Ariel's Grotto

Remember this lunch? I do. It's one of my favorite memories from our trip to Disney World two years ago. Now that it's over, I think it's hilarious.

Anyway, our trip to Ariel's Grotto was similar, except way better. It was an early-ish lunch (11:30) on our first day, so the kids were fairly fresh and happy. The food was delicious and didn't take forever to come.

Catie absolutely loved meeting the princesses, especially Ariel. Nick and Ryder liked them too, but they weren't quite as excited.

I took this picture right after Catie gave Belle a kiss on the neck.

Catie's never seen Mulan. She wasn't quite so sure about this princess, and Mulan wasn't the best at engaging her in conversation. She would ask Catie a question and then look the other way.

I had to show you all the dessert platter. Yum! The perfect ending to a great lunch!

Disneyland!

We just got back from our long weekend in Disneyland yesterday. Happy, but exhausted. What a fun trip.

We took Allegiant (never again) because they just added a direct flight from Pasco to LAX. Let's just say, we were supposed to get in at 8:30 pm but we actually got in at 1 am. And then we went to Disneyland the next morning....

Grandma and Grandpa Herzog met us there with our nephew Ryder. Here they all are:
There was no way Catie and Nick were going to turn around and look at the camera at this point. Way too much to see!

In case you were wondering after my last post where the extra child came from, this is Ryder, the twins' cousin. :) AKA the triplet. (He's just two months older than Catie and Nick.)

Disneyland was all decked out for Halloween.

I've got tons of pictures to share. I'll try not to bore you with too many words. :)

We're back!

What do you think?

At Catie's preschool each child is expected to bring a snack once or twice a month. If a student is having a birthday that month, they try to schedule snacks so that the child can bring in a birthday treat on or around his/her birthday.

There seems to be an unusual amount of birthdays in September among Catie's classmates. Consequently, she's had a birthday treat almost every time she's gone to preschool.

I would be okay if it was just a cupcake or two, but the moms have been bringing in favor bags too. Seriously? That's a little much, don't you think? I mean, it's preschool, not a birthday party.

Then, today, Catie came out of the classroom with yet another treat bag in her hand. I asked her who's birthday it was. (I'm trying to get her to learn and remember the kids' names in her class.) The woman walking in front of me turned around and said that she brought the snacks and her daughter's birthday isn't til December, but that everyone was bringing treat bags for the kids when it was their turn for snacks. Please tell me this lady was confused!

And, what if I don't bring treat sacks for the class on Catie's birthday? Does that make me a bad mom?

Brad's company picnic

Today was the CHPRC Family Picnic. It was a lot of fun! The food was plentiful (bbq beef, hot dogs, hamburgers, sides, all the Coke products you could drink, snow cones, cotton candy, four Schwann's ice cream trucks, etc.) and they gave away some cool prizes (we didn't win any.)

When Catie heard that there would be face painting, she wanted a butterfly since that's what she got last time. But then, when she saw this design, she had to have "Ariel eyes."

She was so proud. Nicky loved his too. They got all kinds of oohs and ahs from Brad's coworkers that we saw. They were eating it up. Nicky chose the puppy dog design.

The face painter was super talented. She normally charges $7-12 for this, but it was free today. I have no idea what they paid her to show up, but it wasn't enough. The line to her tent was super long. We waited an hour. (We took turns standing in line.)

There were also 4 or 5 different bouncy things. Catie and Nick loved this slide!

As Brad noted on the way home, in a time when companies are laying people off left and right, it's nice to be in a spot where they still have money to put together things like this. We love Hanford. :)

Fun lunches

Since Nick's preschool ends at 11:30 and Catie's starts at 12:15 on Mondays and Wednesdays, we have to hurry from one to the other. I've decided to pack lunches to eat on our way.

Recently, I've become aware of bento boxes, Japanese lunches, and I love them! You can really get into these things or you can keep them simple. The main principle is that you have little bits of a variety of foods. Making them pretty is fun, but optional.

Plus, making them pretty can get expensive. I chose to buy these Ziploc containers. They come in a two-pack for two dollars and change. Here is Catie and Nick's lunch today (the other one looks exactly the same.)
Clockwise from bottom left:
pretzel sticks in a cupcake liner
cheese shaped dogs (used a mini metal cookie cutter) and ham
alphabet crackers and a few chocolate chips
strawberries and black grapes

I close them up (the lid snaps in and seals each compartment) and put them in a rectangular lunch bag with an ice pack. Easy! And the kids love them.

This is my first week making them, but I'm looking forward to getting faster and more creative with practice. I'll share any that I make that turn out especially cute. :)

First Day of Preschool

Technically, this is Nicky's second day, but it was his first day taking the school bus. Oh, how he loves the school bus! (Catie's a little jealous still.)

See, this was a smile for the school bus. I didn't ask him to smile for these pictures.

Catie, on the other hand, can't take a natural picture to save her life right now. :)

They both had a good day. Catie enjoyed going to church this morning while Nick was at preschool, and Nicky had a blast shopping by himself with Mommy while Catie was at her class. I think we're going to reap a lot of benefits from having them in separate preschools at different times. Remind me that I said that in January when I'm tired of this schedule. :)

Chatty Catie

Catie is hard to ignore. She talks all. day. long. Although she is talking more and more like a 4 year old, sometimes she just wants to talk even if she's not making any sense.

Any time a new song comes on when we're in the car she always asks, "What's this song about?" Usually we're listening to K-Love, so generally the song is about God. Then she'll ask, "Why is the song about Jesus?" and I say, "We sing about Jesus because he loves us and we love him." Like clockwork. There's no point in changing it up, because she'll manipulate the conversation until you end up saying the same thing anyway.

Yesterday, I popped in a Laurie Berkner band CD, and a song about dinosaurs came on. Catie asked, "What's this song about?"

"It's about dinosaurs," I answered.

"Why is it about dinosaurs? Because they love us?" she asked.

I muttered something about loving to sing about dinosaurs while trying not to laugh.

Things like this are happening everyday now. When did my baby girl turn into the preschooler who hijacks her gymnastics coach's attention for minutes at a time to tell her about the book that she borrowed from the library?

PS I love my son too. It's harder to describe the things that he does that make me laugh. He has a cold. :( Pray that he gets over it before preschool starts next week and that Catie and I don't come down with it!