First Time at the Water Park

Very fun *HOT* day today. Noah got brought over and after him and Evelyn took a nap we left for the water park. Packing lunches, and towels, and everything else needed to go to a water park with multiple kids (2 still in diapers) was a bit more challenging than I anticipated but I managed to not forget anything.

The kids were so excited to go play in the water it was a challenge to get them changed and sprayed with sunblock before they got wet. Noah and Alex were excited when the water first hit them, Evelyn however formed some reservations. She'd rather be splashing in a pool like we did yesterday, than getting splashed and sprayed at the park. She tended to stick to the outside edge and would only go further in when the water had moved away so she could puddle stomp.  We almost convinced her to play in the 'waterfall' but as soon as she'd feel the first drops of water she'd run back towards dryer land.

Alex was having a great time running through the water and getting splashed by the buckets. He said he was getting brain freezes from the cold water in the bucket, but it didn't slow him down any. 

While Evelyn puddle stomped, Noah ran all over trying out the different water features. He was giggling the whole time! 

Between the puddle stomping Evelyn would come running to my arms for wet hugs (good thing it was 111 and I appreciated the cool water) and then try to convince me (and my camera) to come walk into the water park with her. No go, baby, no go. It was so cute when she'd run and get Noah's hand and take him to stomp puddles or play with the water horses. 

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Last Minute Rib Run

Happy Father's Day!

Did you remember to call your Dad to tell him how much he means to you? I did!

Today is a good day to remember how wonderful our fathers are and how important they are to us. I'm so grateful for the family I was blessed with (I'm counting my extra parents and Cliff's adoptive family, too!) and the love my children experience because of it.

I woke up with Evelyn this morning and started cleaning the mess she left behind last night in the living room while Cliff slept in. If I was a good wife I would have made breakfast too, but I did that yesterday and didn't have energy to do it today, as well.

When Cliff woke up, Evelyn handed him the picture she made for him while I made my grocery list and then I headed to the stores for the last minute items we needed for our BBQ. Lucky me, I needed to go to Walmart and Costco, on a Sunday holiday. Crap.

It started out really lucky and I found front row parking at Walmart without driving around looking for it! However, I didn't realize that Walmart has remodeled everything- meaning all that time I saved (and then some) on my convenient parking space was wasted just trying to find my items in the store. Even better, they didn't have corn or bananas left so I HAD to add a third store to my trip.



I picked the first (farthest) spot at Costco and ran in for my 5 items. Of course, everyone there had the same idea as me so I still had HUGE lines to navigate so I could check out AND get out!

Now, with milk, meat, and other perishables in my trunk I had to rush into Bel Air for my produce and whip cream. Again, the parking gods smiled on me as I stumbled across front row SHADED parking. The simple joys in life!

I was a little frazzled when I got home from my hurry-up-and-wait mentality I had from shopping, but we managed to finish cleaning the packing mess, get more packing done, finish dinner, and (what I was worried about missing most) get showered and presentable for dinner guests.

I hate rushing and I despise weekend shopping (my own fault for not doing it during the week) but it was more than worth it all! We had the best Fathers day dinner feast with Bert and his kids (and grandchild!).
I couldn't of asked for a better end to this week.

Evelyn was actually in the mood for me to take pictures of her.
She kept wanting me to take more pictures and then asked to see them on the camera screen.

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Tired Birthday

Grumpy on the way to the party, hugging baby jaguar. 

We went to my nephews third birthday party today, he was such an adorable little ham! My sister held the party at her house with tons of activities for kids of all ages and lots of delicious food. It was really hot out (especially in my sleep deprived state) but the shade and fan made it bearable.

Unfortunately for us, the party started at Evelyn's normal nap time so she was grumpy in the car driving there, and not very social once we showed up. Thank goodness for family because they were happy to hold her royal grumpiness as long as she wanted to be held.

Somehow, the big kids (read: adults) had the energy to play badmitten in the sun. Very entertaining to watch.

 I'm also very grateful to Grandma Debby for sitting in the sun with Evelyn when she wanted to play in the pool and I didn't have the tolerance to sit away from shade in my black shirt. Evelyn had a great time and I didn't get cooked in the process.

I love how comfortable Evelyn is getting in the water. Birthday boy is a regular fish! He would swim from side to side in the pool with his head completely under the water! I really hope Evelyn is THAT comfortable in a year. If not, I'll have to beg him give her lessons on how not scary the water is when you hold your breath.

We left after two and a half hours (and the party was still going strong) so we could get some packing and cleaning done around the house. Cliff battled the outside (made it look all pretty!) and I was pretty much useless so Evelyn and I laid down for a nap.

On the drive home she could barely keep her eyes open

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Rivercats

The boys got picked up early today and Evelyn and I just lounged until Mamaw and Debby showed up to take me to the Rivercats game with them. It was appreciation night for the police departments and I'm so happy I got invited to come with them. We had 45 minutes to get to the stadium before the game started but we didn't plan on the absurd traffic. Two broken down vehicles on a road that is already poorly designed sure didn't help us. We were in the car (off the freeway, minutes from the park) for almost an hour. We made it to the game at the bottom of the 3rd inning: Rivercats and Grizzlies tied 1/1 and the Rivercats *already* had one error. Our seats were on the visitor side (never sat on that side before), but they were awesomely close (not as close as I used to get, but those tickets are long gone-moving on).

After that particular traffic catastrophe I wanted a cold beer. 20 minutes later (and $11 out of my pocket-BS prices) I had my beer and I returned to my seat only to discover that the Rivercats let the Grizzlies score 3 runs. I'm a Rivercat fan, but I have to give credit to the Grizzlies this year, they are a stellar team- I will return to watch them again.

At the bottom of the 5th the Grizzlies took the field to warm up, and minutes later the field was cleared. Every player went to their dugout, the bat boys moved, and the umpires walked off the field entirely. No announcement was made about why, but the field stayed empty for a very long time. Many people got up and left and we considered it, but I paid $25 for my ticket and watching 1 inning was not a quality way to spend my money. Besides, if they were canceling the game in the middle, they'd have to refund my money, but only if I was still around to be refunded.

When the game finally resumed (I was later told by another patron that it was stopped because one of the umpires got injured) it had a stereotypical boring baseball aspect to it. Nothing interesting really happened. I take that back, nothing really interesting happened on the Rivercats side. The Grizzlies got a double play, strike-outs, and an awesome fly ball captured out of the stands. I may actually drive to Fresno to watch them again!

The 8th inning didn't help and I wasn't thinking too positive when it started out with another point for the Grizzlies. Then, somehow our team managed to wake up and started playing ball. 4 runs later (1 was home run with a man on 1st base) the game was a tie. Finally! This is the reason I love this game!

It was a very tense 9th inning to see if the game would go into extra innings, or if we'd manage to pull out a win (or loose in a gloriously undignified fashion).
Bottom of the 9th- we're up and the batter gets walked.
Runner on 1st and the pitcher beans beaned batter.
Now 2 runners. I'm happy our odds of scoring have gone up, but it just wouldn't be very satisfying to win by being walked and beaned.
3 balls.
1 strike.

Runner steals 3rd.
Batter hits a line drive down center field, forced out to the runner on second, 2 outs, but the runner on 3rd scores a run!

I love this game! 

As we left the stadium and walked back to our car I took the opportunity to get everyone's picture in front of the stadium. Mom was the best photographer that night and captured a perfect photographic memory.

The rest of the pictures 

One of the only interesting plays in those middle 4 innings

*Note: after reading the official scoreboard of that last inning I may have mixed up the order on some of the plays. It all happened. It all happened at the end. We did steal 3rd and then score the win off of an infield hit. Other details really aren't that important*

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Battery:Good. Card:Missing

I went to bed grumpy last night and the baby woke me up early so my mood hadn't improved too much. I was able to get dressed, drink my coffee, and ready for the day before the boys showed up this morning so my mood was quickly perking up. Add to that our plans for this afternoon, and I was a happy camper in no time.

Dad and Kat missed both boys birthdays so they arranged for me to bring the kids to their house this afternoon to play on the farm and give the boys their presents. I was super excited to get the kids back to the farm and I had permission to take Noah, too.

However, within 2 minutes of walking in the door Isaac starts copping a serious attitude so I reminded him to change his mood since he was probably tired from the night before. He then started a full blown tantrum and continued it with the ending result of having to sit at Cliff's shop all day while the babies, Alex, and I went to the farm and had fun.

Before I left the house I checked my camera battery because I knew we'd have some great photo opportunities. When we got to the farm, I pulled out my camera to capture the kids in all their cuteness and discovered I failed to make sure my camera had a memory card. Booo.

Alex did a lot of exploring and started a project making a bow and arrows that he'll finish next time we go. He tried to collect the eggs, but there were chickens sitting on all of them.

The babies checked out all the foul (geese, chickens, guinea hens, roosters, ducks, and turkeys), practiced their climbing and sliding skills (Noah wanted to climb a tree so bad but couldn't reach it), and discovered the great fun in splashing in water (the drink trough). We got to see the horses and goats (and again Noah really wanted to pet them) but it was too hot for them to want to walk across the field to us.

We were having so much fun time completely escaped me and when I went to check the time to see how much time we had left, I discovered that we were already 20 minutes past the time we were supposed to leave. It all worked out well in the end and everyone (Alex and Noah) got to where they needed to go without any problems.

Number 2 Equals 5 Plus 1

6 years ago today, Isaac made his dramatic entrance into this world... and it's been that way ever since. We're moving away from the extreme over priced kid parties and more towards family oriented dinners. He really wanted to go to Chuckie Cheese so I invited my siblings and their kids, and Kim invited her boyfriends family and kids. We didn't do the Chuckie Cheese party, just bought some pizza and drinks, and a bunch of tokens and let the kids play. They played for almost 3 hours!


Evelyn loved the kiddie rides (1 token for 15 seconds of shaking?!) and spent most of her tokens on that. When we told her the rides were broken (and stopped giving her 'money' to put in it) she moved on to the bright flashing lights of ticket spitting machines. Also, a very fast waste of tokens, but she liked pulling the tickets out and counting them.

The girls took lots of 'family photos' with each other and Ryann was thrilled to get to take one with Isaac.

Alex got to run around with Jake and Matthew and spend their coins together challenging each other to games.

The big boys (Cliff, Ronnie, and Jared) spent a good amount of time trying to beat each other on the basketball games and watching them get so competitive was pretty funny. For the record, Jared whooped them both. 

It was a very peaceful day and we all had a lot of fun.

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Delayed Catapiller

I had 6 children laughing and playing in my house today. Wonderful. But, it helped me realize that 5 is still an manageable number of kids, 6 starts getting a bit tricky. How my Vavo' did it I'll never know. I had my 3, Noah, and I watched my niece and nephew while my sister ran to costco. Everyone had so much fun playing together!

Tomorrow is Isaac's birthday so  today I had to put the cake together. It did not turn out how I hoped, but it seems cute enough. I decided to make it out of fondant, and I tried marshmallow fondant (a beast I've never used) so there was one hell of a learning curve. I just hope he likes it tomorrow.

Rosie's Chorizo

I am so pleased we spent the night! This morning Rosie made her 'famous' Chorizzo! Cliff has been telling me ever since we met about how she makes the best chorizzo he's ever tasted in his whole life and today I finally got to taste it for myself. He was not exagurating! My tongue was in paridise!

Last night I spoke with Rosie about how things have been in our house and some of the challenges I've (we've) been facing. It so comforting to know people who went through, what I'm going through now, and how they've stayed in one piece. This morning at breakfast they took the time to talk about how their family is similar to their own. The kids love them and I hope that it was helpful for Isaac to see other families are like ours as well. Even better, the dynamic of how the kids spend time with their parents in the seperate homes is very similar to our own right down to having a child (in my case Evelyn) who never leaves. It re-affirms my belief that what I do is the right thing for our family.

Cliff teaching Isaac how to play chess with Tony

We had to head out in time to make it back to town for the inspection on our new home, but sadly we were misinformed about what time we should be there and the inspector called us to say he was leaving while we were still in Modesto. Bummer. Tomorrow is the pest inspection and we'll be there for that one.

When we got home I just didn't have any energy left and I fell asleep on the couch. I needed that nap. Considering our very busy weekend filled with many late nights, I was super proud of how well the kids did. Everyone was sent to bed a little early because tomorrow will be another fun filled day.

Before we left Tony gave all the kids a ride in the wagon. He even humored me with a photo op.

Pictures Here

Double Graduation

Today was the last REI used gear sale, this time in Folsom. At least in Folsom it's random entry so I didn't have to worry about getting in line early and camping out. What I didn't understand is that it's random, RANDOM entry. They pass out raffle tickets and the last number is all that matters. In my case I was 2-score. Bad news, they then draw another random ticket and THAT number becomes the first group, in this case 5. Crap!

I found somone nice enough to trade tickets with me (every ticket admitted 2 adults and 2 children) moving me up a few digits. I was pretty bummed to learn that they let people in only as others exit, not in the timed fashion that Roseville does.

Trying to get the puppy's attention

I did a good deed and let another single woman (who showed up at 7am not knowing it was a raffle entry) come in with me, but by the time I got inside the only trekking poles left were $50 and there were no more vibram fivefinger shoes left. I found a bike trailor (the kind you put two kids in) in perfect condition for half off. It took me awhile to get ahold of Cliff to see if he wanted me to get it (no) and I'm gratful for that since by the time I went to leave a pair of fivefinger shoes was placed back on the table at less than half price. The exact pair I found most comfortable the day before in my size (I'm a 39/40) and returned because the size was wrong.

I got home just in time to apply my makeup and head out the door for a double Graduation party in Modesto with Cliff's buddy from the Army. The party was a lot of fun for all of us and we ended staying up talking with Tony and Rosie until the wee hours of the morning. They may not be related by blood, but they are family in every sense of the word.

They played ping pong until the wee hours of the morning

Pictures Here

Tea Parties and Full Houses

Today felt like a dream. Okay, so the migraine sucked, and the baby-who-refused-to-sleep-last-night-resulting-in-grumpy-baby-AND-Mama wasn't too fun, but otherwise the day was perfect. This week has been terrible it seems. It's like the second school let out appropriate behavior flew out the window. Somehow, after countless threats I can't follow through on, and a bedroom with NOTHING in it my well mannered children returned.

Not one fit, tantrum, fight, yelling match, etc happened today.

My day was overbooked (some days I feel like that may be the only thing I'm truly successful at) but it managed to work out quite perfectly.

A slide, AND a play house. Evelyn had a blast!

This morning Juliana had a tea party for all the kids (9 to be exact- not counting the baby). She had dress up clothes (Evelyn wasn't interested), tea and crumpets (Evelyn wasn't interested, only wanted strawberries), and plenty to do and play with. Evelyn was super tired so she was not too sure about playing with that many kids her size, but she seemed to have a good time. Assuming of course, that I was never more than a foot or so away from her. *sigh*. We had to leave after just over an hour because she was so tired she just couldn't take the excitement anymore. She was asleep before I reached the freeway. More pictures from the successful tea party here.

I picked up the boys from Cliff's work (I gave them the option to attend the tea party but not suprisingly they chose to sit in the office at work and watch a movie) and we got home literally minutes before Tasha arrived with my beautiful niece and nephew. I was dissapointed that even with 4 kids running freely through the house Evelyn remained asleep and missed the fun but it all worked out.

The boys played Prince and Princess being chased by kidnappers; hide and seek; tag; chef; and several other games and yet they were still dissapointed when their mom returned. It was the first time they've ever really been to my house. I'm dissapointed that I'll be moving further away from them and making future play dates more difficult but today was a dream come true. My house was filled with the sound of playful giggles and my children got to spend time with their cousins.

Turned out to be a good thing because I didn't anticipate it taking that long to get home and made it home literally  minutes before my sister dropped off her 2 kids for a play-date while she got some mommy work out time. I was in heaven! 4 kids playing happily (and wonderfully loud) together. Evelyn didn't make a peep from her crib. A part of me wanted to poke her awake so her laughter could be joining in the fun as well.

After my niece and nephew left and Evelyn eventually woke up I took all the kids to get my favorite gelato and watch the fountains (at The Fountains. Very original name). Alex got smores, Isaac went for classic chocolate, and Evelyn surprised me and was in obsessed with coconut. Who would of guessed. When the gelato was melted we got up close and personal to watch the 'waterfall!'.

45 minutes, standing in the sun, still fighting off my headache. It may not be my best description off fun, but the kids had a blast. Just wish I had remembered my camera. And my sunglasses, come to think of it.

I also managed to get shopping done at 2 stores with the kids (and 4 without!), dinner ready and on the table when Cliff got home, 2 boxes packed, and some lite cleaning.

My treat to myself, I ended my errands at REI to check out lamps and try out the fivefinger shoes. Crazy comfortable, but a b*!ch to put on. If they have my size (my feet are two drastically different sizes- 'cause I'm a freak like that) at the sale tomorrow I may actually get a pair.

 It's so far past my bedtime and I'm suffering from such severe sleep deprivation that I didn't even notice as I  gave up several hours of my life to reading snarky mommy blogs. Day=productive. Night=questionable.

Sacramento Zoo After Hours

This whole running a day behind thing I'm doing, shame on me. Improvement to follow.

Today had it's challenges that's for sure, but none the less I ended the day with a bang. My dear friend is a member with the Sacramento Zoo and they were having a member appreciation night.  I didn't know if Alex would enjoy himself or not but I was pleased that he wanted to come with me. We got to go with my friends to the zoo after normal closing hours. We got to be around during some feeding times and since the temperature from the hot day started dropping the animals were more active.

They had their educational animals out for us to see and pet. There was a *tragically blind* hawk to see and a very large boa that everyone got to touch. We ventured into the reptile house and Evelyn desperately wanted to hold the frogs that were clinging to the desplay glass.

They had a show about animals from around the world and I found my new favorite pest. I love the kookaburra! It mates for life (always a cool thing in the animal kingdom) and it's unique song I actually enjoy (I'd rather hear it outside my window then the dreded nightengales we currently have). It's a pest in Austrailla becasue it's extrememly territorial and if it attacks, it knows to go straight for the eyeballs. Maybe I will happily deal with the annoying nightingale and it's song- at least it doesn't try to blind me.

We had one more pretty awesome surprise while checking out the large cats. The tigers were playing and eating their treats, the jaguar was walking circles, and the lion roared at a duck that flew to the top of it's enclosure. What a bone rocking experience! Evelyn was scared at first, then after she was 'safe' in Mama's arms she didn't want to leave. She wanted to talk about how loud the lion was.

Unfortunately, we failed to get our tickets for the train or carasel before they closed, but Cliff gave Alex and Evelyn each $10 to get a souvenir and with the 25% discount they were offering on everything they were both able to get decent gifts. Evelyn fell in love with a stuffed jaguar (as she thinks of it, Diego's Baby Jaguar), and Alex got a fan/spray bottle combo to help battle summer's heat.

Alex had a great time and took a ton of great pictures. I got a few taken, but it was past Evelyn's bedtime so it became rather difficult rather quickly. 

Duck, Duck, Duck, Crumb!

What a beautiful sunny day! I personally hate the heat, but I welcomed the sunshine and any heat it brought today because I got to take my kids to visit a pond with ducks. Even better, there were geese with goslings too! So cute!

I made plans to get together for a play date with my sister since we didn't have our boys for the family game night last weekend. It's great having kids of similar ages who all love to play together! I was so excited this morning that Evelyn let me put her in a pretty dress (she loved the stars on it) and let me put her hair up into a couple of bows. Noah had his sunglasses today, so of course Evelyn had to have hers on too. She looked like such a little starlet.

For whatever reason Evelyn would only bounce if
Alex was holding her in some way

The kids and I headed to my sisters house (next to the pond park) and let the kids get some energy out bouncing on the trampoline and running around the generous yard she has. When playing at home lost it's glamor we all walked over to the park and down to the pond.

I'm grateful that I only had fresh bread to feed the ducks because both babies were eating about as much as they were throwing. I'd give them a piece to throw and they'd eat it. I'd give them a piece to eat and they'd throw it. It got really humorous when they would put their arms back like they were about to throw the bread and then pop it into their mouth instead. A few times they would even start to eat the bread, chew it a few times, then change their minds, and then throw the soggy lump to the birds.

Alex had a great time taking pictures of the animals and he got some really awesome pictures of the different birds.

When the bread crumbs ran out the goslings went to playing across the pond and our own kids headed up the hill to play on the park. Evelyn climbed the wall all by herself for the first time today (still chanting subir the whole way up). I was super proud of her.

Just before we had to leave to take Noah home my other sister and her kids showed up. It was a little sad leaving when there were so many cousins to play together, but I know we'll get more chances to play this summer.

All the pictures from today

Birthday Jungle

This is how birthdays should be spent. Awesome day. Awesome. Nothing too serious or over the top, just a couple of kids doing what kids do best-having fun.

Climbing everything. Even the windows in the play house

Off to Wacky Tacky with 4 kids in tow.  He played with the big boys a little bit, and him and Evelyn made some little friends in the little person area but he is not one to have limited choices. He wanted to explore and he was off!

Birthday hug

Evelyn and I went with him (Evelyn wasn't sure what she could do and I wasn't sure what HE could do. I also wanted to make sure no bigger kids could pick on them). My worries were misplaced, he was having a blast. Evelyn still wasn't feeling 100% so she was nervous to be more than 2 feet away from me but she tried to follow Noah wherever he went. He's really fast at climbing and has no fear. They have a rather large slide and he went to the top of it and came down no problems. He also managed to make it through the bounce house obstacle course solo.

After almost 2 hours of non-stop running both babies were getting a little cranky and didn't want to share with each other

She was unsure in the ball pit but still had fun throwing balls

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The other pictures here

Cracked Out on Coffee

Let it be a lesson to NOT drink multiple cups of regular coffee past 10pm. Bad choice. Tasty, but bad choice all the same.

Needless to say I could NOT fall asleep last night after our family outing. I was up until 6am and only then did I manage to sleep because I knew I wanted to wake up at 7am so I could go to the REI used gear sale.

The new hole feature cools your feet
and  allows water toescape.... and enter.

Unfortunately I didn't make it awake until 7:30 and by 7:50 I was in line with 50 people in front of me. Well, actually about 30 were in front of me but they had friends who joined them before they passed out place markers.

Not his first choice in color, but he likes them so far

I was FIRST... in the second group. Bummer. After the 10 minute head start the first group got the place was picked clean of any packs, tents, trekking poles (one guy took all 20 or so sets), sleeping pads, and sleeping bags. Also, no clothing worth my time. I did find my exact hiking boots brand new (not even any creases-they bought the wrong size) for $30. However, they were size 9.5- my perfect size until I put hiking socks on.

Which pair would you rather trek with?

I kept looking and I found two pairs of waterproof hiking boot possibilities for Cliff (his shoes got a hole on our last hike and were NEVER water proof). I called to find out what size he needed and I was able to score a $265 pair of boots for $50. Thank you to the other REI shopper that got home and didn't like the fit.

I also got to visit my beloved Big Agnes sleeping bag that I returned because I needed one just a little longer. Priced half off. I hope someone loves it at much as I did.

I managed to stay awake until the baby's nap time, but then she wanted to snuggle with me. Warm baby body on me, soft inviting couch under me... I didn't have a chance.  

The Inventor of a Beautiful Frog Farm

My Fandango dollars were expiring on Monday so Cliff and I used them to go see Thor this morning. We took Evelyn and she was actually pretty good, although bringing the ipod for her was a mistake because she wanted the volume up loud and was a little chatty with it. No big fits or anything that might ruin the movie for anyone (we went to the first showing so we wouldn't disturb many people). I wasn't expecting to like it very much when I heard it didn't have very many action scenes but I actually thought it was pretty good. My bottom line is I don't like feeling like I wasted money and in my mind, that was $9 well spent.

This is after our show and naturally Evelyn took the pretties out of her hair so her bangs are in her face.

Before the final
cheese layer

Jared managed to plan an impromptu family game night (one our elusive sister could actually join!) so I made a Modified Vavo' Lasagna for everyone and we brought Balderdash to play. That game is craziness with 9 people (especially with how chatty me and my sibblings are!) but it was hilarious and everyone made so many hilarious (correct sounding) answers! The game has been changed forever though, I can't believe I never thought of putting the answer in my own words when applicable to help it blend in! Good idea.

All the kids had so much fun playing together! Evelyn even got over her issues of being scared and not liking Auntie Lissa.

One more very funny moment when Drew was telling us his name. I'm still not sure how he made "I'm Drew" sound so crystal clear as "Athshole" but several of us heard it. I'll be working on getting that one on film for sure.

After Auntie Lissa had to leave the rest of us stayed and played a couple games of "You Don't Know Jack" on the Wii. I forgot how funny that game is, we used to all play it as kids! That about when we realized it was getting really late so we started packing up and saying goodbyes.

During this time poor Drew starts crying (making Evelyn very curious) and we find out that he was bit by Maxie who really wants to cuddle, but apparently not with him. He wasn't bleeding or anything and Evelyn then realized how much she wanted to pet Maxie too, so she climbed onto the bed and started stroking him gently. When my oldest brothers daughter entered the room intending to pet the cat as well his protective side came out and he started trying to get the kids to leave the cat so they wouldn't get hurt. I told him that I felt it was good for Evelyn to experience a cat and if she get's scratched or bit she'll learn even more from it so I wanted her to stay with the kitty as long as she wanted. My poor brother, I torture him so.

The White Lady's Proof

After a very trying day I found myself facing a growing pitbull in my own backyard. Lots of drama followed with my poopy-diaper-throwing-neighbors and animal control. The point of today, I am VERY grateful that I keep my camera handy because they tried to deny and turned it into a reverse racism thing saying the cops were believe the white lady over a mexican but the cops knew the truth because I had photographic PROOF. 

That's right, those are MY flowering green onions and a dog that I don't own in the same picture!

My full unnecessary complaint/story about this is here

Smoke Another One Bro

Today was actually really exhausting. Since yesterday was the last day of school we rented the boys a movie, made pizza and popcorn, and let them stay up until 9 (meaning they didn't go to sleep until 9:30). Normally, they are pretty good about sleeping in but Isaac woke up early and did everything in his power to get his brother to wake up and play with him. Jumping on the bed, throwing things, jumping on his brother.... exhausting. Needless to say the day was filled with MANY challenges and made dual nearly 2yo tantrums look like a walk in the park. 

Kim picked up the boys early and Evelyn was sleeping so I decided to check out Zediva and watch a movie on my computer. I glance out my window to find my neighbors pitbull in my back yard! I run out the back door assuming I was seeing things and I get greeting by a growing dog, then run back into my house before he tries to eat me.

I'm not afraid of dogs, and I have nothing against bully breeds, but this one is growing at me, has access to my backyard, and I frequently allow my children (including my 1yo!) to go into the backyard by themselves! 

The neighbors weren't home (not like I could talk to them without them trying to pick a fight anyway) so I called animal control. They were not able to come by until a few hours later and then all hell broke loose. The dog went back and forth between our yards a couple of times and luckily one of those times I decided it was a good idea to take a picture of it. 

That's right, those are MY flowering green onions and a dog that I don't own!

Turns out, taking a picture was a VERY smart idea. The neighbors denied having any pitbulls (told the cops it was a terrier and in regards to the other one the cop should figure it out for himself) so I told the cop to take a look over the fence for himself and sure enough he saw both pits. When the cop confronted him he kept saying he wasn't home all day (although he kept yelling at me that I should have knocked on his door, not called the cops), the dog isn't a pit, and it wasn't in my yard. Thank goodness for my picture, the cop told him (and I showed him) that I had PROOF. 

Very long story short, the neighbor yelled at the cops for being racist because they believed a white lady over the mexican; the neighbor picked fights with me every chance he could in front of the cops, he lied to the cops, pissed them off, and they said that if it happened again they dogs were getting taken away. 

The cops left, I heard pounding on the fence and rocks getting thrown around (and what sounded like dogs getting kicked) and then yelling. And more yelling. It's a very volatile family so I assumed they were screaming at each other until I started listening and I  heard words and sentences like "You better watch your F*ing back, I'm going to get you, you F*ing B!T@H" etc. I opened my door to see the tall fat wife from next door standing behind her shorter fat (sister?) with her arms spread out acting as if she's holding her back. I calmly asked if she was trying to say something to me (our doors look at each other) and she continues yelling out that she already did, and I should of talked to her-not called the cops, and I should go back to smoking my pot because she's going to get me. 

Can someone please pass me the joint because this house has complained about me from day one that I smoke weed all the time and how dare I use my upstairs bedroom light when it's dark. They don't like how it shines into their room (my blinds are drawn, but light is visible, try drawing your own blinds retards!).  The funny part of this (besides the point that using your household lights is considered normal) is that NEVER in my life have I ever smoked weed. I AM the anti drug. 

Needless to say I called the cops again (who hadn't even left the street). The neighbors denied it all (big surprise) and claimed I was taking pictures of them. Drama, drama, drama!

Search and Rescue

Cliff and I have both received calls from Fresno County Sheriff about what we found in the hole and I realized I haven't yet recorded the tale of what we found....

On the way to camp Wednesday afternoon we came across a hiking boot. Then we noticed a belt buckle, boxers, and a jean jacket with a wind breaker. Then dickies and the other hiking boot. We're a 2 hour hike from the closest area a car could possibly drive to so one complete outfit is completely out of place.

Cliff stopped to check the pockets of the jeans and found car keys. Who would leave without their keys?! Then, he checked the other pocket and found a wad of paper (what looks like papers and money from a wallet after it's been in a washing machine). From that wad all we could make out was the center part of american money and an insurance card that was 7 years old.

Everything was within 15-20 yards of each other and because it was almost 4pm and we weren't at camp yet we didn't spend any extra time looking for bones or more pieces. We also failed to remember to take a picture of the items and only took a snapshot of the insurance card in case it didn't survive the week in our packs. We kept the keys and belt buckle to help identify the person, and the card to figure out who they belonged to. I'm thinking now he won't be needing these items anymore and sadly he's probably became kibble and later fertilizer. It dawned on me only after I gave the local PD the items that I should of taken a picture.

I might have thought to take a picture on the way out or perhaps look around a bit more on the way out but we were chased out a day early from the inclement weather.

Fresno County is taking Cliff up on the help he offered to lead a team to where we found the items. They were going to drive in and check out the area but Cliff explained to them it's not something drivable, and how it was covered in 8 feet of snow when we left. They kept thinking we found these things just off of a trail.

The basic story as I understand it was that Enrique went missing in early 2005 March 2006 during a pretty nasty storm. His car was discovered at Black Rock Reservoir (a very difficult hike North from his car to where we found his clothes) and the case was filled with several possible suspicious-who-done-it's. The fact that we are positive there was money in his pocket makes it much more likely that he was lost or unwisely exploring.

There is a chance he washed downstream and won't be recovered ever, and there is a chance that maybe he's just a bit further up the hill. I hope that at the end of this his family has some closure and peace (although they will probably never know WHY). I also now know, that when something seems so out of place that I know I need to take items to possibly identify someone I should also be taking pictures of the area.

Jewels in Life

I have the most wonderful friends ever!
Juliana is my best friend and yet because of our crazy schedules (mostly MY crazy schedule) we never get to see each other. I'm hoping to change that this summer, but in the mean time this was such a great treat to have her come visit us! I haven't seen her daughters in what seems like forever. Were it not for facebook I'm sure I wouldn't have recognized them at all!
It made me very sad that Evelyn was being so shy about playing with her old friend. It was only for an hour but it was wonderful! Evelyn was a pain for a picture, but as usual Juliana's lovely daughters were more than happy to stay and pose until I got a usable photo with all the kids.

Juliana also came bearing a Dora play hut present for Evelyn and she absolutely ADORES that thing. She's spent every minute in it that she can. She pulls any toy she wants to play with inside and has a blast poking her head out the door and giggling.