Hannah Montana

These videos are kind of old, but they are too funny to not share! #1 wanted me to take pictures of her "performing." It is a pretty long performance....but if you fast forward about 45 seconds into it, you'll hear the funny part!

I love that she dresses up like a "rock star" and sings the only songs she knows....songs she learns at church! Of course, she's just like her Momma and can't carry a tune, but loves to sing anyway! And she forgets the words and butchers the songs, but oh well! She's having fun!

I maybe contribute to this...I'm guilty of making up songs all of the time...like songs about getting dressed, or what we are doing during the day, etc. I can't believe the girls like it, but they do and when I've finished making up a song, they ask me to sing it again. Of course, I don't remember what I said, so I just make up something different and they're cool with it. After watching the video again, I'm thinking maybe I should stop teaching them that!

Whatever #1 does, #2 has to do, too. She took her turn being Hannah Montana, too.

First Haircut....followed by First Bloody lip

#2 finally got her first haircut! We had to take off some of the length to try and thicken it up. The bangs are a little to "straight" for me, but they have had about a week to grow since this picture was taken. They are looking better now.
The back view. If she didn't have her head tilted up, you could see better. Her hair is about an inch above her shirt collar. It is a cute little bob. It kind of reminds me of pictures of Suri Cruise's hair.
If you look at the lower left corner (in this picture....her right side), you can see that her lip is kind of purplish. She fell off of the bench at my mom's house and hit her mouth as she was falling. She cut the inside of her lip and it bled for a while. Then it got swollen and discolored. She handled it really well and calmed down after about 5 minutes. She is always so banged up, I find myself thinking that she should have just been a boy. Then the bumps and brusies would be battle scars. I bet we'll have to spend money on a plastic surgeon on her someday. #1 has never had a bloody nose or mouth....she has had a couple of skinned knees. #2 has had a bloody nose, several skinned knees, X-rays for a possibly sprained/broken foot, and now a bloody lip. Just call her Grace! :) You can't see it in this picture, but you maybe can in the very first picture....the same day that she got the bloody lip, she ran into the edge of an open door and got a bad bruise on her cheek. It was probably a inch long, but that is pretty big for her little cheek!

And they sleep...

I love to watch my girls sleep. They are just so peaceful! It makes me happy and sad at the same time. I remember watching them sleep when they were babies and it makes me realize how big they are now. If we've had a "trying" day, I forget about it when I check on them that night and see them in their beds, so innocent. I love to see babies on their tummies with their bottoms in the air and their hands tucked underneath them. Every now and then, I catch #2 sleeping that way. I don't catch her doing it very often, but when I do, I treasure it. I know that she won't do it much longer, and when she stops, I know that those days will be gone forever. That makes me sad. I remember watching her crawl around our house and thinking....I need to remember this, because when she starts walking, we'll never have another little baby crawling around this house again. I got a picture of her sleeping on her tummy...I'm sure it will be one of the last times I catch her doing it.




The night before we left #2 was playing with this felt doll set. I checked on her at 11:30pm and she was in her bed asleep and the doll set was on the floor, all piled up. At 3:30am I checked on her again (on my way to bed). This is what I found...she had gotten up and played with her dolls some more and fell asleep on the floor! I had been up working, and never even heard her get up and play!

Day #2 - in Frisco - #2 was the last one to wake up.


Day #3 - The girls got to sleep on a murphy bed (a bed that folds up into the wall). We took this picture before we woke them up to start our first day at Sea World.


This picture was taken in the parking lot/driveway leaving Sea World. We didn't even make it to the main road and #2 was out!
After our first day at Sea World, #1 crashed. She was the first one to go to sleep that night...followed by Ryan.

Then #2...who fell asleep at my feet! I was sitting in that chair working on the computer and she was still going from her "power nap." She finally laid down and fell asleep.


Naptime on Day #4....#2 in her precious "baby pose!"


Dad & #1....this is when #1 informed me that she hadn't slept....she just rested! Looks like she is sleeping pretty good to me! I love how they are in the same position!

I did get rest, too. I'm just usually the last one to give it up. When everyone is sleeing I see that as my opportunity to accomplish a lot! I get so much done because there aren't any interruptions!

Vacation - Day #4

We got up on day #4 and thought we'd head back to Sea World, but the girls wanted to swim at the hotel pool first, which actually turned out to be a really good idea! We were the only people at the pool for quite a while. Later on a family of 5 came. After we got back from Sea World, there were a lot of people at the pool and it looked pretty chaotic! We were happy that we had already been there! We swam for a while and then headed to Sea World. We got there around 1:00 and stayed until about 5:00. It was really hot that day, and I was burned from the day before, so the heat was making my burn hurt even more. We were wanting to take the girls to a playground area (Shamu's Happy Harbor), but it wasn't shaded AT ALL, so we rode the log ride instead. On our way back to the hotel, #2 fell asleep in the car and took a 2 hour nap. Ryan & #1 fell asleep, too. #1 didn't want to lay down, but we forced her to. After about 10 minutes, she was asleep. An hour and a half later, she woke up and said "I closed my eyes and rested, can I get up now?" I told her that she had been asleep and she assured me that she did not take a nap! She had only closed her eyes, but could never get to sleep! I don't know why nap time is so terrible! One of these days she'll wish she could take a nap, but won't be able to...

The elevator doors had a picture of Shamu on them. It was actually pretty cool and realistic!

#2 was chillin' in the pool at the hotel.

This is the Smores stand where you could purchase Smores kits at the hotel.

The hotel had a really pretty pool area. This whole area was the 0" - 24" pool. The level above has a 3' - 4' pool and had waterfalls that fell into the smaller pool. It's hard to see them here, but the 2 dolphins to the left of the picture above are behind the waterfall.

Here is #1 really, truly SWIMMING! We are so proud of her! She starts swim lessons this week, so we'll see how much she learns.

After swimming at the hotel in the morning, we went back to Sea World and saw the show with the sea lions. It was pretty cute.

The funniest part of the Cannary Row Caper was probably the walrus doing sit ups! I don't know how that thing can move around, let alone do sit ups! I wonder why God made walruses....

#2 leaned back and waved to me & Ryan. She was just kind of checking to make sure we were back there.....notice that she won the fight for the "best seat" in the stroller for this ride!!

Here we all are on the log ride. The girls weren't to sure what to think about it. #2 whined a little bit on the way down each time, but after we got to the bottom and asked her if she had fun, she said yes.

Ryan took a picture of us out on the balcony...the girls thought that was pretty neat. Just like princesses....

After we left Sea World, we went back to the hotel and took naps and then went down to the Riverwalk. We didn't get down there until close to 9pm, so it was pretty dark and our pictures didn't turn out that great. It was a perfect night for eating outside and enjoying the atmosphere.

We ate at this Mexican restaurant that borders the river. We were right next to the river, so the girls got to wave at the boats as they passed by. They would wave and say "Hi!" and got so excited if any of the passengers waved back. They kept count of how many people from each boat waved back to them!This is one of #2's many faces! She is such a mess! After keeping the girls this evening so I could have dinner with a friend, Ryan informed me when I got home that if she had been born first, he would have made sure that we didn't have any more kids! We love her and couldn't imagine life without her, but she keeps us hopping! She has started a new thing when she gets in trouble. We give her choices, such as "sit down in the chair or go to time out." She makes the face that she is making above and says "I not sit down and I not go time out and I not get spankin." She shakes her head each time she says "I not" and then looks at us and makes this face. She says it all in this cute voice that makes it so hard to not crack up laughing, even though you just want to pull your hair out because you can't get through to her!

#1 was so excited that she got to "dress up" for dinner. Really, she wanted to wear new shoes, and the only thing that I could find that could even remotely match them was this halter with a denim skirt. It was not the cutest outfit, but she felt special. She had gathered some earrings to bring with us, but we forgot them at home, so I let her wear a pair of my earrings this one time. She isn't allowed to wear dangly earrings, but they were the smallest earrings I brought with me, so I gave in. It was vacation after all! She also got to wear some lip gloss and blush. We had let her hair air dry, so I pulled it back in one of my clips, which made her feel so special. She wants to grow up so fast!

#1 took a picture of me and Ryan...the only picture of the 2 of us from the whole vacation! We have discovered a new, wonderful thing....the girls are finally to the age that they can sit on side of the table, and we can sit across from them! It has been a really long time since we have set next to each other at a table or a booth. We usually have to pick a kid to sit next to and that's the one we are responsible for during the meal. Now they can feed themselves, and they enjoy sitting next to one another!

Okay...time for a little rant....Ryan took this picture of me and #1 coming back from bathroom. It was upstairs in a little balcony area. Here's the rant....Why do my kids feel the need to have to go to the bathroom everywhere that we go?! I know that sometimes, you just have to go, and their bladders are small, etc, but there are times that they each have to go 2 times, and it's never at the same time! This is when I wish we had boys. #1 is to the age now that she shouldn't be going to the men's restroom with Ryan. There are times that she has to (if Ryan takes her somewhere and I'm not around). #2 is pretty much at the age that she doesn't need to go in the men's room either. That leaves it up to me to take them to the bathroom every time! I know that I need to send an apology out to my mom for doing this to her....I even remember doing it! I judged places by how nice their restrooms were. I still do it. I can tell you the best bathroom at the mall, and which restaurants have good bathrooms, but I did not realize that it started so young! Anyway - sorry Mom! I'm getting my dose of it now. At least you only had one daughter to drag your around and critique the bathrooms! I get a double dose! (By the way - I do remember being really fascinated with the bathroom at AQ Chicken in Springdale!)

I just thought this picture was too cute! We stopped in the Rainforest Cafe on the Riverwalk and got this frog for #2. It is so ugly that it's cute! (the frog...not my daughter) #2 really liked it. The girls named it Hoppy.

Vacation - Day #3 - Sea World

We got up and ate breakfast and headed to Sea World! When we got there, the girls started begging to go swimming. They didn't want to see the sharks or Shamu or do ANYTHING before swimming! We went ahead and rented a stroller and headed to the water park. We hadn't planned on spending much time at the water park, as people had told us it wasn't that great. It wasn't as big as White Water, but it was definitely bigger than the Springdale Aquatic Center. It ended up being perfect for them! There was plenty for them to do, but not so much it was overwhelming! We were at the water park until 2:00, and then we ate lunch over there, too. There was a performance while we were eating. It was pretty cheesy, but it was for kids, and kids loved it. They invited kids up to sing/dance in front of the stage. Ryan & I were both surprised when #1 jumped out of her chair and ran up there! That isn't like her...she usually stays back and watches to see what other kids do and then decides if she wants to join in. #2 was a little more cautious. She ran up to check out what her sis was doing, and than ran back to her seat. After a little while, she ran up there again and danced for a minute and then came back to the table. It was so cute to see them up there! Ryan got a great picture of #1 that really captures how much fun she was having!

For some reason that Ryan and I still cannot figure out, the girls kept fighting over the seat on the left, that #1 is sitting in. They would race back to the stroller and try to be the first one there to claim that seat. They did that both days we were there. We are still clueless as to what was so great about that side.

The "cheesy" show...when the boy came out on stage (he is at the far left in the picture above) and started the show, Ryan and I looked at each other and said "I hope they pay him well! You couldn't pay me enough to do that!"
#1 having fun dancing by the stage...#2 checking it out to see what is so great about it.

#1 getting her picture taken with some of the characters. #2 wouldn't go up there with her.

At 3:15, we FINALLY saw a show. It was called Waggin' Tales and had all sorts of animals in it...dogs, cats, birds, a kangaroo, a skunk, a pig, ducks, and a shetland pony. It was pretty cute. The animals all did different tricks. The girls got to pet one of the dogs at the end of the show.

We head off to see Shamu and on the way we heard the girls saying something, but couldn't make it out. We listed really hard and then had to tape them! #1 must have made up the chant and #2 picked up on it! I don't know why Ryan felt the need to rotate the camera...he said he wanted to get me in the video, too. I don't know why....sorry!

We stopped to look at the flamingos on our way....the girls thought they were pretty neat.

These 2 pictures (above & below) crack me up! We got some ice cream on our way to the Shamu theater. All three of us were eating our ice cream (above) and then we were all focused on the same thing (below). It just reminded me of a "like mother, like daughter" moment. Ryan always says "They are just like you!" For the first time, he has a picture to prove it!

We finally got to see Shamu! We had seats that were really close...4 rows back from the platform that the lady is on (below). I was kind of disappointed in the show. They had too much "story" with it and not as much information. The last time I was there, they talked about how they teach the whales and showed us what the different hand signals meant, etc. This time just seemed kind of "choppy" and random. They had a video playing on a big screen, so you were watching that and then it would stop and you had to look back to the water to find the whale. It was a lot of back and forth between the water and the screen. They did have some cool tricks. #1 was pretty bummed that we didn't get splashed. We sat in the splash zone, but didn't get wet.

It was pretty cool seeing the trainers ride on the nose of the whale! You can tell from these pictures that the park wasn't very crowded. We decided that early in the week, and early June, is a great time to go to Sea World! The crowds are pretty thin on Monday-Wednesday and then start picking up Thursday-Sunday. We didn't have problems finding seats at any of the shows, and most of them were only 20% full.

After Shamu, we saw the water skiing show. It was my favorite. Here is a picture of the 12 person pyramid. They ski-ed (sp?) like this all around the lake, so they were able to hold the position for a long time. #1 had her picture taken with some of the girls that were skiing. We tried to get #2 in it, but she didn't want to.

#1 was bummed that she didn't get wet in Shamu or in the water ski show (they have jet skis that come by and purposely spray people). We were on the front row at the ski show, just not centered good enough! We went over to a platform by one of the water rides and let her get soaked! I got a picture before the boat came, and one before the tidal wave hit. She LOVED it! #2 didn't think that was much fun. I think that #1 ended up getting splashed 4 times! She had to wait for the ride each time, but was having so much fun, she didn't mind to wait.

On our way to see the sharks, we found the dolphin cove. It was late in the day, so you couldn't feed the dolphins anymore, but you could still try and get them to come to you. #1 wanted to touch one SO BAD!!! We never could get them to come over to us. There was a 9 day old dolphin in the pool. I don't think we got a good picture of it, but it was so small! Relatively speaking...

BELOW - We looked at the aquariums in the shark area. #2 kept pretending to grab the fish as they swam by. Then she would pretend to eat them. She would make a noise - similar to Cookie Monster eating cookies - and then say "I eat them up!" She had a great time doing that! Still don't know why...but it if kept her entertained, it was okay with us.

We had reservations at a Residence Inn, but after our first night there, we checked out and decided to find something else. It was just kind of run down and didn't feel very clean to me. When we got to Sea World, we saw a van for a Radisson hotel. It was dropping people off at the entrance to the park. They didn't have to pay $12 to park and then hike to the park...it sounded great to us! We got a business card from the driver and called later to see if they had any rooms. I went in to see a room and scope it out before we decided for sure to stay there. It was SO NICE! Then we found out that they have a big courtyard area that has fire pits in it. Every night, they sell smores kits and you can roast marshmallows in the fire pits! And after being totally ripped off at Sea World all day (a bottle of water for $3, a bowl of strawberries for $5, etc) we were pleasantly surprised that the smores kits were reasonably priced. We bought a couple of them and had smores! At dark, they also showed movies on the side of the hotel. Our room had a balcony (only one story up) that faced the movie, so the girls got to go out and sit on the balcony and watch Antz. We were really happy with the hotel and would definitely stay there again when/if we go back. If anyone is planning a trip down there, let me know and I'll give you the info for that hotel. Here are some pictures of the mess from the Smores...but it was worth it! #2 didn't want to have her picture taken, but I took it anyway!

Vacation - Day #2 - Happy Father's Day!

Although they didn't know it, the girls gave Ryan and I both a gift by sleeping late! #1 was up at 8:30 and #2 didn't get up until 9! They were up until 11pm the night before, so one would expect them to sleep late, but with our girls, that is usually not the case! We got around and headed to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. Before vacation, we had told #1 that she could get a pedicure and manicure while we were on vacation. There was a nail salon accross from Krispy Kreme, so we headed over there to get our nails done. My husband is such a great dad & husband! How many dads spend an hour in a nail salon taking pictues of his wife & kids, let alone on FATHER'S DAY?! Some of the other ladies in there asked him if he had forgotten Mother's day, or what had he done to have to do that on Father's Day?! We explained that we were on vacation, and as soon as we left the nail salon, we were heading to Bass Pro Shop! Richard & Julie met us at Bass Pro Shop after they got out of church. It was nice to get to visit with them a little bit more. We left Grapevine around 3:30 and arrived in San Antonio around 10:00. We only had to stop one time - for dinner. #2 slept for about 3 hours of that ride. #1 played the gameboy that we borrowed from Uncle Colby. They were REALLY good travelers!

Here is Dad with his two girls! We were in the Krispy Kreme parking lot and they were still wearing their donut hats.

The sisters took a shower together! #1 convinced #2 that it was just like playing in the rain. It worked b/c #2 doesn't usually like showers, but this time she didn't complain and beg to get out....well, not as much as usual! In fact, for the rest of the trip, she has been requesting to take a shower so that she can "play in the rain!"

I love this picture of the girls! I think they are cute in their matching outfits. And they are smiling and not hitting, pinching, or biting each other!!!!

We rented a car for the trip....thought we'd save on gas and keep the miles off of our cars. When we picked up our car, they gave us a free upgrade to a luxury car! It's pretty big and isn't something that I would want to drive all of the time, but it has been so nice for this trip! It rides really smooth and is all leather and fully loaded. I'm a car kind of girl, so all of the bells and whistles really impress me! We also rented a GPS unit that has been very useful. Ryan likes those kinds of gadgets, so we're both being spoiled this week!

Here we are getting pampered. I have an embarassing to story to tell on myself...but it is funny, so I'll humiliate myself! The last time I got my haircut (a month ago), my eyebrows needed waxed badly. There wasn't anyone available to wax my eyebrows, so I thought I'd just stop in some other day and get them done. Well, one thing led to another and I never did get them done. As I was picking out my nail polish at the nail place, the lady came up to tell me what chairs we were in. Then she looked at my eyebrows and said "And did you need your eyebrows waxed today?" I was so embarassed! I said yes and explained that I had been meaning to do that and I was glad she had offered, as I kept forgetting! Then, to make things even worse, when a different lady came over to wax my eyebrows, she says "Would you like your lip done, too?" I was horrified! I told her "No thank you." So....if one of you reads this and thinks that I do need to start waxing my lip, please let me know. I'm writing that one off as the people trying to make money and hoping that I really don't need to start waxing there!

The finished product!!

We left the nail salon and headed for Bass Prop Shop. They were having a boat show. The girls picked out the perfect boat for their Grandpa & Grandma to buy! We took some pictures of it.

We thought it looked pretty & shiny!

#2 thought the captain's seat fit her perfectly!

#1 LOVED the fact that it had a potty! If she could use this boat, then she would have one less reason that the pool is better than the lake!

What a bargain! D&T - let us know if you are interested and we'll get some more info for you! Ha!