Camping

We had such a great time camping over Memorial Day weekend! The first thing the kids did was help Dad make a fire pit. Then we did most of the usual camping stuff...set-up the tent (which we didn't sleep in *LOL*), and got everything situated at our campsite. The kids spent the first two days riding bikes. When they weren't riding the motorcycles they were riding their pedal bikes. Melanie was already off of the training wheels, but this was Brandon's first weekend without them on his dirt bike.

Brian brought the BBQ and we ate better out there then we do at home. The kids roasted marshmellows, went on a flashlight adventure and even saw a baby sidewinder rattlesnake. Daddy relocated the rattlesnake...but everyone was still a bit scared so we decided between that and the wind, we were sleeping in the trailer *LOL*


My favorite part of the trip was the first morning when my wonderful husband made fried eggs, bacon and even coffee and we got to sit down, watch the sunrise and eat a peaceful breakfast. All of the kids were still sleeping, we actually had to wake them up around 8am because their Grammy, Grandpa and Nephew were headed out to join us.

I'm excited to do this again in the future and have a bunch of fun memories for our kids! I wish I had gotten more pictures, but it was so dusty that I was nervous dust would get in to my camera. Next time I am going to bring my point and shoot so I'm not as worried.

A little reality

In most of my pictures and posts my kids are smiling because that is definitely what I want to remember and cherish for years to come. But most every day is filled with some of this...
a little bit of that...
and a TON of this... And yes, I really did take out my camera and take a picture when they were all this pissed off *LOL* I think it made all of them madder and definitely made my husband wonder what the heck I was doing! I think that this is payback for all the trouble I gave my mom growing up ;o)

One season under her belt

Melanie finished up softball and had a great season. She is really good at hitting the ball and didn't really use the tee much at all! She is going to play soccer again in the fall and then do softball next spring I think. As crazy as weekends can get with sports, I love watching the kids grow in their skills and have such a great time. These are pics from our end of the season pizza party!

How do you like them apples

Oh yes, our apple tree actually blossomed this year. It has grown like crazy, but we have never had blossoms on it. I am so excited that we may have apples this year!!

Facebook and 3 year olds

"But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31

I LOVE this verse!! My 3 year old has given me a very challenging & exhausting week. I feel like I don't know what else to do to get her behavior under control! I know that God is right there with me as I'm struggling to handle her, but I never know what I'm supposed to actually do in that moment! Far too often I resort to yelling and I know that's not the right thing either.

When I got online and checked out facebook, I saw this verse and it definitely made my day! I'm so thankful that God can even use facebook to speak to me :o)

Way too many Jog-a-thon pics

Brandon's school had a jog-a-thon last week and he had so much fun! Brooklyn wanted to come along too and I'm so glad that his school always welcomes her! She even ran a couple laps with him. As soon as she was done, Brandon took off with his best friend Zachary and ended up running 19 laps...I couldn't believe how long he ran for! The kids all had a break for oranges and water about half way through and were rewarded with popsicles at the end. Thank you to all our jog-a-thon donors!!

New hair

After many months of arguing every morning when it's time to brush hair, Melanie finally agreed to get it cut! Mom was about to force the cut, so I'm glad that she wanted to get it cut. Here is a picture of her before we got it cut...it was super windy outside.

And here she is afterwards...via a cell phone picture

This morning it was SO much easier to get ready for school without the usual drama of untangling hair!!

Flower Fields

We went down to the flower fields in Carlsbad this week. It was a bit colder than I was expecting, but we had a great time! What a beautiful place. The kids had fun running around to all the different stations to get their passports stamped. Although I got lots of random pictures, I thought this one summed it up the best *LOL*

Santa Rosa Plateau

Went a couple weekends ago to check out the vernal pools and had a pretty good time. It's just beautiful out there. We even went back today to check out another trail and visit the "new"seum (visitor's center). The kids have so much fun going on the trails. Brooklyn even walked for 75% of our hike today.

The first time out we decided to head out to the Adobe houses and although it was fun, the trek back was torture because our 2 and 3 year olds were too tired to walk. But it was fun while we were there. The younger kiddos like watching the squirrels and trying to sneak in to the barn. And poop was the highlight of the day. Everytime we spotted some we had to stop and talk about which animal left it behind. They were also fascinated by the fuzzy caterpillars all over the trails.

Here are some pics from our first hike. I totally forgot my camera today.








P.S. I will totally upload these and send you the link Amanda :o)
P.S.S. Melanie did NOT pick that flower that she's holding in one of the pics...strictly forbidden to pick flowers while on nature preserves ;o)

Wilderness

I know, I'm a bit obsessed with the wilderness area behind our house LOL. I am just amazed at all the flowers that are out right now! They're probably all weeds, but it's just so green and gorgeous back there right now. Also all of our fruit trees are in bloom, so the backyard has some color too. I have to enjoy it because I'm sure they will come and weed whack the wilderness any day now and before I know it all the flowers will be falling off the trees as well. Anyways, here are a few of the wild flowers, followed by the fruit trees. And yes that butterfly really did just pop down on the flower as I was getting ready to snap the pic, what a treat!

Jump, jump...

Had fun practicing jumping shots with my brother when we were out at my mom's this weekend...even got my husband to join in on the fun! Wish I hadn't cut off his lovely girlfriends arm in the shot, but she's beautiful even without it ;o)

My brother's photography is awesome and it's fun watching his work get better and better. He gets tack sharp images with my old kit lens and I can't even seem to get consistently sharp images with the lens I have now!! It's nice having another person to go out on "camera walks" with ;o)