Monday, August 31, 2009

Camp Rock Party

Camryn's birthday was in May. She hearts Nick Jonas and loves the Disney Channel Movie - Camp Rock. That was the theme of her party. For invites we made CD's of the songs with the party info on the back of the CD cover. Then Cam talked me into having her friends over to watch the movie about a week before the party. On the day of the party guests received backstage passes that had pictures of them holding a Rock Band instrument. We did a craft, played games, danced, and ate. I think they all had a good time. Here is a video about the party - Camryn came up with the narration herself.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Back to School

Monday was the first day of school. Alexis started Middle School. It was very strange not to drop her off and take pictures with her teachers. The car pool came and off she went to 6th grade. She was able to open her locker and liked all her teachers. The phone has been ringing non-stop, so she can talk about her classes with her friends. So it begins!
Camryn is in Ms. Robertson's 1st grade class. She has a few friends in there, but the rest of her Kindergarten Crew are in another class. She is very resilient and doesn't seem to mind. Her classroom is very cute, decorated in a Western theme (they are the Trailblazers). She loves staying for the whole day and having lunch at school.

Field Trips

I tried to fill up our last week before school started with various activities. The whole family went to Chuck E. Cheese. If you get there right when it opens, there are tickets attached to almost every machine from when they were reset. Then Seth was playing a game and the tickets wouldn't stop coming out. We told an employee and they fixed it, about 500 tickets later.

We ended up with over 900 tickets. The kids got this bowling set, along with lots of other junky toys.

We also went to Ethel M's with the Peerys, the Driscolls, and the Cucurus. It wasn't as fun or as educational as I remember it, but we each got a free candy. We walked around the cactus gardens and took some pictures.

Since Ethel M's didn't take long, we headed to Bellagio's Botanical Gardens. It had a huge Ferris Wheel and a glass house that caged colorful parakeets.




Later in the week, we had the neighborhood kids over to watch "Race to Witch Mountain" and we also went to Mission Hills Park, where they have cool Pirate Themed Water Features.

The Great Outdoors

Dave only took 5 days off between school years. Moving to a new school had him too busy for a trip to Utah, so we opted for an overnighter at Lovell Canyon. Our friends the Peery's and Lex's friend Shae came along. When we got there, the grown ups pitched the tents and got things set up, while the kids went exploring and set off to get as dirty as possible. Lex and Shae found this petrified deer antler.

We had Hobo (tin foil) dinners. They got a little charred and the kids were grossed out, but I thought they were good. My dad says the char puts hair on your chest. We made Smores for dessert.

After dinner, Camryn and I told some funny ghost stories - mine were funny because they were jokes, Camryn's were funny because they rambled on. We also had a little sing along. It started with Primary songs and later Camryn and Jaren started in on the High School Musical songs. Sadly, we ALL knew the words. The kids started getting tired and headed off to bed.

It got pretty cold while we were sleeping. Our friends have only lived in Vegas a few years and underestimated the desert nights. They had sleeping bags for their kids, but only a sheet for themselves. We gave them a hard time in the morning about it. We cooked our Barney Biscuits (ghetto Egg McMuffins) for breakfast and cleaned up to go home. Everyone and everything was dirty!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Pools, Poop, and Petty Theft


Last week, Chris and I decided to take the kids to the Black Mountain Public Pool. After about 15 minutes of swimming, the lifeguards blew their whistles and got everyone out of the pool and were attending to a 3 year old boy. At first, I was concerned for his well-being, then I realized that the kid was not injured but had actually POOPED in the pool. Even with a vat of chlorine dumped in, there was no way we were going back in. We got vouchers and moved on to the Whitney Ranch Pool.

The kids had a good time, wrestling and going down the water slide. Eventually, some boys started teasing Alexis, Makenna,Sydney, and Chase (I'm guessing they liked them). The girls sounded all offended, but continued to go over near them, so they must have been flattered by the attention. When it was time to go home, I noticed the whole box of White Cheddar Cheese-Its I had brought for a snack was missing. I think those hoodlums that were teasing the girls took it. Little Punks! The whole outing was an adventure and I think I got my fill of public pools until next year.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Lied Discovery Museum

We have 2 whole weeks of no school, so I am doing my best to keep the kids entertained. On Monday, we decided to use the tickets to the Lied Discovery Museum that we had earned through the Library's Summer Reading Program. We met up with 3 other moms and their kids and had a great time.

First we "worked" at this auto shop to earn a paycheck. Then the kids cashed their checks at the bank and went "shopping" at the little store. The kids were really into it and we had to drag them out to do other activities.



Next, the kids played with the bubbles. Alexis did pretty good making some from this giant ring.

The kids dressed up in costumes and hit the stage. Camryn and her friend , Avery, were the biggest hams. Seth was Spiderman. And you can see, Alexis was too cool to dress up.


We headed upstairs and played with the science contraptions. Here are the kids in the hurricane simulator. Seth just stared and kept blinking his eyes. Camyrn screamed the whole time.

Camryn's favorite thing to do at the museum is sing in the little studio. This is her singing a Jonas Brother's song.
We had fun. It was nice to go with friends and let the kids explore the museum with their buddies.








Friday, August 7, 2009

Movin' On Up

Camryn - The First and Last Day of Kindergarten


Camryn had a Promotion Ceremony the last week of school. Each child said their little part and they sang little songs that demonstrated what they learned this year. Camryn did great and said her line perfectly.

Camryn received this certificate for completing Kindergarten. She had a great year. Mrs. Schott is an awesome teacher and Camryn learned so much. She loves to write (this week I found a notebook in her room that had a fan letter she had written Nick Jonas in it!) and she is starting to read books like Green Eggs and Ham.


Alexis - The First and Last Day of 5th Grade


Alexis also had a Promotion Ceremony. She had a wonderful year also. Mrs. Anderson was fun and really a great teacher. Alexis showed a lot of improvement in her reading and writing. At the ceremony, Mrs. Anderson talked about how quiet Alexis is - I guess she should see her at home. Alexis is moving on to Middle School. That is making me feel really old.


Saturday, August 1, 2009

Spring Mountain Ranch Ladies Night

Every summer my mom organizes a girls only trip to Spring Mountain Ranch, about 30 minutes out of town, to watch a play. This year we went to see West Side Story. We brought Subway for our picnic dinner. You have to be there early to get a spot , so then we had about 2 hours to kill.


The girls went to "The Meadow" where a ranch house that once belonged to Howard Hughes, then later Vera Krupp, is open to the public. The house has a secret passage that leads from the master bedroom to a "secret room" room in the back. My sister, Jolynn, told the kids to watch for ghosts - this is their scared faces. Camryn has acting potential.

Next, the girls found a spot to practice a show of their own - it involved very interesting gymnastics moves.


The play finally started. It involved more adult content than my girls could handle. Alexis let it go over her head, but Camryn had lots of questions. The take home message was - don't sleep with guys that just killed your brother, even if he didn't mean it. It was a fun night anyway. The kids enjoyed the singing and dancing. It was late and Camryn passed out on the way home.