Books are bad??

So I've been doing some summer reading. Mostly trying to find a good sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. You can't even begin to imagine how many are out there! No sequel, of course, will come close to Ms Austen's work, but it's made for some good summer reads. Of the three different sequels I have read, the best is Letter's from Pemberley I & II.
The thing is, when I start reading I get so completely wrapped up in the book that I ignore everything else that needs my attention, INCLUDING my kids! No matter if the book is good or bad, I'm always anxious to get to the end. I've just finished another and my house is a disaster area, I'm still in my pj's and my kids are running around naked (I'm not joking). Anyway, I think I need to put the books down for the next week even though my next read just arrived from amazon.com. Instead of going for a sequel to P&P I've picked a series that looks at the original story from Mr.Darcy's point of view. I'm excited to start them, but know I need to get things in a little better shape before I become invisible mom again. I might just wait until our week long vacation that's only 18 days from now because clearly me and books aren't good for our household as of late.

Kai's 3rd Birthday

It's ON!

Well after going back and forth over summer vacation plans we finally have it all worked out. The problem was that we love boating at Trinity Lake. There is an awesome place we stay, it's so peaceful and family friendly and we had reservations there this summer. However, the lake is low, so low that right now the level is where it usually is in October. Now Trinity is a big lake, the problem is that when it's low it gets full of debris. We also called and talked to the resort owners and they said that the air quality is poor because of all the California fires. Thus we began a search for a new destination. We were getting discouraged thinking that boating was going to be scrapped altogether. We were having trouble finding open reservations this late and also a place with all the amenities we're used to. Then we came across Bass Lake. It's smaller, but still beautiful and most importantly it's level is 100% and no fires nearby. Another BIG bonus is that Yosemite Valley is only 40 minutes away. So here's where we'll be mid-August...

Home away from home

My excuse for this three week absence (besides not feeling like blogging) is vacation! We had a wonderful time in Southern California and filled up our 8 days quickly. Highlights...

*Beach bonfires






*Sea World








*4th of July






*My mom's 50th (The whole day was a surprise for her. We took her to Descanso Gardens, gave her a photo book filled with our favorite memories of her, and had dinner at the Melting Pot where we came and went in a limo)!







*Just hanging with our family and friends