Summer kickoff

Only two weeks into summer and we've already done a lot. Activities include

Train ride to Stanford


Camping/boating trip


County Fair



Park days



Gymnastic camp


No plans for slowing down either, we're spending the week of the 4th in socal!

Little Rascals

What do you think these two could be talking about? I don't know, but I'm sure glad the pictures came out through the window. I didn't want to disturb them while they were so deep in discussion. They really are best buds, like peas and carrots. I love the last photo.

New #1

For the past two years Noah's idol has been Buzz Lightyear. He used to fall asleep with a Buzz Lightyear figure in his hand. He would watch one of the Toy Story movies once a day if we let him. His choice for clothing was always a Buzz shirt. In fact when it first started he had two shirts and I thought "that's enough". When his two shirts were dirty he would refuse to wear anything else. So I went and bought another, and another, and another, and he finally ended up with six buzz shirts in all. Oh, and don't forget his 4 pairs of Buzz lightyear pj's and underwear and 2 pairs of shoes. All the clothing is in addition to all the toys, oh yes, he had those too.


I'm telling you, this kid is a Disney marketers DREAM! You can see the love in his eyes when he got to meet the real Buzz Lightyear.



However, the tides are turning. A new character has quite literally sailed in. Can you guess from this photo?


This character has commandeered all Noah's attention. Enough pirate puns? His new #1 is Captain Jack Sparrow. He wants Capt. Jack make up on every day. He has the sword, figurine, a shirt and a bathing suit so far. He wants pirate jammies next. At the fair he had his face painted like a pirate and was so excited for the Jack Sparrow fun house.


We took him to the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in theaters. I was a little worried it would be too scary, but that boy was in seventh heaven. Once again, Disney marketing has worked it's magic. I sure hope Eli likes Buzz Lightyear and pirates because he's gonna inherit plenty of it.

3 night minimum

We spent Father's Day weekend at Don Pedro Lake. It is a large resevoir in between San Francisco and Yosemite. We really love the campgrounds there because there are lots of nice camp sites, lake access, and the big bonus is a swimming lagoon where the kids can swim and play that isn't as intimidating as the lake. We always have a good time the only problem is a weekend isn't long enough. You take a whole day to pack and load, then you set everything up and you're taking it all down again before you know it. It would have been nice to have one more night, even with the baby not being happy. Does that surprise anyone, that Eli wasn't a happy camper? Not us. However, he slept really well because he was so tuckered out from crying all day. It didn't stop us though, we just carted him along whether he liked it or not. We used our new 10 person tent with hinged door and it was awesome! Although, I don't know how it could actually fit 10? Aaron also got a remote control boat for his birthday and that was a lot of fun to take out on the lake. The kids liked pretending it was a shark in the water. We hope we can go back one more time before summer's over.

Campsite



Lagoon



Lake Don Pedro

Glad baby, sad baby

Boat in motion= glad baby


Boat at rest= sad baby

Overcome

What do you think of when you hear the word overcome? It can convey a lot of different messages. Overcome with grief, overcome obstacles, overcome with joy. Overcome is my word of the year, both positively and negatively. This morning I was overcome with happiness when I heard Noah singing "This little light of mine". I just felt so fortunate to be a mother and to get to be a part of watching these little children grow. I was also overcome with tears as I went through all my baby girl clothes. I'm definitely done having children. I don't feel like anyone is missing from our family, it's just when I packed up those clothes 9 years ago I didn't realize the next time I would go through them would be to give them away. Just remembering Mia's tiny little hands, body and sweet baby face in those outfits really got the water works flowing. I'm keeping a few of the most precious, but other than that they're gone.
Earlier this week I was overcome with fear when an acquaintance of mine lost her four month old daughter to SIDS. I've struggled a lot with Eli. He hasn't been an easy baby to please, but I love him dearly and the thought of losing him makes my heart hurt. I felt physically ill for this mother who would do anything to have her baby back. I would much rather be woken up by Eli all night long than find him not waking up at all. I couldn't even imagine that pain.
I've also felt very overcome by time this year. I want more time. I need more time to spend with Aaron, to spend with each child, and to spend by myself! It's been hard trying to figure out what or who comes first. Laundry's backing up, dinner needs to be made, baby needs to be changed and Kai wants to read a story. Where do I start? I would love more time. Or a maid.
Whenever I'm overcome, good or bad, I do like a little blue fish says "just keep swimming, just keep swimming".

2 down, 1 to go!

The boys had their last day of school today. Kai is now officially a kindergartener and Noah is right behind him as a Pre-K"er"! Fun days for both of them today. I was sad I couldn't be at Kai's "graduation", but Aaron got some good pics, and I was with Noah and the rest of our class for an ice cream social. I dunno if it's all the extra hormones in my system or what, but as I was saying goodbye to my class I turned into a big cry baby. I can't believe another school year has gone by. Mia has nine days left and then we'll all get to be lazy summer bums.

Kai & Teacher Heather


Pre-Class of 2011 (HS class of 2024)!


Song preformance "Each of us is a Flower"


Kai and his buddy Roman


Noah's Tiny Tot class


Noah and his friends