Fall

Yeah, yeah, I know it's the middle of winter. And I DO feel guilty about neglecting my blog lately. Especially after finding this post sitting on the list, forgotten and unposted.
So below is a little rundown of the girls' fall activities....

Silje continues working on perfecting her Easter Egg art.

Ailey participated in her school's "Fund Run". It's the PTA's fundraiser for the year - the kids get pledges for donations, then on Fund Run Day they ... run. :) A friend was there are got a picture of Ailey enjoying her jog around the field.

Ailey celebrated her half-birthday in October - 6 1/2 years old!

Still warm enough to enjoy bubbles outside!

Ailey got out her make-up and dressed Marin up a bit. Yay.

Ailey had a school project in November before Thanksgiving to "disguise" her turkey so that it wouldn't be caught and eaten...

She dressed her up as Princess Ariel.

Marin and Silje did fall and Thanksgiving art projects in preschool.

Marin and Silje had a pretty smooth transition to preschool. Ailey took some time getting used to 1st grade, but is now well into the swing of things and liking it just fine. It was a pretty mild fall too, so we spent a lot of time outside, and the girls are now missing that since it got considerably colder in December. One thing will for sure get us outside even if the temps are below freezing: SNOW. :-)

Christmas Already!

Get some Christmas pictures on the blog already! That's what I'm telling myself, at least, as we get closer to the end of the year.

Here are the Higgins girls preparing for Christmas....

Silje and Marin decorated gingerbread boys and girls to hand out to their preschool classmates. (Notice Silje's bangs are finally growing in. I still haven't had to cut them since her scissor incident - in JUNE! - but they should need a trim soon.)

Andy led the gingerbread-house-making again this year. Now that Marin and Silje are helping too - and not just the anti-candy-girl Ailey - much of the candy is being eaten during the process.

Ailey got a big project during our last Girl Scout meeting of the year. It took her another couple days working on it at home to complete it, but she did it almost all herself (the construction required some adult assembly) and even enjoyed playing with it afterward. This mom was quite surprised that the foam Santa sleigh remained in one piece for several days!

We took a trip to the Warm Beach Lights of Christmas one evening with Gma Linda and Gpa Mark.

Marin didn't like the smell in the petting area....

All three girls got to ride the ponies, though Ailey barely squeaked under the height pole and was informed this would be her last year. :-(

Marin and Ailey and a GIANT snowman.

Ah hem. No. You AREN'T supposed to ride the Christmas lights, but I was quick with the camera before Silje was pulled off.

Much of December was spent like this - many, many Christmas stickers and foam art projects!

We had a very nice Christmas weekend, and the last two weeks off of school have gone very smoothly. We've kept busy with playdates, library visits, a zoo visit, and even a rainy trip to the beach at Ocean Shores.

I hope this finds you preparing for a peaceful New Year. Happy 2012!

Ailey the Toothless, part 2

Ailey lost her other top tooth today. Ith been looth for tho long!

It's been a while since she last lost a tooth, about two months, and yet her smile is still really gappy. Hopefully those teeth will come in before next corn cob season!

Disneyland

Ailey and I went to Disneyland over Veteran's weekend. If you've spent any amount of time around Ailey you might understand why I wanted to take her now, instead of waiting a few years until Marin and Silje were old enough to go as a family.... Ailey is totally and completely Princessfied. That's the word I created to describe it. Ariel from The Little Mermaid is her favorite, but basically any pretty lady with a crown, a poofy dress, and possibly a wand in her hand will get Ailey's heart pumpin'. And the anticipation (mine) of seeing Disneyland through the wondering eyes of a 6-year-old wanna-be princess .... well, it was just too tempting. And the decision paid off. We had a magical time.

Disneyland and, in the below picture California Adventure, are amazing at night. Something you get to see a bit more of when you go in the fall and around the holidays. This is the ferris wheel, Mickey's Fun Wheel, behind us as we got ready to watch World of Color - a water, light, and laser show that more than lived up to expectations.

Ailey has her autograph book in hand, ready to meet some characters. Walt, Mickey, and Sleeping Beauty's castle are behind her.

Disney Princess Fantasy Faire is ... exactly that. We saw a "coronation", missed the princess story-telling, and met several Princess, including Cinderella, Aurora, Tiana, Belle, Rapunzel and Ailey's favorite...

... Ariel! All the princesses - lacking the headgear of other characters like Mickey - had some cute little conversations with Ailey. Rapunzel asked all about computers after Ailey told her that was one of her favorite things to do. You know, because there weren't computers yet when Rapunzel lived!

We met Mickey Mouse ... OF COURSE! And Minnie too, and got to tour both of their homes in Toon Town at Disneyland.

We met Tigger, but missed Winnie and the others. Ailey also got to meet Tinker Bell and Vidia in Pixie Hollow. (I'm sparing you quite a few pictures, aren't I?!)

Disneyland was already decorated for Christmas, including the BIG Christmas tree (below - that's the bottom of the tree behind us). Officially, the holidays started at Disneyland the day after we left California, but everything already seemed to be done while we were there, including It's a Small World, all decked out with the decorations and "Jingle Bells".

Again, Disney at night is beautiful. The fireworks show was a special holiday show and was spectacular. The parade was at night and a special holiday version.

And Small World was all lit up!

Ailey's favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain railroad! I was proud of her! We rode it twice in a row. Her second favorite was the new Ariel ride at California Adventure (a very well-done ride, I might add).

We had Mickey shaped donuts for breakfast one morning.

And it isn't Disney without the ears, right? I'm wearing one of the ones we bought for Marin and Silje. Ailey picked out hers, and an Ariel figurine for her souvenier. Her autograph book will be quite cherished for a while too. It has space in it for a picture of each character who signed it. Quite ingenious for marketing to the younger set!

We had a great time, and, of course, it was much too short of a visit. But I considered this trip part-recon for our future visit with Marin and Silje in a few years. Having spent several Fridays-after-Thanksgiving at Disneyland when Sarah, my sister, lived in CA, I will say that visiting DL with little ones is definitely a different experience than when you go with just adults.

But both experiences have their benefits, and this time I didn't even miss riding some of the crazier rides - I was totally content to follow Ailey's lead. I can thank both Walt Disney and Ailey for allowing me to "be a kid" again for a few days!

Mickey Ears

Blogging about Ailey's and my Disneyland trip this past weekend is on my list.

It's a long list.

Somewhere on that list is laundry (we're all running out of some essentials); making dessert for Wednesday night dinner at church; making muffins for church on Sunday; um, vacuuming; unpacking my backpack (can't believe I actually unpacked my suitcase already!); a Costco trip; and I suppose lots of other things I will think of on my way to doing something from the list. Like this post - it wasn't on the to-do list! But luckily I type fast, so posting one picture won't take me long

And this is a cute picture, yes? Ailey and I picked out the Minnie ears for Marin and Silje, and they were so excited about them! Excited enough to pose for a picture. I hope this tides you over until I can get those 300 pictures we took uploaded to the blog. Just kidding. I won't post ALL of them. Half, maybe....