King For a Day

Benson turned 4 on Tuesday!

His preschool teachers made him this crown for his big day...

So naturally, he wore it at all day. Here he is eating his birthday cookies with his buddy...

(Here's the cookies--mmmm--and yes, believe it or not, everything you see here comes from nature!)

...watching his fave Thomas movie, still crowned--approx. 1 PM.

3 PM.
Present Time! 5:30PM. (the crown.)

He got what he wanted.

6PM. Pizza for dinner--by order of the King.
(Still, with the crown).
Happy Birthday my sweet boy!

I love my kids...

...they make me laugh.

We have a piano!!!!

Isn't she beautiful?!
I have wanted a piano for a VERY long time, and I was beginning to think it might never happen...
As luck would have it, our friend Britain owns a piano tuning/repairing business and was kind enough to give us this one that was just going to sit around in his warehouse!
Thank you Britain!!!!

School!

Here's my little Benny on his very first day of Preschool. He started on Tuesday and Kayla started on Wednesday. Oh, and Ryan cut his hair and I can't stop staring at him because he looks so different!

And here's Kayla on her first day of 1st Grade! She is pumped. Most used adjective when describing school--"awesome".

Use it up...

...wear it out, make it do, or do without. These are words of a prophet (Pres Hinckley) that my husband lives by!

He called me from work around 10AM the other day and said, "I ripped my pants--caught on a nail." These are the same pants he had just recently been boasting on their 7 yr term as his favorite jeans ever that he bought at the base in Japan for $25.
The funniest part about this picture is that he finished out the work day wearing them...

...just like this.

Squeak's Adventures

This weekend we went to Lake Tahoe, with just ourselves, just because... Many of you young families out there know that these types of vacations are few and far between. That is because usually we're spending our time and money doing vacations with "her" family or "his" family. I SO cherish our vacations as just our little family. It is so nice to have no schedule and no one else to please--we do what we want, when we want! But my favorite part of all is seeing the kids just OVERJOYED to get Ryan all to themselves! They cherish every little drop of attention they can get from him!

But before we begin, meet Squeak. Some time ago Grandma Pam gave Kayla a stuffed, bug-eyed, squirrel-like animal. Kayla made it very clear that her little pet's name is Squeak Young, because he is a part of our family. Squeak is named "Squeak" because when you squeeze him he squeeks--not a cartoony squeak, a REAL squeak...many times I have mistaken Squeak's joyful noises for a bonified squirrel in or around my home! So, of course as an immediate member of our family, Squeek joined us on our family vacation...

Squeak taking a walk with us down to the Village.

Squeak on the mountain. He likes being dragged around by the tail.

Squeak on a miniature sized hike--hikes are REALLY miniature sized when you've got a stuffed squirrell, a 6 and a 3 year old!

Oh trust me, he's there--in fact, I believe he rather preferred the Lake.

Getting a good night's rest.

I asked Kayla how come Squeak didn't get to come have ice cream with us and she lamented on how yes, it was too bad that Squeak fell asleep in the car, he sure missed out... For more exciting vacation pics visit me on Facebook! Tah tah for now!

We went Camping...

Camping season! It's my favorite time of year! Where do I begin with this particular adventure...?

Oh, this looks like a good place to start!
Ryan PROMISED me that we would camp somewhere with a shower and flush toilets (my only two criteria for a camp site). Due to poor/no planning by somebody who's name I will not mention we ended up in the Sierras(?) with no place to camp...so we ended up here...
Dardanelle Campground:
with NO showers, NO flush toilets, NO running water in fact. Oh sorry, there was one spigot next to the bathrooms with a sign next to it that said "No washing, rinsing, drinking, cleaning fish"--what ARE you supposed to do with that water then?

Then there was the band across the street at the "resort" which was actually just a few nasty little cabins with a convenience store, oh, and a stage.
They played every night until 11PM and I thought I might shoot myself if I had to hear one more Tom Petty, CCR, or Lynyrd Skynyrd cover song--folks must have been too drunk to notice they played the exact same sets both nights in a row because they were goin' wild...until 11PM...both nights...

It's one redeeming quality was the river:
...which we spent all 2 1/2 days in because it was either that or swelter in 90 degree heat at a campsite blanketed in dirt.

The boogie board was a huge hit.


And fishing of course.

Oh yes, and if you look in the corner of this picture you will notice Benson EATING the fish bait. Yes, one of the hot pink "salmon eggs" that Ryan thought it would be a good idea to let him play with...apparently it didn't taste very good thank goodness. Are those things even real salmon eggs? Who knows...

When all was said and done, OF COURSE Ryan and the kids had a great time...but let's just say after 3 days of no showering and the great anxiety that came from having to squat over that vault toilet wondering if one of those disgusting flies buzzing around down in the recesses might fly up and land anywhere on or near me, it's going to be a LONG time before I go camping again:) Ryan is well aware of that fact.
Signing off now to go enjoy a long hot shower!

FHE also we moved!

Giants game for FHE!

I tried to talk her into a pointy foam finger...she chose this pencil. Different strokes for different folks.

Benson trying to aggravate sister--his favorite past time.

It's pretty much a crime to be in the city and not make a stop at Mitchell's, so, we did. I must say, nothing accentuates my son's whiteness more than chocolate ice cream slathered all over his face.

PS We moved to Santa Cruz! Loving it! Kind of launched right into life here with soccer camp, swim lessons, beach, beach, beach,...but I will blog it eventually, promise.

We Got Away!

We had not one, but TWO whole nights away in Santa Cruz thanks to Ryan's wonderful parents! We stayed up late, we slept in, we ate Indian Food, we took our time! It was incredible!

Thanks Mike and Pam!

Too Much Fun

I have WAY too many pictures to post for the fun we've had the last two weekends! I'll try my best to be short and sweet...

Mother's Day weekend we went to Santa Barbara for a wedding...while we were driving down the 101 we discovered that Ryan's parents had been evacuated from their house because of the massive fire down there. As luck would have it, the luxurious Bacara Resort just outside of Santa Barbara was offering their rooms at a discounted rate for evacuees, which for the weekend anyways, we were! We knew we would NEVER have the opportunity to stay at this place again, so we went for it. So glad we did--3 nights, 3 words: heaven on earth!

Incredible pools overlooking the ocean, which we all got to enjoy for 2 days, including Ryan's parents!


Our Room. Still a little euphoric to think we stayed there. And if you wonder why I use the word "euphoric", seriously, hit the link and check this place out! Kayla says she can't wait to go back--I told her to tell her daddy that;)

Then yesterday was Kayla's birthday--I can hardly believe that she is 6! She's a bonified KID! This is how our day went:
Birthday girl's choice for breakfast--Pancakes!

10 AM Young Author's Fair-Kayla was asked to help present her portion of a book her class wrote that won the County Young Author's Award.

1:30 PM Baseball Game

Then came 4 PM:
the big b-day party! It was only 100 degrees yesterday afternoon, so I thought, sure, they'll be plenty of empty tables, who wants to spend the afternoon at the park in this kind of weather? Apparently, when there is a water play area, lots of people do! And I won't go into details, but the folks there made our party look like a funeral, I'm not kidding! They reminded me that I forgot my Boom Box and my mariachi CDs--shoot. Anyways, we ended up throwing up 2 shade tents and partying on the grass and it was great!



PS Hello Kitty was the requested theme this year, so I slaved over these little cuties:) She was quite pleased with them!
So basically, this is how I would rate our last 2 weekends:

Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?

Lastnight before bed we were reading a book entitled "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?" The basic point of this book is that every little girl is as valuable and special as a princess. So, on every page this little girl is asking her mommy such questions as "Do princesses wear hiking boots?" to which Mom replies an affirming statement: "When they wish to take the scenic routes." "Do princesses ride tricycles?", etc, you get the picture. Well, Kayla repeatedly disagreed with the Mom in the story. Now, if you know Kayla, you know she LOVES the beach, but she also in a subconcious sort of way considers herself very valuable, much like a princess;). So, being the jerky Mom that I can be sometimes, I hit her with a loaded question:

M: Sooo, princesses can't go to the beach?
K: ...well, they don't have beaches in England anyways.

Love it!

No Moms or Dads

I went to put some laundry away in the kids' room the other day only to be greeted by a closed door and this well-crafted declaration...
Me: (Knock, knock) Hey, how come I'm not allowed in your room?
Kayla: (Cracks the door and peeks out) Because me and Benson are doing kid stuff (we stare at each other for a second) Bye. (Shuts the door).

What's Up Babie?

Cartoon Snuggle

I love Saturday mornings:)

"Valencrimes"

A friend of ours wrote a scathing editorial one year with the aforementioned title referring to the blessed day of love as a "crime" against men, basically. This for the cliched and obvious reasons men WOULD think it's some sort of crime to have the expectation of an outpouring of romantic adoration for their lovely wives and girlfriends placed upon them.
While I did enjoy the article, I still love V-day. And as you will see, we welcome many different forms of expression of love in our relationship--even miniature race cars...

And thanks to Josie and Justin for coming with us and blowing a wad to speed around in little lawnmowers for a half an hour...oh, and for lapping me 48 times. In my defense, 27 and never had a speeding ticket, not one. Thank you.
Super fun, we'll see you at the tracks next year!
(PS Re: group photo--Hello gnome in the land of trees)