beach day

i brought the kids over to rays house today. we walked to the beach with the three kids and all the beach gear. whew, i was a bit worn out when we got there. mason was so excited. i brought a kite for him to fly. his first kite. ray showed him how to fly it and we were having fun. at one point ray told me to tie the kite to his backpack and just let it be. i did not tie it very well and the kite took off. i went running after it. just as i almost got it my bathing suit bottoms became untied and started falling off. oops. i had to hold the strings together with one hand and try to catch the kite with the other. i could hear ray laughing at me. how embarrassing. i did catch that kite though.

we played in the water for the rest of our beach time. we decided that three little kids and two adults at the beach is hard. after a while both dahlia and bodhi were crying. i think it was too windy for them. we are going to try this again before the weather gets too cold. we are not discouraged. i had fun.

river trip

we are home from what will be forever known as the worst trip ever. i hope. i really hope this was the worst trip ever and i never have one that sucks more.

our annual family trip to the river started out great. we camp for a week by the colorado river every year. our family has been going there my whole life. my parents met there and have gone back almost every year since then. it is our tradition. the river runs along the border of california and arizona. the weather is always really hot. my parents own a motor home and a boat. my brothers bring their jet skies and we hang out all week relaxing by the water. there is always some water skiing and floating down the river. our campsite is super nice. it is right on the water. i love it.

this year we had a smaller crowd. my sister and her husband ray along with my mom and some friends did not come. that was a bit of a bummer, but not a big deal. some years are more crowded than others. miles and i had rented our own trailer for us and the kids so it was very roomy. it was nice to spread out. my father, two sisters, two brothers, my brother's friend, and niece were in my parents motor home next door.

we were planning on spending seven nights there. we got there on sunday and had a full two days of lazy river bliss. we swam and mason learned how to fish. so cute. on wednesday morning miles got a kidney stone. we had to take him to the emergency room at the not so nearby hospital for pain killers. after pain killers and some fluids they sent him back "home" to pass the stone on his own. he was in so much pain that we were back at the emergency room on thursday until 3:00 am. friday morning he asked me to pack up and head home. miles went back to the emergency room in los angeles the minute we got back in town. i was so sad. not only did it suck to see miles in such pain, but my whole vacation was ruined. i know i shouldn't be such a baby about my vacation, but it was the only one we were taking this year and i was really having fun. ugh.

things have not been great since we got back on friday. i have been watching the kids and doing everything by myself while miles lays on the couch recovering. i am not much of a nurse. i find myself just getting annoyed. for the most part i have been taking the kids out so we can just get out of his way.

oh well, at least we got two days of fun. here are some pictures.

9 months

dahlia is nine months old. time for her monthly recap. she now weighs 17 pounds 8 ounces and is 27.5 inches long. she has just had her first tooth come in. we noticed it on monday. hmmm, maybe it is time to stop breast feeding. she is crawling like a champ and loves to stand. standing is her favorite thing lately. she likes to walk around the furniture holding on to something. i think they call that cruising. she is still not very interested in baby food. she only likes to feed herself cheerios. she also has been talking a little bit. she can say mama and dada. she seems to actually know i am mama. it just melts my heart. i love this little girl.

aquarium

the kids and i had such a fun day today. i went to ray's house and we walked to the aquarium by the pier. it was so cool. it is pretty small, but there is a cool touch pool where the kids can see and touch crabs, sea cucumbers, and starfish. mason loves fish. me too. we had fun looking at all the little fish, sharks and rays. bodhi and dahlia even joined in the fun looking at the fish skeletons. when we were bored with the aquarium we walked to the end of the pier to look at the sailboats. more daydreaming about owning a boat, and then it was time for ice cream. i know, i just said the other day that i was trying to be good, but it is summer. the espresso flake gelato was calling me.

i can sew

i have been learning how to sew lately. yes, me. sewing. i told my sister susan and she laughed and said "how domestic of you." i don't think she was impressed. i don't care though, i love it. it is so fun. i have finished my very first piece. it is the gratitude wrap from amanda soule's blog. the free pattern is from soulemama. it is in the for you section on the left. just in case you want to make one for yourself. it holds thank you cards, stamps and a small address book. i love it. i gave this one to my sister jen for her birthday. i was so proud. i almost didn't want to give it away. i love it so much. my mother-in-law is letting me borrow her sewing machine to see if i like sewing. thanks mom! i hope she doesn't want it back soon, because i am having too much fun with it. i have already started making a baby blanket and have been gathering fabric for a picnic blanket quilt. hurray for my new hobbie.

granny plays guitar

miles' mom came to visit us yesterday. it was so great to see her again. we missed her. she brought her new guitar that she is learning to play. we got to hear her play a little. it was so nice to hang out in the backyard relaxing. i love that she is learning to play guitar. how cool. i would love to learn to play an instrument. i will just put that on the list. the long list of things to do. we had such a relaxing day. we will be out of town next week so it was nice to see her now. i didn't make dessert. i am trying to be good because a bikini is waiting to be worn next week. yikes.

jen's birthday

today was jen's birthday. we spent the day visiting the arboretum and botanic garden. i was really excited to see it. i have never been there and had visions of me strolling through these beautiful gardens. i think i would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so hot out. it was so hot i was grouchy. i just kept thinking that i can't believe people lived here without air conditioning. there was this old cottage that the baldwin family had as a guest house. you could peek into the windows and get an idea of how they lived in 1885. why were the women wearing such long gowns in this heat? good lord. mason had a great time running around after his uncle ray. where does he get his energy?

after the gardens we went back to my house to shower before dinner. mason was super tired and threw a fit when we got ready to leave. ugh. we ended up ordering take out instead. i was so bummed. i really wanted to have that seared tuna at purans for dinner. i felt bad for jen to have to spend her birthday eating take out. sorry sister. i guess it is just what happens when you have a two year old in the house. she didn't seem to mind. we made a lemon yogurt cake to celebrate. yum. i was so happy to get to spend the day with jen, ray and bodhi. happy birthday sister.

discovery science center

today christina and i woke up at six am. we took all the kids to the discovery science center. they were having a special event where you have breakfast with bob the builder. then you have free access to the center to explore all the exhibits one hour before it is open to the public. it was so cool. i have never been there before. it is like a science museum for kids. upstairs was a large play area that featured bob the builder and showed kids how to use tools. mason and zena loved it. my favorite exhibit was the simulated earthquake. yay. fun.

after we were done playing we took the kids out to breakfast. pancakes. yummy. i was sad to see christina and zena leave. we had such a fun weekend with them.

lazy summer day

my mom and dad are out of town again so miles and i agreed to watch my cousin zena for the day. mom usually watches zena until christina gets home from work. it was a fun day. i drove out to pick her up and then was crazy enough to take them on a couple of errands for me. shopping with three kids is challenging. i did manage to get the errands done with only a couple of sticker purchases to keep mason and zena entertained.

they were so happy to get home. we promptly filled up the little pool with water and they jumped in. it was a relaxing afternoon for me watching them swim, swing, and make mud pies in the dirt.



of course after they had had their baths they ran outside to play in the mud again. ugh.

christina came over after work and stayed the night. all the kids were so tired they crashed out early and we got to watch old episodes of the o.c. ahh, the o.c. and a bottle of wine with sister. friday night doesn't get much better.

summer fun

yesterday we woke up to find dahlia had a cold. how sad. my poor baby coughing. i was so bummed because we had a planned to have my sisters and brother in law over to hang out for the weekend. i had to call and tell jen and ray that dahlia was sick. they decided not to come over. bodhi is only four months old and they didn't want him to get a cold from dahlia. so sad. christina and zena still came over. yay. we had so much fun letting the kids play on the swings and lounging in the back yard. my sister and i had some wine and watched the kids play in the little blow up pool. miles grilled dinner and we ate outside. it was just a perfect summer day.