happy camp

This past weekend we took a long overdue family vacation.  My sister and I have been blessed with such awesome neighbors and they both generously loaned us their RV's for the weekend.  My sister lives in Canyon Lake, "a bit of paradise".  Inside the bubble is a campground called Happy Camp and it was everything happy this weekend!

As soon as we arrived Anthony took the kids fishing.  Wyatt was so determined to catch a fish so every chance he got, he was out there with his pole.

First thing in the morning, we watched the sunrise from the dock.  Still determined.

 Not going to give up....

 HE CAUGHT ONE!!!!

She didn't catch a fish but she tried very hard to catch a duck or two.

 It was so wonderful for all the cousins to be together for the weekend.

 That's my husband using the lily pad as a wrestling mat.

 After the fishing, we went skiing.  That's my nephew who just turned 7 on a slalom ski.

 Seriously, he's 7.

 After skiing he showed us his stunts on the wake board.

 Guess what happened next...

 Wyatt and Freedom trying to catch a duck.

 sisters

my sister and myself with our girls

 My brother, sister and I 

Our crew

We had such a great time together!!!  Can't wait to do it again!!

life lately

Life lately

It's been nice to get into a bit of a routine, the inconsistent kind that I prefer.  School has been getting a little easier now that we are in the 5th week... only tears, no more screams.  Here are some pics of what we have been up to.

Waking up to beautiful sunrises of course.

The stache is in full force with the wife very ready for Stachetoberfest on October 8th.

Alexis had her first Brownie meeting and of course I cried.  All the songs that I sang when I was in Girl Scouts came right back to me.  I am so excited for Alexis to make the same wonderful memories and friendships that I made. 

We had a couple of caterpillars and watched the life cycle unfold from our mantel.  

When the butterflies came out of their cocoons we took them outside to set them free.

My sister Leslie and I on our way to our mini High School reunion.  It's been 16 years and thanks to Facebook, one of our friends was able to put together a party for everyone to get together.

I didn't make it long that night and didn't take many pictures.  But the people that I did see, it was so wonderful to catch up and re-connect!!!!

A huge thanks to Chelsea here for putting it all together!!

The next morning, Anthony and I woke up early for the Care to Wear Pink Event that North County Fire Protection District and the Kairin Clinic put on.  It was a great turn out but this picture shows how slow we (I) were.  There is one man standing down there holding the cheering sign... everyone had already finished the 5K but my scooter only goes 3 mph.  As our friend Camille said, anyone can place in the top 3 but coming in last... only one can do that :)  Thanks for walking with us, Camille!

The rest of that day was spent sleeping on the couch.

That's what we've been up to lately... how about you?

running through the sprinklers

the first day

The morning started off early.  Wyatt has been very excited about starting Kindergarten that he woke up at 1:30 a.m and 5:30 a.m and then finally gave up on sleep at 6:15 a.m.  We watched the sunrise as he enthusiastically got dressed, brushed his teeth and grinned from ear to ear.

Alexis was a bit of a sleepy head and somewhat apprehensive about starting school again but happy to see her friends.

Here we are... Kindergartener and Second grader

A BIG thanks to Anthony's co-worker for holding over for him this morning.  This was his first year seeing the kids on the first day of school (and realizing what all the fuss is about... he saw how it would have been physically impossible for me to do the drop off myself)

As the bell rang and all the kids cheerfully trotted off to their classrooms my kids put the breaks on.  Alexis walked up to her class and made a quick u-turn to Anthony (I was walking next door to Kindergarten because I saw the look on her face and knew what was coming) and grabbed onto his waist as the tears began to flow.  As soon as Wyatt saw her tears and apprehension he decided he wasn't going to go to his class...ever.  So Anthony picked Wyatt up (with his resistance the 55 lbs quickly turn into 100 lbs) and carried him into his class to hand him off to his teacher (which I absolutely adore...she was Alexis' teacher last year)  Mrs. T literally pried a screaming Wyatt from Anthony as he pierced everyones ears who was within 100 ft.  MOOOMMMMYYYYY DON'T LEAVE.... MOOOMMMMMYYYY.  Well, there goes my strength and courage as the tears poured down my face.  I walked out quickly to get Alexis back in her class.  At the door, her feet became bolted to the ground and she wouldn't go any further.  I guided (pushed) her to her seat, reminded her that she really will be okay and quickly left the class, so I could cry some more.  This behavior is NOT normal and the reason I know this is because my kids are the ONLY ones who act this way.

I know the separation is scary because I went through the same thing.  I don't ever remember the screaming but I do remember the nerves.  But this school is different.  The kids only go 3 days a week and they are home schooled the other 2.  They know most of the kids and the parents are my friends, my very good friends.  

I spent the day running errands and keeping busy, trying not to worry every second of the day how the kids were doing.  I arrived a half an hour early for pick up and anxiously awaited their hugs.  They both ran over with HUGE smiles and lots of stories about their day.  Wyatt cried a few more times through out the day yet he still said he had the best day ever.  

We are going to run through the sprinklers to cool off from the heat while I listen to more about their first day of school.