baby lizard

this cute little baby lizard somehow managed to get inside our house. i found him in our living room. he was even smaller than lily our pet for the day. dahlia helped me catch him and we kept him for a while. he was so adorable. he didn't like to be held as much as lily did though and seemed to try to get away any chance he got. i was happy that mason, dahlia, and connor got a chance to hold him before it was time to let him go.

a wagon ride

jen came over with her kids today so they could play with dahlia and connor. mason was at school so he missed them. jen works afternoon hours right now so she only has her mornings free.

the kids spent the time playing in the sandbox and getting wagon rides. they were so cute with the wagon rides. only three could go at a time so one person would wait at the "station" (swing set) while the others went around the track a couple of times. poor jen was pretty worn out after they all got a ride.

first grade

mason started first grade yesterday. this picture is actually from today because he was screaming and crying before school yesterday. miles had to carry him to the car. he was scared to go. he kept saying "i don't want to go, i don't want to go." miles stayed with him the first ten minutes of class before he was calm enough to join the others.

i was really worried about him all day but the first thing he said to me when i picked him up was "mommmy, i really like it." thank goodness. his teacher was laughing because it was such a change from the how the day started.

this morning there was no screaming or crying. he went straight into his class. when i picked him up he told me he likes first grade more than kindergarten. yay. i am so relieved. lets hope we have a great year.

aquarium visit

back again at the long beach aquarium. happy to be staring at the fish and watching them swim. we met jen, bodhi, and kira there. jen had to work later so we only had time for a short trip. we still had time to touch the moon jellies and see the stone fish. the kids were very excited to see those because we just saw one in the movie blue lagoon. the blue lagoon has now become their favorite movie. it was a fun short trip. i somehow got tricked into going in the gift shop and dahlia is now the happy owner of an ariel the little mermaid magnetic doll toy. yes, i am a sucker.

discovery science center

it is our last week of summer vacation and i do not want to sit at home. we are trying to have as much fun as possible this week. today i took the kids to the discovery science center. i renewed our membership for the year. all my kids really love going there.

i was super happy to find the place pretty empty. mason, dahlia, and connor loved looking at all the exhibits. it has been a while since we have been there so there were a lot of new ones. they had one teaching the kids about endangered species and how to protect them. it had a funny station where the kids could dress up like turtles and crawl through tunnels. there was also connor's favorite dinosaur exhibit outside. this time the kids got to get a wand and a map and run around looking for fossils. when they would find one on the map they could point the wand at it and it would record the find.

we stayed until the place closed and the kids still were not ready to leave. we usually visit my mom, christina, and zena after we leave but zena was sick so we just went home. that was fine with me. it gave me time to make dinner and give them bathes before bed.

jen's birthday at the beach

what a fun weekend we had. we went to santa monica to celebrate jen's birthday. we showed up on saturday night and had a sleepover. jen and ray made fish tacos with mango salsa for dinner and i baked a chocolate cake. we didn't end up eating the cake on saturday. we were worried it was too late to give the kids sugar. we waited and had chocolate cake for breakfast on sunday. that is my favorite time to eat chocolate cake, with my morning coffee.

after breakfast we all got ready and went to the beach. it was a nice walk. it has been crazy hot lately so it was perfect at the beach. it was super crowded. the waves were huge. in fact the surf was so strong that i was really worried about the kids playing in it. miles was more worried than i was and insisted that dahlia and mason get out and play on the sand by our towels. i stayed by the water with connor. he is not as crazy as the other two and had me hold him or his hand the whole time. still, sometimes i felt like the wave would just knock me down. it was crazy.

we stayed until the kids got cranky and then went back to jen and ray's for bathes, dinner, and more dessert. we stayed pretty late for us and all the kids fell fast asleep during the car ride home. happy birthday sister. thanks for letting us share it with you.

concert in the park

today we went to orange county to swim and have a picnic in the park. jen picked up zena from my mom's house so she could go swimming with us. it was super hot out today and we couldn't wait to jump in the cool water for a refreshing swim. i was so disappointed when we got in the pool and realized that someone had left the heater on way too long and the water felt like a warm bath. it was not refreshing at all. we still swam for a while and the kids didn't mind because they usually get too cold swimming anyway.

after we were done swimming we got dressed and went to rubio's to get some takeout to bring to the park. tri city park near my parents house has bands play on thursdays during the summer. today they had a steel drums band that played caribbean music. it was so fun. my mom and sister christina met us there. we spread out the blankets and food and relaxed while we listened to the music. the kids spent the whole time spinning around and dancing. they loved running around on the grass. it was a great day for a picnic.

pet for a day

the kids found this adorable baby lizard in the backyard and called me out to see it. it was so cute. super tiny. when mason went to touch it to our surprise the lizard ran up mason's arm. it was so sweet. they immediately wanted to keep the lizard as a pet and named it lily. i was shocked that the lizard didn't try to run away. all three kids would hold it and touch it. it would just climb slowly on their shirts and around their hands. even connor was holding it.

i am bummed i only got pictures of mason holding the lizard. my camera battery died. they really wanted to keep her and i went online to see what we would need for a pet lizard. i was thinking we could just keep her for a little bit. at the end of the day though they let lily go. they were worried that her mom would miss her. this was really the best thing to do. i don't have any idea how to care for a lizard. i have such sweet kids. they all kept talking about how much they miss her and how they hope to see her again.

orange county fair

i took mason and dahlia to the orange county fair today. poor connor stayed home with daddy. he is really too little to ride most of the rides there and i knew it would be difficult to bring him. still i felt super guilty when he kept saying over and over that he wanted to go with me. he got to spend the day with his daddy so that is not so bad.

i met christina, zena, susan, doug, jen, and bodhi there. it turned out good that connor stayed home because the kids were really into riding the rides this time. they went on the bumper cars, mazes, tiny roller coasters, and a little train. they also had fun making leather bracelets with their name on it that they got to stamp with a design and pick colors for it to be dyed. they loved it. i remember making one just like it in girl scouts when i was little.

we also looked at all the animals and got plenty of sweets including cotton candy and an icee. it was very hot and i was happy when it was time to go. we didn't stay too late. i left there around 3:30. we had a long drive home and granny was coming to visit for the night so we wanted to spend time with her.