Tonight we took the girls to the annual Membership Only Holiday Celebration at Sea World. Though it rained ALL day, we were determined to go. In store for us was a special Shamu show set to Christmas music; roaming carolers; photo-op moments; free cookies and hot chocolate with dinner; free ornaments; and a whole lot of fun. We arrived around 5:30 and stayed until a little after 8:00PM. Since we already had a "long day," I was impressed with the girls' stamina and energy to keep going. They were both so excited to be there. During the Shamu show, we bought the girls flashing whale tail necklaces and Sean and I went for the festive whale tail Santa hats.

Am I a sap that I cried during the Shamu show? I was fine watching the incredible interaction between humans and whales - which was beautifully choreographed to Christmas music. But when I saw the mesmerized faces on both Dillen and Roxy, I was sent over the edge. Roxy's eyes were huge the entire time. She was caught. She couldn't help but be pulled in by it all and I couldn't help but watch her and wonder what her exact thoughts were. Dillen was a giddy girl who was whooping and hollering after every trick, bouncing up and down and telling me over and over how much she wants to be a performer at Sea World someday.

Neither one slept on the way home and once we arrived, they were on Cloud 9 and talking a mile a minute. Roxy was so funny saying (and demonstrating), "Mom! Shamu jumped down, he swam and... um... he went la-la (danced)!" Dillen collected all of our ornaments (really cool solid metal penguins) and put them to bed. They soon followed.

Posted by sean at 11:06 PM | Permalink

Every so often we hear the pitter-pat of little feet on our roof. Being so close to Christmas, it'd be fun to think they were reindeer. But no... they are these:

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Posted by sean at 10:35 PM | Permalink

So, Peter Pan (the 2003 version) came on television at the beginning of the week and I recorded it for the girls. I was so impressed by the cinematography, the more in depth understanding of the characters and their development and some of the acting. Dillen and Roxy saw it the next day and Dillen promptly became Wendy and Roxy Tinkerbell. I give this movie a big thumbs up.

However, I give a BIG thumbs down to the newly released Bee Movie. Ugh. We took the girls on Thanksgiving and I was so disappointed by the horrible plot line, corny jokes and bad animation. I am embarrassed for DreamWorks for backing this movie. The worst of which was when the main character and his "love interest" have a discussion about a suicide-pact. WTF?!?!? Seriously?? At what point did the writer(s) and ALL involved (including Renee Zelwegger) think this would be a funny addition to a children's movie? Shame on all of them. Dillen memorizes lines from movies like there is no tomorrow.

Umm. No thank you.

Posted by sean at 10:33 PM | Permalink

Dillen and I decided today that every Friday night (well, almost every Friday night) should be scheduled fun. Tonight was a hoot. We went all went out to dinner and then, after the girls' bath, we snuggled up on the couch as a family and watched Madagascar while eating popcorn, drinking hot chocolate and enjoying a cozy fire. It was a good way to kick off what I hope to be a weekly event. :)

And, for those of you wondering, I DID shop today. Yikes. My first stop was Toys R Us - a madhouse (and I don't think ONE of the toys I got was on sale). Eeesh. Then I drove to Legoland for Dillen's special request (a request that has been on her list for many months) - a princess Legoland stable with horses set. The line to drive in was super long and when I (finally) got to the kiosk, the attendant gave me a hard time for not having Dillen in the car with me (she's the one who has the "free parking" on her annual pass). I insisted I was there FOR Dillen and that she couldn't be with me... and that I wasn't even staying to play, just shop. I swear, if Little Miss Kiosk gave me any more trouble, I was going to have her call some manager-type. I was not about to spend $10 on parking when I have free parking (albeit through Dillen) and I was only there to give them my $$ in a very short period of time! ;)

Posted by sean at 9:42 PM | Permalink

Today turned out to be wonderfully enjoyable... Sean and I took the girls to see The Bee Movie (not recommended but was great to see Dillen and Roxy, especially, enjoy "the big movie theatre." It's been a while since we've gone. I think Happy Feet was our last attempt with Roxy.) The girls insisted on wearing costumes so Dillen was Dorothy, braids and all, and Roxy Tinkerbell.

After the movie, we came home and I napped with Roxy while Sean and Dillen played. Then around 3PM, we gathered our things and, with dessert in hand, arrived at Grandma Barbara's. Dinner was yummy, decorations were beautiful but most enjoyable was time with family around a warm, candlelit table.

Surprisingly, 7PM felt like 11PM for all of us and the evening ended for what some might consider early. I suppose that is par for the course with two young children. :)

I am thankful for so many things but mostly for my family and friends. Words cannot describe how much I appreciate and need their love and how much I enjoy giving it back.

Today kicked off the holiday season for me. YAY! I just wasn't "feeling it" until today. I am looking forward to decorating our home and wrapping gifts. I can't wait for the girls to give their letters to Santa when they see him and to watch their faces light up Christmas morning. Family traditions are not to be missed! And this year we have a new one: Grandma Susan made a VERY special quilt Avent Calendar for the girls which we will, of course, start on the 1st. (She even made a special bag of goodies to load each pocket up and directions if the goody doesn't fit the pocket. Amazing. I will definitely get pictures to share!)

Tomorrow I am going to brave the crowds in hopes of taking advantage of some of the sales. However, I will NOT be arriving at the stores by 4 or 5AM. That is for the insane.

One last thing: I am so thankful for our neighbor/artist/friend Sara who has painted an unbelievably beautiful mural on Dillen and Roxy's toy room walls. In one area she painted a hot air balloon and a sign that reads "Bon Voyage Friends. We love you." And within the balloon are paintings of Dillen and Roxy's favorite stuffed animals that we lost in the "flood." Dillen insisted Sara incorporate them somehow into the mural. Sara and I agreed that a graveyard was probably not the best way. Sean blogged and took pictures about the process. She still wants to return to do some smaller details but you can see what she has done so far on Sean's site:

Click here.

I do hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Posted by sean at 10:42 PM | Permalink

Ok... so, it took me a while to blog about Roxy turning two. I wanted to blog on her birthday (November 7th) with pictures from her birthday party (Elmo/Sesame St. blow-out) included but with the holidays fast approaching, Sean has been extremely busy. Needless to say, getting Roxy's birthday pictures to me for my blog was not on his top priority list. I have no idea why. ;)

Better late then never!! So...

Happy Birthday Princess Peanut! It’s amazing to me that two years have passed since Roxy came into this world and I held her for the first time… I remember clearly thinking how tiny she was and wanting to be so careful with her. I remember watching Sean hold her and hand her over to me and I remember how easily she latched on for the first time. The bond was immediate. And I remember looking into Dillen’s eyes the moment she entered the room for the first time, concerned she looked so scared and yet so excited to meet her new baby sister. I remember singing Happy Birthday to Roxy with family members and having Dillen blow out the “0” candle on the cake. Her little itty bitty toes and fingers, her wide dark eyes. The doctor telling me she wasn't aware until the C-Section how risky the pregnancy had been... a miracle she even survived.

In her two years she has proven to be a spunky, athletic, happy, curious, stubborn, little girl who loves to play with dolls, wear shoes and dress-up. She loves to get messy but when it’s time to get clean she wants to be the first in line. She loves to entertain by singing and dancing (she does a mean shuffle!) and can tell knock knock jokes (well, one... the "owl/who, who" one). She is surprisingly coordinated and already sings on pitch. Her smile lights up a room and her laughter is contagious. She looks up to Dillen and follows her lead but also likes to have her turn of taking control.

She says "tank two, mommy” (her way of saying 'thank you') more times a day then I can count and the way she says “I luh hue” will never be forgotten. She loves to be held, constantly needs attention and enjoys reading books and singing songs – anything from Annie, especially, as well as the song Still Hurting from the musical The Last 5 Years… she loves to lament about the character Jamie.

And she's two. Where does the time go?

Pictures from her celebration are below... (the cake was designed and baked by The French Gourmet in San Diego - soooo cute and yummy!).

Posted by sean at 9:54 PM | Permalink

We had an Elmo blow-out party for Roxy on Saturday (of which I will blog about tomorrow on our princess' actual 2nd birthday). Here is a video that just cracked me up from that day. It was about half way through the party and she was caught sitting in front of the trash can watching, playing with and flirting with her reflection:

RoxysReflection.mov

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If you've watched the recent video posts, you have watched Dillen playing the role of Annie and Roxy doing well as Sandy, her trusty dog. However, Roxy enjoys playing Annie much more then the dog and I've captured a bit of that fun on film. Enjoy.

RoxySingsTomorrow.mov

Posted by sean at 9:14 PM | Permalink

Since getting the Annie movie about 2 weeks ago, we have an all-out Annie obsession in our home these days. Roxy sings "Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Luh Hue Tomorrow" ALL day long (at home, in the grocery store, at the park, etc.) Dillen sings most of the songs and recites the lines - or what she can remember of them. Each time she watches the movie you can just see her little synapses firing away, working rapidly to memorize the next juicy piece of lyric or text. The girls were in an especially goofy mood this afternoon so I caught some of Dillen on tape... click on the links below and enjoy. (They are Quicktime movies)

Annie1.mov


Annie2.mov


Annie3.mov


Annie4.mov

Posted by sean at 8:12 PM | Permalink