Saturday, March 15, 2014

Cub Scout Website

Rob created a website for our boy's Cub Scout Pack. Check it out at www.tempecubscouts.org.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Disney Roundup

I figured after all the crying, whining, napping, and peeing on rides that went on that the kids were pretty tired. I thought that even though we were calling it an early night getting back to the house around 7pm that the kids would want to go right to sleep. I was sadly mistaken. They were all in great moods, had all kinds of energy and willing to smile for pictures. Before our trip we got Disney shirts for all the kids. Between the ones they got for Christmas and the ones that we picked up for them they all had enough themed shirts to wear a different one each of the 5 days we were in California. At the park they were each able to pick out a Micky Mouse ear hat and a light toy. There are the pictures of all my happy children right before they drop off in to dreamland.





I can't wait to go again in three or four more years.

Disneyland Day 3

Since we got in so late the night before we decided to let everyone wake up on there own and just get to the park whenever. I was hoping that by letting all the kids get good sleep that they would be in much better moods. Not so lucky.

The first thing we went to was a Royal Coronation. It was pretty lame, and London and Jacob were the only ones who would participate. Finally when they started the may pole dance Joseph decided to join in. Overall, not something I would waste time with next time.


Next we went into Toontown to see the big mouse himself. Last time we went they only had one family per room, and this time they shoved us in there with 4 other families. I felt very rushed and the pictures did not turn out that great.





For the rest of the day we took things slow and hung out with my sister and her family. We were all at the same parks the other two days, but not doing the same things much. The first day at the park we took all the kids on Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. After that London said she did not want to go on any more roller coaster. We tried to convince her while we were in line for the roller coaster in Toontown that it was not as scary as the other ones, but when we got to the front of the line she was not having it, so her and Nana waited for us there. Guinevere and Jalynn both said they wanted to ride, but as you can see by this great picture Rob got neither one enjoyed it very much.



I asked the kids what was the one ride they wanted to go on again and they all said Star Tours. I don't remember who said it first but I am pretty sure that the rest of them just went along with it. Rob got fast passes for that first thing while we were waiting for the princess thing. It was the last ride that we went on that day. Guinevere looked super cute with the 3-D glasses, but she would not sit for the picture.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

California Adventure Day 2

On day 2 we went to California Adventure. The wait was really long for the Toy Story ride, so the kids and I went on the carousal a couple of times. Then after we joined Rob and my Dad in line Guinevere said she had to go to the restroom. Thank heavens for cell phones. By the time we got back they were already grabbing there glasses to get on the ride. I thought we were going to miss the ride, and I was really bummed, but a really nice cast member let Guinevere and I wait right where the people get on the rides for the rest of the family, and we were all able to go. It was worth the wait in line.

London had been talking about going on the Ferris wheel for days, but I figured once she saw how high up it took you that she would not want to go anymore. London and Jacob still wanted to ride it, so I sent Rob with them while my Dad and I took Joseph and Guinevere on the carousal two more times. Other then those two rides lines were pretty short and quick. We were able to go on all the rides that we wanted, catch the Aladdin show, and the talk to Crush the turtle. While we were in the show for Crush they let some of the children ask Crush questions. Jacob raised his had and they brought the microphone to him. Crush "Hey little dude whats your question." Jacob "My favorite color is blue." Crush after a slight pause "Ummm, True. Your favorite color is blue right?" Jacob "Yes." Crush "I love these true false questions I always have a 5o/50 chance of getting them right." It was much funnier in person.

I am sure once we get pictures from my Dad's camera that we will have lots more good pictures but due to height Rob had to ride all the rides with Joseph me with Guinevere and London and Jacob together. My Dad stayed on the ground and took pictures of us. We stayed extra late and watch World of Color. It was a great water show. However our view was not the best and I ended up holding Guinevere either in my arms or up on my shoulders for the whole show. I think the show last like 30 min. My mom and sister traded off with Joseph, and my dad had Jacob up on his shoulders. Rob got lucky and just stood London on the stroller seat, and she was tall enough to see. On the 40 min ride back to my Aunts house that night all 4 kids fell asleep.


California

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Disneyland Day 1

We started the day with an early character breakfast. London Jacob and Joseph loved it. Guinevere was ok if all she had to do was watch the other kids with the characters, if I actually tried to get her close to them she freaked out. I was a little disappointed that you had to go stand in line outside to see Minni Mouse, and it was her breakfast, but other then that it was great.






We discovered that if the characters looked like people, and not furry animals that Guinevere was ok getting near them, she even liked when we got over to see Tinkerbell. We let all the kids pick a hat out. They ended up being a huge hassle because most of the time they did not want to keep them on there heads, and I ended up holding them all. Needless to say we did not let them bring there hats to days 2 and 3 at the parks.

We stayed and watched the parade and then headed home on the first night. The kids were pretty tired, but I think they enjoyed themselves.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Mount Mingus

Every wonder what you would get if you pointed your camera at a dark spot in the night sky? I had, and I was very surprised just how many stars my camera picked up. These were taken from the top of Mount Mingus, a few hours after sunset. All these stars could not be seen by the naked eye. I even caught a shooting star!

For those other camera enthusiasts here is the technical data: I used my 50mm lens with the aperture set at 1.4 to capture as much light as possible. I set the ISO at 2000 with a shutter speed of 30 seconds.


I took this next picture with the same settings, however it was of the adjacent mountain ridge. The light pollution from the small town of Cottonwood at the foot of the mountain is very noticeable. However, it was interesting to see how there was just enough light to give the red rocks color in the photo.


Sunday, May 15, 2011

Another weekend, another skirt

Okay, so this skirt took two weekends. I sized down the pieces from Jennifer's skirt and made a few adjustments to allow for growing.


London enjoyed looking just like her mother.