Brielle 9-year-old Interview and Stats

Brielle is sweet and kind.  She is a great helper with younger kids.  She notices other peoples needs and tries to help without being asked.  She always has her nose in a book and is often in the middle of 3 or 4 books scattered throughout the house.

My name is: Brielle (aka Ellie, Miss Biscuit, Brie-Brie, Bo, Bo-Bellie)

Height: 4ft 9in (97%)

Weight: 65lbs (54%)

Sleeping: about 10 1/2 hours (8pm-6:30am), takes a while to fall asleep thinking about life and when she has the chance likes to lay in bed and read when she wakes up.

Hobbies: Reading (constantly), Volleyball, Piano, Science

Brielle's Response to her 9-year-old Interview Questions 

What is your name? Brielle

When is your birthday? A week ago.

How old are you? 9

What is your favorite color? Turquoise

What is your favorite song? Fur Elise (I've been playing it on the piano)

What do you want to do when you are a grown up? I want to teach a 1st grade class.

Where do you want to live when you grow up? California, Los Angeles

What is your favorite food? Lasagna

What is your least favorite food? Corned Beef and Cabbage

What is your favorite animal? The Okapi

What is your favorite movie? Cinderella (not the cartoon one)

What is your favorite dessert? Strawberry Cheesecake

Where do you like to eat? Souplantation, In n Out, Cafe Rio

Who is your best friend? 

What is your favorite book? Every book that I can get my hands on

What is your favorite thing to do? Read

What does your mommy do? Read

What does Daddy do? Videochat

What was your favorite thing you did when you were 8? I went to Europe

What are you excited about with turning 9? Going to Ecuador this Christmas

Happy 9th Birthday Brielle!

Brielle turned 9 on Wednesday.  What a fun age!  She is sweet and kind and thoughtful.

Brielle and her cousin Abigail have birthdays just 2 days apart.  They were excited to have another joint birthday party to celebrate with family.  They have tender bond and love to be together every chance they can, despite their 7 year age difference.

Abigail wanted a tea party cake and theme.  Brielle loved that idea.

I was happy about it also, because prior to the teacake theme suggestion Brielle had wanted a complicated dolphin cake that I wasn't sure I could pull off very well.  She decided that didn't go very well with the theme and instead wanted a cookie dough ice-cream cake.  She still really wanted fondant and wanted to decorate it herself.

She colored and rolled out the fondant and cut out all the letters, choosing not to have any specific decorations.

And, as for the food requests this year:

For our extended family dinner she wanted Lasagna, Breadsticks and Caesar Salad.  I will have to look back, but I'm pretty sure this has been her exact menu for the past 5-6 years. 

Her actual birthday menu requests were a bit different as we were traveling.  We were home for the morning of her birthday for which she requested crepes with nutella, bananas and raspberries

After breakfast we joined her Gramma Finlay at a conference in the Palm Desert area.  At a reception that night she was surprised by being called on stage as the group of adult conference attendees all sang Happy Birthday to her.  This kind guitarist gave her a copy of his CD as a present as well.

She chose to go to Souplantation for her birthday dinner that night, very happy that there was one close to our hotel.

El Paso Trip Complete

Saturday we had to head home.  The kids had a great time being together and the trip was so much fun for all of us.

Preston LOVES airplanes.  And was very excited about another chance to ride again.

But, a whole week of fun and not a lot of sleep makes for a very tired kid (and family).  He was asleep within minutes of getting in the car and continues to nap while Brielle and Gavin were at Science Camp (we hurried from the airport to get them to their class). 

El Paso Trip-Days 6 & 7

Thursday and Friday we actually stayed around El Paso area.  

Thursday was a museum day

We did a big museum day on Thursday going to the Fort Bliss Military Museum,

The Archaeological Museum and Border Patrol Museum.  We all had a great time learning more about the local area, and kids especially loved all the hands on things to explore.

Friday we went on the Wyler Tram for a great view of city and surrounding area.

The kids were very interested in getting souvenirs, but hadn't found the right things yet, so we spent sometime shopping around that afternoon and evening so everyone could get the perfect thing to remember their trip.

And we got to celebrate Elise's birthday at Texas Roadhouse for dinner that night and presents back at the house.

Thanks for letting us come stay and play with you guys Steve, Alana and Bo!

El Paso Trip-Day 5

Wednesday morning we drove from our hotel in Silver City up the mountains for a tour of the Gila Cliff dwellings.  

It started off a bit cold (you can see the snow and icicles in the shade), but we had to hurry a bit to make it in time and we warmed up quickly.

The dwellings were so well hidden away, it was amazing they were ever discovered.

The kids had a lot of questions for the tour guide, as they were very excited about earning their junior ranger badge and wanted to make sure they had all the information the needed to fill out their books.

Back down at the gift shop they were passed off and sworn in as junior rangers.

On our way back to El Paso that afternoon we stopped at the City of Rocks State Park.

It turned out to be a very fun place for the kids to run and climb and explore.

El Paso Trip-Day 4

Tuesday we decided to turn around and drive back to New Mexico again. :)  We wanted to take the kids to see the Gila Cliff Dwellings and decided another road trip was worth it.  We took it easy that morning after half the crew left to get back to California.  We took the kids to the park, stocked up on some groceries, did some laundry and repacked for another trip.

That afternoon we drove toward Silver City, stopping at Old Fort Bayard to explore the old army hospital.

The kids were happy to get out of the car and have the chance to run around, do a geocache and investigate the ruins and old buildings.

And quite excited that night to watch a show and have a treat together after dinner and showers.