California Academy of Sciences

We went to this great museum with the Pixtons and the Elkins on homeschool day. The kids loved the igloo show (although I was bugged by the global warming propaganda), the rainforest (though Elizabeth felt like she couldn't breathe in so much humidity), the penguin show, and especially the aquarium area. It was worth the drive to San Francisco.

Pierced ears

Natalie is 8, so she is allowed to get her ears pierced. The girls were quite worried about how painful it would be to get their ears pierced. Elizabeth had waited over 3 years because she worried. She decided that if Natalie could do it, she could. Natalie almost backed out, but Elizabeth had been brave enough to go first and encouraged her. When it happened, Natalie had a scowl on her face and said a quiet "ow". Then it was all smiles. They went through with it! They got matching earrings and cute little bags to carry around the mall.

8 is great!

Natalie wanted to go to dinner and a play with her friends for her 8th birthday party. We went to see Seussical the Musical after eating at Red Robin. Her friend Haley and her cousins Olivia and Rachel came with us. We wore them out and they fell asleep on eachother on the way home.

Hamsters!

Sooo...Sophie killed Elizabeth's rat. Sad. She needed a replacement pet and Natalie was about to be old enough to have her own pet, so we got some teddy bear hamsters. Very fluffy. Very cute. The girls named them Max and Maggie. Yes. They are going to reproduce. That should be fun. :)

Santas galore!

Which of these Santas are actually Santa's helpers and which is the real one? We saw Santa at the Lincoln Crossing clubhouse, Fairy Tale Town and at the ward Christmas party.

Family Pics

Our family portraits turned out really great this year. My friend Nancy Reynolds took them. I especially like this picture of the kids playing in the leaves. They're so cute!

Halloween party

Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, so we celebrated by going to the Trunk or Treat at the church on Tuesday and the Halloween party at the Lincoln Crossing clubhouse on Saturday. In case you can't tell, Nick is a fly. We used costumes I had on hand and only spent $15 for a couple of things to go with them. Nice. They looked great, too. The party at the clubhouse was fun. We went to a spooky, but kid-friendly graveyard, played games, jumped in a bounce house, and ate pizza and cotton candy. Ken took them into the haunted house and they weren't as scared as I thought they'd be. The night of Halloween, we had burritos at John and Stephanie's and passed out candy.

Cinderelly

Elizabeth and Natalie were in the play Cinderella together. They both played mice. Natalie had a line and Elizabeth had a few lines and they both had singing solos. They were on stage for about half of the play. They did such a good job and were so adorable. They made some good friends and pretty much had the time of their lives.

Light rail adventure

We went on an adventure around Sacramento. I had to drop off a car in downtown Sacramento, so the kids and I dropped it off and rode scooters over to a light rail station. We rode the light rail all the way up to Folsom, where Ken picked us up. This was the first time on the light rail for 3 of the kids. I used to live right by a light rail station and I rode it to school, so I was able to show them places along to trip that I remembered. We had a great afternoon.

Elizabeth's birthday

Elizabeth is 11! For her birthday, she wanted to go to a neat nursery in Loomis called High Hand Nursery. We ate at a cafe, fed koi fish, looked at the plants, and went through an art gallery. She got to pick a glass flower when they found out that it was her birthday.
She had cake with a couple of friends and she had cake with Hodgson cousins. The highlight of her birthday, though, was getting an ipod. She's growing up!

Soccer

Nick played in his first sport. He was on the Fire Scorpions soccer team. He was fun to watch. :) It was pretty exciting when it was his turn to be the captain. His coach, Brian Plummer, is handing him his trophy in the picture below. Nick loved the whole experience and wants to play again next year.

fire station

We went on a tour of a local fire station with our preschool co-op friends. We got to climb in the truck, try on firemen jackets, and spray a fire hose. The kids loved it. Nick wants to be a fireman when he grows up.

American Summer

The kids learned about our country this summer and filled a book with facts about states, symbols, landmarks and historical figures. When they finished the book, they earned a trip to Great America. Rachel did this flag activity with them.
We had so much fun at Great America. This was the kid's first time there and Ken and I had never been there together. Our kids are brave. They went on big rides. Elizabeth had to be bribed to go on her first upside down roller coaster (the Demon), but she did it and loved it. The park had a fun kids area and a water park. Everyone except me went up on stage during a "backyard circus" show. Nick and Ken were strong men (Nick was stronger in the show), Natalie was a tight rope walker and Elizabeth and Kate were butterfly ballerinas. We had a great day.