Since August we have.....

Been relieved of all fault.....

 Grew enough hair for pigtails....

Started gymnastics....

Had a birthday.....

 Went on a 9 year old trip to see...

Some Olympians.

Grew and shaved off quite the beard...

Tortured the children by taking them on a hay ride...

Halloweened...

 Won the championship!!!!

Practiced reverence...

Had a concert...

Built a snowman...

Made some cookies...

Lost some teeth, on Christmas Eve!!!

Had fun getting presents!

Here's to better blogging in 2013!

Spring Break 2012

The kids and I drove out to California to visit my grandma this year for spring break. Jack and Isabella hadn't been out since the summer of 2007.  Sophie and I flew out in March of 2010.  It was clearly time for a visit.

My cousin and her two kids got to stop by and visit, which was so fun, we hadn't met her kids before and they are so cute.

After they left we hid Easter eggs all over the front yard.  Now, my grandma has a lovely big garden-filled back yard which would be great for hunting Easter eggs, except for one thing-we discovered a snake in the back yard the night before.  We managed to see it three times, and while it was certainly frightened of us, no one really wanted to reach their hands into various bushes.

We hid the eggs again and again until everyone had a chance to hide them and find them.  We managed to find all of the hidden eggs-no small feat.  The weather was beautiful and I could have spent all day outside.

The next day the kids and I drove through Berkeley to go into San Francisco.  We went over the Bay Bridge where we encountered an really bad accident.  A small pickup had a run in with a van and the pickup lost and left it's innards over three lanes of traffic.  There were all sorts of people trying to pry open the drivers side door which was mashed shut and the passenger was clearly injured and on the ground on the other side of the pickup.  The accident must have just happened as no emergency assistance was there yet.  I tried to distract the kids from looking, but we moved by so slow.  After we passed the scene, we headed across the bay bridge, this bridge is the big one.

  It goes across to Treasure Island (man made) and then into the city.  We drove through San Francisco and to the Golden Gate Bridge.

  There is a vista point at the far side where we got out and walked over part of the bridge. 

 I had Tessa in the wrap, and I don't know if Sophie could have made it the whole way.  Then we headed over the Richmond bridge.  Sophie really wanted to choose where we ate and I thought maybe she would see somewhere we hadn't been before and pick that-but no, she chose Applebee's.

Tuesday we planned to go to Tilden Park to ride the carousel and see the little farm and such, but it was raining and when we got there everything was closed.  In a bit of desperation we called Nate and had him google and few things so we could decide on an activity.  We decided to go to the Exploratorium in San Francisco and headed back into the city.

  It is a museum of science and experience and the senses and all sorts of fun things.  The kids loved it.  I think all day wouldn't have been long enough to see and try out everything.  We stayed until it closed and then walked around back to the Palace of Fine Arts.

  Jack took about 400 pictures in our two days in the city-I will let him have the camera more often, I certainly don't take that many.

Everyone was getting hungry, so I drove down to Fisherman's Wharf and we got out to find somewhere to eat.  The kids were all for Subway or In-and-Out, but I vetoed on the basis of going somewhere we can't go here at home.  We ate at Boudin, a sourdough bakery.  It was really yummy, Jack and I are big fans of sourdough and could have eaten twice as much I am sure.  The girls shared a cheese pizza on sourdough crust and it was so yummy.  

We then walked down to Pier 39 and went out to see the sea lions laying on the docks. 

 It was a bit rainy, so no real crowds.  Their was a giant cruise ship in port and the kids were totally fascinated by how big it was.  We got some salt water taffy and cookies on the pier and bought a few t-shirts and headed back to the car.  We then headed over to Lombard Street.  We drove down it and then through the city before heading back to my grandma's house.

The next day we stayed around my grandma's.  I hemmed some pants for her and we talked and talked.  I love hearing all her stories and histories and anecdotes.  I think we stayed up past eleven every night talking.

  She has all sorts of stories about my dad and his childhood that are new each time I visit.  She has a lot of family history gathered and knows a lot about her ancestors.  I love visiting her and love taking the kids there.

  California at this time or year is so lush and green and I always wonder why I don't live there.  The kids played with toys I played with when I was small.  They were reluctant to wander around the backyard too much with the garter snake back there. 

 They played dominoes and found an old ping pong set and made up games.  Sophie loves Grandma Penny and snuggled her and played with all the dolls and stuffed animals she could find.  

We had to head home on Thursday and drove through snow in the Sierra Nevada's.  The whole drive home is one long day in the car.  We were all happy to see Nate and be in our own beds, but all want to go back soon.

St. George

I some how missed doing a post on our only excursion this summer.  Isabella really wanted to see a production of The Little Mermaid when it was on Broadway in New York.  We talked about doing it for her nine year old trip.  However, it ended it's run and we didn't make it.  She's not nine yet.  Anyway, earlier in the year I saw advertising for Tuacahn Theater in St. George and they had the production down there.  So Nate and I planned a little getaway and didn't tell the kids until we were all in the car on the freeway.  They were pretty excited and had a great time.  We stayed in a hotel, which they always love, but this particular hotel had sliding glass doors from our room out to the pool.  The kids thought that was the coolest thing ever.

This was taken from our room.  It was the Howard Johnson, if any one needs a suite that sleeps six easily and has pool access, here ya go!

Nate and the three kids loved the show, no babes in arms or kids under three, so Tessa and I did this instead:

There is a movie theater across the street from the hotel.  It was opening weekend, so I didn't really think I would get into the movie, but I did, it totally wasn't sold out and Tessa and I weren't crowded at all.  She slept almost the whole time and didn't make a peep, which was lovely.

We also went to the Dinosaur Tracks Discovery site.  It was okay, but no where near as developed at The Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  The kids loved eating out a lot and we treated them to Dilly Bars at Dairy Queen, none of them remembered having those before.  It was a quick nice trip.

Sweet baby

Sophie is such a sweet baby. She is just starting to smile on purpose! It is incredibly difficult to capture on camera because the smiles are gone the instant we commend her on smiling. I stood on the scale with her a few days ago, and I think she is almost 10 pounds now! She is growing so fast. And last night she slept for almost six hours! So I am totally on a sleep high today, that is the most consecutive sleep I have had in a month! I am sure it isn't going to be a regular thing yet, but I will take what I can get. I can't believe how fast the last month has gone and whenever I look at her I think how fast this is going to go by. Then I see Jack and how big he is, he is almost up to my shoulder now, and realize how fast it really does go by. I am grateful for each moment I get to spend with these kids, they are so amazing!

I am getting antsy to start planning our next family vacation. We did go to California this past summer and had a great time, but as Isabella told me, it's not really vacation unless you stay in a hotel. And though I didn't tell her so, I am inclined to agree with her a little bit. We took it really slow in Cali because I was so pregnant and the drive was a bit more exhausting than usual. So it feels like it has been a long time since we have all been on a vacation. The kids of course want to go to Disneyland, which I am always up for. Jack mentioned that he would like to go to Yellowstone. I am up for anywhere. After all we won't be going anywhere till after the new year, and at that point Sophie will be even easier to travel with. I am a big fan of travelling with babies actually. I just pop them into the baby Bjorn and off we go. They are not prone to wandering off, and they have no opinion on where we eat or what we do. Everyone gets good breaks while the baby is nursing, so no over tiredness from me driving everyone to see as much as possible. I carried Bella in the Bjorn until she was 16 months old actually, and it really was my preferred way to travel. This is Bella at about 6 months old when we went to the Oregon Coast. Another thing I love about the Bjorn is how toasty it keeps baby when the weather is cold.

So, if anyone has any suggestions as to where to go, I am up for them. We are good with both road trips and flying vacations. I just want to start planning to go somewhere, so we have something fun to look forward to and work toward as a family....