Apple picking...

Last year we went apple picking with my sister and her kids. It was so much fun that we really looked forward to doing it again this year. And with our first theme for schooliing at home being apples, it fit right in! The orchard we went to last year didn't have any apples this year, so we found a different one. We tried Raven Hill Orchard in Julian. Nanny came with us. We packed up the car and headed out in the morning. It was chilly so we wore sweaters! It really hasn't been that chilly here so sweaters was a nice change.

We found the orchard and bought 2 bags to fill. It was great. The kids remembered how to pick apples off the trees from their lesson last year (lift and twist). I didn't remember, but they did. We found Empire apples, Jonathan and Golden Delicious. They were all yummy. Smaller than the ones in the stores but those are a little nicer because there isn't much wasted after a tiny apple, when the kids eat them. We walked up and down the aisles of apple trees searching for big ones, when we found some there were bug bites in them or they were beginning to rot. It was a fun game of hide and seek with the apples.

Towards the end of our apple picking experience, we ran into the owner making apple cider for a bunch of people, so we sat and watched for a while. What a treat! Ben and Hannah watched for a while.

After picking apples for a little over an hour we headed to the car for lunch. We just ate in the back of the car. The atmosphere was perfect for a tail-gate lunch. The winery next door was having a festival so there was a little music and even some funky people walking around. After lunch we headed to Julian for some apple pie at Mom's. There is always a huge line out the door and today was no exception. We waited for a spot to sit and enjoyed apple pie a la mode (with vanilla ice cream). Ben kept eyeing the caramel apple and ordered one of those instead of pie. He barely got through a little bit of the caramel with apple when he decided that he wasn't going to eat any of the apple. So he scraped the caramel off and left the apple. Gotta love kids.

When we got home we unloaded all the apples and the kids from the car. Noah finally fell asleep so we got him to bed. The bigger kids were tired from all the driving, Noah was cranky most of the day (very tired) but we all survived and brought home a huge bag of apples.

Enjoy the pics!

Rubio's

Tonight we went to Rubio's for dinner and Hannah got to thinking about "what if they close the doors and we get stuck inside for the night?" We started to think of different things that we would be able to do in the restaurant but the favorite thing to think about was how and where we'd be sleeping. I said that we could sleep on the tables, or on the stoves in the back (because they'd be warm). Then Ben looked up, spotted the palapas over our head and said that we could take that apart and use some of it for our bed then the rest could go on us for blankets. What about napkins for blankets? We'd need a lot of those. Hannah suggested that we sleep on the floor or on the counter or even the computers!! Boy that would be uncomfortable. They went on and on about different spots to sleep and then they thought about the morning. Boy would the people who came here for breakfast be surpised to see us sleeping on the floor!! We all laughed.

Water...

We had a very warm day today. It wasn't too hot but definitely warmer than it has been. The kids played soccer with Daddy and were all hot and sweaty this morning, so after he went to work I got the hose and put the sprinkler attachment on it and went after the kids. It was fun spraying them. They had a nice cooling off time and I got to do it! I sprayed the water up in the air and made it 'rain' on them and they loved to dance, or jump, around in the downfall. I also made the water come down like a waterfall and they found that it was cool to be inside and run through. After all of that watering we had lunch, boy did they have an appetite!

Library day...

Today we went to the library and found the non-fiction section. We sat down in the aisle and picked books out. Hannah and I had fun just looking through the books to decide which ones we would check out. Ben and Noah ran around mostly and had had enough of the library. I think we went too late, nezt time we will get there earlier so we don't get the crazys in the quiet library. We managed to pick out and check out more books than our bag could carry. Now we're off to read them!

1 month....

Noah will turn 2 in one month from today. I think we are noticing signs of his age. He yells and screams and demands things from us. Sometimes we can tell what he wants and others we both get frustrated with not understanding each other. He is a bundle of cuteness ready to pounce on you. He can take us down (meaning that he can tackle) if we are not ready. He loves life. He's such a joy. We can't wait for his birthday, we all already know what we are going to get him! And that is a first!!

Tiles....

We started the next phase of our backyard patio today. Last week we did the preliminary work for our work this weekend so we were able to get right to work today. We started tiling. We got about halfway through the patio section. The kids (who were with Nanny) came home just in time to help out a little. Ben loves helping out with any kind of house project we are doing. He wants to be right in the middle of it. Hannah will hang out with us and watch us work, sometimes she'll help but most of the time she plays alongside us. Noah was sleeping while we finished up for the day.

Rain!

We had a good bit of rainfall today. While we were waiting for the kids to be picked up it started raining again. It is always so exciting when rain falls with kids around. They are so interested in it and eager to touch it, jump in puddles, get out the umbrellas, get jackets on and watch it fall. I would rather sit on the couch and read a book. But today we are tiling the patio...in the rain. And the kids are being sent to Nanny's house for a few hours so we can get it started.

Screaming...

Noah is in the midst of a new phase. Every time we get in the car he screams and cries at the top of his lungs. It is not pleasant. It reminds me of when Ben was a newborn. He screamed when we put him in the carseat to go to the grocery store. It was not fun. Noah screams and cries until he throws up and that isn't fun either. It makes me not want to take him anywhere.
At first I thought it was only when I was in the passenger seat and we were going places all together and he couldn't have me all to himself. But Corey says that he does this even when I am not in the car.
I can't concentrate on driving when that happens. He needs to change his ways so that we don't become hermits and stay home all the time. I hope it's soon!

Wobbly...

Today seemed to go well. I feel a ton better but still not 100%. My throat is no longer on fire so that is a good thing. My back aches like crazy, so do the lymph nodes on either side of my neck and I feel wobbly on my legs.

We hung out at home and did some work around the house. We did school a bit and then I followed their lead for what they wanted to explore. We worked in the garden, planted some seeds, dug in the dirt, played soccer and had lunch. After naps, we hung out and waited for Daddy to come home so that I could get ready for class.

Daddy's home...

Corey stayed home again today. I had a fever all night again. He took the kids to the Museum of Man for the morning so that I could get some rest without the kids jumping on me. They had a nice time. The curator showed them the kids area. Corey was a little put off by that because he was trying to show the museum exhibits to the kids, not really looking for the kids area.

I hope to feel better tomorrow!

My turn...

I have strep throat and am miserable. It is horrible...fever, achy body, chills, sweats, headache, throat on fire. I'll be back when I can see straight. blech...

Hannah's first day....

This morning was the first day of Sunday School at the Mission Church for Hannah. Ever since Ben started going last year (she joined him a couple of times) she has felt nervous about starting her own class. She has the same teacher (Ms. Diana) that Ben had and she already knew Hannah from last year. We walked to the class together and Hannah found a seat and turned to see where I was (at the door-where I was supposed to be). I had told her that I will walk from her room to Ben's to make sure everyone was OK. So I guess she was happy to see me because I got a big smile from her.

For the rest of the hour they made necklaces for name tags so that the teachers would remember their names. During that half hour, she didn't turn to look for me once. Not once. I walked down the hall to check on Ben for a while and he didn't look towards the door at any time during the almost 10 minutes that I was standing there. I felt excited that they were having fun and engrossed in their projects. I wandered the hall to see Hannah and still no glance, she was OK with her class. This is the first class ever that she has started. This is also the first day. Last year she was OK with 2 or 3 classes and then she decided to call it quits, and that was OK because it wasn't her class to begin with, it was Bens.

Overall she had a wonderful time and can't wait to show her teacher that she knows the sign of the cross already!

Hannah a little nervous at the morning meeting while Ben is excited!! Ben in his Kindergarten Sunday School classHannah giving me a big smile in her Preschool Sunday School class
Hannah eager to do the sign of the cross

Patio visitor...

Today we started to work on the patio floor, the cover is done so, on to the floor. It has been a long time coming and we finally have dived into it. It looks horrible, cracked and coming apart. So we are finally doing something about it! So we got the concrete out and started to mix it and got a great idea. What about making some more steeping stones!? We pulled the molds out (that we got for Christmas last year), some leftover glass pieces, some vase marbles and start making some more stepping stones. The kids had a blast. Noah loved it this time and was much more involved in it. He put all of his pieces in and even wanted to include his hands and feet! With such a small tile we could only do one footprint so that's what we ended up with. I'll try to post the newest ones soon!!

After our side-track we got busy on the filling in all the cracks and holes. The kids were great helpers! They had their own trowels and were helping us. They must've worked for over an hour with us and helped to finish the job! It was awesome to have so much help.

patio floor before...yuck!!!!

And while we were working we had a little visitor in the garden...not a butterfly or a bunny or a hawk! This dragonfly was so beutiful and I happened to see it land and exclaim "Oh a dragonfly!" Noah heard me and followed me to see it. I am lucky to have caught this picture at all because as soon as he saw it, he scared it away by running up close!

And if we stay on track with our schedule, next weekend we will continue with tile!

Better...

Today Ben felt so much better. Just like his old self. I woke up to screaming children, not him but his siblings at him. I walked passed them and didn't have to ask whether he felt better or not. We hung out at home mostly today, puttering around the house and trying to keep our hands clean and away from our mouths. He went to karate but that is about all I thought he should do today. He should still be getting his rest. He napped today so that was good.

Sick & having fun...

Here is a picture of Ben while he is burning up from a fever. He was so miserable, just a hot burning log on the couch all day, in and out of slumber. He has a sore throat and a splotchy rash all over his body. Poor little guy, he's still smiling and in good spirits too!

And while he was inside in misery, Noah and Hannah played together in the pool. It was just hot enough outside to jump in the pool and splash around. Such fun they had.

Miserable monkey....

As I said yesterday, Ben was sick all day with a fever and didn't do much of anything yesterday. Well, this morning it was much of the same. Staring at the TV and not interacting with anyone. At one point he told me that he needed a band-aid for his finger but I didn't really hear it to process it in my brain and go and get him one. At around 10 I took his temp and it wasn't too bad, around 99.6F if I remember correctly. Yesterday it was 102.0 so the lower temp made me feel better about this mystery illness. Then as I was looking him over, I noticed he has a rash. Big splotches all over the place but random, with a red face, and the rash wasn't raised with bumps. He said it itches but he wasn't scratching. And that is when he told me that his finger really hurts. Well, it should because it was so swollen with pus that I went into overdrive. I started thinking that this was what was causing the fever and that we needed to get him some relief. I really don't like seeing my kids so miserable. I called my Mom and I checked online to find out what it might be (the rash was stumping me).

We ended up going to the doctor who sat with us and told us that he needed a topical antibiotic for the finger-it really was ugly-and that it should help relieve it in no time. The fever and rash were secondary to the appointment, she noticed that when she walked in the room, also that he had a sore throat. All that and he has scarlet fever. Sounds like something from the early 1900's that people died from. Probably did. But a round of a different antibiotic will help him with that.

Tonight, after 2 rounds of antibiotics we noticed a little more action from Ben so I think he'll be OK. But since it is highly contagious we are sitting everything out this week! We're in the clear if no one gets it in 1-3 weeks!

Here's to hoping that tomorrow is better for all of us...but especially our #1 monkey!

Sick day....

Today Ben was sick so we didn't go anywhere all day. While Ben laid on the couch and stared at the walls, Hannah and Noah went in the pool. They had so much fun together and they did a great job staying away from the sick one inside. They ran around the back yard, drank smoothies and played in the dirt. They sprayed each other with the hose and then rolled around on the towels together and giggled for what seemed like hours. They enjoyed each other's company a lot today, it was a sort of bonding between them.

Thinking back...

When we got back from our camping trip time went quickly for me and I couldn't get online to post pictures and such, so here are a few that I took that I really wanted to post.

We bought a slip 'n slide when we got back from camping because the weather was so HOT when we returned. The kids wanted something different to play in (besides the pool) and loved every second of this super fun way to keep cool. The grass gets soaked every time and if we forget to pick it up after they're done, the grass gets a nice long brown stripe.

Ben passed his 1st section karate test before we went on vacation and here he is receiving his belt after it was dyed. Yay Ben!!!

We went to the tide pools to explore and had exactly 5 minutes to walk around. Next time I think we will plan it a bit better so that we can walk around to explore and discover the creatures. The kids were into it but we were waved out and had to leave.

Noah loves to vacuum and on this day he decided to do it with his slippers on...now who wouldn't take a picture of him doing this?

And finally (for tonight) we went to night-time zoo with my sister and her 2 children. They had a blast. Here they are waiting for a show. they each got out with a necklace and Marissa caught a stuffed animal. It was late when we got home and they were asleep so fast. Phew...so much fun!

School....

Ben is legally a Kindergartner now... So this week we started to home school our kids. It wasn't a very different week from last week or the week before. We are taking a very relaxed approach to it, almost unschooling but there is parent initiation and guidance. I have the 3 kids to entertain so we thought themes would be good and everyone can join in at their own level. So check out the blog I started here (& on the side bar) and check back often. I really am going to try to keep up with it every day so please bear with me in the beginning, it's a challenge getting blogs here every day, so we'll see how doing two goes!

Spider....

I went to check on a loud noise in the back yard last night and if I hadn't been paying attention to where I was going I would have ran right into this:

The web was huge, it was as big as one of our windows. And the more pictures I took of it the more I believed that it was going to jump right at me.... It was about 2 inches long. It creeped me out.

Oh and I never found out what the noise was.

Nurslings....

We went to playgroup today. At one point Noah wanted to nurse. He had noticed that William (Erika's son) had started nursing and he wanted to also. So the competition nursing began. Noah would stop to see if William was still nursing and William would stop to see if Noah was still nursing. Erika and I were sitting together so it wasn't that much of a strain for the boys to see each other but just enough that they had to unlatch and move their heads around. It was cute.

More Mexico pics...

Noah

Hanging out with family
Noah rolling in sand
Paella! yum!
Playing in the jacuzzi

Labor Day weekend....

We went to Mexico for the weekend and had such a wonderful time! My parents have a house on a cliff above the beach there and we stayed in what they call 'the apartment'. The house is huge and beautiful. We left on Friday evening and stayed until Monday morning. We were afraid of the border wait later on in the day so we didn't want to stay too long into Monday.

On Saturday more family came and all the kids had so much fun frolicking in the sand and water. We brought boogie boards with us and rode the waves, sand toys and made sand castles, balls, trucks and had a grand time. We went out to a restaurant that day and tried to eat while the kids went wild. As we walked back to the house on the beach we ran into vendors all over the place. We checked out jewelry, baskets, food, blankets and dresses. We bought some necklaces for the kids, they are magnetic in places so they stick together. I guess they are the newest thing in Mexico...I had never seen them before. Hannah got a pink one (to match her outfit perfectly) and Ben got a blue one (his favorite color). We walked along the water and since it was so hot that the kids jumped in the water with all their clothes on and had so much fun! We didn't mind, we were on vacation and they were having fun! Most of the family members left by nightfall and we got the kids to bed.

Sunday we did much of the same as Saturday, beach play and having lots of fun. It started to rain while we were on the beach so we headed up for lunch and naps. The afternoon we decided that we'd have paella for dinner so my brother and sister and I went to Ensenada for seafood. That was awesome. I forgot my camera so I don't have pictures of it but it was a great reminder of our shopping experiences in Morocco (for those of you who don't know, I grew up there). That night we ate paella and had good company.

Monday we spent some time playing around the house. We started packing up so that we could get on the road early enough to have some time at our house in San Diego. We got home in 3 hours, not too bad since we had expected the border wait to take forever at the end of the holiday weekend.

The Mexico house (view from the beach)

View out of the apartment window (looking north)

Hannah trying out the boogie board

Ben, Hannah and Marissa on the beach

Breakfast with cousins

Crazy...

Some people tell me that I'm crazy because I stay up way too late at night. And after a day with the three kids running all around, I can understand why they may think that I might be tired. Which I am. Very tired. Every night. But today was a perfect example of why I stay up past the kids bedtimes.

We had a friends two children with us today. One is 4 like Hannah and the other is almost 2 like Noah. So they had buddies all day. As soon as their Mom left, Noah started picking on her youngest and would not stop until he (Noah) went down for a nap. He would bang him on the head with a car or a truck, push him on the back, grab his toy, and this went on for a couple of hours. Hannah and her friend went around the house trying to shake Ben off their backs by running away and making it a not-so-nice game out of it. Ben was hurt and didn't like that they wouldn't play with him. He would run after them scaring them with a tiger mask on, or really try to get them to play with him but they wouldn't. They seemed to like these but only for a few minutes and then one of them would come crying to me. This went on all day. On top of that they didn't know what to do. I brought out the Slip-n-Slide and set it up in the backyard, latherd sunblock of 3 children (the other 2 already had it on) and told them to have fun. That lasted exactly 5 minutes. They got sidetracked and were using the watering cans to fill the birdbath with dirt to make muddy water. Then they fought over the watering cans.... We have a house full of fabulous toys and a huge number of children's books, and they seemed bored and not wanting to play with any of them. We went for a walk (at the hottest part of the day) and everyone was tired, thristy or had to use the bathroom. Not a good plan. We raced home. Noah was screaming by the time we got home, everyone got drinks and then boredom set in again. Hannah and her friend found a quiet game to play with the dolls but Ben was not allowed in again. I turned on the computer and let him watch some shows. It was absolute madness with me trying to put out the little fires, until that moment.

So I stay up because my days are so hectic and crazy that I seek out the peace and the quiet of the night. With only the dishwasher, maybe the washing machine and dryer and a few cars driving by, it is the most peaceful time of the day. I can read online, in my book or watch TV without being jumped on, called upon, nursed on, or needed in any other way. I'm trying to keep my sanity and if that means I have to stay up way past my bedtime, so be it! I'm a happier person that way. :-)


BTW Hannah had a wonderful time and can't wait to play with her friend again! Ben really wants a friend his age. And Noah ... well Noah will love when they come to play again too.

Hi...

It has been quite a while since I last posted. I'm sorry. We've been enjoying Daddy's last week at home. He is so lucky to have a job that gives him time off in the summer. So we went playing with him all around town. We also have worked on our house quite a bit this month, our patio is halfway done. It is so hard to get work done on the house with the kids around. We hate having all the tools and paint around them that we try to have them out of the house while we work. They love ladders and climb all the way to the top teetering on the top step while ignoring our cautions. They love to paint and if they had their way, they'd paint the house to match the playhouse...bright yellow with bright blue trim with a few handprints here and there. They love to use the hammer and the drill, I'm sure if we left it to them we'd have a house of holes with half sunken nails! So we try to get it done while they are spending time with Nanny. It has been wonderful having Daddy around but today was the time for him to go back to work. We didn't know what to do, so we went to visit him at his office! The kids liked that.

A girl thinking...

Hannah is lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. Should I wonder what my four year old girl thinks about when lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling? ... I know what I think about when I get a chance to do this, but what about a 4-year old?

We're back!

I am trying to back-post our trip, bear with me as I do it. Check out the pics...there should be a little slideshow for each day :-) ...sorry there are loads of pics, I hope you enjoy them!

Great trip... and it's great to be back!

Part 2 - Lundy Lake

We go to Lundy Lake every year. My family has been going for almost 30 years! It has a special place in our hearts. However there are improvements that we think should be done to the resort that would make it more enjoyable. We think of how we would improve the resort if we owned it . every year. We have a great time every year. It is a place that our kids will probably go to a lot in their lives.
Here is a slideshow of our time at Lundy Lake this year. (guest login password is: iluv2rlx)

Day 6 - Rainbow Falls

Today we went on a LONG hike with the kids. I did it last when I was pregnant with Ben...about 6 years ago. At the time we had my niece with us and she was 4 years old so we figured that our children could do it since they have been doing lots of hikes. The mileage is 2 1/2 miles to the lower falls. We did it and had fun too! Noah hiked 1 1/4 miles then hopped onto on of our backs, Hannah made it 2 1/4 miles (all the way to the lower falls and almost back to the car), and Ben made it the whole way! Hannah was so tired that she had to have a ride from Corey (I had Noah asleep in the Ergo or I would've given it to him) Check out the picture of his load below!
I am very proud of our kids for the hiking that they did. It was all appropriate for their ages. They did awesome!!

Day 5 - Starkweather Lake

As I wrote yesterday, we found my family last night, however we don't know whether they found a spot to stay last night. The campgrounds are all full with people who are staying for a long time. We headed to a different lake this morning called Starkweather Lake. It is a small lake right off the road. We parked and hiked around to the backside of the lake where we could still see the road (in case my family was looking for us-we left them a note at our site). We got the kids fishing poles all set up and detangled (again) and they set off for catching the big one. We had an extra pole so I set it up and threw my line in. Not 30 seconds later I felt that I had something on the other end. I waited and then the feeling was gone. Then back again and I knew that I had caught a fish. The first of the year. I've never been the first before. It's always been a place for my Dad or one of my brothers. But there I was reeling it in. And it was a big one!! Hard to reel in because the kids had messed with the reel tension. Anyway, it was great!

My family found us and by then I had caught another (2 fish for me!! I have done my part for the year). The rest of the afternoon we spent not catching any more fish but just having fun by the lake.

Tonight we went to the Devil's Postpile campground for the campfire program while Corey fly fished. I thought I was crazy taking all three kids to a campfire program alone...especially since as we walked up to it I noticed that there were only adults in the audience AND the title of the program was "tourism". But they were surprisingly good. They learned a bit about what to do if they see or hear a bear in the area and saw some pictures of ripped up cars/vans by a bear after some food. So there was great info and I learned alot about the area.

Day 4 - Devil's Postpile

We went on a hike today. We went 3/4 mile from our campsite to Devil's Postpile. Noah let me carry him almost the entire way (save a few minutes, aren't I lucky??). Hannah and Ben hiked the entire way. They are awesome hikers. The postpile is amazing and beautiful. Ben loved the columns and was amazed & very disappointed that he wasn't allowed to climb on them or explore them a bit closer.

Tonight we found my family in town (we went again to call them to find out when they would be joining us). They will find a campsite and then I think they are leaving for Lundy Lake tomorrow. Not sure of their plans.

Oh and we decided to keep our site, it's big and spacious. The kids have room to explore and run. We would've felt super cramped in the other site....we thought it might feel like we were at home! lol

After our hike this morning we gathered some nature objects from around the site and we got creating. We made mobiles with sticks, pinecones, bark, and various other stuff. It was hard because we used fishing line and the kids weren't able to tie it very well, but we did the best we could!

And the last thing that we did today was go to the bath house. We waited for everyone to wake up from nap and went. It is a wonderfully HOT natural spring that they've rigged to shower spouts. There are about 6 or 7 of them and there is always a line of people waiting to bathe. The bathhouse was the highlight of the day. Hot but well worth it. The children came out of it looking new and ready to tackle the evening with more dirt and fun!

Camping and Hiking RULES :-)

When I was growing up we only had one rule while camping and hiking: "No whining". We expanded that a bit for our children and had them tell us some of the rules of the road. Here is what they came up with:
1. No whining or complaining.
2. Carry your own stuff.
3. Stay with Mommy and Daddy (at least near them).
4. Don't move if you get lost.

5. Keep sticks out of faces.

And some unwritten rules were:
1. Have fun.
2. Get dirty.
The second was understood and already known by all the children, it seems that someone else told them to pack on as much dirt as possible and not worry about it.

Day 3

After a morning of finding our forgotten supplies in town (Mammoth Lakes) we went for a little hike to Lake Sotcher-right near the campground. With Noah on my back in the Ergo we went on a nature hunt, pointing out everything that we saw. We found lots of great stuff along the way. We found a creek, pine cones, BIG trees and little trees, chipmunks, "LELLOW" flowers (which was yelled loudly when spotted) & purple ones, a waterfall and a deer...amongst everything else nature had to offer. We finally got to the lake, Noah climbed off my back and we went fishing. We didn't have any luck but we sure did do a lot of fixing the rods and reels up after they got tangled! Corey got some fly fishing in too. It was a beautiful spot, popular but very relaxing to hang out and watch the sun go down.