Disneyland! and California Adventure!

Hello everyone!  Short update today, mostly a big photodump.  We took a trip to Disneyland with Aunt Star and Uncle Tim.  It was a great time, and thanks to Uncle Tim for taking so many great pictures!

Hello everyone it is me, Taylor.  We rode the waterside and went to both California Adventure and Disneyland!!!  At Disneyland our first ride was Matterhorn.  We explored the inside and outside and went through a pit of water.  Sadly I had to get off the ride.  Next we went to star tours. We went on a new planet in the world or star wars.  We found out there were 54 versions of the ride.  Next we went on the rocket ride and flew higher than the one at Funderland. Then we went to the haunted house- it looked like it had been updated since I last went to the haunted house.  After a few more rides and a nap at the hotel we went back to Disneyland and saw Fantasmic. We rode on 3 more rides and went to the hotel. We stayed up till midnight watching Family Guy.

Next morning we went to California Adventure.  Our first ride was the Tower of Terror.  It was a huge drop ride and it made me so miserable.  Then we went on California Screaming.  It was better, it even had an upside down circle! Then we went on Mickeys Fun Wheel - it was scary, it was also kinda like a cable car.  After Silly Symphony Swings and a few other rides we went to the hotel and napped. We went on the water slides for one last time and headed to Tower of Terror.  After that we did a few rides that the family wanted then my ride. For my ride we went on Goofy's Flying School. It was so fun.  That did not wrap up our time yet.  We went on California Screaming 2 more times. Then we did Jumping Jelly fish and Cars!  Then we headed back for the hotel.  Next morning we left and bought a souvenir from the arcade then we left the hotel and returned the keys. So that's the end of the vacation. That's all, bye!

Here's the pictures!

Taylor and AJ finish their school year, and Happy Mother & Father's Day!

Hello everyone,
Taylor has finished the 2nd grade, and AJ has graduated from pre-school!  He's going to be a big kindergartner next year.  It's been a while since we've updated, so figured we should let everyone know what's going on.

Nicky and AJ went rock climbing and the boy is a natural.  We think he might be related to Spider man.  He sticks to the wall easily and had a great time!  Taylor on the other hand has been doing lots of swimming and playdates with her friends.  I'm sure she'll tell you more about that when it's her turn to write.

Just this past weekend, we visited Steve and Si, Ben and Evan.  It was a great time, we had mini tacos, went to the park and even played with airplane gliders.  Then we came home, ate some dinner, and got back into our cars the next morning to go visit the family in Arnold.  We had huge amounts of delicious food, and got to see everyone we had not seen in a while.  It was great fun.

Uh oh! Taylor wants to talk, here she is!
Hi everyone, let me tell you what I have been doing.  Recently we went to Steve and Si's. I was heartbroken when I forgot my stuffed Nemo. Her name was Disa you have probably heard about her.  Steve was so kind to let me borrow my own fish's cousin, Nemo.  That's all for Steve's house review.

Now for my brother's graduation:  at first I was not very excited until my favorite song played and a magician started putting on a show.  He let me do 2 tricks!  First was the rope trick - I think you all know it.  I held the string and he cut the string into pieces.  Then we said the magic word and string was put back together.  My next trick was a Halloween trick.  I first put a green handkerchief  in the bag and a boy on the other side of the stage put life saver candies into a box.  When I reached in and pulled it out... The handkerchief turned into life saver candies! The boy reached into his box, and pulled out the green handkerchief instead of the life saver candies! His grand finale was that he made AJ fly!!!

Today we went up to the Woods and had a Fathers day party! I found a cool ice cream scooper that let you turn a knob and you could made the ice cream come off! That is all for today, bye!

Day One of Daddy/Daughter Spring Break!

Taylor has spring break this week, and in celebration, I decided to take Tu-Thu off so we could celebrate spring break together.  We kicked it off with a full lunar eclipse last night.

I tried to wake Taylor up to see the eclipse last night, but she was out like a rock.  AJ woke up and came down to look at it with me though.  He thought it was very neat, but the whole time we were looking at it, he was telling me a story about his dream with a headless horseman.  All-in-all, a good way to start Spring Break.

Today, we started painting Taylor's new dollhouse.  Turqoise and Purple are the colors she chose.

We painted the first coat over the majority of surfaces of the dollhouse.  Tomorrow is the second coat.  After that, we went out to pizza for lunch, where Taylor and I tested the limits of Round Table's 'All you can eat' lunch special.

Next, Taylor and Nicky went to JoAnns and bought sidewalk chalk and window markers and drew in the back yard.

Followed by a trip to Taekwondo with AJ.  Taylor got recognized today for having a great attitude in class and even got invited to the Black Belt class!  Congrats Taylor!

Now for Taylor's contribution -
Hello everyone, see that picture with me holding the balloons?  I really think it is a crack up because I hate ants and they were everywhere.  I managed to stay still for only 1 baby second after I saw 4 ants in my skirt, then I screamed very loud and ran into the pool and brushed the ants off.  Today at pizza I ate 10 slices of pizza and 5 cinnamon buns.  I did not barf them up even after we got home!   Now Andrew stole my crystalize markers and is wasting them.  Pesky brothers!  Well I better go get them back... done.  He is only drawing bobble heads. It is annoying 'cause Mom is on a 5 month diet and she ate almost all of my candies.  Lol!  Well bye!

See you all tomorrow for day 2.

Disa has been badly injured!

Hello internet! Taylor here.
I am 7 years old and my 33 year old fish, Disa, had a VERY bad accident.  She fell into a porcupine, got cut with 1,000 swords, a bear chased her and she fell into a fire.  We are here in the emergency room, the computers are for x-rays and the sound control is for listening to Disa's heart.  We hired 6 doctors to help and it is mine and AJ's turn to help.  We are looking for what is wrong.  It has been reported all 4 of her kids have been hurt when we had the fun dance.  Disa was not injured at the fun dance because she was not at the dance.  She went to market and crossed the forest and went through the army and the porcupine village.

Now we are looking on the computer to see her brain... uh oh!  Each doctor said she will be blind and deaf but what is this?!  She knows what we said so she is not blind or deaf.  Hurray she is a-ok!

 Back to Daddy!

Swim season is starting again soon, and I'm not really looking forward to it.  Nicky and I made a deal that on swim meet mornings, I would stay home with AJ and she will take Taylor to the meets.  Let's see how well that works out.  I have a feeling I'll be taking her before too long.  I told Taylor that I wouldn't mind taking her if she has a passion for it.  I want to see her really caring about swimming, and I'll be 100% supportive.  But last year we often had to force Taylor to go to practices, and there was even a meet where she refused to swim.  Hopefully this year, she really keeps a great attitude about swimming, I know she can be an amazing swimmer if she really wants to be.

Speaking of swimming, AJ has been very timid about swimming, and he hasn't learned to be water safe yet.  Now that we have a pool, it's very important that he learn to swim, otherwise summer is going to be a nightmare for me and Nicky.  I told him that if he is able to swim by the end of May, we will take him and Taylor to Disneyland in June.  He's very motivated by this, and has even asked to go swimming.  When we get in the water, he does "sticky pillow" and "push offs".  I think he'll be swimming like a fish before we know it.

Also, from now on, the style of these blog posts is going to be different.  Taylor is going to write the blog with me, so hopefully, you'll have get some Taylor news, as well as some Daddy news.  Hope you enjoyed the Disa story, and pray for a speedy recovery for our favorite clown fish.

Taylor's First Taekwondo Tournament

Quick update, just wanted to post it so I don't forget.  Taylor had her first Taekwondo tournament this past weekend, and she was the only white belt to earn a medal (3rd).  She was super excited and did a great job.

They had me hold one of the boards for her, and I was surprised at just how hard she hits a board!

White belts!

So, it's tomorrow (plus a few days) and the promised photo update is ready and attached below.  The big news lately is the kids and I have started doing Taekwondo.  In the past I've disparaged TKD as not a "true" art, but at this point, anything that gets me exercise and a shared experience with the kids is a great thing, so I'm in!

4 months?

I can't believe it's been 4 months since my last update. Tomorrow I will add pictures and do a full update. Today, I want to summarize some highlights.

In October Taylor switched to her new school and new class.  At first she really liked it, but lately she hasn't been fond of her new class. She says she doesn't have friends in her new class and I wonder if we did the right thing by switching her mid year. Today was her half birthday and she brought rainbow cupcakes to class. She came home excited and said everyone loved her for it, so maybe this is the beginning of a turn around.

For Christmas AJ got a new riding car and he drives it as much as he can. To the park, Taylor's school, everywhere he can. He's still going to Claire's but I don't think he likes it much. He gets in trouble sometimes.

The kids two favorite movies are frozen and the Lego movie. It's very fun to take them to a movie, they absolutely love seeing movies and it's a whole adventure for them.

More tomorrow, it's late now.