Videos!

Picking up the moves on the spot, as she missed all week of school due to a runny nose. You can't say she lacks enthusiasm!

This one is to balance out the Lady Gaga facebook post from earlier.

Jibber jabber :)

Vegas Vacation

Last week, Jeremy and I got to go on a Farmers Insurance rewards trip to Las Vegas. Despite the heat (which has now migrated to Southern California, seriously it was 108 here today and 100 in Vegas last week), we had an awesome time and had a chance to hang out with different Farmers people who have all gone through all the same things we are now.

Sunday night, we ate at craftsteak at MGM Grand and then headed to Tabu. Don't Jeremy and I look ready for the club??

On Monday, Jeremy's district manager rented a cabana for us (thankfully not at Wet Republic where we'd surely be forced to wear Ed Hardy clothes and get tramp stamps) where we could enjoy the fan and ice cold beer when we weren't enjoying the lazy river.

Monday night we had our reservation at Minus 5 in Mandalay Bay -- the only ice bar in North America! We were given heavy coats and Ugg-like boots and gloves. We had very sweet and fruity vodka drinks served in cups made out of ice. I had to exit the bar due to early on-set frostbite on my fingertips.

Jeremy's boss did buy a picture of all of us bundled up (you can't bring cameras, phones or watches into the room for fear of condensation), which I hope to have a copy of. And there may or may not be a a picture of me floating around taking a shot of Bubblegum Vodka from an ice sculpture shaped like a woman's upper body. Oh peer pressure. There may also be a picture of Jeremy doing the same shot, but with Tequila.

Iron Chef - BURGERS!

Craig and Monique- hamburger topped with avocado, bacon and fried green tomatoes- a delicious combination!

 

David and Katie- turkey burger with cheddar in the turkey and sundried tomato sauce- tasty and good for you!

 

Mike and Kimmy- the Luther Burger or Krispy Kreme burger= cheese, egg, bacon on a grilled, glazed donut bun- sweet, salty and heart attacky!

 

Vicki and Jeremy- as if we had room for anything else....the New York Prime Burger with cheddar, tomato and onion rings on a specially ordered bun!

No winner was determined as we were all so full and fat we couldn't talk after dinner. Word on the street was that the Krispy Kreme was NOT the favorite. I don't understand it.

First day of "real school"

Drew attended a 6-week summer school at Mission Lutheran Preschool in July-August and yesterday had her first day of real Preschool. She will have the same teacher (Miss Ursula) and some of the kids from Summer School will also be in class with her.

Think her backpack is big enough? She loves Princess and the Frog and really wanted a Tiana backpack.

I couldn't decide on one picture to post, she was just so darned cute yesterday!

This (below) is what happens when I say "give me a big smile!"

Daddy had an early morning meeting so we had to do some self-portraits.

Most of the morning she said she didn't want to go and wanted to stay home. Once we got to school she ran right over to her table and jumped right in with the "rolly thing."

After school, I asked her what this stuff was and she called it "glump." Any teachers know what this is actually called?

Fun for Mom

For our anniversary, Jeremy bought me this beautiful necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs.

And I recently got my 2009 Gratton Family Photo Album from Blurb. I finally took a couple pictures of the book to show:

The Griswalds go to Wally World

It's been a year since our last visit to Disneyland and things have certainly changed for Drew. This year Drew was tall enough to go on all the rides except for Indiana Jones and she wanted to go on everything. She also is now old enough to recognize when things are "scary." We rode Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain and her favorite was....It's a Small World.

Most of the rides that scared her, she leaned in to her riding partner with her eyes closed and said she was "going to sleep." Even the Buzz Lightyear ride was too dark and loud for her. As you can see, Sharpshooter Gratton had some help from Crocodile Dundee and Annika Sorenstam to defeat Emperor Zurg.

Adding a little culture....

On Saturday Jeremy took Drew to the Natural History Museum in LA with his partner at Farmer's and his 5-year-old son, Logan. Logan is very in to dinosaurs and Drew is very in to doing anything with other kids.

The kids got along fairly well, sharing in their love for The Upside Down Show, holding hands and singing in the car...or, more accurately, trying to outsing each other. Thanks to the Dads for giving the Moms a little break!

Kamikaze

Since Drew has figured out she can swim to the steps from anywhere in the pool. She has gone crazy.

Summer Lovin'

August 13 marked Jeremy and my 5th anniversary. We had a late dinner last Friday night at Vine in San Clemente, which was delicious, and saw the extremely romantic Dinner For Schmucks.

3 years old going on 10!

Drew's friend, Meghan, turned 3 last weekend and we all attended The Little Mermaid birthday party. Oh the torture of watching your friend open presents you would like...

Thankfully Meghan shared her presents with Drew. We thought we were super creative in getting Meghan a princess dress with a crown and earrings...in total, Meghan got 10 princess dresses. I think there were, like 3 gifts that weren't dresses at the party! Drew will be in heaven when she goes to play.

Drew's favorite movie is The Princess and the Frog and one day asked Daddy if he could make some "man-catching beignets." Being such a good Daddy and cook, Jeremy mixed the ingredients the night before and then fried a big 'ol batch the next morning for his little girl.

I don't know how he did it, but they were perfect on his first try! Now Drew has been making Tiana's Gumbo with her toys: pieces of her puzzles get put in a basket and she mixes it all up with a sword.