Thumbelina and Jack-O-Lantern

For Halloween (yes, very far behind on posts) the girls dressed as Thumbelina/Barbie and a Jack-O-Lantern. I am sure you can tell which is which :)
What's up with the tattoo Tahlor? I am sure that neither Thumbelina or Barbie wear a tattoo.

Tahlor the Brave

First a quick story from history about the same momentous occasion that I had growing up. At about 8 years of age during an extended summer visit with my grandparents, my mom finally agreed to let me get my ears pierced. The selection of earrings to choose from were pretty much birthstone colors in a fairly simple and somewhat plain setting. Nonetheless, I selected the earrings that matched my birthstone (amethyst). Later during the visit (possibly that same day), my grandfather was taking video of us grand kids. As I told him that I got my ears pierced, I mistakenly called them my birthmark (meaning birthstone) and I pretty much have not heard the end of it since. But, it is a great story that I can pass on to my kids and the rest of the family for years to come.

Now, on to the story of Tahlor the Brave. Over one weekend, I casually mentioned to Tahlor that I was thinking about her getting her ears pierced (as we have thought about and discussed in the past). To my surprise she said that she had thought about it too and now wanted to get it done. Although I was surprised, I still wasn't sure that she would follow through with it. We made it all the way to the mall and she was still confident about doing it. She even mentioned that she was not afraid or nervous. We got to the store and she made her earring selection and it seemed perfectly normal and not big deal to her. She was so brave, not scared and did not shed one tear or even a flinch. I am so proud of her. She is now in love with her earrings and cannot wait to be able to wear other ones.

Here is picture documentation of Tahlor the Brave (via iPhone camera).



X, or in this case a dot, marks the spot. Tahlors earring placement is all set and onto the next step.



Left ear pierced.



Right ear pierced. Notice there are no tears.



She's all smiles and cute flower earrings. Way to go Tahlor!



Summer vacation...final leg

The last part of our summer vacation was actually, well, a staycation. However, we still managed to get out to do somethings we hadn't done before. One of which was take the tour at the Hoover Dam. It's funny that after all the years of living in Las Vegas and Northern Arizona with trips to Las Vegas, I've never stopped to explore the dam. And now that they have finished the bypass bridge, it gave me even more reason to make it one of our destinations this summer.

The tour started out with a short video on the history of making the dam then followed up by an elevator ride down into the earth and power plant. The girls had fun too. Especially, Tahlor. The tour guide allowed Tahlor to select the different levels in the elevator that we were to visit. Post tour, we wondered around the souvenir shop, picking up a nice commemorative coin and our family photo superimposed over an image of the dam. We also checked the exhibits. There was an upper level that served as an observation area and we captured some nice images outside of the dam and bridge. Across the street we found a great show about the water system within the southwest states which including a large, mapped exhibit.

After leaving the dam, I requested that we drive over the new bridge just to say we did. It was disappointing though because you could hardly notice that you were on a bridge and you cannot see the dam or anything for that matter.

 Underneath us here is one of the several canals of water that are coming from Lake Mead and getting ready to pass through the power generators.

 This is what it was like to walk through the side of the mountains to get to different areas of the power plant.

 The area where the generators are!

 The Hoover Dam, of course.

 The girls cooperating to take a picture at the observation level.

A glimpse of the bridge.

M-I-C-K-E-Y...M-O-U-S-E

The true second leg of our summer vacation was a visit to the "Happiest Place on Earth"! The place where all your childhood dreams can come true.
John and I love to ride roller coasters and such; I mean looooove to. So much so that it was a part of our honeymoon. Of course we are going to pass this passion along to the girls. We will at least try to pass it on. The girls had a blast. This year Lauren was old enough to appreciate everything so much more than the last time we went when she was about 10 months old. Each time we come, we break Tahlor in just a bit more for riding some of the more 'big kid' rides. She actually went on Thunder Mountain of her own free will. After our last visit I wasn't sure that she would ever step foot on a roller coaster again. You see, the last visit was the first time she was finally tall enough to ride just about all of the rides in the park. She took a ride with John on Thunder Mountain then and was very, very upset afterwards. John and I do not get to ride on the rides together as one of us stays behind and Tahlor is now a qualified companion.

Lauren was excited to see Mickey Mouse; that is until we actually came into his studio in ToonTown to say hi and get a picture. Here she is trying to hide...she would have crawled into John's shirt if she could. Maybe next trip she won't be so scared.

Here we are riding the train which takes you all the way around the perimeter of Disneyland Park.

This year we picked up Mickey ears for Lauren. When Tahlor was about her age we got her a pair. I hope they have their ears for years and years.

Keepers and outtakes

The photo shoot was a lot of fun. We had several great shots (incidentally those were the ones that were sent to print) and even some not so great, but funny shots. Take a look at a few more moments...

There's definitely a "cheese" in this picture.

I think she heard the ocean. Oh wait, it is the ocean, right behind her.

Sea stars.

Does she look excited or what?

These two look like they are trying to do the macarena.

Go horsey, I mean elephant, go!

I am way too serious for this shot...

Sweet first grader :)

Such wonder.

Greetings from gorgeous Fiji

Ahhhh Fiji...the second leg of our summer vacation. I know it probably didn't fool you but this is a close as we are going to get to Fiji: this year anyway :)

So, the 'fam' stepped into the studio for a set of fun summer pics. More to come soon!

Sunshine and sandy cheeks

Huntington Beach. summertime. perfect weather. Ingredients for a spectacular sunny vacation. California is a convenient destination getaway, perfect for us desert dwellers (and many from the rest of the nation I am sure). This is the first leg of our summer vacation. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the sun (without melting), ocean breeze and our family.

Tahlor enjoyed running through the beached tides. One caught us by surprise and ended up taking her out while mom hung on tight. She even played nicely with little sis and all of the sand toys.

Lauren enjoyed many attempts at making sandcastle components. She was intimidated by the ocean but even though she did not hang out at the shore, mom made sure she at least gave her little piggies a dip in the Pacific. Lauren expressed to me a couple of times that she was dirty because of the sand that was sticking to her skin - so cute! I assured her that we would clean off after our visit at the beach.

John and Tahlor shore side.

I took a bunch of pictures while Tahlor played in the surf...reminds me of the last time we were at the beach. I can't explain the pose(s) but she is such a cutie.

Lauren - don't you love that smile?

Oops! :) Don't you hate it when sand ends up in places it shouldn't be?

Amazon Woman

This is the scenery that I'd hoped for at the beginning of a kayak adventure during a recent trip to Kauai, Hawaii. It is the "Secret Falls" of the Wailua River. To get to the trail head meant a trip by water - hence the kayak part. Needless to say most of the adventure was not taken by kayak but rather by foot, barefoot that is.

Yes, the man running the rental shop said the trail to the falls would be muddy and the best way to traverse the trail was without shoes. Being a naive tourist, what do you? Take his word for it, of course. This was no easy, lazy hike. First, the adventure began late in the day so there was a time factor involved. The trail was indeed muddy but what made it treacherous was the fact that beneath the mud were jagged rocks and tree branches. Ouch! (Something I remember saying numerous times) My feet are beginning to hurt as I write this and remember how it felt.

Some parts of the trail were along steep banks of the river and if you made a wrong move and slipped in the mud it could mean rolling down the bank and into the river - plus breaking or at least damaging body parts. There were about three places to cross the river along the journey to the falls. One such crossing involved a rope and moving water about to the mid thigh. It may have been the "hike from hell" and I don't intend to do it again but, in the end it was worth it all.

Class of 2011

Congratulations Tahlor - job well done - Kindergarten Graduate!

John and I are proud of our graduate and thinking back just one short year ago Tahlor graduated before. That time it was from pre-school, class of 2010. We are kinda hoping this is the last graduation until the end of High School... ;)

Tahlor had a great year! We have her enrolled in a charter school and while we get frustrated with the administration and lack of organization, overall the education that Tahlor has received so far is worth it. At one point, John and I were considering sending Tahlor to a regular elementary school for the next school year. After considering the pros and cons of each, it was decided to continue Tahlor's education at the charter school and to re-evaluate next year.

It is amazing how quick the school year flew by and already stores are marketing 'Back-to-School'. In just a few short weeks, Tahlor will be in the first grade, although she will remind you that she is already in first grade because she has moved to it at Sunday School. (side note: Tahlor is memorizing bible verses in Sunday School now and she is doing really, I mean really well at it. I am kinda thinking she can no longer use the excuse 'I forgot' when she gets into trouble.) I remember going to first grade as I am sure most people do. It is a monumental occasion. Of course I did not attend kindergarten so, I wonder if first grade will be a monumental occasion for Tahlor.

For now the summer is still ahead of her...

The Gerber Baby

Who can resist this face? NO ONE! Apparently not even my little Lauren who is now 2 1/2. Believe it or not, but this little face has played a pivotal role in 'potty training' at the Hirsch household.

In light of the recent lack of using the toilet to go #2, I began placing Lauren back in the cotton training pants that we started out using - no regular panties for this pooping machine! The reason 1. the training pants are more absorbent 2. hopefully they would foster a less disastrous mess, easier clean up and salvage some clothes. So far so good on the strategy with the exception that Lauren still wasn't using the potty for #2.

One day last week after day care, Lauren told me she used the potty at day care to do her little deed and I didn't think much of it at the time because, well we all know that toddlers don't necessarily know what they are talking about and if it did really happen it could have been a fluke. This past weekend while in the process of putting her down for a regular nap she (by herself and without my immediate knowledge) went #2 on the potty. I could not believe it! I was wiping her up when she expressed concern to me that she didn't want to poop on the baby as she pointed to the picture of the Gerber baby on the tag of her Gerber training pants. Holy Crap! I think I finally nailed something with her. A few days ago, she was pointing to this same picture on her training pants and as I always do - I tried to tie it into training her to use the potty and I made a quick remark. Something to the affect that: "You don't want to poop on the baby. This is why you should use the potty to go poopy." You sure never know with children: what will get their attention, what will make the most impact, what will work. You know, they don't come with an instruction manual. I am happy to report that Lauren also used the potty today to go #2. I am hoping this trend will continue and before long it will become second nature. Hallelujah!

On Strike...Sorta

Many would agree that there are not many things worse than changing a diaper, a poopy diaper to be precise. But, there is...changing poopy pants and underwear definitely is! This is something that I have been experiencing much too much these days. You see, Lauren has been on some sorta strike it seems. While she started out good with her potty training, in recent weeks she has done great with peeing on the potty but the pooping part is a different story. And on top of it she announces the terrible deed she has committed as if it were a good thing and something to be proud of. I can hear it now; "Mommy, I went poopy in my pants!" In my mind I am thinking "Oh no, not again! Remember, do not make a face that gives her the idea this is a good thing. Have that talk with her, again, about how she needs to go poop in the potty and she is a big girl." My efforts have not been successful.

The pre-school that Lauren attends has lacked in taking care of the soiled clothes right away when they clean up the "accident." A few times they have put it in a plastic grocery bag, soiled and all, for us to pick up at the end of the day. And a couple of times they did not communicate to us that we had this package to take home and then it has sat like that too long. I am telling you, I have had to throw out a few articles of clothing because of this. Even after I washed it out several times - the piece is just ruined. Fortunately, I got smart and gave in to putting pull-ups on her during the days she is not with John or myself.

Hopefully this is just a phase...that will end soon. I do not desire to continue to run extra loads of laundry during the week to keep up with Lauren's "dirty" little habit. Plus, we'd like to work towards being a diaper/pull-up free household.

Spring Break: Part Two

Here are the girls and I heading out to our next adventure. Okay, it may not have fooled you but, it is a clever picture. We spotted this family (next to a real Volvo) just outside the entrance to Legoland! Yes, this family is constructed of legos and quite cute I might add. BTW - if you own a Volvo and go to Legoland you get some special parking. Whoopee.

They recently opened the Star Wars mini-land and we spotted this great display of Star Wars completely constructed of sand. Of course, someone from our group had to be in the shot, Tahlor. :)

Part of the Legoland adventure was seeing their aquarium and it was part of the packaged ticket deal. The aquarium was ok but the lego Spongebob Squarepants was definitely the highlight.

Even Lauren got to ride on a couple of the rides. See if you can spot her on this kiddo airplane ride. She loved it so much and because it was early and not too busy, she was able to ride it multiple times in a row. I told John that she is destined to be our roller coaster child!

Another kiddo ride. I am seeing a trend here...John is the designated chaperon on the kid rides :) Wait! is that corn growing in the background there? Hah!

John and Tahlor battle against other Legoland goers in this high action firefighter game/ride. Tahlor is difficult to see but she is across from John in the blue shirt. They are both pumping this bar that operates the fire truck they are in.

We also visited the water park (part of the ticket package). That didn't last too long because it was not that warm and it was windy outside. Brrrrrrrr! Tahlor went on a couple of roller coasters and her experience compared to our last trip to Disneyland was much better. There was one coaster that she went on twice in a row. One time with me and then another with dad. I liked the park overall but I have to say that it does not come close to Disneyland. So, hopefully we will be going there before year's end.

Spring Break: Part One

Being new to having a school-age child, I can now appreciate even more the sacred time called "spring break." Our first spring break as parents was an unexpected delight. Tahlor spent some of her break at home and part of it consisted of a fun time in SoCal.

Our first stops were the beach and flower fields. As you can see from the pictures, mornings were typical of that in California. Nevertheless it was a pleasant change from our normal desert atmosphere. It wasn't quite warm enough to play in the ocean but we were able to take a nice walk around, including the pier.

Next up was the flower fields set up on a seaside hill in Carlsbad. I am glad we had the chance to go here and that my friend Emily shared with me its existence. The flowers were beautiful and my little point-and-shoot camera did a decent job of capturing them.

There were many places to walk and even a wagon ride around the fields. They had a special map for the kids to follow and stations to stop and earn stamps. At the end of the journey they could go mine for some gemstones. One of the stations set up was a maze. The walls are constructed of sweet pea flowers, hence the name "the sweet pea maze." It was fun for both kids and parents.

Tahlor mining for gemstones.

I don't recall the name of this variety of flowers but, I remember it was definitely rare and hard to find :)

My girls...the sweetest in the world.