Getting Tossed into the Pool

Papa and Uncle Brian toss Ben into the pool...

Fireworks and Water Play

We went to see the grandparents and, of course, light off a ton of fireworks!
But first we went to the local water park. It has all these spouts of water that jet every so often. The kids had fun. Ben tried sitting/laying on many of them to keep them from going. It was fun to watch.









And here is just one of the many fireworks we set off in the street. This year Ben had more fun lighting a little "camp fire" than watching the show!



This year I got a picture of all four kids holding sparklers. This is the first year the little ones actually stayed up late enough for fireworks.





Here is my camera experiment. I had Matt write with sparklers while playing with the "firework" feature of the camera... It came out pretty good!


Happy 4th of July!

A Relaxing Father's Day

Sunday was Father's day and we took it easy. The Gladiolas are in Bloom so I got a picture of Emily and Brandon with the flowers. Emily likes to dress up Brandon in dresses. I think this one is Little Bo Peep from Toy Story. Emily is Princess Jasmine.

Disney Family Picnic

Saturday was the Disney company picnic for employees and their families. In previous years, it has been held at a ranch near Malibu. This year, it was at the Santa Anita Race Track. The facility was nice. They basically have a large fairgrounds in the middle of the racetrack. They had a nice play structure for the kids to play on.



Here's Brandon on the slide.




Emily loved the inflatable things to crawl through.



There was plenty of free food. Ben especially loved the Churros.



There was also a "train" ride.

Peppermint Twist

Emily's third dance recital and it was called Peppermint Twist.










Here is a clip from Emily's performance in Peppermint Twist with her dance class...

Heart of Texas

Here is a clip from Sarah's performance in A Chorus Round-Up...


Sarah is in the top row, 4th from the left.

Brandon is 3!

We had a small party for Brandon. Here he is with his cake and is Mustang!




Happy Birthday Brandon!

Sarah @ Disney Animation

Here is Sarah in the recording booth at the Disney Animation Studios on Bring Your Child To Work Day. Story Artist Mark Walton is the one in the picture helping out.



Here is the whole group... They had a bunch of kids this year! Sarah is on the fourth step up on the left.

The Biggest Party Ever!

I had 4 parties in one day and had a ton of guests... We celebrated Sarah (10), Ben (8), Emily (4), and Brandon (3) with cake, a bounce house slide combo, lots of yummy food and friends!

Sarah's Day at Disneyland

Here is Sarah's Birthday at Disneyland! My little girl turned 10 this year!






We had a great time! A much different experience than with Ben. Sarah spent more time shopping. She purchased a couple of pins and a lanyard.


And spent a lot of time riding rides in Fantasyland...





And her favorite ride was the Autopia. She rode it, I think, 8 times.



Happy Birthday Sarah!

Petersen Auto Museum

Sarah, Ben, and Matt took a trip down to the Petersen Auto Museum. Matt really liked it. Sarah and Ben were not too excited about it, but they tolerated it. Here's Ben with the car from Speed Racer.


Ever seen a real Tucker? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Tucker_Sedan


They had a large exhibit form the movie "Cars". Sarah and Ben enjoyed the Cars exhibit. They just didn't enjoy looking at it as long as I did. Here's Sarah and Ben with Lightning McQueen.


Sarah with Tow Mater.


Here's some of the artwork that was on display.




It was interesting to see the John Lassiter seal of approval on some stuff.


Here we are getting ready to leave. I got a picture of Sarah and Ben in front of a 1938 REO with a long trailer. Interesting rig.


They are excited to go home!

Ben's 8th Birthday

This year I decided to take each big kid to Disneyland on their birthday for just Mom and Kid time... This was Ben's turn. He didn't have to go to school that day and he got to do whatever he wanted at Disneyland. We rode 20+ rides... almost all rollercoasters. Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Splash Mountain.


Here is Ben with his Birthday Badge.


Benjamin had three helpings of cotton candy throughout the day.... yummy!


On Thunder Mountain Railroad...I think we rode this ride 6 or 7 times....


We also spent time on Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island...

Happy Birthday Ben!