the comings and goings of the Baldwin family
I came across this photo as I was editing photos for a movie I am making for our Primary. I thought that it was a pretty good indication of Sis’s personality. She’s going to kill me when she sees that I chose this one over the other one with the “normal” pose. Funny.
Sis just finished a long three months of play practices and, finally, play performances of Robin Hood. She was chosen to be a Merry Maid, part of Maid Marion’s entourage. All the girls were very serious about their costumes and, most importantly, their hair and make-up.
Sis found that the sponge curlers worked the best for the curls that she wanted. She totally reminds me of my mom when it comes to hair and make-up…genetics are strong in that area! She wanted to wear curlers in her hair all day at school (other girls did). I guess it’s cool to do that these days. Can you imagine doing that when I was in school (1970′s and early 1980′s)? We would have been mocked for the rest of our lives…literally the “rest of our lives.”
The footage of the dance is not the best. I probably should have stood to the side of the gym when taking it. And I really can’t wait for the “official” DVD by Impressive Video since we just barely received our Nutcracker DVD from “December.” The play will be long forgotten by July.
I took Little Sis and Sis to the city Easter Egg Hunt. It was supposed to start at 11:00 a.m. We arrived at about 10:50, and took our place in a section with around 50 children waiting for the signal. This was just one area, by the way. There were many others with just as many children. Some of the older children (who I’m sure were older than age 10, the limit) started rushing a few minutes after we arrived. This caused everyone else in the park to rush. If you didn’t rush, you missed out. So we rushed too.
It was a frenzy! If you were just showing up, you had no chance to get even one egg. After it was all over, I was talking with some friends and looked at my watch. It was 11:03. The hunt was supposed to start at 11:00 and we were done by 11:03. Crazy. The parent comments around me as we traversed the park were pretty funny. Needless to say, I think that there were a lot of “private” Easter Egg Hunts afterwards. But what do you expect in a city whose median age was 18 in the 2000 census…I can’t imagine what it is today.
Sis sacrificed her reputation to do a dance number with Little Sis at this year’s Primary in Excellence. They performed the Wiggerly Woo. Little Sis wouldn’t practice days before the event, so I was worried that she wouldn’t participate. But she didn’t seem to mind performing in front of a large group. Little Sis did a great job.
Sis was then put upon one more time when she “had” to sing a number with the Activity Day Girls. The things we have to put up with in this life! Honestly!
Saturday afternoon Dad and I took Sis and Little Sis for an hour of sledding on the east hill of the local golf course. It has become a popular spot for local sledders. We think that perhaps the city should start charging a sledding fee to generate more dollars for the city. Golf in the summer, sledding in the winter…that is until home construction starts on the 15th hole.
This year has been great! Going to San Fran was a Blast! Summer was fun because I was in Alice in Wonderland, and I got to see and have my cousins stay with us. In August we went to the mountains and had so much fun. Then I went (alone) with Grandma to Idaho and stayed and played!
Also, I got my ears pierced. Hooray! In September I turned eleven! Also, I went back to school. Boring! December was Nutcracker. This year was fun. Hope next year is just as good!
Sis had to have a gift exchange of her own. The excitement from Mom’s party was not enough to appease her. So she designed her computer invitations, delivered them personally, wrapped her gift (that I purchased…along with all the other moms), and set up for the party in the manner of Mom. The tweens arrived, ate, and exchanged gifts, amidst shrieks and screams. Note: girls are louder than boys.
The gals haven’t quite got down the whole exchange thing, but I suppose with time it will sink in. Sis needs more training on taking video (it’s not that I haven’t instructed until blue in the face). I edited out most of the wild camera movements. Most of the time there are no heads in the frame. Ah, maybe it’s safer that way, what with the internet and all… 
.
A friend of mine has a tradition of fishing on Thanksgiving. Sounded good to me. Fish in the morning and eat in the afternoon.
This year I tried to recruit the boys to go with me. They’d been in the “winter” and quickly passed. My oldest girl, however, was all go.
We fished just below the dam at the top of the canyon. It was cold — I was cold. My little 11 year old girl froze her little fingers and toes off. But as you can see from the picture, she sure looked cute in the waders and boots. I was glad we caught a few fish to show for our efforts.
Sis had a birthday party with four friends (Sarah, Sabina, McKinley and Regan) at Justice. They each received a gift bag with goodies and then had a complete make-over including hair, make-up and nails. They were really rockin’ by the time the gals were finished with them.
Enjoy the movie.
Sis was invited to join a competition soccer team this year. It is their first year together as a team. They are UC11, division two, I believe, because we only travel around the county…and one city outside the county; much to the parent’s delight. For being a brand new team, the girls have been doing well. This winter they will play indoor soccer so that they can be ready to challenge the teams again in the Spring. Sis is one of two goalies and then plays various other positions. She is having fun.
I took the children (including Junior, Bud, Sis, Little Sis, cousins and Dana (Meredith’s sister)) to the local Amusement Park on Tuesday. It was a miserably hot day. The sun was a real scorcher. There wasn’t much of a breeze, and no afternoon thunderstorm like is typical on a hot July day. Sis opted to stay with me and Little Sis, as opposed to the older kids, knowing that by doing so she would not have to ride the Roller Coaster, Colossus, Jet Star II, or the new Wicked. She was safe with Little Sis.
Meredith and Carter arrived later in the afternoon and joined us for some rides, including Rattlesnake Rapids. We all got soaked. We should have rode that when we first arrived.
I also took pictures of Little Sis on her very first amusement park rides, which she loved.
Her favorite rides were the LadyBug Pop and the Dinosaur Drop. She giggled throughout, and raised her arms high each time we dropped. Mom’s stomach dropped too. I’m getting old.
I took some video with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07 digital camera. The quality is actually pretty darn good. Some of the shots are a bit far away, but oh well. You haven’t got much time to put thought into how you’re going to record. The rides aren’t that long.
Meredith took Carter and Little Sis home fairly early (7:30 p.m.), which allowed Sis to ride some more “scary” rides…like The Bat .
Wow, when we first arrived in Oakland, Bud and I just wanted to stay at the hotel, not stop in any stores. Well we got to the hotel a little early so we stored our bags and did what every girl likes to do, we went SHOPPING!!!!!! We all loved that. Oh, if my mom didn’t mention I will. Little Sis got these shoes and after that she would not take them off!!!!! So me, Bud, and Little Sis went swimming after walking and shopping. That night, my dad wanted to take us to ” Fisherman’s Wharf ” and get something to eat. I did not want to go. When he said it I expected it to only have fish. But we spotted In-n-Out Burger. MMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! When we went on the boat to Alcatraz I was more then excited. It was so amazing. It was getting really cold but we still went to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so cool. The rest of the vacation was really fun as well. When we had to leave I was bummed. I had to go back to school again, but hey on the bright side I got a lot of stuff.
- Sis
p.s. I want to go there again.
Click on a photo below for a larger view…
Sis and Lexi are best of friends. And it appears that Lilly and Little Sis are about to be the same way. Here’s a quick shot from a baptism weeked.
It was a breezy Saturday morning on March 10th. I had to take Bud over to a Boy Scout Pow Wow early. Little Sis was awake and wanted to join me on the drive. I thought how much fun it would be to fly a kite. Little Sis and I went over to Wal-Mart and picked up a Dora the Explorer kite for Little Sis and a cool blue Navy Thunderbird airplane kite for me.
When we returned home, Sis heard of our plan and wanted to join us. Dora was a great little kite. Of course I had to buy extra string to get the kite up as high as possible. Dora soared to 200 feet with ease. The cool blue Navy Thunderbird airplane kite went to 300 feet.
Great times. Enjoy the movie.
Sis and her friend, McKell, choregraphed this gymanstic routine for our ward’s Primary in Excellence program…it’s a talent show. The girls take tumbling together. I think that Sis came up with the outfits since both shirts and ribbons are hers. She wanted me to “buy” them new outfits for the event, but I said “No.” At least Sis can come up with cute outfits with what she has on hand…she’s got good fashion sense.
Junior and his buddies were off to ski on President’s day, so Sis and I thought it would be fun to do the same. But we visited a different ski resort.
The snow was really deep. Poor Sis had to fight through 15 inches of fresh powder all day. The snow came so quickly that even the groomed trails were covered with snow. I was tired, so I can only imagine how much harder it was for Sis to ski in over the knee deep snow.
My favorite part of the day: taking Sis through a cool tunnel and into another ski area. It was fun that Sis was the first member of the family to go through the tunnel.
Here are some of our pictures from the day.
Sis has always been easy to buy presents for. She was excited to open this present. Watch her moments of delight.
This year was the best. In January I found out I was going to be in the Nutcracker! In February I got so much candy for Valentines. In March I started learning my dance for my summer dance recital. April was my friend’s birthday party. In May school was almost out! June, it was so fun. We went to Arizona! July was so colorful. I loved watching the fireworks. In August I went to Grandma’s for almost two weeks. Also I started soccer once again. September, Happy Birthday Me! I had the best birthday party ever. In October Halloween was awesome. I got so much candy! November, Thanksgiving was a blast! December, I was in the Nutcracker. I had to make so much sacrifice to be in it.
Sis and her friends choreographed this number for the 3rd Grade Talent Show at the local elementary school last spring.
Copyright © 2012 Inside the House of Baldwin All rights reserved. Theme by Laptop Geek.