Reflections 2011

Emmy entered the Settlement Canyon PTA Reflections program again this fall. She decided to do two projects this year. She wrote a story and painted a picture. The theme was "Diversity". Emmy decided to do her projects on the diversity of butterflies. We had a great time researching different kinds of butterflies. Emmy won Awards of Merit in both the Literature and Visual Arts categories for her age division.

Emmy's visual arts project. A watercolor painting of different kinds of butterflies.

Emmy's story "I Love Buttrflys".

California Vacation - Beaches

On our last day in California, we took the girls to a couple of different beaches. It was the first time that they had ever played in the ocean. They had such a great time. They got more adventurous with the waves as they played. Eve took a few topples that soaked her almost completely. Alison was nervous about the dead seaweed on the beach; she kept close to Aaron and I the entire time we played. Emmy enjoyed running around with Katie chasing the waves up and down the beach.

A big wave that almost took Eve down.

Eve against the wave. The wave was always the victor.

Emmy testing out the waters.

Alison - A little unsure of the beach and needing to go potty. :)

Eve trying to stand up out of the wave that just took her down.

Emmy

Eve

Katie & Emmy

Our family!

Eve

Annika & Emmy

Eve showing me the sand on her hands.

Aaron studying the waves at Balboa Beach in the sunset.

Aaron & Annika at Laguna Beach.

Alison & Annika
We had lunch at Johnny Rockets. Wow, what a great hamburger!

California Vacation - Disneyland Day 4

Our family at Disneyland November 2011.

We got to see Disneyland all decked out for the Christmas holiday season. I thought the castle looked really cool with Christmas lights.

Princess Alison

Silly Eve

Alison, Eve, and Annika on It's a Small World

We love princesses!

All the Pretty Princesses meeting Sleeping Beauty.
Emmy, Katie, Eve, & Alison

Rapunzel & Flynn Rider
Eve, Alison, Emmy

Meeting Rapunzel was one of the great highlights from our trip Disneyland.

Can Emmy pull out the Sword in the Stone?

Can Eve pull out the Sword in the Stone?

It was so fun to go to Disneyland with our cousins.
Katie & Emmy

Alison, Katie, & Emmy

Alison & Annika on Alison's favorite ride, Ariel's Underwater Adventure.

Alison and Eve had a wonderful conversation with Ariel. She asked Alison if she wanted to be a Mermaid when she grows up. Alison quickly responded, "Yes, I want to be a Mermaid when I grow up." Alison has been telling us this for a long time.

Alison, Ariel, & Eve

We stayed late on our last night at Disneyland so that we could see the Magic of Colors show at California Adventure. It was an incredible show. The lights on the water was amazing. It was a great way to end our adventures at Disneyland.

Eve was really tired.

Alison totally crashed. She missed the entire light show.

California Vacation - Disneyland Day 3

We went to California Adventure on Day 3 of our Disneyland visit. I thought it was a cool theme park. It was a little harder to navigate with small children because there were only a few rides geared to the little ones. The nice thing was that there were no lines all day long. So we were able to ride Ariel's Underwater Adventure 10 times in a row. It was one of the all time favorites.

These are the water effects that would go off periodically during the day. The park uses them to put on the Magic of Colors show each evening.

Emmy on the carousel.

Alison, Eve, Carly, & Will playing with Nana around the bubbles.

Annika & Alison on the bumper cars.

Eve loved every ride she got on. She is a brave little girl.

Emmy, Katie, & Annika on the Mickey Ferris Wheel.

Eve, Aaron, & Alison on the Mickey Ferris Wheel.

Alison, Emmy, Katie, & Eve with Santa.

Peek-a-Boo!

California Vacation - Disneyland Day 2

A walk with Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother.
Sara, Eve, Carly

Look! Look! It's Tigger.

The crew with Tigger.

The crew with Eeyore.

Nana, Katie, Eve, Carly, Alison on the Winnie-the-Pooh ride.

Alison taking a break on daddy's shoulders.

Splash Mountain!
Annika, Aaron, & Emmy

Emmy & Carly with Ariel.

The girls meeting Tinkerbell.

The crew with Tinkerbell.

Alison

Eve

Sara, Emmy, & Katie
Jungle Safari Ride

Taking a walk with Sleeping Beauty.

She notices that Eve's shoe is untied. So, she stopped for a minute to tie up Eve's shoe. It was so sweet.

Sleeping Beauty tying Eve's shoe.

Aaron was taking a video of Sleeping Beauty walking with the girls. He backed into this fence and fell into the bushes. It was so funny.