Earle H. Hagen

This isn't a common household name that most people would know, but if I were to mention the tune from The Andy Griffith Show you would be able to hum it instantly.

Earle H. Hagen passed away on Monday. He wrote and whistled the music for The Andy Griffith Show. Even though I never met him, Hagen will hold a special place in my memory. When Mollie was little she cried, just as all good little babies do. Bouncing her worked most of the time, but wasn't always an option for soothing. What did work, however, was to hum this simple tune from one of my favorite old show. We hummed this all over the house, in the car, in stores - everywhere. And it almost always worked in calming her down.

Earle Hagen once said, "I realized that the show needed was a simple tune. So I spent all of 15 minutes writing it. I called my bass player and drummer and we recorded it in a little studio on Fairfax Avenue. I whistled the tune myself."

He also composed the themes for The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, That Girl, and many more.

So thank you to a man we never met, but who brought a little peace and quiet to our home.

One giant step for allie-kind

All the sudden Allie decided that it was time to start using the potty. Yay! If you look carefully you can see the handle being flushed.

"I did it!"

My tomatoes are already doing better this summer than all last year! In past years I have grown 2-4 plants each summer and get lots of tomatoes off them. Last summer I had 1 out of all the plants. I picked it and placed it carefully on the kitchen counter. Then one evening I noticed Allie was being unusually quiet and there was this strange mooshing noise from the kitchen. My monkey had opened the dishwasher and climbed up onto the lid to reach my single tomato and was eating it.

This spring I planted 3 tomato plants and one sprang up on its own (our mystery heirloom - I can't remember what I planted there last year). Already our mystery plant has 4 tiny green tomatoes. Yay! Hopefully the others will take some lessons and produce soon too.

Weekend of Fun

Even though we just came home from Disneyland we didn't slow our pace much over the weekend. Friday we kept a normal schedule with dance class and preschool. Saturday my parents invited us to spend a day with them at the beach. A friend of theirs offers my parents use of a beach condo every now and then. We have been blessed with a couple overnight stays and day visits. Thanks Zaki and Betty! Sunday was church in the morning and swimming at Scott's parents' place in the afternoon. Whew - what a fun vacation week! Here are a bunch of pictures from the beach. In the 90s at home and nice and cool at the coast and loving it!

Mollie loves jumping over the waves like I did as a kid.

Warming up with Grandma Nancy after the water fun.

Allie was more interested in playing in the sand and digging holes with Grandpa Phil and Daddy.

At one point she found a shell to use as a shovel.

This is my first time seeing ladybugs at the beach!

Bye beach!

Disneyland Trip

We spent Sunday night at Darren and Becky's new home in Bakersfield. (Thanks for allowing us to stay over this week!) Monday morning we surprised the girls by telling them we were heading to Disneyland. Throughout the two days at the park we surprised them with dress up outfits and little presents. The first day Mollie was Belle and Allie spent two minutes as Minnie Mouse. The second day they were sweet little fairies.

Our first stop was to Snow White's wishing well. After we got home we learned that Mollie wished that we all could stay at Disneyland forever. This is before we even did anything! That's my girl!

The first thing Mollie wanted to do was the tea cups. She waited patiently through the morning for them to open. The staff had to mop it up since it was rainy that morning. Yes, it rained the first day we were there! Just in the morning at least.

Mollie learned how to be a princess at the coronation ceremony.

Allie wasn't very excited to meet the characters in person. She's smiling here (sort of) only because I had just tickled her back!

Customary picture at the entrance. Scott and I bought mouse ears for each girl. Mollie picked the princess style and we got Allie the pirate princess style since she likes to go around pretending to be a pirate. Arrr!

A small area with water based activities entertained Allie for a while.

Mollie had a great time talking to Aurora, one of her favorite princesses right now. We were impressed with how perfect the princesses played their roles. We went to the story time and listened to Snow White tell her story. She had the mannerisms and voice down perfectly!

What a successful trip! We all had fun. It was a very different experience going with little kids. Their fun became our fun. Looking forward to going again in a few years!

Lotsa Pictures Coming

Hello! We just got back from our trip to Disneyland and will be sharing pictures soon. Girls had a great time. Going as parents was a much different experience than we have had in past trips. We all had so much fun! Will start sharing more in the next day or two, so be checking back.

Children's Fantasy Faire Fun

Last Saturday we took the girls out for a fun family morning to a fair a friend told me about. Everything was geared for preschoolers and younger (this was a fund raiser for a preschool) and the girls both had a lot of fun.

Mollie became a pro surfer.

Allie won bubbles at a game. When she would blow she puffed out her cheeks as much as she could and kicked back her leg.

Mollie and Allie pushed each other on this toddler roller coaster.

Allie got into a big jump house and decided it wasn't for her. This little one was just the right size.

Practicing for the Olympic gymnast team.

A petting zoo with bunnies, goats and chickens drew a long line. Both girls enjoyed petting the bunnies. Allie was careful to make sure she touch each rabbit there in the enclosure.