California Trip

Why is it that I feel I need to take a vacation to recover from my vacation??? : ) We drove down to Vallejo to Six Flags with Matthew and Kathryn. It took about 9.5 hours with stops (had to make a few extra ones for the pregnant lady!). Once we got to sunny California, the plan was for me to lay by the pool and read/relax/sleep most of the day, then spent a good few hours at the park with the group. So we check in at our hotel, and guess what? The SEASONAL pool, which is only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day is being cleaned on the 4 days that we are staying there. Hello! How about you clean it the other 9 months it is not in use??? So after throwing a fit (the pool was the reason I picked that hotel!) we got a free room so Mike and I had our own with Matthew and Kathryn next door. It wasn't as good as the pool obviously, but it was at least something.

Six Flags was very neat. Of course the first day it was 94 degrees and I thought I was going to die for the 4 hours I was there. Poor Mike had to practically drag me around. I got to sit alot and wait for them to ride rides...joy! Or not. : )

The park has a ton of animals, almost like a zoo, so I did get to wander some and look at the beautiful animals and watch some shows.

Shouka the Killer Whale

The rides there were absolutely awesome! Mike, Matthew and Kathryn loved them! There were actually two rides that scared Mike, which is saying a lot for them! It was definitely a great park for the older kids. Tons of roller coasters and fast rides.

Kathryn is on the left, 2nd one up from the bottom.

This ride was insane. You go up one side and twist and then back up the other side.

This was a water ride, obviously. Matthew figured out the first time, after getting drenched, that there were water guns on the side of the ride that you could use to soak the passengers, so the second time Kathryn wanted to go, he opted out, and stood on the side and drenched Mike! It was pretty funny to hear Mike scream 'Matthewwwwww, you're dead meat!' from the ride.

The second night actually cooled off to about 65 by 7pm and Kathryn insisted on going on this water ride, which of course got her soaking wet so she froze the rest of the time.

Then we drove into San Francisco on Thursday and took a cable car around town a bit.

We walked along Fisherman's Wharf, got some sourdough bread, let Matthew eat at In-n-Out Burger, his one request of the trip, got some pics, and headed out that afternoon.

Alcatraz

Of course it was really foggy, so we didn't get to see the Golden Gate Bridge very well.

We then drove up Hwy 101 and stopped in the Redwoods and got some pictures and admired some trees.

This tree was huge, but I figured I was a close second, so I turned sideways to see how I compared next to the tree.

Seriously, these things are huge!!!

We then drove up to Eureka where we stayed at an awesome hotel, with a heated pool, and got a great view of the cute little town. I'd love to go back and explore. This was a mansion along the water.

We then continued up 101 on Friday morning (by this point I was sick of the car and my back was killing me!) and got to see this huge herd of elk just wandering along the road. There were about 35 head and Mike was in heaven!

We got home at about 8:30pm Friday night, and I am STILL trying to recover! : ) We had a great time though.

Off to California

Mike, Matthew, Kathryn and I are heading out to sunny (we hope!) California early Monday morning. This is a much needed trip for all of us! We are driving down to Six Flags and are going to see some sights in San Francisco, then head back up Hwy 101 through the Redwoods. It should be a beautiful trip and a very fun time! I hope to post lots of pictures when we get back!

Pregnant Mel

Yep, this is me. 31 weeks pregnant. I swear it isn't just a basketball under my shirt.

High school, here he comes!

Matthew has now officially graduated the 8th grade. We can hardly believe it! He is so grown up! He's at his last 8th grade dance right now with a girl he likes. The dating days are coming!

He got a new outfit and looked so handsome all dressed up!
The 4 boys on graduation night.

Does it get any better than this?

Memorial Day weekend: Garage sale for 2 days, made a little money for our California trip next month, church and then a lovely nap, then S'mores with the neighbors at our firepit. It was the boys' first experience with S'mores. Tyler loved them...ate every bit of them, but Zachary took one bite of each, then picked out the chocolate.

This morning I got up, made a big breakfast for everyone, then left the boys with Mike and Kathryn and I hit the shopping trail. I think we went to 9 stores in search of shorts and capris for Kathryn, and 6 hours later, we showed up at home with a bunch of bags! It was great!!! A much needed break. Tonight we BBQ'd steaks with the neighbors and let the boys play in the pool. All in all, a fabulous weekend! Hope you had a great weekend too!

Beach Birthday!

Wow, we had a busy weekend! On Saturday, we had 2 birthday parties to go to, and on Sunday, someone turned 30 and we had a BBQ at our house. The weather was perfect and it was great to hang out with friends and family. On Monday, the unnamed person that turned 30 decided that she wanted to take the hubby, kids, and grandma to the beach to play. We did a bit of shopping, a little bit of eating, and a lot of playing! The boys loved the beach!

New Crib Bedding

For those of you that have asked and are interested, here is a picture of the crib bedding that Mike and I got for the baby. These pictures aren't that great, but it gives you the general idea.

A Mother's Day to Not Remember

I know, I know, you're thinking what? She wants to forget Mother's Day? Well, this year, yes. Or at least I want to forget everything else that has been going on except the part about recognizing Moms today. The boys have been dreadfully sick with a flu bug since Thursday night. We were pretty close to taking Tyler into the hospital, but I think we're going to make it through without having to go. My Mother's Day has consisted of puke, laundry, holding sick children, etc. I have to admit, yesterday I was sad because I was thinking about all of the things I wanted to take the boys to do today. But then I realized...duh! This is what being a mom is all about! Every day, puke or no puke, is about being a mom when you have kids and we can do fun stuff any other day too! I am just so thankful to have my beautiful children, sick or not. I am grateful to be able to take care of them while they are sick. I am blessed to be the one that they want to hold them during this time. That's what Mother's Day is all about!

__

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! I hope yours is definitely a Mother's Day to remember!

Transition

Our house is in transition now, which I hate. My OCD is overwhelming me. I am the type of person that once furniture gets placed in a room to my liking and the room is decorated, it stays that way until I move or something major happens (new furniture or something) that would require me to make a change. My mom used to move our furniture around about once a month. Just because. She still does it at her house, in fact. And I just don't get it. Anyway...so we've been needing to get new beds for the boys and Matthew for probably a year. But I have put it off. Well, now with a baby coming, I can no longer put it off. So Mike and I went shopping this week and bought new beds. Oh, and the most amazing crib bedding for the baby! But those pics will come later. Anyway, we are still in the process of figuring out where everything will go and moving things around. The boys' room is so crowded with their new bunk bed and the crib. But, it is what it is. As we get rooms finished up, I will post pics, but in the meantime, here are some pictures of the boys in their new bed for the first night.

Easter Pics

I hope you had a very blessed Easter! We had a fabulous day! We are so lucky that God is good and takes care of us in so many ways. We got up and did easter baskets...

...the boys loved theirs! They immediately ate a chocolate bunny. That was the start of the sugar rush yesterday.
Kathryn got a new baseball shirt and a chocolate cross among other things...

The boys got new outfits for church from Grandma and Grandpa. Very cute!

The boys of course had to see if Kathryn had any candy that was better than theirs in her basket!

Sorry, no pics of Matthew. He slept in and pretty much decided that the Easter basket is not as important as sleep.

We had a fabulous turkey/ham dinner with friends and family.

And a little Easter bunny house building.

Zachary got new highlighters so he spent his time drawing, and eating any extra candy pieces that rolled his way from the building project.