camping

Last weekend we went camping at Siskyou (sp??) Lake with the Gafners. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!
We were amazed by the constant beauty all around us, trees, water, Mt. Shasta right in our faces! The weather was perfect and we had so much fun!
We went on bike rides, caught butterflies by the water, swam in the really cold water, went on a boat ride, and ate yummy camping food.
It was a great camping trip.
In about 2 years it will be even better because the babies will be older.
We didn't get much sleep but when do you ever camping with a 10 month old!
Sofia was in her element, dirt everywhere, snacks all around, and friends to laugh with, she had a blast!
Zeke was in heaven with bikes and scooters all around, he would have slept on the bikes if he could!
Moses didn't sleep but what is new right, he did ok, next year will be awesome with him!!
Anyway it was a blast, thanks Gafners for making it a great weekend!

things I want to do this summer

Some old summer photos ( we didn't take many pics last year!)

First of all I can't believe it is so hot already!! It felt like 80 degrees this morning at 7:30!!
There is so much I want to do this summer, so many projects!! I don't know why I think I will have more time than normal in the summer, I think it will be the opposite with 3 kids home all day!!!
Anywhoo here are some things I want to do and get done:
* My garden!! I was hoping to get dirt and plant today but now it is Monday!
*Clothes line in the back yard, don't know where yet but I've got to get it going soon!
*Hanging shelves in my bedroom
* Art piece I have been working on for a month already!
*Finishing my bedroom, we started this project when my parents came in Feb. and I have had no time to devote to it!
*Finishing my quilt (this could take me forever)
*Being more consistent with cloth diapers
*POTTY TRAINING! (yikes I am so tired of 2 kids in diapers)
*Going to the lake
*Going to the Farmers market
*Going camping!
*Going on vacation with my family to Indiana! (lake house, so fun!)

I think I must still view summer as if I were in school and it is vacation, free time, time to do whatever I want. But really I am 31 now and it is just like the rest of the year, but I am going to act like it is fun free time and hope I do all the things on my list!
Happy Summer!

We made it home!

Some highlights from my day of travel alone with my three crazy kids!

*Getting to the airport 2 hours early and keeping my 3 kids contained in one area.
*Sofia getting into EVERYTHING, she handed an old lady a chip off the ground and Carol's wallet.
*Boarding the plane and Zeke insisting on carrying an open bowl of rice, because the 2 hours he had to eat it before boarding were not enough time. He refused to carry his backpack, he thought since I had Moses, a diaper bag and Sofia to manage that I should also be fine carrying his backpack.
*Moses falling asleep after take off (that was amazing!)
*The guy next to me across the aisle being bald and covered in tattoos! Moses stared and smiled his big tooth grin at him the ENTIRE time!!
*My kids actually sitting and behaving well on the plane!!!
*Getting off the plane, forgetting Sofia's lovey, trying to keep Sofia from going into each row as the annoyed people behind us wait for me to try to steer her, while carrying Mo and 2 bags.
* Sofia going into the cockpit!
*Nice strangers helping me put Sofia in her stroller, and helping me carrying my luggage.
* Taking 3 kids and bags into a bathroom stall, and holding Moses in my baby hawk while trying to pee. Did I mention Zeke opened the stall door while this was happening?
* Getting my kids contained in the car and finally driving home!

We made it and it really went so smooth compared to what could have happened!
Thanks for praying for us, and thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

Game night

Got back yesterday from our holiday in Riverside. I am not sure I would call it a true holiday, in my opinion a holiday consists of sleeping in, reading a great book or 4, and eating great food. I only ate too much food!
Moses thought it might be cool to get sick and wake up at least 3 times every night. So we came back tired. But time with family and friends was great and I am thankful for our parents help with the kids!!
We had our annual New years eve party where we played cranium guys vs. girls. I am happy to say that this year, finally the girls beat the guys. And not just beat them, but destroyed them, thanks to some rules and judges we set up for club cranium. No cheating this year boys!!
Anyway it was fun to be back with friends, it wouldn't be a new years eve without the yelling and chaos of the game, Dan making smart a** comments, kids running around and Sam taking his shirt off in excitement!
We did it girls, now we can make a lame t-shirt like Rodrigo and start a tally of wins!!!
jk mike i love the t-shirt, i'm just jealous!!

3 kids on a plane=crazy

Well our trip home to Riverside was eventful!
Sometimes I think I was crazy to travel this way
The travel actually went a lot better than it could have. If it had not been for Lorrie someone would not have made it! Sofia would have been left somewhere! She was a pistol in the airport and on the plane, thank you Lorrie for putting up with my crazy kids.
We had such a good time visiting family, the kids got lots of love and attention from the grandparents, which they love!
Went to the park with Jess and the girls, I went out with my girlfriends for dessert, went shopping with my parents and sister, got a manicure. I slept in, thanks to my mom and mother-in -law taking care of my noisy early risers!
It was a great restful weekend, and I was so glad to get back, we missed Dan!!!

So excited!

The kids & I are going to Riverside for a long weekend! We leave tomorrow in the afternoon, we are driving down to Sac, ugh, then we will fly down south. Sometimes I think I might be crazy to travel with my 3 kids one being a new baby, one being a 20 month old who loves to run away from you, and one being a 5 year old that I am praying wants to be mama's helper tomorrow!
We will see!
Actually I think it might go pretty well, a girl from our old church in Riverside is flying to help me!! She worked for Southwest and so she can fly easily and she offered to help me out! Amazing!!!
I am so thankful for the help! Otherwise I am not sure my sanity would be intact when I arrived!!
Can't wait to see family, friends, go to lunch with my mom and sister, go to coffee with my girlfriends! Maybe a pedicure or manicure!!
So excited!!!
Dan can't wait to have a quiet house and sleep in!!!
I admit I am a bit jealous of the sleeping in, but I know he will miss the chaos!
I get to enjoy the chaos on the plane and in the car!
But it is worth it when i can get my Riverside fix!

Top 10 Things I love about camping

Our family went on our annual camping trip with our close friends. This was our 7th year camping together with these 5 families. We had a blast here are some highlights

10. Sleeping in a tent in 40 degree weather, not showering for 3 days

9. The tree swing that Adam made for the kids to play on, they loved it! Watching Zeke play with his friends that he misses so much.

8. Doing dishes with the girls(although I didn't do much) and I agree Annette, we could totally live in community!
7. Sitting around the campfire when the kids are in bed, freezing our butts off and laughing together, just being with friends who know you so well.
6. Listening to the guys play their guitars and ukuleles, it would not be a camping trip without the sound of them playing music together.
5. Listening to the song Zeke and Jonah made up about Cheese nips, they sang it for 2 days straight. This was after they added it to everyones name. "Hi Davey Cheese nip." Davey didn't appreciate that name.
4. Going to the tide pools with kids, just watching them learn and explore
3. Watching Zeke learn how to play baseball for the first time ever

2. Just having meals together and living for a short time as a family
1. Being with these people that are family to us, being known and loved by them. Miss you all already

These are a few of my favorite things(about vacation)

Sleeping in! We have been sleeping in until 9 or 9:30 everyday!!!!! It has been amazing

Alone time with Dan. It's like we are dating again, just the two of us having conversations uniterrupted!

Going to the movies! with kids we never get to go out to the movies we have seen 2 in the last 2 days!

Trader Joes! My mom gave us a gift card to TJ and we stocked up on favorites for our little kitchen. Yummy things like pesto bowls, and hummus and pita chips, dark chocolate bars, Lingon berry scones! Oh how i miss TJ!

Laying in the sun reading. This has not happened yet as the weather has been overcast and cold. But I have hope that tomorrow will be sunny and I can lay on the beach and read my book while tanning my super pasty white legs!

Just doing nothing. Having no plans. I always have a plan and it is nice to not think about it.

Reading a huge book without someone asking me a million questions! I have not sat down to read a book since January so it has been awesome!

Taking naps!

Eating out, we have spent like $30 so far! We eat breakfast and lunch at our time share then treat ourselves to dinner. But we have some gift cards that have been burning a whole in our pockets since CHristmas! So we are treating ourselves to fun places like Yard House and PF. Changs!

It is going by fast so I am trying my best to soak it all up!

ahh vacation!

This is our view from our hotel balcony. We are Newport and staying at an awesome time share! We have the kids so the relaxing part of vacation has not officially kicked off yet. Zeke thought it would be cool to wake up at 6am again today. He has been so excited to be with grandparents that he is ready to start the day early!
No big plans today, take the kids to the beach and play. I can't wait it will be fun!
We have had a few bumps in the road, Dan couldn't find his atm card yesterday and so we thought through all the places he had been in the last 2 days. I called 411 5 times getting numbers of business where we used our card, thanks Erica for searching for the taco bell number in Redding!
We finally found it in Williams CA, where we stopped for breakfast on the way to Sac!
So we are relieved it is found, that would have been a great way to start vacation, with our card being lost!
I am sure we will have fun pics of the kids at the beach soon, it is beautiful today!

camping!

So the past few days were spent with great friends camping in Santa Barbara. Yay for cooler weather, I heard it was 113 in Riverside on Monday! We have a group of friends who go camping every labor day weekend. We have gone for the past 6 years, wow times flies, we started with only 3 little kids, this year we had 11! It was a blast! Day at the beach, campfires, dirty kids, and only a few little fights. It added up to a great time with friends who I love and miss. (annie!)
Next time the pictures might look more orderly, I am still figuring out this crazy blog thing ( I am so old) and Dan is not home, if he were it would look much better!
These pictures are a small snipit of the hundreds of pictures I took of the weekend, as you can see there is a bit of a theme, Zeke and the dirt were close friends! But isn't that what camping is all about!