Our trip to California!!

Well, after another 4 weeks, here are 3 new entries...

Over the Fourth of July this year, we took a trip to California. The girls and I drove out with my folks a few days early and Shane flew in Thursday evening. We visited with my sister, Alisha, went to the beach, and visited Disneyland. Eva had so much fun at the beach! She loved the giant "sand box", but was still hesitant when it came to the BIG waves coming in. : ) She said the cutest thing - she looked out at the other kids playing in the ocean and said "Many, many kids in the pool." What a sweetheart!

My Dad flew a kite at the beach, which Eva thought was pretty neat. Sophia pretty much just stayed on the blanket with my Mom or Dad and breathed in the refreshing salt air.

These are my feet and Eva's feet. I also took a picture of our footprints next to each other. It will be nice to look back and remember how small her feet were once.

And now Disneyland. Eva, again, had a lot of fun. She rode on her first rides!! They were: Storybook Land Canal Boats (picture 1), Mad Tea Party (picture 2), King Arthur Carousel (picture 3), Disneyland Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Gadget's Go Coaster (actually a pretty thrilling little coaster!), Casey Jr. Circus Train (picture 4), and Dumbo the Flying Elephant (picture 5). If you look closely, Eva is holding a black plastic feather on the Dumbo ride. It was a "ticket" that they come around and gather before the ride starts. If I remember correctly, wasn't it a feather that Dumbo held in his trunk that he thought helped him fly?? Then while Shane and I were taking Sophia in to meet Mickey Mouse, Eva climbed on Chip 'n Dale's Treehouse and Donald's Boat.

We also sat on the side of the road and watched the twice daily parade. Eva was so spellbound by the characters! They were singing and dancing and smiled at her. And the costumes were pretty cool too!

In case you are wondering where Sophia was, she was in the stroller the whole day! In a couple of years we will go back to the "Happiest Place on Earth" and she can have her turn at the rides!

Snow White's castle...

Right before we left, we took a family photo in front of the entrance. This year, Tinkerbell (top right in the picture) lights up Mickey's face - as you see here. Of course, since it is about 11:00 pm, both girls are fast asleep! : )

The 2 Kiesow girls...

Here are some pictures of our little girls. In the first one, Eva is giving Sophia a kiss! How sweet she can be, sometimes. : )

Miss Sophia

Here are a few pictures of our little Sophia. It has been fun to watch her personality coming through. Boy, can she be feisty when she doesn't get her way! For example, the other day in the car, she had lost her Binky and lo-and-behold, she found her thumb! Not that I hate thumb-sucking, it is just that it is harder to curb than using a Binky (in my opinion). So, I bought those newborn "mittens", the ones so the baby doesn't scratch themselves, and have been putting them on Sophia. Well, when she goes to suck her thumb and there isn't a thumb there to suck, let's just say the happy smiling baby you see in this first picture disappears! : )

Just recently I started laying Sophia on this play mat. It can be hard, because I need to watch Eva around Sophia constantly - she tends to want to play a little rough. Anyway, Eva used to kick the ball when in here, but Sophia does it so much more! Maybe Sophia will also be a soccer player?? Mommy can only hope!

These last two pictures are my "Where's Waldo?" pictures. (Do you guys remember him?) I also did this with Eva. When they are older they will be able to see how little they were since they can compare themselves to their stuffed animals and dolls! (I added Eva's picture after Sophia's.)