Monterey Aquarium

Our family hasn't been back to the Monterey Aquarium since I was just barely pregnant with Abby.  I remember we went on a weekend and we just loved it there.  One morning we all got up early to arrive at our designated time slot of 9:30.  It is a bit tricky getting a big number of people all in one house ready to get out the door, but we managed.  The Aquarium was just as, if not more exciting than the last time we visited.  Sammie and Abby loved the Sea Otters the best.  Abby was thrilled to find that one of them shared her name.  We watched the feeding and they were both smashed up against the window with a crowd of people behind them but they got a perfect view.  I was a little worried at that time because my dad had taken them up to see the otters, but I thought they followed my mom and when I asked her where they were she didn't know and no one else seemed to know either.  I didn't panic.  Just a few minutes later, I spotted my dad.  He told me the girls were in the small crowd but right up against the window.  I tip-toed up and looked around and spotted them.  I felt like that is how I was constantly on this trip.  My kids were just wandering off with any adult in our group.  I partly was happy about their independence, but slightly worried all the time.  Not too, too, worried, but just slightly.

Beach Days

We spent two different days at the same beach.  One day, there was a strong rip tide warning and we were advised not to venture too far out in the waves.  It was a cloudy and cold day, but the kids still enjoyed playing in the sand, I also love any kind of day at the beach.  We spent a while there.

A couple of days later, we headed back to the same beach because we really liked it.  It turned into a beautiful, sunny day, with lots of boogie boarding and playing in the waves.  I just clumped all of the pictures from both days together.  The girls were excited to find whole sand dollars and plenty of sand crabs.  Abby kept picking them up a letting them tickle her hands.

I really can't say enough how much I love the beach, until we have to clean off all the sand.  That part I don't love.

 

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

I don't think we really knew how our day at the boardwalk was going to go.  We ended up having so much fun going on all the rides that we spent all day there.  Olivia enjoyed staying later with Joey, Terry, Becky, and KC.  I took Sammie and Abby back to the house with the earlier crowd.  It was hard to keep track of everyone because my family seemed to be going in all different directions with everyone wanting to do something else.  I felt like I was constantly mentally checking where my kids were and who they ran off with.  At dinner time I think I caught up with all of the girls and Joey and we ate together.  I'm glad there were so many other adults there so that we could sort of just do the things we wanted to do.  I loved that Olivia got to feel so old going on some of the rides her younger sisters didn't want to go on.  I don't think she could have had better companions than her aunts and uncles to take her on some scary adventures.  Sammie and Abby's first ride was this pirate ship.  It didn't go upside down, but they were pretty frightened after and stuck to the more kid friendly rides.  I think my most afraid moment was when I rode the Ferris wheel with Brielle.  My stomach dropped when we moved  higher and higher to stop at the top to load/unload passengers.  I was afraid that if we moved the swing at all Brielle was going to fall out.  We made it down safely.  I'm still scared thinking about it.

We had a great day and everyone was satisfied.

 

 

Family Vacation2015

At the end of July my family took a vacation to the Santa Cruz area.  We had an amazing time.  We spent time at the house we all stayed in and also spent time at the beach and the boardwalk.  There is so much that we did in that week with also plenty of down time to relax.  We had a game of bocci ball out on the lawn and spent nights talking and playing games.  This is the part of the summer when our bedtime gets totally thrown off.  My kids just start to enjoy the night time fun along with everyone else and we are enjoying it too and we don't feel like settling everyone down for bed.  I feel like we are still paying for all the late summer nights.  This morning was rough getting up for school.  I love being with my family.  My girls just absolutely love their cousins.  Even though they are all younger than them, they still have a great relationship.  In some ways a better one because they love to help their young cousins and be sort of the "big sisters" of the group.

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

First Day of School 2015

It's very rare these days that I post something that actually happened today.  I seem to always be behind and have more of a reflective look at our families activities and events.  Today is the first day of school.  I am sitting in a quiet house and it feels good.  It is always a little strange when the first day of school comes around but I'm so glad my kids get to experience this.  Every year is different with new changes and challenges, but also new opportunities.  I love that my kids can go to school and that they can practice working on making their own choices and making mistakes and learning to work alongside other people.  I like that they can claim these experiences completely as their own.  While I obviously will check up with them after school, they still will have experiences that are just theirs.  They may not tell me every little thing and that's ok.  But they tell me the important things and in their own time and then some things they will figure out for themselves.
It was a bit of a crazy morning around here, but we made it to school.  I probably missed some paper that I needed  to fill out and I hope my kids know which bus to get on and I hope they make it home and I hope they feel confident and I hope they can find their friends.  I know they'll be fine.

 

New Job

A few weeks ago, Joey was offered a position teaching High School much closer to home.  For the past 5 years since we have lived in this house I have thought that it would be so nice if Joey just taught here.  It's so close and it would be so nice and I would love it if my kids could go to the school where he teaches.   In my heart I always felt that it would happen some day, we just didn't know when.  It is in the same school district, but his other job was about 25-30 minutes from home.  He loved it there.  It was where he "grew up" as a teacher.  He will miss his students and friends, but everything about this new opportunity just felt right.  It was hard and a bit emotional, but the decision was easy.  It just made sense.  He starts teaching tomorrow and has been busy getting ready.  He was offered the position mainly because they wanted him to take over the "We the People" program at the school.  The school has a long running history of excelling in this competition about the Constitution.  See all those trophies in the window?  It's a big deal in our school district. 

It just feels like the right move.  We've been helping him set up his new classroom.  It's a lot of work!  The change will be hard and busy, but he's ready.

 

 

A Train Ride and a Baby Shower

I don't even know where to begin from where I left off.  July and August were busy, fun, and summer-y.  So, I'm going to start from the most recent and work my way back.  A couple of weeks ago, after we had just spent a week with my family in Santa Cruz, the girls and I rode the train back up to Sacramento to go to Becky's baby shower.  It was so much fun to be able to go, especially since I had to miss her wedding shower because I was too sick at the time.  I hadn't ridden the train since Sammie was a tiny baby and Olivia just a rambunctious 3 year old.  They don't remember it.  They loved riding the train on this trip.  Especially Abby who kept remarking about how much she loved traveling by train.  She wished that we had one of our own that we could travel to anywhere in. 

My Mom put together a lovely shower.  We are all so excited for Becky and her little baby boy who will coming in November.  Dianna made some delicious and pretty cute cookies.  It was so great to see family and friends I hadn't seen in a really long time.  Everyone is growing and changing as the years are passing.  My cousins' families are getting bigger...and mine is too.  Olivia is only an inch shorter than me now.  Being at the shower just brought me such a happy and content feeling about all of the changes in life as I saw so many wonderful people.  It was a quick trip and we even squeezed in a couple of school shopping trips.  We traveled home with full hearts and also full shopping bags.