7 years Already?

We had a great time celebrating Derek's 7th birthday the last three days. We designated it "birthday weekend" and started on Friday afternoon. After three days of various parties/outings/special dinners/treats, and of course about 5 dozen cupcakes, I am officially declaring birthday weekend OVER. But Derek had a great time!

I had a blast decorating not 1, not 2, but almost 5 dozen of these gems. They did come out cute, though!

Sunday evening we celebrated 3 birthdays with friends. Chocolate covered strawberries, the black and white cookie, cupcakes, root beer freezes, and the best rice crispy treats I've ever made rounded out the menu. Sugar high, anyone??
Today I brought more cupcakes to school, where Derek's friends each wrote a cute birthday wish to him and sang, of course. (Note that the only other blonde haired child in the class just happens to be in this picture.)
And opening presents was of course the best part! Derek and Grayson can't wait to try out the new glove and baseballs!

Then finishing the celebration, Derek chose to dine at Claimjumper. It was Carissa's choice, as well, back in February, so it must have made quite an impression!

Happy birthday to my sweet, silly Derek!

Making a Case For Sunblock

...and hats. For those of us who grew up slathering our skin with baby oil and Crisco, who never wore a hat outside unless it was for a baseball game, and who sunbathed until our skin blistered- here's a reality check. Although it is funny that Lee has another injury, the very scary fact is that his teeny tiny little spot of non-melanoma cancer cells took 5 hours to dig out and stitch up. It was really nasty, too. So- wear your block and for crying out loud- BUY A GOOD FLOPPY HAT!!

My Creation

On Sunday we had our traditional "Sunday night Birthday Celebration" with our friends, this time celebrating Carissa's 10th birthday. I would have taken pictures of all the fun, but I was a little occupied making pasta dinner for 24 people (yes- 24 people in our tiny house), and I didn't get the camera out until dessert. However, I am extremely pleased with myself and the cake I made. I tried to re-create the Cheesecake Factory's Red Velvet cheesecake. For a first try, I thought it came out really well. It was especially good for breakfast the next morning.

And yes, that is a shoe on the counter next to the cake, placed by Grayson a split second before taking the picture. ( He wanted to go outside, apparently and needed help with his shoes.)

Two layers of homemade form scratch red velvet cake, with a homemade cheesecake in the middle, covered with cream cheese frosting and topped with shaved white chocolate. Delicious!

Christmas Flashback

I waited to post these pictures from Chistmas until sufficient time had passed. I like to look back at the event and savor the memory. Here is "Uncle Wesowy" with his big cousins in the 2010 PJ's

This crew held still just long enough to pose for a quick shot.

The cast and crew of our Christmas Story - Shepherds, wiseguys, various animals, angels not to mention Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

The Family Party with Clyde and Marion's family - now that was a crowd of kids!

There is nothing like a hot cup of Cocoa as you sit in your snow chair.

What a perfect day for snow play. I am convinced that snow shoeing is the way to see the countryside. Everybody had a good time on this outing.

On the top ten list of things that can't work. #3 Any actual sleeping when this group "sleeps under the Christmas Tree."

It is so quiet around here. We miss all of you. We had a most enjoyable and memorable Christmas. It has never rained so much. We got to help Kirk and Carrie move in to their new house. We set a new league record for consecutive meals with 23 eaters. Believe it or not we have left over bacon!

Mom and Dad

The Best Surprise EVER

We used to be the only SoCal residents I knew who had not taken their poor deprived children to Disneyland. Thanks to a fabulous co-worker of Lee's, who has an employee pass, we were given the gift of 5 tickets during the last week of vacation. We chose not to tell the kids we were going, which we thought would heighten the excitement. Our plan nearly backfired about 10 minutes out when Carissa, extremely annoyed that we wouldn't divulge our destination, set off a chain of events that resulted in our nearly turning around. However, we restored peace in time, and the kids figured it out just as we reached the parking structure. Someday I will figure out how to post the video. It was priceless.Here we wait for the tram to take us to the park entrance. Note Grayson's scratched face (skateboard accident. saw that coming)
After moving Grayson into near hysterics with Indiana Jones for the first ride, we decided to slow things down a bit with the Jungle Cruise. Same jokes after all these years.
Grayson and I rode the merry go round and Winnie the Pooh while Derek and Carissa opted for Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Thanks to Lee's "dizziness problem" (how convenient), I got to ride the teacups 4 times. Thanks. A lot.
The underground interactive 3-D Bug's Life show at Cali Adventure.
My little daredevils did it all while Grayson and I rode the world's slowest train and bumper cars. Lee of course had no problem with the upside down roller coaster. Hmmmmm.
Hours of fun at Brother Bear obstacle course: netting, rock walls, rope swings, slides and caves.
While the others rode space mountain (again), Grayson and I opted for Autopia.
The Christmas decor was still up on Small World.
Surprisingly, not one of them could finish it. But it kept them busy for a good hour.
11 0'clock, two parks, one day, unending excitement= Pure Exhaustion. But definitely the happiest place on earth for them.

I Have a Dream

...that every year on MLK day I will be treated to a perfect beach day in January. Thank you Martin, for providing me with this civil liberty: a no traffic ride to the beach with easy parking and perfect weather.
Carissa getting ready to go in.
Grayson doing what he does best after a cold swim.
Lee doing what he does best after playing volleyball with mere amateurs.
Giving us the number of waves she caught.
Just looking cute.

Next up: Cesar Chavez Day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!

Our sweet little guy is 2 years old! Can you believe it? Happy Birthday!