Kick-a-thon...

Wow! It was a success and boy was it fun. Ben did 100 kicks for kids and then we watched others do some demonstrations and samples of what they've learned. Really amazing. They had games, raffles, food and lots of fun. It was packed with people too. Overall they raised over $4973.00 for Children's Hospital. Pretty cool.

Sponsors...

Ben's karate school is having a grand re-opening this weekend and they are doing a kick-a-thon with the proceeds going to charity. Ben's job for the kick-a-thon is to get sponsors for it. He took his paper out today and asked our neighbors for sponsorships. He must've said something right because he got 3 of them (out of 3) to sponsor him! He showed them some kicks and after they said yes he gave them a leaf... I think it has something to do with saying thank you in a different way. He still has a couple of days to collect money so we'll see how he does! Thanks to those of you who have sponsored him!

Beach day...

We tried to meet up with our unschooling group this morning but we haven't been very often and I just didn't recognize anyone while we were there (there were thousands of people, including lots of kid groups). But the kids had so much fun together. It did make me a little nervous letting them go in the water without me, the water was wild and rough and they kept getting swept north. Ben helped Hannah while in the water, they held hands and jumped over waves. I was able to keep an eye out on them and we were right next to the lifeguard tower. Noah was more into playing in the sand but at one point he warmed up to getting his toes wet with me and had a blast getting splashed by the waves. After that though he wanted his suit off and get back into regular clothes to go home. He is always the one that is ready to go home right when we get there. I hope he grows out of it, because we love the beach!

Hannah and Ben playing in the water together

Noah eating two cheese sticks

Each one doing their own thing...some parallel play

Road construction...

We were homebound today, by choice though. The kids wanted to keep an eye out for the road resurfacing machines that were scheduled on our street today. We had parked our cars down the street just in case we needed them. It was very exciting and interesting to see how they resurfaced the street, it was much like woodworking. First they sanded the street down, not really sanded it but they did go around and make sure the bumps got leveled, then they cleaned it off with the street cleaner. And finally they went down the street with the tar machine that spewed black out the back and spread it smooth. A couple of men followed with hand-held smoothers to make sure it got on evenly on the edges of the road.

Ben went up and asked the men what it was made of and came back telling me that it was oil and sand. We guessed how many times the truck would have to go down the street, Ben said 4 and Hannah said 3. They went by 3 times and then were done...Hannah guessed correctly. The pic below is of their 3rd stripe down the road. All the neighbors came out to watch too, we weren't the only ones watching.

Holey mouth...

So it didn't take long for that second tooth to come out and today I got a picture of his holey mouth. Tooth fairy did come last night :) and Ben is happy!

Snaggle tooth...

Ben had a super loose tooth until today. He says that he was playing on the bed and fell on the pillow, the tooth popped out of his mouth and landed on his tummy. Perfect catch! So he has a hole in his mouth now that he can stick his tongue through…and he has a little lisp.

Another visit from the tooth fairy...

Fire expo...

Since we have a little firefighter in our house we decided to check out the firefighter expo at the Qualcomm Stadium today. We have heard about it every year that we've lived here and have wanted to go but it always ran right into nap time. Today we decided that we needed to go and we'll have a late nap. It was great. We started the day off at the firefighter race where they have to go through a firefighter obstacle course, the kids seemed to like that but then...they really got up quick when we said "let's go on". There were tons of things to do for the kids, lots of vendor giveaways and some free stuff to see. Ben, Hannah and Marissa went from table to table and gathered all they could and stuffed it in their backpacks (handouts, free pens and pencils, candies, coloring books, magnets...). They went through and checked their out loot when we got home too. There were fire engine rides too but it was too late when we spotted them on our way out. Hannah did get on the old fire steam engine and I got a picture of all of them on the back of it too. We also watched a demonstration of how quickly a fire can spread and how quickly fire extinguishers react and put fires out. That was cool.

Here they are fighting fires in the little house.

Noah coming out of the firefighter obstacle course (for kids)

On the back of the fire steam engine

Olympic training center...

With our homeschool field trip group we took a self-guided tour of the Olympic center this morning. Ben found a climbing structure immediately and started to climb it. One of the highlights of the tour was getting a little intro to archery by one of the resident athletes. She even passed around one of her $30 arrows for the kids to see. Otherwise we didn’t talk to anyone while we were there. There was supposed to be a video but as we arrived there was an important Olympic meeting being held so we couldn’t view the video ☹ But we walked around and saw the center and the different areas that the athletes practice on. Very nice facility. We had lunch together and came home, Noah was asleep when we got home. He had been a little crabby at the center but I think he needed food (left in the car). Overall, it was fun ☺

Ben scaling the torchHannah trying to hold the arrow
Noah checking it out.

Old Town...

My sister invited us to go to Old Town and check out what they have. Heather can’t remember ever going but I know she’s been. Anyway, we were there to check out the carpenter and the blacksmith and anything else we could find that was interesting and fun. We got there a little earlier than they did so we went through a gem store, Noah almost broke something as we were heading out the door but otherwise they kept there hands to themselves while we were checking out fossils and gems. Ben was impressed with a large snail fossil and Noah loved the little gem eggs displayed in baskets.

Our next stop was in a stable across the way, we checked out the stablehands living quarters, stagecoaches and learned about branding irons. There were baskets, pottery and dolls on display that the people used to make. Ben really liked the Indian headdress.

Then we went into the Casa de Estudillo and looked into the different rooms and learned about how the people who lived there lived day to day. Ben and Hannah thought it was interesting that each room had a little pot by the bed and that they didn’t have running water but a well. They liked to spot the wash bowl in each room too.

We found my sister and checked out some stores before we headed over to the carpenters table. When we got there they tried to take some wood joints apart and found a coffin and pretended that they were being dead inside it. We found the blacksmith and he was talking about the process of making things with iron and then made a nail for us to see. It was cool but a dirty job for sure.

We will definitely go back to check out more stuff. We have to go see the one room school house (& more) because it is so much like the one that Laura goes to in The Little House on the Prairie that we are reading together.

Watching the blacksmith

Checking out the nail
Canon
Stagecoach riders
Trying on hats in the hat store

More lost teeth…

This time Ben lost his 3rd tooth but with another loose one still in his mouth I’m sure the tooth fairy will have to visit again another time this week! Busy fairy…

Making a goofy face to show his lost tooth

Boogie boarding...

We went to the beach this evening for my sister’s birthday and the kids wanted to bring their boogie boards. We took the boards a couple of days ago when we went to La Jolla Shores and Ben was getting pretty good there. Tonight the water was rough and it was tough for Daddy to help them. They got to wade and boogie board for quite a while until the area we were in turned into ‘surfing only’ waters. Then Marissa showed off her stuff on the board, my brother (Chris) is teaching her how to surf and she is really learning quickly. Ben wants to learn how to surf and wants to learn now. He has a wetsuit that he was given by a neighbor, that is pretty new and his size so he thinks he’s all ready. It was cold and late but no one wanted to leave the water, they always have so much fun at the beach.

Park with friends…

We met up with a close friend of mine from high school, they currently live in London and are here visiting. Between the three of us (her sister came along) we had 7 children under the age of 7. It was mayhem and they all had so much fun. We miss these friends so much but are so thankful that we get to see them once a year. Their daughter is my God-daughter (bottom left corner of pic) and she is soooo cute, her son is super cute too (sitting net to Ben-top R), he has an English accent ☺ that is super adorable. We snapped a picture of all the kids together as we were leaving…no one is looking at my camera but at least we can see faces!

Sand castles...

We went to Imperial Beach today to see the big sand castles. We didn't anticipate the big crowd and were caught off guard with having to walk (it's been a long time since I've been). But we made it, saw a few sand castles but the kids were more interested in going in the water. They love the water. Here they are near the pier (which they weren't interested in). Noah was in his swim outfit for about 5 minutes before he had to go to the bathroom and then that was it, he wouldn't put it back on again. So he went naked on the beach and no one really cared :)

Home...

Well, Ben and Hannah got home a little bit ago and they had fun! They went swimming in Nanny's pool for a long time, then they went to Bed, Bath and Beyond for an aero bed because they were arguing over who was going to sleep in the one she had, then they ate dinner and watched a few movies until 10pm. They were up late but I think that was part of Nanny's plan, to tire them out so that they could fall asleep easily. They woke up, had breakfast and came home with some chewy fruit snacks for Noah. That made him happy.

While they were gone Noah couldn't stop asking about them and when are they coming home? At one point last night I said that they were coming home after breakfast so Noah said that he wanted to go and eat breakfast right now. He missed them so much but since they returned they have made him cry several times. He is happy they are home but I could do without the crying and screaming. It was so quiet while they were gone. We were trying to remember what it was like only having Ben at home, he was an only child for 17 months. But neither of us really remember it very well. I missed them too, I did miss the noise, the screaming and the messes all around the house. Hard to believe but I did.

They can't wait to do it again but we'll have to see how Nanny feels about it. Maybe we'll invite someone to sleep over here.

No call...

I thought they'd call to say good-night. I told Hannah to call before they got in bed but they must be having so much fun. Maybe it's best without a phone call home, I don't know. Maybe they are too distracted to remember... I'm sure they're having fun. Noah misses them so much! It seems like he needs a lot of our attention, kinda like when Ben was little. He always needed us to play with him. We'll see in the morning!

Sleep-over...

Ben and Hannah left a few minutes ago for their first sleepover ever at Nanny's house. We figured it would be a good place to start for them because their aren't any other distractions (ie other kids) at her house and they go to her house pretty often. They really want their cousins and friends to sleepover. We asked Nanny on Tuesday, if they could sleep-over and she said yes. Since that moment we have had a constant stream of questions as to when Saturday is. Today was a hard day to wait for too since she came to get them in the afternoon. They found things to do though. We got them all packed up, they wanted to take everything, and ready to go. They left with two small bags each, sleeping bags and a therma-rest. They are going to have so much fun...we'll just have to see how Mommy does without them ;)

Tooth fairy…

Has to come again! Hannah lost her 2nd tooth today. She already has a tooth growing in so this one must’ve needed to come out for a while. She is thrilled that the tooth fairy is coming to see her tonight and leave her some money (she already knows because she remembers what happened last time). The tooth is so small, we actually had to stick it in an envelope right away so that we didn’t loose it. Hannah decorated the envelope, of course.

And Ben has a loose one so I think he's next...

The one she lost is the one on the right

Restaurants....

For some reason my kids, other kids and restaurants don't mix. When we go (just us 5) to a restaurant they are totally manageable and actually do very well. But when we go to a restaurant with other family members they go totally wild and don't listen. We don't like celebrating in restaurants for this reason. But for some reason my family loves to go out to dinner for birthdays and other celebrations. (I know, it's fun and special)

So tonight was Uncle Chris's birthday and we went to a sushi restaurant with 15 other family and friends. They were totally out of control and it isn't like we are trying to have a conversation with other adults either. We sit with them, Ben climbs all over, Noah stomps and marches with the chopsticks stabbing at air, Hannah is doing something else. Tonight we brought the DVD player and some movies, but that only worked for a little while because they couldn't hear it very well. So... we don't like restaurants with groups and we may just leave them home next time. They'll just have to miss the party, even though they love parties. We can't think of any other way to do it.

Noah and Ryan marching with chopsticks

A little quiet time...didn't last long...

Happy 4th...

We had a crazy day with a lot of running around but we managed the day pretty well. We went to Coronado for the parade that always lasts too long. The kids love it and they were quite concerned when they saw that it had already started when we got there. They didn’t want to miss it. They were on bikes and we (the parents) were on foot and Noah opted not to take his bike but to ride in the stroller! We found family and watched the rest of the parade, we only missed 1½ hours of it and still had that much time left to go of the parade. It was slow moving when we got there and the kids actually lost interest in the parade and began to climb a nearby tree. The good part was that it was pretty overcast for a good portion of it all, not too hot.

After the parade we met up with some of my friends from High School said our goodbyes (they were leaving town) and headed to one of my aunts’ houses for lunch. The kids love to play around Coronado and I really don’t worry about them playing around the block. My cousin’s step-kids are in town and they had bikes and scooters so they played with them all afternoon. Circling the block, going across the street to the playground… They had fun. It was hard to reel them in to go somewhere else.

We headed to the park to meet-up with my 8th grade classmates but I got the time wrong and almost everyone had already left. So we hung out at the park for a few minutes before we went back.

We went to Lake Murray to watch the fireworks. We haven’t braved the Coronado ones with the kids yet because it would mean that we would have to be there (in Coronado) until real late because of the traffic trying to get off the island all at once. So we have done the Lake Murray ones twice (including tonight) and tonight we weren’t impressed. They were so slow, Corey could count to 3 before the next one flew into the sky. The kids liked them and they were the first ones that Noah remembers. They had fun so that was worth it. Next year we may try something new.

Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Family of monkeys
Boys and dog looking over the wall
Fireworks
Ooooo Ahhhhh

Official...

Here is Ben getting his newly dyed belt back :) Officially a third section.

He's so proud...so are we!

Fair rides...

We went to the fair again today. This time Marissa, Ryan and their Mom came with us. We really tried to stay away from the rides as long as possible by going through the farm areas again. We went through some areas we hadn’t been to last time we came so it wasn’t repetitive. We went in the petting area and Noah touched the goats and sheep and even touched the little chick with one finger (like he was told). We shopped in the little grocery store so that the kids could find things that were made with different ingredients (corn, beans, chicken, beef…), they got a prize when they were done.

Boy are they thrill seekers. They wanted to go on all the rides, we put a cap on how many tickets we bought from the beginning and once they were gone, there weren’t any more. That was a good idea because they are easily addicted to them. Hannah loves to go on the fast rides, the rollercoasters and the ones that make her tummy tickle (kinda like me). Noah and Ryan really liked going on the semi trucks but especially loved the helicopter ride (they went on that twice). Ben and Marissa wanted to do everything.

They also got to do some games and won some prizes, the best being a little fish that now lives in our home. Thank you Marissa!

We checked out the Kids Best area and while it was empty (no people) the kids found some blow up instruments and put on a little show of their own for us to watch.

It was a great afternoon and we were pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn’t that packed with people…maybe it will be this weekend, but we won’t be going.

Noah watching the monster fire truck
Petting area
The drop
Semi truck drivers (Corey is getting on back)
Roller coaster lovers
Karaoke
Marissa on an elephant