Bye, bye Binty!

Piper, decided one day last week, that she was ready to say goodbye to binty (what she calls her pacifier). I could not believe it, as she has not slept a night with out it, since she was 18 months old. Yeah, she found one one day when she was 18 months old and they were the best of friends ever since. Here are some fantastic pics of her at the dentist office donating her binkys to the babies who may need them. She was so cute and sweet about the entire thing, you can see from the picture she had quite a collection, everyone of them in the jar is hers. We went out for lunch after and celebrated!

Stripe One

Piper received her first stripe on her belt in Jiu Jitsu, watch out Tito Ortiz, there is a new fighter coming up the ranks:-) Of course I was so proud of our little martial arts master for getting her very first stripe. Jocelyn, her instructor, is giving her the stripe in the bottom picture.

Fountain Fun

Piper had a dentist appointment, she was so good and got a great report.  As we were coming out she noticed two little girls swimming in the fountain, it was very cold, cloudy and I was ill prepared for an impromptu dip (no towels, bathing suit, nothing to dry her off).  I did my very best to persuade her that maybe she wanted some ice cream instead, it was all in vain, she was "desperate to go swimming".  So here she is, with her two new friends, swimming in the fountain on a cold Cali afternoon.  She loved every second of it, I am so glad I was not able to talk her out of it, her smile was priceless!

Jiu Jitsu

Piper has been taking Jiu Jitsu classes, great for stranger danger. It is amazing what she is learning. The basic idea is to promote the principle that a smaller, weaker person using leverage and proper technique can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger assailant. She really seems to be enjoying it and ask everyday if we can go.

The Eyes Have It

My mom got these great pictures of Piper's eyes, you can really see the two different colors. Her little cheeks have a bit of wind burn after a long day at the beach.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Today, I got to go with Piper on her school field trip. We went to Irvine to visit Tanaka Farms, a totally organic farm. The kids got to ride on tractors and then had 15 min in the fields to eat as many strawberry's as they could pick. Piper ate like I have never seen, she loved it. She was so full she did not touch her lunch. Hap got to go on his first field trip too. He tried his first veggie, (sorry Gigi) a sweet Maui onion. He sucked on it for quite some time. Zak had a great time too as you can tell by his face. The at the picnic table is of Zak, Piper and Aiden who take Jui Jit Su together, they we all quite happy with their strawberry fields experience.

International Festival

Piper's school hosted an international festival where the children sang and danced. The highlight for me was the fan dance that the girls did. It was really cute. Piper's class studied China. Polly loved watching her big sis perform. It was such a beautiful day and one I will not soon forget!

Black Magic!

Since we have been living here, Piper has said all she wanted for her birthday was to ride a horse on the trails behind our house. Yesterday, her dream came true! One of our neighbors takes people on trail rides with her horses. Piper was so excited, it was all she could talk about. Poor Polly was too small and quite devastated that she too was not going! The ride ended back at Betty' house where Piper got to feed the horse, some goats, a goose and loved every second!

Mani, Pedi, Cutie!

Piper got her first mani/ pedi for her birthday. I am not sure if Piper or Polly was more excited. This adorable little place just opened in Hermosa that specializes in girls, they have everything set up perfectly for them It was such a treat, even Andre could not believe how great it was.

BBQ and Birthday Cake!

As an excuse to eat some more cake, we had a bbq on Pipey's birthday. Jacqulyn, Jenna and Brooke (aka: the tire swing girls) came over and dressed Piper up. In her own words she was a "super rock star ballerina," it really seemed to work (maybe an idea for a new super hero). We had a great bbq and then celebrated (again) Piper being 4. I don't think you can ever celebrate being happy, healthy and alive too much!

Tadpole's Galore

We have been busy making trips to the stream that runs in back of our house, it is very tiny but fruitful. Piper now has a cherished collection of tadpole's. They are growing quickly and we are hoping to add some frogs to our growing animal family.

Lizards in a Pram

We were visiting, Andrew's sister Sue, and Piper discovered they had lizards. Needless to say, the lizards were not left alone from that point on. Alice was very patient with her and help her get use to their sharp claws. We were all in the kitchen chatting when the lizards made their apperance via pram (stroller). Poor lizards.

Up, Up and Away! (Piper)

My mom has been keeping a log of the kids flights. It is fun to keep track of where they have been. Here is the rundown.
PIPER LYNN POWER---4/27/04

TRAVEL FOR 2004-2005

First plane trip
Los Angeles to Nashville, TN for Lori & Ed Glenn’s wedding. Mummy was a bridesmaid, June , 04

Second plane trip
Los Angeles to Harrisburg, PA to visit GIGI & GRAMPY & meet Mummy & Daddy’s Pennsylvania friends& see my great grandmother Mimi & great grandfather Petie Pop Pop July, 04

Third plane trip
Los Angeles to Seattle, WA. Mummy had a work meeting. Gigi & Grampy came to help. August, 04

Fourth plane trip
Los Angeles to Harrisburg, PA. My first THANKSGIVING with Mummy, Daddy, Aunty Katie, Gigi & Grampy, and my great grandmother, Mimi & my great grand father, Petie Pop Pop. November, 04

Fifth plane trip
Los Angeles to Australia. I went to see Mare & Pop & meet Aunt Chris, Uncle Paul, Laura, Kate, Sarah, & Andrew and meet Aunt Sue, Uncle Luke, Ben, Max, & Alice and I met my great grandmother Maisie. It was a 15 hour plane ride each way & I was such a good traveler. March, 05

Sixth plane trip
Los Angeles to Boston with Mummy to visit Mummy’s good friends Brooke & Jeff Lear. Then I flew to Pennsylvania to visit Gigi & Grampy—as an Easter surprise. March 24, 2005.

Seventh Plane Trip- July 2, 2005
Los Angeles to Harrisburg with Mummy & Daddy . Then off to LONDON to visit Daddy’s friend MICK, ANN & BABY IMOGEN. On this trip to Pennsylvania Emily & Andrew shared with us PIPER will be having a baby sister or brother the middle of January, 2006. WONDERFUL WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!!

Eighth Plane Trip – October 17th
I drove with GIGI & POPPY & Mummy to Arizona to visit Aunty Kate & Jonny. It was 6 ½ hours in the car & I did pretty good. We went to Tucson & had lunch at POCA COSA—Gigi’s favorite. Then I flew back on Monday, October 17th with Mummy.

Plus I went to San Diego, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara on week end jaunts with Mummy , Daddy, Lollie, & Joey

Ninth Plane Trip
Polly, Mummy, Sandra & I flew to Pennsylvania to spend some time with GIGI & POPPY TIM. This was Polly’s first plane ride. We did well on the way to Pennsylvania, BUT on the way back I was very tired & had a major meltdown (Gigi told Mummy that is what 2 year olds do!) Plus daylight savings kicked in & I had to get up at 4:00am –which was 3:00 am according to my body!! AND then it took 5 hours from Chicago to Los Angeles due to turbulence! Gigi said I gave lots of people on the plane something to talk about at work on Monday!!! I had so much fun watching the bugs, collecting the rocks & looking at Gigi’s AGE SPOTS!! PIPER & POLLY got to spend a little bit of time with their great grandfather, PETIE POPS—as PIPER calls him. 3/27/06 to 4/2/006

Tenth Plane Trip April 7- April 23, 2006
Mummy, Daddy, Polly & I flew to Australia. I am so excited about meeting my cousins; Laura, Kate, Sarah, Andrew, Ben, Max, & Alice plus Aunty Chris & Uncle Paul, Aunty Sue & Uncle Luke, and seeing Mare & Pop again. PIPER also got to see her great grandmother MAISIE. This is a big plane ride—15 hours. Daddy said Polly & I were angels—and mummy too.

Eleventh Plane Trip July 1 to July 9, 2006
Mummy, Daddy, Polly, Katie, & Jonny came for a visit. It was a bittersweet visit. PETIE POPS died June 24, 2006 (4 weeks shy of his 85th birthday). We had a lovely celebration for him. We had a FOURTH OF JULY party to say hello to our friends. Piper snuggled with GIGI & GRAMPY—we had such fun sleeping with her. Piper talks so much—it is UNBELIEVABLE!!! I ate Great Mimi’s pot pie—it was yummy.


Twelfth flight July 27- July 30, 2006

Mommy, Daddy, Piper, & Polly flew to Houston, Texas to visit Daddy’s best mate, MICK HART. Mick & his wife, Anne, have sweet little Imogene who is 18 months old and baby Leo who is 2 months old. They had a grand visit.

Thirteenth flight August 26, 2006- September 2, 2006
Mommy, Daddy, Piper, & Polly flew to Ixtapa Mexico to visit with Daddy’s best mate, MICK HART., Mick’s wife ANNE & their children Imogen & Leo. We stayed at a very nice place till Hurricane John came in & we were evacuated. Mommy got food poisoning on the way home. The Federali patroled the area every day looking for poachers as it was egg laying season for the turtles & the poachers would try to steal the eggs. It was a very different vacation –but also very memorable.

Fourteenth plane trip October 20, 2006 I was the FLOWER GIRL in Tia & Jonny’s wedding in Arizona. I was adorable. I loved walking TAFFY & TIFFY. Kate & Jonny had a BEAUTIFUL WEDDING. It was special.

Fifteenth plane trip --- December 2006 Mummy, Daddy, Polly & Great Mimi & I went to Australia for Christmas with Mare, Pop, Chris, Paul, Laura, Sarah, Kate, Andrew, Ben, Max, Alice, Sue, Luke, & Maisie. It was a very very fun time.

Sixteenth plane trip—Daddy planned a whole trip for the family to go to DISNEYWORLD in Orlando, FL . He did everything—they all stayed in the ANIMAL KINGDOM & Piper & Polly had the giraffes and other animals right outside their door. It was a very special trip. April, 2007

Seventeenth plane trip—June, 2007 The entire family flew to Boston then drove to Cape Cod for Julie Lacouture & Ben’s wedding—then Jeff, Brooke, & Ben Lear came & they rented a house together for the week. –

Eighteenth Flight—July 21, 2007- We all came ot Pennsylvania for a week of fun with Gigi & Grampy. Tia & Jonny came also.

March 19, 2008 PIPER'S 19th FLIGHT Everyone form the Power Family went to Australia via LAX -Auckalnd, New Zealand. What great travelers these darling children are!!!

All in the Family

Here is a great shot of all the cousins together. From left to right, Laura is holding Hap, next to her Max, Andy, Ben, Alice, Piper and in the front Kate is holding Polly. Sarah was away in Hobart at a diving competition. She placed 1st in the syncro event, amazing!

Off to Grandma's We Go!

We had a great visit with Maisie. This was the first meeting of Maisie and Harrison. Maisie was pretty good the day we visited her, apparently she has not been feeling that well. It is always wonderful to see her. Piper and Polly did their best to put smiles on the residents faces. The picture of the hands was a great idea of my mom's. She suggested we get a picture of the 4 generations. Maisie's hand, Mary's hand, Andrew's hand and Piper's hand. It turned out great.

The Little Mermaid

Well not really. I am so glad we have Piper and Polly signed up for another round of swim lessons with Conrad. I think a refresher will be good for Piper. This picture was taken at a great indoor pool called Waves. Every half hour they turn on the wave pool, it was fantastic, but a little scary for Piper. This was a great afternoon with Paul and Andy, the girls had a great time!

Trampoline

This is not the last picture we will have of Piper enjoying the trampoline. She has already logged several hours of jumping and is just having so much fun, jumping along side of her very patient cousins (Kate is in the photo above).

We Love a Cute Accent

This is Piper's friend Zak, he is so cute. We Power girls must have a thing for cute boys with accents, Zak's parents are from England. He and Piper have so much fun together, they love catching the chickens and hunting for lizards in our backyard. Zak and Piper go to the same school, hense the matching uniforms.

Happy Hats for Kids

Today, Piper and her classmates made hats for children with cancer. When they come to the hospital one of the "hero hats" will be presented to the child to try and bring a smile to their face. The organization is called Happy Hats for Kids. It was so impressive to watch all the kids working so hard to create hats for children who are sick. Piper was very proud of the hats she made. I also got to stay and watch Piper and her friends at play, I just adore her school and am so happy we found a great fit for Piper.

Crushes and Crushers

This is Piper with her friend Ethan.  I have never seen her hold a boys hand before, very cute.  She was very excited to see him after school and go play with him.  Ethan has schooled Piper on crushers, digging in the dirt and excavating, all very helpful.