No Downhill for Me

It was recently my birthday, my 40th birthday to be exact. It turned out to be a good day. I had to share it with Jeff because it was Father's Day and I shared it with Annalise because it was her dance recital that day. Even so it was nice.

It started off with Jeff announcing to the church congregation that it was my 40th birthday. I was happy to see a lot of people were surprised by the number -- I may be 40 but at least I don't look it. People thought he was in trouble for announcing my age but how little do they know me. I really don't care about the age, I was annoyed that he announced it from the pulpit. I like my birthdays to be quiet affairs with little fuss.

Jeff likes to tease me about my age. I'm actually 6 months older than him. You think being the older one would command a little respect -- nope, not in the least! Anyway, he was teasing me that everything is down hill now. That's when I told him. I may have stopped climbing the ladder but I'm going to stay on the platform for a long time.

The next day the whole family (even Jeff) went to Six Flags Magic Kingdom. We took Annalise's friend Tess and had a good old time. We ended up splitting up for maximum fun. Jeff took the older girls so they could ride the BIG rides while Robyn and I hung out together.

So, we went and saw a show

rode lots of rides

and Robyn managed to get soaking wet.

It was a good day!

Dance Recital 2010

It's the time of year. Oh yes, dance recital time. I have strong feelings about these recitals. First off, there are four freaking performances over three days. Secondly, the last two years they have been held over my birthday and Father's Day. I have the dubious pleasure of periodically sharing my birthday with Father's Day. Hopefully next year the recital will be on a different weekend or else I might go on strike! Okay, I'll probably won't because Robyn will be starting dance classes in next year, and I promise to stop whining. Here are some pictures from the recital:

Short video of a portion of Annalise's dance:

New Haircut

Today I gave in. Robyn has been asking me to get her haircut. You know the way little kids ask repeatedly several times a day. She wanted bangs. Well, we just grew them out and I wasn't any hurry to chop them off as it takes a long time to grow those suckers out. But --- Annalise got bangs a few months ago so that meant Robyn now wanted bangs. She always wants whatever Annalise has or does. Sometimes it's cute and sometimes it's just downright annoying.

Jeff & Annalise were in SF this weekend to watch a Giants game and run a 5k race the next morning. So I needed to find something to do that was fun. Last night we saw the new Shrek movie (if you haven't seen it yet, wait until it comes out on DVD) and today she got her haircut.

front view
back view

I like the haircut but she looks so different with bangs. I especially like how the back turned out. The hairdresser really cut it well. Now we will just have to see what happens the next time it's washed -- will it look as cute when I get ahold of it? That is the million dollar question.

New Camera

My new camera.

I bought on sale from Best Buy last Monday. I'm still trying to figure it out so don't expect perfect pictures -- yet. Annalise is also excited because I gave her my old camera. She's been having fun taking pictures of everything.

Preschool Graduation

This week was Robyn's last day at preschool -- next year it's kindergarten! It was an interesting year. Due to my mistake (okay, it was a huge mistake -- but it's one that takes a lot of explaining so I'll save that for another time) she ended up having to sit out for a month. But thanks to the teachers & Dad she was able to finish the last month with her friends.

waiting for graduation to start

Receiving her certificate. I claim no responsibility for her hair. She did that all on her own. You should have seen her before school. She was also rocking these big neon green glasses. Madonna, here she comes.

enjoying an after program cupcake

with her preschool teachers

Music Mania

Music Mania was the district's music department's fundraiser. Elementary school music class are going to be cut so the department set up this eight hour music extravaganza in order to raise money. So, Annalise got to play again. We also got to see the UC Davis marching band play. They were really good and very fun to watch!

(These pictures turned out because they were outside. I guess my camera just doesn't like indoor shots.)

I so want a new camera

I so need a new camera! This week was Annalise's first band concert. In her school district fifth graders get to start taking band and she chose learn how to play the flute.

Granted this concert featured first year elementary school band members but I thought they did well. If anything, they were certainly better than they were in September!

So with this momentuous occasion, so of course I wanted to take pictures. Did I tell you my camera stinks? For most of the time I like my camera. I've had it for four years and it has served me well --- unless I'm taking indoor pictures. This is what happens:

everything is dark when I use the auto setting. So I change the setting to indoor shots. This is what I get:

now everything is blurry. I usually take okay pictures so I'm thinking that it's not just me. Right?????

I think I need to buy a new camera and Annalise can have my old one. It will be perfect for her. Right now I have a Canon Powershot, any suggestions?