Kami's Parent Watch Week @ Dance

So, last Saturday was "Parent Watch Week" at Kamrynn's dance class. Normally for class, parents aren't allowed in the class. They have a "waiting area" for us to sit in. I was really looking forward to seeing everything Kami has learned so far in dance, and although Kami (and the rest of the girls) were too cute for words, I have to admit I was highly disappointed. First of all, class is supposed to begin at 9 am. Well the studio doors were locked when we arrived, and her teacher didn't even arrive until about 9:05. But here was the most annoying part- for whatever reason, the teacher couldn't get the CD player/sound system to work... AT ALL!!! So the poor girls had to do their entire class without music! And because of the teacher being late and the music not working, class really didn't even start until about 9:15 or so. So the 45 min. class turned into a 25-30 min. class. Bummer! I did manage to get a couple cute pictures, though, and let me just say that I am REALLY looking forward to the next parent watch week, when hopefully things will run a little more smoothly.

Kylie & Kamrynn... the Terrific Twosome!!


Jenny-Ann, Kylie & Kamrynn. Jenny-Ann is the daughter of Jennifer, one of my Bunco friends! Can anyone find Madi in this picture?


Tumbling portion of class....

Autograph Book

For about a month or so now, I've gotten to listen to, and live vicariously through, my good friend Paulette's upcoming family vacation plans. They were heading to Disney World at the end of September! So after deluging her with many tips, ideas, words of wisdom, "If I were you..." 's, etc., it dawned on me.... Kylie needed an Autograph book! You know... those things that almost every kid carries around Disney, searching for every costumed character, just to get their autograph!?!? I mentioned this to her, all the while thinking how expensive (read... overpriced) those things must be to purchase, and realizing that I could probably make a pretty cute one myself! So, that's exactly what I told her I'd do! And of course, leave it to me, to procrastinate and leave it until the last possible minute. Last minute or not, I'm pretty proud of it, and think it came out pretty darn cute... don't you?!?!

Front...


Inside...


Back Cover...


Spine view...


And I was told, that Kylie got many a-compliment on her Autograph book, and Paulette said that hers was WAY cuter than any of the other ones she saw there! I can't wait until we take our Disney trip (keeping fingers and toes crossed for 2009!!!) to make one for each of my kids!

Yertle, the Turtle

We almost added another member to our family this weekend. On Saturday, while Kamrynn and I were in town at dance class and running errands, I called Tyler to check-in, and was greeted by a very excited Madi.


Madi: Mommy, I found a turtle!
Me: A what?!? Where?!?
Madi: A turtle! In the garage, under the tarp! We're keeping it until you get home.
Me: Huh? Okay, cool. Can I talk to your dad?
Madi: Okay.

So I told Kami about our new "pet", and she was very excited. And let me tell you... this ended up being GREAT bribery. As she was in rare form Saturday morning, and did NOT want to run errands after dance. All I had to do was mention the turtle back at home, and how we had to hurry before Daddy let it go, and we were back in business!

Upon arriving home, I see a big plastic tote on our walkway. And "playing" in the tote (more like trying to escape), was the turtle whom I will call Yertle (I can't remember what the kids named it). Apparently Tyler got online, did some research and discovered a few things:

1) Yertle was more than likely a female.
2) Yertle was a box turtle.
3) Box turtles do NOT make good pets. (Can we say... SALMONELLA?!?!)
4) Box turtles are a "threatened" species.
5) Turtles need to be released very near to where they were found, otherwise they might not survive. I guess this is a big mistake people make... trying to "help" them by taking the turtles someplace us humans deem "more worthy".

So after a few hours, and much hand washing, we released Yertle in the little (dried up) ditch/creek-bed on the side of our house.
It was fun while it lasted, and provided a few hours of entertainment, on an otherwise lazy Saturday!

California Adventures- Week 2, Part 2

Due to a last minute cancellation, here I am sitting at home on a Friday morning instead of being at work. So, since my house is (relatively) clean, I figured what better way to spend my morning then by finishing up Week 2! So here we go!

I last left you with our Saturday afternoon visit with Grandpa Tom. Sunday morning, Stacey, Kayleb, and the Eddy clan walked down to the park and some fun play time.


That afternoon, we headed over to the Hunter's house for a super yummy dinner!! Heidi is such a great cook... I always look forward to dinner at her house! And it was a lot of fun to catch up with them and let all of the kids play! I cannot believe that her daughter, Kiersten, is already in Jr. High! The kids all had a blast playing together. The highlight of the night, though, was when the kids brought out Kiersten's CD player, and performed for us. Even Mom, got in on the action when the "Cha Cha Slide" came on! :-)
Cha-Cha Slide

Madi, Lindsey, and Kiersten

Caiden using "The Force"

Caiden, Lindsey, Kiersten, Madi, Makenna (well, her picture anyways... she had already gone to bed!), Kayleb, and Kamrynn!

Monday brought a trip to the Sacramento Zoo! Everyone made the trip except for Grandpa who stayed behind to work on Stacey's truck. We had a great time together, and amazingly a lot of the animals were out!


Group shot! Caiden is being "chased" by the alligator.





Giraffes! I am always amazed by how tall they really are.

The kids kept waiting for the hyenas to laugh!

A rare photo of all five of us!

Tuesday, we all woke up nice and early so that we could get on the road and head to Lake Tahoe. My Dad had gotten us all tickets to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Nights Dream" (kid version) at Sand Harbor. I think the show started at like 9:30 or 10 or something, so off we went! We made good time, and only had one minor hiccup.... right after we pulled into Sand Harbor, Caiden said "I don't feel very good", and then he coughed, and I knew what was coming next. So I told Dad to pull over and quick... Caiden barely made it out of the car in time! But he did, so at least we didn't have to smell it. We have since come to the conclusion that Caiden gets motion sick. So that was fun! He was fine the rest of the day, thank goodness. The play was good, but let me tell you... it was HOT!!!!!! That sun was beating straight down on us! We were glad when it was over so we could head back to the car, and find some water and some shade. We had parked by this great little picnic spot, with all of these big rocks for the kids to climb on, so we had some lunch, let the kids play, and waited for Mom, Stacey and Kayleb to arrive.
The Sand Harbor Theater is so cool! The chairs are in the sand! And the backdrop of Lake Tahoe is amazing!

Lunchtime

Playtime on the rocks!

My three babies!

Gotta love the timer mode on cameras, but not as much as I love the goofy smile on Tyler's face!

Mmmmm! Oreos!

Grandpa with his kids!

Yay! Grandma's here!

After lunch, and the arrival of Grandma and co., we headed down to the beach. Even though the water was FREEZING cold, the kids still had a blast!


Kayleb, say "Cheese!!!!"



After the beach, we headed to "Fanny Bridge". Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a shot of all of the "fannies", but it's so funny to drive past the bridge because all you see when you look out your window is fannies!!! Grandpa disappeared for a little while and came back bearing yummy treats! I guess I know now where I get my love for ice cream!
Fanny Bridge
The gang (minus Tyler)

Awwww....

Kami loving her ice cream!

So that's the end of Week 2! Only one week left! I can't believe it's taken me this long to post pictures of our trip home. I guess I'm just trying to make our vacation last as long as possible! :-)

California Adventures- Week 2, Part 1

Okay, so I think it's about time that I wrap up posting about our CA trip, but alas, I still have Weeks 2 & 3, to go! And we were WAY busier during Weeks 2 & 3, than we were during Week 1. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible, but if you know me, well then you know that I really don't do brief. Let this be your warning! So, I think I'll start off Week 2, by posting my very first video on the blog. It's pretty self-explanatory, so enjoy!

The kids think this is a blast, and always look forward to cutting Grandpa's beard.



This time around actually involved a bit of a hair cut, too, which turned out, uh... interesting. Mom was able to clean it up the next day when Tyler, the kids and I took a little day trip to...

The Jelly Belly Factory! The Jelly Belly Factory is in Fairfield, about 45 min. away from my parents house, and they have FREE tours of the Factory! It's actually a really fun day out. I took Madi and Caiden back in 2003, when Tyler was deployed, and Kami and I went a year ago when we went home for my Dad's retirement/birthday. But Tyler had yet to go, so off we went! Despite getting a late start, and having to wait over an HOUR in line for the tour, the kids were very patient and well behaved. We all had a lot of fun, and especially loved our FREE bag of Jelly Belly's we got at the end of the tour! I highly recommend visiting, if you are ever in the area, but I also recommend getting there EARLY in the day so you DON'T have to wait in such a long Factory tour line.
Madi, Caiden, and "Jelly Man"

Mmmmmm, Jelly Belly's! What kind should we get?

Getting ready for the tour. Everyone gets those funny little hats, and you HAVE to wear them... factory rules!

See ya next time!

The weekend brought a visit from Tyler's Dad, Grandpa Tom, and his girlfriend Jeannie. We hadn't seen him since October 2005 when he came to visit us in North Carolina. He and Jeannie drove down from Reno, Saturday afternoon, and they treated us to a fun day of Bowling and dinner at Red Robin's!


I love watching Caiden bowl!

Madi and Caiden are just TOO cool!

Funny faces!

Once again, I am going to stop mid-week. It is just about time to get ready to pick up Thing 1 & Thing 2 (otherwise known as Madi and Caiden) from school, and then we are off to Stagestruck for "Velveteen Rabbit" auditions, where I will start my stint as one of three show producers! Should be fun! Hopefully Week 2, Part 2 will be posted in the next couple of days!