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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Playgroup Fun!

The playgroup has been a huge part of our lives since I started coordinating it when Keira was 7-months-old. Keira and I have both made some solid friendships that we'll no doubt have for life and we have had a lot of fun with these friends over the last 3+ years. Nevertheless, the time had come for me to step down from coordinating and give others from the group a chance to lead with fresh input and ideas. Although the function and needs of the group have changed since it first started (most of the 4-year-olds going to preschool, siblings needing to participate in other activities, moms going back to work, etc), thankfully, a majority of the moms wanted to keep the group going and many have offered ideas to do just that! So, although we won't be meeting with these friends every Monday anymore, we will still get to see each other periodically and stay connected!

A 4-person teeter-totter?! Yes, please!

 The fun cannot be contained!

Ella & I had something serious to discuss

This was a popular attraction


On another playgroup outing, we got to go to the Helen Woodward Animal Center and learn about different types of animals.
Here, the man is telling us all about baby chicks and we even got to pet this one!

Waiting patiently

Petting the mini horse


At the end of the morning, we got to plant seeds to take home!

She specifically said she did not want to smile for this picture.


On another morning, we had the 3rd Annual Sunshine Playgroup Easter Egg Hunt!
So festive in spring colors!

We also got to celebrate Martin's birthday with chocolate cupcakes and chocolate milk--YUM!

The hunt is on!

Sweet little girls

Checking out each other's loot

The three amigos

Our fun playgroup friends!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Another Word About Knott's...

To read Ella's perspective of the trip to Knott's Berry Farm, see her blog post here:
http://ellaree.blogspot.com/2013/04/knotts-berry-farm.html

She included lots more details and had a great perspective on the trip!  :)

Knott's Berry Farm: Redeemed!

 At the beginning of March, Keira got to go on an epic adventure with Ella (aka her "best friend forever," according to a song the girls made up together!). The trip was dubbed "Keira and Ella's Babymoon" because it was their last big bonanza trip before becoming big sisters! We took our chances on Knott's Berry Farm (Ella had never been there!) and, thankfully, the trip was a wonderful success and the girls had a BLAST!

Starting out on the car ride.
Busy girls just passing the time!

Keira brought along her Snoopy doll and had so much fun meeting the larger-than-life Snoopy!

The Peanuts gang!

Making our way to Camp Snoopy, where we basically spent the whole day!

Ella got to pick out a Snoopy doll to take home too!
Twin Snoopys!

Since we went to Knott's on a Monday morning, the place was basically empty. The girls got to take countless pictures with Snoopy because there was no waiting in line!

Snuggle!

Ella swallowed up by a Snoopy hug!

This Air Mail ride was definitely one of their favorites! They rode on it again, and again, and again!

We had some interesting issues with height requirements for some of the rides.
Initially, Keira got to go on this race car ride by herself, just meeting the height requirement by a hair.
However, later in the day, the ride attendant said she wasn't quite tall enough to ride on her own.

Wheeeeeeeeee!

Ella didn't meet the requirement to ride this by herself (take note of this ride), so Mackenzie had the sheer pleasure of riding along with her.  :)

All aboard the train!
Finally, something the 2 preggo mamas and their girls could all ride together!

They had the entire bounce house to themselves!

This was a manual labor ride!
The girls had to pump their arms to make their train car move!

Almost to the finish!

You can do it!

This is definitely one of Keira's favorite rides, the Snoopy bus that goes up and around.
She went on this a ton of times and there was never a line!

Remember that race car ride that Ella & Mack had to ride together? That was a pretty mild ride that basically went around a loop over and over. Well, this ride (below) was a 4 or 5 star rollercoaster and the girls far exceeded the height requirement to ride this by themselves! Whaaaaat?! 

Keira didn't care for this ride much, but Ella was super brave and loved it!

Open, open, open!

Fun times!

Silly faces!

Happy girls and moms!

More Snoopy!

Silly faces with Snoopy?!

YES!!!!!!!!

We were all surprised that Snoopy knew how to do silly faces too!

More Air Mail!

Sheer joy!

Riding the skateboard



Hands up is so much fun!

All smiles!

The Snoopy bus!
This time, Ella got to go on it too!
(Seriously Knott's, you need to work on your height requirement rules!).





Heading back to the car!
Both girls were just too exhausted to walk on their own. :)

This is how you know the day was a complete success!

Hooray for Keira and Ella's Babymoon!