Girls Trip 2009

Fun can not even begin to describe our week. So pictures will just have to do. On DAY 1 we went to the Disney Hollywood Studios theme park. By far my favorite ride was Rockin Roller Coaster. I could have stayed all day on here. And no ride is complete without a stop at the gift shop. You never know who you might run into there.














We actually did have a celebrity sighting, but we lost him. Then guess who shows up in line ahead of us at the very next ride? And guess who stalked said celebrity in true paparazzi fashion? This ride was the Hollywood Tower of Terror. And during the ride they take your picture. And guess whose picture we bought at the end of this ride? Well, yeah, besides our own! (in case your still wondering - this is Joey Fatone. One of the N'sync boys who also hosted the singing bee!)
















DAY 2 was for the Magic Kingdom. And we started our day with a healty Character Breakfast with Mickey and the Gang. We stayed all the way until the fireworks. They lit up the castle with lights and it was all so beautiful!

DAY 3 was Epcot day. And hopefully they will not remember us next year! (we actually did have an employee remember us from last year!) We had a little fun with Nemo and toured the countries. We even had a little sampling of drinks in each country! And DAY 4 was Animal Kingdom. By then we were tired and worn out. A leisurely drive through the African jungle was just what we needed.

We Are Alive And Well!

We survived the three weeks of snow and way below freezing temperatures. And we stayed clear of all the flooding that came with the rain and melting snow the following week. Christmas was quiet around the McAllister House - but it was white! Our very first White Christmas! Hubby shoveled snow off the roof and made a sled hill in the back yard for the kids. We stayed home for New Years Eve - and struggled to stay awake until midnight. The kids had no problem with this though. We had a small family party for Little Man's birthday and we took treats into his daycare class. Then we had a big party for all his school friends at the skating rink after the winter break. Right now I am getting ready for the big Girls Week at Disneyworld! Ten days and counting!

Seasons greetings

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. It has been very busy at the McAllister House. Holiday concerts, seasonal crafts and projects, shopping, baking . . . the list goes on! And the snow - did I mention that?!?!? We have been buried under snow for about a week now! With no end in sight. We did take a minute to go good old Santa Claus at the mall. Little Man is still not sure about going go see him. And he definately would not sit on Santa's knee! LOL!




















Hubby and I took some time for ourselves did the St. Nick wine tasting tour. We had alot fun - and we even got to have our picture taken with Santa Claus!

Life has that funny way . . .

. . . of interfering with my blogging! We have been busy here on the home front. I have been taking some craft classes at my favorite local winery. What can be better than friends, crafts and wine! We made these lighted santa and reindeer from wine bottles. Then I went to a class to learn to make my own wreaths from grapevines. I was so excited about that one. I get to harvest my own grapevines here soon and I am going to turn them into wreaths. Miss K. has already volunteered to help. They have to dry for a year before you can start gluing stuff on them. I have already warned everyone that they are getting homemade wreaths for christmas next year!

Halloween 2008

It's a little different having a teenager at Halloween time. No more cute, pretty costumes. After watching a zombie movie with her dad, Miss K. decided that she would like to be a zombie for Halloween. She made her costume all by herself - dad helped a little with the make-up!



















With the new cartoon out, the boys picked these characters for Halloween. Obi and Darth Vadar.

Mr. A's 12th Birthday

We had a Rockband/videogame party. All the boys had so much fun - no one wanted to leave.














Mr. A got a bunch of stuff from the latest japanese card game for the preteen set. All the boys were very excited to check it out!

Everyone loves a Circus

A few weeks ago we all went to the circus that was performing here in town. It was the first time all three kids had been to a real circus. They all loved it. And so did us parents too!

Harvest Festival

We went out to a little shopping area that had harvest festivities going on. There was a special going on at a glass blowing store, we stopped in to check out. They had a few items that you could make - and blow your own self. Little Man ended up getting blow his own glass pumpkin. He got to pick the colors for it too. (they also do birthday parties there - good to know for the future!)

Adding the color to the plain glass:

Little Man blowing the glass into shape:

About to snip the glass off the steal rod:

Proud owner of a glass pumpkin!

It is official . . .

I am now the mother of a T E E N A G E R! Miss K. turned 13 this past weekend. The only thing she wanted for her birthday was a unicycle. (something she has been wanting for quite awhile)




















We has a small slumber party with a couple of friends, and Miss K. blew out the candles on her birthday cheesecake!

Fair fun

I'm back! We've been busy people lately - trying to adjust to our new routines. The kids are happy to be back in school. Little Man is loving kindergarten. And rididng the school bus. Last weekend we took some time off of our schedules to go to the county fair. We hit up EVERY food booth. Each one of us had a different fair food we wanted. Good thing there is lots of walking to be done at the fair! The kids had fun on the rides and playing games. Everyone brought home a new stuffed animal - or two.

My Baby Is Starting Kindergarten

Lots of tears later (all of which were mine) and its official! I am the mom of a kindergartener. The big yellow school bus comes to daycare and takes my baby away.




















Notice the lack of a backpack as we get off the bus at school! Good Thing mom was there to save the day!

Fun with Friends (day 5)

On our last whole day together, we went to see the Snoqualmie Waterfall. You get to see a gorgeous view from the top. And then we hiked down to the bottom and swam in the river at the bottom of the waterfall. It was a bit cold for me, but the kids had a blast. And the weather ended up being absolutely perfect for the afternoon!

Fun with Friends (day 4)

We did the BIG tour of Seattle. And the ride on the duck is the most fun way to do it. The duck is an old war vehicle that can go from the land to the water and back again. Our drivers name was Matt Agasgar. He wore crazy hat and played awesome music. Everyone on the vehicle yells and screams and sings along. And they have these wonderful duck quackers that we got for all the children. (which have been banned from being used in MY house!) I'm sure all the innocent people in downtown Seattle just LOVED us. (the driver told us that the duck quackers were voted the #1 most annoying noise in Seattle! LOL) My friend B. got to drive the duck when we were in the water because it was her birthday! After words we walk around the waterfront and had lunch at the Crabpot. And then we wandered over to Chinatown to look about.

Fun with Friends (day 3)

On this evening, we did a kids free night. We ate a fondue restaurant. The food was so yummy. Everything was either made table side or brought raw to the table and you cook it yourself.

Fun with Friends (day 2)

I ended up having to work the monday and tuesday that everyone was here. (darn that field trip training. my whole purpose of going to work both day was so that I could go on the field trips!) So, on monday everyone went to see Deception Falls and go hiking. Hubby had the whole week of vacation so he took the kids along.