Movie

Q. What do you do with 20 kids at the end of a long day? Even if you are camping?

A. Watch a movie!

Our friend, Dean, built the movie screen out of PVC pipes. That way he can take it down and store it. (He actually built the screen last year) This year we set the kids up in one of the tent cabins so it was very dark in the theater. (My flash washed out the first picture but trust me, it was like sitting in a a theater......in your pajamas, in the cold, but still.....). The kids were thrilled with the option. We brought in small chairs, blankets and little baggies of  M&M's, pretzels, ect..... KID HEAVEN.

Thanks Dean and Mary!

Camping 09 Style

37 Things about our camping Trip:

1. We went to the Santa Cruz Mountains.

2. It did not take us that long to get there. 

3. It was beautiful.

4. There were 20 kids camping.

5. We stayed from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon. 

6. 5 families slept in their tents set up inside the tent cabins.














7.    7. We burned a fire in the morning and a fire in the evening.

8. Rich always started the morning fires.

9. My kids slept great. And even slept in a little bit.

10. 2 families had trailers.

11. 2 families slept in their tents on the hill.
12. Crewe fell into the water 2 times.

13. Rich brought his bike but never got to ride it.

14. I played Settlers of Catan 5 times.

15. We ate like kings.

16. We made 2 peach cobblers in the dutch oven.

17. It was 43 degrees at night.

18. I got 1 bloody nose.....at 3 am.

19. I cried a couple of times about how cold it was at night.

20. The kids watched 2 movies.

21. A mouse ate holes in my yoga pants while I was sleeping (although I was not wearing the pants at the time).

22. Trying not to have to walk all the way to the bathrooms in the middle of the night...Rich peed off the deck of our cabin. I tried to do it outdoor man style and pee ended up on my leg.

23. We BBQ'd Tri-tip and pork roast one night.

24. Smores were had every night.

25. I wore 2 shirts and sweatshirt, the whole weekend. In the evening I would add my vest and a hat. 

26. The kids all got a long great. They played at this big play park in the camp ground.

27. Baby Dayne and I drank hot chocolate every morning.

28. Crewe's shoes got wet, so he wore our friends, pink crocs for the rest of the weekend. (he did not complain. he was grateful he got to leave the tent after that.)

29. I rolled my ankle and then consumed much pain medicines. Donna hurt her knee. She drank margaritas and felt better.

30. I did not read my book at all. But I did get through all the magazines laying around. 

31. One dad came with his 2 kids. He did great without his wife.

32. We brought our marbles board but never got it out of the car.

33. We had 2 cops and 1 fireman camping with us.

34. I had a great time. I would totally do it again.

35. I slept really poorly. I was cold. Then after Rich "fixed" me I was uncomfortable. Sleeping on the ground, sucks.

36. Crewe ended up taking a shower. No one else did. We were a huge group of stinking people.

 And finally........There were 37 of us camping. We had a great time. Thanks everyone. 

We are Back

We are back. I will report as soon as I can shower.......

update

***I felt bad about the no pictures so I added a random picture**

My life has been a little full lately and I HAVE NO PICTURES. Annoying. I know. But what is more annoying, no posts until I get pictures?

Last Wednesday my friend, Delaine, came to town for a little visit. It was so wonderful to have her here. She is from Billings and I get to see her when I am in town but she has never been to see me. We had an amazing time. I may have run her into the ground, a little bit.  Just a little. We went to the Oakland Zoo, a movie, Ikea, Target, Kohls, homemaking, had pedicures, the Wax Museum, saw a crappy musical, shopped in the City and ate ate ate and ate some more. Delaine is the nicest person I know. She is kind and quite. She is easy going and so easy to be around. Crewe loved her and I think she fell for Crewe a little bit.

Delaine left Saturday afternoon. Saturday night we went to dinner at our friends house. We played games and kids ran around until way too late. Did I also mention that it was over 100 degrees that day. To freaking hot.

My sister in law, Julie had gall stones and had to have surgery. So my in laws hopped on a plane on Sunday. When AJ called yesterday to report she said, Enjoy the quite house. WHAT? I am enjoying a LOUD house with no guilt. 

We are going camping this weekend. Stop laughing. I will take pictures and report. 

Crewe

Crewe is a funny kid. A very funny kid. He is sweet and kind and thoughtful.  I have two stories I would like to record/share.

The other day I asked Crewe what summer camps he wanted to go to this summer. We talked about all the options and then I mentioned a fun in sun camp. That week the theme would be the Circus. Would you like to go? He replied, I can't go to Circus Camp. What if I can't balance a ladder on my nose?

Yesterday I was in a cleaning spree and I was tackling my messy desk. I had $100 dollar bill on my desk and I moved it so I would not lose it. Later in the day I went looking for the money and it was gone. I looked everywhere. When Rich came home we went through 3 bags of trash, the side tables, the paper baskets, and other nooks and crannies looking for this bill. When Crewe came home after an afternoon of visiting Rich's grandparents and the McDonalds playland, Rich asked him if by chance he saw the money. Sure, I saw it. I wanted to see a hundred dollars. Then I got busy and put in my pocket. 

A little Bakery in Rocky Point

When my uncle said that we needed to stop for bread I thought, Good. When we got out of the car and started walking down this alley way I thought, "Where do we make our drug deal?"
The oven in the Bakery. 
Uncle Wimp and I. 


Really can words describe this place? Except I will say the rolls from here were divine. We made a little garlic butter and toasted them with cheese for dinner. Di-VINE! Nothing I like more that rolls with a drug deal on the side.

Ah.

I have been seriously craving a pina colada. My sister-in-law, Nat asked the bartender how he made his magical drink for us on the cruise. I called her the other day and got the pointers for the drink but have yet to make it. With no alcohol.

If you are wondering where the other Nat is she was missing when we had this picture taken. We spent a lot of time on the cruise just looking for each other. If we ever do another family cruise we will be bringing post its to leave each other of our whereabouts.  Also Nan loved Strawberries Daiquiris, no pina colodas. 

Cola Light

One of the best parts of the traveling out of the country it trying new food and drinks. Over the years I have come to LOVE LOVE, Coco Cola Light. It is similar to Diet Coke but so far different. Better, lighter, sweeter.  I drank one every day on our trip.  Thank goodness for my uncle and aunt who recognize the importance of having the sweet drink in their house at all times. And if we ran low, we hoped in the Rhinos and drove down to the market for more. 

Ola

The kids and I returned from Mexico last Saturday. We stayed at my Aunt and Uncle's House. There house is so warm and inviting. I love being there. I could stay there and do nothing for a very long time. Or as my dad said one night, "So what are you guys going to do tomorrow in Lazyville?"
Here is small list of some of things we did....1. My mom painted dayne's  toe nails. Many times. She brought nailpolish that was pink in the house and purple in the sun.

2. We read books and played in the sand. 

3. We drove the Rhinos down to the market and bought tortillas for a simple lunch.

4. I drank cola lights until I was so happy.

5. We ate beans, rice and chips and salsa everyday.  I also had AMAZING guacamole. 

6. Crewe went 4 wheeling with Uncle Wimp. 

7.We went to an "aquarium" and fed the sea lion and the snapping turtles. 

We had an amazing time. Thanks Mom for taking us. We loved spending time with you. Thanks for having us Aunt Dawn and Uncle Wimp. We love you. 

PS the second to last picture shows my Aunt's house. I was standing where the ocean water will come in. The last picture shows the kids playing in the water when the tides were in. The water did come even closer later in the week.