Halloween 10-31-14

Happy Halloween! We started out with our annual school Halloween parade where the kids showed off all their cute and creative costumes. Cecily was excited to wear her gumball machine costume that Caren made. It was fun to see all the theme costumes that each grade level came up with (kindergarten - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, first - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, second - superheroes, third - garden gnomes, fourth - superheroes, fifth - Duck Dynasty). http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VvbA

After lunch, we had our class Halloween party. The kids tasted "gross" food, felt "gross" things in boxes, made Hallween picture frames, made caramel apples, made Halloween lanterns, and played wrap the mummy. One boy told his mom it was the best school party he has had. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VvfQ

Cecily had trick or treated at the Huntington Harbour Mall the night before. In the evening after the school party, we headed over to Alexsia's house for some spooky dinner before trick or treating on Davenport Island. The best part of the night was getting fresh spun cotton candy at one of the homes. Yum! http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3Vvgg

Soccer & Pumpkins 10-25-14

The Tsunami Strikers played the California Grizzlies again this morning. Our team creamed them 8 to 1, with our best player not even scoring any goals. Cecily had fun playing against her friend Elizabeth. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3Vukg

In the afternoon, we headed to Trader Joe's for their annual pumpkin carving contest. Cecily had fun carving a bunny pumpkin with Paige, Kayla, Sean, Aidan, Allie, and Sophia. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VuoQ

Hollywood Bowl 10-24-14

Caren and Kelly took Cecily and Alexsia to the "We Can Survive" concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Cecily really wanted to go because Taylor Swift was performing. Hosted by Carson Daly, the concert had an amazing line-up: Sia, Paramore, Iggy Azalea, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, Pharell Williams, and Gwen Stefani. Jennifer Lopez even made a surprise appearance, performing "Booty" with Iggy. Gina and Trish were also at the concert with their other friend. Alexsia and Cecily almost had a chance to go back stage because Alexsia's cousin (Bill Cosby's granddaughter) was at the concert and going back stage. But they had a little miscommunication and weren't able to do it. Even though we were a little late and got to the concert during Paramore, we had a fabulous time. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3Vugw

Girl Scouts 10-22-14

At Girl Scouts today the girls learned a little about fitness and health with Ms. Binckes. She had the girls do some fun boot camp circuit training for kids. They did stretching, push-ups, jumps, tricep dips, jumping jacks, lunges, squats, arm circles, etc. After their mini bootcamp, they went around school to help take down the red ribbon week decorations. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VufA

Cotillion 10-21-14

Cecily missed soccer practice for Cotillion. Tonight was the first night of Cotillion at Sea Cliff for Alexsia and Emma. Afterwards, we went to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream with Alexsia, Emma, and Sophia. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VubQ

Presley's Birthday & Oktoberfest 10-19-14

Happy 10th Birthday, Presley! Cecily helped her celebrate at her birthday party at the Hyatt in Huntington Beach. Courtney rented a cabana so the kids could swim and use their water slides. The girls had so much fun. While Cecily was at the party, Caren met up with Suzanne while her family was in town for Oktoberfest at Old World Village. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VuXg

Brick or Treat 10-18-14

Since Cecily's soccer team had a bye today, we took advantage of our only free Saturday and went down to Legoland to check out the Halloween decorations and to let Cecily Brick or Treat. Cecily had a rough morning and Richard got sick during the day, so we had to cut our trip short. But Cecily still had a fun time doing the Dr. Heartbeat Mindstorms computer programming as well as trick or treating in the park. We even found our Lego miniland creations we built during the Model Builder Session in August in Miniland New Orleans. Our Witch, Thing 1, Thing 2, Pumpkin, and Zebra costumed minilanders were participating in the Halloween Mardi Gras Parade. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VuTw

HV Olympics 10-17-14

This week was Red Ribbon Week. Monday, the kids wore red to school. After school, Caren took Cecily and Presley to play miniature golf at Boomer's. Tuesday was crazy sock day. On Wednesday, the kids wore their favorite team jersey. Thursday, they wore green to school. Today was Harbour View's annual fall fundraiser Olympics. In the morning, the classes paraded around the blacktop with their class Olympic banners. Then each grade level got a chance to check out the booths and participate in the games. The kids had a fun day. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VuOA

CHOC Walk 10-12-14

We got up very early to participate in the CHOC walk to help support and raise money for CHOC. Starting on Main Street, we walked through Disneyland stopping for pictures along the way (Caren had never seen Pocahontas and John Smith at the park before). Then we walked through California Adventure before ending up in Downtown Disney at the finish line. We ate beignets at Ralph Brennan's for breakfast and got sandwiches at the new Earl of Sandwich for lunch. Cecily even got to meet Caroline Sunshine, who played Tinka on the Disney Channel show "Shake It Up." http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VuKQ

Soccer Game 10-11-14

The Tsunami Strikers played the Maroon 12 this morning. Since our coach has gotten in trouble with the league, he held our team back in the first half. Once our team got warmed up, they came on strong in the second half, winning the game 5 to 1. Cecily's friends Cambria and Sophia were on the other team. After the game, the coach gave the girls cupcakes as a thank you for playing so well and winning all our games so far this season. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VuGg

Girl Scouts 10-08-14

Monday morning was Dave's birthday so we went over early with Mandi, Hailey, Emma, Sam, Kiran, and Sarina to decorate his car with balloons and streamers. The kids had so much fun being sneaky. 10-06-14 Today was picture day and Girl Scout day. We took a field trip to the Bolsa Chica Conservancy for a hike through the wetlands and to learn about all the animals. The girls enjoyed seeing all the birds, and we even saw a tiny octopus swimming under the bridge. Then the girls got to touch the starfish and pet a snake. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3Vt9w

Tooth, Soccer, & Sunset 10-04-14

Cecily lost her tooth at school on Thursday and got a little yellow treasure chest to put it in to bring home. While Caren went out to dinner with her friends to celebrate Mandi's birthday, Cecily wrote the Tooth Fairy a note to bring her a Beanie Boo keychain. The Tooth Fairy ended up bringing her the usual gold dollar coin and also a very cute ghost Beanie Boo keychain. 10-03-14 http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VtxA

The Tsunami Strikers played the Virus this morning. Our girls played a great game with excellent teamwork skills. It was another shut out game (our team has only given up one goal, and it was in our very first game of the season). Cecily's friend, Kara, was a good goalie but she couldn't keep our girls from scoring. 10-04-14 http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3Vt1Q

In the evening, we went down to Sunset Beach so Cecily could take some sunset pictures. She needed one photo to enter in her school's Reflections contest sponsored by the PTA. She did a great job in getting some shots, and she picked out the one of her footprint in the sand with the ocean wave coming in for the theme of "the world would be a better place if..." 10-04-14 http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3Vt5g