Pitzak Princesses

Some More Summer Fun

2011-08-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

T-2 takes on the Rogue with King Daddy.

T-2 LOVED her horseback riding lessons.

Fun with friends in Jacksonville. Yes, friends, that's Prince P.

Cupcake Corner Part 3 (Portland)

2011-08-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of amazing friends and I visited Portland for a girls trip of shopping and Les Miserables (which was wonderful by the way). It turned into a cupcake frenzy though as my friends were fully indulgent and supportive of T-1's and my obsession. (The were totally on board with the sacrifice of scientific research too. I have very intelligent friends)

Our first stop was Saint Cupcake Galore in downtown Portland. We all agreed this was the best place. Queen Krista loved the Red Velvet, Queen Natalie was all about the chocolate and I loved the coconut. When we go back, this will be the one where I take the princesses. The variety is best and the place is adorable. Best Cake too.

Next we hit Cupcake Jones in downtown Portland. This place didn't have anywhere to sit, but the unusual flavors made it definately worth the trip. Peanut Butter and Jelly, Rootbear Float, etc. Queen Krista tried the red velvet here too. Not bad, but not as good as the Saint.

Our last stop was a traveling cupcake truck we had to locate on Twitter. It was at a tiny little farmers market and only had a few flavors. This one was a recommendation from a friend. There was Almond Joy, Rasperry Lemon and Dulce de Leche. I'll have to get the other queens to comment on the Dulce -carmel is not my fave, but the other two were not bad. Maybe a little dry, but to be fair, we did eat them much later since we were stuffed from the others! I'm not sure it was worth the hunt to find this truck. Maybe if you live in Portland and it is in your neighborhood.....

T-3 can see!

2011-08-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Adorable Princess T-3 in her new glasses. She's worried people will make fun of her. I think she looks smashing.

Royal Tennis Tournament

2011-08-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

T-1 came in 2nd in Doubles, and 3rd in Singles. T-2 came in 3rd in Doubles. Overall a successful and fun first tournament - especially since as she was walking up to the courts from the car, T-1 tripped and scraped up her knees something fierce. Poor thing.

Princesses Monkeying Around

2011-08-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

The Princesses and some friends went to Urban Monkey - a bouncing air park of craziness with trampolines and squish pits. Very fun. No, princesses don't sweat. They sparkle.

Musical Theatre Camp

2011-08-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

T-1 and two of her amigas from theatre camp. She had a blast for two weeks and did a show at the end called, "I need a Vacation."

Cupcake Corner Continued

2011-07-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

Our visit to Portland led us to The Sweetest Thing Cupcakes.

These cupcakes were pretty, but very dry. T-3 didn't even want to eat hers. Bummer. Icing was tasty though. It was the little kiosk at the shopping center though - they were not baked on site. The shop was adorable.

We didn't want to let Portland let us down in the cupcake department, so on advice from a friend we found a total hole-in-the-wall bakery called

T-2 had an amazing Carmel Apple, T-3 - Chocolate Mint, T-1 Chocolate Orange, and I had the recommended "Chantilly". These were really delicious. A little too much frosting maybe, but nice and "spongy" cake. The Carmel Apple was Queen Mommy's fave. It wasn't a cute shop though and you know how we like our packaging. You sit in what looks like a antique shop with really dirty looking seats and toys everywhere. Close your eyes and take a bite!

This last weekend, the princesses visited the Science Works in Ashland, Oregon for a special Magic for Muggles event. Afterward we got on our brooms and flew over to

Larry's Cupcakes. New place by the owners of Yummy Cakes which just closed in Medford. They are focusing on Cupcakes now and had over 30 different flavors. T-2's bubblegum butter cream left something to be desired, but really, what do you expect? T-1 loved her chocolate cupcake, but not the raspberry buttercream. Queen Mommy thought the Carrot Cake was great. So. Oregon - go in and try them!

CUPCAKE CORNER

2011-07-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

T-1 loves Cupcakes. To be honest, so does Queen Mommy. We discovered a new cupcake store in Medford a few months ago called The Cupcake Company.

We've been there twice now and think their cupcakes are delicious. T-1 really likes the chocolate raspberry. Queen Mommy says it's all about the minis (that way she can have 2!) - Carrot Cake and Snowball.

Since then, we have made it our mission to scientifically test the deliciousness of cupcakes in cities across America. We are willing to do this testing for as long as it takes. We're selfless like that.

We'd been enjoying the cupcakes at Frosting Bake Shop in Walnut Creek, CA (near the Queen Mum)

where T-1 loves the Black and White

While Queen Mommy prefers the Lemon Twist

We think the cake to icing ratio is a bit off, but delicious.

Last time we visited San Francisco, we tried Kara's Cupcakes.

T-1 had Chocolate Raspberry and Queen Mommy had Chocolate Coconut. There is nothing wrong with these cupcakes (except they are spendy, but all of the shoppes seem to be.) These definately are some of our favorites though.

While visiting San Diego last month, we took time out to visit two different shops. The famous Sprinkles cupcakes was the first Cupcake Shop in the US. They had opened a branch in La Jolla so we twisted everyone's arm and they agreed to make a quick stop.

We tried several flavors - all together 6 or 7 and they were all smashing. Our favorite shop by far. These surpass even Kara's, our previous favorite. Add to that that we got our order free because we gave them the secret password (and there were 10 of us so it would have been like $35!) add the amazing view of the San Diego Temple and there is no beating Sprinkles in La Jolla.

We also tried a place called CB's Cupcakes that lets you choose your cake, your frosting, your toppings and then assembles them for you. They were not delicious. Dry and the icing tasted canned. Overall a disappointment, but a good idea in theory. Keep trying CB's!

Playing Catch-Up

2011-07-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

Seriously? It's July? Why has this year flown so fast? The Princesses have kept me so busy, I haven't been diligent in the Blog department. Several pictures have made it to Facebook, so that is something. Here's the first half of the year in a nut shell.

JANUARY

Thing 1 goes to All State Choir and performs some really fun songs with kids from all over Oregon. Aunt Barbara joined me and Thing 3 at the concert.

FEBRUARY

The royal family visits Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

MARCH
Queen Mommy visits Queen Christina (King Daddy's sister) and her family in Colorado.
Thing 1 does a report on Martha Washington.

APRIL
Thing 1 turns 11.

Thing 3 turns 5.

The Royal Family Visits California

MAY

Thing 2 and Thing 3 are Soccer Stars

The Princesses Hike Table Rock

The Princesses see Wicked in Eugene with Queen Mommy, the Queen Mum, Aunt Barbara and Cousin Nancy. T-3's first time, T-2's second, T-3's Fourth!! We love Wicked!

T-1 performs in the 4th/5th grade program. She's a surfer, of course!

JUNE

T-1 and T-2 rock their piano recital

T-3 Graduates from PreSchool!

T-2 Sings "I Say a Little Prayer for You!" in the talent show. She was fabulous.

T-1 Graduates from 5th Grade. Next stop: Middle School. Queen Mommy is not ready for this.

The Princesses perform in the Dance Concert. T-1 was a chimney sweep in a Mary Poppins medley, T-2 shook her booty to 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' and got her 5 year award, and T-3 did two dances; 'Rockin' Robin' and 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls'.

The Royal Family visits Los Angeles and San Diego. We rented a house with the cousins (third year!) and had so much fun swimming, visiting the temple and the Mormon Battalion, shopping, eating and visiting Shamu!

Fall Flew!

2010-12-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Cheer Camp. The girls rocked the stadium dancing and cheering. None of them like Justin Bieber, but that didn't stop them from chreering! T-2 of course did the whole thing facing the opposite direction from everyone else because that is where our seats are and she wanted to face Queen Mommy. Gotta love that girl!

Disneyland is made for Princesses. But even with charm like theirs, they couldn't get the King to REALLY ride the Tea Cups!

T-2 and T-3 played soccer. Queen Mommy was coach for T-2's team though, so of course, no pictures got taken.

T-1 and T-2 are the bash sisters in Tennis

Piano recital. The princesses are still doing wonderfully at the piano. Proud teacher Heidi is pleased.

Civil War day with our friend Camillia Bedillia. They love their ducks!

The princesses visit Santa. T-2 wants a silver bell like from the Polar Express. Anyone know where to get one of those???

First Day of School

2010-09-07T13:46:00.000-07:00

More Tea?

2010-09-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Friends, cupcakes and fun. The girls learned some manners and did a fashion show. So pretty and fun.

More Summer Fun

2010-09-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

We had such a great trip to Lake Tahoe with our Cousins. The Princesses hiked, swam and boated around Donner Lake, built sand castles at Lake Tahoe, went rafting down the Truckee River, and went swimming and water sliding up at Squaw Valley. It is so great to see the King's Sister and her family. It's a new tradition. Where to next year guys?

Tea Time

2010-09-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Princesses attended tea at this lovely tea room in California with the Queen and the Queen Mum (Gran). The food was delicious. The princesses had lovely sandwiches and scones (T-1 REALLY liked the Lemon Curd). What a lovely activity for princesses. After tea? What else? Shoe Shopping!

Princess back in the City by the Bay

2010-09-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

I finally have a second to update. The Princesses did so many fun things this summer. This trip to the bay area to see Beauty and the Beast was just the last hurrah before school started. It was a girl trip, so the King was unable to attend (He was on a river trip with King Grandpa). We did some shopping in SF Centre, had lunch with a friend in the Nordstrom Bistro Cafe, saw Beauty and the Beast, had clam chowder in a bread bowl down on the Wharf (T-1's fave!), and then yummy sundaes at Ghirardelli. Good times and new shoes for Queen Gran. Not a bad trip!

The Princesses 6th Annual Nutcracker Tea Party

2010-02-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

12 little girls were invited to tea this year with the princesses. They munched on delicious star and bell shaped sandwiches and yummy treats while sipping herbal tea or apple juice from lovely china tea cups!

Then it was off to the ballet. This was T-3's first year. She loved it!

Happy Royal New Year!

2010-02-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

The Princesses rang in the New Year (with the East Coast at 12 EST) with the fam at our castle. Sparkling cran-grape juice and water was had by all. No designated carriage drivers needed!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

2010-02-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Princesses left cookies for Santa at Gran's house.

The Tradition: New Jammies for Christmas Eve. This year, Queen Mommy matched the girls too!

The Queen's Birthday

2010-02-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

The Princesses help Queen Mommy celebrate her 29th (again) birthday with a trip into SF. We did a little shoe shopping in SF Centre with the Queen Mum,

Went to the Pier for a ride on the Carousel and and early dinner of Clam Chowder in a Sourdough bread bowl. Yummy! We had so much fun with the Royal Family. The Duke of Cool even came!

Pre-School Christmas Party

2010-02-06T15:14:00.000-08:00

T-3 had a great time at the preschool Christmas party. Everyone decorates gingerbread houses. There is so much candy! The princesses made this beautiful creation with very little help. Queen Mommy only worked the icing bag.Her highness T-3 received some lovely jewelery from Santa at the party.

Christmas Dresses

2010-02-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

We love the Christmas Dresses Gran got the Princesses this year. Very different and fun. We also love Nordstrom, don't we girls?

Catching up - November

2009-12-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

The pilgrims and indians met together for a feast in First Grade. The children made all the food. The queen came in the day before to help one group make pumpkin pie. There was "Stone Soup" and cranberry sauce and cornbread with homemade butter. What a fun day!

Catching Up - October

2009-12-09T21:01:00.000-08:00

T-2 had a really fun soccer season. This was her first in U-8 which means practices during the week. It was time consumming, but the team really progressed a lot. (Too bad they got orange!) The King and I love to watch her play, especially when she is really concentrating and her tongue comes out like Michael Jordan.

The Royal family got to spend some time with the cousins at the beach this month. We had the best time. The girls loved seeing their cousins after such a long time. They played games, got blown away on the beach and visited the Tillamook cheese factory where they sampled many flavors of ice cream. Yummy!

T-1 found a soul mate in her age mate cousin. These two had a blast together.

Our little punkin also started pre-school this year. She was sick the day they visited the pumpkin patch, but they brought her back this beauty.

Pretty T-1 at the Cannon Beach House.

The princesses love Halloween. T-1 was Alice in Wonderland, T-2 was a light up witch (lights in her skirt) and T-3 was Goldilocks and the Three Bears (The bears were in her apron pockets, so cute!)

King Daddy was a rockstar and Queen Mommy was a lady bug. We had the best Halloween ever. Went to a friends party and trick or treated there for an hour and then back to our neighborhood (the grand central of trick or treating) to visit some of our neighbors. A great time (and a lot of candy) was had by all.

Catching up with the Princesses - September

2009-12-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

I'm soo behind! T-3 started ballet class this year. She loves it. Her teacher has her hands full with only five little 3 year olds! T-3 is becoming a little performer like her big sis. She loves to listen to music and sing her heart out.

Cheer camp was so much fun again this year. The princesses cheered for their team at half time and did a dance to "Rock Star" Unfortunatly, T-1 was on the 20 yard line and T-2 was on the 40 on opposite ends of the field. They face away from our seats to the covered side, so I always go over to that side to record them. T-2 had it figured out. She knew where our seats are and was the only little cheer leader (out of line so she could be seen) who faced the other direction. I got great video of her backside.

The Princesses go back to School

2009-09-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

And the crowd goes wild! (Or at least, the Queen does) There has not been a shortage of royal bickering around the castle this summer and the Queen is no less than gleeful at the commencement of school! T-1 is starting 4th grade and T-2 is in 1st. Both got the teachers we wanted and have friends they know in their classes. New backback here, school supplies there and they're off!

Summer Fun

2009-09-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

The Princesses stayed busy this summer with visits to the Science Works museum in Ashland....

Fun Family Bowling..........

Tons of Swimming.........

and visits to Califormia and the Oakland Zoo with the Duke of Cool. (That's the Queen's Bro BTW) They adore him!

The Beach, of course

and a trip to the exploratorium and the warf for Clam Chowder in a bread bowl. Yummm!

The Family Fun Center...

Kayaking down the Rogue. King Daddy got an inflatable kayak called a Tahiti for his birthday. He loves taking the princessed down the river! So Far T-2 and T-1 have each been down the river with Daddy.

Fabulous hike to Rainie Falls. A two mile hike down the river to a class 6 rapid. Even T-3 hiked a lot of the time. They all did really well.

Old News

2009-09-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've been blogging, so here are a few pics of what we did this summer.

There were many perfomances. T-2 had her first piano recital. She was fabulous. She performed in her 3rd dance recital where once again she was a lovely fairy. Toward the end of the song while the dancers where supposed to head up stage to finish up and "fall asleep", T-2 swept her little ballerina body all the way across the front of the stage in an impromptu solo before joining the other fairies, blowing a kiss to the audience and falling into an adorable fairy snooze. It was Hi-larious!
She also performed with her RH-2 (RedHead #2 and best friend) in the talent show at school. They sang and danced to Hannah Montana, You get the Best of Both Worlds. T-2 is quite a choreographer.

T-1 also perfomed in the school talent show. She danced while RH-1 (same fam!) sang "Fearless" by Taylor Swift. They practiced everyday at recess and did such a great job. I didn't think T-1 would be interested in permorming a dance solo in front of the school - she's usually a little less flamboyant than her sis, but she really rocked it.
In her 6th recital she perfomed a pajama clad dance to Mr. Sandman which was adorable. She and her friend even had the same jammies which she really liked. She also recieved her 5 year award at the studio (we tried another studio in her 3rd year) and got to stand on stage at intermission and collect a trophy. Very special
I can't remember how many piano recitals there have been, but she was amazing as usual. She even introduced her pieces this time. Queen Mommy got to play duets with both her little princesses. Love these girls!

A Princess with Style

2009-05-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

T-2 definatly has style. She even plays wii bowling with a special flair.

We went to the book fair last night - the theme was movie stars. T-2 was ready for her close-up.

Broken Princess?

2009-04-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely spring morning in Grants Pass. Half the town was out to cheer on their little athletes at kinder soccer and the princesses were no exception. T-2 was playing beautifully - scored two goals in fact.

But T-3 wanted more. She ran across another team's field toward the playground. Mommy swooped her up and carried her back Piggyback style, but T-3 would have none of that. She jumped off.

Several X-rays and a week and a half of not walking later, she is now seen wearing this season's most stylish accessory -the pink cast. She hobbles around great on it. It was even better when the guy who mows the royal lawn said to the queen, "Hey, I saw you drop your kid on Saturday." Thanks, Sir Scott. By the way, your fired.

Easter

2009-04-14T17:42:00.001-07:00

The Queen Mum has struck again. Every year she buys the princesses their Easter and Christmas dresses. This year she and the Queen found a cute dress in three different colors. The princesses dazzled.

We went to church in the morning. The Queen sang in Sacrament meeting. Then after church we headed home to hunt for easter eggs the girls had dyed the day before. The King and Queen gave each girl a big egg filled with M&Ms and Skittles. The Princesses wanted to know why the Easter Bunny didn't come. This is the first year they've asked about him. The Queen thinks the Easter Bunny is a little creepy. Have you seen that guy with the big head and the yucky suit at the mall? Ew. He was not invited to the house. Easter turned out fine even so.

We had a nice dinner together and started a new easter dessert tradition: Cinnamon Rolls. Then we headed out to the easter devotional where the Queen had to sing again. Overall, a very nice day.

It's April!

2009-04-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

We love April. Spring is here (technically, though not actually), Easter dresses come in the mail from Gran, and there are two birthdays! (Of course the Princesses have Diamond birthstones. What else, Dahling?) T-1 turned 9 on the 1st. Instead of having a big party with her friends, we went down to the bay area and took her to see the musical "Wicked". She's seen it twice before, but still chose it over a party. That's my girl! Sis T-2 got to come along this time since she is finally old enough. In fact, the day she turned five she said, "I can see Wicked now!" Gran and the duke (Uncle C) came with us and we had a fabulous time. Afterward we went over to the Cheesecake Factory at the top of Macy's in Union Square. Yummy.
While we were in the bay area - Gran couldn't help herself. She had a party for the the two T birthday girls at her house and invited Grandma and Grandpa over. There was cake and ice cream and presents.
T-3 turns 3 on the 13th. She is having a butterfly birthday party with a few of her little friends. She is very excited. She chose the invitations and the guests. Her big sisters will help with games and Queen Mommy is going to attempt a Butterfly Cake. Wish me luck!
So, as you can see, April is a busy time.

I'd like to go back to Hawaii and sit on the beach.

The Princesses Hit Hawaii

2009-02-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

A very royal Aloha from Oahu! The Princesses had a glorious time at Ko Olina. The Beach was devine and the sun was a welcome sight for Oregonian eyes.

The whole family got these temporary tatoos in the New Zealand section of the Polynesian Cultural Center. The design means "Family" in the native language.

Dressed for dinner with Queen Mommy.

T-1 is a sun goddess.

A little princess attitude.

Hanging loose with the King.

We visited the (closed due to renovation) Laie Temple. It was lovely.

Tasted Coconut, Pinapple, Fried Banana and a fruit called Rambodon that looks like a kiwi and a rasberry had a baby that tastes like a grape with a pit. Weird, but yummy.

Princess T-2 as Island Princess.

I'm........gonna soak up the sun.
T-3 is a bathing beauty in the sand pool.

It was a wonderful trip. Great for the morale in the middle of a grey winter. We spent most of the time on the beach and at the pool. Just the one day drive to the PCC that took us past the Dole Plantation (rode the Pineapple Express), North Shore (saw some waves and tried some delicious roadside stand fruit), the temple and BYU Hawaii.

The only drawback to this trip was that it was too short! We wanted to stay!

Gong Hay Fat Choi!

2009-01-26T13:34:00.001-08:00

That's Happy Chinese New Year from the Princesses. The girls dressed in their Asian best for school today and we're having chicken fried rice for dinner. Yum!

Extra! Extra! Read all About it!

2009-01-26T13:30:00.001-08:00

T-3 is now in a big girl bed. If only she'd stay in it....
She's been climbing in and out of the crib for a few weeks now, so we finally took down the guard rail. The lack of containment is a small price to pay for no broken bones. I'm sure the Queen Mum would agree as I seem to recall that is how the Duke broke his first bone!

American Princesses

2009-01-26T13:17:00.001-08:00

The Princesses visited the American Girl Place while on a quick trip to LA. Unfortunately, their great-grandma died and made this trip spur of the moment style. We were very happy to visit with Grandma and Grandpa and Great-Aunts and Uncles and 2nd cousins. We took a time out from all this to drive downtown and see the LA temple. It was so huge and beautiful. Grandma and Grandpa were married there and Daddy went through for the first time there before his mission.

Next was a quick drive over to Hollywood for an American Girl lunch. All three princesses brought their dolls, so they were thrilled when the dolls had special seats at the table and were served from tiny tea cups. The napkin rings were cute hair bows that they got to keep. Lunch was adorable (and tasty) : pink lemonade, mini cinnamon rolls, fruit cut into hearts and stars. T-3 had a tick-tack-toe pizza. Dessert was chocolate mousse served in tiny flower pots with a daisy sticking out, mini cookies and a petit-four. Daddy was one of only 7 men in the black, white and hot pink decorated cafe, but we thought he was our hero for being such a good sport!

Ha.........ppy New Year!

2009-01-12T12:08:00.001-08:00

The princesses rang in the new year New York style (that is at (9:00 pdt) with blood orange grape juice. They feel right at home in the tiaras. We celebrated with the Queen Mum and Prince Granddad, Queen Mommy's brother, the Duke and his royal dog, Lady Matilda. The Princesses had a blast with horns and snow outside the cabin up at Shasta!

Twas the week after Christmas...

2009-01-12T11:58:00.001-08:00

The princesses tried skiing. They had a class while their uncle, The Duke and Queen Mommy took snowboard lessons. (Ouch! My derriere!) they did a pretty good job. T-1 was hesitant, but learned to turn. T-2 felt the need for speed, "mommy, push me down the hill!" King Daddy skied the whole day until he tried snowboarding on the board the Duke had been attempting to ride. He agrees it is much harder than skiing!!

Next on the winter sports list, skating and sledding. Even T-3 joined in the fun. She marched around the rink on skates that were 2 sizes too big. T-1 and T-2 loved it! They found some little friends and by the end of the day, were skating around by themselves.

Christmas Day

2009-01-12T11:39:00.001-08:00

Merry Kamismas! - T-3 says! Christmas morning was very fun for the princesses. They were pleased to once again just make it under the wire to the nice side of santa's list. (it was a close call). T-1 was thrilled with her "Heelies" and spent the rest of the day rolling around.

T-2 played with her fairy storybook and barbie paint with color and T-3 was dressed in her princess best as Liana from Barbie and the Diamond Castle. The jammies were sweet and so were the smiles. Later, we celebrated the day with our friends at their house. Food and fun for everyone. We left around 6, all dressed as Rudolf!

Christmas Princesses

2008-12-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

The princesses are ready for Christmas. These beautiful dresses were an early Christmas present from Gran.

T-1 and T-2 sang with Queen Mommy at a music devotional. They were so cute. I was very proud of them. T-3 exercised her vocals outside the chapel with a friend in a less beautiful way. She wasn't thrilled to be left behind for even those 3 minutes. Next year maybe she can sing too. What a ham!

2008-12-23T21:22:00.000-08:00

T-2 and T-1 saw Santa while Mommy snapped some pictures. T-3 says, "Santa! Santa!" until she gets close to him, then she says, "I don yike Santa!" Not so loud little one, or it's coal for you this year. It's funny how we tell them not to talk to strangers, but then expect them to love some big huge guy in a crazy red suit. A little stranger danger is ok with me.

T-1 Perfomance Artist

2008-11-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

T-1 has been busy entertaining us. Last week was her 3rd Grade program honoring Vets. She was front row and singing her little heart out. Doesn't she look like one of the little christmas angels with the perfect little 'O' mouth? She was so serious through the whole thing and didn't look up much because I kept trying to make her smile by making faces at her.
This week was her piano recital. She played 4 pieces (one I got to play with her!) and she was marvelous. She even introduced her songs - this was a first. The recital is held at a Retirement home/care center, so not only were students and parents there, but many of the residents came to enjoy the children's music. T-1 played all her pieces from memory and we were so proud of her. What a special girl she is!

Fun with T-3

2008-11-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

Attention Grandmas! T-3 loves this ladybug! It is at Chesi-Jo's and everytime we go in, she gets it out and rides it. Here, she has picked a hole in her tights so they ripped off. I was in the process of buying some new ones when this face happened. How could I not stop and photograph?

The Jammie shots are after the big sisters went to bed. A little cuddle and singing time with Mommy and Daddy. Look at those curls. Words fail to express how much I love this girl. Her little smile and all her big words brighten my life.

I think her Daddy likes her a bit too, what do you think?

Boo!

2008-11-04T17:51:00.001-08:00

Halloween is always a blast with the Princesses. They attended the church party (which was wonderful, thanks Marcee!) , had parties at school and of course, went trick-or-treating with Mommy and some other little friends. T-2 was Glinda the Good Witch of the North and T-3 was Barbie as the Island Princess. Her name is "Ro" (short for Rosella), but T-3 says "I be Wo!"

T-1 is the good witch of the south. She chose the costume herself. Originally, it was supposed to be a light-up witch, but TRAUMA! Queen Mommy waited too long. Still she looked fabulous in her purple and black.

They got a lot of candy, but only kept 10 pieces each, leaving the rest on the porch for the Good Witch of Halloween to pick up. In its place, she left the new Tinkerbell movie. Everyone was quite please with the arrangement.

Princesses on Ice

2008-10-21T11:12:00.001-07:00

We took the princesses to Disney on Ice in Oakland. They had such a great time. Gran met us there and provided the swag. Our only regret: Where was Aurora? The whole show, T-3 said, "Ont Awawa." (That's "I want Aurora" for those non-toddler speakers out there.) All the other Disney Princesses and their princes showed up, but no Sleeping Beauty. Is Pocahontas a princess?

Punkin Princesses

2008-10-14T13:00:00.001-07:00

The Princesses picked Pumpkins proudly! We visited the pumpkin patch this weekend and everyone picked one out. The Queen picked that cool white one. I'm calling it the albino pumpkin - appropriate, don't you think?

The girls love going to this farm where they can ride the ponies, go through the maze and feed the goats. We got a cart and wheeled that little T-3 around with the pumpkins. It was very fun. Afterward, we all shared a bag of Candy Corn!

Go Cavemen!

2008-10-14T12:54:00.001-07:00

The Princesses cheered for the Cavemen on Friday night with the other Junior Cheerleaders at half time. They are so cute and had such a fun time, even if it was really cold. They did a dance to the "Camp Rock" theme song and did two cheers. Thanks to their enthusiasm, the Cavemen beat Sheldon in triple overtime. (needless to say, the Junior cheerleaders left early and were already asleep when the Cavemen pulled it off!

N-Y-C! What is it about you?

2008-10-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

So the big 3-5 girl weekend in the big apple was last week. It was fabulous. Yummy food, lots of shopping and three Broadway shows in 3 days. Legally Blonde, A Tale of Two Cities, and Mary Poppins - how do you like my diverse interests? Queen Mommy and her friend Lady Shell visited all the B's - Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys, Bloomingdales... Seeing the park and the temple were really special. We spent some time (and money of course) in the American Girl Store too(I can't believe they are retiring Samantha!) Love you Shell! Thanks for a lovely b-day trip!

Tennis Princess

2008-09-12T12:35:00.001-07:00

T-3's skinny little arms are getting stronger. She's even ready for a new racquet. We love her coach, Jeffrey. She is having a great time.

Soccer Princess

2008-09-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

T-2's first soccer game of the season. Our Home Teacher is her coach and she is one of 3 girls and 3 boys on her team - the Orange Crush. (That's her front and center at the ball. The boy with the ball happens to be in our ward too.)
She was so amazing. This is her third soccer season and she touched the ball more in this game than in the other seasons combined. She stole the ball from a boy down by her goal and dribbled it all the way up the field, passed the other kids and scored a goal. I wish I had my video camera. Maybe next Saturday. It was fabulous.

1st Day of School!

2008-09-08T13:12:00.001-07:00

Last week was the first day of 3rd Grade for T-1. She loves her new teachers and has a lot of her friends in her class.
T-2 started Kindergarden this morning (sob!) After this crazy summer, I thought I'd be thrilled to kick her out the door to school, but she looked so cute in her new 1st day of school jumper and is so excited, it made me think my baby is big now! Her Kindergarden teacher is wonderful (T-1 had her too!). I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful school for my girls and that they love to learn so much. It is a bitter sweet adventure, this raising girls!

The Princesses Rule at Harris Beach

2008-08-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

The girls had a fun weekend camping at Harris Beach. (Yes, the Princesses can camp! In a tent, no less!) They spent the days by the water and the evenings by the fire roasting marshmallows and getting very dirty.

The weather was foggy in the mornings, but warmed up in the afternoons to a perfect sunny day!

The Princesses like to climb the rocks that line the Oregon Coast.

Check out the lovely sand castle. If there is one thing princesses know about, it's castles!

The Princesses Visit San Francisco

2008-08-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

We went down to the Bay Area to visit their Gran and Granddad. We had such a great time. I didn't pack for a visit to the city, but the call of Sourdough and fun was too strong. So we piled in the car and drove into San Francisco - the traffic was so light! We went straight to the Palace of Fine Arts - my favorite spot in the city. Of course the beauty of the place was slightly marred by the scaffolding that surrounded the palace, but we didn't let the "improvements" ruin our nice little picnic.

That same stop included the Exploratorium - a hands on science museum. Here is T1 drinking from a....it was and experiment in how our perceptions effect us. The water is clean - what would you do? The girls loved playing with all the exhibits.

Next stop - the cable cars. The princesses had never been on them, and it had been so long since my husband and I had, that we thought, why not? It was a bit of a wait, but T2 and T3 had a nice time posing for pics in front of the bay and watching them turn the cable cars around.

It was a little chilly on the cable cars, but a nice lady gave the girls her scarf. The little ones kept shouting, "weeeeeeee!" Those are some steep hills! But when we caught sight of the end of the Powell Street line at Market Street and could see San Francisco Centre and Nordstrom, we were filled with joy! A friend of mine who works down on market came to meet us and rode the cable car back down to the wharf with us and we all had dinner and Nonna Rose's - a little restaurant down on the wharf where Clam Chowder in bread bowls hit the spot. T1 is truly a city girl - she didn't want to leave. In fact she kept saying, " I wish we lived here!"
It was T2's 5th birthday and Grand and Granddad got her a Highschool Musical sing-a-long game for wii. The girls rocked out for the rest of the night.

The princesses curl up in bed at Gran's.
Ready for story time.

A good time was had by all!

Swimming Lessons

2008-07-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks, the Pitzak Princesses have been busy with swimming lessons. Miss Myrna has been teaching for a billion years and is amazing. They learn to dive, to side breath, and most important, how to save their lives if they were ever in an emergency.

Three different lessons every day for two weeks.

All three are little fishes in the water.

The girls are taught to get on their backs if they fall in the water. Doesn't T-3 do a great back float?
On "Life Saving Day" they get in the water in their clothes to know what it feels like if you fall into the water when your are dressed. They also practice with life jackets and holding hands for a rescue.
At the end of the two weeks, they graduate with "Swimming Star" Medals and lots of hugs.