Road Trip and School's Out!

Monday morning, bright and early (well, early for Eileen) Dan, Eileen and I headed out on out road trip!   We made a quick detour stop on the way at Jared and Charlotte's to drop off some earrings Eileen had made for Charlotte.  

Then we drove down to the Wildlife Safari and had a blast looking at the animals and feeding the animals and trying to take pictures of the animals!  That night we stayed at a nearby airbnb.  

 

Tuesday, we headed out towards the coast and stopped at a fun little place called "Prehistoric Gardens"  They had a beautiful trail to walk along filled with full size recreations of dinosaurs.  Eileen loved it, and then she managed to see a bunch of her crocheted dino earrings to the gift shop owner for her to sell in her store!  She was so excited to get a big order, now she just has to make them and ship them!  

After, we continued on our way to Crescent City.  We got in early enough to do some walking around on the beaches and look around a bit.  We were in a fun little inn filled with doll houses.  I thought it was close enough to walk to stuff, but Eileen doesn't enjoy walking quite as much as I do.  :)  

Wednesday, we spend the day checking out Crescent City.  We went to the aquarium.  It wasn't a huge aquarium, but the guide there was great and she answered a lot of questions and we got to watch the seals and sea lions perform and got to pet a shark!  

After, went to the nearby lighthouse - we learned about light houses, climbed on the rocks and enjoyed the beautiful scenery!  Then we stopped by a local farmer's market, checked out a local museum and then Eileen was done, so we got some dinner and headed back to the hotel.  Dan took me out on a nice walk in the evening, but Eileen was tired.  

Wednesday was also the last day of school for the kids.  James and David had field day and had a blast.  James has had some great friends this year!  Milo's parents sent some pictures of the kids from their last day of elementary school!  

Thursday morning, we headed out and our first stop was the "Trees of Mystery" which was a huge redwood forest area with lots of fun stuff to see and do and some awesome walking trails including a part that was up in the trees! 

After, we drove through the avenue of the giants and enjoyed a scenic drive through amazing old forest.  We made one last stop at the drive-through tree, but our van wouldn't fit through, so we just walked through.  It was a fun little stop though.  After that, we made our way to Fort Bragg where we stopped for the night and enjoyed walking around on the beach and finding sea glass at glass beach.  

The next day, we made our way down to San Francisco and checked into our hotel room and spent some time walking around the city and got some dinner and wandered around Chinatown for a bit.  

On Saturday, we headed into town to check out the sealions and walk around Pier 39 and then we grabbed a quick lunch before heading over to take the ferry out to Alcatraz.  I of course loved the history and stories of the place, Eileen's favorite part was the ferry ride and the seagull babies.  To be fair, there were lots of floofy babies and they were really cute.  

After, we walked over to the aquarium at the pier and wandered around it for a bit before Eileen was tired and ready to head home.  We rested for a bit before walking to a nearby restaurant for dinner and then Eileen walked back to the hotel and Dan and I walked to Safeway to get some groceries for Sunday.  

Saturday was also Evelyn's performance with her Moonstar Acro group.  Thankfully I was able to watch a video of her performance and she did an amazing job - including nailing her no-hands cartwheel.  It was fun and she's had a great time with these girls!  

Today, we checked out of our hotel and went to church, then drove back to the hotel to get the airpods Dan had forgotten, then we really began our drive down to Monterey area.  After getting into our airbnb, we made dinner and took a walk on the beach and then relaxed for the evening!   Just a few days left, but Eileen's most anticipated part is tomorrow!  Hopefully all continues to go well! 

Countdown to Summer Fun

The kids are getting down to the end of school finally.  On Monday, James and his friend Milo were officially awarded the trophies for their bridge that they designed and built out of toothpicks.  They did an awesome job and were so excited to win!  It's been fun getting to play and walk home with the boys, they tell me all about their day and ask about my day.  And it's a little sad to realize that next school year James will be going to middle school and I won't get this afterschool time with him anymore.  Hopefully he still likes to tell me about his day though.  :)  

Eileen and Anna finished up their classes this week, and Anna went on a sewing kick.  She has been sewing clothes all week.  She made Eileen's corset and 2 skirts for her.   Now, she's working on another corset for a friend of hers.  It's fun to see her learning and growing confident and having fun creating.  

Water Polo has been fun this week.  The kids are doing well and getting better all the time.  And I'm finally starting to notice a difference in my endurance when I'm in the field.  Since I scrimmage in the field with the girls and mostly in the field at open polo on Saturday, I have noticed that I'm not getting as tired as quickly!  We've had a good turn out at masters and I've been playing pretty well!  

This week has mostly been getting as much ready as possible for our trip with Eileen next week.  Lots of running errands and lots of getting things in order.  Anna had an overnight trip with some of her good friends from church Friday and Saturday and got home just in time to change and head out to the dance.  Aaron had 2 separate parties with friends from church on Saturday, so he skipped the dance and went to that instead.  Evelyn got together with friends to get ready for the dance and then went to the dance and David and I went to the birthday party of one of his friends.   And that was just Saturday evening.  Saturday morning, Dan and I went to the temple to be with Isaac as he took out his endowment, then we picked up the kids and met up with the family at a park to play and have lunch.  Dan's parents were in town for the temple trip, but weren't able to stay with us, so we had a nice time visiting with them too.  Saturday evening, I went to open polo, I hadn't been able to go to Parkrose, and I'm not going to get to play for another week and a half, so I wanted to play one last time.  We had lower numbers than usual, but still enough to play a full 6 on 6 - but only a couple subs.  It was a lot of fun though!  

Today we had biscuits for breakfast for Father's Day, then headed to church.  After church, we headed home for dinner and fun.  We had told David that we would celebrate his birthday early since we would be gone for his birthday.  He was so excited, he kept asking all afternoon when we could celebrate.  Evelyn made the Reece's Peanut Butter Cupcakes.  But we made them all wait until Grandma got in to celebrate.  Grandma's flight was a bit delayed, but by late afternoon, we were ready to celebrate.  

David and Anna both opened their presents and David especially was excited by it!  I got him a bunch of pencils and notebooks and crayons and markers and a pencil case for him to write his little notes and make his little books with.  

Then we ate the adorable cupcakes! 

We had a fun evening chatting and making a list of activities for the kids for the week and then playing games together.  The kids roped Dan into playing Killer Bunnies and I won!  Then we all converged on the craft room and chatted and crafted! 

At church today, David leaned over to me and says "Aaron is starting to get a moustache" And as I was about to say that that is what usually happens to teenage boys, he continued with "And so are you!"  At which point I busted up (as quietly as I could since we were in Sacrament Meeting) and then he looked at Anna and said she was too!  LOL  

Tomorrow morning, Dan and Eileen and I head out on our road trip - I'm looking forward to this time with Eileen and Dan and this time off of the rest of life!  

End of School Year Fun

We've had a crazy busy week.  As the school year winds up, there is always lots of stuff going on.  Monday, Anna wanted to come with me to get some cord to finish up her corset, so she came with me to the grocery store and we hit Hobby Lobby on the way.  The only problem was that she tried to eat all our food on the way home....  Well ok maybe not all - but she ate the bread for the garlic bread.... 

Tuesday, Aaron had his appointment to get his braces off.  This poor kid has been in and out of braces for years and years and years now, so it's wonderful to know he's finally really done.  His teeth look great!  He had another appointment later in the week to get his retainer, but he is now officially done!  

Wednesday was a water polo social for the kids club.  The family of one of the players has some property with a pond, so we had food and scrimmages in the pond and swimming and playing around.  Everyone had a great time and the food was yummy and it was a great chance to get to know each other a bit better.  

David loved paddling around on this little kayak - I was amazed with how well he steered it!  He was navigating all over the place and it was the perfect size for him.  He even was able to steer into some plants on the side of the pond to retrieve a ball.  

The kids all had a blast and were glad to get to play in the water with friends.   On the way home, David threw up.  He was able to get it into a bag.  At first we thought it was just the windy roads on the way home and he was getting motion sick, but he then threw up again later after he was in bed, so we kept him home from school.  He threw up again Thursday afternoon, so we kept him home Friday too, he hasn't thrown up since, but he's had diarrhea, but he seems to be feeling mostly better.  

Thursday was the middle school band concert.  Evelyn did an awesome job and it was fun watching her!  She made funny faces at me whenever she looked at me.  :) 

Friday, after going to the Zumba class in the morning, I walked back over to the school for James' demolition day.  Dan was working from home so he was able to stay with David.  James and his friend Milo have been working hard on their bridge project and this was the day to test the bridges so see how much weight they could hold.  The did an amazing job planning and building their bridge and it held up really well.  They are pretty sure they won, but their class was noisy, so she didn't announce the winner and is making them wait until Monday.  It was so fun to watch them!  

Saturday morning, bright and early, the kids went to the youth temple trip.  We had some of the new members of the ward join them too!  It was a beautiful way to spend the morning.

In the afternoon, Anna and I went to go play water polo at Parkrose High School.  Then Eileen had another potsticker day, but the only person who came was her friend Maise.  So we had fun making potstickers and singing along to ABBA!  

Church today was wonderful.  The choir met before church since we were singing in Sacrament meeting.  They performed wonderfully!  Anna accompanied on the organ and did an amazing job!  It was wonderful!   I taught a lesson in primary this week since the teachers were all supposed to go in for teacher training.  We had fun playing a game and talking and watching a short video.  The kids were so amazing and thoughtful with their answers and ideas!  It was fun! 

After church, we had lunch and talked with Grandparents and a bit of nap time.  Dan used his French Tart making kit to make some chocolate tarts.  They were amazing!!!  We had crepes for dinner and then we had friends over to play games in the evening.  

 Now that Anna has finished her corset, she is looking for other projects to make, so she is making a skirt for Eileen.  And then wants to do Eileen's corset.  

Memorial Day and More

Monday morning, I went to work out, then we headed to the Olsen's for a Memorial Day breakfast.  We had a great time eating yummy food and hanging out with friends.  The kids especially loved the chickens and their tiny eggs.  

After, we went home to pack up to go to the beach for the afternoon.  We went out to Rockaway Beach.  It was a beautiful day and we had fun, but it was also rather cold and windy - but it was great for flying kites!  We spent a bit of time wandering around Rockaway too and then headed home.  

Our week proceeded normally from there, School during the day and water polo in the evenings.  Anna and Aaron had their band concert on Wednesday.  The Mountainside band programs are really amazing.  The music was fabulous and they did an amazing job!!!  

Thursday was water polo for Anna, Aaron, Evelyn and I.  Dan and Eileen had another play to go to, this one not nearly as good as the last two, but still much better than the first couple.  Eileen found it rather dull - but it was a mystery and she's never really liked mysteries.  

This weekend has been NUTS.  The Newberg Summer tournament was this weekend and Evelyn got to play her first real games.  She did a great job and had a lot of fun!  She's improving so quickly!  Anna also played well.  Aaron was only in one game since most the boys games were on Sunday and the kids just did Friday/Saturday.  

Evelyn's first game on Saturday was a 7 am which meant she had to be there at 6:30 so we had to get up at 5:45.  On a Saturday....  Then we left from that and went home for a bit before taking Evelyn to her Encore Auditions.  It's pretty rare for Freshmen to get in, and they are in much more need of boys than girls, but she did well on her audition and we will find out in a couple weeks if she got in.  If not she can try again next year and it will be a higher chance of her getting in.  

Then I headed out to Parkrose to play water polo for a bit and had fun, then got home in time to get things ready for Eileen's potsticker party.  We invited some people over to learn to make potstickers and we had a fun time making (and eating) yummy food and chatting.  After, our family headed to the Ward BBQ for dinner and fun and friends.  When Eileen was done, we went home to get younger kids to bed and older kids off to activities.  Anna had a end of year social for Encore, Aaron had his water polo game and Evie and I went to open polo.  We had a fun and tiring evening and finally got home late and crashed.  

I was looking forward to getting to sleep in a bit Sunday morning since church didn't start until 10:30 and it was fast Sunday, but my brain woke up around 7 and wouldn't shut off again.  Church was wonderful - fast and testimony meeting was beautiful.  Choir went well - just need a few more people to come!  

Tonight was the seminary graduation.  Eileen is officially done with seminary!  She was also asked to lead the music for the meeting and Anna was asked to play.  My kids are so talented!  It was neat to be there and while Eileen didn't much care for any of it, I'm glad I got to see it.  

Eileen was house/dog sitting for Sandi this week, but she needed to be here for the Seminary graduation and church, so we brought Popcorn up to our house for the last couple days before Sandi get back.  Popcorn has been super snuggly and sweet and even helped me lose the game we checked out from the library....  

David is loving reading and writing.  Today he wrote a letter to Grandpa and wrote cute little notes for people and stuck them all over.  And at bed time, he read to me instead of reading to him - he read the whole thing by himself - he read Go Dog, Go.  Since it's June, he got his Birthday Buck from primary today, he was so excited to take it to the bishop and get his birthday present.  He has been using it all day to write notes and put stickers on stuff.