Goodbye Science Cube - Hello Aquarium

Yesterday, we spent several hours at the Science Discovery Cube in Santa Ana. We have enjoyed our membership this past year. Some of our favorite exhibits were Clifford and the Human body. The kids also enjoyed learning about Tigers (especially the rock wall that lit up). To make it special, we let all the kids participate in the Dinoquest (a really cool scavenger hunt). Each child receives a wand (transmitter) that keeps track of each fossil you find. They have organized "missions" for individuals to complete. Then you get rewarded with a cool token at the completion of each assignment. IMO, this is most fun for kids ages 7 and above.

This year we will be making our way to the Aquarium in Long Beach. A membership was given to our entire family by my brother and his family. Thank you. Can't wait to touch the sting rays and feed the lorikeets!

Dogs, dogs, dogs

We are taking care of our neighbor's puppy, Emmy, for a week. Zeus is getting a lot of exercise. Emmy loves to pounce and run and CHEW! Poor little thing is such a puppy. We are all working hard to train her, but it is so tempting for her to steal things and go chew them. Lee and Libby took her on a bike ride, she is in great shape!

Merry Christmas!

Brooke building with Grandpa Reynolds. The toy is a motorized drill with easy screws for her to take apart and rebuild again and again.

Perry building with his new erector set.

Libby opening a present from Grandma Suzette and Ed. The present included "toe socks" that her toes are snugly sleeping in tonight. Libby says she loves to be warm.

Sage opening presents, she already wore one of the blouses and necklaces tonight!

Perry plugged in to his new MP3 and look at his stack of gifts!

Grandpa Reynolds checking out a CD Sage gave to him.

Staci showing off her new Christmas tree Sage gave to her. Can I just put this out next year?

All the kids were caught building.






Great idea we clued in on from the Astle family. They let the kids open presents given to each other as a family night. This shortened the Christmas morning and helped them appreciate things a little more. We did it! We think we will keep this tradition. The kids were so sweet in their thoughtfulness for others.

Opening stockings and pure chaos.

This year Lee and I had a "silent night" on Christmas Eve. All of the kids were with their other biological parents. That allowed us to have a nice dinner and game night with my parents. We started Christmas day at 11 (are you jealous?) with a nice brunch and then a nice dinner at my moms at 4. Thankfully Brooke took a nice nap, so all went well. Everyone is happy with their gifts they received and gave. Mostly, we are so grateful for the spirit of Christmas and the things the season reminds us of.

Brooke's final 5th birthday celebration

Dinner for Brooke

Princess phone and coloring book from Grandma and Eddie. The phone has all kinds of activities. Brooke has decided that it will stay on her Vanity table. Does that mean she has seen me put make-up on while talking on the phone (maybe too many times)?

Bathing suit with itty bitty skirt from mommy and Lee (they already sent me to Disneyland with friends). Who can pass up the suits found during the off season?

Barbie car and girl from Uncle Scott and Auntie Gail. The girl has a dog that needs to be taken care of. Yes, it actually eats and then poops. The Barbie, Tanner, has a magnetic pooper scooper that picks up the poop. What a fun gift!

Sage helped her read all the cards.

Making a wish!

The finished cake and cupcakes. Rebecca, that apron really gets a lot of use.

Brooke knows how to really get into her baking. This is the clean up effort. Since you know she likes doing the dishes, she really did wash them all with plenty of soap.

Can you see all the screws and pieces she had to put together?

Vanity table

Picture taken on Thursday, the 18th. She brought snack to school: peanut butter sandwiches, made from Ritz crackers, peanut butter and chocolate Pops cereal and a bag of Cheetos. Yes, they all had orange fingers in the end. Funny thing happened...Brooke was mad at me because I passed out the Cheetos along with the other foods - she thought that should be dessert and only served after everyone was done eating the other food. The ideas she comes up with make me crack up :)

Brooke is one lucky little girl. She has so many people that love and care about her. We started the rainy day off with a shopping trip with my Dad to Toys R' Us. She knew exactly what she wanted, she doesn't care for shopping. He bought it and she couldn't wait to get home to put it together. This girl patiently screwed in all the screws and took a break for lunch and continued to put it all together. It is called a Sleeping Beauty Vanity table. Funny thing about it: the table includes a doll head that is interactive. When Brooke picks up the comb, it makes some comment. It is quite the item she has been looking at for some time.

Tonight we had a family party at my parent's home across the street :) My mom cooked all of Brooke's favorite foods. Brooke made the cupcakes and cake, she decorated them herself as well. She is becoming very independent!

Gingerbread House

The Finished Product!

Help me out here. This is my first gingerbread house. I let the kids decorate a side and part of the roof. Check out their pictures to see what they did with their real estate. I've heard that you eat the house...when? After Christmas? It was the perfect night to do this activity, it was actually cold. We had the fire place on and the girls were all bundled up with blankets.

Talent Show at School

Libby was a hit! She sang "Up on the Housetop". Both Sage and Libby went to many 2 hour practices after school along with a dress rehearsal. Unfortunately, Sage couldn't be at the actual performances, but both she and Libby had a great experience preparing for a show.

Brooke's birthday celebrations begin

Who takes pictures looking into the sun? The 3 musketeers: Brooke, Jed, and Kelly. Can you believe the ornaments are larger than their heads?

Laura is brave to go on the tea cups, not once, but then again at night before the fireworks!

Notice the new benches for "Small World", now with hand grips.

Brooke wanted to see the real Mickey Mouse!

Brooke and Mommy

Kelly and Mommy

Jed and Mommy

Brooke wanted to celebrate her birthday with friends at Disneyland for her party this year. Some have passes and the others my cousin signed in for "free". She loved the entire day including the fireworks. They just take your breath away. One scary moment of the day was when during Jedi training, Darth Maul looked right at Brooke and pointed. That brought her quickly into my lap. Since she was wearing the "birthday badge", many people that work at Disneyland wished Brooke a "Happy Birthday". That is nice and all until we went on the Jungle boat ride. The funny boat driver kept including her in the jokes, including the part where the natives are chanting. She interpreted that to be singing, "Happy Birthday to Brooke" - I thought that was really a great example of going out of your way to make it special. Inside Toon Town there is a play area called "Goofy's playhouse". The kids had a lot of fun there until you realize we've got more rides to go on. I'm bummed because I can't share with you any great pictures of the castle lit up at night. During Christmas, everything is so dreamy at Disneyland...it even snows after the fireworks! They leave nothing out! Brooke never slowed down, she had so much fun.