There was another March birthday I haven't blogged about yet...

Little Miss Olivia turned 9. 9! How is that even possible??? These past 9 years (coincidentally it's the entire length of my 30's) have just flown by. Oliva has grown from this helpless little infant to intelligent, smart, funny big girl. Boy is she opinionated and strong willed.
Instead of having a big birthday party Olivia chose to go down to Seattle for a couple nights. My girls love staying in hotels. Cassidy has been talking about "our hotel" ever since we came back in August. We went to the Pacific Science Center in downtown Seattle and Woodland Park Zoo. We hadn't been to either place so it was pretty exciting. Here are some photos from our trip:

                                            Tidal pool at the Science Center.

                                            Rocket ship at Science Center.

                                           Our favourite restaurant: Cheesecake Factory!!!

                       

                                          Every trip someone has to get stuffies. Even though mommy says "No more stuffies!!"

                                           Our favourite hotel: Embassy Suites (Lynnwood, WA)

                                         Waiting to get into the zoo....

                                         Lexie was so excited to see a real bear!

                                Olivia said that this peacock was the most beautiful animal she had ever seen.

                                                 Out of order- more science center pics

                                                 Giraffe at the zoo....

                                                  Me and my monkeys   :)
Can't wait to go back!!!

Happy Birthday little Miss Cassidy!!! (slightly belated)

This is belated because this has been a busy week. Report cards were due Thursday- enough said. But Olivia was sick with a fever, sore throat and coughing. And you know me, I was up with every cough. Anyways, Cassidy is 4!!! She is still so little but also so big. She's my little cuddle bug. I sure do love her big hugs. She wanted a big huge My Little Pony for her birthday and since there was nothing else on her list that's what she got. Seriously, she can almost ride it. It's also got light up wings and horn. She squealed when she opened it! We had pirate paks for her birthday dinner then sushi with Pa and Avo the next night. She still thinks it's her birthday and I'm not arguing- yet.
Now I wish I had new photos of her but I'm a loser. I mean, I'm so busy. That will go to the top of my list of things to do. Here's some old photos to enjoy:

My little stinker. She is so opinionated and strong willed. No is a favorite word again. She actually told me she's the boss. It does feel that way.

Hello my friends.

So it's been awhile. Hi, how are ya? You wouldn't believe how many blog posts I write in my head. Something happens and I think "oooh, that's a great blog topic." And then life happens and I'm tired. And now it's the Olympics! I love the Olympics. Of course I love watching Canada but I'll watch other countries too. We're always calling the girls to watch something and they really don't care. Lexie at least pretends too. Speaking of Alexis I took her out to school with me! She enjoys coming to my class but she won't do the work I give the kids. She happened to come on Valentine's Day (she had two pro-d days in a row). I suspect she may have come for the party. But in her defense she did want to come before she knew there was a party. She did awesome! She talks about her "best friend" in my class and when I'm marking things at home she reads names and knows who's who.
It's 9pm on a Sunday and I still have school work to do so I must rush on.
School- I'm going up to 4 days next year. Our super awesome nanny is going on a tour of Canada and the US after this school year, so we need to find a new nanny or daycare for next year. Just to warn you, I'll be asking around. School is going well. I'm finding my groove again in grade one. It was shocking at first to go from end of grade two to beginning of grade one! They're so little. But good news- we're half way through the year and only 12 more working days for me until Spring Break!!!
The girls- Cassidy is still loving preschool and loving the nanny. She is an opinionated little girl. She knows her mind and that's exhausting. Like when I'm trying to get her into a warm jacket when it's cold and she's refusing. Alexis loves grade one and is such a keener. She's even in enrichment, which I think is basically just extra work for kids who are finished class work quickly. Miss Olivia loves school one day, loathes it the next. She's my drama queen. She can actually have "The Best Day Ever!!!" and "The Worst Day Ever" within minutes of each other.
Me & Dan- just truckin' along. Work, looking after the girls, crashing on the couch after they go to bed. Our alone time is in the car on the way to work. I'm pushing for a date night. I did get a really nice Valentine gift! A charm for my Pandora bracelet- a little fish with blue eyes!
Here are some more pictures from December. We haven't saved any pictures from 2014 to the computer yet.

 Alexis at her Christmas concert.

 

Olivia got to come to Cassidy's Christmas concert.

 Cassidy at her Christmas concert singing "3 little Christmas Trees"

 I can't believe I got her hair in pigtails! They didn't last much longer.

It's been a month

Where is time going? It's almost Christmas according to Cassidy. Who can blame her for thinking that? Costco has had their Christmasy stuff out for a couple months, the mall is all decked out and of course Starbucks has their yummy festive lattes out. I have even got some Christmas presents for the girls!!! I just love this time of year. There's so much anticipation. But I just have to get through report cards. Blech. I hate those things. Love my job, love my kids but can't stand doing report cards. Here are some random hotel pictures leftover from our summer road trip:

I think I'm done sharing California pictures. Ask me to see our Shutterfly books and you can see more. Don't tell Dan but I'm already starting to plan our next summer's road trip. I want to do the Oregon Coast again. Seaside seriously rocks! I feel so relaxed there. I buy my fancy $9 bottle of wine and crack it open when all 3 dudes have fallen asleep. Dan and I open up the sliding door and just hang out with the lovely sea breeze floating in while we chill. But seriously, don't tell Dan.

Lunch with the Princesses

I seem to be averaging 1 post a month. Bad me, I know. When the girls are awake I'm busy and when they're in bed I'm just spent. I sit like a lump and watch t.v. So here are some random California pictures. It's only been a couple months since we've been but I want to go back!!! Growing up I wanted to move there. Now Olivia wants to move there.

Thanks to Avo and Pa we went to the Disney Princess lunch. I booked it a couple weeks before we went and chose the first seating for lunch. We were told to show up 15 minutes before our reservations and when we did there were also a lot of people there too. We got a pager and when our pager went off we were to go down the staircase where we would meet Ariel. Ariel is in the green dress below. She greets us and the girls get to take pictures with her. There was also a professional photographer there too. He tried to sell his picture for over $30! It was a terrible picture.

We sit at the table and order our food. At some point during our main meal a trumpet sounds and we wait with anticipation to see which of the princesses it will be. We got to see the 4 main princesses: Cinderella, Arora (Sleeping Beauty), Snow White and Belle. They would stop at a table, chat, sign autograph books and take pictures. We were about the 3rd table they would see. I have to say I was pretty excited.All the little girls in the restaurant are dressed up  in their Disney princess gear. And I'm wondering how come I don't have a Disney princess dress?! Surely I should have one right? (I'm checking ebay after I finish this.) And why the hell didn't I put some makeup on? And comb my hair.  These princesses are good. They know what to say and they have the fanciest signatures. Their faces must hurt from all the smiling though.

 Cassidy loves Ariel and was super excited to meet her!!!

 Alexis loves Cinderella. Look how sensible she is wearing her Nike runners though. This was our last day in Disneyland/California Adventure so we hit it hard. Olivia will not wear princess dresses b/c they are too itchy. I did manage to get her to wear a Sophia dress though.

 Cassidy hugging Belle!

 Not only did we get mini-cupcakes for dessert but the little girl across from us had a birthday cake and offered us some too!

The food wasn't bad but you definitely don't go for the food. It is quite the experience. Cassidy wants to go back.