My Great Nephew Visits

 My niece, Monica and her son, Colton, came out in April to stay with our kids while Shane and I went to Mexico.  I am so grateful to have such a great niece.  While they were here Britt took some good pictures of Colt.  He is so dang cute and they have an open invitation to come stay with us as often as they like!!!

 

 

School Activities

 We have been very busy with school activities over the last couple of months.  First up was Miss Emma.  She has been taking a drama class and at the end they put on the Jungle  Book play.  Emma played two different characters and did an  amazing job memorizing her lines and delivering them without any mistakes. 

Emma as a vulture.

 And then as an elephant.

 The next day Emma ran in Laps for Learning.  This is one of the two fundraisers that her elementary school does each year.  This year she ran 26 laps around the course, I mean, she actually ran!! I was totally impressed and I think she was too.

 Tristan participated in the Riverhawk Walk at his middle school which is also the big fundraiser for them.  Last year I was able to help out on both days of the event but this year I was sitting in urgent care with Britt during my time to volunteer.  I was able to make it for about the last ten minutes and at least snap a few pictures.

 I wish that my son would just smile for the camera.  I can never get a decent picture of him, someday he is going to regret that but I will take what I can.  The boys were dressed up in tutu's and funky socks.  They also started out with crazy hats on but it was way too hot to keep them on.

 That evening Tristan was off to Washington D.C. for his 8th grade trip.  I sent a camera with him but most of the pictures came back blurry :(.  I pulled these ones off the teachers facebook page, the trick is trying to find Tristan in the pictures.  I think he is only visible in two of them, the other one I had to look at the shoes to try and find him, he is hiding in the back behind everyone. Oh son, you drive me crazy!!!

Happy Birthday Shane!

 Shane turned 41 this past week and is officially a year older than me (for a few months anyways)!  We started his celebration off with a fabulous family dinner. 

 After dinner it was time for gifts!!  I got Shane a whole pack of his favorite toilet paper and a holder for it.  I am incredibly allergic to this brand of toilet paper as are the girls so I don't keep it any where near our house.  But, I figured if he had his own holder he could have his own toilet paper, and boy was he happy!!

 We love this man more than we could ever put into words.   Shane, you are an amazing husband and father and there isn't anyone else in the world that I would want to spend my life with.  Happy #41!

Science Center

Tristan, Emma and I took a road trip down to the California Science Center on President's day.  We have been wanting to see the museum for quite some time so this was the perfect opportunity. 

Building a house on the earthquake simulator to see if it will stand up to an earthquake.  They did a pretty good job, we only lost one wall!

Checking out how the California Coast works.

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Finally, what we really came to see - The Endeavour!!  Before you get to see the actual space shuttle you go through an exhibit where you learn all about the shuttles missions and how a space shuttle actually works.  The kids are touching the tires that were on the shuttle when it went into space.  Pretty cool.

This thing is HUGE.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but not this.  They have it lifted up into the air so you can walk under it and all around it. It was a pretty neat experience to see this piece of machinery.

On the same lot as the Science Center is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where the 1982 Olympics were held.  You can't go through the gates but it was pretty cool to see the Coliseum.  I would love to bring the kids down when there is an event just so we can go inside.

I love when the kids have a day off and we can go on a new adventure together.  I know that they will be growing up too soon so we have to take advantage of all the time we have right now!

Happy Heart Day

 I am a big believer in making my husband and kids feel special every day so Valentines day is pretty low key for us.  I want to make sure that the kids have fun on Valentines day but we don't go overboard with buying presents and giving them tons of stuff.  This year Brittany was out with her boyfriend so it was just Shane, Tristan, Emma and I. 

 Shane made us a delicious Paella dinner, which the kids requested.  I am so blessed to be married to a man who loves to cook for us. 

We enjoyed a nice dinner and spent some time playing games afterwards.  Holidays are much simpler and easier as the kids get bigger.  Hope you all enjoyed your Heart Day!!!

Our Happy Place

Shane had to attend a conference in Anaheim that was being held at the Disneyland Hotel and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to our happiest place on Earth, so Tristan, Emma and I headed down one day after school to spend the night and go to Disney the next day.

The hotel pool view from our room.  Doesn't get much better than this. 

 I love the pillows on the beds.  Someday, when I have an extra guest room I want to get these pillows for the room.  Dreaming is always a good thing, right?

 Breakfast the next morning was a room service treat for the kids.  Emma had an adorable Mickey Mouse waffle while Tristan and I went for the traditional eggs and bacon.

 On our way over to the park we stopped at the Lego store in Downtown Disney for a bit.  The kids had fun building castles and staying warm.

Posing with the Hulk!

 Chip N Dale with Emma.

Shane was able to meet us at California Adventure after his conference and spend a couple hours riding rides.  We finished off the night with one of our favorites - Radiator Springs Racers. 

Hollywood Hike

 We started the new year off with a hike to the Hollywood sign.  Shane & I have wanted to do this hike since we moved here three years ago so we rounded up the kids and took off.  From the street it looks like the letters are way up there.  Don't be fooled, they ARE way up there!!

 Tristan and Emma would have preferred to ride horses up the trail but this mom said absolutely not, you both have perfectly good legs to walk with.  I sounded just like my mother for a moment and I have to say, it was good!!

 The view from about half way up and on the other side of the mountain.  I would love to get down there someday and check out that little town, it looked pretty cool.

 Finally made it to the top, only took about an hour or so.  The kids sat down to catch their breath for a minute and were ready to head back down the hill.  Shane & I wanted to linger at the top and enjoy the view.  Guess who won?  The kids of course!

 I am so grateful to live in Southern California where we can take advantage of all the fun things to do.  Hiking the Hollywood Sign is something that alot of people want to do and they may never be able to do it. We definitely need to take advantage of all these places that are right in our backyard!!

Hello 2013

As the new year started I was set on taking the year off from blogging.  Life is busy, kids are crazy, hubby needs me, house always needs to be cleaned, blah, blah, blah.  Those were some of my reasons for taking the year off.  Not to mention the fact, does anyone really look at our blog anymore???  Now that a couple months have passed I do actually miss sitting down and writing about our experiences.  I love looking over all the adventures that we have had and remembering all that love and laughter.  I guess it is my way of journaling our life.  I can't keep a regular journal to save my life so this will have to do.  I hope that blogging will put a smile on a few faces here and there.  If you smiled while reading this leave me a comment and let me know that I am not alone out here!!  I can't promise that I will be spot on with the posts but I will do my best in the time that I have and hopefully I will be able to post more and more as life slows down!!

Goodbye 2012

 New Years Eve was a quiet night at home for us. But first, we headed out to dinner at Lucille's Barbecue. Ahhhmazing place. We ate so much and still had to bring home two trays of food. Then we stopped to buy lots of goodies at the grocery store and pick up a family friendly movie.

After our movie, Emma & I painted our nails and then we had a family game of "Phase 10",  I would like to say that I won, but alas, I didn't.  Emma was the winner and very proud of that fact.

 We finished our night off with sparkling apple cider, Tate Stevens on the tele, the ball drop in New York and a toast to start the new year off right!!!  I was exhausted by the end of the night, the kids, not so much.  They were hyper as could be as they blew noise makers, yelled and screamed and made a ruckus throughout the neighborhood.  Oh to be young again!

2012 was a great year for our family and I am excited to see all the adventures that 2013 will bring us.  May everyone have a happy and blessed new year!

Vasquez Rocks

A couple of days after Christmas I took Tristan & Emma on a hike at Vasquez Rocks.  It was time to get these kids out of the house and moving!!  My only regret of the trip was that I gave my camera to Brittany to take to Italy so I was stuck with just my phone!! I guess pictures of Italy are a little more important since it is not likely to happen again soon but I miss my camera (I miss Britt too)!

Tristan & Emma have no fear when it comes to climbing.  They both were sprinting to get to the top as I lingered back and took pictures. 

However, when it started getting steep I had to be right behind Emma for fear of her slipping and falling backwards.  They are almost to the top of the highest rock here and I am zoomed in pretty far with the camera.  They were HIGH!!!

Emma thinks we could live here in these little caves.  I think that would be okay as long as the mountain lion that has been sighted around here leaves us alone.

I so love spending time with my kids.  They are growing up so fast and I know that one day I am not going to be able to grab them and take them somewhere with me without hearing, "Awww Mom, I don't want to hang out with you, I need to chill with my friends".  Tristan already has that phrase down but he was gracious enough to spend the day with us!!  Love you both more than you will ever know.