Spring Break 2011

We're back.  Had a wonderful time in sunny and beautiful California with our great friends.  We fit a lot in during our six day trip....beach house in Manhattan Beach, Hollywood, DisneyLand, Los Angeles....and now it feels good to be home!  The kids did great the entire trip.   Plane rides were good, car rides were good and they slept great every night.  It's getting a bit easier to travel with them now!  Below are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy!!


Waiting to check in at MSP. So very excited!

Our first glimpse of the ocean in Manhattan Beach. The kids couldn't wait to run to it.  So different than the snow we left.

5 seconds after this picture Griff took a header into the ocean....wet head to toe, tears flowing.  We had our first clothing change in a van at the ocean. Thankfully our suitcases were in the car!

The next day.  The kids had a great time playing at the ocean with Olivia and Drake.

The beautiful beach houses.

Abby's mad b/c I was asking her to move back...the waves were huge and kept pulling the kids in deeper and deeper. You can tell she isn't pleased I'm asking her to move closer to me!

It was a bit chilly but it didn't stop them from getting sopping wet.  Don't worry, we learned our lesson......we put them in their suits the next day.

Griff and Drake not only look alike, but like playing Angry Birds on our phones together!

Love their reflections in the water!

 See, swimsuits......and who cares that it was only 65 degrees?  Not these midwestern kids!

Bumming around Hollywood on our way to Disney.

Can you see the Hollywood sign???

Mickey and the kids.

Snow White's Star

Swimming the hotel pool at Disney.  It was FREEZING.  I can't believe Mike was in there with them. The water was actually heated and warm but the air temp was so cold.  They only lasted a 1/2 hour and came our shivering!

Waiting to get into Disney. We had a beautiful day....sunny and 75 degrees.

 See Miss Pouty Pants over there in the corner?  She didn't want her picture taken with her mom.

 "Hmmmm, where should we go when we get into Disney?"

 Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

 The twinners and Mike on the Dumbo ride.  Mike gets to ride all the fun ones :-)

 All Hannah wanted to do was ride on the Carousel.

Ah, the Princesses. Hannah was SO EXCITED to see them.  Abby actually was pretty excited, too. Griff asked every 5 minutes while we waited in line (which was almost an hour) why he had to see the Princesses.

But then he got a hug from Ariel and he was a happy guy again :-)

Riding on a train around Disney. A highlight for Griff.

This was on Tom Sawyer's Island. One of the coolest things we did there. We took a raft over and played on the island for awhile.  Lots of forts, treehouses, treasure, etc.

 On our way out we stopped for ice cream sundaes. Yum!

And then we had to hit one more ride for Griff.  He saw this rocket ship ride the second we walked into the park. We kept telling him we'd go back and ride it.....we thought he forgot. He didn't. So we were bone tired but we stood in line and he got to ride the rocket ship. And he was thrilled!

So that is about it......had a great time, but good to be home. Wasn't so thrilled to see the snow on the ground, but hopefully that will be gone soon!

Swimming!

Hannah and Griffin started swim lessons today.  They LOVED it.  Hannah could hardly keep still through the lesson she was so excited.  Enjoy the pictures......


Meeting their teacher, Tiffany.

Showing Tiffany their monkey cheeks

 Bubbles!

 Kicks

 Go Griff Go!

 Go Hannah Go!

 Patiently waiting his turn

 She's ready!

 Rocketship jump!

Singing Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall and then jumping into the water

Signs of Spring

Ah, warmer weather. You know what that means......bikes, bubbles, chalk, rain boots, and lots of smiles and laughter. Felt good to be out today, even if you could still feel the chill in the air. The chill didn't seem to bother anyone in the neighborhood, as everyone was out. We saw neighbors we hadn't seen all winter ;-)   H&G were having a good time playing with each other, and Abby spent the entire afternoon at the end of the cul-de-sac playing kickball with all the neighborhood kids.  Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Griff trying to shovel snow into the new neighbor's yard :-)

 Hannah's flower

 "this is a monkey and these are his ears"

 Hannah adding a picture of me to her flower....

 ...she added a dog, too, but I don't have that picture. She is quite the little artist. Loves to draw and color.  She really takes her time and stays within all the lines.

 All the chalk artwork

And since I didn't have any pictures of Abby outside, here she is after coming in from a long afternoon of kickball. She got into her favorite chair and picked up a book.

Hannah

She's been on her own this week for school and has been LOVIN' it.  Griff had a 48 hour bug that he has finally beat, so he'll be back next week.  Hannah has loved telling Griff about all he has missed at school :-)

Ice Show Video

Attached is a video of Abby's ice show on Saturday night. Can someone leave a comment or send me an email and let me know if this works?  If so, I have a video of her karate tourney from the other week to post, too.......Thanks!

Ice Show Success!

Abby and her troupe did a great job at the ice show this evening.   They really looked like they were having a great time.  The pictures below aren't much different from the dress rehearsal, but I figured you'd want to see them anyway :-)  Mike took a video and he promises to upload it tomorrow to the MAC so hopefully I'll have the video to post tomorrow.


Lunging, top left corner....

 Third girl in facing front...

 Third girl gliding....

 Second girl spinning....

 Second girl spinning....

Sneak Peak

Big ice show tonight......Abby had a dress rehearsal last night and I was able to get few pictures. I won't be able to take any tonight, so these are it!  We'll see if the video works tonight...it's pretty dark in there, but we'll give it a whirl.  Abby is super excited and her troupe looks really good out there.  They are doing their routine to I Feel Pretty from West Side Story - it's cute!


Waiting and reading (HP, book 6) before going out onto the ice....

Warming up - she's in the purple jacket, lower right side

Abby and her friend Reese doing a spin during their routine

Another spin

Bunny hops on the ice...she is the first one in the first row of girls, leading the pack

doing a lunge...the spotlight is on her....and she looks a little tippy!

 Doing a one foot glide

 A spin....second girl in

 Another spin shot.....hard to get her face on those!