Polar Plunge 2014

Cinderella has a Polar Plunge team every year and this year Etta wanted to participate.  She understood that she was going to raise money for kids to participate in the Special Olympics but I think that's about it.  But I did explain she will be raising the money by jumping in a cold pool.  She didn't seem too worried.

I want to thank all of our family and friends who supported Etta (my mom, grandma, Eric's brother, and aunt and uncle).  She raised her goal of $125 which pays for one Olympian to compete.  Plus she got an Adult Small (about three times her size) sweater and a free lunch.  She is very proud of that sweater.  After registering she got to meet Miss Nevada. 

Etta with Miss Nevada

 I even talked a friend of Etta's from gymnastics to participate as well.  She's done one before where they actually had to cut ice out to get into the water.  Needless to say our Polar Plunge was more like a spring plunge since it was in the high 70's.  I wish I had brought my swimsuit too!

Etta with her friend Claire

It was so nice the Cinderella team was in the water at least an hour before the plunge.  Of course this water wasn't as cold as the main pool but the kids had fun splashing around for an hour.

Testing out the water before the Plunge

 Here is the team before the Parade.  Oops missing a team member.

The Cinderella Cold Water Crowns

Etta promised to do a belly flop into the pool to earn her last $25.  I think she forgot about it when she had to stand poolside for 5 minutes until the clock struck noon.  As you can tell, she did not belly flop!  She swam across the pool and when she got out I made her belly flop in which was not recorded.  Claire's mom was recording while sitting pool side.  Of course when everyone jumped in the water sloshed over the side getting her wet, hence the shaking video camera.

She is now telling me she does not want to do that again next year since the pool was too cold.  Hmmm, wonder if she'd sign up to raise money but be a 'chicken' and not jump in?  The highlight of her day was when we won a raffle.  She considers it hers since I let her put 10 tickets into whichever prize she wanted to win.  Of course this was one of them.  Looks like we are going to see the dolphins at the Mirage, paint some pottery, and eat some sandwiches now.

Etta and her raffle prize

I love that Etta is getting active in the community and learning to be a good citizen.  Now if I can only talk Chloe into doing it too!

Clark County Cinderella Pageant

Etta had a local Cinderella pageant this past weekend.  What made this pageant really special is that her best friend from first grade came to cheer her on.  After taking pictures with my cell phone I realize my phone takes really crappy pictures but I just don't have the patience to carry around my nice Nikon.
Etta loves to interview but I heard she was pretty fidgety while sitting through interview.  Good to know so we can work on that.

Just before interview with judges

 All my pictures of casual wear and party dress were too blurry to add to the blog so I'm going to skip right to her talent routine.  She changed her old routine a little to add a couple of new skills.  She bobbled on a few things and she ended a little early (she always rushes when she's nervous) but over all it showed what she can do.

She didn't win the Overall Mini Miss title but she did win the Talent title.  One of the judges came up to ask where she takes contortion and mentioned Etta was her first choice pick which really made Etta happy.

 Here are the contestants, State, and Local title holders.

The little girl in leopard print won the tot Overall Title and I helped her prepare for the pageant the two weeks before hand.  She's so full of personality and super cute.

Kiera, super excited about her trophy and crown.

Sunday is normally contortion practice but the contortion classes and Kung Fu classes were going to perform at the Chinese New Year Festival just across the street instead.  Etta was excited when she was given a little routine to perform with another girl her age with similar abilities.  They performed twice that day and enjoyed getting up on stage in front of everyone.  Sorry the video is from behind stage.  I would never have made it to the front of the audience in time to video it.

Disney February 2014

We took off towards Disneyland after school Friday which the girls had been on a countdown for weeks!  Don't tell the girls this...but after Eric checked into our hotel (Park Vue Inn) he gave me the key to do our first load of luggage.  While doing so I put gifts for each of the girls (courtesy of the Disney Outlet) out on their bed while they were getting their new suitcases from Christmas into the room.  They noticed a new Minnie Mouse stuffed animal and Minnie ears (ok, I didn't realize it until during our vacation that these were probably 'bride ears' but they were a great price at the outlet and knew the girls would love them) on their bed.  Needless to say they loved the fact that Minnie had personally been to our room to deliver their gifts.  Heee heee. 

Just arrived in Anaheim, California

If you happen to wonder, the girls are in bunk beds which was one of the options at the hotel.  Last year we did the two queen beds and I remember a lot of knees and feet in my back throughout the back (and those weren't Eric's). I was more than happy to comply this year with the bunk bed request.  At first, the girls wanted to sleep on top together but they wouldn't stop talking.  So, I moved Chloe to the bottom and Etta got the top.
We woke up bright and early for a day at the parks and we started out with Disneyland.  Everything I had read said resorts guests and three day park hoppers got a magic morning so when I showed up of course they said that excluded Military.  REALLY.  My face might have turned the color of my hair.  I told them that I could open their website and show them that three day park hoppers got in one morning and hour early and they let us in.  I'm still pissed about that.


Happy sisters

We started out with Etta's favorite, Space Mountain.  We then headed to Chloe's favorite, the Matterhorn, but it wasn't working and by the time it was working later in the morning the line was over an hour long.  The girls did want to do rides we skipped last year due to lines.  Yep, that included Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  The girls even let us take them on Pirates of the Carribean which they both road at our feet last year!

Etta riding solo

Daddy riding with Chloe

We headed over to California Adventure for lunch at Ariel's Grotto.  The girls got to meet Ariel before being seated.  The girls were pretty excited!

Meeting Ariel at Ariel's Grotto

Our lunch hour was outside rather than inside which is tough on us pale people (perfect location to watch the fountain show).  Our table ended up being the first table that the princess stopped at.  The girls didn't do much talking, more staring than anything.  But, we got some great pictures of the girls with them.

Chloe and Cinderella

The girls with Cinderella

The most convincing princess of all was Snow White.



Snow White and the girls

The girls with Belle

Aurora and the girls

We kept hoping that one of the princesses from Frozen would be there so we could check that box off and not have to wait in line at some point in the trip.  Oh well.


Since it was later in the day by the time we were done we didn't get a chance to ride Cars' Racers which is my favorite but we did ride CA Soarin', Goofy's Sky School, Grizzly River Run, Maters' Junkyard, and the Swings.  I told the family that this year I was going on the Tower of Terror with or without them and the girls agreed to go.  Let me just say I was surprised.  Of course it was night time by the time we went on it and let's just say they were scared!  You can tell by the next picture.

Terror of Tower ride #1

However, they went two more times during our trip there and have to show you their faces in the next two pictures.

Terror of Tower ride #2

Terror of Tower ride #3

Yes it's a scary ride but they learned to cover their eyes during all the scary stuff and then enjoy the drop.

The next morning (Superbowl Sunday) we started out in California Adventure and it opened at 8am so we got an early start (yeah fast passes for Racers).  At first the lines were non existent so we hit Goofy Sky School again, then did the Toy Story ride for the first time (which was tons of fun), the swinging Ferris Wheel, and a couple other rides.  Eric told me to try California Screamin' as a single seat rider and I basically walked right on.  For an upside down roller coaster it was a smooth ride.

Why so sad Eric?

The second favorite ride, Goofy's Sky School



Last year the Grizzly River Run was closed for repairs but we got to ride it this time.  We didn't realize how wet you can get on it but luckily one passer byer gave us a Disneyland poncho which we covered both of the girls with.  We still got wet.  The second day we were smart enough to put in our rain jackets too so we stayed dryer but still managed to soak our pants and shoes.  The wait was usually only a few minutes and we road this more than any other ride.  Here's Chloe after conquering the ride yet again.

Loving Grizzly River Run

We hopped back over to Disneyland later the second day and rode some more rides.  This time the girls wanted to look cute during the Space Mountain photo.  I figured I'd surprise them too but then I covered Chloe's face.  Oops.

Space Mountain

Eric's parents drove up from Oceanside to have dinner with us Sunday evening.  We had some Italian delivered to the hotel so the girls could swim in the heated pool and hot tub.  They were in there forever and had a good break away from the park.

Our third and final day was Monday and both parks didn't open until 10am! We decided to split the day between the two parks again.  We got in at 9:45am (15 minutes before it opened???) and I went straight to where the Frozen Characters meet and greet.  I got in line for when they opened at 11am.  Eric and the girls met up with me at 10:30 in line and met both Anna and Elsa at 11:45am.  Now, if you are planning on going look to see when they arrive and plan accordingly.  By the time we were done the wait was about 3 hours long. 
One of the girls that met the princesses before us (maybe 4 years old) sang Let It Go to them.  It was quite impressive.  My girls however just wanted to say hi and get their pictures taken with them.



Anna and Elsa from Frozen

And for waiting two hours we figured we needed to get in there as well.

The whole family

One last goodbye

The girls stopped for very few characters, this was one of them.

We spent some time in Toon Town as well.  It's so cool looking!

The girls in Toon Town

Mickey and the Winterbottom family

Before leaving Disneyland we were going to ride Space Mountain one last time with a fast pass and it was closed with problems.  Go figure!  We did find a Fix It Felix Jr game in the store near the ride and had fun with that.  Plus, Etta decided to spend all her shopping money on Infinity for our Wii U.  Something the whole family could enjoy.

Oh yeah, Fix It Felix Jr!

We had a great three days at Disneyland and have no desire to go back for at least another year.  That's exhausting!

Etta Turns 8

Where has the time gone?  I still remember most of my pregnancy with Etta as if it were last year.  I can't believe she's gone from a 4 pound baby to this little lady.  She's become outgoing, athletic, and studious these last two years.
Etta had been asking for an art themed birthday party so when I saw a groupon for The Social Paint Brush I snapped it up.  She was able to pick out which painting her friends would paint at the party out of many different paintings.  I was surprised she picked a dancing owl since that is Chloe's favorite animal, not Etta's.  Here are a few highlights from the party.

For some reason her friends love picking her up and carrying her around.

A pre-party beverage for Chloe (hence the favorite owl).

Art themed dessert: Rice Krispie Treat Paint Brushes, palette cookies (I did two different kinds, with M&Ms and others with the candy melts I used on the paint brushes), and colorful cupcakes on palettes.

Smocked and ready for painting.

Our instructor for painting, Eric.

Let's go!

The only boy allowed at the birthday party (minus dad of course), Kade.

Chloe loved painting her owl!

All done and even signed.

One happy birthday girl.

The finished products.  It's fun seeing how each one made theirs slightly different.

 Etta's birthday party was actually before her real birthday since she had a gymnastics meet the following weekend.  We didn't want to have a conflict since you don't have the gym schedule until usually the week before so that's why her party was a little early this year.  So, the celebration continued the day of her birthday and you should have seen her bound down those stairs in the morning.  Here she is greeting her dad with a super grin.

Eric took the day off of work so she could open her presents in the morning rather than wait until near bedtime to open them (which is when he normally gets home).  She had some amazing family presents to open and even her BFF who just moved to New Mexico sent her a gift.  Let's just say this smile was plastered on her face for nearly a week!
My little girl...she's getting so big.

Etta's Last Gym Meet

Etta has requested to try rhythmic gymnastics which means she has to give up something to do it.  That happens to be artistic gymnastics.  We're coming up on her last week of practice and this past weekend was her last competition.  I've promised if she doesn't like rhythmic gymnastics she can return to artistic gymnastics so you may see more of these in the future.  We shall see.  Here are some videos of each event.

The first video is of her beam routine.  This was the first time she's done a kick over on the beam and ended up with a personal best of 9.2!  She placed 4th out of 10.

 

Next was vault one of two.  This one looked better than the second vault and she scored a 9.0 which gave her second place out of 10.

 I was sitting in a great spot, except I couldn't see all of the floor routine since the judges were right in front of me.  Etta had just gotten her round off back hand spring and her coach said she should do it as a last hurrah.  She did!  However her arms were bent so the judge killed her score and she got an 8.575.  She ended in 10th which I thought was crazy, especially after watching a lot of the other floor routines.  But, I told Etta I was so excited she tried it and did it fairly well (ie not landing on her face!).

I love watching Etta's bar routine, it makes me realize just how strong she is and that she'll probably loose that going to rhythmic gymnastics.  Hopefully continuing contortion will help.  She scored a 9.4 which isn't her highest score to date but she did awesome.  She also received 4th place for bars.

  

2nd place on vault

4th on bars

4th on beam

10th on floor

4th All Around

  I'm proud of her for putting two brand new skills in for her last meet!