OC with the Fam

My sister and her kids were in town for the holiday so we met up with everyone in Orange County for a quick visit.

Thatcher was happy to be with his best cousin, Dylan. 

Auntie Michele and Cousin Lauren

Lunch in Newport Beach at The Crab Cooker. 

Samantha gave Lauren a "Best Cousins" necklace from Claire's that they each can wear a half of. Remember those necklaces?!

Somebody was very excited to see her sister!

Our family was staying at the Knott's Berry Farm hotel. Not sure we'd ever stay here again, it was just so-so but a good deal that included tickets to the theme park. 

Everything was berry themed, EVERYTHING!

These are probably berry beers. Small berry beers. 

iPad-ing...

The view from our hotel room. That ride is called GhostRider, longest wooden roller coast on the west coast and after riding it for the first time a few weeks ago, I can tell you it was by far the scariest roller coaster I have ever been on. Way scarier than anything at Magic Mountain. 

Hotel elevator silliness.

An early evening swim before dinner.

Hotel lobby silliness. 

Uber-ing to Medieval Times! 

I got yelled at by the Medieval Times photographer for taking a cell phone photo of this. Sorry, wasn't up for paying $29.99 for their photo. 

It was Todd's first time to Medieval Times. This place doesn't disappoint. 

I highly recommend going here with your family. We went a few months ago and it was just as much fun this time as last time. 

Seriously, the food is pretty darn good at this place. 

After party at the Knott's hotel!

Breakfast before Knott's!

Snoopy making the rounds at breakfast. 

Roller coaster at Camp Snoopy. Who's the big guy waving? 

Samantha was super proud of herself for going on the "baby" roller coaster. 

More "baby" rides.

She barely fit. 

Selfie on the swings. 

The cousins caught up with us and walked us right over to GhostRider, that gigantic roller coaster we could see from our hotel room.

I am not sure what made Samantha all of a sudden go from only wanting to take pictures with princesses at amusement parks to standing in line for one of the scariest roller coasters around. Maybe trying to impress her cousins?

And to top it off, we waited TWO HOURS for this darn ride which included us getting right up to the front and someone came on the loud speaker saying the ride was closed for an undetermined amount of time to fix an issue it was having and we were free to wait or exit the gate. After waiting that long, we weren't moving and didn't care that we were potentially risking our lives getting on this ride. 

We all ended up going in different shifts, Michele and Dylan first and by the looks of Michele's face to me as we belted in Lauren and Samantha, I knew Samantha was in for something that was going to scare the hell out of her. Off they went and then Todd and I followed. Seriously the scariest, ROUGHEST, ride ever. Besides never giving you a chance to catch your breath, it hurts! It bangs you back and forth, jerking you every which way. The entire time both Todd and I were so scared for Samantha. 

Here's a youtube video for you to get a sense for how this ride is: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoHUHo6FTHg

At the 30 second mark you see how high this thing is climbing. 

Fast forward to ten minutes later, and we are in line for ANOTHER roller coaster! Samantha said she was terrified but wanted to go on another one.

Lunch break from waiting in line all damn day.

Funnel cake!

Getting tired. I have to say, I'm really not looking forward to going to an amusement park anytime soon or else I just can't go when the crowds are expected to be this bad. We went to Knott's a few months ago and there was no one at the park, we sat on rides over and over because there were no lines. This time, we had to wait hours to get on rides. No thank you! I'm never going to an amusement park again unless it is during the week when school is IN! 

The carousel was the only thing that day that didn't have a line.

I'm about as happy as the ostrich I'm riding on. I've had my fill of amusement parks for awhile.

More funnel cake, this time the deluxe version with berries and ice cream!

Last ride of the day!

And some BBQ before heading back to SB!

7-Year Checkup

Samantha had her 7-year doctor's visit a few weeks ago.

Eyes good.

Ears good.

50 1/4 inches tall (85%). She grew 3 inches since last year. 

48 pounds (50%). She gained 4 pounds since last year. 

These two both keep getting older. ;)

Next year will be 8 :(

First Grade Fall Dance Review

At Samantha's school, dance is part of the curriculum.  Recently they had their fall dance review. 

I honestly have no words for what is going on in the dance they performed. It was sort of new-age-y/modern/interpretive and Samantha and the rest of the kids looked a little confused. My thought is they should stick to the dance party they had with the Katy Perry and Taylor Swift music that came on afterwards. 

Nice moves girls! 

Christmas Sing: Happy Birthday Jesus!

Thatcher had his Christmas Sing at preschool a few weeks ago. The kids prepare all month for the holiday concert and are excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday! 

This is Thatcher's nervous smile.

This is also his nervous smile masked through a big CHEESE!

This is a REAL smile since he is with his main squeeze, Jessica. 

Jessie gives Thatcher the best hugs.

Right?

Mrs. Susan telling the story about the birth of Baby Jesus. 

After the concert with his best school buddy, Lucas. 

Look at these cuties just a year ago. What a difference a year makes, they both look like kindergartners now.

Samantha was at soccer practice and missed the family photo op. 

Way back when, Samantha and Connor having punch and cookies after their preschool concert. 

Thatcher with his teacher, Ms. Laurie. 

Last year, Thatcher smiled and sang the entire time. Here's proof. 

This year, he barely cracked a smile, seemed nervous and kind of sang. He's getting too cool for preschool. Good thing Jessie was in front of him to add some sunshine to the video with her sweet smile and singing ;)