Sharks!

We went to the aquarium today and it was SO crowded! It was such a beautiful day and everybody else thought so too. Charlotte called every swimming creature at the aquarium a "shark" today. She loved to splash and grab at anything that swam by in the petting tanks. I'm sure she would have hopped right in if I let her...why does my kids want to touch the sharks while Nicole's kid is looking for the hand washing station? What opposites!

A NIght at DCA

Jimmy and I took Charlie to see the Electrical Parade tonight because it is leaving to Japan pretty soon. I'm so sad that Charlotte won't get to see it growing up. It better come back soon! Anyway, she loved it. First, we went on the caterpillar ride. It was a little crowded due to being nice weather and a Friday. She is not a very patient 15 month old...lines don't really excite her. The entire time in line she repeated yea, yea, yea while pointing to the caterpillar. Once on the ride she loved pointing to all the food we rode through. Then we went on Monsters Inc. Once again, Charlotte was not amused by standing in line! After that, we let her run around in the animation building full of TVs for awhile. FYI - There is a really cool Toy Story clay animation creation that spins and has the same effect as a flip book. Really amazing! Finally, it was time to find a perfect parade spot. Jimmy bought her a churro to pass the time away. It was working perfectly until we decided to break off a little piece for us to eat. BAD IDEA! She threw the churro on the ground and screamed. What a tantrum thrower Charlotte is! She was so loud one person even said, "Gotta love the terrible twos!" Little do they know, she is only 1! Boy, do we have something great to look forward to...We actually did have a really fun time at DCA! We are going to try to go every week until the parade leaves.

River Trip #1

The Bandit

Smokey

We took our first river trip in 2010 this past weekend. We thought it would be a good idea to leave around 7pm so that Charlie would fall asleep for most of the ride. Well, that worked perfectly until we arrived in Big River at 11:40. She thought she just had a well rested 3 hour nap so she was ready to play. Needless to say, she went to bed at 1:30am! Not that great of an idea after all! (Thankfully she slept in until 9:30!) Even though the water was WAY too cold to swim in the dogs sure had fun! Charlie enjoyed saying "river" every time she saw the water, shoveling sand around, holding Papa's hand and going on golf cart rides. She did touch the water with her feet but then she ran away from it. I think she knew it was just too cold because she usually would have jumped right in. (I know this because she thinks she can go into any fountain at Disneyland, the mall, Sambi's restaurant, etc.) She also told the dogs "bad dog" when they shook off all the water in their fur right next to her. I wish we could teach the dogs not to do that. It was a great (but fast) river trip. Last year we went to the river six times. Let's see how many we go this year!

Not the Baby Anymore!

I know the quality isn't that great (it was from a picture message on my phone).

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Charlotte spent the day with Grandma and Ya Ya (Adelyn) because Ginny was off to Vegas this week for the arrival of her fourth grandbaby. Charlotte is officially NOT the baby in the family any more...She got a new cousin today! Welcome to the world little Aidan. We can't wait to meet you.

Why Are Birds at the Aquarium Anyway?

Jimmy, Grandma, Grandpa and I all took Charlotte to the aquarium today. She had a fun time holding Grandpa's hand and pointing to all of the fish (even though she calls anything that swims a shar-I'm guessing short for shark). Once we turned the corner to see the sea lions she ran right past them to the door to go outside. She loves to climb into the big yellow boat and run all around. Daddy even let her splash in the shark petting tank. (That is a big step for Daddy because last summer he wouldn't even let her touch one animal at the OC Fair-he said they were too dirty for her to touch.) My dad and Jimmy had their very first experience in the Lorikeet Forest today. They had never even been in there or even fed the birds before. Well, it was funny! First, the bird that happened to perch on my dad's hand was a messy sloppy slipper who would not share with the other birds. Then my dad ended up getting bit by that same bird because they thought it would be a good idea to pet it on its head while it was drinking the nectar from his hand. Needless to say, the bird was not in the mood for petting and my dad's finger was bleeding! I don't think we will be going in there for awhile! Other than the bird incident, we had a great time.

New Chair

Grandma and I went to buy Charlotte a chair of her very own at Babies R Us. When she woke up from her nap she ran right to it and sat in it. She was so excited she was jumping up and down. If she was not sitting in it she made sure her stuffed animals were keeping it warm for her.

Next Top Model

This is in the display book.

This is the display case.

This is the frame!

I can't believe it...my child is framed and in Picture People's displays! Today one of my students told me they saw Charlotte in the Picture People frame at the mall. When her mother came in to help she showed me the pictures on her phone. She had taken a picture of the displays so I could see it. I actually haven't gone to the Brea Mall to see it in person but I will get there soon. So if you find yourself at the mall on the top level by Sears check Charlie out!

A Day with Tracy

Today Charlie and I went to a Piggies and Paws party at Jenn and Jeremy's house. If you are wondering what kind of party that is it is when an artist comes to your house to make painting creations with hand and foot prints. For example, at the Wild Animal Park last summer Jimmy, Charlie and I got our hand prints made into a family of elephants (to match her room). Today of course while Charlie was getting her piggies painted I had to hold her still so I did not get to capture the moment with a camera. I will be sure to post the creation when it arrives.

After the party we headed down to Costa Mesa to visit Tracy. We decided to go to Fashion Island and do a little window shopping. We actually didn't buy one thing! Oh wait, does a pretzel count? Anyway, Tracy took the cutest picture ever of Charlotte on her phone. Tracy sent the picture to my email from her phone so I could put it on the blog. Anybody that knows me very well is pretty impressed with my ability to get the picture from my email to my blog...didn't think I was capable of that, did ya?

Happy Birthday Olivia and Penny!

Today we helped Penny and Livi celebrate their 2nd and 3rd birthday at the Fullerton YMCA. Wow! What a party! There were Minnie Mouse ears to decorate and wear, Minnie cookies to decorate and eat, a Minnie pinata, face painting, a popcorn machine, a cotton candy machine, a jumper and loads of candy. Livi had a great time getting her face painted and Penny tried out every sprinkle possible. Yum! Yum! Charlotte found a new favorite toy-a Flinstone style car! I have been wanting to get her one but I am having a hard time buying one for $50 when a couple of years ago I bought Alex and Evan the same exact one at a garage sale for $5. She loved it so much! It even started to rain, but she didn't care one bit. Maybe I need to go garage sale shopping! Thanks for the great time Penny and Olivia!

I am a Climber!

Charlotte absolutely loves stuffed animals. This morning she decided she wanted to climb into the barrel full of them.

Rossmango Boys

When Jimmy is at work Charlotte spends most days with the Rossmango family. When Jimmy or I drive up to their house in the morning she kicks her legs, smiles and says, "Yah, yah!" Brendan and Ryan make her giggle and laugh so much. She loves their little furry dog named Roxy too. Lisa tells me she tries to sleep in the dog's bed with her! Thank you Lisa for giving our little one so much love! We love you!

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland on a Wednesday night. First, Charlotte visited with Minnie Mouse. She gave her a little squeeze on the nose! There weren't too many people out so we got to ride on 5 rides in just a couple of hours. Charlotte especially loved Dumbo today. Also, today Charlie and Adelyn had their first cousinly kiss (without Mommies telling them to...)! It was so cute. Charlotte loves Adelyn so much.