Universal Studios

Our day at Universal Studios began with Shrek 4D (notice our green 3D glasses)















We got to hear a few songs from Wicked which we are all big fans of.















Some dancing cars on the studio tour.















The studio tour took us around the set of Desperate Housewives! I loved that part. This is a random man coming out of Susan's house :)















The kids (and Grampa) loved the silly animal antics at the animal show.















Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?!?!















I got picked from the line outside to be the "actress" for the special effects demonstration, what a trip!! This shot was taken right before I opened the blinds and fought off a giant attacking cat (?!). The coolest was after this when I was added into Big Mama (I think??), it looked like I was sitting right there next to Eddie Murphy eating dinner with his family. Very fun!














E stole the show, though, when he got picked to help with the sound effects demonstration. He took the job very seriously and did the chimes when the red light came on for him. His chimes became the sound of Tinkerbell flying. See the video clip below (how exciting! Blogger's new feature is videos... hopefully it'll work for everyone)



E did such a great job!




















A fun day was had by all. Here's A leaving on the red carpet loaded up with her giganto Spongebob drink thingie.















All tuckered out after all the fun!!

Tuesday, August 14

Mom and dad live close to the amazing beach--there were lots of awesome waves today and the kids and I had a total blast playing in the water. Water is so not AT's thing, he sat on the beach and read. Being in the sun isn't his thing, either...














...but good beer, now *that* is one of his things! Happy Boy after a trip to a cool beer and wine shop.















Now this is what I call a vacation! Relaxing and reading. Ahhh, bliss.

Monday, August 13

Happy Birthday, Mom/Gramma!















Gramma's bday wish was to play some tennis with the grandkids. They happily obliged.















Looks like some hot little kids were happy to help Gramma blow our her candles!

Sunday, August 12

Happy Birthday, me :)














My two big gifts--some very cool Mephisto shoes that I'll be wearing on the 3 Day Walk and an MP3 player. Lucky girl!!














Mom took me shopping for some presents and we got matching Product Red t-shirts.















A lovely dinner of lamb cooked by my husband and father-in-law. I felt like a special birthday girl today.

Saturday, August 11

At one of the local Seal Beach hangouts. Click on the picture to make it bigger--can you see "A&C" and in the next column "K&M"? Look just to the left of Andy's head, just above his ear. This place does a cool thing where people (ie: K&M--that's mom and dad) buy a beer ahead of time for others (ie: A&C--that's us :). We took them up on the beer later in the week on a date night.














Off to an Angel's game on hat night--wearing some Mariners gear to stay true to our home team!














Take me out to the ball game... buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks and popcorn...

A's trip to California

August 8-10














There she is on the plane with her American Girl Doll, Angie... such a big girl!















Her new friends--the lovely flight attendants who took good care of her and Angie.














The new Co-Pilot!















Following mother's orders--give hugs to Grampa and Gramma and then CALL ME. Don't ask me why she felt the need to wear her sunglasses coming off the plane! I guess she was feeling like a superstar.















The next morning--ready to go shopping with Gramma.














At the American Girl Doll store in LA. What to buy... decisions, decisions!














Angie got hooked up with some new clothes and a new pet! The girls at lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.














All shopped out...














...but wait, she managed to wake up long enough to do a little more shopping! Now she's all ready for school to start with her new school clothes...














The next day. Her and Grampa off for a walk on the pier in Seal Beach.














Heading to Ruby's Diner at the end of the pier.














Ahh, what a life!! Such a lucky girl...














...alas, all good things come to an end. Her little brother arrived and now she has to share Grampa and Gramma's attention. That's not nearly as much fun!














The rest of us are ready to join in the fun that A's been having with Grampa and Gramma. Ahh, vacation!!

Wednesday, August 8

She's leaving on a jet plane... A heading to the gate for her very first flight ALL BY HERSELF! On her way to CA to see Grampa and Gramma (we're joining her in two days)















I had to wait for the plane to actually depart before the gate people gave me the clearance to leave. She was so close yet so far!!

Tuesday, August 7

(Happy Birthday Lois!)















Another great neighborhood get together for National Night Out. We've got such a nice number of kids around here, the firemen who came to visit had a great time showing the kids all the tools and stuff on the fire truck.

Monday, August 6

(Happy Birthday, Byung!)















The kids really enjoyed taking tennis lessons, this was the last one...

Sunday, August 5

(Happy Birthday, Grampa!!)




















Oh, so *this* is why A couldn't ever fit her clothes in her bins when I told her to put her laundry away! We went through all of her clothes and this huge pile is all stuff that's too small! Make way for new school clothes... :)

July 31-August 4

The kids and I went to visit Opa and Oma in Vancouver for a few days--always a fun time.















We went to a fireworks display on the beach just down from their apartment. I love taking pictures of fireworks and making the camera shake a bit to get cool effects :)















After the fireworks walking back up the street to the apartment.















We visited our friend Cheryl and her family, finally got to meet her adorable little guy, Jack. What a cutie! Next time we see them Jack will have a little brother...















We went camping in my parents' RV one night, lots of bonding :)















The beautiful lake by our campsite.















Summer time!














Hanging around the campfire...




















Oma taught A how to knit, A was sooo excited about learning (she managed to do a whole row :).















A lovely walk together.















Mr. Independant















Heading back home... The wait at the border was way longer than I'd expected (see next picture), but the kids didn't care! They were perfectly comfortable watching a DVD...















The loooong line at the Peace Arch border crossing...















Goodbye Canada, hello USA...

Monday, July 30

Ahh, summer--ice-cream cones on a hot summer day with friends

Sunday, July 29

Evidently Darth Vader had a growth spurt!




















Poor kid, almost all of his pants are suddenly too short!!!

Saturday, July 28

After a long week of being a leader at Girl Scout camp I was so ready for this adults-only party in our neighborhood!!! Cheers!