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Easter Egg Hunt and Princess Dresses

By Mom | May 20, 2010

Hey Grace! Cole told me what he got from the Easter bunny. What did he bring you this year? Awesome, a hula hoop. That Easter bunny sure knows his stuff.

Papa and Yaya are pretty good too when it comes to gifts. That Scooby Doo lunch box is groovy.

Grace looked so beautiful this year in her princess Easter dress. When she spotted it at Target she just knew it was “The One”. I guess my days of picking out her outfits are long gone. Luckily for me she picked a gorgeous dress perfect for a princess. (By the way, I don’t ask her to pose like this. It’s all her.)

At the party, all the kids gathered around the gigantic chocolate bunny Carson had won from a raffle. They were all calling dibs on what body part they wanted.

Finally the egg hunt. Grace did a great job searching for eggs. She’s still a little too polite when it came to competing with her cousins. She wasn’t very aggressive. Luckily, we cap the number of eggs each kid can get and when they find their allotted amount, they can help the other cousins with theirs. There’s lots of team work.

Find those eggs Grace and Emily!

I see a long friendship with these two. They are like two peas in a pod.

After the egg hunt the kids got to open the gifts from the family. As usual, it’s like Christmas in April.

It was a long day. Grace is already busy daydreaming about next year.

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Marble Eggs

By Mom | May 19, 2010

What does a 4 year old do first when preparing for Easter? That’s right, color lots of eggs. Grace helped out with preparing the color cups.

She was super careful when she dropped the eggs into the color cups. No breaks.

After dropping in the eggs she waited patiently for them to be perfectly colored. Here she is asking me “Are they ready yet?”.

Time to scoop them out. What a beautiful color Grace.

We added some vegetable oil to some of the color cups to make a marble effect. Her eggs turned out so cool.

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Kiss Me I’m 1/16th Irish

By Mom | May 2, 2010

Last month Grace’s school had a St. Patty’s Day party for the kids. It was also a classmate’s birthday so her parents had a birthday party there too. What a great idea. I just might do that for Grace this year.

Grace took a picture with some of her classmates, including the birthday girl.

They first sat down for the party snacks including lots of green goodies.

Then more pictures with friends. This time it was girls only.

After the food, it was time for the pinata. Mr. Ben gathered all the kids to explain the rules of hitting the pinata.

Each kid waited patiently for their name to be called out for their turn at the pinata.

Finally it was Grace’s turn. She’s finally gotten over her fear of hitting pinatas. Not sure why, but before she wouldn’t come near the things. I guess she doesn’t like being center of attention like her Mommy.

Why is Cole so sad?

Because he couldn’t partake in the jump house fun. There were so many kids in that thing I was afraid for his life.

All that jumping made Grace super thirsty. Time for a water break. See ya!

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Hopscotch, Monkey Bars, and Hula Hoops

By Mom | April 22, 2010

Those three things are Grace’s new obsessions. She absolutely loves playing hopscotch with anyone who will join her. One rainy afternoon Daddy created a hopscotch template for her in our house using masking tape.

Grace was in heaven.

Cole joined in on the fun too. He just liked all the jumping.

She’s also learning how to use the monkey bars at the playground. For months she’s been studying the big girls who use them and their technique. Finally she got the nerve to try. After a few attempts she got the hang of it.

She’s a pro now.

Ah yes. The good old fashioned hula hoop. Boy is she facinated with this one. While at a classmate’s birthday party she got the chance to give it a try. She’s a little stiff and actually looks so funny doing it but she tries. Sweet thing.

My little girl is growing up so fast. What’s next on her agenda?

To be a prima ballerina!

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Pic-i-nic Party

By Mom | March 19, 2010

Hey Boo-boo. It’s a pic-i-nic party with Papa and Yaya.

It’s a goodly bunch having lunch.

It’s cookie time. Down the hatch, but natch.

Ok, those were some Yogi Bear quotes but we really did have a picnic party with Yaya and Papa in Ventura. It was a beautiful day outside perfect for a pic-i-nic. After lunch Grace grabbed a cookie and sat under a tree to eat it in peace. Priceless.

Later on, we went to the only German restaurant in Ventura, Old Vienna. This time it wasn’t during Oktoberfest so the prices were more reasonable. Grace was cuckoo for the schnitzel.

And so was Cole.

See you at the next pic-i-nic party.

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Annual Passes Rock!

By Mom | March 9, 2010

We recently went to Disneyland again to take advantage of our passes. It was a spur of the moment trip this time. We planned to cover the areas we didn’t make to last time like Critter Country and Tomorrowland. The highlight of this trip was that Grace got to meet a few characters. She’s always been freaked out by them in the past. But this time I convinced her to take pictures with them because told her the secret. They are just people in costumes!

She first got to meet Pooh Bear and friends.

We then headed over to Tinkerbell’s home. First Grace got to meet Fawn, Tinkerbell’s friend.

Finally she met Tinkerbell. Grace thought her house was totally awesome.

Sadly, it only dawned on me to get Grace an autograph book before we left. We’ll just have to visit them again real soon. Thank goodness for those passes.

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You are Sweet, Valentine

By Mom | March 8, 2010

Ah yes, Valentine’s Day was last month. Grace didn’t really understand the concept that it’s a made-up holiday named after a Saint that no one really knows much about but who cares. You get lots of hearts, candy, and love.

She was really looking forward to making her friends at school Valentine cards. She’s still in love with Scooby Doo so Scooby valentines it was.

She did most of the work including writing her name.

At her school they had their Valentine’s party the Friday before. Grace got to stay at school a little later that day and take a nap there so she could attend the party. They always include Cole too which I think is very thoughtful.

The kids are enjoying all their treats.

On Valentine’s Day, the kids woke up to their special surpises. Grace just loves her candy lipstick.

It was such a beautiful day that day so we knew we had to go for a walk at the beach.

During our walk along the pier I told Grace that we would be walking over the ocean. She couldn’t stop staring down between the planks.

Eventually she got the nerve to peek over the side to see the water.

You are sweet, Valentine.

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Fuzzy the Bear

By Mom | March 1, 2010

For Grace’s birthday she received a Build-A-Bear gift card. We recently took her to find and build her very own stuffed bear.

After looking at their huge selection of animals, she picked this fuzzy pink bear. But it still needed to be stuffed.

Off to the stuffing station. There she helped the worker stuff the bear by pushing the machine’s pedal.

The bear needs a heart so Grace kisses it for luck and lots of love.

The bear was all stuffed but needed a bath.

After searching through many many bear outfits, Grace found one that was just right. Here she is dressing her bear in the dressing room.

This outfit is looking cuter and cuter.

After we dressed her we took her to the computer to name her and print out her birth certificate. Introducing Fuzzy the Bear.

Fuzzy even has her very own house.

Oh, and Grace wanted to show you that Fuzzy has panties with a hole for her tail and her beautiful silver shoes. Ta Ta for now.

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Birthdays Galore

By Mom | February 12, 2010

The new year started out very busy for the Dykes family as we celebrated many birthdays last month.

Grace was invited to another preschool classmate’s birthday party at Pump It Up. We’ve been there before so she knew what to expect. Lots of jumping around!

She’s been really obsessed with playing air hockey lately so she was elated to find one there.

There’s also a few big slides which Grace loves. There’s no fear in this child.

Like her Mommy, she turns beet red after a workout.

Pizza time! Cole enjoyed the food too.

January is also Daddy’s birthday time. He was away on band business on his actual birthday but we were able to celebrate a day later with a nice home cooked dinner and cake. Well, the dinner was home cooked but the cake was store bought anyways.

A few days later Grace’s best friend Ava turned the big 3. And what better way to celebrate it than with some miniature golf. It was Grace’s first time and she had no clue what to do but had fun nevertheless.

Later that weekend it was Ava’s birthday party at the Clubhouse! This is Grace and Ava’s favorite meeting place. The birthday girl is showing off her special mermaid dress to go with her Ariel theme.

Grace even saw a classmate there at Ava’s party. Small world.

The Tutor Time gang.

It was time for cake and all the kids gathered around Ava to sing happy birthday. Ava looks a little sad in this picture. I think she didn’t want us to destroy her beautiful Ariel cake by cutting it.

After the party we headed over to Ava’s house to open presents and watch Toy Story II. Baby Mila was the only one actually paying attention to the movie.