September 2009

Here's what we did in September.

Legoland

Didn't mean to post this yet, I'll update it later.

August 2009

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Bay area, in August 2009.

Our trip to the Jelly Belly Factory. We went with the Cunninghams. There was a long line to get in, but it was an interesting tour and a fun afternoon. And who could pass up on the hats.



We were finally able to see the Golden Gate bridge. We had taken the kids the year before, and the entire bridge had been covered in fog so that you couldn't see it from the parking lot. Always a favorite San Francisco spot.



A rare photo of Steve and I. I can't remember if Logan or Rowen took the picture. We went down to check out the fort at the base of the bridge, and it was closed. Another time.



We walked out on the bridge for a while (I think we almost made it halfway), but it was a bit far for the kids. And it was very windy. But we took some pictures.


The kids wanted me to take pictures of them pretending to be homeless. They're sleeping on the bridge. Rowen was trying to be serious but kept laughing.


We went to a petrified forest. And found out the wood doesn't actually become petrified. The molecules of wood are slowly replaced by volcanic ash, molecule by molecule, so the tree changes from being a tree to a stone replica of a tree. Cool. The kids just liked making funny faces.



We went to Train Town in Sonoma, and the kids liked the little western town to play in. They had a good time.



We went to a geyser. It was about $10 a person to get in, and it was a small geyser with some weeds growing all around and some goats to feed through a fence. Definitely would recommend passing on this attraction to anyone in the Napa valley.



The Muir Woods were fabulous. So pretty. And the weather was perfect. And we got to go with friends, which made it twice the fun. All in all, it was a great vacation with friends and sightseeing.


Rowen and Maddie playing around on the bear statues at the Muir Woods.

July 2009

July was a really mellow month. We started working on Logan's new room, moving out all of the office furniture. But what would a July be without the Orange County Fair's Demolition Derby. We were all excited that it was on a Saturday this year instead of a Sunday. It was a lot of fun.

July Pictures

Here are some pictures from the demolition derby.



Madison Bailey and Logan

Lauren Stacy and Lance

Jenn and Steve
Logan and Ayden

Bailey Logan Ayden and Cayden
Cars lining up for introductions
Renton and Reeve being cool pre-teens

June 2009

In June 2009, Logan finished Kindergarten. He was sad that Mrs. Wilson wouldn't be his teacher anymore. I had to promise him that he could say hi and bye to her everyday all through first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade. Then he asked, what about the year after that? So I told him that Rowen would still go to Acacia, and that when we picked her up from school, he could say hi to her then. She's a great teacher and Logan does still like to say hi to her and tell her things about what he did in Mrs. Langford's class and such. Rowen is so excited to be in her class next year.

Logan turned 6 on June 15. We just had a few friends over for cupcakes, and Logan did have a small picnic party at the park with a some friends from Kindergarten. Considering it was supposed to be a year with no party, I at least tried to keep it really small. No fancy decorations, no costumes, just some supplies from the dollar store and some food from Costco. He had fun, I think. We'll probably do something similar this year, but with pizza instead of sandwiches. Maybe just after school one day at Acacia Park. He's excited that he gets to go to school on his birthday this year.

We went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Discovery Science Center. Steve took a few days off work and went with us, so it was extra fun. Then Leslie came from Arizona for a great week. It was really nice to just hang out again and enjoy being friends. We went on the Orange County Great Park Balloon, which was a little bit scarier than I thought it would be. It's the largest tethered balloon in the country. We went at night and had to wait for about 1 1/2 hours, but with the Wilsons and Leslie with us, it was a lot of fun.

What a busy month!!

Oh yeah, and I found out I was pregnant.

June Pictures

Here are some pictures from June 2009.

Logan the goalie at the Discovery Science Center.

Rowen's turn as the goalie. She looked so cute and tiny in all the equipment. And she actually stopped a puck.
Logan like rolling the balls on the spinning wheel.
Rowen, our little monkey, climbing as usual. Not bad for a 3 1/2 year old.

The Wilsons and Bushmans over for Logan's and Ben's birthdays.


Here we all are after our ride on the Great Park Balloon.

Logan on the tire swing at the Huntington Beach Adventure Playground. We all had a great time, for a really low price. It was something that was fun and different.

Logan and Rowen pushing their rafts at the Adventure Playground. This was by far their favorite activity at the Playground.

Steve and the kids feeding the Lorakeets at the Wild Animal Park.

Jenn and the kids having a friendly ride on a rhino. Of course, Logan is sticking his tongue out in lieu of smiling.

Easter Morning Pictures

Here are some pictures from Easter morning in their pajamas. The kids had fun looking for eggs. They aren't the best lookers, so Mom and Dad have to stand around and give them hints on where to look.

Utah trip

Note: Here's a post I started last May. Since I promised my dad I would post something by New Year's Eve and I didn't, I'll just post this. It's about our trip to Utah in April.

I suppose I shall just ramble on a bit about a million different things since it's been so long since my last post. I really loved the movie Slumdog Millionaire. It was moving and inspiring without being sappy and forced (Ron Howard should take lessons). I especially liked watching the relationship of the two brothers grow and change. The older brother was a punk, but he loved his younger brother and he often felt hurt and neglected which caused him to be mean and spiteful. Then he felt bad and would try to be nicer, but then he would get hurt again when his brother cared more about his friend (the girl) than him. The movie had some of the same themes as the Tale of Despereaux did. Funny that, an big studio animated movie about a mouse and an independent movie about a poor kid in India have the same themes of hurt and forgiveness and bravery and courage and being true to yourself. Anyway, I highly recommend Slumdog Millionaire.

The kids and I have done a lot of fun things the last couple of months. We took a trip to Utah for Logan's Easter Vacation. We had a good time staying with our friends Dan and Rachel and really enjoyed seeing uncles Brandon and Kolby every day. While in Utah, we tried to get out and do fun things every day. It was hard, since we actually spent the whole vacation getting sick, one at a time. Logan actually woke up sick the morning after we left with a fever that lasted two days and a sore throat. Then by Tuesday night, it was Rowen with the fever and throwing up. Then on Wednesday, I couldn't get out of bed and had a fever. It was quite miserable. We ended up coming home on Friday instead of Saturday. I've actually been a little afraid to call Rachel since we got back, cause I'm scared that they all ended up getting sick after we left and that it's all our fault. What nice friends they are that they didn't kick us out of their house as soon as we got there.

We met up with Becky, an old roommate of mine one day at the park. Our kids ran around and played together at the park. They didn't want to leave. It was so much fun to see her and see how we've changed by being moms. She looked the exact same, I can't believe it's been 10 years since we lived together. She did kind of scare me about what it's like to live in Utah. I don't know that I want my kids growing up with those kinds of attitudes about the gospel. And also, how bad the air is for kids with asthma.

We went to Wheeler farm. We took Josh, and he loved the animals. Except for the geese, but that's because one bit him on the leg. In the goose's defense, we didn't know that he was protecting a mommy goose that was sitting on her egg close by. We all got to milk a cow. Of course, as soon as I start, the cow decides to poop, and it splatters all over my pants. It was really gross. And it was in front of about 50 people. Highlight of my day.

The best thing we did in Utah was go to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. It was well worth the drive. If we lived in Salt Lake, we would have annual passes. The kids loved it. It was like a Discovery Science Center, but all based on literature and culture.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from our Utah trip.

Boys at the park

Moms and daughters
Kids at the park
Rowen and Brandon


Rowen Logan and Josh feeding a horse

Josh milking a cow
Logan milking a cow
Rowen milking a cow
Logan and Josh on a farm wagon

Picture time again