Phone Photo Recap

I am glad that I have my phone as a backup camera when I forget to bring my real one or when I don't really feel like lugging around a giant camera.  Here is a little bit of what we have been up to since our trip to California.

 The girls have been spending lots of time outside, especially on the overcast days playing with their new swing set that Zach's buddy gave us.

 Zappos, where Anna works, hooked us up with some free tickets to an awesome professional soccer game and I got to go with these two lovely ladies. 

 Zachary has really grown up since the school year and has been doing some babysitting for us now that he is old enough.  He is so good with Natalie and this is how we found them when we got home one evening.

I moved Maile's bed into Natalie's room hoping to solve some of our bedtime issues.  Maile won't have to get in trouble because of her naughty twin sisters and now Natalie will have someone in her room to keep her company.  Win win. This picture was the first night, Natalie must have decided Maile's bed was better than hers.

My cousin's son Oliver turned one this past weekend and she threw a really fun party, we all had a blast!

 Summer equals not having to do anything if we don't want to.  We have had many days just lounging around the house.

Four moms, eighteen kids, water balloons and a huge water slide make for one fun play day.  My friend Chrissy is so very kind and brave for letting us come over and play.  The best part about these kids is that even though there are so many, there is hardly a squabble between them, if there is it is usually between siblings.  That makes it so easy for us all to get together!



Maile's Birthday Trip Day 3

On the last planned day of our trip we were heading back out to the beach only this time we were wearing our suits and brought all the gear to stay and play for a while.  It was really fun watching the kids at the beach now that they are older, they were all much more brave than in years past.  Zachary even decided that he liked the beach and ocean and tried out the boogie board.  I wish the waters were not so rough that day, he probably would have had better luck!  Natalie also finally warmed up to the idea of sand about half way through and that made the afternoon much easier since we no longer had to carry her everywhere and hear her whine about it getting on her. 

I am struggling with believing how grown up my Maile is getting.  I am so very lucky to call this girl my own!

What a fun trip!  We packed a lot of fun into four days and I couldn't have done it without the help of my Mom and my Aunt Lezlie.  I always wish Zach didn't have to work in the summer so that he could be with us on these trips but I am glad for the extra time I got to spend with my Mom, especially since she has been working so much.  Overall this was trip was a success, Maile had a great birthday even if we didn't throw a huge party.  Pretty sure she will remember this much more!

Happy Birthday Maile (Day two)

On Maile's actual birthday we went to Knott's Berry Farm for the day.  All the kids (Natalie not included) were on their very best behavior and were so good about all the walking and standing around in line.  The weather was nice and the park wasn't too packed.  Maile has already decided that she wants to go back again for her birthday when she is tall enough to ride more rides. 

After a long day we came home to California Aunt Lezlie and Uncle Kevin's house, had dinner, sang Happy Birthday, ate ice cream and watched Maile open her presents.  This is not the first time that we have crashed Aunt Lezlie's for a birthday party and she is always so helpful in making it such a fun time.  We are so lucky and Maile sure did have a great day!

Maile's Birthday Trip Day One

 Maile had a birthday last week and I decided to coincide our annual California beach trip with her birthday instead of having to throw a big party.  I am always happy when I can get out of throwing a kid birthday party.  Don't get me wrong, I love celebrating the birth of my children, it just gets hard trying to figure out the most fun, most cost effective, less of a headache thing to do 5 times every other year! 

Anyhow we drove up to Newport Beach where my Aunt lives and went straight to the beach.  Our timing couldn't be more perfect, we arrived just as the sun was beginning to set.  I love a good beach picture, made even better the light from a setting sun.  This was a great way to start off our trip.  The water was pretty warm and the kids ended up putting more than just their feet in.  I had four very we little girls at the end of our little stop but they had a blast.  The two older kids Zachary and my sister Samantha are smart enough to stay mostly dry! 

Playing in the Rain

Like most Las Vegans, my kids get pretty darn excited when rain starts to fall.  It doesn't happen often but when it does, we take advantage of the opportunity to play in it.  I love watching them have so much fun, especially Natalie since she really has had limited experience with the rain.  Super cute seeing Zachary push her on the scooter with the rain pouring down around them.  Something about changes in weather that have me feeling all cozy and nostalgic inside. 

California Pizza Kitchen Tour

 This is such a fun free thing to do around Vegas.  The kids get a tour and a chance to make their own pizza.  After the pizza is done everyone can enjoy their own pizza with some lemonade.  On the way out they give you a little prize for another free kids meal and some stuff for the kids to take home.  Such a good deal! ( I did tip the waitress/tour guide, she was really helpful with the kids!)

My girls with their favorite triplets the Grubb boys. 

Feeling Better

Today is the first day that we are all feeling better finally after passing around the flu for almost two weeks.  Really sorry to all those who now have the flu because of us but just think, your immune system is going to be that much stronger now!  Anyhow, what better thing to do when the temp is a whopping 115 degrees than to go swimming and eat popsicles.  At first I declined the invitation since I actually woke up and fixed my hair but I changed my mind and I am glad I did.  The kids had fun as usual and are now nice and tired from playing.  Yay for a calm afternoon! 

This picture is so true to form at least for Maile.  Notice my little ice cream maniac is pretty much done with hers and everyone else is just getting started.  Proof she must be feeling good!

Field Trip Friday

Drama Queen

Yesterday little miss Natalie was playing with Maile when apparently her loving big sister decided to yank her off a blanket by her hand.  Natalie cried and whined and started babying her left wrist.  She wouldn't use it at all and I started to think it may be sprained or worse case broken.  However the other day she got a little scrape on her thumb and for days  after it was healed she would cry and fuss about it so I figured she might just be acting a little dramatic with her arm.  I decided to make her a little sling and then wait until the morning to see if she was still as hurt after a good night sleep.  My intuition was correct.  She woke up using her left wrist completely and hasn't mentioned it since.  I told the girls to not ask her about it and I quickly hid the sling, I don't want anything to trigger her memory, I am afraid she might milk her "injury" more.  She is a funny girl, just slightly on the dramatic side, she seriously didn't use her arm for the entire night and now it is perfectly fine.   I am not saying it didn't hurt at all but I think she played into all the sympathy and attention we were all giving her!

July 4th 2012

 All dressed up, they sure don't look sick do they!

Pretty sure we had everything working against us this year. First off, my kids were throwing up the day before and still pretty under the weather the day of the fourth.  Second, our down stairs air conditioner went out for a good 4 hours so we were sweating for a bit.  Next my blow dryer gave up after 3 good years of service but did not last long enough for me to finish my hair, bun day was decided.  And I would say the weather was a pretty good reason for concern, thank goodness the rain let up in time for a great firework display in Boulder City.  We scrapped all our usual plans this year so no parade and no BBQ, we just rested in order to feel good enough to go watch fireworks.  When we finally got out to Boulder City the weather was absolutly beautiful, thanks to the rain storm and we were sitting in the grass enjoying the cool breeze watching the kids play.  The fireworks were awesome as usual so big and pretty and right over our heads.  The only hiccup was the fact that Natalie threw up all over me about one minute into the show.  Oh well, there was no way we were going to have a happy ending with all the bad omens we were having so I kinda knew it was coming! All in all even with all the bad, I will probably forget all of that and the 4th still can be considered one of my favortie days of the year and I hope I am building enough excitement for my kids so they love this day as much as me one day.

 

GVR Cabana

Mom, what is a cabana?  This question has been asked about a hundred times the last few weeks while we counted down the day until I could finally show my kids just exactly what it is.  Grandma booked us all a cabana to share for a day down at Green Valley Ranch and boy oh boy was it fun.  Not only did we have our own semi-personal pool but we also got to go down to the beach front walk in pool with actual sand.  Pretty cool if you ask me, except Natalie wanted nothing to do with her feet in the sand.  We had a yummy lunch and of course ice cream treats for everyone.  After a long day of making kids happy us adults decided that we will be doing a cabana again soon, just next time without the kids!  Otherwise we had a great day, thanks as always Grandma!

June is over!

That went by way too fast!  I can't believe we are already into July with the 4th just two days away.  Summer is melting away faster than I had anticipated, and I had better get going on all of my summer goals for the girls and I , like journal writing, craft making, traveling, exercising, reading ect, ect.  I think I need to make a much more solid plan of what we want to accomplish rather than me just pinning things on pinterest that look cool and then never getting around to doing them.  So that settles it.  No more pinning, just more doing!

Anyhow, June 19th my friend Jasmine had a birthday the same day her new niece Maggie Mae was born so I got to keep Jasmines kids for a bit while she went and hung out with the new baby.  While she was gone we surprised her by baking her a birthday cake.  The kids all had fun adding ingredients and helping mix the batter.  The cake turned out pretty cute but of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished product so I only have a few pics of the process.  Bummer, but happy 29th to Jasmine!

Next we had a fun play day with our friends and the Moms got a chance to do some crafting for fourth of July.  Even with all the kids running around making messes we were able to get some serious stuff done.  Not to mention all the chit chat and catching up we love to do!

Well add in way too much tv watching, one child throwing up and lots of swimming and that about sums up the rest of June. Looking foward to what the rest of the summer has in store for us!