Kirk’s brother, Gavin, and his family were able to come and spend the first couple weeks of July in Utah.  It worked out really well because Gavin and Zoe share a birthday, July 11th, so we were able to all get together and celebrate.  We went to Kirk’s parents house and had dinner and cake.

Zoe with Uncle Gavin

While Robby, Elden, and Bennett were inside playing video games, and Kirk and his mom were finishing dinner, Grandpa, Gavin, Karena and I took Zoe and Keagan outside to play.  Grandpa brought out his big soccer ball.  Zoe had a blast playing in the grass, with the big soccer ball, and with Uncle Gavin.

Zoe also had a great time playing with Toby, Grandma and Grandpa’s dog.  She loves Toby.  She is always trying to give him hugs and is always so excited to see him.  For the most part, he is really patient with her and they get along pretty well.

I love this picture of them.  They just look so content sitting there together.

When we went in the house, we had a great dinner and then very yummy birthday cake.  Kirk’s mom makes a german chocolate cake for Gavin’s birthday every year (if he gets to come home for his birthday.)  She makes a very tasty cake.

Zoe wasn’t very interested in the cake.  She was much more excited about her new presents.

We had a great time spending the day with family.

Here she is when we brought her home from the hospital at 2 days old, on her first birthday, and on her second birthday.

We had a birthday party for Zoe last Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.  All of our family was able to come; Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson, Aunt Emily, Grandma and Grandpa Lapray, and Uncle Gavin, Aunt Karena, and their boys.

Zoe was very opinionated about what she wanted for her birthday party.  She wanted a pink Tinkerbell cake, pink ice cream, and pink and purple balloons.  She is turning into such a girly girl.

She was so excited to blow her candles out.  She practiced all morning so that she could do it.  When it actually came time, she froze a little.  I think she was a little unsure about the fire on the candles.  It was so cute to watch her pucker her lips though and try to blow them out.

She loved eating the pink cake and ice creaam.

She was very spoiled and got a lot of great presents, which she really loved opening.

I think her favorite present was this drum from Aunt Emily.  She loves to play it.

All in all, she had a really great day.  She walked around all day singing happy birthday, and loved being the center of attention.

We love our birthday girl and are so thankful she is a part of our lives.

Robby had a great time in 2nd grade.  Miss Pugliano, his teacher, was wonderful.  He loved her and loved going to school everyday.  The end of the school year was truly bitter-sweet for him.  He had a great time with all the end of the year festivities, and he looked forward to summer vacation, but the thought of not being in Miss Pugliano’s class anymore and of missing his school friends was a little sad.

I was able to go with him on his end of the year fieldtrip.  We went up in the canyon for a hike.  It was actually kind of a long hike and the kids were a little tired by the end, but Robby loved it.  He was smiling and excited the whole time.  At the end of the hike, we ate our lunch and then went to the Bean Museum.  It was a lot of fun.

At the Bean Museum.

The second graders also had an authors’ day when families were able to go to the school and look at all the stories and papers the kids had written through the year.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever.  After we finished looking at Robby’s writing portfolio, he went and found a book and was reading it to Zoe.  She was so excited to be at Robby’s school.  I just love the look on her face.  You can just see how much she adores him.  He is such an amazing big brother.

I am glad that Robby had such a great year and that he enjoys and does well in school.

]]> http://www.lifeescalated.com/2010/07/09/the-end-of-second-grade/feed/ 0 http://www.lifeescalated.com/2010/06/19/zoes-new-hairdo/ http://www.lifeescalated.com/2010/06/19/zoes-new-hairdo/#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:25:46 +0000 alice http://www.lifeescalated.com/?p=404 I  have a million posts I need to catch up on, but I couldn’t resist posting this one today.

Today, Zoe got her hair braided, and it looks so cute.  I took her to this very awesome teenage girl.  She was adopted from Ethiopia, and is absolutely amazing with hair.  I was so sure that I could learn so much from her, but her fingers flew so fast that I didn’t have a clue what she was doing.  It was the first time anyone, besides me, has done Zoe’s hair.  Zoe didn’t like it; she cried the whole time, but she loves it now.  She keeps telling everyone to look at her pretty hair.   It was so worth it to get it done.  Even with Zoe crying, throwing herself around, and lots of breaks, she had it done in about an hour and a half.  It takes me far longer than that to do a style not nearly as intricate.

We love it.  She looks so beautiful.

I have always thought that standing in line at Disneyland to get pictures with the characters is crazy.  In fact, I always laughed at all the people wasting their time waiting for characters when they could have been riding on rides instead.  Robby was never very interested in characters and so Kirk and I thought it was something we would never do.  Zoe, however, has changed everything.  The last two trips we have made to Disneyland, the characters have been her absolute favorite thing.  She can spy them from clear across the park and starts screaming “Hi Mickey” or “Hi Goofy” at the top of her lungs.  She is patient while we wait in line to see them.  When it is her turn she walks right up to them and gives them a hug.  Then, when it is time to leave, she tells them goodbye, and cries.

Amazingly enough, seeing the characters has now become one of my favorite things to do at Disneyland.  Seeing my baby girl so happy makes it all worth while.

This trip, we were especially excited to see Princess Tiana.  We watch “Princess and the Frog” at least once a day.  In fact, right now, if you ask Zoe what her name is, she will most likely tell you “Tiana.”  She loves her.  Princess Tiana is a little difficult to see.  She is only available a few times a day.  The first time we went to see her, we found out that she wouldn’t be taking pictures and talking to the kids, but instead was doing a show.

Zoe loved the show.  She was singing all the songs with her.  At the end of the show, they invited all the kids to come up and dance with them.

Zoe went right up to the stage.  She didn’t even hesitate.  One of the dancers held her hand.  Zoe loved it.

Before long though, she got bored with the dancer and decided she wanted Princess Tiana instead.  So, she just walked over and stood right in front of Princess Tiana, staring at her.  Tiana was so cute with her.  She kept smiling at her and grabbing her hands and dancing with her.  Zoe loved it.

A couple of hours later we went back and Zoe was able to talk to and get a picture with Princess Tiana.  She was so excited.  She doesn’t exactly look happy in this picture, in fact,  she doesn’t look happy in any of the character pictures I have.  She loved seeing the characters, but she was not at all happy that she had to turn around and let me take her picture.

We saw many other characters on the trip.

Pluto

Mickey

Pluto again

Some fairy whose name I don’t know.  Zoe thought she was a princess.  Zoe liked her because she had beads in her hair.  They had a great time looking at each other’s beads.

One of the characters Zoe was most excited to see was Tinkerbell.  I didn’t even know she knew who Tinkerbell was, but she got so excited anytime she saw anything Tinkerbell at Disneyland.  Kirk and I finally decided that we would wait in line to let her see her.  We sent Robby and Emily to ride a few rides, and we waited in line.  It was one of the longest lines we waited in while at Disneyland, but it was worth it.  Zoe was so excited.

Pooh is always a favorite.  I think she would have stood right there, snuggled in Pooh’s arms, forever.

And Tigger.

Zoe tells everyone she sees that she went to Disneyland and that she said “Hi to Tiana and Tinkerbell.” Evertime I am at my computer she asks to see the pictures.  I have such cute kids.

Hi, my name is Alice, and I am addicted to Disneyland.

A couple of weeks ago, we made another trip to Disneyland.  It was another one of those very short notice vacations that we are getting really good at.  Our annual passes expire at the end of May.  I helped my cousin and sister-in-law in planning their May Disneyland trips, which made me miss it.  We had been working hard at finishing our back yard.  The combination of all those things somehow led to us one day joking about how we should squeeze in one more trip, that night looking at a calendar to see if we even had a few days we could go, and a week later, packing the car and heading out.

It was a really fun trip.  My sister Emily went with us, which was a lot of fun.  The kids loved hanging out with her and she had a good time too.  As usual, the kids were great on the drive.  It took us about ten hours to get there, and we only stopped once.  I couldn’t believe that we could get there with that few stops.  Zoe was awake the whole drive and didn’t fall asleep until we drove into the hotel parking lot.  If they weren’t such great travelers, there is no way we would have gone so many times this year.

We had a blast at Disneyland.  Robby, as usual, loved all of the roller coasters and trading pins.  Zoe’s favorite ride this trip was Pirates of the Caribbean.  She called it the “wee hill” ride.  She loved the little hill and splash.  She loved seeing the characters again too (pictures to come later in the week.)  I don’t even know how to explain why I love it all so much.  It is just so much fun for me to see my kids so happy and to have so much fun together as a family.  Hardly a day goes by that the kids don’t mention Disneyland and talk together about something they remember.  I feel like we have such a short time that they are young and I want to take advantage of that time as much as I can.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Robby thought he was so funny wearing this princess hat.

Zoe loved the Playhouse Disney show this time.  Her favorite shows on TV are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and Little Einsteins, and all of those are part of the Playhouse Disney Show.  She thought it was great.

This is on California Screaming.  It looks like Robby is scared or something, but in reality he was just mad at me that I was taking his picture on the ride.  He was pretty sure that it was against the rules and he just knew we were going to get in trouble.

Our annual passes have expired now, so we are done with Disneyland for right now, at least until December.

Along with getting baptized, one of the greatest things about turning 8 for Robby was that he got to start Cub Scouts.  He loves it.  He can hardly wait for Tuesdays to roll around so he can go to Scouts.  I love seeing him so excited about it.

Our ward had the pinewood derby just a couple of weeks before his 8th birthday, so he was invited to participate in it too.  He built a great car with his dad and had a lot of fun.

He loves to pass things off and earn things.  So far, in two pack meetings, he has earned his Bobcat and 4 belt loops.  He has probably read his scout book from cover to cover 5 times and is always asking if we can work on scout stuff.  I love that enthusiasm and hope he continues to have a good time with it.

Here are a few pictures from his first official pack meeting, where he earned his Bobcat award.

But, even in the midst of all the yard work, the world has still been turning and a lot has been going on.

Robby had a great 8th birthday.

I can’t believe how grown up he is getting.  When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he told me he wanted a grade cake (grades meaning A, B, C, D, F.)  I couldn’t quite bring myself to do that, so instead I made him a math cake, since math is his favorite subject.  The challenge for him was to put all the cupcakes in order so that they equal 8.  Definitely not the best cake decorating in the world, but he thought it was pretty cool.

He got a remote control car for his birthday, which he loves.  He also had a really fun birthday party with his best friend, Kalvin.  Their birthdays are only 6 days apart, so they have a joint birthday party every year. This year they had a late night party, watched “Where the Wild Things Are” and played the Wii.  They had a really good time.  I didn’t take any pictures though; keeping up with that many boys was challenge enough.

A couple of days after his birthday, Robby was baptized and confirmed a member of the LDS church by his dad.  It was one of those moments for me, when I am truly grateful to be a mom.  I am so proud of Robby, and his decision to be baptized.  I love watching his testimony and strength in the Gospel grow.  He is an amazing example to me.

I love this picture of the family, both Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunt Emily.

Here we have Kirk and mini Kirk.  Sometimes it amazes me how much they look (and act) alike.

Robby and Kalvin.  The baptism date in March just happened to fall right between Robby and Kalvin’s birthdays, so Robby was baptized in March, but Kalvin wasn’t baptized until April.  It was a little bittersweet for them.  They have always done so much together that they thought it would be really cool to be baptized at the same time, but Robby was not about to wait an extra month.  It worked out well though.  This gave them the chance to be there and support each other and each have their own special day.

I am truly in awe at what an amazing young man Robby is becoming.  He is so responsible and kind.  I am a very lucky mom.  I love you Robby!

It is hard to believe that 8 years ago today, my life changed forever, and I became a mother.  My baby boy is becoming such a wonderful young man, and I am so proud of him.

Here are some pictures of him through the years (starting at his first birthday because that is when I started using a digital camera).  There are a lot, but I just couldn’t cut any of them out.  You have to click through the pictures to see them all.

Happy Birthday Robby!  I love you!

We had so many fun moments at Disneyland, but here are some of my favorites.

…Robby loves pin trading at Disneyland.  It is one of his favorite things to do.  He brought a bunch of pins he doesn’t like and was trading them all for classic Disney character pins (Mickey, Donald, Goofy.)  One day, his lanyard was full of Mickey pins he had traded for.  He loved all of them.  He was looking at a cast members lanyard and I could tell he was struggling to decide whether or not he wanted to trade.  Looking at her lanyard, I could see exactly which pin he would want, a pretty cool looking Mickey one.  He kept looking at his pins trying to decide if there were any he was willing to give up.  Finally, he took one off his lanyard and handed it to the cast member.  I expected him to ask her for her Mickey one, but instead, he pointed to a little Winnie the Pooh pin, took it from the cast member and handed it to Zoe.  He looked at me with a big grin on his face and said, “I thought that was a cute pin and I knew Zoe would love to look at it.”  It was so sweet.  He is such a good big brother.

…Zoe loves “It’s a Small World.”  After one of our many rides on it, as we were waiting to get off, she looked at me with a big smile on her face and said “FUN” in the cutest little voice.  That was a new word for her and it was so cute to hear her say it after enjoying the ride so much.

…Robby and Grandma Lapray spent a lot of time together riding on the big rides while Kirk and I took Zoe on some of the smaller rides.  It was great seeing them spending time together having fun with something they both enjoy so much.

…Again with Zoe and Small World.  Zoe was hilarious to watch as we went through the ride.  She would dance to the music, but she dances exactly like the dolls.  She would move very mechanically, only moving one part of her body, over and over again, just like the dolls did.  Today we were listening to the small world song and she immediately started dancing like that again.  It cracks me up.

…We got to see the Captain Eo tribute on its opening day.  It was so fun to see because I remember seeing it when I was a kid.  I don’t remember it being so cheesy, but it still brought back a lot of memories.

…It was really cool to see how much Robby is growing up.  He loves to go on the roller coasters at California Adventure as a single rider (so he doesn’t have to wait in line).  He kept telling me that he could just do it by himself, he didn’t need me.  It was fun to see him so grown up and independent.

…At the same time, it was also nice to see that Robby isn’t all grown up yet.  I worry that we don’t have too much longer before he is too cool to enjoy things like Disneyland with us, but he is not there yet.  He was so sad as we were riding on our last ride, because he didn’t want to say goodbye and go home.  He kept asking when we are going to go back.  I hope that magic never goes away for him.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.