California: Part One

Last week, we headed west to visit the California Kolders. Before heading north of LA, we spent a few days on our own, exploring amusement parks. After a detour to Huntington Beach to check out the pier, we headed to Anaheim and Downtown Disney. The highlight of that evening was the purchase of open stock Lego's at the Lego store. The next day was a 13 hour action packed day at Disneyland. The highlights for Andy included Jedi Training where he defeated Darth Vader, the Buzz Lightyear ride and Star Tours with daddy. Sammy highlights include the Dumbo ride, special time with Cinderella, and the parade. They both acquired a new stuffed animal (Andy: Jedi Mickey, Sammy: Princess Minnie) as a souvenir.

As if that wasn't enough, the next day, we headed south to Legoland. Obviously, Andy was a big fan! He had a great time riding the rides, but would have been just as happy sitting in the Lego rooms building all day. The kids both enjoyed creating their own take home Lego figures at the Lego store.


After a long day at Legoland, we headed back north to Dan's house. The kids were very excited to see their cousins, with constant inquiries regarding how soon would see them!


Huntington Beach sand castle

Lego store

Dumbo Ride

Tea Cups

Mickey!

Defeating the Dark Side

Our little Padwan

Disney carousal

Special time with Cinderella

Souvenirs

Lego driving

Lego driving

Lego drivers licence

Helicopter ride

Airplane ride

Andy and Harry Potter

February Fun

Two little monkeys!



The winter seems to be flying by...partly due to the warm beautiful weather! Much to Andy's dismay, we have only had one snow storm. Fortunately, that storm brought us just enough snow for sledding and a snowman.
Other highlights of the month included a trip to Crown Center for the nature display and school Valentine's Day parties!

Merry Christmas!

The Cooper kids had a spectacular Christmas packed full with all of our family traditions. This included our annual trip to Union Station and Crown Center, making Christmas cookies for Santa and new Christmas PJ's!

Early Christmas

While Grandma Faye and Grandpa Ron were in town for Andy's birthday party, we took the oppurtunity to celebrate an early Christmas. It is always fun to watch the kids open presents. They get so excited. Andy was in ninja heaven with his new Ninjago Legos and Sammy squealled with joy over her Hello Kitty house. She has been eyeing that toy at Target for the last month and she told Grandma it was just what she always wanted. Grandma also made each of the kids their own KSU fleece blankets. They both woke up this morning pretty sweaty after sleeping with them!

Cosmic Bowling

On Saturday, Andy had his birthday party. He invited 4 of his Kindergarten friends to Mission Bowl for Cosmic Bowling. This was his first time bowling, but he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. He even bowled a strike, the only one of the day!

Happy 6th Birthday Andy!!!

Today we celebrated Andy's 6th Birthday. He started out the day with a new K-State outfit and some Star Wars Legos. This was followed by some birthday pan"cake". At school, we helped Andy celebrate his special day by reading a book from home to his class. Andy's pick: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Then the three of us enjoyed lunch together (along with a cafeteria full of his Kindergarten friends). To top the day off, we took the kids to see "The Muppets," followed by dinner at the 810 Zone (Andy's pick). Overall, I think he had a great day!

Breakfast with Santa

The tradition continues! This morning the kids and I had "Breakfast with Santa" at our church. This is one of my favorite things to do with the kids. It's really amazing to see how much they change each year. Sammy didn't cry and Andy wrote his own letter to Santa this year! It was also nice because I didn't have to wait in line at the mall!