Mini Olympics

The girls recently completed their first gymnastics class at the Westside Academy!  All of the students at the academy participate in the Mini Olympics performance at the end of the year.  Here is Lauren (blue uniform) entering the gym during the opening ceremony. 

Emily (purple uniform) making her entrance. 

The girls performed a simple routine that they learned from their coaches Toni and Kelley.

The routine included bear crawl, donkey kicks, forward rolls, skipping, jumping, and dancing.

At the end they waved to the crowd!

Everyone who participated received a trophy!

The official gymnastics team photo. 

Emily's individual photo.

Lauren's individual photo.  We are so proud of both of them!

Bounce House Celebration

This weekend the girls went to a birthday party for their friend Amanda! Amanda's parents rented two bounce houses for the celebration. Here is Emily (in the purple shirt) climbing into the princess castle. The other bounce house was shaped like a tiger!

Emily (purple shirt) and Lauren (pink shirt) jumping with Amanda (plaid dress).

Lauren and Emily going down the slide.

The girls cheered when the candles were blown out!

The girls made Father's Day fishes for Daddy!

                               
Happy Father's Day!

San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo was one of our favorite places to visit!  Here are the girls viewing the giraffes. 

A sleeping hippo!

A beautiful leopard!  Emily commented that it had the same spotted print as their pink and purple fleece jackets (!).

Emily getting her face painted...

Lauren getting her face painted...

The finished look!

Coronado Island

During our visit to Coronado Island, we rented a surrey bike to pedal around town in.  

Justin and I pedaled while the girls sat in front, ate snacks, and enjoyed the view. 

Later on that day Emily (left) and Lauren (right) put on their sun gear for some play time at the beach!

It was a beautiful day!

Lauren playing in the sand.

Emily playing in the sand.  Justin and Lauren are in the background by the ocean. 

Sea World

We saw so many flamingos during our stay in San Diego!  

The girls loved the sea lions!  We bought some small fish and the girls were able to toss them to the sea lions as a snack.

The girls were SO excited to see the classic Sea World dolphin show!  

Posing as penguins!

The girls had a blast on this GIANT play structure!  If you look carefully, you can see Lauren in her bright pink shirt at the entrance of the upper level room with a roof.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Safari Park

Girls checking out the flamingos!

We went on the Africa Tram Safari... here is Lauren getting excited for the tram ride to begin. 

The safari park was beautiful and it was fun to see the animals in a more natural environment. 

We even got to see a wildebeest chase some of the water buffalo!

Lauren (front) and Emily (back) riding on a lion in the play area.

Legoland

 Lauren and Emily driving mini cars at Legoland!

 It was kind of scary to think that someday they will be driving real cars!

Lauren and Justin enjoying a very cute but simple ride... each "vehicle" moved up and down and left or right depending on how you shifted the two controllers.

Justin and the girls at Miniland USA!

Emily (left) and Lauren (right) standing next to one of the giant lego statues.

San Diego Getaway

We recently went on a family vacation to San Diego!  We rented a condo in the Sunset Cliffs area for the week and had a wonderful time.  Emily is on the left and Lauren is on the right, can you tell they are excited?!?!

The girls had their own bedroom at the condo.

Our favorite feature of the condo was the breathtaking view!

Lauren reading a book on the back porch.

Emily watching the ocean waves with Justin.

 A gorgeous sunset!

Princess Braids

The best part about getting a haircut is getting it styled afterwards!  Here is Emily with her braided hairdo, patiently waiting for a post-haircut pizza snack.

Side view of Lauren and her glittery braids.

Later that afternoon we did some baking!  Here is Emily pouring the olive oil...

 And Lauren pouring the orange juice...

The finished orange cornmeal cake!