Locks of Love & GS Bridging 05-31-13

Cecily has been growing her hair out so that she could donate it. At Harbour View, a Girl Scout troop sponsors a special Locks of Love event, so Cecily joined in to donate her hair at the Pelican Pride Assembly. She was a little nervous about sitting in front of the whole school, but she did great. Her new short bob looks so cute! And on top of participating in the Locks of Love event, Cecily also received the Writing Award during the Pelican Pride Assembly. After school, her friend Emily's mom evened out her hair and gave her a "Victoria Beckham" bob haircut. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXug In the evening, we had our Girl Scout Bridging where the girls went from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts. We held the bridging at the new bridge in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. After the ceremony, we headed over to Bolsa Chica beach for a Bonfire party to celebrate. The girls had a blast playing in the ocean and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXzQ

Volunteer Appreciation 05-29-13

Caren attended a special Volunteer Luncheon at Cecily's school. She enjoyed a salad bar lunch while watching the Marine View kids sing and dance. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXZw

Legoland 05-28-13

Since we had a furlough day today, we took Renee and her mom, Deanna, down to Legoland. There were a lot of schools on field trips there, but we still had a lot of fun. The girls rode Beetle Bounce, Knights Tournament, Skipper School, the little log ride Treasure Falls, Splash Battle, and the new big boat ride which got them completely soaked (Pirate Reef). They played in the Pirate Shores water area until we were ready to eat lunch and watch the Fun Town Volunteer Fire Fighter show. We ended the day with the girls riding Kid Power Tower, Fairy Tale Brook, the Safari ride, the Dragon Coaster, Beetle Bounce again 3 times in a row, Lost Kingdom Adventure, Mindstorm Coaster twice, Bionicle Blaster, and Aquazone. For Cecily, no trip to Legoland is complete without her favorite swirled ice cream which we grabbed on our way out of the park. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXVA

Memorial Day 05-27-13

We had a last minute BBQ to celebrate Memorial Day with Gina's family and Dawn's family. Richard barbecued hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, veggie skewers, and corn on the cob. The kids had fun playing together. Then we decided to try out our new firepit and make smores. Unfortunately the wood we had was too damp, so we couldn't make a real fire. Hopefully we will have better luck next time with our firepit. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXRQ

Benihana 05-25-13

We helped Emily's sister, Kimberly, celebrate her 18th birthday at Benihana by driving them and her friends to the restaurant. Emily had never had teppan before, so the girls had a lot of fun with the dinner show. At the end of the evening, we ran into Sinead who was there celebrating her mom's friend's birthday. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXMg

Open House 05-23-13

We attended the Open House at Harbour View to check out all the stuff Cecily has been doing at school. They have been learning about the Solar System, Huntington Beach and Orange County, and practicing their writing skills. Cecily loved showing Richard all the things she has worked so hard on. We even enjoyed a lovely walk to school and back instead of trying to fight for parking. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXIw

Epic 05-22-13

We were invited to a special preview of the new movie Epic before it opens in theaters on Friday by Kelly because Earth Friendly had a collaboration with Fox Studios. The kids were excited to eat popcorn and see the movie in 3D. Because it was a preview and the movie had not come out yet, we had to check in our cell phones before entering the theater. Caren was disappointed because she would have loved to get photos of the kids wearing their 3D glasses in the theater. She did get a few shots before and after the movie. Poor Cecily had dental work after school (she had her space maintainer removed), so her poor mouth and cheeks were so droopy. She had Jamba Juice to cheer her up before we went to see the movie. After the movie, we went to dinner at CPK with Nicolette and Olivia. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXEA

Soccer Day Two & Angels Baseball 05-19-13

After getting a good night's rest, the girls came back this morning and played an awesome game against the Electric Shock from Fountain Valley/Huntington Beach. This team was a better match for our team. Unfortunately, our girls lost 0-1 on a freak corner kick that went into the goal and bounced off the net/pole without ever touching a player. The tournament was such a great experience for out team. Looking forward to more as the girls continue on with their club team as part of the Galaxy South Bay. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VW_w After the tournament, Cecily was invited to go to the Angels baseball game with her friend Scarlett. Ava happened to also be going to the game so she gave Cecily a ride to Angels Stadium. Cecily had a fun time at the game with Scarlett as well as our neighbors, Allie, Aden, and Sophia. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VXAQ

Soccer Tournament Day One 05-18-13

Cecily played her very first soccer tournament with her team (it was every girl's first tournament as well) at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex. They were a little slow on waking up for their first game, but they played relatively well. After losing 0-3 to the Vicious Gummy Bears from Sherman Oaks, the girls had a fabulous time playing together while we waited for our next game. They ate pizza, climbed trees, kicked the ball, and had their nails painted blue for some team spirit. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VW3Q Since the girls were having so much fun bonding, they were very tired for their second game. They got creamed 0-6 by the Hot Shots from Saugus. But overall, the first day of the Beach Bash Tournament was a fantastic bonding activity for our team. At the end of the day, the girls got their tournament t-shirts and the team mom handed out picture frames with a team picture to every girl. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VW7g

Girl Scout Leader Appreciation 05-17-13

Our Girl Scout service unit had a leader/daughter appreciation night for their last meeting of the year. The theme was Bunco, and the kids had a great time. We enjoyed the snacks and made a fun little craft (necklace for girls and keychain for leaders). Cecily got a Bunco and earned a couple cool prizes. We had to leave early when they did the Harlem Shake as we had to get up early for soccer the next day. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWzA

Teacher Appreciation, Last Brownie Meeting, and Soccer 05-15-13

For Teacher Appreciation Day, our theme was "Mrs. Peasley is Tea-rific!" because Mrs. Peasley loves tea (and we couldn't think of a cute theme with flamingos). The kids each decorated a tea cup and wrote about why they thought Mrs. Peasley was terrific. The class also gave her some tea and flamingo themed gifts. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWmQ Can't believe today was our very last Brownie Girl Scout meeting! We had someone come in to teach the girls yoga to fulfill the last requirement for their Dancer patch, and then we passed out their cookie sales incentives. Looking forward now to our fun bridging event at the end of the month! http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWqg Playing hard all season paid off for out Blue Lightning Bolts. They earned 1st place in their division for spring. The girls were super excited to get their 1st place medals. We took team pictures and talked about how our AYSO team would be staying together and transitioning into a club team for the newly merged Galaxy South Bay. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWuw

Mother's Day 05-12-13

Happy Mother's Day! We headed down to Legoland for the day, bringing Flat Jack with us. The new Legoland Hotel was open, and we had hoped to have an early dinner there. Timing didn't work out, but we were able to enjoy a delicious meal at our usual place, Tip Top Meats. At Legoland, we got to see the new Lego Chima 4D movie, go on several rides (Bionicle Blasters, Cargo Ace, Beetle Bounce, Captain Cranky's Challenge, Volvo Driving School, Kid Power Tower, and Fairy Tale Brook), and check out lots of fun Lego things. Cecily had fun helping to take pictures of and with Flat Jack. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWiA

Last AYSO Soccer Game 05-11-13

Our team was in 2nd place going into our last AYSO spring season game. The girls were scared of #5 (Rachel) on the other team because she scored all 5 goals when we lost to them 0-5 last time we played. However, our team came on strong with Kara scoring the first goal in the first 5 minutes. That was followed by 2 more goals, and we kept on with the amazing teamwork. The girls never let up, Kara made some amazing saves in the goal, and we won 3-0. The girls were so happy with their win, ending the season on a game of fantastic teamwork. We found out later in the day that the #1 team had lost their game, and so we ended up tying in points for #1. However, our coach informed us, that because we beat the first place team earlier in the season it made us the #1 team for spring. Our girls were so happy that all their hard work paid off. Now they are looking forward to playing their first tournament next weekend. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWdw

First Communion & Sophia's Birthday 05-5-13

Happy Cinco de Mayo! In the morning, we attended Scarlett's First Communion at St. Bonaventure. Cecily's friend, Athena, and a girl from her preschool, Keilani, also were going through their First Communions. Cecily did a good job sitting through the mass with Presley to help support Scarlett. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWIg In the afternoon, we walked over to the neighbor Sophia's house to celebrate her 5th birthday. They had a bounce house, crafts, and a pinata. Cecily was a little shy at first, but she enjoyed making foam animal clothespins before she started running around with the other kids. She had a such a good time she didn't want to leave. So Caren and Richard went home to enjoy some Cinco de Mayo snacks and drinks while Cecily stayed to play. Cecily really loves having neighbor kids to play with. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWRA

Soccer Game 05-04-13

We started off the day at the Home Depot Kids Workshop where Cecily built a small planter. After lunch, we headed to her soccer game. The kids began a little slow, but they quickly warmed up and won the game 2-1. Cecily played an amazing game as she was more aggressive than usual and really stayed with the ball. When we got home, a lady somehow fell off the sidewalk by our house which ended up involving the fire truck and ambulance to come out. Craziness! http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VWEQ