Our Visit To Nasa Space Center

Since suggesting going to the pool everyday on Ricky's day off doesn't excite him, he suggested we go to Nasa. No one in our family has been. So it was a new experience for all of us. The kids were excited to go, plus they had a Star Wars Feature as an added bonus.
Everyone had a great time. Lil Ricky loved playing in the kids area!! He literally had to be pulled away from it. Big Ricky loved learning and exploring all the space artifacts. I think he read everything on the walls!! It was amazing seeing the actual size of the rocket. Especially the engines. It is unbelievable how big each engine is and they need 5 for each rocket!!!!!
At one of the shows we saw, Lil Ricky volunteered and got to walk us through a day of an astronauts daily routine. So proud of him for not having stage freight. I on the other hand. Me on the other hand in these situations, am in the back curled under my seat praying I don't get picked.
It is amazing what humans can do. Astronauts have to be super brave. Just the thought of going into the unknown. Where it's dark and endless and one small move and help is 1,000s of miles away. Definitely not for me.
It was a great day trip!!

Last T-Ball Game - Spring 2010

The difference between this years T-ball and last years is night and day. I can't believe how good all of the players have become. Ricky had some players on his team from last year and he also had same coach. Guess what? Yup, they also had the same name "Marios". Another thing that hasn't changed, dad still got on the field with his lil guy to coach him through it. Okay not all games. He did amazing this year. His throwing, running and hitting were great. I was very impressed at his running this year. I think it might be time to find a league?!?!
AT the last few games of the season it became unbearably hot. Even though Ricky was miserable, especially due to his eczema he didn't complain. I gave him ice to keep cool, but that wasn't much relief. At one game he was covered in a heat rash.
One thing we did learn this year is that he does better with a stricter coach. If he is being held accountable to something and is pushed he pushes himself.
A trophy celebration was followed after the game at Willies Ice House where all the boys received a trophy and medal.

Great job Ricky!!! We're looking forward to next season.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Ricky and Hana's last day of school was last week of May. They each had a great year and amazing teachers.
Hana had Mrs Jessica and Mrs Abby. They were amazing teachers. Hana has learned so much this year. Even though she came home with a "Oh No" note one time for her well known tantrums she enjoyed going to school. She was so happy to go every Tuesday and Thursday morning. We will definitely miss her teachers, but are excited to see what next year holds.
Ricky was in an amazing transition program this past year. Mrs Hogan had her hands full with 8 boys. They all learned so much and will be more than ready for Kindergarten. It is amazing what they learned. Some of the stuff I didn't learn till the 3rd grade!! They even know how to read!
Next year going to a public school and having 20 something students in class which some will be girls will be a big adjustment for Ricky, but I know he'll do just fine.
He's such a sweet and well behaved boy.

RICKY LOST 2 TEETH

We were wondering when lil Ricky would finally lose a tooth. He was asking about it because some of his friends were losing their teeth.
OMG I don't remember the exact date when he lost it but I do know it was mid May. Wow I feel terrible.
We were at a friends house for a play date and he lost it somewhere there. No one noticed. Yes, that is how closely we watch our kids. As we came home big Ricky noticed right away. He was like "why does he have a gap, where's his tooth"? My lil boy lost his first tooth and I didn't even notice!!!!
He was super excited. Since we didn't have the tooth, we had to write the tooth fairy a letter. This way she wouldn't forget to stop by.
The tooth fairy left Ricky a whopping $3. Whoop Whoop!!!
About 5 days later he lost another tooth. The two bottom, front middle teeth were gone. He lost this one while we were at Wolfies eating. He had pizza and said there was something hard in it and spit it out. It was his tooth!! We ended up finding this one. He was able to put it under his pillow and the tooth fairy left another $3.
Ricky planned to buy a big water gun for the money he received, but he got side tracked and bought a movie instead.

CALIFORNIA VACATION 2010

This year we have decided to take a vacation to California. Mainly due to Disneyland. I knew before lil Ricky started kindergarten I wanted to take him to one of the Disney parks. I looked into Disney World which was originally the plan. Than I started researching and since i'm such a water freak I thought the cruise would be great. It's a win win for everyone. Well after I priced it, the Disney cruise wasn't such a win win situation anymore. It was outrageous. One of Ricky's friends from California was visiting in Feb and mentioned Disneyland and than we could visit him. I was against it because I wanted the big shabang. Well after researching I figured that Disney land was the best option. Mainly because Hana was still too young and the park wasn't as big. This way we would be able to get a lot of it done and not feel over whelmed. Also for an added bonus we would be able to visit central California for a couple of days and stay with Freddy and his family. Okay I have to admit leading up to purchasing the airline tickets I tried everything I could to convince little Ricky to go to Mexico, Isla Mujeres to be exact. He didn't budge. Swimming with Dory and Nemo just wasn't as appealing as all the Disney characters.

Our plane took off at 9:45 am on Tues April 27, 2009. The kids love the plane ride. Such a great rush. We were served turkey hot dogs in a croissant. I have to admit it wasn't that bad. We land right on schedule 10:45am Ca time. We get our rental car which was a black HHR Chevy. Not very exciting but it did what it needed to. We checked into our hotel or I should actually say motel. It was a super 8 1 1/2 blocks from Disneyland. I chose a very affordable motel because we were only going to be there to sleep and that's exactly what it was used for. Very proud of my thrifty deal. After that we went to see the local beaches. Since I watched Lugana beach when it aired I wanted to check it out. The beach was nice a pretty color upfront but cold. Brrrrrrrrr.

The next day was so exciting. We were going to Disneyland!!!!! We woke up extra early because Ca is 2 hours behind our time. We got to the park around 8:30 ish - the fun was about to begin. The kids were so excited. Especially lil Ricky. His first character was Mickey and Pluto. The look on Ricky's face was priceless. Right there I knew that it was worth every penny. They both got his autograph. I got shamed by Mickey because I accidentally referred to him as Pluto. OOPS!! The rest of the day was spent riding rides and seeing characters. I can't believe how many themed rides they have. For some reason lil Ricky has a fear of fast roller coasters so we did a lot of flying in circle rides or themed rides.
What a great day. The other two days were basically spent the same way. From about 9:00 am till 7-8 pm we were at Disneyland or California Adventure park. We did one character dinner, Ariels Grotto (princess dinner). This one was mainly for Hana, but lil Ricky enjoyed seeing the princesses. My kids were the honorary guests that night and got to announce the 1st princess coming out. I wonder if it had anything to do with me saying it was my kids birthday present when I booked it. Only 5 princesses come out at each lunch/dinner. That night was Ariel, Mulan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White ( I was really hoping for Bell because she's my favorite). The extremely over priced meal was tasty. we had a second character dinner scheduled "Goofys kitchen" but we canceled that one just because it was to out of the way and we already saw a lot of pluto/goofy and his friends around the park. Instead we watched a parade and the kids couldn't be happier.
I didn't want to leave before we saw Bell. So we stood in an 2 hour line to see the princesses. The only thing is there is only 3 at a time and they trade out. So all this time and the only new princess we haven't seen yet was Jasmine. I did notice that the later in the day you wait the shorter the line is. So the next day by perfect timing I saw Bell was about to go in and be one of the princesses. We got in line but were about an hour away. I asked one of the workers how long before they trade because I know Bell is back there. Of course she gave me some proper answers like "princesses come and go as they wish" "they can go of with the prince when they want" etc... I finally asked/told her very nicely that I really want to see Bell I know she's back there I already waited in a 2 hour line and also paid for a princess dinner and still haven't seen her. This lady was amazing and right before Bell was about to trade off she got us out of line to see her. As an added bonus we also saw Tiana. I am just in awww that she went the extra mile. She totally saved the day.

The very last day Ricky and I decided to be a little daring and ride the big roller coaster. It went super fast and had a loop. How exciting. It was such a rush that we rode it not once but twice!!! Since we couldn't ride it together they have single pass riders. Best thing ever because you basically get to go to the front of the line. After that big Ricky rode a soaring ride which he references every time he walked by it.
The Disneyland part of our trip was amazing. Everyone had such a great time. I think 3 full days was perfect for everyone.

After we left Disneyland park at around 8pm we headed to Pismo California (Central) to visit Freddy and his family. I had every intention to stay up and keep Ricky company but that wasn't the case. I fell asleep somewhere along the way. We got there around 12:30 a.m. After a little talk everyone fell back asleep super fast.
We were able to see Pismo and the surrounding beaches. The kids had an amazing time playing with Lily and Diego. We were in such great company.
One of the days Freddy took us climbing up a dormant volcano. Of course we were so excited to do something non Tx like. Everyone was so fired up. Scenery was amazing going up. Well a few minutes in Hana started complaining so thankfully big Ricky carried her (she did walk off and on but mostly off). Towards the middle lil Ricky started complaining. I don't blame him because it is a tough climb for a little guy or anyone but especially him and he's never done anything like this. With much pouting he did it!!!! We all did. Very beautiful scenery up top. Also scary and sad because there were a few plaques in memory of people who fell during the climb. Yikes!! I felt that the descend was a lot trickier. Again Ricky carried Hana down. She actually fell asleep. This is a hard thing to carry an extra 30lbs on you. He's amazing!!!
Freddy and Kasey were amazing hosts. We had an incredible time with them and I enjoyed getting to know them. We were sad to leave such amazing scenery and company. Thanks to Freddy for sending us away with egg and cheese taquitos. Delicious.
Oh, I did learn one thing while in California. Even though it's gorgeous it's not a place for me. I'm so used to hot weather and warm beaches that with out them I wouldn't know what to do. You just don't get that in California.

THIS WEEK ACHIEVEMENTS

We had an exciting week with some great things happening.
First:
Ricky learned to ride his bike with OUT training wheels. I thought this would take a very long time for him. Especially since we were on and off (more off) with the practicing. One evening it just clicked for him and he took off. Hooray!! We're so proud of our little guy.

Second:
I'm not sure if this is an achievement but it's big (at least in my book). Ricky was registered for Kindergarten. It seems that the time came so fast. I remember bringing him home and him being so helpless. Everyone always said that the time flies and they were absolutely right. It flew!! So we officially have an enrolled Kindergartner.
It really hasn't effected me yet, but I know on that first day of school I might be a total wreck. This is big stuff!

Third:
Hana has been in gymnastics since Feb. of this year. When she wants to be she's good. We were approached by her coach that she's opening a class for a select few this summer and it's by invite only. Hana was one of the invited ones.
We're so excited about her potential, and very proud of her.

EASTER 2010

I know i'm posting this late, but better late than never. Right?
The kids had a great Easter. They started the week before with Windwoods egg hunt and activities. Windwood always puts on a great Easter festival with tons of eggs (Hana found the golden egg) games, rides and crafts.
Easter weekend, Saturday the kids had another Easter egg hunt at trinity.
On Easter day we went to church and spent the rest of the day being at home. It was a great Easter.

Most of all we're thankful for God sending his one and only son so we could have eternal life. Jesus is our savior!!