Dancing Fools

I got to have the unique experience of volunteering to be with the kids during the 2nd show. Eden was in the earlier show and Larke was in the evening show. Larke and I watched Eden's performance. She did great! Eden then came back with me to hang out with the kids. My friend Brittney was so nice to let Eden sit with her for at least half the show so she could watch the dances. I got to go watch Larke dance backstage. Her favorite part was when she got to lead the group in a big circle around the stage. They both did a terrific job.

Flash and Color

We had our 2nd annual photo shoot with the girls in their dance outfits. This year we did the pictures right before the dress rehearsal. Rush could not be kept away. He is so funny. He wants to be part of everything.

This is my favorite of Eden. She looks so saucy, just like her outfit.

This is my favorite one of Larke. She looks sweet and devious at the same time. I had to take the picture below because I loved the ruffle bottom of her outfit. So cute.

One Busy Summer

So there are so many things that I have been wanting to post about. It has been so busy around this house. We have had too much fun doing too many fun things for me to write about them. Right after we got back from California things got kicking. Getting ready for girls camp and watching 2 extra girls for a good portion of the summer occupied alot of my time that week. Then Gideon had scout camp the 2nd week of June. The week after that was Girls Camp. I went the whole time this year and had so much fun with the girls and the other leaders that were there. We all wished that we had had one more day. As soon as I got from camp I was getting the girls ready for their dance recital. 3 hours after I got home from camp we had the girls at their rehearsal. Then all of Saturday was the actual recital.

I shouldn't post pictures of girls camp on my personal blog and I don't have pictures of scout camp, but I guess I can write about them because they were very important. Gideon really enjoyed his first experience with scout camp. He got to help come up with and memorize a cheer for his purple group of boys that he was with all week. It went: "Here at Valley Day Camp we're the purple team, on the go, all day long, we won't run out of steam!" He said it a lot. He loved the chance that he had to try a little archery, and finally on the last day he did hit his target. They got to do crafts everyday and the day I was there they got watch a soda shoot out of a bottle over 6 ft. into the air. It was pretty awesome. Gideon's favorite part was getting to make a rocket and also getting to shoot it into the air. It really was a fun week for him.

Girls camp was wet, windy, and really great. I got to go with Beth Bigelow and Victoria Jones. It was so fun to get to know them a little bit better. The girls were so fun. The best night with the girls was on Thursday night. We had a fire and roasted marshmellows and ate gummy bears and told funny jokes and stories and froze together. It was pretty cold at night and I slept in an emergency blanket. I looked like a baked potatoe and was noisy, but I could feel my toes in the morning, so I guess it was a fair trade off. I was pretty excited that I finally hit the target doing archery. I think this was my 3rd or 4th time trying and I have never hit the target before. I usually overshoot and veer to the right. It was fun to finally hit the target, not it the middle or anything but still. I also got to shoot a rifle which was also fun. I have discovered I actually enjoy shooting quite a bit. I got to canoe and have my testimony boosted. I hope I get to go again next year.

Day 7 - Check Out and Heading Home

The last day in California was a bit bittersweet. Bitter to have it all end, to check out of the hotel, to pack up. Sweet to know we had such good memories to take home, and nice to know we were going to be sleeping in our own home again. We almost got to ride in a hot air balloon for free, but it was too windy. I hope we get to do it sometime, I've always wanted to try riding in a hot air balloon. It was hard to leave and I still have desires to be there again. Oh well, reality and every day life have their great moments as well. There's always next time.

Day 6 - Last Disney Day (sniff, sniff)

Soaking our feet after a long day and week of playing as a family.Eden got to give a kiss to Flynn Rider. It may have been the ultimate highlight of the trip for her.

The girls and I waited for an hour and a half to meet the princesses. The verdict. For the girls it was totally worth it. For me it was worth it to see the girls be so excited.

The Famous Tea Cups

Matt makes fun of me for saying chester drawers when I am talking about dressers. We had to take a picture at this store.

The kids were most excited meet Chip and Dale out of all the characters, besides Mickey and Minnie. They love watching Rescue Rangers. They were a little disappointed to not meet Gadget, but they loved riding Gadget's rollercoaster.

Meeting Mickey

I had so much fun at Disneyland with my family. It was the best vacation I've had with my kids. It was totally worth the occasional grumpiness of Rushmore. We did consider leaving him behind, but for the most part he was wonderful to have along. I have a ton of pictures of the parade that I didn't put up. The parade was so fun. All the charaters were there, the music was great, it was wonderful. It was all so nastalgic to be at Disneyland. All the movies I grew up with, the characters I loved, to share it with my kids was awesome. I would love to go back. I did not want to come home.