9th Anniversary Weekend

Mike's favorite band Guster was playing in Santa Barbra June 22nd and he really wanted to go but I had camp scheduled from the 17th through the 22nd. So the plan was for him to go without me and go with his sister Lindsey and her husband Brad.  A month after purchasing the tickets, due to some unexpected changes we had to shorten camp by one day that meant I'd get home on the 21st. With this new change of plans Mike asked his mom to watch the girls for the weekend so I could go with and we could celebrate our 9th anniversary together (Thank you Wendy!).

Mike was concerned about what I would do while they were at the concert and I reassured him that I would be just fine, that some quality time with a book after being gone with a group of teenage girls was just what I would need.

Saturday morning we dropped the girls off at Grandma Wendy's and headed west. We stopped in our old stomping ground of Pasadena, Ca to have lunch with our friends the Hendricksons at Slater's 50/50. They are known for their 50/50 burgers made of 50% beef and 50% bacon. It was kinda funny because the guys loved it us wives not so much.  After lunch we grabbed some frozen yogurt at 21 choices for old times sake. Then we headed northward toward Santa Barbra.

We got a cute room at the Beach House Inn just 2 blocks from the beach between the wharf and the harbor that we split with the Lindsey and Brad. The property was cute and inviting. The rooms were nice and one of the cool features was the heating- all by the fireplace.

After settling in Mike, Lindsey and Brad headed to the Santa Barbra bowl to listen to Guster, Ben Fold's 5 and Barenaked Ladies. They had a great time. And even brought back the makings for Rootbeer floats.

 As for me, I did exactly what I wanted to. I read a book literally the whole thing but stopped around sunset to go down to the beach to watch the sunset.  I was confused. As I was sitting there waiting for the sun to go down over the ocean I couldn't figure out why the sun was not over the water but behind me going down behind the mountain.  Apparently Santa Barbra isn't exactly on the west coast it turns the mountains are west. It was really disorienting. I had a very pleasant quiet evening just what was needed.

Before we left for breakfast I wanted my picture taken on this cool tree. The way it had been cut made a perfect seat. Which in my mind was a great picture spot and I'm glad I did because I actually like the way this picture came out. It's my favorite photo of me of late.

After my photo op we walked to Esau's Cafe which is the oldest breakfast/lunch spot in Santa Barbra and grabbed breakfast. It was yummy. I had french toast but not as brave as Brad who go the french toast coated in corn flakes which was apparently good but I'm old fashioned.

After breakfast we headed our own ways for the day. We headed further into town to see find a bookstore. It's always fun to see what type of collectibles they might have. Along the way we went down an alley called La Arcada and one of the things to do was visit the turtles. So we did. The other picture is of the historic mission bell. We did finally make it to the bookstore to find it closed still. Nothing in Santa Barbra opens until 10 and 11am.

While waiting for bookstore to open we went and visited the clock tower at the courthouse. We were told by the guy who checked us in at the Beach House Inn this was something we didn't want to miss. So here we are enjoying the view. Mike's standing in the original courthouse room. The paintings tell the history of Santa Barbra.

We made it to the bookstore which was a little confusing. They literally shelved the new and used books on the same shelf so it was difficult to browse when looking for the older editions and signed copies of nothing in particular.  But that was okay it kept money in our pockets. We took the shuttle back down to the wharf and walked the pier.

There was an art show down at the beach so we walked a couple blocks looking at the art work until it went from drawing/painting/photography to craft art which isn't our thing so I had us cross the street and walk back through a park which had a koi pond. One so I can see it and two to avoid the guy selling the photograph of Bryce Canyon in the winter that Mike wanted to buy.



 Our last stop was the harbor for lunch. We got to sit outside on a patio to enjoy lunch. I still wasn't that hungry from breakfast so I had a Ceasar salad and Mike ordered a lobster bisque served in a bread bowl. It was a great day. Next year we get away for more than 48 hours.

 It's been a great 9 years. Thanks to my amazing husband for making Happily Ever After a reality.

Water fun in the backyard

Now that Ashley is officially over the phase of "don't get me wet" she will now run through a sprinkler and let you squirt or splash her. Being in Vegas in the summer means that even at 7pm when the sprinklers come on it's still in the 3 digits but without the sun beating down on you so the perfect time of day to run and get wet. This time they even started chasing each other with the water guns.

 The Friday night I got home from camp this was the best family activity because I got to sit and enjoy watching the girls play without being involved and being the one taking the pictures got me out of getting wet. I was so tired that night I couldn't do much more than sit. here's the proof.

June 21st

Anderson Dairy Tour 2013

The beginning of June we got to go with MOMS Club on an annual tour of Anderson Dairy which is the local dairy company in town. It's really cute. They start in the barn yard and meet the animals. Like Calcy the cow. 

Then they get to walk around the plant and see how they package milk, yogurt, and of course ice cream. The girls were finally both old enough to be interested.

They have finished they watch a short history movie on the farm (the hardest part for the kids) and when that's finished they get a free cup of ice cream. Today's flavor was cookies and cream. Yum!

June 5

Mulan

Yesterday we headed up to Tuachan, UT to see the play of Mulan. This was Ashley's first trip to see a live production. They both had a great time. We sat in the second row with Melissa's family and Grandma Wendy right behind us. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures during the show but afterwards the girls got to meet and take pictures with cast members.

Ashley was the only brave one willing to get a picture with the evil Huhn commander. I think that was only because Mike told her she could kick him in the shin. Which like a good actor he played along with it.

After the show we went out for ice cream at Iceberg where they have not only a huge selection of  milkshakes but huge milkshakes. Those in the picture are mini's. Mike and the girls got black raspberry while I enjoyed a chocolate chocolate chip. We got a few nice pictures but it quickly devolved into a face making photo-op. After milkshakes we spent the rest of the evening at Mike's grandfathers with the rest of the family. We had a very pleasant drive home with the girls sleeping in the backseat. Overall it was a wonderful day out with the family.

Easter 2013

So I'm finally getting my Easter post up. I shouldn't say finally since Halloween isn't even up yet but I'm trying I really am.

On to Easter...

We had two Easter Egg hunts on Easter weekend. Our ward had one Friday night and had a night hunt. Then the next morning MOMS Club had their annual egg hunt at a park. The pictures are all from Saturday's since it was light enough to actually take them.

Easter morning I heard the girls wake up and head downstairs. I was listening to their reaction when they found the baskets. I heard, "The Easter bunny came! He came!" "Let's go tell mom and dad"  then I heard the footsteps up the stairs, the door open and whispers of who was going to wake up who. We wake up and tell the girls that we will be down in a minute and I thought we had been clear about wait for us before digging into the baskets.  I guess not because Rachel's was half empty and Ashley had made work on hers too. Surprisingly the candy was still all there.  I was disappointed I didn't get some of them with the basket before rummaging through it but they were so excited.

We went to church and the girls got to wear their matching Easter dresses. I love them!

We were supposed to go down to my sister-in-laws for dinner but her girls had been sick that week so Saturday night we had to make so new plans and quick. So we ended up hanging out and eating with our friends the Rooks. We played phase 10 after dinner and laughed away all the calories we ate during dinner.

We can't seem to find the time before Easter to dye eggs therefore it's quickly becoming tradition to dye them on the Monday night after Easter.  This year Mike and Rachel enjoyed eating the eggs as they were being colored.

R is for...

Rain- We did a science experiment and made it rain in a jar. The girls were so excited to see actual rain drops fall and would shout "I saw one" each time they dropped.

waiting for the rain to start

Rainbows- We talked about the colors of the rainbow and what it takes to make a rainbow and then the girls did a sticky wall art to make a rainbow which has been hung up in my craft room.  It was cute I showed the girls what to do and made sure they knew which colors of the rainbow went where by putting one color in the middle of each arc. When I was finished Ashley said, "That was boring, I wanted to do something more fun than that." I told her that we weren't done that they could fill it all in. She thought that was fun. Rachel asked a couple days later if they could take off the squares and do it again.

Rainforest- We talked about the different animals that lived in the different levels of the rainforest and then watched the movie Rio.

Robots- Ashley worked on her letters with a dot to dot (she's really getting the hang of the letter ones now) and with a file folder robot letter matching. The file folder game brought the lack of knowledge of lowercase letters to my attention and we will be working on that.  Rachel's new math skill today were fractions. She of course caught on real quick. It always amazes me how she absorbs information.

Race cars- The girls were excited to race on our newest race track. I was excited to make it. I admit this is the whole reason we did race cars this week. We made a bracket to see which car out of 7 was the fastest and compared how the one car that always won was heavier than the others causing it to go faster. We also reviewed letters and sight words on a racetrack board game.

resources and ideas came from:

rain experiment- pinterest find links to trainupachildlearnaswego.com

sticky wall art rainbow- a pinterest find links to mamapapabuba.com

file folder game- www.kindergartenkindergarten.com

robot fractions- www.homeschoolcreations.com

race track- found on pinterest links to www.ramblingsfromutopia.com

Books we read:

What makes a rainbow

If I ran a rainforest- dr seuss

Rollie Pollie Ollie-

Berenstain bears and the big road race

Weekend in Huntington Beach

The morning after the fair we loaded up the car and went for an even longer drive. This time we were headed south on the 15 to Huntington Beach. We went out for our nephew Jimmy's Baby blessing on Sunday but wanted to be able to see the beach and a couple friends since we were driving out there. So we left on Friday and got there around 2 that afternoon.  We checked into our hotel room (a suite and I don't know if we'll ever go back it was so nice) and then made our way over to Lindsey's house to play with the cousins and spend time with family.

picture courtesy of Lindsey- cousins and a couple neighbors girls

Rachel and Ashley both got to hold Jimmy for the first time.

Day 2-  We met up with some friends (The Mercker's) and had lunch at Ruby's on the Pier and then went to the beach. It was a miserable day there was no sun and then it wasn't really drizzling but it barely precipitating a light mist that was just there and then Rachel was steroids this whole weekend and really didn't want to be bothered. So it took a little bit  (all of lunch and a scavenger hunt I printed) to finally have fun. All in all the afternoon was fun for all. Except maybe Ashley who fell in the water and ended up sitting on the beach with Mike watching Go Diego on his phone. 

And yes I got Ashley in the water and her shrieks all on film/tape? camera! Once I have Mike convert it to a form  acceptable for blogger it'll be here

After we got the kids back to the hotel and dried off and sand free the girls took a nap (in the bedroom) and we could still hangout in the living room! Yes we were excited. Our friend Natalie came down and joined us for dinner at an Italian restaurant because Rachel wanted pasta with just butter and Parmesan cheese. We walked in sat down and she tucked in her napkin ready to eat. For desert we went and got Italian ice, our favorite and a first time try for Natalie. She's hooked. We went back to the hotel and played games (in the living room after the girls went to bed- you can't do that in a normal room, see why we loved this).

Day 3- We had breakfast with Grandma Wendy and Papa Keith at the hotel and then headed to church for the baby blessing. There happened to be 3 of them that morning and was filled with family. Mike had the pleasure of joining the circle along with other uncles and grandfathers. 

Rachel heading to the car with Grandma Wendy and Papa Keith

After church we went to the luncheon at a park and hung out there all afternoon until about 3 when we headed north to the Hendrickson's where we visited, touched snakes and ate a delicious meal. It's always nice catching up with friends we don't get to see nearly as often as we'd like. Hopefully we'll get back sooner than next year.