4yr check up

Wanting to check out her new pottery toy from Grammy, Lola ate her breakfast. She made a cute little vase and then set it outside to dry. Her and Kiku played with all the new birthday toys after that. Lola pretended to take a nap and Kiku was curious to watch her pretend.  Our four year old had her yearly checkup. Lola weighed in at 34lbs and was 41inches tall. She had two shots. Brave little cookie.  Then Lola had some lunch. Lola is very into numbers lately. She was measuring her new lizard to see how long it was. After watching a little movie lola fell asleep too. I'm sure it was from her shots. After she woke up the girls had popscicles on the couch. Then we all headed to the pool for some sunshine.[gallery orderby="ID"]

The brothers package came in the mail so Lola opened to find a colorado pillow and very sweet little turtle necklace. Then  she went swimming with her brothers.

Sunshine and summer

Scootering to the park is Lola's new goal. She's actually pretty good for only having a scooter for a couple of days. The girls played in the sand and swings. Lola took her new lizard to the park too. The boys took Lola to the library and she showed them around. After lunch Eric played a little guitar for the girls. Kiku was a little nervous at first then she warmed up when she could play the guitar too. Later, Lola opened up her present from Aunt GiGi and Uncle Brian. She of course loved the new dresses and her new book.[gallery columns="2" orderby="title"]

Getting the Boat Ready

Lola slept in for church since she was up late partying her 4th birthday all the night. So after the Doll woke up she helped the bubbas scrub up the jet ski. Later we hung out at the pool. Lola is very fond of her new swim suit from her girl friend Brooklyn. For dinner the boys whipped up some homemade pizza.[gallery columns="2" orderby="title"]

Birthday Dinner Party

After opening a few presents we headed down to Kincaids to have dinner with Grammy. We were hoping that she would take a nap in the car, but she was so wound up from the afternoon fun that she gabbed all the way to San Mateo. After we ate we came home to open the rest of her presents. Then we took her new scooter out for a test drive down to the cold stone for a dessert. Do you think she was ready for bed at 10? NOO... she was ready to watch her new Fievel movie we had to order off Amazon. She watched her movie and didn't go to bed until at least 11.- what a birthday! We love you girl.[gallery orderby="title"]

Lola's 4th Birthday!

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Fun times. We had a pool full of kids. Lola had so much fun swimming she wouldn't get out of the pool to do the games:) The kids liked making the ocean collage and the ocean bingo game I made. The cupcakes and cake were a delicious success, the kids really loved the fish candy toppers I made. (Even if they were a little melted from the sun. ) Lola swam and swam. All the kids loved the fish water squirters. Happy 4th Birthday Lola Doll!

One day until birthday!!! Let the preparations begin!

Lola helped me bake her cake for her party. She's excited to being turning four. Recently she told me that "I know you want me to be your little girl, but I have to grow up mom." We had so much to get done today. I had to make the candy toppers for the cupcakes, make the gift bags, go to costco for the food, & wrap her presents. Luckily, the boys made it to town to help because Daddy was not feeling well. We were up til 1 in the morning packing up the gift bags. Left to do On the morning of her birthday we whipped up a cute little fievel table for the kids to sit at and put the finishing touches on the Fievel Ocean cake, filled the water squirter party favors and cut up all the fruit and made a sandwich tray.[gallery columns="2" orderby="ID"]

so long city

passed SLC heading to the flats

utah border

it did not look like there is going to be many places to get gas between here and slc so we stopped to play safe

Dress up Girls- count down to the fourth Birthday

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Two days until Lola's 4th birthday!!!! We started the day off playing dress up. The girls liked wearing the sparkly dresses. Lola dressed up as a bride; I'm going to have to dig out some pictures of momma dressed up as a bride:) Then we headed over to the park to play in the fresh air. The girls hid the little seal in the sand, luckily not to hard to find when we left. I had bought some fish stamps to use at Lola's party so I thought we should try them out. The girls really enjoyed dipping them in paint and making some sea pictures.

Countdown for the Princess

Well, I cannot believe that in 2 days my girl will be 4 years old.  Adam and Eric are currently on the road from Denver to California to visit for the summer and to also help out with the Feivel, Ocean themed birthday party.  The party will be on Saturday at the pool and hopefully the California weather stays hot and sunny.  The boys will be bringing out the Jet Ski so we hope to have some fun with that next week.  For all of you who keep up with our family we really appreciate it.  It is hard living out here without any relatives, but knowing that you are reading and commenting makes the blog our way to keep in touch. Check back next week for updates from the Big 4 birthday bash.

gas at rawlins

stopped in Wyoming for gas now time to push 200 miles to Utah

forgot the picture

hit the road jack

packed p and driving out right on Schedule

Lola view of world

Here are some more photos from our photographer daughter. I'm calling this set Lola view.[gallery orderby="ID"]

Cuddling and Library

The girls sure enjoy each other's company. Lola was still eating breakfast when Kiku came. She read her a story and Kiku snuck a couple bites of blueberry pancakes. They made some silly music with their toes. After Lola got dressed we headed over to the library. The girls read some books then picked out a bunch to take home. Kiku wants to be a big girl like Lola. So she wants her own chair and her own book. She's learned about going to get the books from the bins and then taking turns reading them with Lola. They played in the tent surrounded by a ton of stuffed toys. They were hugging and being silly. They danced to some old records later in the afternoon. Kiku knows where the record player is and sometimes if she wants the music on she'll go over and poke at the buttons. I'm not sure if Lola thinks that Kiku is a big doll or not, but she sure tries to carry her around like one. It's cute watching her try to take care of her too.[gallery orderby="ID"]

Girls playday

Girls really do just want to have fun. We did a little bit of everything today. Lola painted her face to look like an alligator. The girls played house. Then we headed over to the park for some morning exercise. Lola has been riding her bike very well lately. When we arrived at the park, she took her Stitch bear for a buggy ride. Kiku's friend Constantine was at the park too. Then we came home and had some lunch. After lunch Lola wanted to listen to her new Raggedy Ann record on stretching and exercising. She was so cute doing it.  Lola does some really funny things sometimes. Today she saw the empty beach bag and decided to sit in it. Well, once she figured out that she fit, then she wanted me to carry her around in it... Very silly girl.[gallery orderby="ID"]

Happy Father's Day

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We surprised Daddy by skipping church and heading down the coast. They were having an old hotrod car show down in Pismo Beach. So we packed a picnic and drove the 3 hours to check it out. Daddy was so surprised! They had all kinds of cars and some were parked on the pier which was cool. While we were having our nice little picnic on the pier a crazy lady climbed over the rail and jumped off the end. She swam to shore but it was just nuts to witness it. After we ate we headed downstairs to let the beach babe splash in the ocean and kick up some sand. She loves it. I'm sure she would spend the whole day there if we let her. After we played at the beach we let daddy open his surprise that she made him. He loved the new pjs and Lola was so proud to tell him she made them.

Nolan's birthday & some baking

Lola's boyfriend had his 5th Birthday this weekend. Lola loved the bounce house and playing with all the hot wheels. And of course eating the cake. After we had our fill of birthday fun we headed home to do some baking. Lola and I made daddy some of his favorite cookies- thumb print cookies with black berry jam. And a fresh cherry pie! both very yummy. Lola really liked decorating the top of the pie.[gallery columns="4"]

playing + Kalani visited

The girls were back up to playing all day. Lola likes doing things that make her 'helper' while playing with Kiku. So blowing bubbles is right up her alley. She also has been taking a very big initiative in keeping the fish fed lately. Which is one less thing I have to worry about. Today the girls were having a good time playing house and dressing up the magnet dolls. Later, we had a little visitor from the neighborhood stop by and Kiku was very happy to show him where all the fun toys were. We were expecting Lola's boyfriend to come later in the day so we dug out our 'boy toys'- the train. She had fun showing Kiku how to play them. Then after lunch Lola's boyfriend from school was able to come play. She was so happy to have him over for a couple of hours. Later when daddy came home we went to the mall so she could give us a list for things she would like for her birthday. She plopped herself down in the stuffed toy tower and fit right in. Cutie.[gallery]

Nature Hike and garage playing

It was Kiku's first day back after being sick. We hung around the house and then went for a little nature hike, keeping our eyes open for birds, butterflies and squirrels. When we came back the girls played in the garage riding the motorcycle and the skating. Then we brought out the easel for some painting.[gallery columns="4"]

Library, Park, back to the Library, Cheercamp

We headed over to the library to get some new books and it was closed :( until noon due to budget cuts... darn.... so we headed to the park to play for a bit. We love having picnic's. Lola took her chipmunk brittany for some park fun. I love this old park we happened to find one day. It has old school play equipment, including the hot metal slide. It's funny to be at a park and be the only ones there but we had a great time. After we played and had our lunch we went back to the library and rushed around to get a bag full of books then off to cheercamp.[gallery orderby="ID"]

Splashing in the hot sun

Picnic in the sunshine, what a nice way to spend the afternoon. We dressed up in some cute white sun dresses and met up with one of Lola's girlfriends. The mommies spent some time catching up while the girls playing in the water feature. It was a bit chilly with the wind but Lola didn't care. This park also had a really cool spider web area that the girls climbed around on. After the park we went to their house and watched a movie and Lola held the new baby. Also, I'd like to note that Lola's new favorite song she's been listening to on the iphone is "California Girls" by Katy perry.[gallery columns="4" orderby="ID"]

making daddy's father's day surprise

Lola decided to make daddy some pajama pants for Father's Day. So she picked out the fabric at the store- race cars. Then I helped her to cut it out. I lined it up for her to sew them. She was pretty excited to have made them.

Cheercamp

For Two afternoons this week Lola has been going to Cheercamp at the little gym. She really liked it:) She wore her little Stanford cheer leading outfit. They made pennants one  day and painted a big banner the next day. Then when we went to Daddy's last softball game she really was cheering. It was very sweet. Next week's camp day is cowboy camp.

playing at the pool

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What a water babe we have. After church we headed over to the pool to hang out in the hot sun. Lola pretended to surf on the kickboard.  She did her famous sea star dive. She swam and swam and swam. We're sure thankful for the california sunshine. Then after the pool Lola wanted to dress up as Mulan. Cutie pie.

invitations for the Fievel Ocean Pool Party

So Lola's fourth Birthday is coming up quick. She wanted to have a Fievel party, however there are no fievel party supplies so I had her compromise on an ocean fievel party since Fievel had to go on an ocean voyage. Here are the invites I made for her party. We'll have it on her birthday at the pool at our apt.

Marina State Beach & Aquarium & Monterrey Beach

Driving down the coast on a Friday afternoon is so much fun. We stopped at Marina state beach to check out what was there. (+)positive they have a potty. It was a nice beach to stop for a picnic. Lola and daddy enjoyed flying her nemo kite on the windy shore. After the beach we headed over to the aquarium to show daddy the new sea turtle exhibit. He loved it of course. Then we went over to the beach by the old fisherman's wharf to let Lola run in the surf one more time before we hit the road home. We liked peeking at the seals sleeping on the beach and the crabs scurrying around the rocks in the boat docks. Fun times :)[gallery]

Photos by Lola

Lola has been wanting to take pictures with our camera. So instead of handing her our pentax we let her use out old little nikon cool pics. Well, it turns out she has very artist viewpoint from 41 inches high. Here is her first set:) Enjoy[gallery columns="2"]

elefun before breakfast

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Sometimes my girl wants to just play. Play before breakfast, play dress up instead of getting dressed, play through lunch, play until there is just not a single drop of sun left in the sky. Today was one of those days. The girls played elefun right away. Then instead of getting dressed Lola wanted to wear a hula girls out fit. For lunch she wanted to pretend to have a picnic. Kiku happily played along.

Dance/gym recital

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Kiku and Lola are quite a little team. They help each other out and are pretty good friends for being so young. Lola helps Kiku do things like blocks and puzzles. And Kiku shares with Lola when she can see Lola is busy doing things like her school work or dollhouse play. Today was Lola's last day of dance for the semester. They had a little show and then received a little medal. Kiku was so cute cheering for Lola when it was her turn to do her solo spinning at dance. Lola did really well in the gym piece. She had a good time showing off for daddy:)

closer

bout 50miles from Colorado border. my phone is also running out of battery so this is the last post till I reach a computer :)

time to eat

stopped just inside Kansas to fuel ourselves and the jeep to start the longer haul

fuel 2

second fuel stop of the day, picked up waters but no old mcdonalds, K City here we come

fuel

first sop to gas up the jeep and grab some Mickey D's breakfast

rock and roll out

the jeep is loaded up to the seats and the jet ski is hitched on, time to hit the road

coconut ice cream

Lola said she wanted to see what a coconut was. So we picked one up at the store and brought it home. We let her crack it open and see the white inside. Then we looked up a recipe for some homemade coconut ice cream. It took about 1/2 hour to whip up a batch. Oh my goodness, it was the best ice cream we have ever made.

Rose Garden

While Daddy was playing softball the Doll and I headed over to see the rose garden. In full bloom the roses smelled sooo amazing. It was such a treat to see them. Lola let her kitty smell them too. After our fill of rose sniffing we played at the park for a while before heading over to Daddy's game to cheer him on.[gallery columns="2"]

Preschool class photo

Of course, we forgot it was picture day.... so she was wearing an outfit that she picked out. Very Lola.... So when we saw the proof, we weren't going to order the pictures, but.... it was very sweet and she does look like this 1/2 the time.....So we ordered the smallest package just so we could have a copy. Sweet sweet girl.

Hanging out at the pool

After school Lola and Kiku played with the bucket of instruments while I prepared lunch. They make quite a band. When we finished lunch we headed over for a dip in the pool. Lola loved pushing Kiku around in the boat. The girls took their time getting out of the pool. I didn't plan that part when I took them. It's one thing if one girl doesn't want to leave, but two... that's another story. I think once we've been going more it'll get easier. It was the perfect temp too.