Blog Vacation!!!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last blogged. So, I will do a long entry to catch things up a little. We went camping over the Memorial Day Weekend. We went to Lake Don Pedro with Steve and Jeannine. The weather report wasn't looking very good, (it said it would rain all weekend) but we took the boat hoping the weather would change. It didn't. The water wasn't bad, but because of the wind once I got up on the wake board I was frozen. Then getting back on the boat was torture. So I wasn't so brave on Sunday when we went on the boat. We literally spent maybe an hour on the boat each day. That includes launching the boat and walking back up to our campsite. We all still had a great time. We all stayed in the trailer because there wasn't a good tent site for Steve and Jeannine to pitch their tent. We played a ton of games, hung out, roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and made hot chocolate. The kids didn't even get stir crazy. It was still great to get away!
June 7th my brother Chris came from Colorado to pick up his truck. It was supposed to be a quick trip but ended up being an extended weekend so we took him out on the boat for some water skiing. We went to the delta and had a good time. We went with our friends and watching JM and Jeremy Evans jump the wake on the wake board was amazing. Now I want to learn how to do that.
June 8th we celebrated Chris' 36th birthday! During dinner Kyle lost his first tooth. We were eating tacos. His other front bottom tooth is loose and he keeps asking for tacos so it will come out. He was so excited to get money from the tooth fairy. He was equally excited to go out on Monday and spend the money.
June 14th was the end of baseball season! We were all ready for it. By the end even Kyle wasn't wanting to go to the games. We will see if he plays next year. The boys did have fun and they both improved a lot. Tyler was the starting second baseman for his team and was able to pitch a couple of times and impressed his coach a lot. Kyle was able to hit the ball further by the end of the season.
June 15th was Father's Day and the kids thought it would be funny to get Chris a Hannah Montana wig (since he is lacking hair on the top of his head!) He actually pulled it out of the box and put it on his head. He looked like one of the Nelson Twins.
June 16th Kyle started two weeks of swim lessons. He really enjoyed them and it was great because there was only 2 other kids in his class. He even got thrown off the diving board and he didn't hate it (I threw him off because he wouldn't jump).
June 18th our play group went to Contra Loma to go swimming. The kids all had a great time splashing around, playing in the sand, and playing with their friends. We spent about 3 hours out there.
June 19th I finally received my mother's day present. Wii Fit. I made the mistake of not pre-ordering it because I thought their would be plenty. But, there wasn't. Of course it didn't help that I had the wrong release date because I could have gotten one at Costco otherwise. Luckily a few people who did pre-order the game didn't pick them up on time and so I was able to buy one of theirs. We all enjoy playing the Wii Fit and exercising is so much fun!
June 25th we went on another field trip to the Oakland Center for Art & Science. The kids had fun in the science room looking at all the animals. Then we went across the street to the botanical garden and walked around it.
Somewhere in there we also went to the drive-ins a couple of times. We saw Kung-Fu Panda, Ironman, W-A-L-L-E, and The Incredible Hulk. Ironman was a good movie and I fell asleep during Hulk. But Tyler really enjoyed it.
July 1st Tyler flew out to Pennsylvania to visit Marc for two weeks.

On July 2nd Cindy, Brittany Doll, and I took the kids to the SF Zoo. It was a free day so it was a little crazy busy. The animals weren't very active but they loved to watch the penguins.
July 4th we started a day as usual by riding our bikes to the church for the annual pancake breakfast. Then we had the bike parade. After the breakfast we took Kyle to the Go-Kart track so Kyle could drive his Go-Kart. I haven't been able to watch him drive yet so I was really excited to see him drive. He did really good and he has so much fun driving. He even spun out once. Then we went to a friends house for a BBQ and to swim and ended up at Concord High to watch the fireworks. It was a long fun day! Then we woke up early the next morning and went to New Hogan Lake to take the boat out. We had a blast and again went with friends. Our friend Tara was able to borrow a banana tube from her boss and it holds 8 people. We all had a blast riding it.
So as you can see, we have been a little busy! So I hope you can forgive me for such a long post, but I didn't want to write like 10 in one day.

Say Bye to the Long Hair

That's right, I finally cut it ALL off! I got tired of the long hair and decided to go against my husbands wishes and cut it. I went to the salon and took Riley Jo with me. I then met Chris and the kids at Tyler's baseball game. Chris didn't recognize me at first because he has never seen my hair this short. In fact, my hair hasn't been this short since High School. It took him a couple hours but since the parents at the ball game approved, I think it was easier for Chris to like it. I may never go back to the long hair! It takes me longer to do my hair now because I actually style it, but it's a lot cuter now.

Disneyland

We took our kids to Disneyland in April. We had a blast. I was a little nervous about the drive down since Riley Jo is potty trained now. But she did amazing. We stopped twice each direction. That was for our older children as well though. We got down there on Saturday afternoon and went to Disneyland. We walked through the gates just as the Parade of Dreams was ending so we were able to watch. Riley Jo seemed to like it the most since all the Princesses were there. I thought that was a great way to start our trip. We then decided to start in Fantasy Land and went on the Snow White ride. Riley Jo didn't like it too much. Then the kids wanted to go on Pinocchio so Chris took the older kids on that and Riley Jo and I went to stand in line for King Arthur's Carousel. She didn't like that ride either. In fact she wasn't thrilled over any rides except for Buzz Lightyear so she could shoot the gun. The kids all had a great time and the lines weren't bad. We also went on the new Nemo Submarine ride and everyone liked that. Kyle even rode Hollywood Tower of Terror twice and says he will ride it again. Michayla and Kyle both rode Space Mountain and loved it! Kyle's first time on Space Mountain he had his hands up the entire time! Tyler, Michayla and I stayed every night until close and Chris took the two younger kids back to the hotel. We were able to see Fantasmic and ride extra rides since there wasn't a line. It was so nice to get away and have some family time together.

Check out my Slide Show!

Riley Jo's First Haircut

We've reached another milestone with little Riley Jo. After 2 years and 4 months she got her first haircut. She did so good. Kyle and Tyler have gotten their haircut twice recently and Riley Jo wanted hers cut too. She kept saying my turn for my haircut. When is my haircut. So Saturday afternoon without my husbands permission we went and got her haircut. After we walked into the salon she started to change her mind. But I told her I would be there next to her so then she was fine. Especially once she saw the car she was able to sit in while she got her hair cut.

Check out my Slide Show!

Utah Adventure!

We had a blast in Utah. The drive wasn't bad either. We were able to walk around temple square, Take a tour at the Humanitarian Center and Welfare Square. We went to BYU and did a scavenger hunt, ate at Cougar Eats, shop at the BYU Bookstore, and watch a Men's Volleyball game. It took all five games but they finally won. The girls all really enjoyed the game. Then on Saturday morning we all just hung out and played pool and ping pong. Then we drove back to Salt Lake where we were able to go to the grave sites of some of our past prophets. We then went to the Conference Center for the Young Women's Broadcast. I have never been inside before and I couldn't believe how big it was. We were all sitting there quietly talking and taking in the surroundings when all of a sudden everyone was quiet and we all stood up. The President Monson and his two counselors walked in to the room. It was an awesome experience to see how many young women, their mothers, and leaders were there and it was completely silent. The Broadcast was great and that night at our devotional everyone was able to say what their favorite part was. On Sunday we woke up to find it was snowing in Salt Lake. The cars were a little covered, enough to write on the windows, but it wasn't sticking to the ground. We were able to watch the Spoken Word at the Tabernacle before our drive home. I have never been inside the Tabernacle either, so again I was impressed by the amazing building. This is an experience that will last for a long time. I am so glad that I was able to go on this trip with these amazing Young Women and leaders.