DOUBLE DIGITS!

Yep...my girl is now the big ole TEN! I can't believe how time flies. I only seem to really notice when she cleans out her closet and there's still 5T dresses that we hung on to. Seems so cliche to say, "Time flies when you're having fun", but it's true. Maybe all the hard times and blessings on the way made the time pass so fast. Sam still remembers the 1 bedroom Cypress apartment we lived in. It was a pretty small apartment with just Sam and I. We had chicken and rice almost everyday. I weighed 108 because I was on the broke diet. We took walks to the Cypress College swapmeet on the weekends. We crammed like 50 people there for her birthday parties. We really had some times together, her and I. And I'm so proud that she's grown up to be such a well behaved young girl.

So for the big 10, we had to do some special stuff for her. We threw her a surprise birthday slumber party with her 2 good friends Julia Dorsey and Julia Chaay.

I picked up her friends while she was at dance practice and decorated the dining table and the window behind it (thanks Jame for the idea...once again). I even did rice crispy treats (one of Sam's favorites) and when she came in the door we yelled, "SURPRISE!!!" She screamed and was so happy and excited to see her friends. She's known Julia C. since 1st grade and Julia D. since 3rd. She hasn't seen them all summer. She was filled with smiles, followed by a non-stop of cackling.

And on her birthday DAY (24th), we got up had pancakes and omlettes for breakfast, then opened up gifts!

She loved her HOT PINK ipod from Uncle Alex! Isn't her reaction classic? O-M-G!!!!

Then off to the happiest place on earth...DISNEYLAND!

Check out Alexa staring her sister down. She's thinking,"ummmmmm...can you get your hand off my ride"...LOL
Seriously though, Alexa doesn't mess around. She throws some mean stares! LOL

It was Alexa's first time at Disneyland and she did really well. She loved all the rides and said "hi" to all the passing people! Sam had so much fun with Julia and julia and even ditched them on the rides to ride with me! (tear) Thanks to dad...he stayed aside with Alexa for the big kids to ride the roller coasters and big kid rides. These dang girls got me to go on the water raft ride. And of course whos the one that gets soaked? Me of course. The one whos trying not to get wet!

All in all it was a good day.

We did 12 hours, 11am to 11pm! Now we're prepared for annual passes!

The next day (Sat) was her big performance at Citrus College! GO TM TOTS! She did so well!

She's on the far right hand side. (Thank you Nancy for the video)
And here's a good one with Kasey (Alex's girlfriend, roommate, co-worker, classmate). She helped us get Sam motivated and into dance.


And one with the boys...can you believe how big these kids are now? It's so cute how Devan and Sam are in the same dance company!

Alexa's WEEK-AND-A-HALF long birthday EXTRAVAGANZA!

OK...I'm gonna attempt to do the abridged version of our trips and everything in between. Before we left for Cancun, we celebrated Alexa's 1st birthday at Boomers in Fountain Valley.
Gosh that was so worth it! You get in, they feed you, the kids are entertained, there's no cleaning involved, you give them a credit card and it's done with. It was especially nice to see my cousin Jenn there with Jaeden and of course the Waters' rep., Caleb :)Even Nancy, Ni and Devan joined us for the party (did you guys know that Devan and Sam are in the same dance company TM? Performance on the 25th of August!)

And one with her Grandma Del...
And another with her Grandma Ely and Grandpa Poli...
My good friends (more like sisters) Tina and Christine were there to celebrate with their families...
Paul took Alexa on the rides. I'm so blessed to have such a family man...
Charlize loves to play with Alexa. I love that they will grow up together like Sam and Jenalyn...
Didn't see Sam most of the day. She was out and about. When I saw her she was drenched from the bumper boats with cousin Alina...
The party was on a Sunday. The following Wednesday early morning we were off to Cancun for Eleanor & Shawne's wedding!
This was Alexa's first time on a plane. She did fabulous on the way up...not so great on the way back. We land, get checked into our rooms and head to go eat and drink. Sushi and sashimi along with Miami Vice (pina colada with strawberry daquiri) and some stir fry! Yummy! Alexa learned how to drink out of a straw that very evening and helped her sister polish off a whole virgin strawberry daquiri by themselves!
The following morning we wake up to this...
It's hard not to just be in awww every morning! The view was absolutely gorgeous and just breathe taking. How do you go from this to long BEACH? right? Sam was the one to remember to take a picture of it.
Then off to the Oceana to eat, again. This is where the menus, or what my brother calls "tablets" are bigger then Alexa.

And Alexa with yet another strawberry daquiri...

Now it's time to head to the beach! Sam and Paul had a blast. Paul is seriously a fish. He can't get out of the water! I stuck around under the palapas with Alexa waiting for my cervezas!
Of course what's next to do but EAT!


The following day was...

...ALEXA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!

How cool it's gonna be for her to say that she was drinking strawberry daquiris in the Mexican Carribbean on her first birthday. And of course, my mom and I had to celebrate Alexa's birthday by buying a gift for ourselves! :)
Which Alexa will inherit on her birthday many years from now. So I consider it an investment, hahahahaha.

...ELEANOR AND SHAWNE'S WEDDING.

It was so beautiful. I burned that day in the sun. Can you believe that? As dark as I am I can still burn...LOL. I took a lot of pics! I wish I took more of the whole group. I took a lot of couple pics for some reason. But for the most part these were the VIPS at Club Chess (you'd get it if you were there, and that's all that matters)











The following day was a day of rest and relaxation. But it was more like party mode.
Alexa tore up the ice cream cones. As you can see, we moved on to chocolate.



After a really bad hangover and learning to say, "AN ORRRCHRA SIR-VASAHHH POOR FAVOR" (another beer please) another day passed and a big group of us went on an excursion to Xel-Ha and Tulum.

XEL-HA


I was not feeling Xel-ha at all. I was grumpy, gassy, hot, sticky, and just plain cranky from the 2 hour bus ride. So Paul took over with the picture taking and I'm so thankful that he did.

TULUM

In Aug of 2003, Paul and I took a trip to Cancun, and visited Tulum at that time (20 lbs. lighter and full of energy). This pic was taken 2003 on the cliff of Tulum. It's now roped off and you can't stand it the spot that we were standing at.

I'm so glad that we are able to take the family back to experience this beautiful place. Although it would even be more beautiful without the mosquitos!
It was a nice place to go, especially since we are set to leave paradise the next day. One last dip in the pool...

...a yummy lunch...

...and a last family pic after...

It's time for some SLEEP!