Rainy Day Schedule

At school, the kiddos have a rainy day schedule.  They are room-bound for recess and lunchtime.  To say they come home a little stir-crazy would be an understatement!

It was a rainy Saturday and it called for a rainy day schedule with the family...an alternative plan to keep everyone happy and un-stir-crazy.

BOWLING   It's a favorite sport (is it a sport?) among all family members!  My kids are especially entertained by putting on the fun shoes, picking out their bowling balls, we found one with flashing lights!, playing with the buttons on the screens, and checking out the arcade and vending machines...they had to try the dip 'n dots vending machine!  They also love rolling the ball down the lanes and waiting for those pins to fall...just a little!  

The big kids had it figured out.  No help needed.

Aunt Whitney helping Layne set her ball up

Layne was thrilled to be bowling, but wasn't quite sure how to go about it.  Pretty quick she had her own little system and kept everyone on track!  With Aunt Whitney's help, she lined her ball up.  She gave it a push down the lane.  She swung on the bars, then she squatted down below them, anxiously watching her ball make it to the pins.  Then, she had a victory dance when the pins fell over!  A few jumps up and down, a little strut back to the chairs, and then she would tell whose turn was next.  Again and again.  

 

Big smiles after a big score

Ryan and Whitney had a great time helping the kids and adding a little friendly competition.  Mimi signed up for a league.  Well, not really.  But she really does love a good game of bowling.  Royal's score suffered a bit from all the time lost monkeying with the pin resetting.  We had a few issues with our lane!  I lost a few turns taking pictures and flagging down the maintenance guy to help fix our pin-resetter.  I think the kiddos taking my turns probably helped my score!

  

It was a fun time.  

And one tired kid lying down on the bowling alley chairs=mission accomplished!

A Day at the Pier

It was our last day of Christmas vacation.  We headed to the pier for lunch...burgers and fries and fish and chips.  On this particularly busy day, we started lunch in the late afternoon, and by the time we were finished up, the sun was setting.  So...when you wait for food for a very long time and stuff yourselves silly when it finally arrives, you just have to burn off some calories in the sand.  We headed under the pier in the beautiful golden light.

 These 3 little people got a little chilly, so they zipped themselves up in Mimi's sweater to stay warm!

Then, one fell out.

These kids just eat up Mimi.  It's so fun to have her back.  She has taken up residence again in San Clemente, but she has not lost her celebrity status.  She walks through the door and 3 voices all begin talking at once.  They are dying to tell her the latest news...like what cereal they ate for breakfast or what board they passed on Marioland.   When someone can't get a word in, usually Layne, she resorts to more creative measures, like dancing around Mimi, or running circles through the kitchen.  It's a complete circus!  Everything is more fun with Mimi.  Like these outings.

And then the sun went down and it ended our last day off.  Tomorrow, school and work.  

Happy New Year

Spending the last day in 2011...as we Californians do.

sunny and warm poolside

In 2012, we will say goodbye to these numbers:

                         Abbey 8, Landen 6, and Layne 3 (although she is holding up 20 fingers and toes!)

Going to make a splash in 2012!

behind...

I'm a little behind around here.
It hasn't gone unnoticed.

I'm a little behind in some other areas of life as well.  Those areas have definitely not gone unnoticed.
  There is royal icing still stuck to a few parts of my floor...dated back from gingerbread house cooking
  camp early last week.
  The hall ledges are left unhung after taking them down, painting the whole house, and then as it seems,
  not hanging them back up.
  And there is very precarious trail that leads from the back door through the garage, to arrive outside on
  the driveway to safety.  You might not make it out alive.  We just use the front door.  Not to worry.

The undies and dishes cannot go unwashed.  The dinners must be made...but no guarantees as to what is being served.  And the kids must be bathed and fed as well.  The rest, like the blog here, might just be getting a little less attention!

Tonight, I just ran out of excuses.  The holiday madness is over.  There is nothing on tv.  And my husband has done the dishes every night this week.  take a breath.  it is rarity around here.  a most-appreciated, as good-as-it-gets kind of rarity.  i'm still holding my breath that this lucky streak of mine continues [wink]

So, I blog.  Good things are happening and they must be documented!  My little people refuse to stop growing, so I can't miss a thing.  And, I can't miss capturing it here.

Here's to 2012 and leaving 2011 behind.  And the slovenlyness of my blogging.  All behind.

And it's not even January 1st yet.  The New's Year's Resolutions have not officially begun.  Could I actually be ahead on something?

Dana Point

Aunt Pam came for a visit.

To beautiful Dana Point.  She might have come all the way to California to see my cousin Bobby and get some mother/son time, but we had her all to ourselves this sunny afternoon!  We walked to the ocean and headed toward the Ritz Carlton to see their fabulous gingerbread display for the holidays.

With all the sunshine and catching up, we almost didn't make it indoors.  But, the gingerbread is not outdone by the Ritz, so we went in to take a look.

The lobby was decorated in red florals...and then...

the insane gingerbread scene!  Everything behind Abbey is edible!  An enormous sailboat and sea village behind...all candy and icing and gingerbread!  Pretty incredible!

It was such a beautiful day to walk the trails above the ocean.  And it was such fun to visit with Aunt Pam!

Road Trip

Karen repeated her apologies many times.  She really felt bad that I was the one that got the short end of the stick.

ROAD TRIP!  Short end of the stick?  I really felt like a lottery winner.  4 days without kids or hubby or laundry or dishes or school pick-up or making lunches?  1 day sitting solo on airplanes...reading and napping?  1 day visiting with my brother and sister-in-law in the ATL?  2 days driving cross country with my mom...endless talking hours and road trip snacks?  PRICELESS!!

Am I right here fellow mamas, or am I right?

And, at the end of this fabulous weekend, Mama Karen would be back on the west coast.  Jackpot.

We spent the daylight hours packing and prepping and visiting.
Then we went out for pizza.

In some crazy, authentic Italian pizza dive.  We fought for a seat on wooden benches, squished at a table for 20!  We took a peek in the kitchen and were entertained by screaming chefs and flying pizza dough.

Outstanding pizza.  That jar of fresh basil above says it all.  The day went so fast, but it was great to see Sean and Ashley!

The next morning, we loaded up, said good-byes, and took off driving.

This little puppy hopped in the car a few times.  The jeep was a tad too small for the 3 of us.  And this one has a little drooling problem.  And a snorting problem.  We sure did miss her though!

The trip wen off without a hitch.  We talked as many miles as we drove.  We made minimal stops, and arrived home in 2 days...record-breaking time!

We saw lots of Texas.  Lots and lots of Texas.  I completely understand why you don't mess with Texas.

The last night we were a little weary, but determined to make it home.  We grabbed a couple of Red Bulls and shouted for joy when we got out of Texas!  It was Arizona, then California.  Palm Springs, Rancho Cucamonga...the very last stretch!  We hit San Clemente dog-tired and unable to figure out what time it was, after crossing 3 time zones and driving through daylight savings!  

It was good to be gone.  And always better to be home.  Welcome back Mimi.

Summer Shopping Excursions

I found myself at Walmart at 10pm last night picking up milk and cereal and eggs.  It was worth enduring the "night" crowd and the super-slow checkers just to shop alone.  Having to take 3 kids with you makes your really evaluate how badly you need milk and cereal and eggs.  We got by for a few days with creative breakfasts and lunches, but when the toilet paper was gone, and the paper towels that can be sometimes be used as back-up were gone, we had to venture out to Costco.  Unfortunately their hours do not extend until 10pm.

Costco is do-able.  I can fit the 2 little ones in the shopping cart, and Abbey can walk alongside.  We go at lunchtime...hot dogs on the way in, tons of samples as you walk around, and overall happier campers.  Totally do-able.  I find it even entertaining these days as Layne is quite the character and she keeps Landen and Abbey and I laughing at her antics.  She talks up a storm and has tons of commentary on what's going on around her, in her funny 2 1/2 year old speech.

After Costco, I made a quick detour to Lowe's for a tomato plant cage.  I promised that I just needed one item.  I quickly hear from the back seat, "No!  We are not stopping!  You are never fast!  You are sooo slow!  You always say one thing then it takes forever!!"

They have a point.  As we go into the garden section, I remember a number of things I need to look for.  Of course I pretend like we are still looking for the cages as we go up and down the aisles of plants.

Layne wants down and out of the shopping cart when she sees Abbey and Landen find a bench with an arbor over it.  I lift her out of the shopping cart, she takes one step, catches her foot on the bottom of the arbor and goes face down...flat!  Abbey and Landen giggle at the sight of her, up one minute, then down the next.  I giggle too.  I can't help it.  I have not ever been able to channel that inner-sympathetic mom that runs to the rescue.  If there are no cries of pain, I can't help it, I giggle.

She is completely still, face down on the wooden platform for a minute.  Then we hear Layne say, "Not funny guys.  Not funny guys."  We giggle some more.  She raises her voice a little louder, "I fall down.  I am okay.  Not funny guys."

We pick her up and all sit on the bench laughing.  She is such a character.  I have to think for a minute that I am grateful that we have these moments.  Amid the torture of shopping together, there are funny, happy moments because we are all together and you just never know what's going to happen.  And when the whining and complaining sound, you have to listen carefully to the littlest one.  She always has something funny to say and we love her for it!