Abby mash up and final blog catch up

With this post I am officially caught up on my blog.  I rushed to get it done because my computer is on its last leg.  As we speak, it won't charge.  This happens periodically even though we've bought a new battery.  Randomly, we've been able to get it to charge, but we never know.  So maybe I'll be able to get it charge or maybe not but at least I'm caught up for now!  And if I'm MIA from my blog for a couple of weeks, don't worry, I'll be back.  If only you could easily blog from an iPad...  Do you think the days of owning a computer are going bye bye?  If/when we buy a new one we won't spend a lot of money on it because we don't use it a ton.  Crazy technology!!

 Abby goes to a play group.  It's good for her to have some social experiences.  She is still very shy and babysitters and nursery still do not go well.  So, even though somedays I really don't want to go to a playgroup, I make myself do it for Abby.  A month ago they fingerpainted and we decided to try again.  This time one of the moms had a little craft to do.  Abby did not love the paint on her foot so when I put her foot on the paper, she squirmed trying to get it off.  It was still fun and I really didn't have high expectations for the craft.  It was just fun to do.  She is starting to understand pictures and I love it when she looks at the camera and smiles.  What a cutie!

 Even though the older kids are stuck in school, Abby and I are enjoying summer.  We went to the park one day.  She did laps on this slide the whole time.  She didn't want to swing or go down a different slide or even have my help.  Silly girl!

Rocky Mouth Falls

A couple of weeks ago my friend told me about this waterfall that is literally right on the edge of town.  So, we checked it out one Saturday afternoon.  It was really cool.  You walk in between houses on the trail and then all of a sudden you're in this little oasis.  It was awesome and surprisingly cooler just because of the water.  The falls were obviously small at this time of year, but we had a ton of fun hiking to them anyway.

A trip to the county fair

The county fairgrounds are really close to our house and each year we love going and walking around and seeing all the animals and other exhibits.  Abby was in animal heaven all day.  She just loves to watch them.  It was a fun afternoon.  Every year when we go to the fair and I see all these kids with their animals, I miss living on a farm a little bit.  I would love for my kids to have a little responsibility like this.  But then we leave the fair and I love my animal free, city living life!  I have to admit though at times I do wish we lived a little on the outskirts of town and had a little bit of land.  When it comes right down to it though, if I had to face the actual choice of buying a little land, I'm pretty sure I'd choose not to.  So I just go to the fair and dream one day a year!  I also let my kids ride some of the carnival rides.  When I was a kid and the carnival came to town, we had to sneak to it because my dad thought the rides weren't safe!  We took our chances!

Happy Birthday, Kate!!

I can't believe that Kate is 9!!  She has been so excited for her birthday, who can blame her, right?!  I saved her from the horrors of school lunch and took her to In N Out for lunch.  It is so fun to get her one on one.  I love listening to her talk and boy, that girl can talk!

 We purposely tried to get an Abby photo bomb in this picture.

 We also laughed at Abby chowing down on her grilled cheese sandwich.

For her birthday she got some American Girl doll clothes, a camelback back pack for hiking and legos.  Jerry was not thrilled with me buying her more legos.  She has a bit of a cleaning up legos problem, but when it is something that all 4 kids can play together with and have fun, I'll deal with legos being left out.  They had a great time putting the set together.

Happy birthday, Kate!  Kate is growing up so much.  She is very energetic and confident in herself.  She still loves to dance and also has fun running with me a little bit.  Kate is beginning to get a little sassy with us, oh wait, no, she's always been sassy with us.  We love her more for it.  She keeps us on our toes!  We love you, Kate!

Blog Mash Up

Here is a collection of random pictures.  Enjoy!

 Abby and I headed over to the library while the big kids were at school and she fell in love with this tiger.

 Sara trying on my glasses and making Sara faces.

In an effort to keep summer alive, we headed to Snowbird one Saturday evening.  Kate and Sara did the bungee trampoline and both successfully did back flips.  Sara almost did a double.

 We brought a picnic dinner up and enjoyed some live music.  Abby got into the music with some serious dance moves!

 Abby wearing sunglasses and sticking her tongue out.

Abby wearing a headband, and sticking her tongue out.  It seems to be out quite a bit!

The Saddest July day

Every time I rave about our great adventures in October and April, I always had an addendum saying that I reserve the right to complain about year round school in July.  Well, I'm cashing in on that now.  It is so hard to send my kids back to school in July!  We are still wanting to stay up late and play outside and go swimming and all that fun stuff.  I hate it and I'm complaining about it.  This summer flew by for us because it was so filled with vacations and activities.  I felt like we needed at least 2 more weeks to just relax and enjoy summer for what it is and maybe, just maybe have a day where we actually felt a little bored!  I know, gasp, right?  Well, we just aren't that lucky here so with heavy hearts we got ready for school.  On July 28th.  July. 

 Kate, first day of fourth grade.

 Matt, first day of 6th grade and the last year of elementary school.  I am already reserving the right to complain about school schedules next year.  As the middle school and high school are on a traditional schedule, I'll have kids on different schedules which will mean a short summer and no fun vacations in October or April because Matt will be in school.  WAH!

Oh, my dear Sara.  First day of first grade.  I can't believe Sara is gone all day.  The first few days were rough for Abby and me.  I loved picking her up at 11:15 last year and having her home with me in the afternoons.  Sara is just a delight to be around.  She's funny, she likes to play and she has been my buddy for so many years.  She has been very excited for first grade and I can't say that I blame her.  She was bored last year even though I loved having her home.  It will be good for her to be entertained all day.  I wasn't enough for her.  Her teacher is her best friend from kindergarten's mom so she was very excited for that.  And her friend is in her class.  So although it was a bit sad for Abby and me it is great for Sara and that's what really matters.  She actually just had an orientation meeting the first day so I still got one day with her and we went to Chick fil A for lunch and laughed and snuggled while Abby had a nap.  

And now it's just Abby and I.  The best part of the day is when we go pick the kids up from school.  We have been riding bikes again and Abby loves to get in the bike trailer.  She is so funny about her helmet.  She always knows to put it on, but she doesn't like me to buckle it because when I reach under her chin it tickles so she laughs and tucks her chin down.  It's like a 5 minute process to actually get it buckled!  Abby follows me around all day and is very helpful.  We have conversations all day and they usually go like this:

A: "Dada?"

M: "Dada's at work."

A: "Ya Ya?" (That's what she calls Sara.)

M: "Ya Ya's at school."

A: "Dada?"

M: "Dada's at work."

A: "Ya Ya?"

M: "Ya Ya's at school."

All. Day. Long.  It gets a little old.  Just a little.  But I try to love it because before I know it, I'll be sending her off to first grade all day long and  I will really be sad!

Baby Macey

Sara loves having family around. I think she feels the most secure in life when she is surrounded by family, immediate and extended.  We were lucky to get to spend time with Jerry's brother's kids.  They had a new baby born in their family with some pretty severe heart problems and she was flown down to Primary Children's Hospital.  So while they were all visiting her, they stayed at our house.  Sara loved the new attention!  Even though they were here just a short time, it was fun to see them.  And the great news is that Baby Macey is back home with her family.  She had one surgery and will certainly have more in the future, but for now she is growing and doing what babies should be doing.  All that she had to go through and the fact that she handled it all so well and recovered as quickly as she did is truly a miracle from a loving Heavenly Father and we are so grateful we got to witness it.  Sara wanted this picture taken for primary as part of their Forever Family theme this year.  We are so grateful for the sealing power in temples that binds families together for eternity!

Vacationing in Coronado

Jerry's brother rented a beach house in Coronado and was kind enough to invite us to come stay with them for a few days.  We were more than happy to oblige.  It's family after all, right?  Although the drive is long and our summer is short we knew it would be worth it and that the kids would all have fun together.  I apologize for the massive amounts of pictures, but you know what they say... "A picture is worth a thousand words."

The kids did have a lot of fun together.  Even Abby got in on the action.  She warmed up to Josh and Juliette pretty quickly. 

I was totally excited to go for a run on the beach.  The first day I was really worried about getting to the beach and home without getting lost.  The first day I ran, I made it to and from the house with no problems.  The other days... well...   The first day though, once I got to the beach I wasn't worried about getting lost and so I was just running along.  And then when I went to get off the beach, all the entrance/exits looked the same and I couldn't remember which one I came in on.  I ran back and forth a bit trying to remember and then just got off the beach.  It wasn't the same staircase, but I was able to figure it all out.  Directions are not my strength!

The kids were excited about riding bikes and since we loaded the bike rack onto the van and then put Sara's and Kate's bike on, we decided we definitely needed to ride a lot.  Sara rode in the bike trailer with Josh, and got pretty comfy.  She thought his shoulder made a great pillow.  He was very patient with her all weekend.  What a sweetie! 

 After the bike ride and the morning fog burned off, we headed to the beach.  Jeff and Jenny had a boogie board that we all tried and it was fun to just play in the water and collect sea shells and all that beach stuff.

 Even Jerry and I tried the boogie board.  I wasn't great.

*Videos go here*

 Matt found a seashell with a crab still inside just floating around in the water.  He thought that was pretty cool.

 Abby did not like the water.  No, Abby hated the water.  She especially didn't like it when the wave came in and then the current pulled the water back out.  But she did like the sand!  One day at the beach, Jerry and I were playing smashball on the water's edge.  We set Abby down right at the border of the dry sand and wet sand.  Pretty soon a wave came in and was big enough to get her wet.  She was not happy.  A minute later she picked up all her toys and moved about 5 feet up away from the water.  A couple of minutes later she picker her stuff up and moved another 10 feet away.  We thought that was so funny and so smart!

 If I'd waited another few minutes to take the picture, she'd have been asleep...

 Dinner after playing with cousins all day!

 We took a ferry ride from Coronado into San Diego.

 And we went to the farmer's market.  Cousins getting along is a great thing!

 Matt and Jerry found awesome tickets to a Padre's game.  It was the highlight of the trip for Matt.  He thought the MLB stadium was awesome!  And it was Cashner jersey night so they got a jersey replica.  Cool!  To get to the game they rode their bikes to the ferry, the ferry across and then walked to the stadium.  Perfect night for Matt!

 One morning Jerry and I got up early to get in a quick paddle board trip.  Awesome!!  We woke up Matt when we left to be our babysitter.  When we got home everyone else was awake, but not him!!

Sunday we visited the mormon battalion memorial and the San Diego temple before church.

One thing Matt really wanted to do in San Diego was go tide pooling.  The tides weren't great, but we still went for it.  We also went to seal beach.

 One of the few moments Abby wasn't too shy to hold Juliette's hand.

 When Sara gets a hold of my phone I never know what to expect!

We spent our last day at the beach again.

It was such a fun trip and we are so grateful for Jeff and Jenny and their generosity.  It was a great time for all the cousins to be together.  Matt said later that he felt like he'd finally been on a real vacation to a real big city.  He said the other places we've visited are just too small and not everyone knows their names.  Whatever, I'm just glad he feels like he's been on a true vacation now!