Jelly Belly Factory

For most of July, I have had what seemed like PMS, but turns out I had KHAS which is, "Kids Home All Summer" disfunction. Apparently, PMS and KHAS have the same symptoms. Previous summers, I have planned out the weeks making sure we did something each day like going to the park, library, bike rides etc. It was exhausting, but my kids loved it.

It was my solution for CJ, who constantly needed someone to do anything with (Ben says that's ADD for you!). The only thing she seemed to do on her own was watch TV or play the computer. When I would try to get her to read a book, she would cry and give me the hardest time. It was a battle.

This year, CJ has been awesome occupying her time. I find her reading on her own, all the time. When she is bored, she trys to think of something to do. Since she has been so awesome, I have become more lazy. And since I have become more lazy, the kids fight all day. And since the kids fight all day, I am grumpy and unpleasant.

I am such a "all or nothing" person. I either do it all or I don't do it at all. I've decided one field trip a week will be great for the kids and not too overwhelming for me. Heck, if they are going to fight all day, why not do it in a fun place? Maybe I can get people to stare at me and wonder "What kind of Mom let's her kids cry in public?" It can be my own little secret game.

Really, the kids are somewhat better when we do something. Our field trip this week was visiting the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. They give free tours of the facility and yummy samples along the way. I forgot to bring my camera (uggh!) and so I found some pictures online.

We got to wear these awesome hats throughout the tour. Xander had a jacket and hood on during the tour and was so funny because he wore his hat on top of his hood. Man, I wish I would have remembered my camera!

At the end of the tour, they give everyone a small bag of jelly bellys. That, of course, was the best part of the tour for the kids! Down in the store, you could buy belly flops, which were jelly bellys that were the wrong size, disformed, or connected to another. I thought that was cool.

So little field trips may cure my KHAS disfunction, but what would really do the trick is if we lived in a subdivision with a ton of kids. I would love that!

Next week, we'll be going to the zoo and the week after, it's Disneyland! This summer is flying by so fast. I can't believe it's almost August! The kids start school August 25th. It feels like the school year starts earlier each year!

Swim Lessons

Since moving to California, I have felt the importance of learning how to swim even more. Last year when we lived in Alameda, I put CJ and Mia in swimming lessons. I was so proud of CJ and how brave she was jumping off the diving board. This year, the area that we live in, everyone swims. It seems like everyone has a pool in their backyard or community. Swim team is also pretty big here.

I was able to put Xander, Mia and CJ all in swim lessons this year. It was awesome! Xander cried the first day. When I say cried, I don't mean shedding little tears, I mean screaming his head off where I'm sure there were parents thinking, "Someone take that child away!"

He had a wonderful teacher who endured his screaming and helped him anyways. By the next day, he had no problem getting into the water thanks to his teacher! I thought it was adorable that he would put on goggles. No one else in his class wore them and I'm sure his teacher didn't make him either.

I was so happy with his progress, that I wish I had the money to keep him in lessons all summer! He was great!

Mia is a fearless tough kid! She is also very stubborn and wants to do EVERYTHING by herself! This is the girl who taught herself how to ride a bike! I debated on what level she should be in and to play it safe, put her in a Beginner class.

After watching what she could do, I decided that I could have put her in the next class up. It would have pushed her to try harder but the class that she was in was also fine. She learned how to swim under water and use her "ice cream scooper" arms. I was so proud of her and what she could do.

CJ also did a wonderful job! She was able to increase her swimming skills and techniques. I was secretly listening to the tips her instructors were giving her hoping that I could learn something too. I'm not a great swimmer at all. I never learned how to properly swim and breathe. I love that my kids are learning, makes me want to take a class!

We will be definitely taking swimming classes next year!

Camping in De Valle

We tried out camping again and this time, we remembered our sleeping bags! We forgot some minor things like syrup and pillows but overall much better! This time we organized a group of families and went to Del Valle Regional Park which is located in Livermore. It's about an hour away and couldn't have been more perfect.

This is our tent, but not our kids! I was not very good at taking pictures at all this trip. I always hesitate in bringing my expensive camera if I don't have a safe place for it. I didn't want it to set in the hot car when I wasn't using it. So we used Ben's camera and unfortunately, I only took a few. I am SO spoiled with my camera it is hard to use others.

We enjoyed eating dinner together and roasting marshmallows. Get this, I have learned some new ways to eat s'mores. We thought we were pretty clever putting marshmallows between fudge covered graham cookies. Some friends use nutter butters which was delicious! They also use Ghirardelli carmel filled chocolates. Sinful indeed!

We played volleyball and had two injured players. I guess it's to be expected at our age!

I loved that our kids had tons of fun playing with friends. CJ had fun being a "small adult". She has informed me that she is not a little kid anymore. We also played Kubb.

I think the highlight of our trip was going to the beach. The water was surprisingly warm and the kids played for hours. The only drawback was that it was a gravel beach and had NO SAND!

And. . .days after getting back from the trip, we realized we left our awesome kick boards and floaty! Dang it! I loved those things! Oh well, I'm sure we made someone else's day.

When we got home, we unloaded the car and I think Ben and I passed out! I have a deeper appreciation for my parents because we went camping all the time when I was a kid. Camping takes so much out of you, but was SO much FUN!

CJ's Famous-We just need Proof!

Hey Friends and Family! Awhile back, CJ was invited to be on a Disney 365 promo for the video game Toy Story 3. She got to meet some Disney Stars and play the video game at Pixar. Some friends at church have said they have seen CJ on the Disney Channel, but we don't get that station.

It will be a clip probably in between the shows. If anyone gets Disney Channel and can Tivo it for us, that would be awesome! We haven't been able to see CJ on TV yet. Unlike Mia, they haven't put it online.

Abby and Kameron's Book

I made Abby and Kameron a coffee table wedding book. It was so fun to make! I also felt super clever when I scanned my reception dress for the cover!

And then if that wasn't enough, I thought of an awesome idea and used the broach that Abby had on her bouquet of flowers for the cover and backcover too! I felt pretty brilliant.

FRONT

BACK

You can check out a preview of the book. . .

Untitled | Make Your Own Book

Fourth of July Baby

We celebrated Zoey's birthday with a bang! First, we watched fireworks with a bunch of friends the night before. We haven't seen fireworks on the fourth of July it seems like forever. I thought Zoey would freak out with the loud noises, but she was great. I think mostly because of the loud noises and music before the show. She was already used to it.

Then on Sunday, we invited people over for a BBQ in Zoey's honor. Let me tell you how easy it was to think of things to get and make. It's pretty easy when there are decorations for the Fourth everywhere.

Here's the cake. CJ said, "Are there 80 stars on the flag?" So, okay, I got carried away with the tiny stars. One of my friends asked me if I got this cake at Costco. Turns out, Costco and I had the same idea. I'm sure mine was cuter.



I think Zoey was confused when everyone started singing to her, but that didn't matter when she was handed a cake all to herself.






There was no confusion there as she immediately dug into her cake. She is the first of the kids that I can remember going to town. The others would just poke at it and stick there finger in.

She got so many cute things for her birthday. Thank you everyone! One of my friends made her a homemade tutu. I can't tell you how excited I am to take pictures of her in it!

Happy Birthday Zoey!

Highlights from our Utah Visit

We got to visit Ben's family in Utah for about a week and a half. It was SO much fun! Makes me want to live closer or better yet, for everyone to move out by us!

We left at midnight on a Thursday and drove straight through! Ben pretty much did all of the driving and didn't even sleep. I slept for a few of hours and then did the last four hours of the drive.

My favorite part of the trip was seeing all of the family. There are about 20 cousins for my kids to play with. I seriously felt like I didn't see my kids for days. I basically fed and clothed them and that was it. Pretty much like heaven!

We were very, very busy always on the go doing something. I was exhausted every day and even had to take some naps to survive, but I loved every minute of it!

Here our some HIGHLIGHTS in no particular order:

SONIC-Since moving to California, we have missed Sonic and their lemon berry slushes. No one loves slushes like we do. We had to get one of these!

No one.
DI-It's funny how awesome DI is now that we have moved away. While living in Utah, we only occasionally went to DI. Now that we have moved, it's one of our stops.
FRIENDS-We were lucky to see the Crenshaws and the Wootens. The Crenshaws are long time friends that we met while living in Orem. The Wootens are friends from Alameda who just happened to move to Pleasant Grove around the same time we moved to Concord. For some reason, I didn't bring my camera at either time. Lucky for me, I do have pictures of the Wootens. They just happen to be one of my favorite families to photograph. Loved visiting with all of our friends even if our visits were short.

FAMILY-We got to visit my Aunt, Uncle, cousin and her husband up in Bountiful. I loved catching up with them. My Aunt Patty reminds me of my Mom in so many ways. The way she talks and the way she looks makes me homesick for my Mother! My sister Autumn was also able to visit us and brought goodies for all of the kids and Ben and I. I think she's working at becoming the "favorite aunt". She's off to a good start!



Toy Story 3-We watched Toy Story 3 with all of Ben's family, aunt and uncles, grandma and grandpas and the Wootens. It was a very special treat to have so many people there for Ben. We all cheered when we saw his name in the credits! Zoey even fell asleep and so I got to stay the entire time!
My Ring-For over a year I have had a missing diamond on my wedding band. I decided to take it in and get it cleaned and rhodium (is that right?)



Cousins-Our kids had SO much playing and playing and playing with their cousins. One day they all got together and made bottlecap necklaces (Thanks Sarah!) and played on the slip and slide (Thanks Hannah!). I just love all my nieces and nephews.



Check out those cute bums!


The sky in Eagle Mountain was so beautiful, but not as beautiful as this little girl!

We roasted gigantic marshmellows. I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but the marshmellows were enormous to say the least.

Thanks to Joe and Andy for letting us stay practically the entire time at their house. We had tons of fun staying with you!

PIZZA-I thought Ben was pretty obsessed with pizza until I found out that Joe has a pizza day every week. They had a pizza cook off and made some delicious pizza. I think it should be a tradition every time we come into town. Who won? And Joe, what's up with that look on your face? Is that your Rico Suave look?

PICTURES-I got to take family pictures and wedding pictures for Ben's family and sister. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed taking their pictures and how nervous I was. You would think I wouldn't be as nervous taking pictures for family, but I was.

After processing the wedding pics, I can work on these:


WEDDING-What a treat it was to be there when Abby and Kameron got married in the temple. I loved seeing all of the family gathered together, it brought tears to my eyes. When you marry someone, you marry their family. I feel blessed to have married this family of great people.

Oh the pictures I still have to process. Next on my list are the reception. Here are a couple of my favs.




We had such a great time visiting with everyone! Let's do it again!