Disneyland October 2013 Day 1

Once again, we took the girls to Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween Party in October.   Before we got to do trick-or-treating on Friday night, we spent time at the park having fun.  Before we left the hotel, however, the girls modeled their Halloween dresses.

Then, it was off to the park.  The first stop was seeing some of the characters.  Mickey Mouse was first.

Then, the girls stopped to see Donald Duck.

Pluto was up next.

Then, came Chip and Dale.

The girls also got to see Minnie Mouse.

It was certainly a busy morning on main street!

We also made it over to see the princesses during the morning.

After that, we went over to Tom Sawyer island. This was a first for the girls and us.  The girls certainly had a fun time exploring.

Jamison loved playing with the treasure.

After a fun day at the park, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for Mickey's Halloween party!

a friend's birthday party

While Jessica was at her 1st grade tea party, Jamison went to a friend's birthday celebration.  Jessica and I met up with them after our tea party.  The girls had fun playing with their friends, Leilani and Luke.

first grade tea party

In the beginning of October, Jessica and some of her friends went to a tea party. We got a large group of 1st grade girls and boys together for the event.

The best part of the tea party was probably hot chocolate, lemonade, and cupcakes.  Before heading home, some of the girls did a bit of coloring.

Decorating Halloween Houses

As part of our celebration leading up to Halloween, the girls decorated gingerbread houses with candy for Halloween  They were really excited to make these candy houses.

Jamison was a big fan of the frosting and doing it all by herself.

The end result was a lot of blobs of frosting, but she loved it.

Jessica had a plan and whole story around the houses that she created.

Here are the finished houses. Two by Jessica, one by mommy, and two by Jamison (although Mousse ate one of Jamison's before I could even take a picture!).

pictures at home from school picture days

On picture day, Jim took some pictures of the girls before they headed to school.  This was on the first picture day as well as retake day, which was in October. Both girls needed retakes this year!

From the first picture day....

Jessica showed off her newly missing front tooth.

Jamison usually takes a stuffed animal friend to school with her each day.  By far, doggy has made the most visits to school and she wanted pictures with doggy.

Here are some photos of the girls we got on retake day.

a trip to the zoo

Towards the end of September, we visited the zoo.  It was such a beautiful day out.  The girls were excited to see the animals and play at the zoo.

Our first stop was the giraffes.

Next, the girls made a beeline for the lion statues as usual.

The girls also had fun with posing with and climbing on the elephant statue.

First, Jessica decided to climb on the elephant.

Of course, Jamison had to follow suit.

After looking at the tigers, it was off to ride on the train. Jamison loves to ride the train.

After seeing the bears, it was off the bear statue.

And, Jessica wanted to be a giraffe.

And, of course, the girls wanted to ride the carousel.

After the carousel, it was off to the children's zoo where the girls posed with yet another statue.

The girls had fun feeding the goats before we called it a day.

some cute photos of Jessica

Here were some cute photos of Jessica goofing around in the yard with one of our big pinwheels.

giraffe chairs

Recently, on a trip to Costco, the girls found these cushy giraffe chairs and they absolutely had to have them.   My will was broken as they dragged them around the store!  They do use them all the time when eating at the little table or watching tv.

a trip to Napa

When Jenny and Brent were out in California, Jim and I went with them to Napa for the day.  Our first stop was Jarvis, where we did a cave tour and tasting.

Jarvis had a beautiful pond with lily pads and frogs!

Jarvis also has a variety of grapes that you can taste off of the vine.

Later in the day, we enjoyed lunch at Domaine Carneros.

a trip to the Academy of Science

When Aunt Jenny and Uncle Brent were out in California, the girls took them to the Academy of Science.  Everyone loved the butterfly garden.

And, the jellyfish were also a big hit.

Only Jessica would pose for photos in front of the big fish tank.

And, as we left, Jessica begged Aunty Jenny to give her a piggyback ride.  She is a lucky girl!

Jamison's first book fairy

Towards the end of September, the girls' school held a book fair.  Jamison did not really understand what a book fair was, but she was very excited to go to a "book fairy".  No matter how much any of us told her it was a book fair and not a fairy, she still insisted it was a book fairy.

She really enjoyed the book fair because of storytime.

Jamison climbs at the park

Most Sunday mornings, while Jessica is at Sunday School, Jamison enjoys playing at the park.  Climbing is one of her favorite activities.  This day, she was trying to chase her daddy up the climbing structure, because he made it to the very top.

Jamison's fort

Sometimes, for nap time, Jamison has her daddy build her a fort to sleep in.

The good news is that it is very dark in there and she goes to sleep quickly!

Jessica with straight hair

Ever wonder what Jessica would look like with straight hair? Well, after she got her last haircut, she got her hair blown out.

She wasn't too pleased with the result. At the moment, she likes her curls and was very worried if they would come back!

Jamison at Ellie's 3rd birthday party

Back in September, Jamison had a great time playing at Ellie's birthday party. She loved the bounce house and climbing structure.

She sure was a happy girl after she climbed the big mountain.

cake decorating

Jim and I took a cake decorating class back in September to learn some of the basics. These cakes were the end result.

Now, try to guess who did which cake!