May and June 2016

I missed a month! I didn't even think about blogging for May until a few days ago. End of school, start of summer - the schedules are so different, life is so unusually busy. So you get a two-fer!

Lucky for you, I haven't gotten any better at taking pictures, so it'll still be short and sweet.

I really, really loved the clever card Jack made me for Mother's Day:

Gemma and her BFF Grace have matching "cake shirts" that just so happen to be hand-me-downs from their older sisters. So funny that they match up. They started wearing them on purpose whenever they had a playdate and loved being twins.

Hazel's silkworm emerged at long last from its cocoon. It was very exciting! Hazel carried the carton around with her outside all afternoon, not wanting to miss seeing it fly off. She was pretty upset with me when I made her keep it in the garage at night when it still hadn''t left. She took it to school the next day to show everyone and got pressured into letting it join the silkworm community in the classroom instead of bringing it back home. I should have done some research. Turns out, silkworms do not fly. They do not even eat. They just mate and die. So... it's a good thing she brought it to school after all! But she was pretty mad to find out that she could have slept with him after all.

Somehow a little frog got into our house one night. Todd caught it and put it in a tupperware, and the next day we walked to school and set it free next to the creek along the path.

Hazel had her first piano recital. She usually hates giving presentations and talks and such in front of people, but had no beefs about playing the piano. I think it's because her back was turned to the audience??? Anyway, she buzzed through three songs and then was totally bored out of her mind through the rest of the loooooong recital. It was well over an hour and a half in all. Yay to many more of those in our future!

The last week of May and the first week of June Todd was gone to Army camp. We had a few days alone to ourselves, and then my mom came up to visit and help out for the rest of the time.

She brought her mom (my Grandma Holley) and her sister (Aunt Nancy) with her the first day, as they were finishing a road trip through Yellowstone and Lassen. It was fun to see them and show off our house. 

Hazel was sweet enough to let Nana have her bedroom. She camped out in my room with an air mattress. I had to take this picture to show Todd the nightstand area she make shifted with all her must-have items. She's a cutie.

Gemma taught herself how to pump on the swings! It's been awesome. She pulls herself up and gets going, and is quite vigorous and excited about it. It was all the rage late-May. She was always asking people to come see her pump.

Jack graduated from preschool. Here he is with his teacher from the past two years, Miss Diana. He is so excited for kindergarten! Like, he's been counting down for months. Months! Gemma will start preschool with Miss Diana this fall, and she's pretty stoked about that as well.

When Todd came home, we took my mom to the beach in Pacifica. It was super chilly! But so pretty. And the sand there just brushed right off, no mess. That was pretty cool. (Thanks for the recommendation, Olivia!)

In that time, we also had a primary talent show, of which I took zero pictures, but my mom sent me some of hers. Hazel brought in some artwork, including a really cool 3D scene she whipped up. Jack played Old MacDonald on the piano. Gemma also tickled the ivories a bit. And we headed up to the Naseath's place in Danville for a Memorial Day pool party.

We had a few normal days in early June, and then Todd's parents and sister came to visit for the weekend. We took them down to Santa Cruz to see the beach and to visit Todd's brother KB who's living down there for now.

Then Todd and I took advantage of the free babysitters and took off for a kid-free overnighter. We took a zip lining tour in the Sonoma area - Occidental - and found the perfect wind chimes. We've been on the lookout for some on all our trips the last few years, and finally found some that can legitimately be a souvenir, but aren't chintzy.  We stayed the night in Bodega Bay, at a very nice lodge there. We had a beautiful view from our balcony.

We ate out, played some bocce ball, read our books on the beach and beside the bayside fire pit at the lodge, bought some local gourmet cheese, and watched Chopped on cable. Poor Todd slept in until 11:15 the next morning. Talk about exhaustion! He needed a break from work as much as I needed some time away from the kids. 

One of Hazel's last days of school (she didn't get out until June 16th!!!) we all rode bikes there, even Gemma! She was a trooper going that far on her balance bike. (It's about 0.6 a mile.)  Jack was annoyed that we also had to ride bikes to pick Hazel up in the afternoon, but, oh well! That's life!

Hazel switched best friends this year. She and Mary kind of because frenemies. She ended up super close to Joshua I. (She had THREE Joshuas in her class!) He was always nice to her, made her laugh, never abandoned her on the playground, and even peppered her days with gifts, including a book fair journal and a mine craft bunny. I think there might have been a little bit of a crush going both ways, but who knows - it's hard to say when they're seven.

Goodbye, Mrs. Barry.

This is Miss Ellie, the crossing guard. She's super friendly and always tries her best to greet all the kids by name, even the little ones not in school yet. She always made a big deal out of the fact that my kids always had a book in hand. I guess it was a funny sight to see, Jack and Gemma in the stroller, Hazel walking beside me, all three of them with their noses in a book.

We went to Jamba Juice at the end of the last day of school to celebrate the start of summer. Freedom! Woo hoo! Then we came home and had a massive water fight with brand new water guns!

Todd and I picked up these little birdhouses last time we stopped into Joann's, and when the kids discovered them, I made them wait til summer to paint them. Something to look forward to... something to fill up the long days. Well, we crammed that into the afternoon of the last day of school, as well.

Gemma started thinking a little outside the box when I left to wash brushes or something.

Todd drives this massive work truck, and the kids like to hop in the back and get a ride in the culdesac if they're outside when Todd gets home. He just does a few loops, but they think it's the greatest thing.

We've got three plum trees in the backyard. They gave us just a handful of fruit last summer, or maybe we just let it all fall to the ground??? I don't know. But Todd pruned the branches months ago, and I think that made the difference. We've got a ton of fruit right now! We picked mucho last week, and I tried my hand at canning for the first time and made some plum jam. It is tart and yummy.

The kids started swimming lessons last week - private ones with Carolynn Hoopes from our ward. It was Gemma's very first swimming lesson e-v-e-r. She's been talking about it since last summer, she was so geared up to be big enough to have her very own lessons! She seemed shocked to feel her body in the water without her floatie, and definitely a little scared, but she was a trooper. The best perk about having private lessons? A backyard pool and hot tub all to ourselves, and the other kids can play and swim while they wait for their turn. It's quite the setup! So Gemma and I hung out in the hot tub (warm tub) during Hazel's and Jack's lessons, and by the end of that hour, she was rocking it! Goggles on, face in the water, kicking her legs as she tried to coast from one side of the hot tub to the other. It was fun to watch her progress from wanting me to hold her, to catching her as she came across, to staying where I was while she swam away from me independently, so excited and proud of herself. So cool! Jack and Hazel were little fish, as well. They're working on strokes and doing a great job.

I drove the kids an hour to the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour last Friday. They loved seeing all the jelly beans, crates and crates in every color, and machines bagging them, and robots moving them, and mini cement truck tumblers mixing them.

The jelly belly art is always a hit, as well as the free sample bag at the end of the tour.

Todd spent last week in Alaska, salmon fishing with his business partner, Tom. Not only did they catch 100 pounds of meat, he sent lovely pictures of the island they were on, and he was noticeably more relaxed the very first night he was there. It was so good for him! He came home a renewed man, and was able to keep his chill through the weekend, instead of tensing up about all the work that had been piling up while he and Tom were gone.

Let me know if you have any killer recipes for salmon!

On Saturday, we had our Sunnyvale best friends, Chrissy Dix and Suzanne Hope and their families, up for a visit/reunion of sorts. We barbecued and the kids had a water fight in the backyard, and we all just had a good time with each other. It's a fun group, because not only are Chrissy and Suzanne my BFFs, but Gordon, Dan and Todd all really get along, and Spencer and Nova were Hazel's first best friends, too. It's just a happy group, our California family, and it always feeds my soul when we get together.

We're missing Baby Dash, but this is all the rest of the kids - so far. 

Now that summer's finally here (latest school calendar EVER), we've been swimming a lot, reading a lot, playing Legos and dolls and dress-ups, sleeping in, and just enjoying the laid back feeling that comes from a new schedule each day. We can do whatever we want! We can be as busy or as lazy as we want! Summer is divine. 

April 2016

 Once we got back from Cancun, we were all plagued with stomach aches. We have all had our turn being sick, some of us more than once, this month. My good kids let me sleep in on my worst day.  I woke up to find this:

We had some birds build their nest in the wreath on our front door. The eggs were blue, but the birds were not robins. Not sure what they were... We left the porch light off and came in and out through the garage as much as possible to not disturb the birds. We were all excited for the babies to hatch. 

Sadly, a few days ago, I opened the door and found the nest all torn apart. Some predator must have found the eggs when the parents were away. We are all bummed about this! Although... I would rather clean up bits of nest off my porch than bird poop. Silver lining. 

The weather has been lovely. Lots of variation between 60 and 80 degrees. We have been walking to school in the mornings when we have time, and the kids have been spending lots of time outdoors. I am antsy for summer and the fun and loose schedule that comes with it. 

There's been a big focus on bugs this month. Jack loves to gather worms after the rain. Sometimes he ends up with five or six juicy ones in his hand at once. Ha! He and Gemma both totally love finding roly pollies. Luckily, they like our front yard a lot. They're easy to find. 

We went to visit Hazel's old teacher Mrs. Allen and were sent home with three silk worms and a handful of mulberry leaves. Gemma's died that very day, due to rough treatment. Jack's lasted until the second day, when it was misplaced and not found again until a week later.

Hazel's silk worm was named Marker. She took great care of it. I think she was trying to prove to me that she's ready to care for a dog. A week or so later, it formed a cocoon! We are still waiting for it to emerge. 

 Jack's class also cared for caterpillars, who formed cocoons. They emerged last week, and Ms. Diana was so nice to wait until preschool pick-up to release the butterflies so we could all see. The kids all had butterfly nets and chased those little guys all over the park. It was super cute.

Gemma is suddenly big enough to complete puzzles on her own. She tells me all the time that she is a big girl.

 What can I say - we love to read around here. Scenes like this are very, very common. It just makes me happy.

Spring Break - Cancun

Todd's business partner Tom offered to let us use a week of his time share at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun over spring break. We love to go on trips and were excited by the opportunity. We scrambled to get all our passports ready at short notice. That included a trip to the passport expediting office in San Francisco. We woke up early, drove into the city, stood in a few lines - really it went much more smoothly than imagined. Mostly because our good kids just sat and absorbed the books they had brought. They were awesome and really made what could have been a stressful errand no big deal at all.

The kids were excited to ride on a plane - especially Jack. There was a group of nice brothers waiting for the same flight as us who entertained the kids with magic tricks - coins in ears and the like. Hazel especially loved "Magic Guy." Gemma poked random people as we walked down the aisle towards our seat. So weird and funny.

The resort was ultra nice. Everything was beautiful. We were spoiled with a two-bedroom suite that also had a living area, dining area, three bathrooms, and a huge balcony. It was swanky, comfortable hotel living.

Every single day we swam in the pools and had ice cream. It was heaven for the kids! One of the pools had a water slide. I took Gemma down on my lap and didn't warn her til halfway down that when we got to the bottom, we were going to go underwater for a quick second. Well, we landed and popped back up, and she looked shocked, but I laughed and made it seem like we'd just done something fabulous, and she started laughing, too, and asked to go on the slide again and again.

 By our third day, Todd had gone utterly stir-crazy. Like, he was kind of angry, and held a grudge against the resort the rest of the trip. We had looked up stuff to do before we left and had been tempted by zip lines and jet skis and swimming in cenotes and plenty of adventurous offerings, but had determined that our kids were too little for most of it (especially Gemma) and that we would be unable to enjoy it because of the kids. So our plan had been to just lay around at the resort and enjoy having nothing to do. Well, turns out Todd is incapable of being happy with nothing to do.

Luckily, we had an excursion planned for the next day, a dolphin encounter. Unfortunately, we had used our free "resort credit" to pay for it, so that meant we were part of the cattle herd: riding the bus crammed full of people, and being in a big, slow group with lots of rules, the saddest one of which was no cameras (because they want you to buy the photos they take).

We were split into a smaller group of 10 or so, and led into the water wearing life jackets. We stood on a platform in water up to my waist and met a dolphin playing with her trainer. Everyone got to have a turn to kiss and hug the dolphin, and multiple opportunities to touch him as he swam past us. Hazel, Todd, and I were able to get a ride on a boogie board, with the dolphin pushing us through the water with his nose on our foot. Hazel had a HUGE smile on her face when she got to do that! Gemma was so scared of the dolphin at first, and just clung to me, but eventually she warmed up and kissed and touched the dolphin and laughed and loved it.

Afterward, we found a pizza place for lunch. The kids loved the huge glasses their lemonades were served in. It was the first food we had eaten that Todd and I liked. The food at the resort was quite disappointing.

 We spent the rest of the day in the pool, teaching Hazel and Jack how to use their snorkel masks. Jack especially took to it, and would glide all over, breathing slowly and gently kicking his feet. We stayed in the water forever.

When we got back to our room, Todd got on the internet and started looking things up furiously, and announced that he was going to rent a car for the rest of the week, and we were going to spend as little time as possible at the resort for the remainder of our vacation. He was so done! His words: "break out of prison."

It felt awesome hopping into a jeep the next day, just the five of us, free birds on the road. Our first stop was the Croco Cun Zoo. The place was packed with cool animals, and we were allowed to have close encounters with them all. We all held parrots and macaws, and Hazel and I held a little crocodile (with a band holding his jaws shut) and a baby boa constrictor! The crocodile felt really cool - bumpy and smooth on top, not scratchy at all, and soft and squishy underneath.

So we got to this section of the zoo with a locked door, and the guide unlocked it and led us in without so much as a sentence about what we were walking into or what the rules of behavior ought to be. We strolled in, and there, not three feet away from us, was a full-sized crocodile! I was a little nervous, but it was nothing to what happened a moment later.  I stepped back, further away from him - holding Gemma's hand, mind you, my three-year-old! - and turned around, only to find another large crocodile on my other side, and I was getting closer to it! My heart skipped a beat and stopped in my throat for a minute. I looked around and discovered that these big guys were everywhere. Like, at least 20 of them in this enclosure, and no fences or anything to separate us from them! We were on a walking path that had a bit of rocks or something along its border to define the space, and none of the crocs were on the path, but that was it! It was pretty scary, but I tried to play it cool. I mean, it couldn't be that bad if they were letting us all walk though. And then one of the guys in our group was holding his hand out in front of him, trying to use it as a size gauge in the picture he was taking with his other hand, and the guide sounded a little panicked as he told him to stay back, that the crocodiles don't like having people that close in their space and they can move fast. Eek! We stuck around for everyone to get a picture next to one of the crocodiles, and then moved on. Pretty exciting!

Next we saw some monkeys, and then looked at some turtles and Mexican hairless dogs (who puts dogs in a zoo?) and one of the best parts of the experience was that everyone got to feed these small deer, and they were all over us, snatching vegetables and seeds right out of our hands so vigorously that it was hard to put the food in the kids' hands before the deer ate it. It was so fun for the kids!

We got some lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall in Puerto Morales. Hazel's heart strings hurt as she saw plenty of stray dogs and learned that there are too many strays in Mexico (and many other parts of the world) to all be given good homes. She was almost in tears, so we let her give part of her lunch to the dog by our table. She noticed many more dogs around town the rest of the week and was sad about it.

Okay, so that afternoon will go down in the books as one of our dumbest parenting moments of all time. We had planned to take the kids snorkeling and had practiced with them in the pool the day before. The older two had done really well, but Gemma wouldn't even put on a mask (what were we thinking even buying her a mask?!?!) so we planned to bring her in the water in her floatie and let her just swim around while we snorkeled. I know I had in my mind a scenario similar to the last time Todd and I snorkeled in Hawaii: a calm, protected spot where we could just walk in straight from the shore, and we were going to have this incredible experience sharing our love of the ocean with the kids, and they were going to be amazed at all the fish and coral they could see, and they would understand why we love to scuba dive, and it was going to be the absolute highlight of our entire trip.

Not so much how it went down for reals. We got to the beach, and it was all open water, and it was windy, so it was choppy. Todd and I wondered to ourselves whether it would even be a good time to try it, because the wind might have stirred up the sand below and lowered the visibility. Well, Todd walked off to go get our things from the car, and I was playing in the water with the kids, and then someone approached Todd as he was leaving and deals were made and money was exchanged, and next thing I know, we're loading everyone onto this little boat with six or eight other adults on it, and we're setting off into the water, and we're just doing it! And the life jackets they had on the boat were in bad condition, some buckles not functioning and everything ripped, and no one spoke English, and Todd and I did not have a moment to consult together at all, and if we had, we would have either a) left me on the beach with Gemma, or b) made a plan to split up and go one at a time with the older kids because they were taking the boat to two locations and we totally could have done that, but we didn't get a chance to. So suddenly we're at the first spot, and they're shouting at us to get out of the boat, and the water is choppy - did I mention that yet? - and Gemma is freaked out, clinging to me and hating the salt water that is continuously splashing in her face, and Hazel is stoked and takes off, but isn't good at staying with the group, so I'm panicked, watching her and making sure she doesn't head off in some lonely direction of the ocean away from us all, and Todd is doing a good job coaching Jack, but Jack is definitely not ready to do this on his own, and Gemma keeps crying and I keep standing up on the coral to get her face out of the water and talk to her and help her feel safe. And I put my face in the water a handful of times, but didn't see a single fish, and mostly was above level trying to see everyone and not panic. And then for some reason, Todd passed Jack to me, and I had Jack and Gemma both, and that was the worst part, and we were all floundering, and then Todd took Gemma, and she was inconsolable from that point on, and Jack went into Mamma mode and stopped having fun and told me his mask was loose and he wished he could get back on the boat, and then suddenly, the crew were there, demanding we hold onto a life preserver, and they swam us back to the boat, much to my joint relief and disappointment. Todd took just Hazel on the second spot, and they had a great time, but I'm so sad that Jack doesn't want to try it again, that he had a bad experience, because he had been sooooo good in the pool and he really could love it, and what were we thinking?!?!?!?! It was insane.

We went back to the beach at Puerto Morales the next day and thought maybe we would try snorkeling from the beach on our own, but none of the kids even wanted to get back in the water. We ruined them! They just played in the sand, and then asked to go back to the hotel to swim. Frown!

I made the kids gaze out at the water and admire the beautiful color, and told them this was why I love the color turquoise so much - because whenever I see it, it reminds me of the Caribbean Sea and all the happy vacations Todd and I have taken near it, and all the fun we've had scuba diving and such. It just makes me happy.

We found someone gutting a barracuda, and he let us get up and personal. Hazel asked if she could have one of its teeth as a souvenir but the guy talked her out of it, saying it would smell way too bad.

We went souvenir shopping at a flea market. Jack picked out a wooden dolphin toy, Hazel a carved animal necklace, and Gemma a stuffed mermaid doll.

It was interesting driving through real Mexico and seeing villages and everything. Man, it makes me so grateful for the comfortable life I have! Guilty, too, if I'm being honest. There was such an absolute split between what we lived in at the resort and what the locals have, We had some good conversations with Hazel about our blessings and our responsibility to share our bounty with others. She has a good heart: I know she is internalizing these lessons and they will make a difference in how she lives her life and shares what she has with others.

Our last day in Mexico, we drove for a couple of hours to get to some ruins that Todd thought would be too out of the way for the hordes of tourists to go to. (Ek Balam) We walked up 106 steep steps to get to the top of the ruins, and gained an amazing view in return for our efforts. We talked with the kids about King Benjamin and ancient Lamanites. At church today (back home) I pointed out a painting to them on the wall of Jesus visiting the Nephites and Lamanites after his death, and asked them where it looked like they were. Both of them saw it: "the ruins!"

To get to the ruins, we could drive through all the towns on the local roads and arrive in about five and a half hours, or we could pay about 20 bucks to drive on the freeway and get there in a less than two. We paid the toll. At one point, Gemma had to go to the bathroom, so we pulled over to squat. ONE car drove past us while we were stopped. One. That road is for tourists only! The locals can't afford that. It was eerie being on an empty freeway.

All in all, in conclusion, the trip was a successful week of family bonding. And we have guaranteed that we are independent travelers who are not content to lay around and relax, or at least Todd isn't! I was happy to do it, although I wholeheartedly agree that traveling independently is lots more fun.

When we got home, I walked into our house and was overwhelmed with how beautiful and nice it is.  And I determined to be grateful for it. I am going on an HGTV fast, and I took my real estate app off my phone. I'm done looking at other houses and thinking of ways I wish ours were better. What we have is more than enough, and I am going to be content and happy and thankful and generous with all that we have.

March 2016

I tried harder this month to take pictures of our ordinary goings-on.  So today you get a sneak peek into Regular Life.

For instance, we were starting Family Night one Monday, and Hazel jumped off the couch and asked if she could play Old MacDonald for our song. Yay!

Jack got artistic one day and painted several pictures in a row.

I gave up on the hope that our yards are going to get renovated, and weeded for the first time in the year and a half we've lived here.

I tried to get Gemma and Jack to play bowling while I took a shower, but ended up watching them play instead.

The weather got fabulous right as Daylight Savings Time gave us an extra hour of sunshine in the evenings, and we spent that whole week lounging around outside, riding bikes and reading in the warmth all afternoon instead of making dinner or doing chores.

Gemma has been dressing herself. 

Jack learned how to pump himself and has been spending a ton of time on the swings. It's a lot of fun when you don't have to depend on Mom to stay close and push you the whole time!

Gemma completed a sticker chart she's been working on, focusing on the goal of keeping her panties dry all night. She earned her much-yearned-for Silvermist doll (she's a friend of Tinkerbell's) and was so excited and proud of herself. 

Jack diligently reminded me to pay allowance every Saturday for several weeks, keeping tabs on how close he was to the $20 needed to buy his next Lego set. Goal achieved! 

The leprechauns once again came to our house for St. Patrick's Day. They turned our milk and eggs green, and left the kids a trail of shamrocks to a cache of "gold." Hazel really, truly wore that get-up to school. It was adorable! I don't know why, but we just love St. Patrick's Day! We turn on Celtic music and dance all over the house and love keeping our eyes peeled for leprechauns in the bushes all day (okay, to be honest, we watch for them for several days before and afterward also). It's just so much fun. Whenever my kids (or anyone else) asks me if leprechauns are real, I give the same answer: "I've never seen one, but your dad swears he almost caught one when he was a kid." It's just fun magic.

 Easter was fun and simple. On Saturday, we hid some eggs in the backyard, colored some hard-boiled eggs, and each kid got something small and simple in their baskets (Gemma - dress-up heels, Jack - a shark puzzle, Hazel - a jump rope). Sunday we watched some Easter videos on lds.org and made resurrection rolls, and had Todd's sister Erika and Uncle Steve over for dinner.

Todd called one night and said he was about to fly his helicopter over the house. We all ran out and waved to him.

We had family pictures taken. I stressed so much about it (the photographer, the location, the clothes, etc) and am disappointed with the results. They're okay, but not nearly as well done as our last ones. There are too many variables (three young kids being the main ones) that make it impossible to ensure a photo session will be a success.