Let Spring Break Begin!!

Spring break has begun in the Rodda house!! Whoo hoo!!
We started it off with a trip to the circus. Who could deny our precious children when the circus came to town? Not me!
We met up with some friends at Islands for a little dinner first. Look how cute the kids look. They felt so cool to have their own table. Riley - 10, Kennedy - 9, Michael - 5 1/2, Lainey - 4 and Hudson - 1.. they had a blast!!


Yes! We did have a couple of cocktails before the circus.. wouldn't you?? Lori & Hoop, Melodie & Kevin and us. GREAT PEOPLE!! Love hanging out with them!!

The girls were two peas in a pod. They shared Kennedy's Ipod at dinner and sang sooooo loud. At the circus they acted like they were at a concert watching the Jonas Bros. They screamed and cheered. Too cute!! Crazy how they both wore hats too! Lainey and Michael had fun just being cute. They both LOVED the circus.. they laughed at the clowns and were amazed at the acrobats. Hudson... well Hudson is 1 and he likes to keep moving and exploring. Poor Hoop and Lori walked with him the whole time. Do you remember those days?? I sure do. He is so stinking cute!!!

Today (Monday) the kids and I (ok.. it was really me) woke up looked at the weather report and "had" to go to the beach. 85 - come on now.. it's been months (ok 2 months) since we have been to the beach. I love it! It's my "happy place". I called Jenn and what do you know.. she decided to join us with Sydney (Michael's BFF). SUPER STOKED!!! It was a beautiful day and we didn't want to leave. Although the water was freezing, the kids went in. They didn't stay in long, but they kept going back to it. The day was mostly building sandcastles. Jenn and I got burnt (opps!)The next two weeks are looking good!!

Date Night!

Saturday was date night around our house. Kennedy and Darren got all "decked out" and went over to the Girl Scout Sock Hop. They met up with Kennedy's BFF Randalyn and her Dad, Jim and danced the night away... not really. They danced, ate junk food, danced, at junk food and participated in the hula hoop contest. Kennedy beat her time from last year by 25 seconds. Whoo hoo!!


Cool car outside the sock hop.

Michael and I tried out a new place in town, the Manhattan Deli. YUMMY!! then we headed out to a movie. I mean really, how many times does it take to see "The Chipmunks" before it gets old?? We had our fair share of junk food too!!

Odyssey of the Mind Competition

When school began, Kennedy was invited by her teacher join "Odyssey of the Mind", an afterschool program where kids solve given problems without adult direction or ideas. Kennedy joined and has been working on her "problem" 2-3 days a week since then. Kennedy's group chose "Food Court" where they had to make up an original 8 minute program that would be presented in front of a group of judges. No adult help at all!

Earlier this month, Kennedy and I headed out to Palm Springs for the regional competition. The kids were so excited to go!! Basically, they had a court room with a judge, jury (banana, french peas, tomato, corn & Apple Jacks cereal) the "accuser" - a watermelon and the "accused" - a donut (Kennedy). They made the props, the costumes and the script. It was cute and clever. Our kids did not make it to the state competition, but they sure had fun!!

Darren and Michael had to stay home for opening day of baseball, but joined us later for a little fun. We stayed at The Westin Mission Hills Villas in Rancho Mirage and it was really nice. Kennedy and I ordered room service and watched a movie before we went to bed early (we had to be ready for the competition in the morning)



This is her fun group of kids and their coach Paul.



After the competition was over and Darren and Michael joined us... we made the most of it. We swam at night in the hotel pool (did I mention that it was raining and about 60 degrees?) and ordered room service. In the morning we enuck out to breakfast at a little joint that Kennedy and I found the day before and came back to the hotel for some more pool side fun. The kids went on the water slide. Again... raining! they were the only ones on it so they took full advantage of the fun. We let them play for about an hour and headed home.