California, Califooooooorrrrrrrnnnnniiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaa!!!

Hello Dear Friends & Family!

You know you love looking at other people's vacation photos.  You just know it.  Come, live vicariously through ours.  Until I run out of room on my camera.  Then we'll have to rely on Aunt Adrianne & Grandma Diana to upload their photos from so we can live vicariously through them.  

Our trip began with Poppa Randy & Nana Joy.  We forced ourselves on them for 4 days.  YOU WILL ENJOY OUR COMPANY.  We had fun.  We hung out with them on the boat, took the girls to the cute little aquarium right near the harbor, and went to the beach.  Well, at least we had fun once the drive was over.  I felt a migraine sneaking up on me in Bishop, CA.  I forgot my Extra Strength Excedrin.  The last hour was HORRIBLE.  It was dark, I had 4 freeway changes and I was gripping the steering wheel in an effort to not to throw up.  OMG.  But we survived.  I rolled out of the car, said, "Asprin, please." and then buried myself in the bed.  Nanna and Poppa stepped in and took care of the girls.  Heavens to Betsy, that sucked.  But it was worth it, because look!  Vacation pictures! 

Hooray for the tide-pool exhibit (only open for 15 minutes at a time to keep the fish from getting exhausted.  Smart aquarium.)

 

 

Did you know that Grunions are real fish?  Am I the only one that thought they were fake?  Yeah, they're not.  Snipe hunt = fake.  Grunion = real.  (Stupid camp tricks have kept me from embracing life.  Now all I see are lies.  LIES.  Even where there aren't any.) 

Gretchen is taking her volunteer Grunion Photo Holder responsibilities very seriously. 

No seriously, Grandpa, give me the nuts.  I will chop you.  I'll chop your FACE. (He doesn't believe her.)

LOOK OUT BELOW

Ella pretending she's driving the boat to Catalina.

BLAHHHH!

When I can get Ella to make a normal face on camera, she sure is lovely....

The best part about this photo is that literally 30 seconds later she fell asleep

Ella said she's calling her mom.  What? I'm right here!  Seriously, I'M ALWAYS RIGHT HERE!

All sailors should wear bloomers

Hey Grandpa, is that heavy?  Ha ha.

Pensive beach gazing.

Spastic wave screaming.

Nana Joy helps build the most awesome sand castles in the sand.

 After our jaunt with Poppa and Nana, we went to visit our peeps in Temecula.  FANTASTIC TIME.  Well, at least for us.  We enjoyed the Dollar Movies, lunch outings, splash park and playing playing NON STOP PLAYING with cousins.

Anticipation.  It's what brings us back to the Splash Park.  The water is coming.  IT'S COMING!

 I'm not sure if Alisa's family enjoyed the time quite as much, what with the walking pneumonia (Christian) and 103.5 fever (Teagan).  But we were thoroughly entertained.  Not by their illness.  By their hospitality. 


Grandma Diana graciously watched the girls while my dear friend Julie & I went to the ALA Conference.  OMG, SO AMAZING.  Seriously, it was a crazy awesome conference.  I HEART LIBRARIANS!!!!  I left feeling so motivated.  Julie gave me fantastic suggestions on my dummy book, hooked me up with some new contacts, and we got to meet and hear from tons of successful and inspiring people.  Hooray!

Colby flew down Saturday night so that Sunday we could go to....DISNEYLAND!!!  (Here's the part where we ask Adrianne & Mom to upload all their photos since my camera ran out of room.  Please?  Thanks!)  (Luckily Dan already emailed these from our MOST AMAZING LUNCH OF ALL TIME EVER!!!)  We met our dear friends Dan & Sue at the Magical Kingdom.  And then we had magical times.

"Guys, play it cool.  PLAY IT COOL!"

No seriously guys, I am SUPER SOPHISTICATED.   

Quick!  Before they see us taking pictures!

Colby looking down on people.

Super Dramatic Moment on the balcony outside the club.

Me calling no one in the fanciest phone booth I've ever been in because I wanted my picture in there, but didn't have anyone local to call.

Why yes, I DID sneak out two Exclusive Cookies for the girls.  And then pull them out in the line for Star Tours and pose for photos with them.

So the Fancy Lunch was pretty much the highlight or our very magical and ridiculously expensive day, but the other thing that I loved?  GRETCHEN ON ROLLER COASTERS!  Here we are on space mountain, Colby remembering how he totally puked after riding it that one time, Dan getting a mouthful of my hair, my shirt literally flying up off me, and there sits Gretchen.  "Ain't no thang, mom.  Ain't no thang..." 

When I asked what she thought at the end, she said, "AGAIN!"

This ride was a little more Ella's speed.  Now all it needs is the theme to It's A Small World and it'd be perfect.

We finished out our time in SoCal at Uncle Aaron and Aunt B's house of leisure.  I fell asleep in the pool cabanna for most of Tuesday afternoon.  Then Wednesday.  Then Thursday we went to see Grandma Liz....

91.5 years old and STILL BEAUTIFUL.  My Grandma rocks!

Fattest, smooshiest, most adorable baby in the WORLD!!!  Drake Danger, you steal our hearts.  And then spit them back up.  5 months and 20 lbs.  That's what a Superior Baby looks like.

5 points if you can tell me what doesn't belong here....

 And we wrapped up our trip with a lovely baby shower for Auntie Adrianne.  She is so cute and pregnant.  Awww.  (No, seriously, you have to upload photos of the shower.) 


But the fun did not end there.  Then Dad and Nana Joy drove in for an evening.  We took them In & Out and then downtown to the river for our favorite Ice Cream.


Then we did 4th of July with Auntie Amber & Uncle Dan.  (Pretend you're looking at cute pictures of the girls playing with baby Lucy in the splash pool.)

Then Sue came over with her kids and we went to the river AGAIN because we LOVE IT SO.



Then Ken & Janeece came for two amazing and fun filled days.  First we took them to Virginia City STEP BACK IN TIME.  We went on a mine tour, got Janeece out of the mine tour as quickly as possible (yeah, it's a little claustrophobic...)  Then we donned super nasty photo props that left us feeling dirty (dirtier than the fact that we let our children hold guns while we dressed as Scarlet Ladies.  Cause it's fun!) (But look at this!  So worth it!)

 

Then yesterday we took them to the river.  BECAUSE SERIOUSLY, WE LOVE IT!  It was really fun hanging out with them.  We wish we all lived on the same street again.  Gretchen and Ella knew they'd love their boys before they even got here.  As soon as Gretchen opened the door for them, she told their oldest, "You're sleeping with me, ok?"  (That's only cute to say when you're four.)

Now we are all partied out.  I'm actually looking forward to the pile of work I have ahead of me.  And looking forward to cooking and cleaning again.  Because we only have 2 weeks before we go on the next road trip.  Sigh.  ;)

Tea Parties and Ballerinas

You should always buy an old lady house.  Old lady houses are fabulous, not just because they've usually been meticulously maintained, have excellent taste in velour/foiled wallpaper, but because the gardens are FABULOUS.  Right now in the planter behind the pear tree we have a riot of hot pink roses in bloom.  To celebrate, the girls made a fort (which means I made a fort for them, then they made a butcher paper sign for it & dragged all their crap outside.)

In case you don't know already, I am an idiot.  We had two spectacular things going on this week.  And somehow I didn't realize till last Friday that they were BOTH AT THE SAME TIME.  I was so sad.  I look forward to the girl's dance recitals all year.  And we definitely weren't going to miss Gretchen's BFF's birthday party.  It was Alice In Wonderland themed.  And is was amazing.

Thanks to Auntie Krista, and waaaaaaaaay too much coordinating, we were able to make it work.  Gretchen & I went to BFF's house to decorate at 8:30 am.  Colby took Ella straight to the recital.  Krista came & got Gretchen & dropped her off to the recital. 

 I stayed till the cake (DUDE, CHECK OUT THAT CAKE.  BFF's mom must love her.  And be awesome.  {yes to both}).

 Hannah approved.

 Then I raced downtown to the recital.  I got there literally LITERALLY 15 seconds before Gretchen started her dance.  Thanks Jen for sending me this backstage photo!

 I made it to a seat by the time Ella went on, 5 minutes later.  Awww, look at how graceful she is!

 Apparently this is how Ballerina's stand.  Cause when I told her to do a Ballerina pose, this is what I got.

Thanks to Jennifer, we also now have this AWESOME VIDEO of the recital's Grand Finale.  Now....can you find Gretchen?  (HA!)  (PS - Gotta love that somewhere in that crowd of ballerina's some poor kid is just sobbing her heart out....)



Then we collected Gretchen's car seat from Krista and raced back to BFF's house to help clean up (below is their version of a ballerina pose).  Gretchen was sad her hair wasn't hot pink, so BFF's mom painted it right after this photo.  And it didn't all come out in the shower this morning, so her hair was still pink for church.  It was cute.  Maybe that's why her friend in Sunday School couldn't keep his hands (or lips) off her today. 

That was our first real week of summer.  Not quite as much sitting around and relaxing as I thought.  But still fun.  Maybe THIS WEEK we'll sit at home all day and do nothing....  (ha).

The Graduates

Gretchen and her BFF got glammed up for their playdate.  She looked so awesome in the earrings that we had to send them home with her.  Luckily Adrianne will restock our glam-box with a new stash of AWESOME at next sample sale.  Are you jealous of how fun their playdates are?  I know, I am too.  I want a weekly playdate filled with this much entertainment!  (Though to be honest, just watching them play is entertainment enough.  Their drama could put the telenovelas to shame.  For reals.)

We've found a lot of treasures as we clean out piles of stuff from storage.  Like this swing, now hanging from a beam over our covered patio.  This swing has provided hours of entertainment. 

It's also provided some pain too.  It came untied and dropped Ella's BFF onto the patio mid-swing.  We now have a No Friends On The Dangerous Swing rule.  My kids are ok, of course.  Because Danger is a middle name.  In our family.  For certain babies.

I found some big 'ol canvas in storage (see?  Storage is the gift that keeps on giving.  All you have to do is put stuff away for 5 years and you'll be amazed at what comes out.)  Gretchen & I made a Jackson Pollock painting for the living room.  She was ridiculously good at it.  Far better than me.

Speaking of art, if you're in the Seattle Area, you might accidentally bump into some graffitti art that looks strikingly similar to Ella and Gretchen's dad...

Apparently Uncle Tyler & Auntie Meghan saw a poster very similar to this one on their way to the store the other day.  "Hey, is that COLBY?"  Yes, yes it is.  Obey Colby.  Obey him.  We got our own copy in the mail this week from the artist's wife. It's going on our picture wall tomorrow.  And then maybe the 2nd copy will end up downtown near the river.  If I can bear to part with it.  (I don't think I can.  I love it too much.)

Who knew that 3 miles from our house there was a super cool nature center?  Not me!  But luckily someone at Ella's school did!  I helped drive for the field trip.  Here they are looking at pond water.

This may or may not be the boy who held her hand secretly under the table... Also, I'm not sure who's backpack that is.  It's not ours. 

Ours is pink with hearts.  See?  Yeah, the one with random stuffed animals hanging off it.  That I am carrying.  Not my kids.  Uh huh. 

Second grade ended on Tuesday.  Can you believe it?  Neither can I.  The kids were really upset about it, as you can see.  Ella had a speaking part in the school play.  She was a Gardener in the Garden Show.  I think we could all pretty much recite the whole play by the time her performance came around.  We'll be singing songs about compost for years to come.  It'll be like when Aunt Adrianne was the Shoemaker's wife in her school play.  I STILL REMEMBER HER LINES!!!  "Oh Hans, we are so hungry and there are still so many shoes to finish.  Whatever will we do..."  (Shoot, maybe I don't remember.  I bet she does though...  Adrianne, type your line into the comments section, will ya?)

 Speaking of Adrianne, look at that adorable baby bump.  Don't you just want to walk up to her in public and invade her personal space by rubbing your hands all over it?  I know, right?

Gretchen had her Preschool Graduation this week too.  Wait, doesn't she have one more year of Preschool?  Yes.  She does.  Maybe that's why she decided she didn't want to wear her Graduation Cap.

Or, you know, pay attention during the song performance.  (She really did very well.  She sang the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of that teapot song.  And the baby bumble bee song.  And the months of the year song.)  But you know Gretchen, always has to do her own thing. 


And so our summer begins.  Ella just got out of bed to ask me what we're doing tomorrow.  I told her she'd be cleaning the bathroom. That'll teach her to get out of bed (insert mad scientist laugh here).  What will we ACTUALLY DO?  Stay tuned, when I figure it out, I'll let you know...


xo

Interviews

Gretchen's Interview 
Me:  How old are you?

G:  Four.

Me:  Four and what?

G:  Four and I love snacks.

pause

G:  451

Me:  That's pretty old.

G:  When I get old than I'm 451.

Me:  What are you afraid of?

G:  I'll be afraid of monsters.  Flying monsters that have wings.  They're green and white.  When they're white then they're shiny.  When they're dark then they're dark green.  They eat bad bugs.  They're my nice monsters that eat bugs.  And they be nice to me.  All people, little kids, babies, big parents and mommas and daddies.  They are my helpers and they sent me some stuff.

Me:  What kind of stuff.

G:  Just stuff.  They help me and protect babies so they don't get scared.

Me:  So they're not scary monsters?

G:  So I'm not afraid of them.

Me:  What makes you feel happy?

G:  That the monsters help babies.

Me:  What in real life makes you happy?

G:  Yes.

pause

G:  In real life makes me happy when butterflies move.

Me:  Do you mean fly?

G:  MmmmHmmmmm.  Butterfly.  They fly all morning because they likes too.  And they sleep all night.

Me:  Do you sleep all night?

G:  Yes.  Can I have an egg?

END INTERVIEW (because Gretchen is concentrating on trying to peel a hard boiled egg.)


ELLA INTERVIEW
Me:  How old are you?

E:  SEVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!  HA HA!  SEEEEEEEEven.  Ha ha ha.

Me:  What makes you happy?

E:  Mushu

Me:  How do you spell that Colby?

E:  M-U-S-H-U

Colby:  You haven't even had it before!

E:  Yes I have.

Colby:  What is it?

E:  Chicken!

Colby:  How do you eat it?

E:  With a fork!

Colby:  You don't even know what mushu is!

E:  (giggles)

Me:  Is there anything you want to say?

E:  Yes.
 
pause

E:  Um.  I like to play with my stuffed animals!

Me:  Why?

E:  Because it's fun!  I play family.

Me:  I have a question.  How come every time you play "Family" there's a sad abandoned kid who has no one to take care of them? 

E:  That isn't true!!!

Me:  Yes.  It is.  "Someone get the door!"  "Hi!  I'm Strawberry Shortcake/Random McDonald's toy/Stacie Doll and I have no family.  Can I be in YOUR family?"  "Sure!"
(End Scene)

E:  That's what Gretchen made up.

Me:  Did you make that up Gretchen?

G:  Yes!  Because I like eggs.  They're very yummy.

Me:  But why do you always have kids in your games with no mommies and daddies?

G:  Because.

Me:  Do you just want them to be adopted in so they can have a family?

G:  MmmmHmmmmm!

E:  No momma, that's my interview!

G:  HEY!!! MOMMA!!! I LOVE YOU!

Me:  Ok Ella, what do you want to finish up with.

G:  N-O-E-N-O-E-N-O-E
(I assume she's spelling because she wants me to continue typing her words.  It worked.)

E: Momma, why are you doing this?

Me:  Just for fun.  For posterity.

E:  What's posterity mean?

Me:  Posterity means you leave something for the future.  What do you want to leave for the future?  So when you're a grown-up you can come back and read this...

E:   Ok!

Me:  But what do you want to remember about being 7?

E:  I want to remember that I am a good artist.  And to remember that I love my family so much (giggle).  I want to remember my friends. 

Me:  Are you a good friend?  Are you kind to everyone?

E:  Mmmmmhmmm!

Me:  I love you.

E:  I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU.

Spring Break: And This is Why We Can't Go Anywhere Nice

Hello Family & Friends.

After the craziness of Christmas, we decided to save our sanity and the $1000 we would have spent on gas and just stay in town for spring break. Stay in town so we can appreciate the little things. Like finding the Easter hats and white gloves and having an impromptu tea party (the gesture of Gretchen's hands in this shot just kills me. So very proper.)



A few weeks ago, Colby turned the big 4-0. I was pretty proud of myself for thinking up an awesome present, but then I possibly ruined it & asked him if it was really what he wanted. (What if I dropped all this $$$ on a gift and I got the wrong thing?) But he liked it. And it's changed our life. Here he is opening his brand new PS3.



We also got him Rocksmith, which is like Rockband but you use AN ACTUAL GUITAR!!! So you, you know, actually learn how to play an instrument. UM, AWESOME. Also awesome? That we can stream netflix directly to our TV now. Yeah, our basement is going to be so amazing one day...when we get the stacks of boxes sorted out.... All the makeout parties will be here. In the windowless basement. With two turn tables. And a fireplace. What could go wrong?

Amber, Dan, baby Lucy, Krista & Jimmy came over to sing "Happy Birthday" at Colby. Gretchen played with fire. Altogether, a successful evening.



Then came Easter.

"We've been eating Easter Candy all morning! Take our picture! Then take us to church for three hours!" Perfect plan. Again, what could go wrong?


I did hear one of the older ladies audibly gasp when she saw Gretchen's outfit. A gasp of being overwhelmed with cuteness. Yeah, that's why I go to church. Thanks Aunt Terry for passing this lovely dress on to Gretchen. We'll send it to Teagan next so she can overwhelm the ladies in her ward with her the cute.



Since we didn't go anywhere big over the break, we went lots of places small.

FIRST UP - The Crystal Mine. Or, rather, the crystal hill that you can find crystals on. If you look under the snow. 5 miles on a dirt road, plenty of snacks, 1 leaky water bottle, and a whole lot of crystals = good, good times.





I love this picture because we all look like we're having fun. Even the dog. She's totally smiling. Even though we made her climb to the top of the crystal hill to look at the view.



Woo hoo! Crystals!



Pensive, thoughtful Crystals.



That fabulous adventure almost doesn't happen. Here's the back story, lest you think that we actually, you know, have it together.

Sunday - spent 1 hour+ looking up directions to the Crystal Mine. Which is hard. Because it is on unnamed dirt back roads. And the 3 places I found with directions were all slightly different. Huh.
Monday, 9am - printed out maps; topographical AND road maps. Printed out the history of the mine, educational information about the crystals, and 3 sets of directions. Colby is not excited about the 3 sets of directions.
10am - Packed snacks and water bottles. Told the girls to get dressed.
10:30 am - No really. Seriously. Get dressed girls.
10:45 - Ella decides that she doesn't want to go because she doesn't want to wear jeans. Gretchen can't find her boots.
10:46 - Tell Ella she can just wear pants. Ella doesn't want to wear pants. Gretchen is "looking" for her boots on her bed. Well, actually she's just reading.
10:48 - Ella throws fit when I agree that maybe we shouldn't go after all. Gretchen cries dramatically on the floor. Tears. Sobs.
11 - I take a walk around the block. Possibly slam the door on my way out. While coming back home, I resign myself to the fact that this outing will not be happening.
11:10 - I come back home. "Mom, there you are! We're ready!" (Apparently I need to leave in dramatic huffs more often.)
12 - Finally make it to the mine. Fun times ensue. Forget drama of the morning and wonder why we don't do more fun stuff like this. Gretchen is so excited to pee outdoors, she does it twice in one hour. She is thrilled to be making yellow snow.
2:30 - Arrive home happy with a small collection of crystals.
Tuesday morning - find Gretchen's boots in the bottom of her dirty clothes hamper. Sigh deeply.

Besides the crystal mine, Ella also played Laser Tag for the first time. Gretchen was so, so sad that she wasn't big enough. Soon, my darling, soon you will get to run around in a dark room and shoot at people. I know, life isn't fair.

Wednesday we drove to Sacramento for two exciting things. Ikea and Aunt Bonnie. Aunt Bonnie is awesome.



Thursday we visited Alicia who's on week 6 of maternity bed rest. I am no longer jealous of the amount of time she gets to sit in bed.

Friday we went to the library and the Minden Pool (which is indoors and super fun and SUPER far away) and the Chocolate Nugget candy shop. You know, cause we need more candy.

Saturday we sat at home and watched movies and played Little Big Planet.

And today I took a nap.

So how was your Easter Break?