Theater Time

I took Dallin out on a date the other night and it made me wonder why we don't do this more often. There is something so special about that one-on-one time where he gets my full, undivided attention and I learn so much about what is happening in his life at school, etc.
We had dinner at the Olive Garden (shocker :)) and had so much fun playing tic-tac-toe and looking up basketball facts on my phone.After dinner, we headed down the street to Old Town Temecula. There is a beautiful little theater there and I have been anxious to check it out. When I saw that the musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" was playing, I was sold. This musical was Dallin's very favorite movie when he was about 3 or 4. We would watch it over and over again. To actually see it live on stage was heaven for him. We sat in the second row and Dallin was literally on the edge of his seat the entire performance. He belly laughed numerous times and had everyone around us loving his reactions. The love songs elicited no response from him, but everything else was fair game. He thoroughly enjoyed himself as did I. I love that the theater gene has been passed on to a new generation. On a totally random note, when we entered the theater the usher who showed us to our seats looked really familiar to me. She ended up being Jillian, a contestant on the show "Survivor" last year. Being the total dork that I am, I had to get a picture with her. Dallin thought it was all pretty cool.

Thanks for the fun and super-memorable date Dallin! Where shall we go next?!

Bee Bite

Today I got a phone call from the school nurse. Dallin apparently fell on the grass while playing soccer at recess, landed on a bee and got stung in the leg. I have to share the fact that Dallin is terrified of bees. At the pool, he screams like a little girl when a bee encroaches his personal space, so I was curious as to how he handled it all. When the nurse told me that he pulled the stinger out himself and didn't cry (although the tears were readily available), I was shocked and so proud of him. What could have been a quite traumatic second day of school was just another day in the life of Dallin. Now we just need to see if the little girl screams at the pool have been quieted or amplified. We shall see...

Preschool Pals

Claire started her second year of preschool today. She was so ready and was most excited to have so many of her friends in her class this year (Jack, Aubree, Owen, Kate, Tyler). Apparently, Claire and her bff Aubree are the queens of the class (telling everyone how to clean up, line up, eat, drink, breathe...). Ah, my little Claire... growing up so fast. Happy preschool year!

First First

Today is Dallin's first day in the first grade... time is flying. His teacher is Mrs. Mata, he is in room 10 and is fortunate enough to have 3 of his best friends in his class again (Jake, Gavin and Avery). He is so excited to see his friends, play soccer at recess and eat maple syrup waffles for lunch :). Here we go again!

Summer Stay

Last week, the kids and I flew to Washington to visit Papa and Nana for our big summer trip. Peter couldn't come since he was bonding with males on the High Adventure in Catalina Island. We missed him (especially on the airplane), but we had a wonderful time. Here are the highlights...

When we arrived in Seattle, we were greeted by Papa and Nana. We all then headed to the Olive Garden to have dinner with Scott and Sara.
Over the next few days, we had dance parties, watched movies, spent the night at Scott and Sara's house (Dallin), milked the cow that Nana made for Pioneer day,

visited with Grandma GG,

played games,

celebrated belated half-birthdays :),

played with some of our very favorite people,

went on a nature walk,

played at the park,

had a picnic in the back of Papa's truck,

and met up at the mall with some fun friends (thanks for the fun afternoon Rachel!).

The greatest highlight of our trip was our overnight stay at the Great Wolf lodge.

Papa and Nana took us to this amazing hotel filled with magician games,

yummy food,

bedtime stories, a bunk bed in a cave,

an arcade, and an amazing indoor water park.

(see my Mom above in the hotel lobby with sleeping Spencer and my Dad, Dallin and Claire playing at the water park behind her... so fun).

It was my kids dreamland.

This was how we all felt after our fun summer getaway:

Thanks Papa, Nana, Scott, Sara and Grandma GG for a super-fun visit!!!

Professional Pics

For any of you who have been long-time readers of our blog, you may remember some beautiful, fun pictures taken of my pregnancy and infant Spencer last year. Well, this same friend/photographer hasn't been hiding her talent and has been going full force all year. She has an incredible eye and talent that we are always willing to be a part of. You can check out her beautiful work at www.allysonrandlephotography.com.
Although Ally recently moved to UT, she came back to CA recently to do some photos and was kind enough to squeeze us in last minute. We literally took about 20 minutes in a back lot of Old Town on dirt and she created these amazing photos. I'll use the words again and again... amazing and beautiful. Thanks Ally.