4th of July Disneyland Vacation!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Disclaimer
Now, some comments have been made on the status of my blog. Well, you can think I'm a slacker or lazy. I don't claim to be a blogging queen. Anyone who knows me, knows all too well I'm a Dancing Queen--thanks to the ABBA and the musical Mamma Mia. I could write an entire blog entry on all the reasons why I have postponed my updating. But it's more fun to keep everyone guessing and wondering daily, "Should I check Amy's Blog? Has she dared to try to catch up?" Well my friends, the time has come. Grab some peanut butter M&M's and settle into your computer chair because Spring Break 2011 is bringing you up to date on the Grover Hacienda and the new adventures we are having during our Spring Break week here in sunny and warm AZ. That's right, I'm double blogging--Ha! Each day will bring you a little closer to bridging the gap in our story. So hang on--because this ride could get a little bumpy!
Spring Break 2011--The Adventure Continues
Friday--Water Day and Luau
We had the perfect day for playing with water outside! I bought a Lightening McQueen blow up pool for little-er people and a Hockey Game slip-n-slide for the older kids. They all played in both of course.
Bryson and Brock get into a serious game of hockey!
Brock is practicing his corner shot.
Bryadley and Bryson take a turn "on the ice."
Blake just chillin'--literally. The hose water was a touch on the icy side. I'm convinced Blake's body temperature runs a few degrees cooler than everyone else so he was really into the cool water!
Riding a scooter is fun. Riding a scooter through water is REALLY fun!
Hellooooo!
Brock has never had an interest in goggles until today when he got a hold of Bryson's and in his 3 year old independent way wouldn't accept help in getting them on. Eventually, he ditched them--apparently not worth the effort.
A nice game of catch that won't break a window.
Kaley snapped this of Brock. He's trying to grab the yellow water frisbee out of the water table with his mouth. A sort of "Bobbing for Water Toys" game he started. A little on the gross side if you ask us!
Got It!
After lunch everyone got a second wind of energy--and the water was a little warmer so they weren't quite as cautious about the little pool. Leave it to boys to think it a good idea to climb into a Rubbermaid container in a pool.
They changed its use to a jumping platform for a few minutes until I caught Brock on it jumping into the pool. Then I pulled the mother card and took it into the garage.
Back to hockey!
Many Mahalos to Kaley and Mom for all their help getting the table and seving stuff ready for our Luau.
Another round of Mahalos to Chase for cutting pineapple and shredding the pork. Scott and I got the pork ready the the night before and by the afternoon the house was smelling soooo good! (Same recipe as last year but turned out even better. We would never have thought that possible but it was!) To change it up a little we kept the menu simple with fried rice from Panda's (too tired to make the authentic variety) pineapple-strawberry-grape fruit kabobs as well as that same fruit variety all seperated out.
We also had one more round of Green Apple Jones Slush punch. This time we used the Diet 7-up and added one can of Diet Gingerale. Even yummier than yesterday!
The best part was that Cassi, Katelyn, Megan and Adam came back in town from their Spring Break trip to Nevada just in time for the Luau. The boys were so excited to see their cousins. We all agreed Water Day was just not the same without them! And a Luau just isn't a Luau without the whole Ohana (we missed all our family in Utah!). Happy Spring Break and Aloha!
We had the perfect day for playing with water outside! I bought a Lightening McQueen blow up pool for little-er people and a Hockey Game slip-n-slide for the older kids. They all played in both of course.
Bryson and Brock get into a serious game of hockey!
Brock is practicing his corner shot.
Bryadley and Bryson take a turn "on the ice."
Blake just chillin'--literally. The hose water was a touch on the icy side. I'm convinced Blake's body temperature runs a few degrees cooler than everyone else so he was really into the cool water!
Riding a scooter is fun. Riding a scooter through water is REALLY fun!
Hellooooo!
Brock has never had an interest in goggles until today when he got a hold of Bryson's and in his 3 year old independent way wouldn't accept help in getting them on. Eventually, he ditched them--apparently not worth the effort.
A nice game of catch that won't break a window.
Kaley snapped this of Brock. He's trying to grab the yellow water frisbee out of the water table with his mouth. A sort of "Bobbing for Water Toys" game he started. A little on the gross side if you ask us!
Got It!
After lunch everyone got a second wind of energy--and the water was a little warmer so they weren't quite as cautious about the little pool. Leave it to boys to think it a good idea to climb into a Rubbermaid container in a pool.
They changed its use to a jumping platform for a few minutes until I caught Brock on it jumping into the pool. Then I pulled the mother card and took it into the garage.
Back to hockey!
Many Mahalos to Kaley and Mom for all their help getting the table and seving stuff ready for our Luau.
Another round of Mahalos to Chase for cutting pineapple and shredding the pork. Scott and I got the pork ready the the night before and by the afternoon the house was smelling soooo good! (Same recipe as last year but turned out even better. We would never have thought that possible but it was!) To change it up a little we kept the menu simple with fried rice from Panda's (too tired to make the authentic variety) pineapple-strawberry-grape fruit kabobs as well as that same fruit variety all seperated out.
We also had one more round of Green Apple Jones Slush punch. This time we used the Diet 7-up and added one can of Diet Gingerale. Even yummier than yesterday!
The best part was that Cassi, Katelyn, Megan and Adam came back in town from their Spring Break trip to Nevada just in time for the Luau. The boys were so excited to see their cousins. We all agreed Water Day was just not the same without them! And a Luau just isn't a Luau without the whole Ohana (we missed all our family in Utah!). Happy Spring Break and Aloha!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Spring Break 2011--The Adventure Continues
Thursday--St. Patrick's Day / Green Day
You can't start a day any better than Leprechaun's bringing you green milk and St. Patty's Day decorated Krispy Kremes. So with a sugar rush in tact we decided to go a little green. Or is that grow a little green? I found little flower pot kits at Toys-r-Us (of all places) that came with bucket, seeds, soil and directions. Even though my favorite color is green I ended up with a very black thumb so this sounded pretty fool proof!
Blake opted not to get his hands dirty in the mixing of the soil or putting it in the bucket--and barely brushed the seeds onto the soil before I put the rest of the soil on top. So this would be the only picture of Blake and his green bucket. He was really fine just watching me do it and then riding his scooter. It's his Spring Break too so whatever floats your boat . . . .
Brock was a little unsure at first about mixing up the soil. It came as two big soil pellets and after adding water and working it over it re-hydrated and turned into soil. But I was proud of him and he got his hands in there pretty good!
He actually got a little possessive about putting the soil in the bucket. I went in for an attempted assist once and got denied! So he pretty much did it all on his own.
Once Bryson got the hang of it he got into working over his soil and planting his sunflower seeds.
Here is the actual planting.
Ta-Daaa!
Aunt Kaley came to play in the dirt with us. Yea!!! Here she is helping Bradley get his soil ready.
Bradley finishing up the job.
After Quiet Time (the most blessed time of day) we made Chocolate Chip Green M&M cookies.
Bryson and Blake became my baking assistants in hopes I'd let them eat some brown sugar out of the container like their dad does. Sorry boys--Mom is not that nice!
Meanwhile, Bradley and Brock play some weird game of watching Brock climb into the laundry hamper. Why anyone would want to go inside a BOYS laundry hamper is beyond me. Possibly that's why I have a tendency to steer clear of laundry in general!
Our St. Patrick's Day dinner was a much better experience this year. I learned from my foolishness last year in letting them pick something green to use as part of dinner when after all was said, done and cooked, pretty much everything was rejected. This year we had Grilled Chicken marinated in italian dressing, rice, veggies and my new favorite party drink--Jones (Fill in the Flavor Here) Slush Punch. We of course used Jones Green Apple.
Our Green Apple Slush after we had consumed most of it. You can almost taste it, can't you?
Here's the 4-1-1:
Jones Slushy Punch (A Tribute to my brother Brett and the other 5 GEARS)
Fill ice trays with whatever flavor of Jones soda your heart (or party) desires. I used 4 ice trays full and it yielded servings for about 10. Freeze the soda in the ice trays. Once frozen dump the ice into ziplock bags to save. If you're like me, you don't have 4 ice trays hanging around so the freezing was a process. About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve plop your Slush cubes into your punch bowl or pitcher and let them thaw a little. Then mash with a spoon or potato masher and add 1-2 liter bottle of 7-up or Diet 7-up. (We used Diet and it was really good!)
I got this "recipe" from another Laurel Advisor who said she uses it all the time for parties and baby showers because it's so easy to change the color!
Back to our dinner.
Bryson, Brock and Blake enjoy a cookie from our earlier baking efforts.
Brock was so funny. He'd take a sip of the punch, immediately wrinkle up his nose and make a total sour face, then go back for another sip. It was like "This is totally not good in one way but I've gotta keep drinking it!" Another Jones man in the making!
By the end of dinner things got a little silly with Brock going off on a kissing fest. He planted this one on me and started giggling. BTW: Many Thanks to Aunt Kaley, the official photographer of St. Patrick's Day/Green Day at the Grover House. Nice work Babe!
You can't start a day any better than Leprechaun's bringing you green milk and St. Patty's Day decorated Krispy Kremes. So with a sugar rush in tact we decided to go a little green. Or is that grow a little green? I found little flower pot kits at Toys-r-Us (of all places) that came with bucket, seeds, soil and directions. Even though my favorite color is green I ended up with a very black thumb so this sounded pretty fool proof!
Blake opted not to get his hands dirty in the mixing of the soil or putting it in the bucket--and barely brushed the seeds onto the soil before I put the rest of the soil on top. So this would be the only picture of Blake and his green bucket. He was really fine just watching me do it and then riding his scooter. It's his Spring Break too so whatever floats your boat . . . .
Brock was a little unsure at first about mixing up the soil. It came as two big soil pellets and after adding water and working it over it re-hydrated and turned into soil. But I was proud of him and he got his hands in there pretty good!
He actually got a little possessive about putting the soil in the bucket. I went in for an attempted assist once and got denied! So he pretty much did it all on his own.
Once Bryson got the hang of it he got into working over his soil and planting his sunflower seeds.
Here is the actual planting.
Ta-Daaa!
Aunt Kaley came to play in the dirt with us. Yea!!! Here she is helping Bradley get his soil ready.
Bradley finishing up the job.
After Quiet Time (the most blessed time of day) we made Chocolate Chip Green M&M cookies.
Bryson and Blake became my baking assistants in hopes I'd let them eat some brown sugar out of the container like their dad does. Sorry boys--Mom is not that nice!
Meanwhile, Bradley and Brock play some weird game of watching Brock climb into the laundry hamper. Why anyone would want to go inside a BOYS laundry hamper is beyond me. Possibly that's why I have a tendency to steer clear of laundry in general!
Our St. Patrick's Day dinner was a much better experience this year. I learned from my foolishness last year in letting them pick something green to use as part of dinner when after all was said, done and cooked, pretty much everything was rejected. This year we had Grilled Chicken marinated in italian dressing, rice, veggies and my new favorite party drink--Jones (Fill in the Flavor Here) Slush Punch. We of course used Jones Green Apple.
Our Green Apple Slush after we had consumed most of it. You can almost taste it, can't you?
Here's the 4-1-1:
Jones Slushy Punch (A Tribute to my brother Brett and the other 5 GEARS)
Fill ice trays with whatever flavor of Jones soda your heart (or party) desires. I used 4 ice trays full and it yielded servings for about 10. Freeze the soda in the ice trays. Once frozen dump the ice into ziplock bags to save. If you're like me, you don't have 4 ice trays hanging around so the freezing was a process. About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve plop your Slush cubes into your punch bowl or pitcher and let them thaw a little. Then mash with a spoon or potato masher and add 1-2 liter bottle of 7-up or Diet 7-up. (We used Diet and it was really good!)
I got this "recipe" from another Laurel Advisor who said she uses it all the time for parties and baby showers because it's so easy to change the color!
Back to our dinner.
Bryson, Brock and Blake enjoy a cookie from our earlier baking efforts.
Brock was so funny. He'd take a sip of the punch, immediately wrinkle up his nose and make a total sour face, then go back for another sip. It was like "This is totally not good in one way but I've gotta keep drinking it!" Another Jones man in the making!
By the end of dinner things got a little silly with Brock going off on a kissing fest. He planted this one on me and started giggling. BTW: Many Thanks to Aunt Kaley, the official photographer of St. Patrick's Day/Green Day at the Grover House. Nice work Babe!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Spring Break 2011--The Adventure Continues
Wednesday--Color Wonder Day
In the afternoon I took the boys outside (it seems to be the best place to be since the weather is so nice) and got some supplies ready for Color Wonder Day. I bought Color Wonder Finger Paints which Brock was initially really excited about but lost that lovin' feeling quickly when he saw that he had to dip his fingers in the goo in order for it to turn colors on the paper. Blake went to town creating a great picture and then he and I made a rainbow together. Our only disappointment was that we wanted to mix the colors to make new ones but it didn't work. It only covered up the color underneath. So much for the lesson on creating new colors.
Blake and his rainbow.
Bradley and Bryson started working with some sidewalk chalk which is Ultra Cool 3D chalk. You trace the stencils (this was the Toy Story themed package), then color it in, add details to your picture, then put on the 3D glasses and let your jaw drop!
Brock settled in with some purple chalk for about 30 seconds and then took off on his scooter. He's more of the hunter-gatherer type!
The 3 Amigos creating different pictures. It was really cool to see how each one turned out with the 3D glasses on.
How about a 3D game of Tic-Tac-Toe?
We discovered that the warmer colors would raise off the ground much higher than the cooler colors--which prompted a brief discussion of what is a warm/cool color. This geometric drawing that Bradley did was amazing when he was finished. The pink and yellow of course popped off the sidewalk. The green was a little higher than the blue. Too bad blogger doesn't have 3D Vision!
The last thing we did was this giant coloring puzzle. If I'm going to be honest, it was a spur of the moment thing to respond to the kids when they said "What are going to do next?" So I drew a giant square-ish shape on the ground and then drew in puzzle pieces in the square and told them to color the puzzle pieces but you couldn't have same colors touching each other. So each boy took a color and started to organize the coloring. They were pretty impressed with their artwork when they were done. Again, the 3D thing made it sooo cool. Here is Blake (he finished the last green puzzle piece to finish the whole thing) with the 3D glasses on checking out the masterpiece!
No, this picture isn't enhanced with some freaky color thing. These are Blake's legs and feet covered in blue, green, orange and yellow chalk dust. Pretty much everyone was covered in chalk dust literally from head to toe. But a quick bath fixed that and I learned that Baby Wipes will clean off Crayola 3D chalk from your clothing. Well, at least it got bright blue chalk off my pants after Brock walked by and put his cute bright blue fingerprints all over one knee. 3D Chalk and Baby Wipes--gotta love them both!
In the afternoon I took the boys outside (it seems to be the best place to be since the weather is so nice) and got some supplies ready for Color Wonder Day. I bought Color Wonder Finger Paints which Brock was initially really excited about but lost that lovin' feeling quickly when he saw that he had to dip his fingers in the goo in order for it to turn colors on the paper. Blake went to town creating a great picture and then he and I made a rainbow together. Our only disappointment was that we wanted to mix the colors to make new ones but it didn't work. It only covered up the color underneath. So much for the lesson on creating new colors.
Blake and his rainbow.
Bradley and Bryson started working with some sidewalk chalk which is Ultra Cool 3D chalk. You trace the stencils (this was the Toy Story themed package), then color it in, add details to your picture, then put on the 3D glasses and let your jaw drop!
Brock settled in with some purple chalk for about 30 seconds and then took off on his scooter. He's more of the hunter-gatherer type!
The 3 Amigos creating different pictures. It was really cool to see how each one turned out with the 3D glasses on.
How about a 3D game of Tic-Tac-Toe?
We discovered that the warmer colors would raise off the ground much higher than the cooler colors--which prompted a brief discussion of what is a warm/cool color. This geometric drawing that Bradley did was amazing when he was finished. The pink and yellow of course popped off the sidewalk. The green was a little higher than the blue. Too bad blogger doesn't have 3D Vision!
The last thing we did was this giant coloring puzzle. If I'm going to be honest, it was a spur of the moment thing to respond to the kids when they said "What are going to do next?" So I drew a giant square-ish shape on the ground and then drew in puzzle pieces in the square and told them to color the puzzle pieces but you couldn't have same colors touching each other. So each boy took a color and started to organize the coloring. They were pretty impressed with their artwork when they were done. Again, the 3D thing made it sooo cool. Here is Blake (he finished the last green puzzle piece to finish the whole thing) with the 3D glasses on checking out the masterpiece!
No, this picture isn't enhanced with some freaky color thing. These are Blake's legs and feet covered in blue, green, orange and yellow chalk dust. Pretty much everyone was covered in chalk dust literally from head to toe. But a quick bath fixed that and I learned that Baby Wipes will clean off Crayola 3D chalk from your clothing. Well, at least it got bright blue chalk off my pants after Brock walked by and put his cute bright blue fingerprints all over one knee. 3D Chalk and Baby Wipes--gotta love them both!
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