Walking To School

Because Haley and Abby's school is only about a mile away, we try and walk to school more often than not.  It means having to get out the door a bit earlier than if we drive, but the time walking is so precious to me.  It takes us about 20 minutes and we just walk and chat and enjoy small details of God's creation that we would miss if we were driving by.  Seth has always ridden in the stroller, but he has started walking lately, which is fun.  And, when I say that they walk, I mean they run, balance, skip, hop, you name it, they do it! 

As we have been walking to school, we have developed all these little rituals.  One of the 4th grade teachers also walks to school most days, and we kind of judge how we are doing, time wise, by where we are when he passes us.  There is a beautiful church with a courtyard that we cut through.  We always stop there and smell roses and compare which colors smell better and if the buds smell better than the open roses.  There is a chain blocking off the church parking lot that the kids always run and jump over.  On the way home from dropping the girls off, Seth and I always stop and say hi to a the llama and goat that live at a house near the school.

Last year we frequently found money when we were walking to school, so this year we decided to collect it all in a jar, and see how much we have by the last day of school.  So far we have 87 cents!  Also, we are tallying how many days we walk and how many we drive, so we can look back over the year and hopefully see that we walked WAY more than we drove.  So far, so good.  We'll see what happens as it starts to get colder:)

Seth Is 4!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything.  This last month was so busy, busy, busy.  Too busy.  I'll post more about that later.  Today I am writing about Seth's 4th birthday.  On Saturday my sweet boy turned 4, which is just so crazy to me.  My kids are 4 and almost 7!  How on earth did that happen? 

Anyway, for Seth's birthday he wanted a pirate party.  He was very specific and adamant about who he wanted to invite to his birthday party.  I love planning birthday parties and this one turned out especially cute and fun.  I wasted a ton of time making up a little rhyme and finding a "pirate-y" font to go on his invitations, especially considering that people were just going to recycle them!  But, they turned out super cute.  We had his party in the afternoon so we had lots of time to get ready/set-up.  My sweet Haley helped me ALL DAY, always coming back to me saying "now what can I do" (don't you wish kids would always do that?)!  Oh, and as we were planning UPS delivered a package, which I think is the first time any of them have gotten one!  Turned out it was a cowboy hat from Grammie Lori (she had ordered it off the internet), and it was a hit!

Once the backyard was all set-up with a treasure chest full of goodies, 5 buckets of buried treasure, some really fun water ball things in the water play table, a pirate hat decorating table and a plank walking over a pool (complete with alligators), Seth's buddies started to arrive.  The kids all had a great time and Seth loved having his friends over (until about 15 minutes before the party was over, when he told me he wanted everyone to leave!).  The foam swords were definitely a hit, as were the water ball things in the water play table.  Carey came out with his guitar and played a cute little pirate song that our kids learned at preschool so I could drag out the "dig for treasure" buckets.  The kids LOVED digging through the sand and finding the treasures hidden in it.  A few of them really kept at it!  Oh, and Uncle Noah and Aunt Kellie totally surprised us and showed up dressed in pirate gear, which was AWESOME!

After all the kids went home, Seth opened his gifts.  Then he had chicken nuggets for dinner (his request)!  It was a fun special day and I know he loved it!

Cowboy hat from Grammie Lori

Seth practicing "walking the plank"!

Grammie Lori, Seth, Colin and Miles

Thank you Dollar Tree for the awesome foam swords!

The kids loved it when Carey played his guitar.

Digging for treasure.

Aunt Kellie and Uncle Noah were so fun (so was Poppa Phil).

How cute did the cake turn out (this picture was taken before I realized I had only put 3 candles on it)!  Abby made the sail!

Seth and his buddies enjoying the cake:)

First electric guitar AND first amp!  He LOVES them!

Glam Camping!

This weekend we had a super fun time camping with my family.  A few months ago my dad won a weekend at Camp Loma, which is a camp up in the Corralitos mountains.  We got the fun of sleeping in the tent and having campfires, with the luxury of a huge kitchen, a dining hall, a pool and a field.  Plus, it was only our little group...so we didn't have to worry about the people in the campsites around us!  It was such a blast.  We played board games, went on lots of creek walks, took looooong showers (it was super cold at night and in the morning), played in the pool, slip-and-slided, and ate lots and lots of smores!  We loved it and told my dad we would put money in next year if he tries to win it again!

We found lots of banana slugs:)

This log was Seth's "party boat", which he named Sherlette the first couple days and then changed the name to RootBeer.  It usually drove to Florida!

Morning hot chocolate:)

The coldness of the creek water did not deter Seth!

 

Grammie Lori played in the freezing pool with the kiddos!

I was pretty much only in the pool long enough to be in this picture!  It was super cold!

Seth and Poppa Phil and daddy played some music for us:)

Auntie Melissa has been in Washington, so we were so happy to get so spend some time with her (and we really missed Uncle Nate and Uncle Judah, who are still up in Washington)

Tired marshmallow roaster!

Auntie Melissa brought a light up hula hoop!

The awesome kitchen (which was always warm, thanks to all the pilot lights on the huge stove)

First Day Of First Grade

Haley and Abby's first day of first grade seemed to be great.  Haley ran almost the entire way to school (.9 miles) and they both went right into their classes happy and excited.  Haley even gave her teacher some flowers that she found on the ground on our walk to school, which is big for Haley because she can be so shy with teachers.  When I picked them up from school they both looked wiped out!  Apparently being a first grader is really tiring!  I tried hard to not come at them with a million questions, and waited until we were at home.  Haley actually told me a lot of fun details about her day without any prompting...which was a fun treat from my introvert!  I didn't hear much from Abby, which is surprising, other than that she already misses Mrs. Garcia (her teacher) and that she can't wait to go back tomorrow!

So excited to go to school!

Yep, this is the only picture of the two of them!  I kind of wish it had the full-on pouty face that Haley was just starting to make!

Haley and some buddies in their classroom.

Abby at her spot in her classroom.

Summer Recap

Summer went so fast this year, and I think it was partially because we were so busy.  We went to Florida, then we went camping twice.  There were also lots of fun little day trips and activities that we enjoyed.

 We did a super quick trip to Newport Beach so that we could be at my uncle's wedding (when I say quick I mean that we drove down Saturday, went to the wedding Saturday night, and drove home Sunday).  The traveling was difficult, but the wedding was really fun.  The bride and groom were so happy to have the kiddos there and loved on them a lot!

The wedding was on the (foggy, cold) beach.

Abby and Haley with Grammie Lori

Abby LOVED all the attention she got from the bride!

Haley and Abby went to Vacation Bible Camp, which they've done for four years now.  This was the first year that Seth got to go to a VBC because a local church did one that was only for preschoolers.  All three of them loved their camps and we can't wait to do it again next summer.

First day of VBC

Haley really wanted to make homemade peanut butter, so we gave that a try!  It was delicious but not really much like peanut butter.

We went to a water play day at a local park.

Although there was a lot of fighting, the kids also spent a lot of time playing and enjoying each other's company:)

We got a new puppy, Banjo.

We went over to Los Gatos to play in these really fun fountains.  We actually did that a few times because the kids loved it and it was free and really nice and warm!

We also did a few trips to Happy Hollow, some playdates, the Capitola Wednesday night concerts and a few beach days (although not nearly as many as I had expected).  I can't believe it's all over and they are going to school in the morning!  Yikes!

Bass Lake

 A few weeks ago now (at the beginning of August) we went camping at Bass Lake with Carey's family.  We went to Bass Lake a couple years ago, but stayed in a cabin because we weren't quite ready to tent camp yet with the kids still waking up a lot in the middle of the night!  This time we were ready for the tent and we had so much fun. 

When we first got there, I thought I was going to throw a screaming, two-year old type tantrum.  Carey and I were trying to get the tent set up (I forgot to bring directions), all three kids were wanting different things and going through our stuff that I had neatly packed, and was really hot and everyone wanted to go to the lake!  But, my wonderful mother in law took the kids to her site (or maybe to the lake, I can't even remember.  I just know she took them away!) and we were able to get things settled and a Mike's Hard Lemonade into my hand!

We had delicious food, lots of s'mores, and so much fun playing at the lake.  The first morning I took the kids and the dog down to the lake around 6:30 (hoping to not wake everyone in the campground) and it was so gorgeous and peaceful.  And there was something really cute to me about the kids playing around the lake in their pjs! 

The little cove of the lake where we set up our "beach camp" had a big rock on the other side of it, which the kids loved swimming over to and jumping off!  They sure are adventurous.  I did it a couple times, but I was much happier staying in the water and catching them as they jumped!

On Sunday, my awesome and generous father in law rented a party boat and we all loaded up on that for the day!  That was one of the most fun days of our lives.  The kids loved being on the boat, as well as jumping off the boat!  We all got to go tubing, which was a big hit.  I went with Haley and she just giggled and giggled the whole time.  It is a really special memory I have with my sweet girl:)  Abby wasn't so sure.  She really liked floating on it, but wasn't a fan of the boat moving and pulling the tube!  Seth loved it and even went on it with his cousin, Max (which, if you know Seth, you know it's a big deal for him to do something like that with someone that's not mom or dad).  The boat had a barbeque on it, so we pulled over into a cove for lunch and had yummy burgers and hot dogs, and did our best to keep them away from Banjo!

Oh, another highlight was in the evenings, when we were all sitting around chatting and eating dinner, Haley, Abby and Seth decided to put on some "shows"!  They did "the ugly duckling", "little red riding hood", "the three little pigs", and "Goldilocks and the three bears"!  Quite amusing versions they performed!

Snacks at the beach

enjoying the sunshine

Haley used towels to make this "couch" for us

Loving the lake life!

ready for s'mores

hanging out with Max, Uncle Rick and Aunt Kelly

Look at that s'more!

Ready for the boat with the wristbands to prove it!

Haley and Grandma Jackie

The kids were so happy that Banjo went in the water.

Seth and Max

Abby and Grandma Jackie

Grandpa Steve let all the kids (including Carey) have a turn driving the boat (Carey didn't have to sit on Steve's lap, though!)

 a little "down time" around the campsite