California Dreamin'

We just returned from a trip to California. I have so many pictures to share, so I'm planning to do several posts. Brian has lots of family in California, so we spent the first few days visiting and attending his cousin's wedding.

Here are Parker and Claire before the ceremony

Brian with several cousins

My little princess

My pumpkinhead

The cake was beautiful and delicious!

Brian showing off "the biggest olive he's ever seen". He's easily amused.

Claire dancing with her Daddy.

Parker convinced SEVERAL "pretty girls" (as he called them) to dance.

Claire trying to catch the bouquet.

It was a beautiful wedding and reception, and we're so glad we got to be there!

On the road again...

Or maybe I should say "in the air again". I'm off on another fun adventure! Be back next week!

Claire's Preschool End of Year Party

Claire's preschool class had an end of year party the other day. Here she is making a silly face! Showing off her messy mouth!

Loving on each other!

Modeling the shirt she painted

She has had a wonderful year! She learned so much and loved playing with her friends!

Will someone please pass the tissues?

Parker has officially graduated from Kindergarten. (Insert tears here). My baby is going to be in first grade. I just can't believe how time flies.

Congratulations Parker!

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

We have had a nice weekend just enjoying some family time together. The kids have loved finally being back in the pool after what seemed like a long winter.

Today we went to see Night at the Museum. The showing we went to see was sold out, so we were forced to eat at Italian Village (some of my favorite pizza in the world) while we waited for the next showing. It was a pleasant and unexpected surprise!

More fun at the mall

Finally it was time for the movie.

The movie was so cute! I thought it was even better than the first one.

We came home and broke out the new slip & slide.

They never really got the hang of doing it, but had a blast since Daddy helped them every time! Brian told me he thinks our kids may have inherited my athleticism. That's not a good thing. For example, this is what I did while all the rest were slippin' and slidin' (including Daddy):
I sat in a chair and took pictures! I am a great cheerleader too! However, I do not think hurling myself on a wet piece of plastic is fun. I do bet it would have made for some mighty hilarious pictures though!

Then they switched over to the sprinkler. More fun!

Look what I found in one of my ferns tonight...

And lastly, a beautiful rainbow to round out a wonderful weekend!

Otherwise known as the day I was almost gored by a longhorn

I had the great pleasure of accompanying Parker on his safari field trip. Now I ask you, what do you think of when you hear the word safari? I was expecting to ride through the grounds and maybe (if we were lucky) we would spot an animal or two in the distance.

Friends, I was never more wrong. We were loaded up on wagons and off we went! It didn't take long before I noticed the MANY animals RUNNING (and I do mean RUNNING) toward out wagon. This was just a regular ol' wagon, not one with any special safety features. I didn't even see an armed farmer lurking in the bushes anywhere. Those animals could have been having a bad morning, and we would have been goners.

All the animals were pushing each other out of the way to make sure they didn't miss out on the feed we were distributing.

Check out this guy:

See those horns? They obviously moved whichever way he fancied to move them. Just for the record, he fancied to move them right toward me a few too many times. He seemed tame enough, but I still question his motives. I'm not even going to attempt to describe his tongue. Just be very glad his tongue doesn't show in the picture. There were lots of llamas and llama-like creatures.
Unfortunately, the llamas were apparently mad at mama because one poor mama got spit on TWICE by two different llamas.

This ostrich came at the food quietly and swiftly. The term "quick as a cat" comes to mind. I think I will henceforth say "quick as an ostrich". If the shoe fits...

And then there's this guy...

He was cute as a button, in a wild animal sort of way.

There were even zebras. This is the cutest little baby zebra I've ever seen. Granted, I haven't seen a lot of baby zebras, but he was definitely the cutest.

Here's the last wild animal I encountered! He was by far the cutest of all!

Field Day Fun

Parker had a lot of fun at his Kindergarten Field Day. They started with lots of fun relays. Here he is (on the left) during one of the games. Action shot!

Talking over strategy with a teammate!The cutest cheerleader ever!Time for the final competition. Parker started out with a traditional approach to tug-of-war.
Then notice how he came up with a better plan!

It was very hot, but they pressed on for a VICTORY!

His class won, and they were so very excited!

Showing off his medal!