Twirling Princesses

Here are some pics of Courtney's 2nd dance recital. The girls were absolutely darling, and enjoyed the "princess theme." Courtney really loves her friends & her teacher, Miss Ashley.

Tapping tondue!
Working her magic with a bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!

Huntington Beach

Oooh! That water's cold!!! The Pacific Ocean waves are much bigger than the Atlantic Ocean waves we're used to. Woo! We kept getting knocked over.
Check out this cool cave Xanderman dug out of the sand! He worked at it for at least an hour.

It was the perfect day for relaxing at the beach. We sure do miss being close to the ocean. Darren found another great way to recycle an empty lunchables box!

Courtney loved the beach and kept discovering shells and running back and forth to add them to her collection. The last summer she spent at the beach (in Maine) was when she was just one year old, so this will most likely be her first memory of the ocean.

Here is our attempt at a sand sculpture (it's a turtle).

Disneyland!

Our little family had a marvelous time in Disneyland. Darren thought the vintage Mickey t-shirts were a bit much, but I thought they were cute, don't you agree? (Yes, I am a match freak, I know)

Darth Maul is so creepy... but he's Alexander's fav Star Wars character. Xander gets excited when he's sleep-deprived because his red eyes lead him to believe that he's turning into Darth Maul-boy. Defeat him, you must!

Ho....Pah.... he is quite intimidating...

At the Jedi training.... Alexander was thrilled when he finally got picked to become a Padwan. He was so serious and paid attention like his life depended on it. Courtney, from the sidelines, gave him some sound advice: "Xander, use the FOREST!"

Courtney was all smiles when she got to meet other REAL princesses. Cinderella was thrilled that Courtney was dressed just like her (minus the pink cowgirl boots). They practiced some princess twirls together.

It was a bit of a let-down meeting Prince Phillip. She was expecting Sleeping Beauty and instead some weird guy in tights shows up and tells us that Sleeping Beauty was... still sleeping.

Little Miss Courtney tells everyone she meets, "Did you know that I am a REAL princess?" (Just FYI)

Pee Wee's Big Adventure--Flashback!!

Do y'all remember that movie hit of the 80's.... Pee Wee Herman? Well, on our way to LA we drove past these very random dinosaurs & I knew them from somewhere in my childhood. On our way back to Phoenix, we saw them again and drove 15 minutes to the next exit just to go back and see them. Sure enough, when I asked the lady there if these were, indeed, the famous dinosaurs, she said yes! They are actually opening a museum there... apparently a big part of Holywood history, LOL! This is where Pee Wee notices his wallet is gone and has to work off his meal at the diner. A waitress, Simonne, befriends him and they watch the sunrise from the inside of this T-Rex's mouth. She is making excuses why she hasn't gone to Paris and Pee Wee says"Everyone I know has got a big BUT..." ring any bells? (To get an idea of this dino's size, look close and you will see Alexander standing on its right foot.)