Vegas!

This update is a little late in coming.  Recently Violet and I drove out to Vegas to meet my friend Jenee and her family.  The idea of taking a 3 year old to the desert with temperatures of 109 degrees was a bit daunting but somehow it all worked out.

The first night we got in, Violet and I headed over to the Rainforest Cafe.  The Odani's plane had trouble and they were delayed in Los Angeles overnight, so it was just Violet and I for dinner.

We spent the night at the MGM (only $50 since it was July in Vegas) and picked up the Odani's in the morning from the airport.

That night we headed to the Tournament of Kings at Excaliber.  It was just the right combination of cheesiness and fun.

Violet is not a happy camper.

The next day we went over to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

Yes, I am afraid to admit we spent money on the following two photos.

The next day we headed over to an awesome toy store where the kids could dig for treasure (as the parents shopped).

The it was a power drive home.  We had to stop at Alien Beef Jerky in Baker.  It's a must for any trip to Vegas.

She is petting the alien.

As a reward for the potty training milestone, Violet finally got her long awaited big girl bed.  We had been dangling it like a carrot for like  months as incentive.

Violet seemed more taken by the doll on the bed than the actual bed.  Go figure.

And a recent dance shot with friend Kylee:

This is our last week of summer school and after a two week break, her second year of preschool begins already!

4th of July

After much delay, here's a post of our 4th of July.  This was the first year Violet really enjoyed the fireworks.  Although she didn't see much last year because they got cancelled shortly after starting.  This year there was a lot of clapping and saying "Wow!"

That morning we participated and a neighborhood parade.

Headed to the parade.

We went to fireworks at community center.  I think she liked the bounce house the best.

Waiting to start.

Start!

Climb!

All done!

And recently we visited an indoor playground...

And thankfully I have to report that we are finally potty trained.  Yay!

We love Dr. Seuss:

Preschool

Violet started her first day of preschool for the summer session. We have Miss Johnna who we had last summer and she loves.











She also got her hair cut. She's too big for the rocket now.











Afterwards we got ice cream at Farrell's. Yum. Good thing she likes chocolate like mom.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Dance Recital

Violet just performed in her first dance recital.  Her willingness to perform the dance had been touch and go in practices in the preceding weeks.  My favorite practice run through she sucked on her skirt the whole time.  So when recital day was here, and she started to show reluctance, mom pulled out the bribery card.  I am not at all ashamed to admit that I told her if she did the dance and performed the jump (she had refused to jump for the past 6 weeks in class), I'd buy her chocolate ice cream.  Never mind the fact that we were going out for celebratory ice cream afterwards either way--she didn't know that.  The bribery worked like a charm.

First it was a mad dash to get her changed into her costume.  We were coming from playing at the park next door to get her wiggles out.  I was planning on changing her at the recital itself but as I watched a steady stream of costumed children with their perfectly curled hair enter the building, I knew that I would be the only one so last minute.  I decided changing her in the parking lot was better than coming into the recital with an uncostumed child.

Dressed and ready!

Recital Program

Luckily they were the first group.

Waiting to start.

Serious dancing

The dance itself--I was super excited they were performing to the Go Go's.  I did my first talent show dance to Go Go's in 3rd grade (different song though). 

As you can see, Violet was highly motivated by the promise of ice cream.

The jump--she needs the teacher to show her because she has been refusing to do it for about 6 weeks.

They warned us to make sure their shoes were tied because if they became untied they wouldn't dance.  No one said anything about the skirt.  The look of horror on her face when her skirt becomes untied is pure comedy.

It's all done!

Celebratory ice cream.

Special thanks to Aunty Jenny for keeping us company and filming.

****

Daddy through Violet's eyes:

I didn't realize Eric also liked salad and diet coke.  It was news to him too.  At least she got the hair color right.
Violet painted a rock purple in class for Father's Day but she promptly told Eric it was her rock to keep.  She loves all rocks and there was no way she was parting with a purple one.

Last Day of Preschool Year 1

Wow, Violet just finished her first year of school.  It's hard to believe.  She loved it--tons of new toys and tons of messy stuff to play with.  Despite having two less than social parents, she is super social and I think that's a big part of why she enjoyed it so much.  They had an ice cream party on their last  day (with sprinkles).  And just to make sure she went out with a bang, she let us know she had a "time out" today for not listening.  Yup, that's my kid.

Pictures from the year.  Look how small she is in the upper right!

From orientation at the beginning of the year:

Last day pictures for comparison.  She was not super into posing today.

Oh and believe it or not they got a yearbook.  Summer school starts in 1.5 weeks and Violet starts going three half days instead of two.