Aleya's best friend Allie

Aleya LOVES . . . and CRAVES to have friends over to play.

This is Aleya's best friend, Allie, from her preschool class. They are darling.

Orrin's Last Pinewood Derby Car

This was Orrin's last Pinewood Derby car that he built and designed with his dad.

This was a whole new pack to race against in Fleming Island, FL . . . how would they compare to the pack in San Diego?

Pack Cheerleaders.

This year's design included racer red spray paint and a variety of leftover decals from various car designs in past years.

Guess who won 1st Place!?! Guess who's going to district!?!

The races were very heated at the district finals at our local shopping mall. Orrin's car jumped the track and they almost forced his car to race backwards, but mom wouldn't allow it. Duh. All the weight needs to be in the back.

The district races had a sophisticated track with electronic stats sent straight to a laptop for some serious precision measuring of speed and time.

The competition was fierce! Orrin won 3 out of 4 races with the top speed and time.

Guess who broke the track record? Yep . . .we smoked it!

Guess who won 1st place again? No, it wasn't Orrin. He did win, but he was disqualified because he's too old. It turns out that only 10 and under (Webelos I) can race in our local district. Orrin turned 11 in February. DARN IT! We still beat everyone, though. WAY TO GO ORRIN!

Basketball at the YMCA

Joseph played basketball at our local YMCA. His coaches were awesome.

They finished it all on top . . . the season and the tournament. Way to go!

Orrin's Baja Buggyz Birthday Bash

For Orrin's Birthday this year we took the family and a couple handfuls of friends to Baja Buggyz. We all had an incredible time!

Aleya is hanging on for dear life.

These pint size buggyz were a blast for adults, as well.

They had a cool track with sharp turns and bunny hills, and lined in tires for the crashes.

Joseph took mom for a spin.

Even Amara got to drive!

We ended the fun with pizza and presents. It was economical in time and money!

Orrin Earns Webelos and Arrow of Light

Orrin earned his Webelos badge and several activity pins.

Blue and Gold dinner.

Orrin's Arrow of Light.

Crossing over.

Orrin's new Scout Troop.

Orrin made his own Arrow of Light plaque.

Fishin' in our yard

There's nothing like having your own fishing pond in the backyard. Since it's connected by pipes out to Doctor's Lake and the St. Johns River, we have an abundance of fish, waiting to be caught.

Orrin likes catching the big catfish.

Drama Club Field Trip to Alice in Wonderland

Orrin and Amara are in Drama Club at their school and will be performing in Alice in Wonderland. Andrea will help out with the music for the play. We had a fun field trip to the Alahmbra Dinner Theatre to watch a play of Alice in Wonderland.




Our director, Ginger Leinecker, got some great ideas for costuming and set from the show.

After the play, we feasted at Cici's Pizza.

Orrin's 11th Birthday

Orrin's cake came out a little odd this time. I was going for a big "11," but it morphed into a scary clown. I am definitely loosing my edge in cake decorating.

Aleya helped put in the candles.

Flameo hotman . . . fla-me-o! (Avatar:The Last Airbender)

Yay!