What I did on my summer vacation

Almost as soon as school got out, Nathan took off to see his dad.  He got to fly up to Sacramento all by himself, what a big boy he is now!  That left me down one kid, so why not pick up another one.  I was lucky enough to get to take in my cousin's daughter for a few weeks.  I'm such a grown-up now, having someone trust me with their child for several weeks!  I remember when I was little and I stayed with my grandparents for the summer. 
Akailah was a joy to have around, she is just a few weeks younger than Nathan, so a big help with the kids.  And of course the kids LOVED having her here, Alivia tells me Akailah is her best friend and asks me all the time when she will come back over.

Next up, Reno.  After Nathan spent time with his dad, and Matt's parents he eventually made his way to my mom's house in Reno.  I had to make the 7 hour drive up there with just me and the little ones.  It wasn't that bad, except for I had to stop every hour and a half to put in a new DVD and hand out snacks and drinks.  I love being free to just pick up and go whenever I want, unfortunately Matt doesn't have that freedom, plus he already used his vacation days going to Europe with his mother, yeah, not fair. Of course the kids love being at grandma's house and seeing all their cousins.

I got to see my cousins too!  Yay!  I took a trip within a trip up to Oregon where my family is from.  We had a family reunion and I got to see family I haven't seen in about 20 years.  Had a great time rafting, playing games and enjoyed a good old fashion BBQ! I was only able to stay a couple days, but it was a great weekend!

I had some good times with my sisters as well, rafting and pedicures, check this out for pictures.  I was also able to catch up with some great friends and even met some new ones!  Can't wait til the next visit, we will definitely go out again! 

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Happy 12th Birthday Nathan!  It's been so long since I've actually been with you on your birthday.  Thanks to lots of great grandparents you spend most of your summers away from home.  I was glad we got to spend some time together this birthday.  You're just growing up so fast, starting middle school in a few weeks, I can't believe it!  Thank you for being such a great big brother, and helping me around the house.  You can be very sweet when you want to be.  Love you!

A homeowners work is never done

Out of the blue Matt says, "Lets build a rock wall."  I say, "Sure, why not."
Three weeks, three broken backs, and lots of sore muscles later we have a beautiful rock wall and a whole new front yard! (half a front yard to be exact) I figured it wouldn't be easy, but I was up for a little hard work, until I wasn't anymore.  My cousin's daughter was staying with us, and she was great at finding the perfect rocks.  But of course it's not as easy as just stacking rocks, after all it has to look good and stay standing.  Plus we had to put in a whole new sprinkler system, ugh. Let's just say I'm glad it's finally done.

 Here's some before pictures to compare...

 * Flashback moment *  I found some pictures of my very first yard project, this was 5 years ago at our house in Greenville, SC.  We added the planter bricks around the tree and about 50 square feet of grass around it. Ahh, so proud of myself!

Cherry Picking

The kids and I went to a local ranch today where we got to pick (and eat) cherries and enjoy the beautiful scenery with some great friends. 

Of course Pengie had to come too

It was much more than just fruit trees, they had horses that the kids could ride, picnic tables, and a tire swing.  They loved it, and I can't wait to go back for more delicious fruit.

Spring Break

Like most Spring Breaks nowadays, I spent it in Reno with family and friends.  I was looking forward to some warm weather fun in the sun, but instead this is what I woke up to...

Luckily, like most Reno weather, it didn't last long. But we did find some fun stuff to do indoors.  My sister found this great place for the kids to get all their energy out.  It's a warehouse with 6 different bounce house/slides/obstacle courses. What kid wouldn't love that?  Well, Alivia, that's who.  She was pretty scared at first, clinging to me and telling me she wanted to go home.  Aaron only needed a little encouragement and he and Nathan were off having fun.  I put Baylee and Alivia in the ball pit for a while, then decided to get in one of the bounce houses with Baylee to see if I could get Alivia to relax a little, and it worked. Once she saw Baylee was okay inside she figured it was safe for her too. 

The next day it was nice enough for a day at the park.  There is a great park near my mom's house, but the one thing that bugs me about it is the limited parking.  I have this huge van and never seem to be able to get a spot and end up having to parallel park along a rounded curb, ugh.  The park was fun, but it's always a little stressful trying to keep my eyes on 3 toddlers all running in different directions.  Oh, and take great pictures at the same time!

The kids weren't the only ones having fun. I got to go out and have a little fun myself with my wonderful husband.  We got to go bowling, I won the first game with a whopping 140!!  Poor Matt got last place all three games.  I had a nice dinner out with family while my kids slept tight at grandma's house. I was able to see some great friends and catch up on old times.  And I had some yummy chocolate cake for my birthday, thanks mom!