Monday, July 29, 2013

natural history museum





jen and i became members of the natural history museum. we got our membership with a groupon so it wasn't very expensive. it has been quite a while since i have been to the museum and they have tons of new stuff. jen and i met there with all the kids and spent most of our time in the new nature lab. it is a really beautifully designed space. the kids had so much fun exploring the different sections featuring various animals and their habitat. they also loved exploring the nature garden right outside.

there was a gem and mineral hall that was very exciting. mason is really into gems right now so he loved looking at all the different emeralds and crystals. dahlia and i were particularly impressed with the diamond collection. you know girls and their diamonds. so pretty.

before we left we spent time in the butterfly garden. one landed right on kira's shoulder. the kids loved looking at all the beautiful butterflies. there were so many. such a pretty sight.

after everyone was worn out we headed back to my place for a sleepover. the kids had so much fun with their cousins. yay for summer sleepovers.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

beach house




my girlfriend rebecca had a beach party at her house in seal beach. it was just for the grownups so i had a really great time. she is renting the nicest place right on the beach. the picture above is the view from her balcony. it looks like such a fun place to live. i would love to be that close to the ocean and have the sounds of the waves lure me to sleep. ahh. so relaxing.

the party was just for the girls so there was lots of wine and yummy snacks. she had a tarot cards reader there and we all got our fortunes told. that was fun. it has been a while since i had my cards read. she said lots of money was coming my way so let's hope she is right.

miles was nice and watched the kids all day for me. i didn't get home until 8 pm. christina was at the party and we hung out the whole time. we went for a walk on the beach with zena after most of guests left. it was beautiful.

Friday, July 26, 2013

movies in the park




it wouldn't be summer without movies in the park. we had a very fun day today. swimming lessons in the morning and then more swimming at auntie christina's house. after we dried off and had some dinner we went to the park to see wreck it ralph.

it was quite a chore to carry all the chairs, blankets, and snacks but well worth it. the movie was really good. i had not seen it before. the kids were well behaved for the most part and we stayed for the whole thing. we went with jen, bodhi, kira, christina, and zena. christina was nice and gave all the kids their own little bag of popcorn.

i love these summer activities. it is so much fun to hang out with my sisters and the kids always have a good time with their cousins.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

more discovering




we had another fun filled summer day. today we picked up zena and went to the discovery science center. the kids were getting bored staying home for the last couple of days. they loved hanging out with their cousin today.

the science center still has their lego castle exhibit going on. mason and connor had fun building with legos and going down the little castle slide. we all spent a lot of time outside on the rocket launch pad and then looking for dinosaur bones with the treasure hunt wands.

we stayed until it closed and then my mom took us to the soup plantation. dahlia's favorite restaurant. mason and i made huge salads. yum.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

movie party




you would think that one party would be enough for today but not for us. we went to two! zena was having her birthday party today also. she is twelve today. yes, twelve. that is just crazy.

christina had an outdoor movie party. she borrowed our projector and we watched E.T. the extra-terrestrial. the kids had not seen that movie before. it was really fun. she had lots of chairs set up in her backyard and there was tons of movie candy, popcorn, cinema dogs, and nachos. after all that there was cake too! the kids just loaded up on all the sugar. it was really crazy. it was fun to have the whole family outside watching a movie though. i can't remember the last time i saw a movie with everyone. she said we will definitely do it again without all the sugar.

scooters





we went to a super fun birthday party this morning. it was at this place called scooters jungle. it was one of those indoor party places with a huge blow up slide and bounce houses. they also had a zip line and air hockey. it was so cool. the nice part about it was that the whole place was reserved for the private party. i didn't have to worry about the kids getting lost or taken. i could let them run around and play.

connor loved the big slide. he was happy to go on that the whole time. i went on it a bunch of times too. it was super fun. dahlia and mason both liked the zip line and the air hockey. they loved the big slide too. it was a really great place to throw a party. i would consider having our parties there but it was really far from our house. it was over an hour drive. i wish they had one close to us.

Friday, July 19, 2013

playing outside




now that the tree house is done the kids play in it all the time. they love it. i love our summer days at home. the kids play outside and i sit in a beach chair and read a book. today was perfect. the kids were so good and played together all day. we had swimming lessons in the morning and the rest of day was dedicated to relaxing. a perfect way to start our weekend.

swimming lessons



the kids are back in swimming lessons again. dahlia is in preschool 4 and mason is in school age 2. they are both doing great. i really like their teachers this year. they are super nice. the kids both love to swim and are pretty confident in the water.

i thought i would sign connor up for lessons this year but he doesn't seem ready. i don't think he would be comfortable in the water without me. when i asked him if he would like to take swimming lessons he said "not in THAT pool, i'll drown." so funny. next year he will take lessons for sure.

high heels


can you believe this five year old? dahlia begged me to buy her some high heels last month so of course i did. i told her they are just for playing dress up at home. she loves them and is always trying to wear them places where she shouldn't like grocery shopping or to summer camp.

today she asked me to put her hair up in a bun. she then put on a cute skirt, a bratz t-shirt from her cousin, and her high heels. wow, she does not look like my sweet little five year old. sigh. why are they always in such a hurry to grow up?

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

pretend city





we had a fun outing today. i took the kids to pretend city. it is a kids museum that looks like a little city with shopping places, restaurant, theater, police station, doctors office, art studio and tons more. it has been a while since we have been there. we of course got discounted tickets. jen went with her kids,one of bodhi's friend, and his mom. we also met christina, zena, and my mom there. we had a huge crowd.

we ended up splitting up because the kids wanted to go to different parts. mason and connor loved the fishing pools, and dahlia wanted to go to the farm. christina took dahlia and i stayed with the boys. they were so cute and dressed up at all the stations. it was super crowded but we stayed until they were closing.

after pretend city we drove over to the irvine spectrum and had dinner at corner bakery. it was so fun to go out. the kids were pretty good too. they didn't even mind the super long drive home.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

movie night



miles bought a new projector so we could watch movies outside. it is so cool. we brought it with us to the river and the kids had fun watching movies on the side of the motorhome.

we decided to test it out at our house tonight. the kids wanted to watch arrietty. they loved watching the movie outside but it was a bit cold and miles ended up with some mosquito bites. not exactly ideal but i think it would be fun for a party.

river trip





we just got home from another fun filled river trip. i am always sad to come home. the week goes by so fast. i love to just sit in the sun and play in the water with the kids all day. our trip this year was also cut short by one day because miles had to work on sunday. we didn't get there until monday evening. at least miles got to go with us though. we were not sure if he was going to get the time off or not. i would have been so sad to go without him.

it was a nice trip. nothing went wrong this year. i did run out of gas while driving the sea-doo with dahlia and had to be towed back to camp but that was it. no drama. hurray. we were pretty relaxed this year. we spent our days sitting by the water, going on boat rides, and swimming. the evenings were all about cooking outside, playing board games, and staring at the stars. miles brought a movie projector and the kids got to watch movies projected on the side of the motorhome.

dahlia and mason were in the water with me all day long. they loved it. connor was funny. he would come out of the trailer and play in the water for a little bit and then say he wanted to go back inside. he must take after miles. miles was in the trailer for most of day. i don't think i saw him play in the water at all. connor did like to come out once the day started to cool off and then he would practice fishing.

the weather was very mild this year. it is usually scorching but this year was great. on thursday morning it rained for a bit. after the rain stopped the river was so calm and still. it was gorgeous. i really loved the trip. it is nice to feel connected to nature again. i want to keep that feeling with me always.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

4th of july






poor 4th of july this year was overshadowed by the fact that we are leaving on vacation in three days. there were no fancy decorations or desserts decorated with red, white, and blue this year. we did get together though. we went to jen and ray's house. we usually do a sleepover but we skipped that and just drove to their house early in the morning. i already have too much packing to do to even think about a sleepover.

we usually walk to the beach with all our gear and strollers but this year jen and ray had the excellent idea of dropping the cars off early in the morning with all our beach gear in the trunk and then later we could all walk to the beach without all the stuff. the best part of the plan is when it is time to leave the beach and all the kids are tired we could just drive back to jen and ray's house.

the plan pretty much worked except for two things. 1) jen and christina forgot to put their beach gear in the trunk before dropping the car off and 2) the drive back to the house after our beach day was insane with all the holiday traffic. i still think it was better than walking back carrying a kid and big beach bag though. the kids loved the beach. we had fun playing in the waves and they were all excited to have uncle ray take them "deep" in the ocean. miles and i always stay in the shallow part. back by the towels the kids and their aunties built this big sand castle. it was pretty cool.

we had a yummy taco dinner and then the kids did poppers outside on the sidewalk. we didn't go to see fireworks. that was a bummer. it was late and miles and i were really tired. dahlia wanted to see fireworks this year though so miles drove them to the top of our block and they got to see some from there. it was a fun holiday and nice to spend the day together.