Annie's Growing up!

After months of asking we finally let Annie get her ears pierced! She is so proud of her new jewels and loves to show them off. She walks up to people and pulls back her hair and will just show people her ear until they notice.

It was very cute, Annie has been asking daily for a few months to get her ears pierced (she has 2 cousins and a couple of friends with pierced ears. Originally we were going to wait until she was a little older but she is so into her princess stuff and she needed something special at the moment. We had a big talk on the way to the ear piercing store. If she got one ear pierced she had to get both. She was so funny because she kept saying yes, yes. Well we got to Claire's and she picked out pretty little pink stones and then she sat in the chair to get them pierced. I was so impressed by the girl doing it, she sanitized everything SOOOOO well and was so careful about making dots in the same spot on both ears (she must have spent 15 minutes getting it right). Well in went the first earring and out flew Annie out of the chair to the door of the store. She was in tears and it took about 5 minutes for me to calm her down and to relax. Once she calmed down the other earring went right in and she didn't even cry!

We are so proud of Annie and what a big girl she has become.

Family Time - April 21

I have been meaning to come back and write about our family trip but it seems like I keep forgetting. We had a great weekend recently with just the Garrison Five in Monterey. We drove down on a Sunday afternoon and started out our trip with an A's Baseball game. Everyone had a great time, especially Charlie who plays on the A's this year. He loved it! He got into the spirit of the game and was cheering along with everyone.

After the game we drove down the coast to Monterey. We checked into a cute little hotel not far from cannery row. The first night we went into town and went to Bubba Gumps and had a blast. Charlie loved the shrimp! Audrey was so cute the whole time giving everyone the cheesiest grins. After dinner Annie saw a candy store across the street so we took the kids and let them each pick a few pieces of candy out of the barrels (little did we know 10 pieces of nickel candy would cost us $12!).

The next day we took the kids to the Aquarium. John loves sea life and I think he might have had more fun then the kids. The Aquarium had lots of hands on things for the kids to do and touch. They all loved touching the star fish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, even Audrey. Charlie loved the telescopes outside. That afternoon, I took the kids to the Dennis the Menace park for a few hours so John could take care of some work then when he was done, I took Audrey back to the hotel and he took Annie & Charlie miniature golfing. (Now every time John takes Charlie golfing at home Annie doesn't get that it isn't miniature golfing!).

That night we went to a great pizza parlor John & I went to on our honeymoon, then we drove down the coast a little bit and took the kids down to the beach for a short walk. It was freezing but they all loved it. While John was trying to get a picture of me and the kids in front of the surf a giant wave came up and got us all wet!

The next morning we took the kids back to the aquarium for an hour or two and then we headed home. We got a season pass for the aquarium so we are excited to be able to go back anytime!

On the drive home John and I were talking about how perfect our little trip was, we all had a great time and the kids are getting easier to take on little outings like this!

Batter Up!

Saturday after our baseball game John came to me and said let's take the kids away for a few days tomorrow - so we packed up the kids and started out on our little family trip. Our first stop was an Oakland A's Game.

Charlie plays on the A's this year so he was super excited to see the big guys playing! He kept yelling "Go Coast A's!!!!" (Coast is the division he is in in Little League).

Charlie loved the game, he sat the whole time cheering and rooting for the A's. Audrey was just too cute, she would clap and cheer with the other fans and when the music would play she would dance. Annie did okay at the game, she just wanted everything every vendor walking by was selling.

After a few innings I took the girls to the kids play area. It is outside the Oakland Coliseum and it is windy and cold but Annie & Audrey had a blast playing out there.

It was little league day at the stadium so I was able to get an A's pennant for each of Charlie's teammates. Charlie loved sharing them with his team at the next practice.

Princess Power!

The Big Day finally arrived - Annie's Princess Party! She has been waiting all week for this party - I think more than anything she wanted her pinata. Every time we go to Winco Annie asks for a pinata and every time I tell her "for your birthday party!". Really to a 3 year old it must have been forever.

That morning when she woke up there was a new princess dress layed out on the extra bed in her room for her to wear to the party! She was so excited she wanted to wear it to Charlie's baseball game before the party.

I think Annie had the best little party ever. She had 5 little princess friends all come dressed up in their fancy dresses. When each girl got here they got a sparkly wand and tiara. Annie wanted to make pizzas for lunch so each girl got to make her own pizza and while it cooked we played lots of fun games. We played find the hidden princess slipper, princess freeze dance and the Queen says. After yummy pizza's we painted nails and had a princess dance. It was so cute to see all these little princesses swing a bat at the pinata - none of them were strong enough to crack it, Charlie had to come and help break it open.

I think Annie had a great time at her party and hopefully she will have great memories of the day.

Annie Turns 4!

Annie is turning into a grown up little girl right before our eyes! She was so excited for her birthday because she wanted a scooter sooooo bad and since Charlie had gotten one for her birthday she hoped she was getting one also (it didn't help that she could ride Charlie's better than he could!).

So Annie got us all up bright and early Monday morning to open presents. She got a few barbies, my little ponies, and a horse stable. AND she got a new princess scooter. After presents as John was getting ready for work Annie ran upstairs and got dressed and came down and stood by the front door and said all she wanted to do on her birthday was go to work with Daddy. She had a great morning with John helping out at the office.

We had Pizza for dinner that night as Annie's choice and then had a pink heart shaped cake. Annie told us she wasn't really 4 yet because her party isn't until Saturday. I wonder if she just wants to have a whole birthday week!!!

Charlie Turns 6

What an exciting day! I can't believe Charlie is 6 years old. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing home our little, tiny baby boy and now he is almost done with Kindergarten.

Charlie woke us all up early Sunday morning to go down and open his presents. He got a giant Nerf gun and bow and arrow that he has loved playing with. He also got a bunch of pirate figures. He got a giant pirate boat for Christmas that he will go set up adventures in his room so we thought he would like to add to the collection. He is also getting into power rangers so he got a car and a few figures to play with. He also got a scooter that he has loved zipping around on!

Charlie & Annie also got that morning a great airplane teeter toter from Nan and Pop that has been a big hit.

That afternoon we had Charlie's birthday party - An Army Adventure. 8 of his friends from school came over for an army party. Each kid got a pair of binoculars, an army hat, and a toy gun. Between the trampoline and the airplane in the back yard the boys had a blast playing army. We played a bunch of games like - Sargent Says (Simon says), Grenade Dodge (dodge ball), Bomb Blaster (pop the balloon on the kids ankles) and tank, tank, bomb (duck, duck, goose). Charlie also had a pinata full of candy and army men. Everyone had a great time and Charlie loved his party.

After Charlie's party we had pancakes for dinner - his favorite and then we had a baseball cake for dessert.

Opening Day of Little League

It has been a crazy, busy two weeks so I am going to try to catch up on what our family has been up to.

Saturday, April 5th was the opening day of little league and we had a great day. Each team decorated a truck and there was a parade to the field. We had big baseballs with each players name on them along with balloons and streamers on John's truck. I made each player a little A's pennant that they waved while we drove down the street.

Once we got to the field each team lined up on a diamond and there was a little ceramony where each team was introduced. They had old planes fly over the field and then there was a bbq afterwards.

Later that day we had our first game and the kids where great. Everyone seemed to have a great time and they played really well (much better than you would have guessed after watching the last few weeks of practice).

10 things I love about Charlie

Charlie and I often play this game when it is my turn to put him to bed. I will lay with him and we each tell the other 10 things that we love about each other. Charlie is always so sweet and comes up with the kindest, cutest things to say. I just wanted to share 10 things I love about Charlie so that someday when he looks back and reads this he will know how loved he is.

1. I love his sweet smile and the way it lights up his face.
2. I love how kind and thoughtful he is to his family and friends.
3. I love what a kind big brother he is and how he looks out for his sisters. How he is always willing to include Annie when he plays.
4. I love his funny sense of humor and how he makes us all laugh.
5. I love how he will give his baby sister Audrey hugs and pats on the head when no one is watching, how he is always ready to help her when she needs it and how he calls her "baby girl".
6. I love what a sweet son he is and that he will cuddle up with me still.
7. I love how smart he is and how he loves going to school.
8. I love how he is so creative and comes up with great stories and pictures to share with us.
9. I love when he calls me Megan Garrison with a funny smile on his face.
10. I love how much he adores his dad and wants to be like him, and when he calls his dad Coach. He gets so excited when it is practice day or when he and his dad play any game together.