Sophie turns 7!

We spent the most part of Sophie's birthday hanging out with her acting buddy, Emma, who was staying in Hollywood for a couple of days.  Emma and her mom Marie have called us up the last couple of times that they have been in town to invite us to swim at their hotel pool.  They are super nice and are our only "acting" friends with whom we keep in touch.

Hotel lobby swing

Taking a little break from swimming

Marie and me

Enjoying fish and chips, poolside.  Life sure is tough for this seven year old.

Lydia and Emma enjoying their lunch with a view of downtown LA

After swimming, we went to KC Crepe's for a birthday crepe.  Sophie has been asking for one for awhile now, so I was happy to oblige on her birthday.

The crepes are so good, with green tea ice cream, fresh strawberries, and much much more!  I think they have the best jasmine milk tea.

After a quick stop at Sprouts, we met Trung at M Street Kitchen, where Sophie wanted to go for dinner.  They gave her a cookie a la mode for her birthday.

Hope she gets her wish!

Sophie had been telling everyone that she can't be April Fooled on her birthday, but we set things straight

Cinderella

The movie "Cinderella" has been out for weeks, but we waited until the first day of Spring Break to finally go see it and it was well worth it.  We enjoyed the brand new leather reclining chairs as we watched the wonderful movie.  "Have courage and be kind"!

The girls spent a good amount of their time going up and down

Disney Stores Celebrates 28 years

Sophie happened to get a Disney stuffed animal last night that was different than what she was hoping for, and it happened to be the Disney Store's 28th birthday where everything was 28% off storewide, so we went to Santa Monica Place to do an exchange.

The first 28 people in line got a special gift, so of course we were there at opening.

Happy birthday, Disney Store!

Opening the store for the day

Sophie's Benihana Birthday

The girls have yet to have a real birthday party since we moved to California.  So, when Sophie asked to celebrate her birthday at Benihana, we couldn't refuse.  She invited four of her classmates to join us for dinner and then afterwards, we had cake at our home.  Though some tears were shed before night's end, I'd like to think she had a good time; my kids are very hard to please.

The kids

Cheers!

"Happy birthday", Benihana style

A smile speaks a thousand words

Goofy good-bye picture

My sad attempt at a "rainbow" cake, but Paula Dean's strawberry cake recipe was the bomb!

Making a wish

Happy 7th birthday, my Sophie!

Annual meeting

I can't believe it's been over a year since Sophie got representation and since we last met with her agent Carol Lynn.  Even though Carol Lynn said her agency CESD would represent Lydia, she still wanted to meet her, so we went in for a visit.  The kids were crazy in their office, touching everything, but still the meeting managed to go well, with Carol Lynn deciding on the girls' head shots.  Oh, and we found out Carol Lynn and Sophie share the same birthday!

Kelly (Carol Lynn's assistant), Sophie, Lydia, and Carol Lynn

...And we're done

Everyone's happy with their ice cream sandwiches, which cost us $5!

Sophie's official headshot

And Lydia's.  We are in the clear for the next year...hopefully.

Going curly

Since I didn't feel like we got that perfect head shot of Sophie yet, I decided to try one last time this weekend.  This time, I thought it would be nice to curl her hair, so we experimented with my old rollers from my college years.

Before

After

Sophie thought it was a little too curly, so we'll try with a curling iron tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

And this is how we spent our St. Patrick's Day...

Sophie reading to a dog; I'm trying to help her feel more comfortable around them since some auditions require it 

Lydia's turn...she has no problems with dogs

Happy hour with the ladies at West 4th and Jane.  Yes, those are waves in my hair and it took almost four hours to get them.  $20 for a haircut and deep conditioning at the Toni & Guy school, but they care more about the training than the time. 

Flat Stanley

Trung's college's friend's daughter from Austin asked us to show Flat Stanley around for a few days since he needed to visit different states.  I think the little laminated paper guy did more than most in a lifetime!  :P

Caught a runner in mid-air

Checking out the Santa Monica Pier and then the LA Marathon

After her auditioning workshop, Sophie attended her friend Bodhi's minecraft birthday party.

Emma for the day

Sophie's acting friend was in town for the day, and her mom invited us to go swimming with them at the hotel pool.  The girls mainly played with each other, but as an only child, Emma, was fine with playing alone or meeting other kids.  We only get to see Emma and her mom Marie once every few months, so it was nice catching up and taking about the entertainment biz.

  Awesome clouds this morning.  See the plane?

Getting toasty in the hot tub

Watching Emma play their current favorite game...Minecraft!

Acting buddies