visiting friends

we went to my friend carla's house this weekend for her son zander's birthday party. he just turned three. they had a swim party at their new house. we had so much fun. we stayed all day. all my kids were loving the pool. they had heated it so it was super warm. mason and dahlia didn't want to get out. we had to drag them out when it was time to sing happy birthday.

after cake the kids went outside to drive zander's battery controlled car. connor was so excited. he loved the car. my kids are always sitting in these cars when we shop at toys r us but they never get to drive one. what a treat. we stayed super late but the kids were still sad when it was time to go home. i hope we get to visit again soon for another swim date. happy birthday zander.

we heart summer

the kids goofing around in the backyard pool. these are my favorite summer moments. i get to grab a book and lounge in a beach chair while i watch them play. it is impossible to do without a smile on my face.

cherry time

we went cherry picking today. yay for cherries. we went to the same place. villa del sol in leona valley. i forgot what a long drive it is. it is 65 miles from us. i took my three kids and met my mom, two of my sisters, and their kids there. we picked cherries for almost two hours. we had to pull my mom out of there. she would have stayed and picked for another two hours. she loves to pick cherries. so do i. it is really fun. dahlia and mason picked almost eight pounds. yikes. i don't know what i am going to do with all these cherries. i also bought some of their local raw honey. i bought it before and it is really good.

as soon as we got home dahlia insisted on sorting all the cherries by type. rainier in one bowl and bing in another. so cute. then she had me pull out the cherry chomper from last year and pitted enough so we could make a cherry cake. whew. i was so tired. i really didn't want to make a cake but she insisted. we made our usual cherry crumb cake and it is super good. really though just the cherries by themselves are perfect. hurray for june cherry picking.

fathers day

we celebrated fathers day at my sister christina's house this year. we usually get together at my house but after hosting mothers day i was happy to take a break. it was a fun day. it was super hot out. miles and i brought our big blow up pool and set it up in the backyard for the kids to swim. they had a blast splashing around.

my dad bought christina a new grill so we could cook some steaks. i'm not sure how she managed to get a gift on fathers day. lucky girl. for some reason i ended up cooking again. hmmmm. my mom asked me to cook the brussels sprouts and salmon while my brother grilled the steaks and corn on the cob. christina made her yummy salad. everything was delicious. my dad had his birthday two days ago so we sang happy birthday to him. i brought a cake from portos that was definitely not as good as my homemade carrot cake. next time i will definitely bake my own.

the kids and i made our homemade barbecue sauce again this year for the dads. all three kids colored pictures for the labels. mason did the writing. i think they look so cute. we also surprised miles with a car washing kit. hint hint. now i just need to get him to use it. i hope all the dad's had a great day.

hello summer

today was the last day of school. it was actually kind of sad. when i picked up mason after school a bunch of the kids were crying. they all love their teacher. they were all so sad to leave her. mason's teacher said that mason was tearing up too. he seemed pretty down. she has been his teacher for two years now and he is really attached. i don't remember the kids being so emotional last year. it was really sweet though. they are all such nice kids. i am sad to have the year end. i have been kind of depressed about it all week.

when we went home we surprised mason with a big sign that said hello summer. dahlia and i painted it this morning. the kids got to run through it and tear it. i spoiled them and had little presents for them. we had fun the rest of the day. i took them to gym class and then jen, bodhi, and kira came over for dinner. i am sure when we don't have to wake up mason early tomorrow he will be happy it is summer.

planting seeds

the kids got these "green toys" pots and seeds in their easter baskets and have been waiting to plant them. i have been so busy i just keep putting it off. today dahlia decided that the seeds needed to be planted so we did it. it really didn't take that long. i don't know why i waited to do it.

mason and dahlia both wanted to plant the sunflower seeds. they love sunflowers and are always trying to get me to buy them at the market, even when i think they are not looking so good. connor planted zinnia seeds. i hope they grow. i don't have much luck with seeds. lets hope the kids have a green thumb.

almost summer

we are super excited for summer around here. the weather has been really warm and today we set up the blow up pool after school. dahlia and connor had a great time swimming while mason and i watched. after swimming we all enjoyed some super drippy watermelon. yes. it is definitely feeling like summer.