yesterday was a....

good day. So good that I didn't take time to write about it until now. Just enjoyed my chillies, had a nap, and made a nice meal for company. It went something like this:

1. woke up with the kids about 7 AM in time to say goodbye to Daddy
2. chill out on the couch with all 3 chillies for a couple cartoons
3. got dressed and ate cold cereal for breakfast
4. TJ and Jess put on new soccer shoes/shin guards and socks to go kick around their new soccer balls- they're both excited to start soccer next month.

Silly Coop found a puddle after the sprinklers were on and decided to wash his hair. Bend over, dip hair, stand up and drink water dripping off nose. Gross.

5. read with Jess, played swords, ball, soccer and rode scooters/bikes outside until 11:30 AM
6. fixed leftovers for lunch
7. avoided all housework, phonecalls and apartment business
8. Coop and Jess take naps, TJ doesn't nap but played quietly in his room so I layed down for an hour snooze.
9. woke up, went to the grocery store to get food for dinner with the Elders
10. TJ passed out on the couch while I fixed hawaiin haystacks & corn on the cob for dinner- just what elder morris wanted
11. Dad gets home from clinic/school just in time to eat
12. bathe Jess and Coop after dinner and chill out with daddy before bed.
13. enjoy the quiet, read, watch tv with hubby

The moral of this story? The less cleaning and work I do, the better the day. Just hung out and enjoyed my family.

break from vacation..........

We got back from camping for a week in Pinecrest last Saturday afternoon. Four days later I'm still catching up on laundry, housecleaning, paperwork and the like. So I told myself I would never go camping again without hubby after last years tiring, frustrating week in the woods. I stayed with family who helped a lot, but I was still responsible for feeding, bathing, and disciplining 3 kids while trying to keep up with the dirt. Yuck.

This year was going to be different. Hubby spent 2 days with us and we stayed in a cabin instead of roughing it in a tent. We spent most the days at the campsite in Pinecrest then went home for wonderful hot showers, a kitchen and washer/dryer- a Mom's best friend when in the mountains with chillies. Thankfully, this year was a more pleasant experience and I wasn't stressed out every minute. Highlights included fishing on Uncle Mark's new boat (J), playing in Pinecrest Lake, roasting marshmallows (T) and making smores (Mom) at the campfire, and that clean fresh pine smell in the air (Dad). I almost forgot the raging Nerf dart gun fights we had in the cabin. Dad found a bunch of guns cheap at Walmart in Sonora and outfitted the entire family for a huge showdown. It was crazy fun!



Jess had a rough first 3 days up there. She threw-up twice before we left so she was pretty tired and dehydrated already when we got up to Twain Harte where the cabin was. Three more days of nauseu, throwing up and lethargy and we figured out that J probably had altitude sickness. After numerous cups of ice chips and a strict BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) she was as good as new 12 hours later. J felt better just in time to go fishing on Uncle Mark's boat and show everybody up by cathcing 4 fish in about an hour. Grandpa B and Sam caught one. Mom and Toby caught zippo.


Toby talked about catching a fish all week. The first time he went with Mom and the gang on Mark's boat he caught nothing. Two nights later Grandpa B and Mark took him again. Toby finally caught a fish that night. After reeling it in and watching it flip around in the net he got a little scared. The first words out of his mouth were, "Put it back!" The rest of Toby's camping vacation was shooting water guns wherever he wanted (except people), peeing in the bushes and trees, stick swords, and flirting with Aunt Tori's friends and the 10 year-old girls in the next campsite. He can attract quite a group of ladies already. I don't want to see him at 16.

Little Coop was in heaven with dirt, rocks and water bottles all around. He acquired a new hobby while camping- turning water bottle lids off and on and dumping half the bottle down his shirt in an attempt to get a drink. Any water in his sight was not safe from his dirty, sneaky hands. He loves working the cap and probably felt nice and cool with a wet shirt most the day.

I don't think Great-Grandma B will go back to camping in a tent trailer in the dirt. We converted her to staying in a cabin and visiting the dirt and lake during the day.

So "camping" was a success. It's nice to be home though.



Beautiful Strawberry River


Chillies loved seeing the huge windmills in the Livermore hills.

the unholy trinity................

of bodily fluids that is. Poop, puke and pee. I dread cleaning them up in that order. It's no surprise that I wanted to crawl back in bed by 8 AM this morning after cleaning up ALL 3!

J has been sick since Wednesday when she puked on the living room rug. Nothing since then until I went to check on her this morning. She looks up at me and says, "Mom, I puked last night but was too tired to get out of bed." *sigh* First thought- great she's been rolling around in wet puke all night. Thankfully, she quickly leaned over her top bunk and puked on TJ's clothes from the day before that he forgot to put in the can(hamper). Great aim J! Now I only had some splatter on the carpet and laundry to do instead of shampoo the entire area again.

In the middle of Pukefest TJ wakes up and announces he peed all over his bed. *grrr* By itself that is easy to take care of but I'm still worrying about J and the puke.

And the final straw? Coop wanders in the kids room with the cutest look on his face and poop streaming down his leg. *Aaahhhh!* Suddenly, I am wishing hubby would magically walk in the front door complete with superhero cape to save my day. No luck. He's busy saving the world one patient at a time at school/clinic.

So the plan of attack became-
1. clean the kids up and turn on a cartoon for them to watch
2. clean up all the mess as quickly as possible and throw everything in the laundry with an extra kick of bleach
3. Bleach the kids room, bathroom and well, basically the whole house and forget about the entire morning.

As a Mom I have to expect days like this. I'd like to think I am learning to handle the chaos more calmly and with less stress. Seriously, I'm ready for a nap at noon.

Six flags

On a cooler note, we went to Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo with Ken & Cassie's family and Grandpa and Grandma on Monday. It was hot! We had lots of water rides and fun to keep us cool. It was the highlight of the weekend- next to Dan's wedding, of course. The kids loved all the water rides and play areas. The big kids LOVED the huge roller coasters, especially Medusa. I haven't been on a coaster in at least 10 years. Not because I don't like them. Dave and I went twice in a row because there was no line, and we might have gone a few more times if the fam wasn't waiting for us. Good times.

We saw Shouka the whale with her trainers and a fun dolphin show. Shouka was hammered from the heat too. Instead of a full show they did a 10 minute training session. The trainer would ask Shouka to wave or splash the audience and she just floated on the surface as if to say, "Are you kidding me with this? It's too freaking hot to move!" Come to think of it, Grandpa Bob was heard saying the same thing.

There's so much to do for all that we had a great day! We are definately buying season passes next summer!

LOL! As I am typing this Jessie is saying a prayer over the food in the kitchen. All I hear is "thank thee for this food and thank thee that I could ride the Cobra at Marine World..........." Yeah, it was a memorable day.

Melted wedding weekend

Our day of rest this week was Tuesday. Chillies and I were layin' low in this incredible heat and doing laundry. We just had an action-packed weekend with family here for my brother Dan's wedding on Saturday. The time flew by. Everything was perfect- except for the weather.

So the weather here in Northern Cali has been beautiful this summer- until last Wednesday. It was hot as Hades all weekend while our fam was participating in Dan and Lauren's wedding. We spoiled Bay Area Californians are NOT used to temperatures above 95 degrees for more than a day or two. From Wednesday to Monday we boiled as the temperatures went past the big 100 degrees every day. Dave just told me that 80 people died in the Bay Area in the last week because of the heat. Yikes.

My big bro. and sis-in-law and their 4 kids packed into our little 2 bd. apartment to sleep every night because the place we planned for them to stay had no AC. Sorry Ken! I still feel bad thinking about you guys sleeping on my living room floor. :( It will be funny as soon as it cools down, eh?

The wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday were beautiful. Most of our family arrived on time and even early which was quite a feat. The ceremony was overlooking a pond and waterfall in a huge grove of redwood trees in the Santa Cruz mountains. The setting couldn't have been more picturesque. Unfortunately, after the ceremony we all roasted at the dinner and reception in an open-ended barn in full sun. It must have been 105+ in that place with no escape or respite from the heat.


Our little J looked up at me after the dinner and said, "Mom, I am melted." That's exactly how we all felt sweet girl. Melted.