Sequoia Trip

We took a trip to the Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park and had so much fun! We drove completely through the park stopping to explore several times. We went on the Crystal Cave tour. It was amazing! Truly one of the most bizarre and beautiful things that I have ever seen. But if you ask the boys what what we saw their memories have been completely erased of the anything before we saw the BEAR! We brought a pick nick lunch. When we arrives at the visitors center we were advised to remove all things with any smell and put them into a bear box each time we got out of the car. It was a pain but worth it once we saw the bear. Next time we will be more prepared.

Cooling off

No, we did not take a tropical vacation, that is Morro Bay waters my boys are out in without wetsuits! They have not lost their minds nor are doing an experiment on hypothermia. It was 90 degrees out! The frigid water was a much needed relief from the disgusting temperatures. Lulu was even diving in.

Wizards and Frampas!

I finally was able to get this edited. I can't believe he was so little!

Time Flies When Your Having Fun

Could it really be almost over? (can you see the glimmer in my eyes?) Summer vacations has come to a close and I am finally taking a moment to post some pictures of what we have been up to.

Bumper boats at Boomers. WET FUN!

Our 4th of July tradition.......Mohawks!

a sleepy summer morning.... I wonder how long this will last?

Our new kitten Sylvia. I had a moment of psychosis at the farmers market. In incendences like this I can not be held accountable for my actions.

Butterflies Alive an the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum.

We had a great time with Grandma and Uncle Craig checking out all the beautiful butterflies but all John could talk about was the owl vomit that we found at the gift shop!

Bull Riding at the Mid State Fair! Fun but HOT!

I have to say that the one thing that I did not think that I would enjoy that much was my favorite adventure of the summer. The boys and I went out for a fishing trip on our friend charter boat. We had a blast, the boys caught 14 Rock Cod and 2 Sand Dabs. We even saw a whale. That's the rock you can see in the background as we were leaving the harbor.

Santa Maria Raceway

We met Becca and family down there. It was so much fun watching the boys enjoy it as much as I do. Blake (Becca's 1 year old) was in heaven until he lost his race car under the bleachers just before the National Anthem! Let's just say that he is very patriotic. He could be heard by all singing his own rendition. All the boys had a great time messing with their earplugs and waiting for the next crash. It brought back lots of fun memories when by brother Rick brought us as kids.

Peace and Quiet

We set up an old tent in the back yard for a camp out of sorts. The boys stayed in it and played for two days. They ate in the tent, read in the tent, fought in the tent and roughed it (note the orange extension cord no need to be uncivilized) all out of ear shot. They liked it out there so much I might turn their room into the office/guest room that I have always dreamed of. Happy Summer to me!

Ahhhhhh Summer!

We are in the third week of summer vacation and nearly every day seems to involve water either at the beach, tide pools or the pool somehow. Today we learned that lulu can swim! She miss-judged the depth of a tide pool and jumped right as a wave hit. She did not seem to hate it as bad as I expected. She surfaced tail wagging an ready for the next one. She also dug a lovely hole and did a little sun bathing while the boys checked out the tide pools and caves under the jetty. I sat in my beach chair, ate a whole bag of yummy cherries and read a magazine. Fun was had by all.

Yesterday we met my friend and her boys at the beach for a little boogie boarding. I had planned to just help the boys out in the waves but quickly found my self begging for a turn from the boys. I forget how fun it is to be out in the water. I may be sitting on the beach a little less and in the water a little more now.

I Fired the Tooth Fairy

Last week John Jr lost one of his last molars. This molar came out with quite a commotion. The school called me to tell me that John had a broken tooth and that I needed to pick him up. I checked him over as thoroughly as I could stand ( I am extremely dentally sensitive) and decided to call his dentist. After much unneeded distress (mostly mine) we were told he had just lost a molar and that it was totally normal. John then went on and on about how the tooth fairy should really pay out good for this one and so on. All this talk from a 9 1/2 year old boy about fairies and tooth money left a bad taste in my mouth. So when John went to bed with tooth tucked safely under the pillow and ready to count his loot in the morning I lay awake agonizing over how old was too old to believe in the tooth fairy and if we were to let tooth fairies go do we have to let Santa go as well? Am I forcing him to grow up before he is ready, Am I keeping him to young for my own selfishness, How would Ben take it, and why the heck I am I laying awake thinking about the tooth fairy when I could be sound asleep.

As morning came I resisted to desire to abandon my plan and let him go to school and tell all his friends that the tooth fairy came to visit him last night or.....end this chapter of innocent bliss in the lives of my little babies, somehow sending them into manhood with this new knowledge of the deceit and that I have led them to believe in a tiny being that collects teeth while they sleep.

I braced myself for a mutiny of sorts

I went to my wallet where I store the 2 dollar bills that the tooth fairy brings and told the boys that I was the one sneaking the money under their pillows and that I saved the 2 dollar bills from when I worked at the bank and that I thought they were getting old enough to not need the tooth fairy anymore and so on.... while they just looked at me in a blank stair of discomfort. I sighed and braced myself for tears, disbelief and sheer distrust but their response was not at all what I expected...hours of lost sleep and distress of how this could affect their delicate physiques and it all went down like this...

Ben :" cool, can I have my teeth back !"

John " are we still going to have breakfast?"

They sure don't get their mental stability from me!