We had our first dance recital!!! Both girls did it, amazingly. Kailee worked her little booty off with millions of rehearsal of which her little sister would join into 15 minutes here and there. Come performance time, they both were super excited... can't you tell:

These are the sill ballerinas: Addie, Savannah (neighbor), Kailee, and Jojo (dance friend)

Cuties!

Videos of the magic. They would not allow camcorders (wanted you to buy the $30 DVD... I think not) so these look a little bootlegged.

Finale bow:

Listen closely in this one... Mike had not arrived at the center with us, but met us there once the girls were already backstage, so Addie didn't know he was there:
Let's just say the entire place was laughing and Mike was crying.

Final Ranch Post

These are the last of the ranch pics:
Digging for arrowheads. Yes, there really are arrowheads. Very cool. Especially if you are 5. Could she get any dirtier??? Thank goodness for the trailer bathtub!

The fig tree fort. It was "Grandma's House".

A quick hike to the pond... See the water moccasins?? The dogs were in heaven!

Skipping rocks, or rather throwing the biggest rocks she could pick up in the water!

The cool woodpecker tree.

We came home from our hike to find the cows ransaking our campsite.

Just another beautiful day at the ranch.

The GIANT rattle snake we found:

The girls with the rainbow. It didn't even rain, but we got a rainbow! It was much brighter in person.

Kailee was "holding" the rainbow. This was my artsy hubbies pic. Isn't he crafty??

Shooting Lessons

Kailee and Addisen got their first shooting lessons this trip. It has been promised for a while and they have been practicing with their Nerf double barrel shot gun. Well, the squirrels were running rampant so Mike decided it was time to teach. They didn't get to shoot a full on shot gun, but settled for a little .22. The same little gun that Mike learned to shoot with. Mike taught them all the basics of a great squirrel hunt.

1. Load your bullets:

2. Smile pretty for Mom:3. Look for your targets...4. Protective ear gear and a steady hand from Dad.5. Voila! 7 shots in your target!!I am pretty sure she was more worried about decorating the target then shooting it!And then it was the Homeboy's turn:She did have protective ears... they were the in your ear kind b/c she wouldn't wear the big ones. And she didn't make her target. She was more worried about the shells flying out the side of the gun onto the ground. "The bullets are falling out!Daddy, we need to clean those up!!" When the lessons were complete, the real squirrel hunt began. Dad got to play with his new toy.

Easter Part 2

After frolicking in our Easter garb, it was time to decorate eggs to get ready for the real business. The bunny was coming!!! By the way, I don't think I explained where we were/what we were doing in the previous post. Mike's family has a ranch between Fresno and Shaver Lake. It is gorgeous (as shown in the pics). There is plenty of room to roam, hike, play, etc. It's heaven. If we ever fall off the face of the Earth and you can't find us, that is where we will be.





When the girls woke up Easter morning (really Saturday, we celebrated early so we would have more time to play) they found their Easter baskets filled with goodies!


And then it was time to hunt. Let's just say the bunny can get quite carried away at the ranch with all of the hiding places!!

Easter Cuties

While at the ranch, the girls got to sport their BEAUTIFUL handmade Easter dresses. Again, made with love by Yia Yia. What would they do without their personnal sylist???

I told them to pose and this is what I got:

And then posing wasn't so fun anymore:

Please just one more????

And that was all....

Spring in the Garden

I love seeing blossoms on our peach tree. Last year we had over 40 peaches from this little tree. They are the best peaches EVER! I can't wait!!! Blossom Sweet Peach Tree! Blossom Away!!!


AND!!!! We have artichokes!!! We planted the plant 2 years ago from a SEED. And now, we have these beauties. They taste just as amazing as they look. The yellow easter egg is there so you can see how giant they are!

The rest of the new Spring garden should be ready to go in the ground by the end of the week. We started everything from seed, indoors, in cardboard egg crates this year. Usually we start them in the store bought starter deals, but we are going green=) Can't wait for the tomatoes. We planted one called a Jelly Bean Tomato. Think it will taste as sweet???