Great Wolf Lodge

We spent Easter weekend at Great Wolf Lodge and kicked off spring break in style.







We got to Great Wolf around dinner time on Friday evening and quickly changed into our suits and hit the water park.  Both girls were a little timid at first.  In fact, Sophia never did get to ride on a slide.  She was too tall to ride the baby slides and she was too scared to even try the big people slides...which lots of kids younger than her were enjoying.  Will and I took turns a few times letting the other ride a slide or two.  Lilly loved the little kid area including the two little slides that were her size.  Once Sophia discovered the hot tub and got over her fear of the hot water she realized it was her favorite part of the whole trip.

She and I got to spend a lot of one-on-one time together which was really nice. Lilly was so exhausted on Saturday afternoon she asked to go back to the room and take a nap.  Will went with her while Sophia and I explored and played lots of games at the arcade.

We teamed up to play Wheel of Fortune and Sophia's spin landed us 150 tickets per correct letter guessed....in the end we won over 800 tickets on that one game.  Before we left we cashed in all of our tickets and Sophia and Lilly both got stuffed animals - like we need any more of those!

We also ran into the Easter Bunny almost by accident and happened to be so lucky to be second in line to say hello to him while we were wandering around.  We also checked out the MagicQuest game they have and decided against it.  THANK GOODNESS!

 After we saw the Easter Bunny we stood in a much longer line for Sophia to get her face painted like a wolf.  Can you tell?

Before we went back to see if Lilly was awake we checked out the kids spa and Sophia was literally begging me to take her in to get "all of it" - as she called it. When we got back to our toom I called to make her an appointment and when I found out it was going to cost $79.99 for a kids mani/pedi I decided to not follow through with the reservation!  Holy Smokes! I don't even pay that much.

Our camera happens to be water proof....so I was able to get some fun shots of Sophia underwater.

There was a pool dedicated to playing games and was filled with balls and hoops and obstacle courses.  We played monkey in the middle.  Will and Lilly were a team.

On Saturday night we went to the lobby for a spring break dance party and Sophia was out on the "dance floor" doing all the line dances.  Her favorite, and the one that actually got her on the dance floor, is Cotton Eye Joe.  She's really good at it.  Her gym teacher taught it to all the first graders.

On Sunday morning the girls were up bright and early to see if the Easter Bunny had any success in finding us since we weren't at home.  The girls were so worried they left a note for him at our house telling him we were at Great Wolf Lodge.  Of course, he found them!

After thoroughly dissecting all of their loot we went to the lobby again for the Wolf Walk followed by a 5,000-egg egg hunt.

 Overall a great time was had by all!

 

Happy Birthday, Will!

Today is Will's birthday.  Lilly is home from school sick with the flu so it's a good thing we celebrated last night by getting a sitter and going out to dinner. 

Easter Egg Hunt at Church

Yesterday (Palm Sunday) was the big Easter celebration at our church.  The cherub choir which the girls are in sang at both services.  The kids all processed into the 11 am service with palms too.  Then....the excitement continues because the Easter Egg Hunt is after the 11 service.   

I volunteered to patrol the 1st and 2nd grade area, but most of the kids had found their allotted 10 plastic eggs before I could even blink twice.  The fun part about the whole search is that the eggs are empty.  After you find the eggs you trade them in for trinkets and candy so the fun continues after the hunt. 

Strep Throat

Here's Sophia at the doctor's office getting diagnosed with strep throat for the third time this season.  We took her after church on Sunday and she tested positive.  Lilly tested positive for strep throat on Monday.  Both girls were home on Monday, Lilly was home today (Tuesday) and she'll be home again tomorrow. 

GREASE

Will and I took Sophia and Lilly to see the musical GREASE earlier tonight at one of the local high schools and they absolutely loved it.  The girls were completely unfamiliar with the story so I wasn't sure they would enjoy it, but boy was I wrong.  Sophia was all smiles the whole show.  It may not have helped that one of the "bad boys" winked at her as he walked down the aisle to enter the stage in the opening scene.  I whispered in her ear that he was flirting with her and I think I saw her blush...oh yeah, did I mention it was dark!?

I could tell that towards the end of the second act Lilly was getting tired because she climbed up into Will's lap.  I asked her if she liked the show when we got home and she simply said "I DON'T KNOW".  That's how tired she was.  At one point three girls came out and did a tap dance number.  When I told Lilly what they were doing she really perked up.  She takes tap and has a recital coming up in June where she'll do a tap and a ballet number with the rest of the girls in her dance class. Sophia will be in the audience this year watching.  She's excited about that!

At intermission Sophia and I read the entire outline of the act and scenes.  She must have memorized it because each time the stage went black and the crew was changing the sets she announced to me what they were doing.  And, she was right each time.  Amazing.

Well, I need to sign off for now because it's St. Patrick's Day Eve and I have to pretend I'm a leprechaun and go reek havoc on the house!  Also, I have to remember how to set up Sophia's leprechaun trap because she's trying to catch the little bugger! 

On the hunt for Easter Eggs

We went to an Easter Egg hunt today sponsored by Walgreens and Kohl's and rest of the shopping center they are in. It was the perfect day to be outside enjoying some Easter fun. It might have been in the 70s all day. Very warm and sunny for a change.

We met Haley and Carlie there and first enjoyed the bounce houses then lined up for the 3-5 year-old egg hunt.  Basically there was an octagon shaped out of black plastic walls and inside on the ground were tons of eggs.  The problem was that there was only a single teeny tiny little opening for the number of kids that were there! By the time Lilly and Carlie entered the arena all the eggs were gone.  Lilly didn't get any.  Carlie got 2.  There was a nice lady walking around handing out extra eggs to the kids who looked the most pathetic....and believe me, Lilly was milking the fact that she didn't find any eggs! I think she actually walked away with 6.

Sophia and Haley didn't fare much better.  Haley scooped up two eggs.  Sophia was the big winner with 8 and she shared with Haley so they each had 5.  So sweet!

They all enjoyed a treat as you can see in the photo.  

This time it was me!

Will and I just got back from an invigorating mini trip to the Napa Valley in California.  Will was there on business and I was his guest.  We stayed at a spa resort and while he was brainstorming with his fellow executives I was enjoying a few spa services, and yes, swimming in February too...just like the girls only two weeks ago!  There were a few couple of differences though.  The girls were swimming in a chilly pool on a really windy day in Austin, TX and I was strolling around in a heated mineral pool in sunny CA.

We enjoyed visiting several wineries including a replica of an Italian Castle, Castello di Amorosa (or Castle of Love).  We took a two hour tour which ended in a tasting of more than 10 wines.  Afterwards we went to B Cellars and Will enjoyed some deep, hearty reds, and I fed the fish. Before a lovely dinner with Aunt Gennie and Uncle Rick at a superb restaurant called Brannans we quickly stopped off at yet another winery in down town (if you blink you will miss it) Calistoga, CA and enjoyed a couple of light whites. After that we went to the local organic coffee shop and indulged in some much needed caffeine.

The day before we visited a winery called Lava Vine which was a quaint little farm in the middle of the valley.  Chickens bustled around our feet and there were also a few dogs roaming.  We made friends with three nice people and enjoyed a casual afternoon outside at one of their picnic tables.

I fell in love with the landscape and the weather while we were there. I came home rejuvenated and refreshed to a freezing day in the 40s here at the beach.  A big bummer!  It was such a tease to be able to wear my cute new spring shoes and pink jeans over the weekend and then come home to needing a big bulky sweater and warm socks/boots, but oh well.  Soon enough.  Soon enough.

Swimming in February

I'm not kidding you, she always poses like this...

Everything is over the top in Texas, right?

Loving Cousins

T

A pair separated

Sophia was invited to a sleep over tonight. Sophia's friend and fellow girl scout, Sophia D, invited her to come over at 2 this afternoon for an afternoon of cake pop decorating, dolls, and movies and I will meet her at church in the morning for Sunday School. This family also goes to our church so it's pretty darn convenient. The girls have to be there for 9am choir practice followed by 9:45 Sunday School.

Lilly was a bit sad when she first found out that Sophia, her very best friend in the whole entire world, was going to be done for the day AND night. This sadness didn't last long when I told her that Mommy, Daddy and her were going to the mall to buy her some new clothes.  She just had a growth spurt and all of her pants and shirts are short on her. I've got a few hand-me-downs from Sophia, but mostly for the summer time in size 5. 


We had fun at the mall. She got to ride on a few ride-on machines and we also got cupcakes not to mention a few new outfits for her.  She and I ate our cupcakes right away, but Will is saving his to eat with Sophia. (We got her one too.)    

Playdate fun

Lilly had a friend come home with her from school yesterday.  Lizzie is her best friend at school. They were together last year in Mrs. Harden's class and this year again in Ms. Debbie's class.  Lizzie isn't going back to Beach Manor next year and neither is Lilly.  Lilly is going to attend the all-day program at the school at our church, Beach Day School.  She already knows several of the kids in the class because they are in the same Sunday School class together and she's familiar with the classroom since it's the same one that I've been teaching Sunday School in for the past two years.

Lilly and Lizzie had fun together, but secretly I think they had more fun when big sis, Sophia, came home from school.  They enjoyed running ahead of me to the bus stop to wait for Sophia.  They dressed up in dance leotards complete with tap and ballet shoes and had a dance party right before Lizzie's dad picked her up.  They were having so much fun she didn't want to leave.  I guess we'll have to do it again some day soon.

From one extreme to the next

The girls didn't have school last Friday so they were really able to enjoy our 1 inch snowfall.  They loved every minute of it.

Lovely weather

It's January 9th and it was a whopping 70 degrees outside today!  I took Lilly and Summer to a playground this afternoon for an hour before Sophia got home from school.  It's supposed to be nice through the weekend.  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

On December 10th it was in the 80s!  It was so warm the girls felt the need to wear their bathing suits out in the front yard to play.  

Hello from Sadie

Christmas Town

We took the girls to Chstimas Town at Busch Gardens during winter break. Sophia loves the rides.  Lilly still only likes the really slow baby rides.  Even the tram is a little scary for her.

We took a break for a while to grab some dinner in the Germany area and saw a great holiday musical.  The girls were in awe at all the singing and dancing going on around them. 

They wore their new hats that Uncle Rob and Aunt Christina got for them.  Those hats kept them so warm. 

Christmas in Virginia Beach

My Aunt Carole came to visit us for Christmas this year.  We had a great time.  She arrived on the Sunday before Christmas and stayed through Thursday.  We shopped til we dropped....especially the day after Christmas in the pouring rain, but it was fun!  I ended up finding the perfect rain coat...inspired by the downpour.

One evening we took the girls to Hung Club Farm for their Winter Wonderland Adventure.  The girls had an ok time.  I think it was less fun for them than I originally thought.  They mostly wanted to play on the playground (which they have open all year round).  They didn't really care much for the holiday lights and Santa's Workshop displays.  We ended the night be roasting a few marshmallows on the open fire.  We all came home in need of a shower because the smell of the firepit lingered in our clothes and our hair - and Lillys coat was ooey gooey with smeared marshmallow.  Aunt Carole had the brilliant idea of putting the coat in the freezer and then when it was completely frozen she whittled away at the marshmallow and IT ALL CAME OFF!  Yay.   

The girls sang with their choir during the 5pm church service at our church on Christmas Eve. Anut Carole got to see them in their robes and their green dresses.

We spent a quiet Christmas at home.  It was perfect.  The girls absolutely flipped over everything Mom/Dad, Santa, Aunt Carole, Uncle Mike, Uncle Rob, etc...... got for them.  The girls seriously screamed in joy at every gift.   Our tree was definitely decorated with tons of presents.  We were very blessed.  

Santa brought Lilly an American Girl doll.  She wanted McKenna, the 2012 girl of the year.

Santa brought Sophia a karaoke machine which she is obsessed with still.  She's turning into a big kid.  She loves music.  Will made her a mix CD and she listens to it over and over.  She loves to sing along with Justin Beiber.  She's totally into him and told me just yesterday that she wants to get a poster of him to hang in her room.  When I told Will he scowled....NO WAY!























Thanks Aunt Christina and Uncle Rob!

I love this face 

Christmas with Nana and Poppy

Will and I attended his holiday party in San Fransisco in mid-December while my parents watched the girls.  They arrived on a Tuesday afternoon just in time to walk with me and Lilly to the bus stop.  Sophia was giddy with excitement when she jumped off the bus.

On Wednesday morning I gave my parents the quick run-down of how our mornings usually run like a well-oiled machine (yeah, right!) and we all managed to get out the door on time.  I was just hoping they were paying attention because they were going to do it by themselves on Thursday and Friday!

Lilly's school holiday show was on Wednesday morning so we all got to watch her "not sing".  She smiled quite a bit, but I didn't get any pictures.  Mine are all dark and mostly blurry, but a lot of them would have been really cute if I had a better camera.  I think I was using my phone for these.

 
 I left on Wednesday after lunch and arrive in San Fran. around 8 pm (pacific time).  The hotel was very nice and was in the downtown area. It was within walking distance of tons of boutique shops, an indoor mall, and tons at least two dozen Starbucks.

I explored a while on Thursday by myself while Will went to work for the morning. 

The party was a tad over the top - in a good way.  There were drinks and appetizers for a good hour before we sat down to our choice of beef or chicken.  If you can't already guess, Will picked the beef.  I opted for chicken.  Both meals were superb.

After dinner the CEO and other two founders gave away recognition awards.  They literally handed out small statue awards that look just like the B in their logo.(Notice the "bean" shape.)  Will received the MVP award (Most Valuable Programmer).  He coined them the "Beanie Awards".  So, Will officially has a Beanie.  Woo hoo!

 

Our flight was cancelled on Friday morning, but Will worked some magic and soon we were on a flight back to the good old state of Virginia.

We celebrated Christmas with my parents on Saturday morning.  Sophia got an Easy Bake Oven which she loves and Lilly got a Princess and the Popstar Castle Bedroom Combo thingy.  She loves it.  They also love the new coloring books and books that Nana brought with her. 

I heard about Sophia and Lilly's time with Nana and Poppy from all of them....so it was just like I never skipped a beat in their lives.  It's amazing how much I actually missed them -- the minute I got to San Fran I was terribly homesick for the two of them.

Click here to see all of our Christmas photos.

Nana and Poppy went to Sophia's school every day to have lunch with her.  Believe me, that really spoiled her.  Either Will or I still go to Sophia's school every Friday for lunch.  It's Will's turn this week....

Nana and Poppy and the girls also took a walk every evening and checked out the Christmas lights on our street.

They decorated Christmas cookies.

They had a fashion show.

Sounds like they had a ton on fun.

It was very nice to see my parents and come home to some lovely surprises too.  My dad fixed two broken drawer handles for me and also replace the stove light bulbs.  Thanks, Dad!  

Happy New Year

I still need to go back and publish a few blog entries about the last couple of weeks, but for now I just wanted to log on and wish everyone a happy new year!

The girls both lasted until the ball dropped on new year's eve and then we quickly ushered them home and into bed. Next year we'll put them in their pajamas before we go to the neighbor's house.

I asked Sophia her favorite part of winter break.  And believe me, there are many things to choose from...and her answer:  STAYING UP UNTIL MIDNIGHT!  I guess that's what a 6 year old brain thinks like. 

The choir show: Starry, Starry Night

Lilly was in her very first Cherub Choir musical this weekend.  She was a chicken...can't you tell with those bright yellow feathers!?  (All the chickens were supposed to wear white dresses or something white). 

In my opinion (and a few agree with me) Lilly stole the show.  Her smile was priceless.  It was like she was flirting with Will for the first part of the show because she kept smiling at him and reacting to him enjoying the show.  She yawned two times in the second part, I think.

You can watch the whole thing (broken into two parts below for a total of about 30 minutes).  You can also just watch a few short clips of Lilly "singing" along. 



Here's a video of Lilly entering the stage at the beginning of the show.



Here's a video of the opening number.




Sophia, was Mary's donkey named Clip Clop, and she had a 5 speaking lines that she aced!  Sophia was supposed to wear either brown, black or grey and they were all supposed to wear Sunday dresses so we had to go with black because that's all she had in the color palette.  It's not my favorite dress at all, but she really likes it for some reason and she was comfortable in it..  She wore a fringe mane in her ponytail as her costume, but you couldn't see it at all.

The night before the show as I was tucking Sophia into bed she admitted that she had stage fright and I could tell she was going to work herself up into some sort of whiny cry.  I told her that there was NO WAY she could possibly have stage fright because nobody gets it the night before!  Impossible!  -- She actually believed me.

The morning (Sunday) of the show came and went and she never mentioned another word about stage fright.

But, I have to say, she really did her part great.  So many ladies told me that she did a great job when I was at a meeting earlier this morning.  I'm so proud of her!  And I'm proud of Lilly too, especially because she doesn't care much for Cherub Choir and actually complains that she doesn't like it.

Just yesterday she and I talked about her taking a drawing class or some sort of art class.  She's always coloring and stenciling and drawing on things, including closet doors!









This is PART ONE of the show taken by my friend Jen.  Her children were two of the cows if you can't tell, but those are the girls that Sophia recites her lines with.



This is PART TWO