Fall Carnival

What's cuter than a rock climbing bumble bee?

We went to the middle school's Fall Carnival which was held right after school. Ashlyn wanted to wear a halloween costume and she was the only one dressed up! She certainly got a lot of attention, not only because she was one of the smallest of guests among a myriad of teens and tweens, but decked out with glittery wings and antennae is just asking for attention.

The kids all had a fabulous time playing the games and I must add how this was Ashlyn's first time on the rock wall, yet made it almost all the way to the top -- she beat out her older brother and sister. Way to go Ashy!!

Fall is Here!

The clouds from nearby thunderstorms were spectacular - these pictures were taken by Madison out the window of my car with my phone.

Four Decades

To lessen the blow of turning the big four-oh!, John booked us a little birthday getaway. To my surprise, he actually took a real day off:

an. actual. vacation. day!

He only worked until 10am and then told everyone he would be out of commission. He even turned his e-mail off (his phone buzzes with emails every second, no joke).

As soon as we dropped off the kids at school (we went to the Award Assembly as Christian received the first writing award for his first grade class), then dropped off the kids' gear and my car at John's parents house and took Ashlyn to a friend's house, we were OFF!!

We planned a quick getaway to Dana Point and stayed at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott, which we highly recommend. Since we were only going to be gone one night, needed to make the most of it by leaving in the morning so we could enjoy nearly two days there. Are we ever glad we did!

The weather was FABULOUS!!!!! The best it was all summer - which of course says a lot since the sun barely ever came out all summer. The first stop was to the Dana Point Marina where we had lunch at a cute restaurant on the water.

Then, we rented a double kayak and paddled around the marina and out into the bay. It was so much fun!

On one side of the jetty that divides the marina from the sea was serene and pretty (above).

On the other side of the jetty (which we are standing on), there are gorgeous tide pools, waves crashing on rocks; stunning oceanic beauty.

This is what it looks like when you lie back in a kayak on the Pacific Ocean. The gentle rolling of the sea, soft chirping of distant seagulls, occasional sailboat, perfect gentle breezes and a warm sun - a recipe for pure relaxation.

We kayaked for about two hours, 'parked' (not what you think - there just isn't an anchor on board!) for almost a half hour, then headed back to check in to the hotel, which, by the way, is beautiful, well appointed, and luxuriously comfortable. We had an ocean-view room (thanks Elite status), and access to the spa and gym (thanks Elite status).

On Saturday we got to sleep in. Nobody woke us up at 6:30 in the morning asking for breakfast. Nobody awoke us with scary dreams in the middle of the night.

We went to the hotel's gym and had a good workout, then walked along Doheny Beach for a while. They were having a surf competition which was fun to watch.

Then we lounged at the hotel's gorgeous pool on super comfy chaises, ordered poolside lunch, had a mango smoothie, swam, read, napped . . . pure heaven.

Staying only one night was quick, we definitely could have done two, but so glad we made the most of two days. We kept saying over and over that we could not have asked for a better weekend. We really lucked out! It was a wonderful birthday present, one that had me walking on Cloud 9 for weeks,

well maybe days,

well Ok, until the whining and the messes started when we got the kids all home.

I can close my eyes and think about the wonderful weekend and be glad that I had that dreaded birthday which caused for such a treat.

Nine Years

Look at those cheeks! Yummolicious!

1. Brooke has always been a stunning beauty, born with lots of dark hair, beautiful blue eyes framed by thick lashes, and olive skin.

{{lucky!}}

2. She likes to be involved in things and is quite the party planner. Whenever there is an event (even if it's planning a menu), Brooke is there with a list writing down everything that needs to be done.

3. She is very giving . . . donating her hair three times by 3rd grade to Locks of Love.

4. She loves her friends, the beach, playing restaurant, making up plays and doing make-overs.

5. Brooke is spunky and spirited and can light up a room.

6. Brooke is a good little runner on the track team, preferring the 4x1 relay the most and has mad defender skills on the soccer field.

7. She has been taking piano lessons since she was four, and is now starting the flute.

8. No matter what, she's always cute!

9. We love you Brooke!

Happy Birthday Nine-Year-Old Girl!!

The massive platter of homemade cinnamon rolls she brought to school, and another one for soccer practice on her birthday.

Little Buddy

With the older kids in school all day, it's just Ashlyn and me.

She's my little companion.

She's my date for an early afternoon Tutti Frutti treat.

Another School Year Has Begun

Summer quickly came to a close so we made one last-ditch effort at the beach. We went to Malibu on Aug 31, the day before school started, which I haven't been to in a long time, and were so glad we did! It was glorious! The best beach day of the summer (go figure) and it was such a relaxing and pleasant day.

Notice in the background that huge yacht just off the Malibu pier? Apparently it belongs to a Russian billionaire and is one of the largest in the world. It only costs $300 million. Check out the link as it will give you a video tour of the vessel. Quite amazing!

The first day of school is here!

Brooke 4th grade, Madison 6th grade, Ashlyn Pre-K, Christian 1st grade.

Brooke is in a 4/5 split and has the same teacher as last year for 3rd. Let's hope it goes well! There are a lot more kids in the upper grades, so her class will be quite full.

Christian is super excited that his BFF Harrison is in his class. He was hoping they would be seated next to each other, too. I told him that even if they were, I'd have the teacher move them, but she'd probably figure it out in the first 5 minutes of class that they shouldn't be sitting together. That would be the equivalent of a 6 hour playdate!

After we went to the elementary school, we took Madison to the Middle School. John really wanted to see her open her locker because . . .

He decorated it the night before!

She quickly met up with friends: Hayley, Fatima, and Jenna.

Fatima just returned from spending the summer in Palestine. It was very sweet - she handed Madison a gift bag and inside was a beautiful silver necklace of Bethlehem with "Madison" engraved on the back; a candleholder with the Nativity carved; and a ceramic plate of Bethlehem. Even though Fatima is Muslim, she was so sweet to consider that Madison would appreciate relics from the birthplace of Christ. Fatima's mother said that if we ever wanted to go tour the Holy Land, we would have to stay with her mother, who lives in Bethlehem, where she would feed and house us and take good care of us! Despite the cultural differences, religious differences, and of course political differences, it is nice to know that people are capable of loving each other regardless. THAT'S what this life is about and the way it should be.

At noon, Ashlyn got to finally go to her class where she quickly met up with her besties: Caroline and Eliza.

Three days a week, I will have all of my children in school for a whopping 2 1/2 hours. What's a girl to do? Seriously! I've never had them all in school at the same time before!

I'll tell you what a girl did the two days we've had so far . . . the first day about a dozen of us moms met for lunch right after drop off which was so fun and everyone was a bit giddy - then I went home to get some work (for Xirrus) done which lasted about 2 seconds because it was time to start the pick up routine . . . which takes a whole HOUR! So annoying. The 2nd day I spent at the elementary school doing PFA stuff, then ran errands. I'll let you know when and where I find the Bon Bons! It may just be the worlds best-kept secret.

The End of Summer is Near, and Yet it Seems it's Only Just Begun

LAKE MEAD!!!!

The Gates family invited us to go to the Lake for the weekend. We were so excited, especially me since I haven't been boating or water skiing since B.C. (before children).

We stayed in Boulder City (five minutes away) at a little charming historic hotel called the Boulder Dam Hotel which provided gourmet, huge breakfasts each morning including the "big dam breakfast" which in fact, was BIG!

The forecast was HOT - 110 degrees HOT and the water was perfect, refreshing want-to-always-be-in-it beautiful, clear and blue.

(Iayn, Ashlyn, Madison, Brooke)

Here is the Gates' boat and wakeboards where we each got to try wakeboarding for the first time. There's John looking totally studly on the back of the boat. I took the picture from shore.

Here's our 'camp' on the island shore. It worked out really well for those who were waiting to go on the next run. We had coolers full of cold drinks, lunch, and snacks, beach chairs, shade, toys, snorkel gear and rafts.

Unfortunately, someone stole our EZ-Ups, beach chairs, snorkel gear and rafts the next day so we were left with no shade or toys in 111 degree sun. Not nice, not at all.

We drove the boat over by the Hoover Dam and went for a dam swim in the beautiful dam water. There were many people who liked to see how often they could fit the dam word in a sentence. (over and over again!)

My little stud muffin with his wind-blown hair.

(I have no idea why this is all-of-the-sudden underlining!)

WooHoo! Oh yeah - Mom's Wakeboarding . . . Look OUT!

This is such an awesome photo as it not only shows how Madison was able to Wakeboard for the first time, but the way we were positioned put the gorgeous red mountain in the background. Love it!

We rented two Waverunners and are so glad we did as they were the best fun! By the end of the day, I was more confident and when I didn't have any kids with me and learned that I couldn't really throw myself off, I was able to have some real fun!

The kids loved tubing!

There is nothing but pure JOY on Christian's face!!!

Ashlyn and Brooke give the "thumbs up" to GO FASTER!

The weekend went by way to quickly.

Then I was a bit spontaneous: Instead of going home super early Monday morning as originally planned, John flew home Sunday night and I took the kids up to Utah for the week. We had not planned on it so didn't have anything with us that wasn't fit for a scorching hot weekend at the lake. We stayed with Joe and Heather whose kids luckily didn't start school yet and didn't have anything planned for the week. First item of business when we arrived after a joyful cousin reunion was to do laundry (and every day thereafter).

The original reason to go up to Utah was to help my niece Domonique get settled with her first year of college. I was going to fly up later in the week and stay with Renee and Brandon and have lots of girl time, free time, visiting with friends time. But the kids had an absolute blast with their cousins and we had a little vacation as summer is quickly coming to a close.

It was so much fun going to orientation with Domonique, Renee, and Brandon. Ashlyn scored on all the UVU promotional items and is decked out looking like the littlest Wolverine.

Afterwards, we all went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.

John flew in on Friday as he was in San Francisco (so he can drive home with us) and we played miniature golf . . .

It was nice, warm, sunny (hot) day!

Then we lucked out by seeing part of the Fitch clan: Rachelle and her cute baby for super quick (that was way too quick!) at Lisa's house. The kids got to cool off and swim at her pool and I got to catch up with my great friend that I've known my whole life.

Then we were off to Kim and Kyle's for BBQ and more swim! It's always fun to visit Utah because there are some of my most favorite people in the world there that I get to see. It would almost be great to live there . . . if it weren't UTAH!

:-)