Camping at Vail Lake

We've been camping the last few days at Vail Lake, a resort just outside of Temecula. Not too far from home, only 45 minutes, but far enough for the surroundings to be absolutely beautiful. We were with church family. And Rachel spent the last three days with two of her closest buds - Isaiah and Caleb. Isaiah and Rachel are in the same Kindergarten class, so they spend A LOT of time together!! LOL. Crystal brought her little dog and Rachel loved walking it and holding it and playing with it. It's not the first time we've camped with Preston, the dog, and Rachel loves it when he comes camping. Rachel played all day long and into the evening hours with her friends. There was a lot of grass and tree swings in our area and the kids had so much fun! Rachel loved every minute of camping and has proven to be a great camper.

Christmas 2009

Rachel was very excited for this Christmas. She's at the age where she understands the holiday and traditions and can't wait to experience it all.

Christmas Eve was started off right by attending church together as a family. Rachel and Hannah both sang at our Christmas Eve service and did an excellent job. Both girls could hardly manage to sit still during the service for they knew that Great Grandma's house was where we were headed after church.We arrived at Great Grandma's house in the middle of dinner, and once again the girls were forced to wait patiently. But at least they were with their cousins now, and soon, the family of 21 people would cram into Grandma's tiny little living room to open presents. Rachel was most pleased with her presents, a lot from her Toys R Us list she made a few weeks back, including Star Wars Galactic Hereo's and a Pogo Stick!!! Christmas morning, for some reason, Rachel chose to sleep in. She's not normally our sleep in kid, so it was surprising that she slept so late and we finally woke her up at 7:30. Christmas morning she found a doll crib put together in front of the tree. She was very happy with that and carted (it's on wheels) it back and forth from her room to the family room all day long.She also got a DSi. She's always playing with Hannah's old Game Boy and Leapster and we really felt it was time for her to get something new, and not a hand me down electronic toy. She absolutely loved it! The girls got DSi's and then accessory packs with a game as well. Christmas proved to the be the year of DSI's as three of the four girls got them, and McKenzie got hers a few weeks ago for her birthday. Once all the presents had been opened, the girls disappeared into the rooms and we really didn't see much of them all day long, they were too busy chatting with each other and playing games. The day after Christmas we braved the crowds and made some returns and let the girls spend some gift cards. Rachel still has a gift card to spend at the Disney Store, or at Disneyland. But Christmas is officially over and all the new toys and presents have found homes and Rachel did her part in helping write Thank You Notes this year!

Kindergarten Christmas Performance

This morning, as well as tomorrow morning, Rachel's class and the afternoon Kindergarten class that shares her classroom will be performing their Christmas songs and poems. The two classes learned a total of 15 songs and poems and did a GREAT job!!!

Field Trip to the Christmas Tree Farm

Today, three of the five Kindergarten classes at our school went on a field trip to a local popular Christmas Tree Farm. (It's also the Pumpkin Patch during the Fall months.) Sixty kids, a dozen or so parents, and three teachers all managed to get on one school bus. We were supposed to go last Friday, but due to a rain storm, the trip had to be rescheduled to today.

It was the first field trip of the school year, maybe the only one. It was the first time Rachel had ever been on a school bus and it's something she'd been desiring to do since the first day of school.

Lining up to get on the bus. Sitting in the VERY back of the bus. Family friend, Isaiah sat behind us. We arrived to the tree farm just in time to hop on some flat beds to be pulled by a tractor around the property for a tour. We saw the fields used for pumpkins in the Fall, and some Christmas trees, and some animals along the way. After our tractor ride, we went to an outdoor amphitheater and learned the anatomy of a conifer tree. Surprisingly, the kids all sat well for the most part and listened.After the 'learning part' the kids all got to go into one of the smaller petting zoos, which they all loved. There were bunnies, chickens (in a caged area), a large turtle, and goats! The kids had fun chasing the animals about. But it was soon time to line up and head back to the bus and then back to school. Thankfully on the ride home our class was the last to board and we were able to sit up front for the ride home. Again, the kids all loved riding on the bus. The tree farm sent home a seedling tree for each student, as well as a little coloring book and box of crayons. The kids all loved their little Christmas trees. It was a fun field trip and I'm so glad to have been able to have gone. I went with Hannah's class when she was in Kindergarten and Rachel was just a baby who stayed home with Gramma. So it was fun to get to go with Rachel's class!

Haircut!!!

Rachel has been in need of a haircut for some time now. Her bangs were getting so long, they were getting in the way of her beautiful eyes. It's been a very long time since the back of her hair had been cut. I'd been waiting for the hunks of hair she cut last December to grow and catch up to a reasonable length and it finally did!So today after school, I took her to get her hair cut. She sat so still and did a great job and was very pleased with her new haircut. Not only did she have her bangs cut, but she had about 2 1/2 inches cut from the back. It all looks so healthy and neat now! I have no immediate after picture, but there's one coming up in the pictures I took from her field trip.

Making a List

We took the girls to Toys R Us this evening to wander up and down the aisles to make a Christmas list. We did this last year and it worked out wonderfully! The girls had a good time writing down anything and everything they saw and wanted. Next step will be to figure out what it is that we want to buy her!

Funny Faces

Rachel and I were sitting in the car of a friend the other day, waiting for our kids to get out of school. Rachel found these googly eyes in her car. Little did I know that she took them for her own until we were on our way home and she called for my attention to look at her in the back seat, which is when I found her like this with the googly eyes. Most definitely a character!