Saturday, April 11, 2015

Thatcher Turns FIVE!

And just like that, Thatcher turned five on March 8th. His choice this year for his birthday was a quick getaway to Orange County for the Pirate's Dinner Adventure (Medieval Times' Sister) and Disneyland! 


Grandma and Poppy Robinson met us at our hotel to join us for the Pirate dinner and to spoil Thatcher with guess what? Legos! 


A quick swim before the show. 




Thatcher is kind-of, sort-of swimming in the hot tub.  


We did have a moment where he panicked and was doggy paddling uncontrollably and I had to grab him….


We've decide the Fallon kids don't take kindly to swim lessons and figure it out on their own at some point...


Rosy cheeks 


and hot chocolate with Papa. 


Dressed and ready for the Pirate Show. 

















Still so proud of his new shoes!


And the crazy photographer lady in action ;)


Twins (not planned). 




Enthralled by the dinner pre-show




Ready for the real show!




Our pirate for the evening. He looks like he is made out of wax.


A small chicken…


Lots of acrobatics.


Action shots. 


It was quite theatrical. 


The kids were selected to go on stage. 


Small dessert. 


Pirate Show Selfie. 



Another photo of me taking a photo...




We said goodbye to Grandma and Poppy and got ready for the next adventure…


The next morning on the tram to good ole' Disneyland. 


The last time we went to Disneyland,




And Thatcher was not quite two.  

He sort of looks like a deer in headlights in all the photos I have of him there.


And the time before that, he was just seven months,


and did a whole lot of this.


So this really counts as his first time!



First ride of the day, Pirates of the Caribbean. 


I had to force Sam to take this picture with the princess. Gone are the days of her only wanting to take photos with characters. She only wants to ride rides, and fast rides! 


A big kid ride for Sam, Indiana Jones. 














While the boys did Star Tours, 


we waited in a long line for Space Mountain. We supposedly went to Disneyland on a lesser crowded day by skipping school and beating Spring breakers but damn, this place is STILL pretty darn crowded. 


Anticipating Space Mountain!


BOO for the long line…


Sam's too short to see but she did great and said she wanted to go again ONLY if there was no line which wasn't a gonna happen ;)


We were bound and determined to get Thatcher picked to go on stage for the Jedi Training Show so we camped out a half hour early and got front row spots. 


Phew, we got lucky and he was picked!



All trained and ready to fight.


The kids have to fight this guy (he has a name but I don't know it) or Darth Vader. I could tell from watching Thatcher's face that he was a bit intimidated by him. 




He lucked out and got to fight Darth Vader. 



This was definitely the highlight of Disneyland for him. From this moment on, all he cared about was getting his own lightsaber and going back to the hotel to play with his Lego set. I also knew that we could get away with not going back to Disneyland for many, many years. Samantha only cared about going on super fast rides which really isn't at Disneyland and Thatcher only cared about Legos. 







We decided to take a break from Disneyland and head over to Downtown Disney on the monorail.


This was a very good call as we hit happy hour at the House of Blues and Downtown Disney was pretty much empty. No crowds at all!  I loved it! 


Also, Thatcher got his fix of Legos at the Lego store. 




Everybody was happy!


Sam looks like she is posing for prom.





We headed back to Disneyland for a few more rides. 


and then called it a night.



Here's some video highlights from the weekend. 




Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Random February Photos


Samantha's been trying to catch a fairy. She builds these "fairy houses" and writes notes like, "Swings up Thar" (or "there" for my older readers) ;) 


I have a feeling there are fairies swinging in our backyard at night.


For some reason, I can only french braid my own hair and not others. However, recently I've been making some progress. 


Not bad. Not great. But not bad. 


Practicing piano before the father/daughter dance.


I see piano recitals in her future. 



Super Bowl party at the Left Hand Ranch.


I swear we watched the game but I've got no evidence. 


Just a lot of cute, happy kids!


And a pre-game football game with the parents and kids. 


My friend Drea started a new business, Pooch Paint! Pretty cute, huh?



Sunday morning selfies with daddy.


Making lemonade. Not sure why Thatcher has a spatula. 




Hug or headlock?


We took Meredith to the bowling alley for her birthday. Two old ladies drinking wine in the arcade upset that our token got eaten…


I visit Samantha at recess often and she's always doing the same thing. 


Playing kickball with the boys. 


The school ignored the drought for a few minutes and turned the hose on for the after school running club.


This kid loves a haircut. 



Teaching Char some piano so they could duet. 


After soccer carbo-loading at Taffy's


Grandma and Papa in town for the film festival. 


Playdate with preschool buddy, Lucas. 



Every once in a while I find these two dolls dressed and ready for an activity, propped up and looking kind of freaky.


Lane and Thatcher, buddying around while their older sisters play soccer. 


Soccer carpool 




Friday night soccer. 




After soccer family date nights. 


Family bowling afternoon with a small amount of food. 


Yay, a no cavity report from the dentist! 


Shoppin'


Twin day at school.


Actually triplets! 

There was a fourth Blue Wave Dolphin wandering around school but I didn't catch them all together. 


Samantha was at a sleepover so this guy got some only-child attention.


Which means two ice cream cones.