Sunday, July 11, 2010

6/27-7/3

This week was so much fun! I took the boys on a road trip for the day to Monterey to escape the brutal heat. My plans were simple: go to the aquarium and possibly berry picking in Watsonville. The kids had so much fun at the aquarium though, that we decided to take it easy, and head to Watsonville another day this summer.
E pretended he was a dolphin.
Checking out the dolphin exhibit
We took a break from the aquarium to have lunch. Always the frugal tourist, we had coupons so ate for under $10! The kids were so well behaved, it was hard to believe that we were actually sitting at sit down restaurant by ourselves, enjoying the summer breeze. Life is so easy with three (or so it seems sometimes ;) )

E was ready for a nap, but the penguins caught his attention. My sweet boy :)

The view of the sea turtles.

E was fixated on the sea turtles, loved seeing them glide through the water.
We left the aquarium, and I decided it was too early to head home. I decided to venture out along the coast, and see where we ended up. I was so excited when the boys woke up from their cat nap and told them we were in Santa Cruz, at the boardwalk! The kids had a lot of fun seeing the rides, smelling the coastal air, and it was a cool 62 degrees (much different than the 106 we left at home). We were lucky we had sweaters in the trunk of the minivan, because we needed them. I took the boys down to the sand, and we hung out there for a couple of hours, and played in the surf and sand.



I love M's toothless grin, my own little jack o' lantern smile :)


Our beach trip wasn't complete without dinner on the boardwalk. We lucked out since it was $1 hot dog, cotton candy, and soda night, along w/ $1 rides. I told the boys we would go on the rides next time, I could see they were finally getting tired, and we had a nice mile walk back to the car before heading home.
The cool marine air/fog stopping, right before we hit Los Banos. After we passed by the fog, we quickly rose from 62 to 92 in a matter of an hour-scary since it was already 8:30 by this hour.
It was a wonderful trip, we made it home early, only 11pm, which was great timing since we left the coast so late in the evening. The kids had no trouble the next morning, and were excited to go swimming at camp.

Later this week, we made play dough at home.

Friday we went to Sacramento and visited with my friend H and her children for the day. They live down here w/ us, and we see them weekly for dinner, but this week we changed it up a notch and did something different. We went to Ikea, and the boys had free lunch (thanks to a frugal deal I found). It was nice to window shop with H and talk about the new house she will be living in just a few weeks.

Saturday, we took it easy, or as easy as we do it around here. The boys helped R with our garden-the corn is by M, and the tomatoes are by R. Since this picture was taken a few weeks ago, the whole garden has exploded with green and produce. I cannot wait to see all the fruit and veggies we grow.
I had fun capturing some sweet moments of my boys, while we were outside. Hard to believe how fast they're growing up.


We went to K town's firework show. The boys spread out on a blanket, and we camped out w/ our chairs. It was so relaxing-we definitely felt a difference this year taking all three of the boys out later this year. They were behaved, and listened well, and such a joy. It made me think "wow, we are actually thriving as a big family," not that I had doubts, but its such a pronounced difference from how it was with three young boys so close in age, even as recent as last year.

M took turns taking pictures, I'm hoping because he's taking pictures, I'll be in more of them now :)



We watched the show, and it was a lot of fun. We came home afterwards, ready to fall asleep-it had definitely been a busy week, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

6/21-6/26


The weeks are flying by. Monday we went to V town, went to a park, cooled off in the water. Nice way of spending a morning, met friends while we were out. Forgot the camera at home, but had a wonderful time.

On Wednesday we went to Splash Junction to hang out. The kids enjoyed the cool water, while I sat in the shade. Its been wonderful to see all three of the boys play together, and take care of each others. Brother love rocks :)

We went to Bark in the Park as a family. M and G rode their scooters from home, and R walked Sammy. I pushed E in the stroller, when he was too tired to walk. I enjoyed the 2+ mile walk, and got in some much needed exercise.
We went to the park and played, since E is terrified of dogs and didn't want to be near them (he loves our dog, but is still spooked-maybe because he's so small compared to them?)
The older boys taking a break before the long walk home.
Pregnant profile, 16 weeks.
16 week baby bump, swimsuit style :)
E cooling off with Daddy in the pool. We've been taking the boys in the pool, but as we're outnumbered, its easier to go in the pool than stand outside and take a ton of pictures-not to mention cooler too. I captured these images on a day that was so stinking hot, we cooled off throughout the day. Love having a backyard pool this time of year :)
Cheese!
Daddy w/ E
G cooling off in the water.
The one shot of me at the pool, since everyone was already in the water!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

6/15-6/20


We had the opportunity to go to Wild Water (a water park) with friends from our playgroup and it was a fantastic adventure. I was a bit skeptical since I had yet to take the three boys to a place like this alone, but since I have been taking them on more outings this summer I see it was a trip worth going on. I loved getting soaked in the water, and we had a nice shady seating area to keep our picnic cool. The kids were able to run off and check back with me throughout the morning/afternoon, and we were all tired by the time we went home.

The older boys went on a field trip with their summer camp on Thursday, and had a fun time. They were so excited about checking out our town by foot, and I was thrilled at how much fun they are having. The stories they tell me and the friendships they're making are reassurance that this was something fun for them.
On Friday we went to preschool yoga at the V library. It was so cute to see all the boys doing the poses, and they really got into it! It made me curious about checking out some yoga for them to do here at home on hot summer afternoons.

On Sat, we went as a family to the park and participated in a free event for families in town. All the boys got their arms painted, and I enjoyed the cool shade. There were also free food and bounce houses for the kids; an overall pleasant way to spend an afternoon.


Sunday morning we took Daddy out for breakfast-a treat for the whole family!
We then went to Woodward Park to check out the trails and enjoy the sunshine. The kids had fun exploring on the playground and checking out the creek beds.

my pregnant profile, 16 weeks
M checking out tadpoles in the water
such a nice moment with the boys. oh and about the clothes-M got E dressed, so that explains the open overalls ;)