All Tied Up

One of the favorite stories that I tell my kids about when I was young is the story of what "my" Dad would do when "my" sisters fought. When Jayleen and Janell were about 8 and 10 years old they used to get into fights with each other. To get them to stop fighting and be nice to each other, my Dad would tie them together until they could get along. No Joke. Once when they were mad, he made them give each other a hug and then tied them together that way. They started out mad, but they would always end up laughing and having fun. My kids think that story is so funny, so they always ask if I would tie them together like that. They don't really get that it was meant as a punishment. So today when my Mom and Dad and Jayleen came down, they asked about the story again and then asked if Papa would tie them up. They came down stairs with all kinds of belts and scarfs and string that could be used to tie them together. Papa Nana and Aunt Honey (Jayleen) all got in on the gig and decided to do it up right. It then became quite a challenge to see if they could tie the girls up so they couldn't get loose.


The girls giggled through the whole process giving token sighs of disbelief as Papa, Nana and Honey continued to wrap, tie and knot the them all together. As they made their attempt to get loose, I think they were surprised at how tough it really was. They twisted and wiggled and started to get loose, but inevitably ended up falling over in a big knotted heap. And they enjoyed every minute of it!

Santa Cruz with the Evans

Throughout this summer we explored a variety of options for taking a vacation , but due to bad timing, nothing really panned out. So when my friend Liz brought up a last minute opportunity to hit the beach while the kids were still off tack, we jumped on it. They had connections and were able to get a great little Sea Scape condo in Aptos, by Santa Cruz. Liz and I had been talking for a while about getting family pictures on the beach, so we knew we had to take advantage of this opportunity, which we most definitely did. After getting there Sunday night, we spent a good part of Monday taking pictures. We got up and ready and took pictures in the morning and then after playing on the beach and in the pool and hot tub, we go ready again and took pictures again at sunset. We were using the Evan’s new digital SLR camera and just took pictures of each other. Maybe not the most professional pictures, but not bad for the price! FREE! We probably took over 200 pictures of each family trying to get a decent shot. Gotta love digital!!! Ryan even sacrificed himself to get some fun pictures of the kids playing in the water in their picture clothes. It was way cute to see how much fun the kids had. They thought it was so cool to be able to get wet in their clothes.
In the afternoon we went back to the beach, in our swim suits, and really played in the ocean. One of the kids’ favorite parts of the vacation was riding in the golf carts down to the beach. The community were we stayed had a golf cart service that would take you down to the beach. It doesn’t get much better than that!! Colby was hilarious as he was very timid of the water. He did do really good though, just hanging out and playing on the beach. He loved having the freedom of just running around. We tried a few times to put him by the water, but as soon as the waves came he would run up to the sand. It was like the waves were chasing him! The Evan’s had brought a couple of boogie boards, so we had a great time riding and trying to catch the waves. Brian was able to get each of the girls to at least try boogie boarding, and they liked it a little, but none of them were sold on the idea. They didn’t like being hit by the salt water when the wave went over the top of them. I don’t blame them though, salt water doesn’t taste very good! Brian on the other hand loved the boogie boards. He was persistent in finding the good waves! I got quite a chuckle at watching him get smacked around by the waves a few times, but I was also excited for him when he was able to catch it just right! After being beat up in salt water and covered in sand, we headed up to the Sea Scape pool and hot tub. What a great way to warm up and wash off after being in the ocean. We washed most of the sand off in the outdoor shower, and then jumped into the hot tub. I’m sure we scared off a few people when they saw us coming with 4 adults and 8 kids. We were quite a site. People kept asking if they all belonged to us. Absolutely! We later headed back to the condo, washed up, ate dinner and then we got ready for pictures again. This time we walked down to the beach. We tried taking sunset pictures, but the professionals that we are not, we couldn’t quite get the look we were going for. We did however get a couple of great shots of Hailey and Tyler for their future wedding video. (ha/ha) After seeing the pictures, Ryan started razing Hailey about marrying Tyler. I believe it started out with him offering her candy and some money for her to marry Tyler. She persistently would giggle and say no. Before the trip was over the offer was up to a million dollars to marry Tyler. She still just giggled and said no. Brian and I on the other hand offered to work something out with him. Arranged marriages have worked in the past right?
The next day was just a continuation of the fun. They started out the morning with Liz setting them up doing seascape paintings. She had brought real water colors, brushes and everything. It was cute to see their creativity and ideas. Earlier in the day when it was still overcast we played in the pool and hot tub and when it burned off we went down to the beach. I think the theme for this day was sand play. Just about everyone got buried, including Ryan. There was lots of digging and burying and making sand castles. I loved watching the kids all work and play together. I even caught some precious moments of my boys making sand castles together. It amazes me how entertaining large piles of sand can be. Later we headed back to put Colby down for a nap, and the adults played some Settler’s on the back patio while the kids played some golf on the mini hole that was just outside our condo. It was perfect. I think we figured that over the course of 2 ½ days we took over 1,000 pictures. What can we say; we had great food, great friends, a great time and the pictures to prove it!

Colby likes whip cream

My family came down for Sunday dinner and a sort of birthday celebration for Hailey and I. My mom made my favorite banana cream pie, and of course she made homemade whip cream to go with it. Colby being the scavenger that he is, just wandered around the bar where people were eating waiting for bites. When the pie was all gone my Dad started feeding him straight whip cream. Seeing the opportunity to be onry, my mom had to join in on the whip cream sharing. She just can't resist the chance to put whip cream on someones face. Luckily Colby liked the whip cream. He wasn't so sure about it being on his nose though. How are you supposed get that bite?

What a Wonderful Day!

Why is it that the older you get the less special your birthday is. I think it should be the other way around. Thanks to my family and some great friends, I had an awesome birthday!! I started off the morning on a jog/walk with my friend Liz- we took the kids garage selling, where they thought it was the coolest thing ever to be able to buy things they wanted for quarters. Then after I came home and showered, my friends Becca and Sarah picked me up and took me to get a pedicure. It's always more fun to go with friends. Becca wanted to do that for me for my birthday, she rocks!!

Then after the pedicure, non of us were ready to head home, so we decided to go get some lunch at Strings. (great little Italian place in modesto) It was a delicious meal of course and when I had completely stuffed myself, enjoying every last bite, the owner of the restaurant came over to our table and asked if it was my birthday. Looking slightly bewildered (because I had been with Becca and Sarah the whole time and I knew they didn't say anything about it being my birthday) I answered yes. He then asked how old I was, to which I replied "Do I have to answer that?" And he said "Yes". So a little baffled I told him, then he pulled out the restaurant's dessert menu and said " Here pick anything you want, it's on me"- O.k.... how cool is that?!? So when our waitress came back we asked her what was the best and she recommended the brownie lasagna. You could get a small order or a large, she recommended the large since the boss was paying for it. So of course we went for the large, after all there were three of us to share it right? When the dessert came out, it was HUGE!!! It was two "rich" brownies layered in the middle with vanilla ice cream drizzled with raspberry sauce, whip cream and nuts. My description does the dessert absolutely no justice. It was huge and divine!!! Even with all three of us working on it, we still couldn't quite finish the whole thing. (If you know me that is a big surprise!) As we ate it, I kept asking Sarah and Becca how they told them that it was my birthday, but they just kept claiming that they hadn't. Finally as we were leaving I wanted to say thank you for the dessert, and out of curiosity I had to ask how he knew it was my birthday. I was sure that he would rat out Becca or Sarah, but instead he said that he happened to be clearing the table behind us when he heard Becca tell me that she wasn't going to let me pay on my birthday. - O.k. how cool is that?!? Yummy!

My day continued on wonderfully as I spent some time with my family and got another "precious moment"... literally. I love the precious moments figurines and I have collected a few of them since we've been married. All gifts from Brian of course. So for my birthday he gave me one called "A prince of a guy". It was meant to represent Colby- my little prince. I loved it! Of course I always love anything thoughtful like that! Then to top off my day Brian had our friends the Evans over and made a tri-tip dinner and Liz brought salad and rolls. I didn't have to do anything, and it was great!! Liz gave me a new little swim suit, she is always trying to keep me up on the latest and greatest. I had lots of great calls from friends and family which all helped lead up to an absolute wonderful day!

Hailey's Super Birthday Party

For Hailey's birthday party this year she wanted a Super Girl Party. It was really a big thing a couple of years ago, but there weren't any local stores that still carried that particular theme, so we made our own. (Thank you vinyl machine) We couldn't even find some plain pink note pads or journals, so we found some at the dollar store, that had dogs on them, and spray painted them pink and white. What ever it takes to make our child happy right? Everything was pink and super- except for the boy's stuff, it was red, which was ok with Hailey because red is a "shade of pink". It was actually one of the easiest parties I have ever done. We had pink lemonade and pizza and the kids played on the playground, swam and played "dribble dribble drench". The game was an immediate favorite and it ended up being the only organized game they played. It is just like duck duck goose, except you use a large sponge soaked with water, and you dribble it over each person's head as you walk around the circle and when you come to the person you want to "tag", you ring the sponge out over their head and "drench" them. It was the perfect game for a hot day! Hailey had a blast of course... she got to have almost all her friends over at the same time, she was the center of attention and she got presents... what could be better?!

Hailey choose cupcakes for her cake and we made them in pink ice cream cones. While it's not a new idea, it was something she had never seen, so she thought I was the coolest Mom ever... and I am running with that one! Colby liked them too... obviously! No one wanted to share with me except Colby, sort of. But I kind of wanted to try them, and I thought they weren't to bad either!

One of my favorite things from Hailey's party was the cards that her sisters made for her. Jade, my little artist, drew her a super girl symbol and filled the envelope with cut out stars. (for a surprise effect when she opened the card. Cambrie decided that she would share with Hailey the top ten reasons why she loves her-I attached a scan of the cards- I love sisterly love. Having grown up with 2 sisters myself, whom I cherish, I love to see those relationships bloom. I hope it makes it through high school! (ha,ha)

The Not So Washable Marker

You know those times, when you are trying to get something done and so you are only haphazardly watching your kids? While I wont mention how often that is... this particular time, the kids had been coloring at the kitchen table. Colby was of course wanting to do what ever they did, so I told them to put him in his chair and give him some stuff to color with. As far as I can remember I thought that I had only ever bought washable markers. And yet somehow, when I came to a realization that Colby had decided to make himself the canvas of his art project, I found that he had a black - NON-washable marker. Aren't all crayola markers supposed to be washable? I mean really, come on...

Of course he was all intrigued about how well it showed up on his skin. He kept showing me his arm - "ook mom ook- oooooh owie" (everything is an owie right now) To bad he couldn't see how well it showed up on his face. So off to the sink we went, he thought it was fun, because first he got to color all over himself and then he got to play in the water. What a treat right? So word to the wise- check your markers to see if they actually say washable, because obviously not all of them are.

Gotta Love Camp Rock!

Thanks to Disney my kids have what seems to me like an endless supply of music and movies. Thier latest favorite "Camp Rock" is what I have been listening to way to much lately. I do love how much they get into it, so I decided to share it. Watching them dance around and sing and play like this makes them look to old to me. I am not ready for them to grow up so fast! Watch and I am sure you will see what I mean.