1st Annual Daddy Daughter Night

Sophie and her cousins Audrey and Emily (mostly the latter two) were jealous that their brothers got to go camping with the Dads during the Fathers and Sons Campout, so thus began the 1st Annual Daddy Daughter Night. The Dads got suckered in bigtime! First stop was Red Robin, then Toys R Us, where they each picked a new Webkinz stuffed animal. Sophie picked a porcupine which she named Spikey. Then they headed home to watch Tinkerbell, and the Dads even stayed awake for the whole thing. Final stop...trampoline. The girls had so much fun, but as you can tell from the sleepy faces of Mike and Steve, not much sleeping went on!

Another Smith Baby Shower!

With six sisters and three sisters-in-law there are ample opportunities for baby showers in the Smith family. Cali was the lucky girl this time. I hosted it at my house, and you all know that I love having a party. It was great times. Cali scored...as she should, there were amazingly awesome people in attendance, and most importantly the food was superb. Everyone in this family has either learned to cook really good food or at least appreciate really good food, thanks to our sister-in-law Hollie!

Not Enough Beach Time

I had our trip perfectly planned, or so I thought. The last day was our beach day, but as I layed the plan out for Steve he pointed out that the beach day had some flaws. We would be flying out in the evening and would already be checked out of our hotel, which means nowhere to clean all the sticky sand off before our flight. For Steve sandy and dirty kids equals pure torture and it is even more torturous when he is the dirty one, but that even sounded quite miserable to me, whose messy kid tolerance is quite high. I was picturing sand in all the cracks! We settled on eating at a 50's themed diner on the pier and took our shoes off and walked along the beach for about ten minutes. Our next California trip will have a much better beach day in store.

Grandma Pat is a sucker for American Girl Dolls!

Grandma Pat has fallen hook, line and sinker for American Girl dolls. During our recent trip to Disneyland we also made a stop at the American Girl doll store in L.A. It is three floors of doll heaven. Sophie got to pick out her first American Girl doll. She chose Elizabeth who is from colonial Williamsburg. She is a beautiful doll, just like Sophie. Her ears are even pierced!


Grandma Pat spoils her grandchildren, especially the girls. Check out this collection that has been acquired over the past few years. Good thing I'm not in charge, because Sophie would have be holding one of the Target knock-offs instead!

Maxwell thought it was a little less like doll heaven and a little more like doll hell! He was a good sport and didn't whine and complain more than any normal 7 year old boy would.

Jedi's in Training

If any of you have ever been to Disneyland you've probably seen the Star Wars show where they ask for child volunteers from the audience to get trained as Jedi's (or maybe we're just Star Wars nerds!). Families crowd in far in advance to get good seats. There are always tons of kids dying to become Jedi's. All the Payne grandchildren were lined up ready to be picked and guess who got chosen...Maxwell AND Sophie. Maxwell was completely into it. Here he is above showing that he already has the force. On the other hand, Sophie was so so tired it looked as though she were about to fall asleep standing up during the performance. Each child gets to have a one-on-one light saber duel with Darth Maul or Darth Vader, and both of our jedi's were big hits with crowd...we were laughing with them not at them!

Disneyland Day Two

There is a book called "A Guide to Disneyland" that to someone like me seems completely anal and fun ruining, but luckily Steve's brother and his wife (Mike and Jen) have read it cover to cover and abide by it faithfully. We just tagged along behind, and it made for a very pleasant experience. I think the longest line we waited in was 30-40 minutes. Not too bad for peak season. We also happened upon Goofy just coming out of his house, so we didn't even have to wait in line for a picture with a Disney character.


It's too bad that the teacups are such a naseau causing ride because they sure are a beautiful sight. I think they make the best picture backdrop because the colors are so bright and vivid.

I love that Capri can come with us on lots of rides at Disneyland. She was even able to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, which gave her little tummy quite a ride!

Our kids were major troopers. They got such little sleep, and would catch a snooze whenever and wherever they could.

Grandpa vs. Sophie!

These pictures were taken on a little roller coaster in California Adventures called Mulholland Madness. Look closely at Grandpa's face in the first picture and Sophie's face in the second. Isn't he a good sport?

Disnleyland Day One

Disneyland never lets me down. It really doesn't. I love it everytime I go. Even when there are big crowds and I have to stand in lots of lines, I still love Disneyland. There are too many pictures from our recent trip, so I am breaking it down by day. We stayed in a newly remodeled Howard Johnson kids suite that was so cute and fun. This big polka dot pillow is par for the whole room. And the kids loved that they got to sleep on bunk beds.

Grandpa was such a good sport. He went on nearly every ride, with a few minor exceptions, even though he didn't really like almost any of them. I love seeing his face in many of the pictures. He is either terrified or nervously anticipating! Sophie had absolutely no fear on any ride, including Tower of Terror. She is smiling in every picture, which is quite comical next to Grandpa sometimes.

Disneyland is even more fun with Uncle Dave. He just knows how to enjoy everything like a little kid...except It's A Small World (he's a hater).

What Mom doesn't have the urge to dress her husband and son in matching outfits? Oh, is that only me? They were such good sports about it.

Grandma Pat was a dream to have around. She held Capri many many times for us. Capri was also quite a dream. She is such a happy little baby. We drug her around each day until midnight. She would take little catnaps in the stroller, but mostly her eyes were wide open in awe at all the crazy people!

Here is the whole gang, except for Grandma Pat, who must be the photographer.