Family Update Part III (Disneyland)

One of the best parts of Disneyland...Pineapple Dole Floats and the Tiki Room.

Family Update Part II (Knott's Berry Farm)

I just finished my online class!!! Yea!!! I want to celebrate, but what can I do at 10:00 on Sunday night... I celebrated by cleaning the kitchen. It's hard to do house work when you have school work. So I am enjoying my clean kitchen while blogging.

My brother, Michael (#2 in the fam) took the train up from San Diego. The next day we met my family at Knott's Berry Farm for our birthday. We used to go to Knott's every year the day before school started because NO ONE was there. The lines were short, and that's a wonderful thing for a theme park. We have the funnies memories at that place.
We were on the Ferris Wheel in Camp Snoopy one year. My brothers and I decided to try to spit on my dad who was below us. We kept trying, but the wind would blow our spit away.... SPLAT!! Finally, Grayson landed a nice loogie on my Dad's neck. I still remember his face. He patted his neck with his hand, looked at it, patted it again, looked at it again, and then.... realized that we spit on him. We were busted. No more rides for us. But I'll never regret it because I'm still laughing about it at 27.

I love my husband because he takes pictures of the picture of us on the ride... We never buy them.We went on the stage coach ride. Hannah and Gavin loved it. My mom droped her camera case, so we had to stop and the driver had to pick it up.It happened to be Mighty Ducks day at Knott's so Kevin was happy to see some of his favorite players.While he was away (with the camera) Hannah and I panned for gold. $7 to fulfull my childhood memory with Hannah. When she had her gold in the vile, she triped and fell.... shattering her vile of gold. She was devistated. Luckily, Miner Gary hooked her up with a new one full of a bunch of gold.

The best part, of course, was watching Hannah and Gavin love it!
I wish you could hear them laugh!

This one is awesome...

We finished the night off with funnel cake. I got powdered sugar and boysenberry sauce. You have to get boysenberry sauce at Knott's. Boysenberries were invented and Knott's Berry Farm! SO GOOD and SO BAD! Because I'm Courtney I had to estimate how many calories are in 1 funnel cake... 760 calories, that's not including the sugar and sauce. I would estimate a good 1,000 calories for the whole thing. And 68% of your fat intake... ouch!
Next stop... the train ride. Complete with the train robbers. Some things never change...

*Hannah and Kairistiona on the train
It was a great day. It's nice to have so much help with the kids. Thank you Mom and Dad for taking the family to Knott's and buying $60 of funnel cakes!

Family Update Part I

I didn't quit! I've been busy. I do have a lot of updating to do.
Hannah had U.S.A. Day at preschool. It was so funny. Everyone wore red, white, and blue. They made streamers and other stuff and then had a parade. Who ever heard of U.S.A. Day? Hannah does know her pledge of allegiance, it's so cute when she says it. She follows up with her patriotic song. FYI: I had to fight off the parent paparazzi to get this picture... or was I just part of the parent paparazzi... whatever, I almost knocked over a lady... oops!

The other big event in our family... We got new Disneyland Passes! The kids were so excited to go back to Disneyland. Hannah was thrilled to get her own pass. Look how happy she is!!!

(notice her new booster seat? She feels so grown up to be out of a "baby" carseat)

We went to Disneyland with the Banks' and met up with Aaron and Rachel later. A 6:2 adult:child ratio is realllllly nice.
Gavin always has a great time with Aaron...
Gavin went on the Matterhorn!
The Matterhorn is one of Hannah's favorite rides. She feels so grown up.Coming up... Family Update Part II

Courtney Quit!

edit: In order to get the most out of this entry, click the links. It's better that way.

She did it! She quit blogging. I think she finally found a life. Not to be mean, but come on. Now that she's focused on school, working...a little, and taking care of me, Hannah and Gavin, she's not able to blog. (Tears now flowing?)

I know, I know, how are you all going to live without knowing what happened to Hannah at school today, or what crazy recipe she tried on us. Fear not though obsessed bloggers, she'll be back....eventually. In the mean time life will go on. It's almost the summer, go outside and enjoy yourself, get off the computer. Let's all lose that 10lbs we've been holding on to all winter. We're trying.

-Kevin

Polo Reunion

My friends Jocelyn and Kristin organized a little reunion dinner for our old teammates. A lot of my old teammates are scattered around the globe, but it was a lot of fun to get together and tell funny Jovan stories. I couldn't believe how much some people grew up... Alana is in law school. Last time I saw her she was a little freshman.
Jocelyn Barbour, Sarah Smith, Kristen Dedmon, Shelli Linza, Alana Srour, and ME!

Karalla Jones & Captain Steve

Kevin and I have been talking about getting a dog since we were dating and wanted to have a little girl named Hannah. Last Wednesday night we headed over to the animal shelter in Downey. We got there at 6:45 and it closed at 7:00, and we found a cute little dog. The kids and I went to adopt her the next day, we got her! We picked her up later that day with Kevin. She was so sedated because she was spayed right before we got her.
We have really enjoyed getting to know our new family member. She is a sweet playful dog. She likes to sleep on Hannah's bed. I love hearing Gavin talk to her.We took her on our trip to San Diego. I have to admit it was a lot of work. I think she had a good time. We stayed on Steve and Kaitlin's boat. Hannah and Gavin were excited to see Captain Steve.We went on a Valentine's evening harbor cruise. We enjoyed the sunset, the seals, ohh... and the giant dead whale...Our harbor cruise was cut short when the swells started getting bigger. We were prepared with life jackets for the kids...
and Karalla... she is too cute in her life jacket.
The boys went fishing before we went to dinner. Hannah and Gavin loved it.
Before our romantic dinner at Souplantation, we let the kids and the puppy get their wiggles out. They were running all over the place. They love their puppy.
Kevin surprised be with a boquet of PINK tulips (very important that they are pink) while I gorged on Souplantation's blueberry muffins with Kaitlin.

Sunday we went to Cabrillo National Monument. Cabrillo was hired by the Spanish in the 1500's to explore the coast of California.

The view was incredible from Point Loma.
Kevin loves his dog.
We always have so much fun with Steve and Kaitlin, they tollerate our kids so well too.
Hannah, Gavin, and Karalla liked the hike down to the tide pools.
The tidepools weren't that great. I guess we are spoiled with the Aquarium of the Pacific.
We met Michael (my brother) for dinner at the restaurant he works at. It was nice to get great service, a discount, free dessert, and someone to order our food for us. The messy sundae... was indeed messy. Hannah and Gavin loved it. I was grateful becuase Michael totally supervised Gavin and cleaned him up. He was a mess.We had a great weekend, but we are happy to be home in our own beds again.

Familee Girl Night

I took advantage of an out-of-town husband and a daughter without school and went to my family's house. My goal was to do something fun with my mom. I've been dying to go to "Color Me Mine." For those of you who don't know what that is... "Color Me Mine" is a pottery painting studio. You pick out the piece, paint it, and the store glazes it and cooks it. You pick it up about a week later.
Hannah picked a Princess piggy bank. As much as a tried to get her to pick something cheaper, she wouldn't budge. She knew what she wanted.
After 30 coats of paint the princess was dripping. Notice the big pool of paint at the foot of the princess. Luckily, my brother's friend worked at the store and washed off all the paint when Hannah wasn't looking. I'll finish it another time... it just looked awful.
My mom had a lot of fun too. It was good to see her happy with all her girls, minus Lauren. We couldn't get a hold of her to come with us. We are going to do it again in August, hopefully she will be able to make that one.
I had to add this... Why is my little sister driving?!?!?! Scary... I can't believe she is old enough to drive. Being the oldest in my family I've got to witness a lot of firsts... This one shocked me the most.
I made a big bowl. I didn't have enough time to finish it for obvious Princess reasons. I plan to go all by myself and finish it here in Long Beach. While I'm at it, I'll finish the princess too. Good thing Hannah believes in magic.