Lola as Cow

Yesterday, Lola's "Imagine and Play" class performed the stage version of the children's book The Trial of Cardigan Jones, the story of a missing apple pie and the out-of-town moose who goes on trial as a result. As you can see, she played the "Milk Lady, a Cow." Her big moment comes (at 2:56 in the recording) when Milk Lady testifies against the moose. Lola embellished her character by exaggerating the "oo" sounds in all of her lines. She also chose a stylish blue cap. Here's the seven-minute play. During the meet-and-greet afterward, we all enjoyed apple pie.

Soccer Champ

Lola, pictured here in all the soccer gear she could find in pink, recently finished her first soccer clinic. She proved an enthusiastic teammate, cheering everyone on with "You can do it!!" and "Get 'em! Get em!" At times, she took a loss a bit hard. Overall, she learned to hustle for the ball and to love the camaraderie of a team sport.

Happiest Place on Earth (Or close to it, anyway)

Earlier this month, Lola experienced Disneyland for the first time. It was everything she'd dreamed. In one day, we hit about 10 rides and posed with a half dozen characters. Peter Pan was Lola's favorite ride. Tinker Bell, the most beloved character. Ariel's Underwater Adventure was a bit of a disappointment, on account of the tremendous, life-like evil octopus lady. (Thanks for the nightmares Disney). In the days that followed, there was much speculation about what was "real" and what was made of cardboard. Still, Lola declared her 7th birthday would most definitely be spent at Disneyland, preferably with Tinker Bell on the Peter Pan ride.

The First Christmas Pageant

Lola's school really does it big for the holidays and this year Lola spent every Wednesday afternoon for weeks practicing a half dozen complex variations on the standard Christmas carols..As you can see in the photos, jet lag (from the wedding trip) did nothing to keep her from hamming it up on stage in front of a crowd of about 300.

The Story of a Flower Girl

Back in December, Lola had the honor of serving as her Uncle Clay's flower girl in his wedding to the lovely Pam Peach. Lola took her role very seriously and for weeks, everyone she met was greeted with, "I'm going to be a flower girl!" On the big night, she not only made it down the aisle like a pro, she even got onstage, took the microphone (to the karaoke machine) and belted out (sans dress) one unforgettable version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." Check it out here.

The Many Faces of Santa

Everywhere we went this Christmas season, Lola seemed to find a Santa...Though there was a lot of debate as to which was the "real" Santa and which was the "helper."