Twilight Trilogy

With Chipotle burritos and enough candy to feed an army stashed in our purses, we made our way to the back of the already growing line at 4:00pm.

We were given wristband #'s 287-292 and waited for about 2 hours with the rest of the Twilight groupies for an evening with Edward, Jacob and Bella.

We were in line to see the Triple Feature of Twilight @ 6:30, New Moon @ 9:00 and Eclipse @ 12:01. Our line wrapped around the theater next to Lucilles. The group in front of the theater had been camping out most of the day for just the midnight showing of Eclipse and still had several hours to wait as we entered the theater at 6:00.

They were certainly prepared with beach umbrellas, beach chairs, games and plenty of snacks to pass the time.

As we herded like cattle to the front of the line, Wendy suggested splitting into 2 groups to race into the theaters looking for the best seats. The idea paid off as Chessa, Amanda and Teri found us seats on an aisle close to the top. Our hearts were racing as we tried to secure seats, but once seated we inhaled our burritos and waited for the lights to dim.

I have only seen the movies in the theater, unlike some of the ladies who I think watch it daily :), so I was happy to get a recap watching the first two. I did sneek in a quick nap during New Moon and was refreshed for the newest installment, Eclipse. It was even better than I expected... suspenseful, intense, romantic and 100% entertaining. I was in bed at 2:50am and think there is a long day ahead of me. Now the countdown begins for Breaking Dawn, November 2011...

A Pool Full of Girls

The girls each invited some friends over today for an afternoon of swimming. It was the first time Taylor's friends had all been together since school got out.

Jaden, Demi, Courtney, Shelby and Taylor enjoying lunch and catching up.

Allison and Karis sitting by themselves and waiting for Lorien to arrive.

Once Lorien arrived, the girls all had fun making funny hairdos...

doing jumping competitions...

playing inner tube bumper boats...

having "soaker ball" wars...

snorkeling in the hot tub...

playing chicken...

and just enjoying being together!

World Cup 2010

Since June 11th, our house has often been filled with the sound of vuvuzelas humming as teams from around the world battle for the World Cup title. We had never heard of a vuvuzela, but now it has become a well-known word in millions of households and a top seller on Amazon.com, thanks to the host country South Africa.

We have watched amazing play from Michael Bradley, Landon Donavan and Clint Dempsey. Tim Howard proved to be a strong role model, overcoming a lot of adversity to be the USA's leading goalkeeper. The USA tied England 1-1 and Slovenia 2-2 and beat Algeria 1-0 to win their group. Many would argue that poor officiating took 2 goals away from the US team, but they were still able to advance.
Unfortunately, the USA lost 2-1 to Ghana in the Round of 16. They gave up a goal early in all 4 games, but were able to fight their way back in their 1st 3 games. They tied Ghana and sent the game into OT, but gave up another goal early and they didn't have time to recover. We read an article in the paper that said 1 in 4 US households tuned in to watch this game. That does a lot for the game of soccer!

Although the USA is out of the competition, we will continue to watch great play from Argentina, Germany, Japan and the other teams that have advanced to the quarterfinals. Taylor has been working hard on a move called the "Maradona" named after Diego Maradona, the coach of Argentina. It has been fun seeing footage from when he played. We will cheer as soccer fans and anxiously await the championship on July 11th. Too bad we only get to watch this event every 4 years!

THE BEACH

We finally got our 1st official summer beach day! Although it has been nice at home, the coast has stayed pretty socked in with overcast skies, but not today. The sun was out from the moment we arrived and while Wendy, Teri, Feliza and I lounged in our beach chairs, the kids: played in the sand...

dug giant holes...

played with Denton under the umbrella...

searched for sand crabs and boogie boarded. It was the perfect summer day!

Happy Father's Day

Matt came down the stairs to a bunch a fun decorations that the kids and I made with pictures and cards.

He has done so much with and for the girls and he enjoyed looking back on some of those events. We spoiled him with cinnamon coffee cake and breakfast burritos and gave him a few gifts before church.After lunch, the Lebitski's joined us for an afternoon of swimming and BBQ. We had delicious teriyaki drumsticks, carne asada tacos, fruit salad and apple pie ala mode.

Matt is the best Daddy two girls could ask for. He loves to make them laugh, helps them with their homework, coaches soccer, takes them out for special treats, values their opinion, listens intently and works hard to provide them with all they need and more. We love him on Father's Day and everyday!!!

San Diego County Fair

The San Diego County Fair is always at the top of our summer TO DO list. Tuesdays are free for kids, which is exactly why we decided to go on Wednesday-no crowds!

Lauren, Taylor and Amanda on the bus ride from the Horsepark to the fairgrounds.

We toured all of the cows, pigs, chickens and goats.

We watched Swifty and all of his friends race for the winning oreo cookie at the pig races.

We looked for the wildest fair foods...

We decided that the Zucchini Weeni and the fried stick of butter were at the top of list.

The kids all chose corndogs and cherry lemonade for lunch while Leslie and I enjoyed burgers and fries.

The kids shopped in the Albertsons play center...

and looked at all of the contest flowers, while hunting for the mini donuts in one of the expo halls. They were everyone's favorite!

They took a time-out to get a foot massage...

and finished the day with giant ice cream...

and FUNNEL CAKE!

THE KIDS WENT BANANAS AT THE FAIR!

Arsenal Tournament

We had a lot of success winning the Beach tournament a few weeks back and our girls were excited for more of the same. It was our 1st time on the big grass field and proved to be a much tougher environment for us. 11 vs 11 against some great competition on Saturday.

We faced Palos Verdes in our 11:15 game on Saturday. They were a tough team with some big girls, but we played them pretty well. We were strong on "D", but just couldn't get any shots on goal. Taylor had one of the only breakaways, but missed on the shot and we lost 1-0.

Game #2 was against a strong Arsenal team led by several girls from an old Hawks team. We were tied at the half 0-0, but really played to their tempo. Our girls were just reacting most of the time rather than controlling the play. Arsenal scored in the 2nd half and we started to crumble, losing with a final of 3-0. Even with the first 2 games ending this way, it taught our girls a lot. They are so used to winning and I sometimes think they fell they have nothing left to learn. This weekend proved to them that they need to work on several aspects of their game- conditioning, 1st touch, talking, passing and their technical skills.

Matt and Allison taking a break in the sun between games.

Even with the losses, the girls are all smiles off the field.

This morning, we were up early for an 8:00 game against San Juan Capistrano's United FC. This game didn't have any meaning as far as the standings were concerned, but we were hoping to see some better soccer from our girls and we did. We were more evenly matched with this team and looked much better. Taylor had a beautiful chip cross which led to Jessica's shot and goal. We tied 1-1, but left the tournament with lessons learned and more soccer memories for this team.

Taylor and Demi were so excited to take off their soccer gear and start their summer break together. Demi's family invited Taylor to go beach camping for the next 3 days at Carlsbad State Beach. The weather is perfect and their sore little legs can't wait to hit the water!

LAST DAY!

Wow, what an emotional end to the school year! The morning started with the final flag salute. Awards were handed out to so many students and there were lots of proud parents to cheer on their kiddos. Taylor amazed us once again. She was honored for another trimester on Honor Roll and then honored as one of only 5 students to have all 5's on her report card for all of 4th and 5th grade (the only girl, I might add)!

The 5th graders presented Mr. McTasney with a Class of 2010 plaque to hang in the front office.

We found out Mrs. Han has been this year's Spirit Spy.

The smiles turned to tears when the teachers all made a tunnel for the 5th graders to run through. It is such a sweet gesture and tradition as the send them off to 6th grade.

High fives all around

The toughest part of the day came after the final bell. I met Taylor at her classroom, knowing it might be tough on her. She was crying as she waited her turn to say goodbye to Mrs. Atkinson. She has been her teacher for 3 of her 5 years at Tony Tobin and has treated Taylor like a member of her family. I think Taylor was a little overwhelmed by it all- leaving Tony Tobin, leaving Mrs. Atkinson and knowing some of her closest friends won't be going to the same middle school next year. It hit all at once and there were lots of tears shed, but many wonderful memories to take with her.

I sort of felt like Allison got the short end of the stick this week because of all the promotion activities. She had a week packed with games, a class garage sale, talent show performance and today's field day and bucket picnic lunch. I did have a chance to stop by and cheer her on out on the field. She was busy playing the "dizzy bat" game and spinning around like a crazy girl.

There were lots of fun games and music for the kids to enjoy before they ate lunch out of their cute buckets. Mrs. Falciano sure kept them busy this week and made them all feel so special.

I am so proud of all Allison accomplished this year. She earned the award for "Mrs. Falciano's Mini-Me" and got all 5's on her 3rd trimester report card. She significantly raised her reading level and hopefully, with lots of reading this summer, she will keep that level up. She loved her teacher and was sad to say goodbye. I heard there were lots of tears in that classroom too! Hoping we get to see Mrs. Falciano at the beach this summer!!