TWO THUMBS UP!!!

Madison, my mom and I went to see Mamma Mia today. OMG...it was SO good!!! I really wasn't expecting a whole lot. I only went to see it because Madison wanted to, but I'm oh so glad I did.

Here is the trailer to the movie if you haven't seen it yet. Check it out, I definately recommend this movie. Not for the guys....lol, but it's a feel good girls day out kinda flick!! Who doesn't need one of those every now and then, right? So grab your girlfriends, your moms, your sisters, your daughters and have a great time!! :~P

Notebooks and Pencils and Folders, OH MY!

Seriously, I can't believe how many supplies kids need for school these days. Craaazy!!! I think I only needed a lunch box when I was in grade school...lol I don't think there is much that is not listed on their lists. I'm suprised they don't have to supply their own toilet paper...hahaha! I feel really good though, that all school supplies and uniform shopping was done with 2 weeks before school. Phew.....thats a pretty darn good feeling! We've got everything accomplished, supplies out of packages, put in pencil pouches/boxes and everything put away in their new backpacks and bags. They are pretty excited to be starting their new school this year. So that has made it a bit easier and more fun to shop. :~P

Colten's Loot!

Madison's Loot!

Our big weekend purchase

Well, this started off as a joke at first. We have a Sony Cybershot digital camera which is awesome by the way, BUT I happened to see an upgraded version of it in PINK! So I, in a not so subtle way (emailed Bryan the link to it on his work email) lol....showed it to Bryan. And of course, being the kind of guy he is, he was going to purchase it for me. I then began to rationalize with myself (I know, I was surprised too!!) I already have a camera, a GREAT camera, so why spend the money on getting another one. So, it went from that to, let's get the Flip camera which takes video. The kids are in all sorts of extra curricular activities and I would love to start capturing them on video. Granted, we have a Camcorder, but c'mon....that thing is like 11 years old (ancient right?), so it's pretty big. After going to Best Buy twice, we ended up getting the JVC Everio. An awesome camcorder and camera all in one. No memory cards or anything to mess with. It has internal memory, 30GB hard disk drive. And best of all, its so small and cute. :~) A little more then double what we were planning on spending, but hey it's all about quality right???

Because they couldn't just get ONE pair of shoes....

Today we went shoe shopping. We knew we were going to start off at Famous Footwear for the buy one get one 1/2 off sale. Since they both said they wanted DC's. But of course they have some Colten wants, but cannot find a shoe Madison liked in her size to save our life. So we ended up purchasing Coltens and was headed to yet another Famous Footwear....ugh!!

Here's a peak at Colten's first purchase! It was so cute! He ran right over to his section, picked them out, picked out his size, tried them on and bidda boom, bidda bang, he's done!!! AWESOME!

We ended up making a pit stop at the new Skechers store so Madison could look at some shoes she knew she liked that they had at Famous Footwear but only in brown/pink and she wanted black/pink. Soooo, purchase done for Madison.

So at this point I'm like, "Yaayyy, we're done! Each got a pair of shoes!!" But of course not, what was I thinking? They were both like, "But MOOOOMMMM, we really wanted to go 'look' at the other Famous Footwear." Seriously, I don't know what got into me. Maybe it's the fact that they have to wear uniforms to school so I'm willing to overcompensate for shoes. But, we went, of course. LOL!

Here are the second pair of shoes we purchased for Colten. And believe me, he was NOT finished, but I had to put the kabosh on the third pair. If he had found a cheapy pair of shoes at Target or something, maybe, but 2 pair of DC's, uhhhhhh no third pair of Etnies for you!!

So here is Madison's second pair of shoes. The infamous RocketDogs. They are very cute and will look so cute with her uniforms which she can now wear pink polo tops with her khaki bottoms. :~) But of course, they didn't have her size so they will be delivered to our door for free in the next couple of days.

And we couldn't leave there without a 4th purchase to get the 1/2 off deal (hee hee) But, I saw these and tried them on and OMG they are so comfy and cute taboot. :~)Then it was off to target because Bryan called with a request for some new shoes as well. Here's what he got.........

Hahahahhaa.....he needed some new work boots. And who was I to tell him NO? rofl

Of course, we were in the shoe section and we found some REALLY cute shoes for Madison. They were on clearance for $3.74!! So , needless to say, we could not pass them up.

Seriously, $16.00 shoes for $3.74!!! What a steal!!

It was a looong day, but we came home with some great purchases and some happy kiddos!! What could be better????

Wow...who knew a post about shoes would be soooo long....hahahhaa!

Can you say....YUM?!?!

Today the kids begged me to make them a chocolate cake. Colten was loving licking the extra off of the spoon....lol! Actually, him and Bryan were wrestling over who was going to get it and it ended up on both of their faces. :~) Can you say chocoholic??? He was just so dang cute, I couldn't resist taking his picture.

The cake came special ordered. Madison wanted her half with no frosting (just like mom) :) and Colten wanted his half frosted and extra frosted. LOL!!

Hahahaha.....I just L-O-V-E him!!! Happy eating Colten, I know the cake won't last but a day probably!! ;~)

Beads, Beads Everywhere!!!

These beads are the best thing ever!!! The kids have had them for awhile and have done them on and off, but these last few days have been non-stop! It's been great....lol. Even the neighbor kids can't get enough of these.

Here is a display of Madison's creative work.....

And some of Colten's masterpieces!

Check out the site, they really are alot of fun! http://www.perlerbeads.com/

Summer Vacation 2008

This past week we headed over to California for our family vacation. This year we did Knotts Berry Farm and Soak City. Bryan and I haven't been there for about 15 years! Boy, has it changed!! There are some pretty crazy roller coasters.

We started out on The Sierra Sidewinder. We couldn't convince Colten to go on with us, which seemed to be the norm throughout the entire 4 days at the parks! This one seemed to get our stomachs a bit, as it spinned around as it went around on the tracks.
















This was BigFoot Rapids.


Bigfoot Rapids® is a thrilling, outdoor whitewater river raft ride that will bounce, toss, spin and splash passengers as they brave fast moving currents and dodge soaring geysers as they experience the unforgettable fun of shooting the rapids.Towering cliffs, huge boulders, cascading water falls, soaring geysers and trees, shrubs and wild flowers--all indigenous to California--combine to create an authentic setting for Bigfoot Rapids® .

This was a big hit with all of us and I think we went on it about 3-4 times. These pictures were from the first ride and as you can see, Colten and I got soaked!!!

Here are the two rides that Bryan and I went on without the kids. Even Madison had enough sense not to get on these rides, and she's our little daredevil!

Perilous Plunge. The World's Tallest, Steepest and Wettest Water Ride! Just 34 feet shorter than mighty Niagara Falls, Knott's new thrill ride in the Boardwalk themed area sends boats down a world-record 115-foot water chute at a revolutionary 75-degree angle - just 15 degrees from a sheer vertical, waterfall like drop-off!


And then this one.......
Suspended below the track, Silver Bullet sends riders climbing to a height of 146 feet and soaring back down an initial drop of 109 feet. On board riders will spiral, corkscrew, fly into and out of a cobra roll, and experience overbanked curves on Silver Bullet. Overall, riders will find themselves upside down six times, including one vertical loop that stands 105 feet tall. With two trains and a capacity of 32 people per train, Silver Bullet sends 1,300 guests per hour head over heels on a two and half minute, high-speed tour. The trains, each with eight cars seating four abreast, move riders along 3,125 feet of track while reaching a top speed of 55 mph.





Madison and I went on this one!!


Looming 118 feet over historic Ghost Town, GhostRider is the single-largest attraction in park history and one of the longest and tallest wooden roller coasters in the world. Brave riders enter a mysterious mine, only to be strapped into gold, silver and copper mining cars and sent along 4,533 feet of twisting, unforgiving timber. Highlights of this massive themed white-knuckler include a dramatic, 108-foot initial banked drop, 13 additional drops, sudden dips, banked turns and maximum G-forces of 3.14!

Of course we had to get a picture of the kids with the statues on the bench!

We even managed to get down to Huntington Beach for some nice relaxing beach time.
















The weather was beautiful. A high of 85 degrees everyday and lows in the 60's, where we even had to put on a light sweater in the evening because it was chilly to us....lol!

We went to Soak City on the 2nd day. Unfortunately, we didn't bring the camera since we would be in the water all day. So no pictures, but here are some of the fun things we went on and did at the park http://www.knotts.com/soakcity/oc/sc_oc_v3.swf