5 year old female

Does anyone have any good suggestions of birthday gift ideas for a girl who will be turning 5? That girl happens to be my oldest daughter, and for some reason, we are at a loss of what to do for her. Her birthday is April 25th. She enjoys: make believing (playing coffee stand, going to grocery store, playing mom and baby, etc,) drawing, playing outside, reading. She is not much into: TV/movie watching. Thanks for your help!

Growing Up

Jocelyn: "Mom, I want to stay a kid, because if I'm an adult, I will miss my Dora jammies."

Tinkerbell

After standing in a LONG line at Disneyland to see Tinkerbell in person, Genevieve became super shy! This shot was taken as quickly as possible, knowing that it was our only chance because she was not in her comfort zone. She later told us that she was shy to take a picture with her because she didn't know that she was going to be real!

For Spirit week at Preschool, they dressed up as their favorite Storybook Character.

Her choice: Tinkerbell!

Where do we go from here?

Sam to the girls: "God wants mommy and daddy to teach you how to not fight with each other."

Jenna: "Well, you're not teaching us because we're still fighting."

Jocelyn: "We like to fight."

Disneyland- February 2011

Our day at Disneyland was long, energy-consuming, adventurous, long, exciting, memory building, and did I say long?

Our resort was 2 hours away, so we started the day with a 5am wake up call (this after I suffered the night with vomiting and diarrhea), left by 6 to get there at 8am opening. We tried to stay until the fireworks at 9:45pm, but realized that we were only asking for complete meltdowns...from all four of us, so we left and were home by 9pm.

The memory-building part, was by far the most enjoyable part of the day!

This picture was taken by Sam of Jenna on the carousel. Pretty nice shot if you ask me!

The infamous castle at Fantasy land
Standing in a long line for "It's a Small World."

And then finally boarding our boat with friends Nick, Lauren, and baby Nicholas Gombos.

Jocelyn has been slightly obsessed with Snow White lately. Her main goal for the day was to be able to hug Snow White. Unfortunately, there was no designated time for pictures with Snow White, but Jocelyn was able to watch her perform with other princess's. She was brave enough to walk to the front of the stage to be in a picture with Snow White in the back ground. Snow White even looked at Jocelyn and waved right to her.

Then, Snow White came down on stage and did a ribbon dance with some of the kids. Jocelyn was in awe that she was dancing with her!

And then...Snow White left the stage and Jocelyn never got a chance to hug her! This was Jocelyn's mood from that point on. Lovely!

And to top it off, we took her on the Snow White ride (which happens to be called "Snow White's Scary Adventures") and it scared the living bajeebees out of her. Thanks to the picture below, Jocelyn is now afraid to go the bathroom, or any other room by herself because there might be a witch in there! Thanks to the "Happiest Place in the World" my daughter is terrified of witches!

On a lighter note, the girls loved the Tree House.

Probably the only family picture taken on our vacation...as a family. Sad, I know!

Aside from seeing the princesses, the highlight was the Tea-cups. Due to the events taken place in my bathroom the night before, I refrained from riding this ride with them. :)

A side note: Genevieve got to take a picture with Tinkerbelle (after standing in an hour long line) but I will add it to another post. You will see why. If you stay tuned. :)

3 year old "art"

Imagine my surprise when Jocelyn, my 3 year old, told me that she could write her and her sister's names. I smiled the, "yeah, sure you can honey" smile, knowing full well that it wasn't possible.

And then she proved me wrong.

This was done 100% by her and I didn't even have to tell her how to spell them.

I was, and am still, very impressed! :)

The Children's Museum

One rainy morning, we decided to take the girls to the Children's Museum to let them experience a new environment.

We began with making Butterfly masks.

Sam was especially proud of his piece of work. (Don't worry...I was watching the road.) :)

Genevieve immediately found herself in her natural habitat in the grocery store. At home, she enjoys playing "coffee stand" and likes for you to order coffee from her. Unfortunately, she hasn't caught on to the fact that the customer pays for the product. She likes to give you the your coffee as well as the money it costs. :)

The pizzeria was also a hit. Genevieve worked well up front with the customers delivering them their orders and accepting their money...

While Jocelyn preferred to be behind the scenes preparing and cooking the pizzas.

Is it ironic that this is not the first picture of Jocelyn with a motorcycle? We may have a rebel on our hands!