Birthdays and Anniversary

Last month the girls turned 17 (Leah) and 13 (Krista), and Gene and I celebrated our 33rd anniversary.

OK, seriously? Where did the time go?

How on earth did the girls go from this:

to this:

in just a couple of years?

I mean, how does that happen?

This year we let the girls each invite a couple of friends from church to spend the night. Leah invited Victoria and Mel, and another friend who couldn't make it. Krista spent the night at a friend's house, so it was just Leah and her friends. We took them to see Tron, and then back home for a quick dinner and an ice cream bar before Mel had to leave, because she was headed to Mexico for a missions trip. Here are a few photos from the evening.

Mel, Leah, Victoria

Victoria, Mel, Leah

Victoria, Mel, Leah

Mel & Leah

Leah & Victoria

Leah in the Christian jacket she likes to wear to pretend she's a Christian : )

Then the following weekend, Krista invited Becca, Charlotte, and Kelby to spend the night. We took them to see Gulliver's Travels (um, not the greatest), then we went to dinner at Pancho's. When we got back home, it was dark, but the girls wanted to play on the tree swing for awhile. Then we headed in for the ice cream bar and presents. The girls had all grabbed 3-D glasses out of the bins in the theatre lobby on their way out.

Krista, Becca, Charlotte, and Kelby wait patiently for Gene to dish out the ice cream

Twilight books (I still say she's too young for these)

Starbucks gift card (and too young for this)

The chocolate syrup came out like poop, which cracked them up

Becca seriously could not stop laughing, especially when it made a farting sound!

And then Becca gave Krista a whoopee cushion, and things really got out of hand!

Kelby is growing up, too!

Later in the month, Gene and I actually celebrated our anniversary, which is something we rarely do. We decided to just do a few random things that we've been wanting to do for a long time, but just never took the time (or money) to do.

We went to the Whaley House, which is famous for being haunted. Basically, it was a bit interesting for its historical value, but was a waste of time and money. Don't waste yours, here are some photos. The real thing wasn't any more interesting!

We also went to Old Town, and ate at a Mexican restaurant (not bad). We walked around a bit before going to the comedy club later that evening. Here's Gene outside La Casa de Estudillo, which was actually more interesting than the Whaley House (and free).

And we finally went to the Corvette Diner. We'd never been, because it's a bit of a drive for us and the wait is always so long. But we were in no hurry, so we braved the crowd. We really enjoyed it, and will definitely go back with the girls one day!

Finally, we went to see the musical, Emma, at the Old Globe Theatre. It was really, really good. I couldn't imagine how they would turn Emma into a musical, but it was fantastic. I highly recommend it! (Though I think it's only playing through the first week in March.)

We really enjoyed our weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing another play at the Old Globe one day!