Napping on the Beach

July 2003, Corona Del Mar
July 2008, San Elijo State Beach

Emma Comes for a Visit

It's been a while since we've had Emma over to play and to spend the night and with only two weeks left of Hannah's summer vacation, today was as good as day as ever. They played, they went in the pool, they watched a new episode of Hannah Montana, watched movies, and eventually went to sleep...sometime after 10:00.

Adventures in Hollywood

Today we drove into Los Angeles, Hollywood to be specific. We were going to the El Capitan to see WALL-E. We had tickets for the first showing at 10:00 and it was nice to get there before all the crazies were out on Hollywood Blvd. Although Hannah seems to enjoy spotting the crazy people dressed up as famous movie characters.After the movie, we grabbed some lunch and then headed off for more adventures. We had planned to visit the Griffith Observatory as you no longer have to have reservations and take a bus to the top, like the last time we went when it first reopened. When we arrived to the top of the hill, it was just as we had expected, there was no parking available, and people were parking along the sides of hillside and walking up. We decided to skip the observatory and went in search of something else to do. While we were driving through Griffith Park, we came across a place that offered horse riding. Hannah has this fascination with horses and was excited that she was going to ride one. We chose the Medium Horses for the girls to ride. The horses had this track that they walked or trotted around. Some stayed right behind the other horses, others trotted ahead and left more space between the horses. Walking slowly seemed to be more Hannah's speed.Because when the horse picked up speed (to trotting), when Hannah passed by me she was telling the horse to slow down. LOL. It was funny to see such opposite reactions between her and Rachel. When their ride came to an end, Gramie asked if the girls wanted to ride again, Rachel's answer was of course yes, while Hannah's response was "Nah". LOL. After Rachel taking one more ride on the ponies, we headed down to ride the miniature train, stopping to do a butterfly craft along the way.We had a fun day of adventures with Gramie in Hollywood, and like all good things, they must come to an end.

Keeping Cool at a Pool Party!

As if being out in the extreme heat most of yesterday wasn't enough, Hannah had a pool birthday party to go to this afternoon for a friend from school.

There were just a few other friends from school that came, but Hannah enjoyed seeing her friends now that we are a little more than half way through our break. It was a hot day and I think Hannah only came out of the pool twice, once for pizza, and second for the opening of the presents.

4th of July

We spent our 4th of July with church family this year. We were invited to the home of some people at church and it turned into a huge church event, with more than twenty families in attendance. It was a great afternoon of fun and fellowship.

Hannah had so much fun on the big inflatable slide as well as the little slip n slide. She had a bit of an accident coming down the slide one time, her nose hit the back of another little boys' head and she ended up with a bloody nose, but despite being a little sore and tender, all is fine. And it didn't stop her from going up the slide again!The house was absolutely beautiful, inside and out. It was perfect for hosting such a large event! There was a huge front yard where there was a small slip n slide and a volleyball net and one side of the driveway housed all the shade canopies lined up one right after another. Shade was a necessity to keep a little bit cooler in the 106 degrees heat that this afternoon brought.

It made Hannah's day when her good old friend Emma arrived. Hannah also had the opportunity to play and hang out with a little girl who we know from church, but she also goes to Hannah's school. There's a big chance that Hannah and Hayley could end up in the same 3rd grade class come the end of the month and that would be awesome!At the end of the evening, once it was dark, there were fireworks and some kids did sparklers. Not remembering that fireworks were legal in the city we were in, I didn't pick up any sparklers for the girls to do. Hannah was bummed, But once we were home, Hannah went out back and watched the neighbors behind us do sparklers and a few other fireworks through our fence, and the neighbors so graciously gave us about six boxes of sparklers over the fence. So Hannah got to do sparklers all by herself! She had fun, and despite it being well after 10:00, she had the energy to do three boxes! We're saving the other boxes to do with Rachel, seeing how she was asleep and missed the fun!We had a great day! We're so blessed to be a part of a church where it's enjoyable to go to 'church' functions and look forward to spending time with friends.

Summer Reading Program at the Library

Ever since Hannah got out of school at the end of May, one of our goals has been for her to read and not waste away everyday with TV or movies, etc. We've been waiting for the summer reading programs to start at our local libraries so that not only would she be earning television time, but some cool prizes as well.

The summer reading programs started two weeks ago at our local libraries and today was the first that we could get there and get signed up. We went to the downtown library, where it's the main library for the city with a bigger selection of books etc. Got Hannah signed up and some books checked out. Seeing how she was going to get credit at this library for her reading, I figured why not go to the little library in the city where we go to church, where Hannah goes to school, where Gramma and Papa live. Why not get double the prizes! This library, although little in size, the prizes are spread out a little more and are a little better. We arrived to this library just in time for story time and a craft. Both in which the girls loved and enjoyed. Anything to keep from going home where it's "boring". Needless to say, once it was time to come home for lunch, Hannah ended up reading a whole book this afternoon! We're hoping to go back to the library on Thursday to claim some prizes!