First Full Day at Disneyland

Our first full day at Disneyland was spent riding all of Finley's favorites. Astro Orbiter, Teacups and the race cars definitely top her list. The last picture is pure Finley joy.

Lunch with the Princesses

The character dining options at Disneyland aren't as plentiful as they are in Disneyworld, so we only had one dining experience with the characters. Finley got to meet Ariel, Sleeping Beauty (aka pink princess), Cinderella, Snow White and her favorite (for that day) Belle. Meeting the princesses is so nice because they can interact and talk with Finley, which I know made her feel very special. It was also nice to have a plated meal instead of a buffet, which is the standard for most character dining options in Disneyworld.

Let's Meet Tigger Next!

Disneyland: Then and Now

San Diego Zoo

Another post that is months late, but I have some time to fill up while we are without internet, so I am trying to schedule as many posts from our California trip as I can.  It was wonderful to visit the San Diego Zoo and see so many new animals.  Panda bears, polar bears and even a hippotamus.  Finley especially loved the hippos, there was an adorable baby hippo and then the mommy hippo pooped right in front of us and that made Finley laugh so much.  We bought her a stuffed hippo at the end of the trip who we named Diego.  Diego is still really high on her list as far as her stuffed animals go.

Most Adorable Video of Max

School Days!

Children's Museum with Sarah and Max

Last Friday after school we headed over to the Children's Museum to have some play time in the Mexico portion of the museum.  It is such a nice and quiet part of the museum, with all the fun of the Kidtropolis without the crowds.  The three kids had the best time playing with the cash register.  They took turns ringing things up for over a half hour, it was really amazing how they were captivated by it.  The cutest part of the afternoon was watching Max get so excited when the cash register drawer opened, it was pure joy.  Speaking of Max, Finley has been having Max carry her lunch box after school whenever we go home with him.  She has told him so many times, now he just asks to carry her lunch box when school is over.  She has him well trained!

Finley had off school yesterday for Columbus Day and kept asking all day if she got to go back to school.  She would ask what day it was, I would tell her Monday and then she would ask when she was going to school again.  I think she really misses it!

Back Dancing with Mr. Carlos

Finley made her return to dance with Mr. Carlos and her friend Ava Kate today. The best part about the new dance class is that there is a tap portion as well as the ballet instruction. Finley loved picking out new tap shoes and she didn't want to take them off. She looked adorable tapping around the room, she did really great with it. It was nice to be with Ava Kate again, Finley had a really great time in class. Now if her dance studio can get their studio space worked out, I will really be happy.

Open House at Finley's School

This past week Finley's school hosted an open house. Clifton and I got to spend an hour or so with Finley's teachers to learn what she did in a typical school day. Miss Juliana and Miss Jackie had the kids working with Play Dough while they went over what the kids did each day of the week; Motor Skills, Mini-Gym, and Musikgarten. Finley is certainly busy at school. We also sat in a circle with all the kids and learned about the songs they sing to start the day. After that, we met with Miss Brandi in the library to talk about the music portion of school. Finley just loves school, which is fantastic. And on Friday Finley actually napped at school, which made for a much happier Finley that afternoon. Progress!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

I made cookies and cream cheesecakes for our girls' trip to Galveston this past weekend.  I had extra and since Finley had helped me make them, I brought the extra home to give to her.  She ate a great dinner, so she was rewarded with a cheesecake.  She didn't even wait for Clifton to cut up her cheesecake, she stuck her fork in it and started eating.  Smart cookie!

Visiting the Zoo with Joe

Joe has been a friend of Finley from her baby days.  Joe was her first ever playdate.  I cannot believe that both of them have gotten so big.  On Sunday afternoon, I picked up Joe for an afternoon at the zoo.  I was worried about having two mobile kids at the zoo, but it ended up being much easier than I thought.  The two of them were content to hold hands with each other all over the zoo.  We visited the giraffes first, per Finley's request.  It was so cute to watch Finley and Joe interact with each other.    Finley was following him around like a little puppy, sometimes she was even chasing him.  And as always, a car ride with two kids is always entertaining.  You get a running commentary of everything outside their windows....helicopters, taxis, fire engines, etc...  Finley really enjoyed her visit to the zoo with Joe and can't wait to visit with him again soon.

Teacups Revisited

It's not as good as her first teacups video, but she is still pretty cute.

Happy Birthday, Grammy!

Sous Chef

Finley is such a good helper!  I am going on a girl's trip to Galveston this weekend and she helped me make the Oreo Cheescake Cups.  The funniest part was I offerred her an Oreo to snack on and all she wanted was a banana.  After she finished the banana, she was happy to eat a cookie.  I was amazed that she didn't even ask to eat a cookie when she was preparing the cupcake pans for me.  I think I would have snuck a cookie!  Today was our fourth day without a nap, neither at school or at home.  I am not sure what is going on, because she is exhausted.  Last night she started getting ready for bed at 6:30 pm.  School is wearing her out.  Hopefully this is just a phase and next week we are back on track. 

First Roller Coaster

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, we have been SO busy with school, swim lessons, gymnastics and dance class that we really haven't done anything else but school, swim lessons, gymnastics and dance class. So now seems the time to finally transfer the videos and pictures over from my old computer to my new one from our California trip. Yes, I realize the trip was in June, but right after the trip I got my new laptop and these pictures didn't make the transfer over. This was Finley's first ever roller coaster ride. She rode Gadget's Go-Coaster in Mickey's Toontown.

Happy Birthday, Lia!

Another weekend, another birthday party.  Lia from our playgroup is turning three and had her party at the Children's Museum, which is super convenient for us.  Finley had fun playing all throughout the museum until the party started.  The party was really fun, all the kids had a blast chasing the balloons around.  We were in the party room a little longer than expected since Pizza Hut had thought the order was for 11:30 PM instead of lunch time.  Um, really Pizza Hut?  A delivery to the Children's Museum in the middle of the night?!?!  Luckily, the kids were totally happy running around the room and snacking on fruit.  There were cupcakes as well, which made it Finley's kind of party.  We were so happy to celebrate Lia's birthday with her!

Gymnastics

Finley has been working very hard in her gymnastics class.  She can do a somersault by herself on the mat now, she doesn't even need the wedge to prop her up.  All the kids somersault across the floor during warm-ups, Finley will do one somersault and then walk the rest of the way.  She has now advanced to doing a somersault on the balance beam.  That is a huge accomplishment, considering jsut a few short months ago she wouldn't even get on the balance beam.  She loves her coach and there are only two other little girls in her class, so she gets lots of one on one time with Coach Leah.  I got Finley a new leotard, but she wasn't very excited about wearing it.  She still likes her pink leotard best, but it hasn't worn as well as I would have liked.  Finley takes gymnastics right before swimming, which has worked out really well until this week.  Finley has been so tired from school and all her activities and it finally caught up with her.  After no nap on Friday, we went out on the boat on Saturday.  We put her down for nap late, around 4:30 pm, after we got home.  She didn't wake up from her "nap" until 9 am on Sunday morning!  This girl likes her sleep (just like her daddy.)  On Tuesday after gymnastics class, she was a mess in swim lessons.  She cried for the first 10 minutes.  Poor thing is just worn out.  Does anyone have any tips for getting a toddler to nap at school?  All the other kids in her class nap.  Her teacher says she will lay down, but never actually falls asleep.  We talk about it all the time, but she flat our refuses to sleep, which means she comes home tired and then takes a late nap at home.  I am sure we will get on track soon!

Dance Class

Finley started dance class at her new school last week. King's Dance still hasn't found a permanent dance space and there wasn't a good class time for Finley. So we signed up with Houston Metropolitan Dance since it is so close to our house and I have heard great things about it. Finley isn't technically old enough yet, buy only by a few months, so they accepted her on a trial basis. She did great her first and second classes there, she adores her teacher, Miss Kendra. Turns out, our old dance friends are starting a class back with Mr. Carlos at Kings in the same time slot. So there is a little dilemma. Go back to class with Mr. Carlos and Finley's friends or stay with the new class?

On a random note, this is the same studio where Auntie Neon took her dance classes when she was a little girl.

Finley's Dream Visit to the Zoo

Last week, we actually had temperatures in the 90s instead of triple digits, so Finley and I headed over to the zoo to spend the day.  We did all of Finley's favorite zoo activities.  We fed the giraffes, rode the carousel and she even got a rhino stuffed animal to take home (she named him Horns.)  Finley loves animals so much, it is so cute to watch her run from place to place.  The cutest part is that she kept asking to go to all the indoor places because she was used to it being so hot outside.  So the reptile house, aquarium and Natural Encounters were all visited, even though we really didn't need a break from the heat.