Renn Faire 2013

We had our annual Renn Faire day on May 18th with two of our friends: Kristen and Daniel.  This was Kyler's first time at the Renn Faire because last year I was VERY pregnant.  We of course saw the joust (where I got Kyler snuggles).

We saw our favorite washing well wench show and then changed things up a bit by going to the kids' area for playing time and a magic show where Kristen got to be an assistant.

Kyler didn't really appreciate the idea of sitting and watching the shows, so I did a lot of running after him as he walked wherever he pleased.  He rode in the stroller a bit when we could actually get him to and was carried the other part of the time.

Makenna had seen one of the rides and decided that she wanted to try it.  So, graciously Kristen went on with her while Daniel took amazing pictures.  You gotta love friends!!  It was so hilarious to watch Makenna's face as they slowly wound the ride up and up the pole until it was up the furthest it would go.  Then they let it go and it twirled quickly down.  Makenna's face stared off as a scared little girl and made Toby and I doubt our decision to put her on the ride.  But then that scared little face started to turn into a smile and then into giggles of joy.  She was not traumatized for life...Phew!!

And Makenna made a "best" friend in the process (Kristen and she were inseparable from then on).

And then the Renn Faire wouldn't be complete without us posing in some picture cutouts:-)

The three girls caught in the stocks.

Pirate Kyler

Princess Daddy?!?!

At that point it was time for us to leave, but we know we will be going back again next year for more fun.

Disney On Ice Girls' Night

Our little girl is growing up so fast and it is so fun to watch her.  With a little brother that competes for attention, it was really nice to get to do something special with just her.  Daddy stayed home with a sleeping Kyler and Makenna and I headed out on May 8th to Ontario to see Disney On Ice.  Makenna, like any other little three year old girl, is fascinated by Disney princesses.  Her favorites are Cinderella and Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty).  Makenna was SUPER excited when I told her that we were going to see princesses.  She had no idea what to expect because one, she had never been to a live performance like this before, and two, she has never seen or been ice skating before.  So, my attempts to prepare her didn't really help since she really had no prior knowledge to tap into:-)

When we got there there was a huge line with a lot of other little girls dressed in all kinds of princess dresses.  Makenna told me what each of them was dressed as while we waited patiently for our turn to show our tickets and enter the building. Then of course once we made it in we were bombarded with everything Disney.  Once we got through all of the craziness though, we got to our seats and we actually ended up getting terrific seats very close to the ice.  Since we arrived just after the doors opened, we were there pretty early and so we had to wait very patiently for the show to actually get started.  It was really nice though, because about 10 minutes before the show was scheduled to begin several performers came out and did a small comedy-type act that kept the kids entertained and laughing.

And then finally the show started and she was mesmerized.  I was so grateful that it was a kids performance and that she didn't have to be completely quiet because she liked to tell me everything that was happening during the whole performance.  But compared to the other kids she was very well behaved and a lot quieter than most of the others.  I was very proud of her:-)

We got out of there pretty late at night but had a marvelous time!  Since Makenna is getting older, Toby and I need to make a point to take her out alone and do big kid stuff with her.  And we both look forward to getting those opportunities with our wonderful little girl.

Another Trip To Our Favorite Gardens

On May 2nd we got the opportunity to go to the Huntington Library again.  And since everyone knows by now how much we LOVE it, we were of course excited to go.  This time we took our friend along with us and it made it even more special because it was her birthday!!

We of course headed straight for the children's garden and entered the magical land through the door of the "blue house" (nicknamed by Makenna).

We encountered a turtle riding princess.

And hand-in-hand made it through the enchanted tunnel.

Kyler found a leaf that he was quite enthralled by and enjoyed carrying it around everywhere.

We thought that he would never give up the leaf until he saw the play fountains and decided to give it up for a good cause: SPLASHING!!

I am pretty certain Kyler would have just went in head first if I hadn't been holding him.  Let me tell you, he threw such a fit when I took him away from the water.  He had such a blast!!

We went through the conservatory and saw the fish...

And we finished our day by walking through the Japanese Gardens and Australian Gardens.  Then we headed to BJs Pizza for a delicious birthday lunch.  Happy birthday to my wonderful friend!!  Thank you for joining us on our adventures.