Traditions

It's been a tradition now for the past 3 weeks :o) to go over to Audie's house on Fridays and swim in her pool. It's helped Mariah overcome her fear of water a lot, and the rest of us have fun at the same time!

So last Friday when we got off work, we packed the kids in the car and headed out.

Friday was also the first day that the weather around here has resembled anything even close to autumn---so I was happy! It drizzled when I left work, and as we were on our way to Audie's we got to see this:

And this:

(I took both of these photos while driving....not a good idea)

"A la piscine" (at the pool):

No arm floaties for this family....we use water noodles as our floatation devices:

~~~

Another fun tradition took place last weekend too:

Well this one was a Wood/East-Family tradition, which is now a Howard-Family one. For as long as I can remember, I used to go with my parents & Grandparents (and friends when I got older) to the Oktoberfest in La Mesa. We would eat at San Fillipo's Pizza, then walk around and peruse the craft booths. So much fun (for a food & craft lover like me). Last year, I had full-blown Strep Throat so we weren't able to go. So I've been looking forward to this year since then!

We brought along Arissa's friend, Vanesa. We gave each of the girls $5 so they could buy themselves something...they thought that was pretty awesome.

Rides weren't always part of the tradition...I don't think they had them there when I was younger (or if they did, I didn't go on them), but the girls all went on two rides each this year:

Look at the excitement on her blurry little face!

Arissa & Vanesa went on a tilt-a-whirl thingy:

Look at sweet, naive Arissa. I think she thought it was a nice slow ride...kind of like a merry-go-round:

She was pretty shocked when it got going:

But they survived...and apparently liked it cause they went on it again:

Mariah's 2nd ride was a froggy sky-drop thing:

Frankly, I can't believe she even got on it! But as you can tell, she loved it. And she, too, went on it twice:

Part of the Oktoberfest tradition is running into tons of friends and schoolmates and people you know throughout the night.

This year was no exception:

Arissa looks kind of irritated...I think she has some qualms about Health Care Reform:

We ended the night w/ the traditional Pizza Dinner:

They give the kids pizza dough to play with until the food arrives....I don't remember that being part of the tradition when I was younger, that would have been awesome! :o)

Here's Jesse contorting his neck in an effort to look skinny:

Mmmmmmm.....

One of our two yummy pizza platters of goodness:

We had a great dinner, the girls had some of our leftovers for dinner tonight, and Jesse and I have lunch covered for the next several days!

I love our Oktoberfest tradition. So much fun, and it's the official sign to me that fall is here.

M&M ended the night w/a hug:

Bonita Fest Videos

I finally had time to convert & post the videos from Arissa's last performance (w/ our computer it takes a good 12 hours to do!).

The first one is the Drill Team parade routine (you can't miss Arissa, she's in the front on the left. They change positions in the middle of the song, but then she goes back to the same spot).

Scroll down to the very bottom of the page first and pause/stop the music so you can hear the songs they're dancing to!

And this is Arissa's trio doing "Hey Mickey". The breakdancing thing that Jesse likes is in this one:

beach weekend

After going out to dinner to celebrate our 3 students-of-the-month, we found ourselves near the beach with nothing to do. So we drove around, enjoying the breeze (cause it'd been SO horribly hot the rest of the day).

Eventually we ended up at Dog Beach and figured....why not?

The girls had a great time. Random dogs just walked up to them at times, dropping a ball at their feet. We'd throw it into the water and watch them swim out to catch it and bring it back.

This guy had dug himself a hole:

From there we went to Sunset Cliffs, and sat around and just enjoyed the beautiful view and the cool breeze.

We saw this sign on the way there....which Mallory couldn't stop giggling over, can you tell why?

We had explained to the girls the need to be careful around the cliffs, and the reason for all the signs warning of "unstable cliffs". So when I had to get close to the edge to take this picture, they kept yelling "DON'T DIE, MAMA! DON'T DIE!" :o)

(I told you...this girl never looks straight into the camera!)

After awhile, the waves got so big that when they rolled in, they would crash violently on the rocks and seaspray would shoot up onto the cliffs:

It was a great way to end a terribly hot day! But then being on the coast is the best way to end (or begin, or spend) any day if you ask me.

Bonita Fest 2009

Busy busy Saturday!

Arissa's drill team had two performances, plus M&M had swimming in the morning.

Friday night was fun, because a bunch of us Drill Team mom's (and Jesse) and all the girls got together at one of the girl's houses and had a "hair party". I've shown the process on here before of making a proper "drill team pony tail"...it's a lot of work! And it takes a good hour or two as well. For like a year now we've been saying "we should have a hair party!" but we never did. Then this time, there's two new girls and their mom's were anxious about doing the hair right, so we figured it was a good time to start. We sat around, wrapping hair around curlers, inhaling near-lethal amounts of hairspray, talking, laughing, and listening to Radio Disney. :o) Then we had pizza & sodas. It was a fun time.

And Arissa didn't whine and complain as much, since all her friends were there. I liked that.

Saturday was fun, but dang it was hot, there was no way around it. The performance in Bonita was a lot more enjoyable than the one after it....in SANTEE. I try to avoid El Cajon & Santee altogether during the summer/fall months if possible. No matter what temp it is in Lemon Grove, it's always 5-10 degrees hotter in the East County. Plus there's no sea breeze. And the only view is of the mountains. I'll take the coast over the mountains any day.

But anyways, the girls performed (Jesse video-taped, I photographed), then we hauled-butt out to Santee. The girls performed outdoors, in the sun. Their poor cheeks were beet-red before they even started dancing. I didn't even take any pictures---I just wanted it to be over with as SOON as possible! :o)

But I did take pictures in Bonita:

Arissa, Nikki, & Cassandra (the new girls, whose mom's were nervous about their hair...but they turned out great):

Lined up, ready to take the stage:

During their "Hey Mickey" number, the girls do some break-dancing type stuff that Jesse thinks is the coolest thing ever:

Arissa in "Broadway Baby":

I love watching the girls perform. They are so cute, and so talented! I do NOT love being in Santee when it's over 100 degrees, but I suppose it was worth it. :o)

Arts & Crafts

A few weekends ago we stopped by Michael's to get supplies for the girls dance recital costumes.

While we were there, Arissa noticed a sign advertising a free craft they would be doing in the store the following weekend.

So the next Saturday, we took the girls straight from swim class over to Michaels so they could create:

I realized halway thru the craft that the instruction page says it's for ages 8+. But with help from me & Jesse, M&M did just fine.

(Be Adivsed: the following pictures were taken directly after swim class so my otherwise sweet & pretty girls each have swimmers-hair......you've been warned!):

Back to school

Just a few pics of Back to School Night...

Arissa didn't get into any of the pictures, because 4th grade is apparently more serious and work-oriented...I felt out of place even having a camera with me. But kinder & 1st grade, I fit right in w/ the rest of the parent paparazzi!

I like going to school functions. I love elementary school. Kids at that age are so cute. None of them think they're "too cool" yet, so they're all just happy and smiling. They all still like school and are friendly are excited. Totally makes me want to be a teacher.

Mallory's self-portrait:

Mariah's classroom:




Typical Mallory....all up in my face. :o) I was probably trying to take a picture of something else but she wanted to be the main focus...so she made it happen.



Mariah, standing at her desk. You can tell by the look on her face that I had taken about 5 pictures before this. Mariah has the weirdest habit of looking off to the side when I take a picture. Without fail, I always have to take several shots when she's in a photo, because her little eyes are looking at something over in the corner behind me!