Disneyland

  Kade has been traveling A LOT  lately!  So the other day he said that he had to go to Anaheim and that maybe the kids and I should join him.  Since he has been gone so much I thought that it would be fun.  We made all the arraingments and decided to keep it a secret from the kids.  So at 5:30 am we got the kids up and headed to the airport.  They were tired, confused and excited but maybe more tired and confused.  Disneyland was one of their guesses but we would neither confirm nor deny their guesses.

The sad thing was, that by the time we got to Disneyland they had spent way too much time fighting and bugging each other so just before we got there they both got into trouble and neither of them was very happy.  We had pictures of their overjoyed faces NOT as we got there but because of problems I will not go in to all our trip pictures got deleted!  So I found a picture from a previous and happier Disneyland trip to post instead.

Don't get me wrong, we did end up having a really fun trip but I think that we may not be taking our kids on any fun vacations for awhile and then maybe they will appreciate it more when it does happen.

Big Month

In my family September has always been a big month.  My sister's birthday is the 20th and my parents' anniversary is the 25th.

In March when my sister's husband and my husband had birthdays I listed how many things that they had in common.  Well I can't list that many things for my sister and I.  But  I could probably compile a list of how opposite we are.

We have different hair color, eye color and skin color.  We are different heights and shapes.

We graduated from different schools, she is adventurous, I am a homebody.  She's an athlete and I am a klutz.

She's always laughing,  I'm always crying!  (actually I just hate to have my picture taken so in my mind if my eyes are shut, it's not really happening!)

I guess we do have two things in common (or so we have been told).

This is our parents, posing next to their first car. And from the looks of the hand placement, they are still getting along after 45 years!

Happy Birthday Nicole!  Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!  I love you all.

First day of school

So I know that I am about a month late on this post, but better late than never right?  It was the night before school started and part of me was so sad that McKinna was going to be in kindergarten.  I was thinking of long lonely days  filled with silence.  The other part of me was excited,  I was thinking of long days filled with silence.  After the first day reality hit and I realized that kindergarten is so short I drop the kids off, go to the gym, shower and then it is back to school to pick up McKinna.  Needless to say I still have a hard time finding the time to keep up on my blogging.  So for this year that will be my excuse for why I can't keep up.  Next year I am sure that I will be able to come up with another excuse but at least I have a year to do it!

McKinna and her friend Ali on the big day!  I am not sure that I was ever so small that I could fit in my own backpack but from the looks of it these kids could.

This is the second day of school and the first day that Liam got sent home with a note stating that his clothes were not acceptable.  When I asked him why he got sent to the office and came home with a note he said while pointing to his clothes "because they did not agree with this!"

School has barely started and I am already not happy with it.  They have changed a few things this year, one of them being the so called "uniform".  The other one being the drop off/pick up system.  The first day of drop off was the pits and at one point the kids said "Mom isn't that a bad word?"  and my response was "yes, and you'll be lucky if that is the only one you hear from me this morning!"

Welcome Krew

We could not go home from Utah until we saw Krew.  He was so cute it was worth the wait.

My kids have been begging to see him since his arrival  early this summer.  I am not sure that Jaden was too thrilled to share the affection of two of his biggest fans.

He tried super hard not to crack.

But he couldn't hold out and we did get to see those dimples!

We had to recreate this picture because the last time we took it Krew had not made his grand entrance.
He seems to be a bit stunned!

Kiley was there too so we got a bonus.  Kelsey and Kiley both have that "I just got back from 10 days in Montana" glow.

We really had a great trip from start to finish.   We got to see a lot of family and friends plus do a lot of fun stuff,  I would say that overall it was a successful family trip.

One day while we were at my parents house during the ID leg of our trip, the kids where sitting up at the breakfast bar eating breakfast of course, and we were all sitting at the dining room table behind them which means to them that we are not in the room.  Anyway while they were there in their own world McKinna turns to Liam and says "let's do cheers", then she raises her glass and says "to the open road!".  I don't know where she gets this stuff but I think that I could raise my glass to that sentiment too.

   

Fun at the Gateway

When we left ID, we headed to UT to spend time with friends,  plus Kade had to fly from SLC to Spokane for work (because it would not be a family vacation if Kade didn't have to leave in the middle). So while Kade was gone we went to the Gateway to play in the fountain.

We went with are friend's the Croasmons.  This is what we did after going to the Aquarium in SLC.  I guess the theme for the day was "Water".

This picture of Liam getting squirted in the face cracks me up!  I don't know if a mother is supposed to laugh at such things but this mother does.

This kid cracks me up, even when he is not getting squirted in the face!

This one cracks me up too!

This is our friend Lizzy.  Isn't she a doll!

The Canal

When I was a kid one of my favorite summer activities was to float down the canal with my cousins.  I thought that everyone in ID spent the summer floating the canals but my friend Nancy who is from there told me that she has never done it.  I think that maybe she is not really from ID she just says that she is to be cool!  And if she  really is from there well than next summer I expect to see her in a canal somewhere!

I think that McKinna was not really sure where she was going to end up but she didn't seem to worried about it.

Liam was somehow assigned to a very "manly" inner tube.  (at least it wasn't pink)

Diesel really wanted that duck, but that duck really didn't want Diesel.  Survival instincts won out and the duck got away but it was close!

This is just Kade taking a brake between feedings! (if you want to know what that means you'll have to check out Kade's blog of our trip).

I don't think that this horse was too happy that we were in his space. Or maybe he was just jealous cause he wanted to be in the canal too.

McKinna got a free lift from the Float organizer also known as my cousin Monica.  Thanks Monica for the fun trip down the canal and down memory lane!

City of Rocks

We went to City of Rocks but we had to stop and ride horses first.

I think McKinna thought that this was as good as the real thing.

City of Rocks is really an amazing place and I don't think that the pictures do it justice.  I wanted to take my kids there, I just wasn't sure if they would find a big bunch of rocks as exciting as I do.

Luckily they got a real kick out of climbing and exploring.

It was a fun day,  the kids thought that they were real adventurers!

The Snake

My sister and her husband Mark took us to the river one day.  I was just going to ride in the boat but Mark was pretty insistant that I take a ride on the "molecule".  He assured me that he would take it easy and not dump us.  Well he didn't dump us but I am not so sure that he took it easy,  after that ride the kids said "wow that was a much better ride than our first one!"

My sister got me going in a Kayak.  It was not as easy as it looks but it was fun.

Liam really wanted to try it and off he went.  When he first got in and the current started to take him,  he just yelled out "tell me when you want me to come back!"  I think he thought his final destination was going to be the ocean.

Liam picked up Kayaking better than we thought he would and my sister kept saying to him "wow Liam you are doing better than your Mom did!"  And all I have to say about that is "screw you sista, screw you!"

Kade got to water ski, which I don't think that he has done in the 11 years that we have been married.  I was impressed he got up the first try and stayed that way until he was too pooped to go on.

Mark took a ride on his wake board, after he skiied and it was pretty obvious that it wasn't his first time!

It was a great time on The Snake but I think that we were all a little tired by the end,  I am pretty sure that Liam was asleep under that Hat.