Vacation?

I have heard it said that mothers don't ever go on vacation, they go on trips.
How true that is!
This summer we went on a trip to San Francisco, then down to Sequoia National Park, including King's Canyon, and then back to Reno. We hit every temple along the way, and visited (well, tried to visit--it was under construction) where the Donner Party wintered after they were stranded by a freak snowstorm.
We shared the story with the kids, but Adrienne didn't believe it really happened. You never would guess something as terrible as that would have happened at such a beautiful place.
This photo is of the kids and Burke overlooking the spot where the pioneers crossed the mountains.
This photo is on the grounds of the Oakland Temple. The view is of Oakland, the San Francisco Bay, and the smog.
We crossed the Bay Bridge and got to see a working seaport. Burke and I were impressed with the barges and big cranes, but the kids were more excited to get to the hotel and the pool.

Once we arrived in San Francisco itself, we decided to explore outside of downtown and visit a cool park that was described in my travel guide. It was actually a hiking trail that led through the cliffs to the ocean. It was gorgeous and much cooler than the heat of Oakland.
This little trail and the time we spent in the ocean ended up being my favorite part of our stay in San Francisco.
This pic is at the trail head of Land's End.
We actually got separated when Adrienne had a little potty issue and Burke took the kids one way along the trail, and I took Adrienne the other. The older kids got to see a nifty little spiral on top of the cliff. It was probably good that I didn't go up there, or they wouldn't have been running around on the top of a cliff. It was pretty steep.

You can see from this photo (or maybe not, Burke zoomed in to get this picture) how high he was compared to the ocean below, where Adrienne and I were hanging out.

This is the zoom out of the same beach from Burke's vantage point.
You can see it was a pretty quiet and peacful place. I didn't see a lot of tourists there, so hopefully it will remain a hidden gem that we can visit again in the future.


We spent a while there and let the kids play in the water. We didn't have them wear their swimsuits because the ocean was so cold, so we weren't prepared for the sopping wet mess that resulted. It was worth it though, we all loved it. A video of the kids playing in the water, except for Nathan who didn't want to take off his shoes. (Crazy kid).

A few miles away was another much more crowded beach. It was also very pretty, but so cold. I couldn't believe that there were people swimming in bikinis.

After a long day of traveling and playing, we decided to head back to our hotel. We swam, ate, and rested up to come back to San Francisco the next day.

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was full of family time and busy with projects that I stayed up way too late to finish (pajamas).
I got sick a week before Christmas and lost a week's worth of time to sew, wrap, and finish shopping.
Thankfully, Burke took most of the week of Christmas off of work and we were able to get things done.
We woke up Christmas morning, checked out our stockings, and headed to church. I was a meanie and made the kids wait until after church to open the rest of the gifts.
It sure made it last a lot longer than usual, and we had an opportunity for the kids to focus on the real reason for the season before the gift mayhem commences.

A Series of Unfortunate Events, or It's Hard To Be A Girl

As a caution, if you have a weak stomach, or cannot find humor in bodily functions, please stop now....
"We" decided that we would go for a little ride up the canyon for a really great hike last Saturday afternoon. The weather was beautiful so we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to be outside. There was beauty all around...

Lots of opportunities for throwing rocks into the water...
But as is usually the case when you throw children (and husbands) into the mix, things do not go as planned.
Intitally, we were supposed to go up to a trailhead that would start us on a wonderful hike to the top of the mountain that we see every morning from our house.

We had driven about an hour on a dirt road to get there, getting higher and higher up the side of the mountain, when we encountered snow. Burke was confident in his new truck's ability to get past it, and put it into four wheel drive.
We slid.
Then he got out and locked the hubs and tried again. We slid again, this time accomanied by screaming all around.
Then we had a little discussion about how sliding off a cliff is not in the best interest of his family. Or his truck.
He acquiesced and we did some driving gymnastics to turn around and find another hike that wouldn't be so dangerous.

Little did we know what lay ahead...

We found a little lake with what appeared to be trails around it. We pulled off and decided to make the best of the situation.
We had been hiking for about 10 minutes when the kids all declared they were starving to death. I couldn't believe the dead moose we found didn't kill their appetites.
We stopped to give them a snack and let Burke play with his range finder and binoculars and relive his deer hunt. While we were checking out the lay of the land through the binoculars, Annika wandered off. I looked over my shoulder to see if I could find her, and noticed her standing off in some bushes.
Thinking that was strange, I asked her what she was doing. She told me she was using the bathroom.
Only I noticed that she didn't seem to be squatting. I asked her if she needed help, and she told me she had just finished.
As she got redressed, and rejoined the group, I saw a giant wet spot on the leg of her jeans. When I asked her what it was (hoping against hope I wasn't right), her answer was, "It just isn't fair that the boys can just stand up and go wherever they want."
Yep.
And it wasn't fair that she was the butt of jokes for the next 15 minutes (but it was pretty funny).

We decided to press on, following Burke into more and more snow.
Finally, the trail was gone and we were proceeding down the side of a hill falling and sliding in the cold wet muddy snow as Burke strolled on a quarter-mile ahead.
I rebelled and told Burke what I thought about his wilderness guide abilities.
Then we turned and headed back, while Burke stubbornly led himself on a wonderful-- yet short-- hike.
The kids and I found some great rocks and spent some time throwing them in the water, until Annika told me she needed some help to finish the aforementioned job.
When she had previously felt the warmth seeping down her leg, she decided to cut it off, but still needed to answer the call of nature.
As I explained to her, every woman must learn the best and easiest way to take care of business. I took care to stay out of her way.
At this point, Adrienne decided she needed in on the action. I explained and helped, until she told me she needed to go #2. (Sorry about the graphic nature, but I tell it like it is.)
I don't even like #2 at home, so Burke got to step in at this point. He helped her, cleaned her up, and got his pack back on (the awesome Eagle Scout was even prepared with toilet paper!)
Unfortunately, after the job was done, he didn't watch where she was stepping and neither did she.
Yep.
It was ugly.
Blech.
Burke laughed.
Then I did. What else can you do?

The shoe came off and went in the lake for a good washing.
Then we decided we had had enough fun and headed back to the truck.

That is when Adrienne found her "very useful walking stick". It was helpful until she tripped over it, landed on it with her mouth, and came up with a mouthful of blood and a very loose front tooth that was previously not loose at all.

Needless to say, it was a very somber, very smelly ride home.

Halloween, At Last

Yes, I know I am finally getting around to posting the Halloween fun, but it is worth the wait.

Right?

Nathan, after much consternation about Kohl's not sending his much needed accessory, was a Doctor for the school Halloween party (we improvised using the scrubs I work for work when I was pregnant with him, with some tailoring, of course).
Annika borrowed a costume from her friend again because of Kohl's late shipment (not my fault, I proclaimed as I clicked purchase on October 21). Annika was very cute as an Asian princess, or as Mulan, whichever she decided was more glamorous.

Kade was a mummy. Which I sewed. With lots of cheesecloth bits flying up my nose as I did it.

Adrienne was a cute little red witch.

Once the Kohl's shipment came (the day after the school parties) Nathan was Albert Einstein and Annika was still the neighbor's Asian girl costume because I got the wrong size. In my own defense, I ordered the size it said was for kids 8-10 years old. When it came, I said 8-10 years old= size 12-14. GRRR. Oh well, maybe she can wear it in 3-4 years.

I had the opportunity to plan the parties for the 2nd grade and for Kade's class in third grade. It was very stressful for me, but we got it done, and the craft and the games turned out to be lots of fun. Adrienne got to come and hang out in the second grade and the third grade parties, so she thought she was pretty awesome.


The weekend of Halloween, we headed up to the library for their annual party which is usually pretty fun, especially for the younger kids.
Nathan won the costume contest for the "Smartest" costume and was able to pick out a book.

Kade won too for the all around best costume! It validated all of the tacking of cheesecloth that took many more hours than I thought it would.

After the library party, the boys went trick or treating with their friends, and the girls got to go with their dad until a friend's mom picked them up and took them out for a little while.
They were soooo excited and felt like they were big like their brothers to be out without mom or dad.
Adrienne got separated from the group though, because the house they went to didn't give her candy fast enough and the other kids left her. She was a little upset at that, but seemed fine once she sat down to munch on her candy.

Burke and I were home alone on Halloween night.
He got to fulfill his fondest wish (next to getting his truck).
He wore a horrendous mask and scared the bigger kids who came to the door.
His chuckles and comments of "They screamed like little girls!" Were pretty funny.
Love that guy!

Funnies

I love kids. They are so funny and say the most hilarious things.
For instance:

We have some stray cats that hang around our backyard. Actually they hang around the field behind our backyard, but seem to have adopted our yard and our garden as their personal hunting and litterbox area.
(Hunting mice is fine, the litterbox I have a problem with...eeew. That is why Burke got a pellet gun for Christmas. He is too soft-hearted to use it, however.)
Anyway, one of the cats is expecting and we were talking about kittens over dinner one evening when Kade announced that he thought he had seen one of them "laying her kittens" in the garden. (Thankfully, it didn't really happen. I think he was just witnessing something else. Eeeeww....)

Adrienne loves swimming lessons. She thinks she is a pro. She thinks she already knows how to swim. How wrong she is. She jumped off the side of the pool with no floatie or teacher around.
Once she was rescued and after I regained my ability to speak, she told me, "See, I told you I can swim."
She has been repeating the desire to not wake up on the wrong side of the bed whenever she says her prayers. I finally asked her what that was all about when I tucked her in one night. She told me she had to move all the way over to the side of the bed against the wall because if she slept close to the edge of the bed, she might fall out and land on the floor. And that-- she said-- is the wrong side of the bed.

We had a ward pool party last month. Burke told me he was going to take Annika and Kade over to the diving pool. I assumed (you know what they say about ass-u-me) that he was going to have them hang out in the shallow area while he dived.
When he came back about half an hour later, he told me, "Hey, did you know that if the lifeguards have to rescue you, you have to fill out paperwork?"
Apparently Annika jumped off the diving board and floated like a rock.
Burke didn't realize that when I told him about the kids jumping off the diving board at swimming lessons, they always had a floatie.

Nathan keeps telling me that he thinks he has hit puberty. I hear it every day when he comes up with something else. The latest was when he left me a message on the answering machine. He listened to it himself later and then proudly told me, "See, I don't sound like a girl anymore."

Why I Love the Library

We love the library at our house.
We go there a lot.
They have lots of great programs for children.
My kids have aged out of storytime (not grown out-- they still love it)
Now we head to the library for great books, fun toys, interesting magazines, and computer games.
There is a chess club each Wednesday that is just for kids. The kids there teach each other the game, with oversight from the leader. I think it helps take the pressure off. Annika had so much fun, Kade was intent on figuring out the best move, and Nathan was sure he would win every game, but learned a hard lesson about practice... it makes you good if you do it, and beatable if you don't.
Adrienne even played last time we went. (She only lasted about 3/4 of one game, but did fairly well against a 12 year old).

The chess club leader is dynamic, energetic, and involved with the kids. He plays music, provides a treat, and makes sure the kids don't give up.

At our house, a trip to the library is considered a treat and my kids look forward to it every time. (Good incentive for getting chores done quickly).
We love the monthly Monday night activities,
Summer reading programs,
and various parties (Nathan went to the Percy Jackson party a few months ago and "discovered" he belongs in the Hermes cabin),

Plus, it is all free!
Well, minus the $78 they took from my property taxes to pay for it...
And the fines I get when that darn lone book doesn't make it back in the library bag in time for the trip back.
Worth it though, every dime.

Drive In Movies

We love the drive in. It is the best way to see a movie with kids. They get to talk, eat, and sit outside in the warm summer air with blankets and Capri Suns.
We can't wait for summer movies again...

So we decided to do a drive-in movie night for our Primary Quarterly Activity.
It was a success and I only had one nightmare about it ;)
It was so much fun and we had a pretty good turnout.
The plan went like this:
The children came in and made their "cars" with cardboard boxes, lots of tape, colored paper, paper plates, and glue.
Then they had to do a coloring sheet or an object search to get their first ticket,
Then identify a member of the First Presidency or recite an article of faith for another ticket,
Then sing a primary song on Kade's karaoke machine for their third ticket.
Then they used their tickets for popcorn, root beer floats, and the entrance to the movie.
They were really good about making sure we took their tickets. I think they felt like they were all grown up.

I don't generally put up pictures of other people's kids, but I snapped a few that were so cute I had to share:

Medical Care on the Cheap

This:
Is supposed to be attached to Adrienne's arm.
Nathan took care of it while "helping" her to get in the car the other day.
I think when it slid off it scared him more than it did her.
And they were all scared of me when I came on the scene.
You know that "deer in the headlights" look they get when they are about to get in trouble?
There were four pairs of eyes looking at me as I climbed in the van with my previously lost keys in hand.

Nathan began by telling me he was trying to help, Kade was trying to stuff her hand back in it, and Annika was busy tattling.

I checked her hand and felt the area that was broken. The doctor told me he was just planning to push on it and move it around to make sure it was healed.

I can do that, right?

So I did. And it was.

And Nathan saved us another visit to the doctor.

Thanks... I guess.

Spring (?) Break

We spent spring break up in the mountains. It wasn't so spring-y, but it was a much-needed break.

The first challenge was getting into the cabin. This picture was taken with Nathan standing at the entrance to the driveway.
We decided to take our chances and try parking on the road. "The Man" left us a nasty note, but by then the neighbors took pity on us in our poor minivan and let us park in their plowed driveway.
Then we had to get all the stuff in our work-horse van into the cabin. It wasn't pretty, and involved some yelling and wet boys, but we finally got settled in and warmed up with some hot chocolate.
After that, the fun began. We played games, watched movies, and went tubing. We tubed and tubed and tubed.
The best part was there was a really long hill where we could drop off the kids and one adult and then meet them at the bottom. We loaded everyone and all the tubes up and drove around to the top to let them go down again. It was so much fun.
One morning we availed ourselves of the local Easter-egg hunt. It was a massive undertaking. There must have been a thousand kids in the events center. For us, it ended up being a moderate success.
Adrienne had a bit of a struggle to pick things up with her cast on, but I let her tough it out. There were many parents who got in there with the 4-5 year olds and grabbed candy, though.
It was a little ironic because the grumpy man who kept telling me to leave my 4 year old daughter there alone felt pretty dumb when I was the only parent who was actually waiting on the sidelines and letting my daughter get her own candy.
Annika seemed destined to "find" all the stupid scraps of paper the organizers spread out as advertisements for the sponsors. She mostly ended up with a bag full of papers. Nathan's bag mysteriously developed a hole in it, so as he was furiouly filling it, other (rotten) kids were coming behind him picking up the stuff he was dropping. The kids had fun though (except for a disappointed Nathan) so that is all that matters, right?

After the big hunt, we went to the city park to play fox and geese, a family tradition on my side. I was appalled that we had never taken the time to play it before. I got to teach the kids and Burke to play. It was hilarious. When Adrienne got tired of running around, she said that she wanted to play fox and squirrels and she was going to be the squirrel hiding in its burrow. She walked away and sat in the snow to rest. After the fun in the park we let the kids play on the playground for a while. We had it all to ourselves, since it was freezing. The kids didn't seem to mind, though.


We finished the afternoon with a stop at the famous local burger joint. I got a turkey sandwich (sigh) but treated myself to a nonfat yogurt shake with Oreos that I'm sure kept it nonfat(YUM).

That night it snowed. A lot.The kids decided to take advantage of the new snow and tubed down the driveway while Burke and I loaded up the van.
We were a little worried we would have to move in until Memorial Day, but our faithful minivan got us out and we headed home to check out the Easter baskets the Easter bunny had left us.
It was an amazing weekend and we had so much fun. Thanks for letting us use the cabin Grandma and Grandpa!

Randomness

How do you know spring is on the way? Surely not by checking the weather. Around our house, it is when the trampoline goes back up.
You may wonder why this photo is noteworthy... It is because the plate is Nathan's and he actually ate what was on it. Highly unusual for super picky Nathan to eat any sort of pasta. (He really wanted dessert). We had to record the event for posterity.

What do you do with all that Easter Chocolate?
Build a chocolate palace, of course! Mmmmmmm..... I wanna live there.

Yep, we're on borrowed time.
The other two have 155,000 (and in the shop right now) and 125,000 (currently unregisterable). Just hoping we can squeeze out another year.