Double Happiness

Happy New Year!

This year, we donned our finest pirate garb and rang in the new year on the high seas (Disney Carribean Cruise).

If you have kids, you really can't beat the convenience and comfort of a cruise vacation and nobody does has a better family experience than Disney.  This was our first Disney cruise and we'll probably never use anyone else.  It was insanely fun and perfect down to the smallest detail.  Truly magical.

On formal night, Gwen opted to chill out in the kids area but Maddy wanted to get dressed up and have an 'adult' dinner with Mom and Dad.  She was thrilled to have her curled and wear a little bit of makeup.  It was our first Mommy/Daughter glam event and we really loved it!

A rare photo of just the parents!

Easter 2011

This year, we spent Easter with my brother, Kevin, at his home near Los Angeles.  The girls were worried about the Easter Bunny knowing where to deliver their baskets and since I forgot to bring the baskets (doh!), I had to tell them the truth about Ol’ Mr. EB.  Luckily, the disappointment was mitigated by Aunt Cindy who hid eggs all over her backyard!

Maddy loves the thrill of the hunt and quickly scored big bowl of candy-filled eggs.

  

With the help afforded her after donning her pink super-hero cape, Gwen did pretty well for herself too!

Three dogs and one slimy green tennis ball sure can be fun!

Kevin, Cindy and Moi

My neice, Kaelee, with her sweet pup, Sophie.

This is Kay.  I’ve called her Mom since she and my dad married (when I was somewhere around Gwen and Maddy’s age).   She and Dad divorced when I was in my early 30’s and our relationship took a detour sometime around that time too.  This weekend was the first time I’ve seen her in more than 15 years but I really hope it’s not the last.  Oh, and the pretty dog is Lady.   She barked her head off but her wildly wagging tail betrayed her intentions.   She’s as harmless as she is photogenic!

Tonight, we’ll take Daddy to the airport so he can go back to work tomorrow and Gwen and Maddy and I will head down closer to Disneyland for the rest of our Spring Break.

A White Thanksgiving... {updated}

So much to be grateful for this year!  A beautiful white Thanksgiving holiday at my brother's house in Northern Idaho.  We bundled up the girls in snow pants, fluffy jackets and insulated boots and gloves and they spent hours outside playing in the snow, sledding and building a snowman with their big brother, Michael.

Gwen quickly ducked outside (into the falling snow) so I could snap a quick photo of her without all of the overstuffed snow attire. 

Maddy loved the way the soft snowflakes felt on her upturned hands!  A few minutes later, we all pulled on our snow pants and fluffy coats and gloves and built a sled run!  Then we played on that for the rest of the day!

Michael built this cool snowman.  More about that later.

David and Barbara have this beautiful mural painted on the wall  near the stairs to the master bedroom loft.  A perfect backdrop for our handsome family!  From the left:  Barbara, Michael, Andrew, Gwenny, David and Madeline.

This is Maddy and Gwen with their Aunt Barbara.  My brother had the good sense to marry this very special woman almost 23 years ago (he knew her his entire life).  I never had a sister so it's incredibly cool to have a Sister-in-Law that is so easy to love! 

When we weren't outside playing in the snow (or eating!), we were watching the Harry Potter series or playing "Angry Birds" on our iphones/ipod.  We're big fans of H. Potter and A. Birds!

Here's a fun artsy "Hallmark Card" version of Michael's snowman creation.   Uncle David tried to find some coal for his eyes but the coal sack was buried under several feet of snow so he offered up some big buttons to use as eyes instead.  And what to use for buttons on his body?  Well, Dibs ice-cream bites of course!  In the 18 degree weather, they'll probably last until spring (if the deer don't decide to eat them first).    The carrot nose froze quickly and was so heavy that it hardly stayed attached to the face!  Who knew making a snowman was so challenging!?  ;)

This is Gwen and Maddy with sweet playful Zorra.  She's a hunny of a dog and a solid member of the family.  My brother thinks she's a Rottweiler/Border Collie mix but I think she might  be a Rottweiler/Labrador mix.  What do you think?

I hope everyone had many blessings to count this Thanksgiving holiday!

B&W Wednesday: Renaissance Gwen

You sure wouldn't know it from looking at this photo but our little Gwen is a major tomboy!  In fact, we joke that she's our 'other' son.  And would you ever guess from her utterly charming pose, above, that she loathed this dress? 

She was a Navi Princess (Avatar) for Halloween and that's the only thing she wanted to wear but we made her pose for some photos in this Renaissance style costume too.  After a minute or two of hysterically pathetic pouty poses, she got her groove back and let her real personality shine through.  Wanna see some of the color costume pics?  They're lovely and they're here.

Our Halloween over the years: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

 

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For more Black & White Wednesday fun, check out The Long Road to China.
More of our Black & White Wednesday posts here:  Black & White Wednesday

A different kind of Easter celebration

For the first time in forever, it was raining on Easter Sunday so we didn't even bother with pretty dresses and portraits.  Instead, we let the girls pick their own clothes and went about the process of keeping them entertained with indoor activities.  Since it was Easter, everything was closed so "indoor" meant "home".

   

We spent the day hiding and finding Easter eggs and splashing in the pool (hey, who cares if it's raining if you're in the pool?) and, generally, making a great big mess of our house.  We ate yummy Indian food for dinner and the girls were pretty exhausted by the end of it all. 

We tucked them into bed at 8:30 and when we went to bed at 10:00, I noticed that Gwen's bedroom door was open at the end of our long, dark, hall.  Then I looked closer and saw that she was sound asleep propped up against the door jam.  I have no idea how long she was sleeping like this but she was so deeply asleep that we were able to take several photos with our powerful flash while only half stifling our giggles and nothing we did woke her up.  Cute! 

Then I remembered that this wasn't the first time we photographed Gwen sleeping sitting up in an odd place.  Has anyone followed this blog long enough to remember this photo? 

What's the funniest/weirdest place you've ever found your child sleeping?