Hazel's Blog

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2010-03-17T19:31:00.001-07:00

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January = not so many pictures :(

2010-01-31T18:45:00.000-08:00

This pretty much represents all of the pictures I took in January. Pathetic. First up, I was stressed out and busy at Hazel's party and didn't take a single picture. Luckily, Ross stepped in a took a few. But, birthday #4 is going to be poorly represented. *sigh*

AND THEN!! the Sunday after Hazel's birthday (January 3, the day that will live in infamy), I woke up with a bum back/leg. Come to find out, I herniated my L5 disc. Awesome. Thus, I spent most of January trying to lie down. Except that it didn't always work because (a) I have a kid and (b) January is the busiest time of the year at work. I sucked it up enough to go to work and that was about it. I knew I was in trouble when Hazel clapped because "mommy is getting up". Little did she know, I was just getting up to pee. 2010 will be the year of the bad mommy*.

I had an epidural cortisone shot on Friday. The dye they shot into my back was apparently made of battery acid and snake venom but the cortisone was fine. Or I was still in pain numbness from the dye. Anyway, I can take my pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds again so I am doing better (or at least adequate) and tired of being a gimp. My right foot is regaining some feeling and movement but still trips me up. A lot.

Moving on. I have a few pictures.

Hazel's birthday party. I did not get a cake made but Costco came through and we decorated it with Playmobil mermaids.

Hazel loved everything she got for her birthday (half of which we stashed away for later)
Wig from my work white elephant party. Our maintenance guy ended up with it and did not want it (shocking) and was kind enough to let me have it. As expected, Hazel loves it.
She made a snowman at the library story time. We love the library. Dang, I should have taken a picture of Hazel and her new library card.
Swimming lessons are not going well.
Unicorn horn. She is obsessed with unicorns and made herself a horn from Play-doh.
Happiness at going to a tea party with Auntie Michelle (who was kind enough to take the Hazel while Geoff took me to the hospital to have a giant needle stabbed in my back.
And that is it for January. I vow to not let pain nor numbness slow me down in February. You hear that sciatica!! I am done with you and your lameness (ha!)

*Currently, she is not feeling great, with a vicious cough and has been throwing up from the coughing. I am tired of changing her, washing her and her clothes and whatever she spits up/barfs on so I am back her cough into a garbage can. It has been working great because I can just rinse it out. Still, I feel bad. But, she seems happy with the arrangement.

December (really, December)

2010-01-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

I used up most of my sitting tolerance uploading pictures so there won't be a lot of writing. I tried to type on my beloved iPhone, but couldn't figure it out. So, I will just be quick.

We had fancy brunch at the Little America for Christmas. Hazel was extra fancy and wore her Cinderella dress.

Tayvia went regular fancy, not princess fancy.
The Santa was horrible. He had a weird look about him and wasn't very good with kids. Bad job, Little America.
Ha! My kid is a pill.
They had an awesome gingerbread house in the lobby.
Sometimes my kid is less of a pill.
Driving to my dad's on Christmas Eve. Hazel was exhausted and fell asleep. Being an awesome mom, I took a picture instead of removing the tiara. Also, I think I am currently driving on the freeway while taking this picture.
Jenni read Hazel a story.
Both Gloria and Hazel had crowns.
Cookies we made (from scratch!) for Santa.
Our stockings
Nova and Jenni spent the night too. Nova pondering eating the overbearing child.
Santa left us moustaches in our stockings.
Yeah! More food for Hazel's kitchen.
This is from a massive snowstorm we had on 12/30/09. Hazel went outside and played for at least an hour-and-a-half while I was working. A good break for both of us.
Cute!
My next goal is to get January's pictures uploaded. Including all the birthday pictures. Not today, however.

Maui Part 4: The "other" camera

2009-12-17T18:47:00.000-08:00

We only have a few beach shots, as our waterproof camera broke. Gah!! It doesn't recognize the door as shut. I say we override the sensor but Geoff wants to send it in to be fixed. Pshaw.

Anyway, the beach. The beach is great. The weather was perfect. It was really a fabulous week. I cannot thank Geoff's aunt Susan enough for the use of her condo. The location was great and it was nice to have the full kitchen to cook.

We built many a sand castle.

They were necessarily pretty but they were big.
And we made a mermaid tail for the little mermaid child.
She was blissfully happy about it. Later, she had us dig a moat around it and then "fill it in". As if you can fill in a moat with a tiny sand bucket running back and forth to the ocean. Have I mentioned the sciatica?!?! Luckily, she was fairly happy with the just mermaid tail, as long as we kept her somewhat damp.
And here is where Geoff broke the camera. Or it spontaneously broke itself. Grr. At least he got a couple of nice fish shots.

Maui Part 3: There are a lot more pics on the card without 200 pictures of waves

2009-12-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Continued from the previous post, I loves me some jelly fish. And even more than that, I love this creepy shot with Geoff being reflected in the glass. And even MORE than that, I love the Geoff.
Okay, this is a less creepy shot.
Hazel played tour guide.

This is a shark.
That is a sting ray.
Moving on from the aquarium.

We went to Lahaina (and had a crazy delish shave ice from ummm.... random shave ice stand. Look for it!) And we saw the banyan tree. Oh, I am sorry I meant THE Banyan Tree. Blah blah blah banyan blah blah.
Awesome family shot with the time.
So, I like family shots. I like to see all of us and to have proof of our happy-family-ness. The last time we went to Hawaii was in 2006 (ack! so long) and we took this shot in Hosmer's Grove.

2006:
And a similar shot in the redwood forest in 2009.

2009:
Holy cow, we have all changed so much. Of course, the kids is 4x older so she has changed the most but still.

We also went to Santa's photo-opportunity-land in the Queen K's Mall. Alas, Santa was sick. But, we took a picture anyway. A prior day we saw another Santa at the Maui Mall and we was creeeeeepy. We have a picture. But a physical picture, not digital. Come to my house and I will show you. Technically, it is at my work, but I will bring it home for you.
Oh, this is at the redwood forest, I should move it. Not gonna.
We also went to Iao Valley to hike around (which is awesome when (a) I gots the sciatica and (b) we are facing a 5.5 hour plane ride and thus my sciatica will be even worse if I inflame it by walking around. Also, I am old.)

Moving on. We saw a cat that looked like Rufus.
And we played in the houses.

And Geoff carried Hazel on his shoulders. That is the Iao needle in the background.
And, of course, we made Hazel keep up on her studies since she missed so many days of preschool.

I have a couple more shots from the little camera. But I am trying to boost my post count. Mwa hahahahaha

Maui Part 2: The kid (not just waves)

2009-12-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

Hookipa overlook.

I made this awesome dress for Hazel. I wish I had a full body shot of it, because it is truly adorable. Hopefully, it will still fit her in the summer and she can wear it again.

We also went to the aquarium.
Where Hazel learned to shoot water out of her fingertips.
And we saw the jelly fish. I love the jelly fish. There is a big tube of them in a dark room and they are awesome. It is my favorite part, hands down.
Hazel liked the sharks, and the aquarium tube.
Shaka.
But still plenty of attitude.
Okay, I have more, but I am uploading now.

Maui Vacation Post #1

2009-12-16T16:30:00.001-08:00

So the story starts out while I am unloading a plane. I notice a bunch of well protected equipment going to LAX that will be connecting to my flight to Maui later that day. At first I thought it was a band, but it looked more like filming equipment.

Several hours later, I find myself heading on a plane bound for Maui, and luck would have it that I am sitting across the aisle from guys talking about some sort of film project. I ask them if the equipment I saw earlier was theirs (it was) and asked them about their project. They told me that some of their crew left France earlier that day so they could be there to shoot Jaws. The biggest swell in 40 years was supposed to be hitting, so film crews and professional big wave surfers were making the voyage to Maui to surf Jaws.

I knew where we were going the next morning. Yep that's right - Supercuts to get the whole family new do's....... No no no! That was a test to see if you were really paying attention. We were off to Jaws! Not an easy trek. Its about a 2 mile hike through cane fields if you don't have 4 wheel drive. We parked and started to walk in and someone offered us a lift. We were not so lucky on the way out. Anyway you are here to see the pics, so without further ado, behold the awesome power of nature! (click on each pick for a larger image)

I love the spray on this one!

Another one of my favorite shots.

A behind the scenes look. Multiple jet ski / surfer pairs, 3 helicopters, supply and filming boats.

Say cheese!

Perhaps one day I will see the footage this guy took of me.

Two surfers, a helicopter, and a monster wave!

They were doing this for 3 days. I took pictures for 45 minutes. I doubt I filmed the biggest wave, but it was still amazing to watch, hear, and feel these rare waves in person. Jaws only breaks during the winter season, and only under the right conditions. I am doubtful that I will ever witness this again.

Picture overload-Part 1

2009-11-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hazel's first day of preschool.

And then we went to Orlando.
Oops, this is on the airport tram and is before we met the pink princess statue, but whatever.
At the water park, which was truly a highlight of Orlando. They had all ranges of slides, from itty-bitty for Hazel to crazy tall for Geoff. Videos in the next post.
It was a chore to get Hazel to try the tube ride but once she did it she was hooked (again, video in the next post).
And then she progressed to the even bigger slide.
Family shot.
As we were going through pictures, Hazel said, "Remember when you stuck my hand in Fritos and made me go to sleep?" Yeah, that is what happened. Really, she was tuckered out from the water park. My conference gave us sack lunches at the end and it was perfect for eating after the park, on our way to Tampa.

Fireworks on the cruise.
Disney's island with Captain Jack Sparrow.
Family with Donald Duck. Hazel said, "He is the captain of the yacht." Yacht?!?! How does she even know what a yacht is??
Geoff snorkeling.
He took this picture himself. You can barely see Minnie Mouse.
Family shot in the ocean. We only got one shot and then the batteries died. Doh.
This was at the REI, Hazel was exhausted and fell asleep in the cart. I think she wasn't feeling good.
More to come. But now I must go and enjoy the beautiful fall day.

GFA, Part Three

2009-10-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

Remember how I was going to bed? Me neither...

But, since I am parked at the computer, I decided to continue uploading pictures from Florida (but also keep reading past Florida to see the doll dress Hazel made).

These are from September 18, Day two of our cruise. Over a month ago. Man, I am a procrastinator.

We woke up bright and early Friday morning to see The Princesses. Backing up a bit, let me tell you about Disneyland. We went to Disneyland in June and waited in line approximately 14 hours to see princesses, and that was after cutting in line with Zoe and April... Herein lies the beauty of the Disney cruise. It may be $$$ but, no lines. Or, really, minimal lines. We probably took 30-45 minutes to see all four princesses (one line for all of them) and that included plenty of talking to each of them.

First up, Snow White.

Hugs for everyone.
Then we saw Belle (or "the yellow one" as we like to call her). She was oddly tan. I know she works on a cruise ship but, come on. She needs a little sunscreen.
I don't know if Belle got a hug. Maybe Hazel was afraid of the tan...
Pink princess. She was nuts. Do you see the massive quantities of make-up? Of course you do because, holy cow, that lady had a heavy hand with the eye shadow and lips and everything. Hazel didn't mind.
Next up, the blue one, Cinderella. Hazel repeatedly told her that she had the same dress at home.
Cinderella was cute and nice. And even though her dress is not pink, Hazel loved her best. And will be her for Halloween, if she can have a headband and necklace. Easy-peasy.
And, then we were in the Bahamas. Yee-haw.
Hazel was not a fan. We went through the Straw Market (meh) and bought some random-y souvenirs and then we went back to the ship and hung out at the pool. Much better...
Huh, this should be sooner because this is right after we got off the boat. Alas, I am not rearranging, just explaining. I love this shot of the two of them. And it is a nice shot of our boat. Look, that's our room!
It was Pirate's In the Caribbean night and we dressed like pirates. Barely.
And we got to meet Jack Sparrow. Hazel and Jack did not care for one another.
And then Hazel went to kid-land and dressed up. Because that is what she does.
Whilst at Kidlandia she obtained booty in the form of pirate head scarfs. Matey. Oh, and we won a pirate trivia game and got medals. Because we are winners. We win.
It is a big production, pirate night. They have dancing pirates and singing pirates and then Mickey Mouse comes in to save the day and then fireworks. (I have pictures of the fireworks on the mysterious "other camera" that I claim to own but never upload from. Because I am lame.)
I wish I had a better shot of the three of us. But Hazel was more impressed with all the characters and music and dancing and whatnot.

I promise to update with Part Four (I believe the final part) at some point in the near-ish future.

Not a part of GFA

2009-10-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

Remember how we went on vacation forever ago and I was blogging about that? Yeah, me neither.

Moving on.

Hazel and I made cookies the other day. And by "made" I mean I bought some dough and we rolled it, cut it and drowned it in sugar crystals. Good times.
Check the blue one. It had close to an inch of blue sugar on it. We got some of it but the rest just melted into a jack-o-lantern face. Awesome.
(I only had six pictures on my camera but I had to upload for the following shots)

Hazel got the American Girl catalog in the mail the other day (and Fisher Price today, grr) and she is in love. She wants everything but mostly the baby and the clothes. Oh, the clothes. I do not spend that much for clothes for my kid, I am (probably) not going to spend that much on clothes for a doll.

In a surprisingly successful attempt to distract her, we made doll clothes. And it was good. Way better than the cookies.

This was all Hazel.
As you can tell, the mermaid was pleased. I attached the sleeves to the dress but everything else was Hazel. She picked the fabric, cut it and then sewed everything together. Oh, I threaded the needles. We got a couple books on sewing doll clothes at the library tonight so we may have another round tomorrow.

The Grand Floridian Adventure Part 2

2009-09-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

As you may remember, when I last left off on the Grand Floridian Adventure it was September 13th (on the GFA, not posting). Now we are jumping ahead to September 17, because I have ZERO pictures from those between days. We did stuff but either (a) I don't have pictures or (b) they are on the other camera. Anyway, quick summary:

Monday, September 14: Meadow went to meetings all day, Geoff and Hazel swam in the pool and played with ponies. I think they also rode the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to see animals. But that could have been Tuesday (I think there are pictures of this on the other camera). Monday night we went out to dinner at the fancy-schmancy restaurant in the hotel, it was a conference thing. Hazel did not have a great time. Then we went swimming afterward and to the boardwalk. Or maybe that was Sunday. Man, my days are confused. Probably both days. We swam a lot. Oh, we also walked around Downtown Disney this day too. And had an extremely mediocre lunch at some restaurant that really should have been more delicious.

Tuesday, September 15: Meadow=meetings. Geoff and Hazel=stuff. We had dinner with the conference this night too and then we all went to Cirque du Soleil. It was pretty good, but I am glad I didn't have to pay for the tickets. The 7 bucks for popcorn was plenty and I got reimbursed for that.* Geoff and I went to the show that came through Utah at the E Center, but this was Hazel's first time. I think enjoyed watching her more than the show.**

Wednesday, September 16: Meetings and packing in the morning. Then a lady gave us tickets to the water park and we went in the afternoon. It was awesome and a lot of fun. I would have even paid. I KNOW! Paid! They had a great kid zone that had a multitude of slides in vary degrees of scariness and Hazel increased her bravery bit by bit. I know we have pictures of this on the other camera, cause it is waterproof. And then we drove to Tampa. Which was a long drive but totally worth it to see Geoff's cousin and her family. We went to dinner, and spent the night with them on Wednesday which brings us to Thursday and I have pictures.

Whew.

They live on this great pond with a bird.

And an alligator. Possibly a stick, except it really is an alligator and we saw it swim and yawn. They also have a swimming pool at their house. Lucky.
And, Hazel favorite part. A BABY! Yeah, for baby Aysia! Hazel was in baby heaven. She got to hold the baby and feed the baby and pat (burp) the baby. She wanted to sleep in the baby's room so she could "help her in the night" we put the kibosh on that. It was great seeing them and we would love to go visit them for more than a quick overnight trip.

And then we made the trek to Cape Canaveral. Unbeknown to me, Geoff had the GPS set to avoid toll roads. Which made for a very, very, very long drive across Florida. He claimed it was "scenic" but Hazel and I just watched cartoons in the backseat and waited to see our boat. Or ship. Whatever.

When we finally spied it, we were very excited.
Very, very excited.
Even Geoff got in on the excitement action.
And then Hazel lost it for a bit. She absolutely did not want her backpack to be tagged and sent to our room. Because, she is nuts. Does she not realize that it is better to have someone else take care of the luggage?!? Obviously not. So, Geoff went to park the car and Hazel and I went in to the terminal to start the check-in process and just as we were finishing who should show up but THE mouse herself. NOTE: In our house, the only mouse that matters in Minnie. See that mouse silhouette on the ship model in the background? Minnie. The pasta she would get at dinner? Minnie. The ice cream bars? Minnie. You get it. Everything is Minnie. Mickey is not even discussed. Hazel was very excited and perked right up at seeing Minnie and kept up the pleasantness for the rest of the cruise. (or at least that is how I am going to remember it. I cannot think of any other freak outs so I am going to remember the awesomeness of our cruise. It is my cruise. And my blog. I can do what I want.)
Geoff showed up just in time to get a family shot.***
We toured the kid land and it was awesome. I could do an entire post on the awesomeness that is kid land. But, I am not going to. Let me just add it in here: Awesome.

Oh, you want more? Okay, so Hazel is 3 which means she was in with the 3- to 4-year-olds. See how that is only a two year span? Awesome#1. Every single one of the counselors that I met was perky and friendly beyond belief. Awesome#2. The kid land was huge. They had a playground-thing with stuff to climb on and a little slide and then a little TV area with shell chairs. Then there was a huge open space and a stage. They had tables where they served them meals and snacks (They fed them, I could have completely neglected my child all cruise. Awesome#4. (because I am still working on #3)) and then a GIANT tree house thing with a steering wheel (see below) and a slide and other such awesomeness. Plus, a computer room and dress-up area. Awesome#3 And, Hazel favorite part of all, tiny toilets. Awesome#5. Seriously, the kid loves tiny toilets. She wants a tiny toilet in her new bathroom. Except by the time we get done with bathrooms she will be like 15 and who wants a tiny toilet then?!? Moving on. The best part of all: We had late seating for dinner (8:15pm) and our server would take the kids' orders (we were seated with another couple who had a 4-year-old girl) and then rush their food out and then, magically, at 9pm the kid land folks would show up at the restaurant and whisk the kids away to kid land. Awesome#6-10. Disney is a giant marketing machine and I feel guilty about buying Hazel the Disney-crap but I will tell you what. They know how to take care of kids, and more so the parents. The end.

At lunch we met the captain and the first mate. Hazel was very happy with "the dog what walks on two legs".
Our cruise ship had a big old sports area. We played some soccer.
Later, we met Minnie Mouse again. (1) I don't know what is up with the kid and her crazy hands. I assume she is pledging a gang****
We also got Hazel to lay in the windows. She wasn't really amused.
But, dang, look how cute she is in her little mouse ears and adorable dress!

I promise to finish updating the remaining parts at some point in the future.

*I am a cheapskate.

**I am also a sucker for my kid.

*** How short are the people in the costumes?!?! because we are taller than Minnie and her head is H-U-G-E!

****Do you pledge gangs? How does that work? When will she stop with the weird hands?

The Grand Floridian Adventure Part 1

2009-09-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from 8 days in, or around, Florida. Meadow had a conference at Disney World for 4 nights, then we spent a lovely night with Geoff's cousins in Tampa and then 3 nights on a Disney cruise. It was great but, holy cow, Florida is h-o-t. And muggy. Oh, the muggy, muggy Florida air.

Anyway, we had a great time and here is my story.

Geoff ordered a snorkeling outfit from his Delta points. I am not really sure how this program works, I just know he got free snorkeling stuff. And Hazel modeled them. In a princess dress.
Remember how I have two cameras? Well, I can apparently only update with one of them at a time. So, this post is from the big camera. My point? None.

Disney World is enormous. I guessed about 600 square miles. But, turns out is is like 36 square miles or 25,000 acres (which sounds far more impressive). My point is this: They are a powerful marketing machine. This was the coolest thing I saw on the compound. Minnie (everything in our world is Minnie, not Mickey) Mouse electrical poles. Awesome.

We stayed at the Swan. It was nice but not as nice as some of the other hotels the conference has been held at. But, on the other hand, nicer than where I would stay if I had to pay. Hmm... this is kind of a crappy picture of it. But, all I could find.
More proof that everything is Minnie Mouse. Hazel was uber-cute in this dress. She told someone, "My mom made the dress but we had to borrow the sash." As if borrowing something was the worst thing ever. I am proud of this dress. I think it looks great and even though I deviated from the pattern and had to do a few things repeatedly (see collar and sleeves) it turned out great. The marketing ladies from my conference found Hazel adorable and bought her matching Minnie ears which she LOVES and wore everywhere.
We went to a character breakfast our first morning in WDW and had a great time. I think Hazel ate about 2 bites but she loved the characters. This picture does not show the true amount of love she had for Donald. I think he was the first character and she was still a bit nervous at this point. By the end of the meal she had warmed up to everyone.
Loved Goofy.
Loved, loved, loved Minnie Mouse. HOWEVER! Not once did we see Minnie in the "traditional" i.e. matching dress. Bummer.
And she got earrings. So, all around Florida was a win for Hazel.
They are clip-on earrings (which had never occurred to me before) and she loves them. She has wanted earrings for quite some time now and I think this is filling the need. They are pink butterflies and, surprisingly, they both made it home.
We made a trip to Downtown Disney before my meetings on Sunday and it was awesome. They have My Little Pony thing where you get a pony and all the outfits you can stuff in a box for $20. Best 20 bucks we spent on the trip. We were able to get all of the outfits (princesses and Minnie) plus extra shoes and other fiddly things. Hazel loves it and it ate up plenty of hours and kept her entertained at dinners.
Daisy. Angry Hazel. Angry Donald. Angry Geoff.
We have quite a few photos with Hazel on or near something.
She was fascinated with the "stick" Tigger is sitting on and was convinced it was poop. From our angle, it kind of did look like poop.
Not a fan.
I had to go to meetings (you know, the reason my work shells out the cash for me to go places). Geoff and Hazel headed back to the room. Hazel put on her princess dress and fell asleep. (Long aside: We were looking for another princess dress for Hazel. She got a blue one at Disneyland and wears it constantly. She sold Popsicles on the 24th of July to buy a dress and I told her she could have another one in Florida. She really wanted the mermaid outfit but it looked cheap (but, was NOT cheap) but she would settle for the mermaid ball gown. And then they were out of her size. And so we tried Snow White. Same story, not in her size. So, we had the guy call around and NONE in her size. We tried quite a few princesses before they found ONE in her size. The blue one. Ack. We went to the princess factory (or so it seemed) and they rummaged around and same story, nothing in her size. WTH!?!?! Come on Disney! 3-year-olds need princess dresses. Finally, they found ONE pink one in her size and Hazel proclaimed it was "her favorite". Fabulous, because that is the only one they have. End) It is a cute dress, however, and off the shoulder like she loves.

Then we went to the cocktail reception (Geoff and Hazel came to and Hazel was fabulous and well behaved and cute and everyone fawned over her) and swimming and THEN to the ESPN Zone for food. Hazel zonked out at the ESPN Zone even though it was incredibly loud and loud and sporty and loud. It was a long day.

And then I have no pictures (on this camera) until September 17th.

More tomorrow, or another day.

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

Hazel started preschool a couple of weeks ago (09/09/09, to be precise) and she is loving. The first day was show-and-tell except we were running late and I forgot to remind her and thus no show-and-tell. When we got to school she remembered and it was too late. I tried to hand her stuff from the car, "How about the first aid kit? What about this book?" She was not impressed and said, "Mom, that is pretty stupid. I am just going to have no show-and-tell." Bah. I tried.

Anyway, she loves preschool and hopefully we will remember to take something tomorrow.

Outfit was entirely chosen by Hazel.
She is stuck on the princess pose thing. Lame.

Camping!

2009-09-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, first off, if it was for the Awesome Bonnie we never would have gone camping. And that would be a shame because we had a great time. We went up American Fork canyon for the night and while it was chock-a-block with people it was still fun. We had a fire and roasted marshmallows, hunted for bears (none found, however), hunted for moose (Geoff "saw" one), hiked and ummm... camping stuff.

Second, remember how I despise some things about blogger? One of them is the crappy way it moves pictures. I have complained about this before but haven't taken the initative to move to a different site. Just deal with the odd order of pictures because it is a pain to move them without losing the big picture (literally, the BIG picture which I like to keep a copy of at work.)

Moving on.

We hiked/walked around Casade Springs. Hazel took this lovely picture of me and Geoff.
And she took this nice picture of herself.
And then Bonnie took this shot.
And a better one. Hazel got a piece of candy for behaving.* I haven't been up to Cascade Springs since I was a kid. Geoff had never been. You can no longer play in the springs, you have to stay on the path. Still, it was a lovely time and a perfect hike/walk length.
Hazel climbed the rock across from our campsite. There was also one in our campsite that she climbed and almost fell off of. Luckily, I have reflexes like a cat** and was able to grab her before she toppled off backwards, head first.
Hazel and Geoff chilling by the fire. It was hard to get a good fire shot without using the flash and keeping the ambiance. But, I think you get what I was going for. We also told ghost stories and they were awesome. Hazel's was about 30 seconds and incoherent. Nathan's (Bonnie's son) was about 30 minutes and incoherent. In his defense, he was constantly interrupted. Still, it was good times.

Hazel really liked playing in our tent. Not her tiny tent that she insisted on us bringing, only the "whole family tent". She was reading stories to her babies. Except that I notice now that one baby is smashed under her back.
She wanted to take my picture with her dog book. "Look happy!"
Behold the power of static electricity.
Playing frisbee with Geoff. She was not great at catching.
But not too bad at throwing.
Look at that follow through! It is as if the heaven's are shining down upon her and bestowing the power of frisbeeing. Or something.
After being fed (because we are super lame and no one is feeling really great so we didn't even pack breakfast) and packing up camp we headed down to hike Stewart Falls. Except everyone in the UC was up the canyon and traffic was horrible and parking was worse and Hazel was tired and just wanted to visit Grandma and Grandpa. So, we bid adieu to our friends and headed to my dad and Anne's house. We hung out and chatted and then decided to go to the Festivale Magnifico!*** We ate some tacos and Hazel won a toothbrush and really, Really, REALLY wanted to go on a ride except (a) I don't trust carnies, (b) I don't trust those rides and (c) I didn't want to pay the outrageous prices for the lame-o rides. Lucky for Hazel, she found two tickets on the ground and that was just enough to go on the train. So, I still don't trust carnies or the rides but I didn't have to pay and the train didn't go in the air or very fast so I agreed.

She had a fabulous time.
As we were leaving we saw this poster and Hazel was quite concerned about the missing cat. Except it is not missing.
The sign actually says "Have you seen this cat? Because it is Awesome." Oh, Provo, you are so high-larious.

All in all, we had a great weekend. Michelle moved into the basement, and watched Nacho for us while we were gone. We also went to the zoo on Saturday with cousins Tiffany and Ginger and saw the baby tigers and, my goodness, they were cute. And....I think that is about it. We are all suffering from various degrees of allergies and Geoff tore his bicep at work.

The end.

*Yes, I realize I am a horrible parent. My kid watches TV, eats candy, gets bribed by her parents and throws tantrums. I predict she will be thrown out of preschool in less than a month.

**aahahahahahaha aahahahaha I normally have horrible reflexes but I did save her this one time.

***Probably not the real name.

Random, random pictures

2009-09-07T17:40:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't upload pictures from the little camera since July-ish. I finally got around to it today and here are a bunch of random shots. Tomorrow I will post the awesomeness that was our weekend.

This is me "hiking" the Mormon/California Trail. In reality, I only hike like 10 feet between roads but whatever, I still got to take a picture.

Geoff and Brandon at Affleck park. Geoff was umm...not happy? I don't know. I don't know if I chose to upload this picture or if I mistyped. But, it is here now for all my readers. All 12 of you.
Hazel at swimming lessons. She was the smallest and only girl. Which reminds me, I need to see about signing her up for the next session.
On the mermaid statue at the International Peace Gardens. I am sure this was allowed behavior.
And the lions at the same park.
Oh, this is a shot of the door I was stripping. Technically, it is sitting on my front porch and thus is still being stripped. Did you know that ammonia takes off shellac? No!?!? Well, now you do. Thanks, internet.
Hazel and I at the 24th of July children's parade. Except it is really on the Saturday before the 24th. We are pink.
Hazel waiting to get her first haircut. Oh, she is such a brave little driver.
Hazel and I at the Bee's game with the mascot. I believe is name is Bumble. Actually, I have no idea. Again, we are pink. This is at my work's summer party. It was very meh.
Hazel (pre-haircut) with Nacho. Poor, poor Nacho.

Warheads Candy

2009-08-28T19:42:00.001-07:00

Hazel went to a friend's birthday party and hit the mother-load with the pinata. There was a lot of Tootsie Rolls and suckers but there were also a few Warheads (ULTRA sour candies, for those who may not know the "joy" that is Warheads). I told her she wouldn't like them but she would not listen. So, then I asked her to just wait until I had the camera. Hilarity ensued.

This chain of pictures makes me convulse in laughter. Especially the pirate face. I cannot even think about it without chuckling.

Also, see the sneak preview of the adorable dress I made her for the grand Disney adventure. Hint: It is not a Mickey Mouse dress.... I have said too much.

Whew, just in time.

2009-08-17T19:47:00.001-07:00

Not quite a month between updates. Almost, but not quite. Geoff uploaded pictures today and if I don't do something with them they will get lost in the blackhole that is our hard drive.

While browsing the photos I found this lovely one, apparently this is the day our hard drive crashed. Also, I live in chaos.

A visit from the twins resulted in a Hazel sandwich. Notice that Grace has a new shirt. hee hee.Another lovely shot.
And Hazel admiring one of the kittens (gah!!!) we found under the porch. That darn cat has become those darn cats.

The hair.

2009-07-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

Remember how Hazel had long, luscious, locks? Well, they are gone.

She wanted "hair like the boy with the bear." Who turned out to be Mowgli. They didn't do a great job the first time, so I took her back when I got home from work and someone else tidied it up. Overall, not impressed with the kid salon.

Anyway, here is her new haircut. She does look adorable, and it is SO much easier to deal with.

Side view with sword.
And a reminder of the surfer girl hair. (and the kitchen paint color)

Meltdown of a princess

2009-06-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

This is just a teaser post while I work on the giant post of pictures from California.

After lunch on Friday (our second day at Disneyland), Hazel wanted to ride King Triton's Carousel. Something set her off (I don't recall exactly what it was) and the following took place. Within about 45 seconds.

This one is my favorite with the overly dramatic hand to the mouth.
And then the ride started and all was forgotten.

California Über Alles

2009-06-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

We went to California on Wednesday and came back (incredibly early) on Saturday morning.* It was a fabulous time and while I am exhausted (not quite as exhausted as Hazel and Geoff who both fell asleep a couple of hours ago) I am glad we went and hope to be back to full power by tomorrow when I have to be at work. :(

This is Hazel's standard airplane pose. She loves reading the safety guide almost as much as she loves picking her nose. It was not a bad flight and my mom, Bernie and Jenni were just a couple rows ahead so Hazel could go visit them.

Anyway, when we got to California on Wednesday we drove around crazily, hit the Trader Joe's, got some lunch**, and then went to La Brea Tar Pits. It was pretty cool. Hazel was very concerned about the daddy elephant that got stuck in the tar and was terrified of the moving mammoth.

I was only scared of the skeleton.
Ben and Zoe and clan were there and the cousins (mostly) played nice.

And then we went to the beach. I cannot even begin to quantify how much my child loves the beach. We could have spent four days at the beach and she would have been happy. Note to self: Must go to Hawaii this winter.Then we went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (per Snoop Dogg's suggestion) and it was delicious. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend RC&W. We went to the Long Beach location. Hazel had a drumstick.
The family at Disneyland. Look how non-plussed my kid is. Does she not know this is the happiest place on Earth? HAPPIEST!
These were the first characters she met. I am thinking this could be our family group costume this year...
The first ride we took Hazel on was the Pirates of the Caribbean. In case you don't remember this ride, it is dark, loud and has a couple of drops right at the beginning. She had a death-grip on my arm the entire time. Based on this (and the fact that we are dopes) we took her on the Haunted Mansion next***. She was on sensory overload.
We then wised up and took her on Winnie the Pooh's kid-friendly ride. She got off and said that she loved it and "none scary parts."

She also enjoyed Buzz Lightyear's shoot-em up ride (how could she not love a ride with guns?).
And we got to ride in the front of the monorail. She would have happily ridden this all day.
We also met more characters.
She loved this phone and had to be physically dragged away from it. Someone talked on it, Mickey or something, I don't know. But she loved it. I love her casual stance.
Of course we met Mickey Mouse. I think the Mickey line is the best of the bunch. You wander through his house (which is really part of the "line") and then you get to watch movies while you wait and it went really fast.****
All day she asked for the Dumbo ride, but the lines were crazy and so we kept putting it off. Finally, the line was down to about 30 minutes and we went on it. She had a great time and again, "none scary parts." Apparently a three-year-old likes the little kid rides. Who knew.
At some point during the day we tried to have naps (ha!) and then stayed up late to watch the fireworks and Fantasmic. Geoff was far more tired than Hazel was.
But, after Fantasmic (and a quick trip to the Tiki Room), she passed out and was gone for the night.
We got up super-early the Friday (or so it felt after being up past midnight on Thursday) so we could ride Nemo's submarine ride.
Then we went on the Jungle Cruise. Obviously, we planned a little better on Friday with regards to kid-friendly rides.
And then we saw the princesses. They were great. Three princesses rotate throughout the day and you wait in one (giant) line for them. They spent time with each little girl (and boys, probably) and made each one feel special. I was glad we did it. But, I wish there was a fastpass.

Mulan and Hazel showed off their muscles.
Sleeping Beauty was Hazel's favorite, because of the pink, I think.
Snow White tried to get the kids to pose "like a princess".
This is my favorite picture.
Princess hands again.
And then, Hazel needed her own princess dress.
It leaves glitter everywhere. It makes everything "fancy". Me, Geoff, the stroller, the car seat, everything she touches. Seriously, it is glitterific.
And even more awesome with bug glasses.
We rode the bumper cars and then the ride broke or something so we just had to sit there forever.
And we went on the Bug's Life caterpillar's chew-chew train. Jenni was terrified. This was, by far, the lamest ride ever. It is like 20 feet of ride. I think Hazel has more train track in her box o' trains. Seriously, it was short.
Hazel swore she didn't need a nap and wouldn't take one but, man, she needed one. I think we wore the toes out of her shoes dragging her around.
Outside the Monsters Inc ride.
On the Monsters Inc ride. This was the only ride that Hazel wanted to go on again. We got off and she wanted to immediately get back on it. We distracted her with the photo op stuff outside the ride (see above, there was also a cab you could play in).
We watched a lot of parades. Hazel got to play the drum head in this one.
I like that Jenni, Hazel and the Mad Hatter are all staring at something. The Mad Hatter looks horrified.
We also stayed for the Electric Light Parade. It started at 8:45pm, but on the opposite end of the park. Hazel was wide awake, but that crazy, manic, awake and running around and licking and causing all sorts of mayhem. And then the parade started. She lasted like two floats and then was out. If only she would have had a nap.
As we were leaving California Adventures, the fireworks at Disneyland were going off. This was cool but caused a crazy traffic jam at the exits.
Saturday morning we got up bright and early, drove to the OC and flew home. All in all, it was a great trip. But, I am glad to be home. And glad to be sleeping in my own bed.
*So, we fly standby which is free, but we are at the mercy of the airlines. So, when I checked flights on Friday night after a full day at the D-land I discovered out preferred noon-ish flight was dangerously full so we went for the 6:45am flight. Which meant leaving our hotel at like 5:15am. Which sucked. But, you know, free flights.

**Genetically, the women in the family do not do well without food. This includes me, my sister, my mom and my kid. I am just saying, we MUST be fed. Logic fails, emotions run wild.

***In our defense, she loves ghosts and doesn't scare easily.

****The princesses, on the other hand, were horrible. We cut in line with April and Zoe (who had been in line for 45 minutes) and still waited for an hour-and-a-half. And it was boring, no movie, nothing. But, the princesses did a great job with each and every girl.

Third post of the night.

2009-06-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

Or the first, depending on how you read them. I am cleaning the cards off both cameras before we go on vacation Wednesday. Because, apparently, that is my top-priority?? What about making sure clothes are washed, everything is packed, the basement is ready for paint and the house is clean? Nah. Might as well play around on my computer.

Anyway, here is another (or the first?) shot of my kid with a gun.

Ack! This one slays me. Could she be any tougher? I think not.
A fabulous shot of my friends Candi and Amy that Hazel took. Hazel portraits are easy to tell as (a) there is normally a finger and (b) they are pointed up.
Oh! This one does not follow the rules and points down. But, Cedric is a baby AND there is still a finger in the shot.
I know I posted pictures last time of the sprinkler playing, but I have more. You know, two cameras.
I like this running away one.
Okay, first up. All my pictures are in random-y backwards order but this is because it is a pain in the butt to reorder them. I am trying to not let it make me crazy.

Anyway, we went to the zoo a couple weekends ago with my friend from work and her little boy. Hazel lost it because she wanted to ride on the wolf but another kid was on it and HORRORS! she had to ride on something else, I think a baby polar bear. Anyway, she lost it. Like shrieking and trying to leap off the carousel. And then the next go round she got the wolf and it was as if the crazy was forgotten. Except by me.
Hazel and her friend Kade. He really did like her and would like to go to the zoo again with Hazel but "not with her mom or my mom." Dating so young? I think not.
Hazel wanted to take a picture of my bubble. I think it is a nice picture.
And I took this picture of her. In my hat. Because it isn't enough that she owns like 10 hats, now she has to wear mine too.
Look at the foot. She is truly my kid.
Oh, here are some pictures of our crap-tastic sidewalk. We had some crazy rain (about 2 inches in less than an hour) and it flooded our front yard. That pond should be sidewalk.
Randomly: Hazel in a dust mask.
Back to the flooding. Can you see the water shooting into the stairwell?!?!? Bah! This should not happen again.
Last, but not least, a family portrait. Good thing we have Geoff to look at the camera. :)
The end. Now I am ready for California and I promise I will post pictures in a month or less. Or more....

The house.

2009-06-22T21:17:00.001-07:00

We are making some progress in our house. It is slow but not at all steady. Stuff gets done in spurts but some of the spurts have been enough that one room is painted. (okay, so it still needs something done with the "closet" and another coat but, come on!!)Another shot of the mostly finished room.
The main room is almost done being mudded (I am ready to call it done.) and the kitchen has been cleaned.
Doh.We had to pull this out because of mold and/or mildew. Yuck.
We now have Hazel in on the work. She is rolling thinned out mud on the walls.
She was awesome.
We also had a new sidewalked put in. I can't find a picture of what it looked like before but, trust me, it was horrible. It was cracked and uneven and everything was sloped towards the house (argh!). The guys that did it were awesome, if you need concrete work, we have a man.
Gratuitious concrete shot.
I don't have a shot of the finished sidewalk except for this picture outline that I drew of Hazel and the picture of Nacho that she drew. But, notice how awesome our sidewalk is. So smooth. So sloping away from the house.

One update, which should be a bunch.

2009-06-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

I made this awesome Strawberry Shortcake dress and Hazel hated it. But now she is tolerating it. Probably because of the mad twirling.

I won, or more precisely, Hazel won, a fabulous dress from the Sew Mama Sew day giveaway at Bluebirds and Cherries. It is lovely and she looks great in it. She has actually taken to layering it with a multitude of outfits and it is adorable.

Ben and Zoe came to visit for a couple of days and one of the nights we had a cookout. It was good times and everyone ate a lot of marshmallows, hot dogs and char. Hazel was a bit worried when her marshmallow caught on fire.
But the cookie smores were delicious.
The worried eyebrows return. How can she be this concerned over toasted marshmallow and fudge-striped cookies?!?!
Here Hazel is demonstrating her guns. She needed them to help carry everything back in the house.
The kids, they are crazy.
Oh, so we had a bunch of leftover drywall and Geoff decided the best option would be to take it upstairs. Hazel was a good helper. This looks to me like a totally posed pictures but I just caught her in mid-stride.
Geoff fits in the tiny tent.
Hazel modeling her West Valley hair. Really, the entire scene is awesome. The ratty hair*, the belly, the naked baby. Perfect.
Geoff busted out laser tag. Hazel loves it. I believe this will soon be on the toddler issue of "Guns n' Lasers".

Unfortunately, or fortunately, she is not very good.
*Hazel had been wearing a hood all day, which is why her hair is so ratty. Normally, I like to keep it brushed.

Still on Blogger

2009-05-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so in my last post I implied that I would be leaving Blogger. Well, as it turns out, I am lazy. And possibly a dope. Thus, I am still with Blogger. And still annoyed with it for a few things (why don't my freaking archives work?? how come Chrome doesn't uploade pictures??), but I am moving on. Or staying put. Whatever. If Geoff wasn't madly trying to finish up house projects I would ask for his help. But, frankly, I would rather have a renter.

Moving on.

Hazel loves this bunny costume from her friend Tayvia. It is kind of too small but she still wears in constantly. She can no longer really get the hand nor feet things on but she manages. Also, she tried to escape.
I still maintain everything is cuter when done in a bunny costume.

Even if it is just bunny ears. FYI: Geoff was not thrilled with me taking a picture of him in the bunny ears. But the two of them were so cute that I just had to do it. Besides, there are boy bunnies. I don't know why he was such a complainer.

Hazel and her friends Jack and Serenity had a fabulous sprinkler day last Saturday. Serenity has this AWESOME octopus sprinkler and the three kids had a great time playing in it. Jack's dad (in the upper right corner) doesn't look like he was having such a great time. Seriously, the kids played in in forever. Hazel was freezing but still wouldn't quit.

Eventually I convinced her to take a break and dry off on her beach towel. Notice our lovely roses in the background. (Tangent) I am not a fan of roses. I think they are poky and lame. I have good memories of my grandfather having them but I still didn't want them in our yard. And then they bloomed. We have five (5!) different colors of roses in our yard and they are beautiful. There are two shades of pink (light and dark-which is behind Hazel), a fantastic reddish-pinkish-orangey (hands down, my favorite) , yellow (also behind Hazel) and an orange one. They are awesome and we have been making great bouquets out of them.

Hazel looked adorable one day and so I asked her if I could take a picture and if she would put her hat back on. This was what I got. Hil-ar-i-ous.

We read stories before bed and the other night Hazel wanted me to read this dorky Mad book (as in the magazine). My eyes were killing me so I took my contacts out and put my glasses on so I could see. Hazel followed suit.Peace out.

Post #100

2009-05-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

100 numbered lines about 100 posts. *

I actually have posted more, but not on Blogger.
In the olden days I coded by hand. BY HAND!!
This actually worked better than Blogger.
Blogger sucks.
I suck.
My blog sucks.
My new washer and dryer, however, is AWESOME! Behold the awesomeness.

Notice the venting Geoff installed. He just cut a hole in our window and ran the vent pipe through it.
Our window is made out of plexiglass.
I realize the ghetto-ness of this. But let me bask in the glory of my fancy (and, more importantly, functional) appliances.
We also had a new main water line installed.

It is not as pretty as our washer/dryer combo but our old line was far less functional than our old washer/dryer.
A broken washer/dryer does not cost as much in sheer waste as a broken water main.
I have no idea what that giant pipe near the hole is for.
Whatever it is, I am glad IT didn't break.
I am also glad the City is going to split the difference on the gobs of water we used last month.
Hazel played outside with Nacho on Sunday while we were in the basement working. I took pictures with the telephoto lens.

Nacho has become a far more tolerant dog since we had the kid.
Our neighbor, Thomas, has baby kittens.

They are adorable.

Hazel loves to play with the kittens.
I hope she doesn't turn them evil.
It makes me happy that my kid loves books.

She does not, however, love to have her picture taken.

If I was given a choice, I would take the books.
Blogger totally sucks.
It makes me bonkers that I can't just copy and paste a picture without losing the big picture.
The actual BIG picture, not some metaphorically crap.
My next 100 posts may be brought to you by something else.
Like the letter "M".
For Meadow.
Now with added cheez.
Hazel decided it would be a good idea to stick her hand in the jar of nacho cheese and FLING IT.

It was not a good idea.
In fact it was a very, very bad idea.
Never have I seen so much cheez.

I made her clean it up (mostly) and then scrubbed her off in the shower and sent her to bed.

This was over a week ago.

I am still stumbling upon cheez.

100 things is a lot.

And I am trying to finish before my inaugural load of laundry finishes.

Okay, I am giving up at 42. Hazel wants me to play hide-and-go-seek and I would rather do that.

*Not changing the title. Live with it.