disneyland

Just popping in real quick here to share a few pics from my phone of our trip to Disneyland last week with the granddaughters!

Two things:

1.  On our last Disney trip, Luke announced to the family that he wanted to come back to Disneyland for his 37th birthday.  We couldn't guarantee to Luke that that was going to happen, so as time went by, he didn't talk about that birthday wish so much. He turned 37 on his birthday on November 3 this year.   He didn't know that behind the scenes, we were planning and we managed to keep it a secret from him until the morning we left!

2.  The granddaughters are the PERFECT age to go right now.  Claire has never been (other than when their family made a stop at Walt Disney World at the end of their east coast RV trip this summer).  The older girls are the perfect age to go on all the thrill rides and Claire is at that age to experience all the characters and classic rides.



We left Thursday at noon, so the girls only missed a day and a half of school (Friday was a half day). It was so fun that they got invited to see the cockpit and meet the pilot and co-pilot.







It was a typical rainy November day here in Seattle, but sooo beautiful and sunny in California when we arrived.



Voila!  Here we are!



I'll share more after Thanksgiving, but one thing that we are so thankful for was this wonderful experience we got to have with these lovely girls.  Luke is so thankful that his birthday dream came true!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

keith's birthday with the grandkids

Taking another break from Hawaii and the national parks tour to keep current in our lives!

Last week was Keith's birthday, and we celebrated with Calley and fam on Sunday.  We really lucked out with the GORGEOUS warm weather, after so many months of cold and rain.  We brought along Keith's birthday favorites for dinner, and his favorite cake.  He also requested a birthday pie on the actual birthday day, so two homemade treats is the way to go!  Maybe I should do that on my birthday too?











We completely skipped Easter with the grandkids this year.  Everyone was just too busy.  I'm always thinking ahead when it comes to shopping for gifts, and I got a great deal on some cute kid umbrellas right after Christmas.  I thought I could include them in their easter baskets.  But since we didn't do easter, I thought I'd just bring them along on this visit and give them to them anyway.  Which explains the umbrellas in the pictures.  Poor Lee!  He seems to be getting a million teeth at once, and he felt miserable. (hence the frowny faces and tears).



























This was sad Claire . . . sad to see us go.



Keith had a pretty good birthday, I'd say.  We spent his birthday and the weekend with good friends, good food, and family.  The best.

the beam

Finally!  The last gymnastics post: Summer on the balance beam.  Forgive any grainy or blurry photos.   The beam was waaaaayy on the opposite side of the gym and this was as good as I could get.  I hope Summer has been enjoying her photos here.

There's lots and lots of stretching and waiting inbetween events.



























Ta daaa!!  All done.  She didn't compete in the vault for this event.  I'm trying to remember the reason, maybe there weren't any judges there to judge at her level?  Maybe?



Summer, we are SO proud of you!

action shots: floor

The next series of shots are of Summer's floor routine.  And thank goodness I got these because she just sprained her ankle!!  That will definitely keep her sidelined for a couple of weeks, and I don't know if we'll be able to see her compete again this season. (again, if you want to watch this on video, check it out on either my IG account or Calley's.  Music from Harry Potter).



































The last one will be of her on the balance beam.  Heal that ankle up quickly, Summer!