my cousin Kristine's son)
They had a great time playing together

Sunday morning we went back to Imperial Beach to see the pro's at work. It was very impressive. I can't post all the pictures, I'll just post a few. The crowds were insane again, of course, and the tides were coming in fast, so we only saw two completely finished ones But it was worth it, we had a good time. Something to experience once. Here are a few pictures of the sculptures being made. Remember, these are all made of sand.





This was built up higher on the beach, we saw this being sculpted on Saturday

This was the only competition one we saw after the horn blew.
A very impressive one

The drive home was...less exciting. Only took us 5 1/2 hours, not bad considering it looked like this

Summer Vacation Trip Part 1

Thursday we loaded our stuff and headed to Hollywood for lunch and a little walk around Hollywood and Highland.


Chillin' with her Jamba Juice




Nathan is finding Waldo



I really love this mall

Now on to our destination - San Diego!
A HUGE thank you to my cousin, Jessica, for the tips about Sea World and the amazing discounts. And another HUGE thanks to my Aunt Kathy and Uncle John, for allowing us to crash at their house. We had a really great time!
This trip has been planned for a year, we heard about a huge sandcastle event in Imperial Beach and thought it would be really cool to see this year. Pair that with a trip to Sea World and you have a pretty good vacation.
So Friday was Sea World -

This is Lance the "special" Sea Lion. He is a rescue, here he's doing barrel rolls for us

The Blue Horizon's dolphin show. The story is cheesy, but the dolphins were very cool

The Pet show. This was SO cute, don't miss this if you go.

Mmm! Strawberries.
We ate at the same place we took Teresa 9 years ago, and had strawberries

Teresa feeding and petting a dolphin, her name was Dotty.
Nathan and I did it too, but those pictures are on a different camera.
I might get around to posting more ;)

Watching the killer whales

The Sean Lion and Otter show, another one not to miss.
The pre-show was hilarious too

The long awaited penguins. Nathan was anxious to see the penguins

This is in the Sesame Street Bay at Play area,
Nathan and I climbed in rope hammocks to the top and then played around
while we waited for daddy and sissy, they were doing the sky tower 

We had a great day, saw everything we wanted to, and made it back by dark. We still had the weekend ahead of us, so we needed to rest up.

Sunday Afternoon

After a crazy week and weekend(Fri and Sat) we decided to take a drive up the canyon. This was Nathan's first time. Having been a kid who got car sick, we were waiting until we were pretty sure he'd outgrown it. He did great, they both did. Nathan started feeling bad coming back down, but he did fine. We went prepared with plastic lined buckets, and I'm happy to say, they weren't used :)

ICE CREAM in Kernville. Afterall, it was national Ice cream day

Sleeping Beauty

Teresa was part of NOR's Junior Theater performance of Sleeping Beauty this weekend. They did a fantastic job! Teresa even had her own little solo dance. It was a crazy busy week with rehearsals from 5:30-9:30 M-Th and then a perfomance Friday night, and two more Sat - one at 2pm and one at 7pm. She had such a good time and made new friends. In fact, she auditions tonight for Les Miserables - to be performed in October.
Here are a few pictures

Teresa and Hannah found spotlights(at North High) Teresa was a Forest Fairy and Hannah was a storyteller.

Curtain call

Teresa in her costume and full make-up (the wind was blowing, there is another wing back there)

Hannah, Teresa and Madison, opening night
Hannah is wearing a gypsy robe she was awarded. It goes to someone
who is deidicated and has a positive influence on the cast. She will add
something to it from the show, and then opening night of Les Miserables,
it will be handed to someone else.

It's a Penguin Party!

Nathan decided back in February that he wanted to have a penguin birthday this year. he saw a penguin cake in one of my cake books, and thought they were SO cute. So we did penguins! He was very particluar about the things he wanted. I think it turned out nice and he had a great time.
We made a penguin pinata, penguin invitations, penguin hats, and penguin goody bags. The house and backyard had 40 snowflakes and streamers everywhere, along with blue, black and white balloons.

We had an egg hunt, waddled like peguins, with balloon between our legs, broke the pinata open and pinned the beak on the bird.

Happy Birthday sweet boy!