The First River Trip of 2009

Only Day 3 of our vacation and we were already taking off on our first river trip of the year. This trip was special because Victoria's BFF (and Jennifer's daughter) Mara was joining us. Avianna has always been a built in river buddy, but Victoria was really excited to get to bring her friend along. We left at 6:30 in our jammies. When we arrived the weather was strange, which should have warned us about the surprise thunder storm we'd get later in the day.

Can I just tell you, with three 10 year-old girls there is no shortage of silliness!

We got out on the water early for swimming and fun...

I drove the boat (for a minute,man it freaks me out) !!!

Tubing was a blast...

Victoria was WILD!

Mara was CRAZY!

Avianna was TERRIFIED!!!

But they ALL had a great time!

Have I mentioned I love this kid. He was kind of a pain on this trip. He has no regard for his own personal safety and thus jumped into the moving current repeatedly so I would have to chase him...he was so much fun!

And after all that fun, they were exhausted and ready for bed, right? WRONG!!!

Can't wait for the next trip. Thanks for coming, Mar-Mar!

The Play

I love that my children play together, despite being so far-apart in age. I REALLY love when they are pretend-playing. Not long ago, they asked me to come into Victoria's room to watch the "play" they had created. I couldn't tell you much about it, but I know that Justice was the "good-guy", Victoria was the "bad-guy", and they came up with these fantastic costumes all on their own. Sometimes I just want to stop time for a minute, and keep them little like this.

The Belated Memorial Day Photos

I know it's a bit late, but we had a great time on Memorial Day. We headed to Huntington Beach to meet the Lakins with a cooler full of food straight out of the refrigerator. Jackie and Dave brought their "Camper" and we stayed all day and into the night. It was tons of fun...

With lots of Lakin girls to choose from, who knew which one Justice would end up with. Sometimes he was with Jess...

Karlee was busy sleeping...

So Nicole was the lucky winner!!!

Victoria got busy right away preparing for the bonfire...

She just kept on digging and digging...

Which led to a really great bonfire, which led to SMORES! Yum!

And of course, Jackie and I can never get together without... The FACE!!!

The Mother's Day Movie

Today was fun! After breakfast and gifts in bed, the kids and I headed off to church. We joined the Furnish Family for lunch at El Cholo, yum (thanks, Carey!), and then headed to the movies to see "Earth." It was great and we all enjoyed it.

Justice had profound comments throughout the film. For awhile, I was in awe of his wisdom and intelligence. First, when they were showing a view of the planet Earth from space, he exclaimed to the entire theatre, "There's our planet. There's Earth. We're right in there!" This display continued when we left the theatre as he pointed all around him and announced, "That's our Earth, and that's our Earth." Every part of his world was part of Earth, and he clearly demonstrated his understanding of this.

Then, on the way home, he continued to point out things that were part of Earth, and ended his monologue with, "And when we ruin this whole Earth, we just have to buy a new one! Right, Mommy?" There dashed my hopes of his brilliance, but oh to be in the mind of a 3 year-old. Things are just so simple.

I had a wonderful day with my children. Happy Mother's Day, everyone. I know you all feel as blessed as I do to be a mom to truly amazing kids!

The Mother/Daughter Hula Extravaganza

Last night was Mother/Daughter Hula Night at Victoria's school.

We "double-dated" with Patricia and Jessica Eikleberry.

However, as expected, my daughter quickly dumped me when we found her friends from class. It was the first time I had seen Lauren (on her left) and Cierra (on her right) after hearing lots about them in her stories from school.

After a dinner of pizza, Jamba Juice, and giant cupcake (yes, for real), it was time to Hula, baby!

Then came a candy lei-making craft.

I had fun just hanging out with my Baby Girl. Aloha!

The Best Kind of Day

Sometimes in my quest to be a good mom, I get a little focused on softball practices and dance classes, on church activities and PTA functions, on homework and playdates. When we don't have obligations, we're off to the park or the movies or Disneyland, or...wherever. Sometimes in my quest to be a good mom, I forget to stay home. Today we stayed home. I love just being at home with my children. It was a really, really nice day.

The Fourth Annual Father-Daughter Dance

Victoria and her Grandpa went to their fourth Father-Daughter Dance tonight. I've always known that Victoria really looks forward to their annual date. I don't think I realized how much Grandpa enjoys it, as well. This year's theme was "Hollywood." They looked adorable. My daughter is so "Marilyn."