Tag...Karlee's it!

All about my mommy! (Karlee's exact answers)

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Go downstairs; always listen; go get your clothes on"
2. What makes mommy happy? "give her kisses"
3. What makes mommy sad? "don't obey"
4. How does mom make you laugh? "do funny tricks"
5. What was mom like when she was little? "like this big" (showing about 1/2 inch between her finger and thumb)



6. How old is mom? "I don't know, 8? 89?"
7. How tall is mom? "a little small"
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "make me obey...I really don't like to obey"



9. What does mom do when you're not around? "talk to friends"
10. If mom becomes famous what would it be for? this was a hard concept for Karlee, she insisted I could be famous for "taking a bath..."
11. What is mom really good at? "Playing computers; getting me fruit snacks"
12. What is mom not very good at? "smack my bum" If I'm not good at it...is this a good thing?



13. What does mom do for her job? "clean clothes"
14. What is mom's favorite food? "spicy stuff"
15. What makes you proud of your mom? "hug me"
16. If mom were a cartoon character which would she be? "a princess"



17. What do you and mom do together? "pick out books together at the library"
18. How are you and mom the same? "we have the same eyes and lips"
19. How are you and mom different? "we have different hair"
20. How do you know mom loves you? "you always love me and hug me"

My sweet little "snakes, snails and puppy dog tails princess," I love you!!

Karlee tags Savannah!!

Gardening

We decided to plant a garden this year for the first time. It took us awhile because we had to start from scratch, clearing out the lawn and adding better soil. Digging out the grass was no picnic, but we finally finished last week and our wonderful neighbor took Sam to get a load of rich (but smelly) compost. That done, we just had to wait until after our next watering turn (flood irrigation). We didn't want everything to float away. Finally, tonight, it was time...oh, joy. It's one thing to plan a garden, it's quite another to plant it. We're both oddly clueless, considering we both came from garden-planting families. However, we have some seeds, some plants, and some soil and figure something will grow...hopefully. Funny enough, we sure could buy a bunch of veges for the money we've spent being self-sufficient, but it's an investment, right? Riiiiiiight. It was fun, at least, the kids had a ball. They all tromped through the mud and got their hands filthy. McKenna even sampled the soil, mmmmm. It will be fun to watch things grow and maybe, just maybe, "vege" will no longer be a four-letter word...if you know what I mean. Daddy's helper.

Oh my cute!

"Take a picture of us, we're like farmers!"

Check out the pants!

He loooooves this!

c.

Another Broken Brand

What the...? Ya, it's true. Karlee broke her left collar bone today. "Doing what?", you ask. Leaping from the couch? Jumping on the bed? Falling down the stairs? No...tug of war with the light saber...Caleb let go. I knew something was wrong when she didn't "bounce back" like she usually does. She was laying on the couch and kept trying to get up and when she couldn't, she'd mutter to herself,"Nope, it still hurts." I figured we better have it checked out. We had a winner! She should feel pretty good in about a week and the trick will be keeping her "down" long enough to heal. 3-4 weeks...I can do this.

She's a little sore, but still Karlee!!

This is the brace she has to wear for the duration. Lovely, huh?

San Francisco-Volume Two

Fun in San Francisco

Whew, did we ever kick off our summer with a bang!! San Francisco, baby! We decided it would be a GREAT idea to pick Grace up from the last day of school and head out to the (not-so) sunny coast to visit family. Things actually went according to plan (amazingly) for much of the first part of our trip. We left on time, with most everything we intended to bring...including all 4 kids. Our first hiccup, however, occured before we even hit the Nevada state line. Our first stop at a podunk gas station in The Middle of Nowhere, UT was supposed to be a quick stop for a restroom and a bag of chips. Mission accomplished...until we went to get back in the car. "Run around the van 5 times!" I suggested, to get the wiggles out. Brilliant. On lap 2, Caleb tragically tripped and went down on the new, very rocky asphalt. Mmmm, hamburger was on the menu, at least when I checked out the damage to his cute little knee. Back inside the gas station I went, for Neosporin and bandaids. We patched him up as well as we could and we were off again. It was a long trip to Reno, but we finally neared our destination, in pretty good time, I might add. McKenna, however, felt most keenly the altitude drop into the Nevada city and let us know she was very uncomfortable. We made an unscheduled stop at Uncle Don and Aunt Cindy's for a blessing and some TLC. (We cannot thank you enough!!) Then on to our classy accomodations in the Atlantis Hotel and (mostly) Casino. Yes, we had to drag all four kids through the casino and smile at the incredulous looks we got from the patrons there...haven't they ever seen 4 tired kids and 2 frazzled parents before? After a good nights rest and a chocolate chip granola bar, we were ready to hit the road again. Thanks to some sleepy medicine and lots of prayers, McKenna slept through the 7000 foot drop into San Francisco, in fact, she slept ALL the way to San Francisco. We arrived and almost immediately hit the beach! It's not quite the typical California beach experience, in that it's SO FREAKIN' COLD! There, I've said it once, I (probably) won't say it again. It didn't deter the kids a bit, though, as you can see. They put on their suits and had a ball. Sam was in heaven, flying kites on the beach and narrowly avoiding several costly wrongful death lawsuits. After a trip back to Dave and Mindi's for baths and dinner, we headed out for Ghirardelli Square for ice cream. If you like chocolate, then this is Mecca, for sure. We loved every last drop...

The next day we hit Fisherman's Wharf and the Aquarium of the Bay. We stopped by Pier 39 to say hello to the resident sea lions...they're not the most hospitable hosts...rather loud and a little rude. Sam honed his guitar skills in the afternoon with a few sessions of Guitar Hero...he like, totally rocks, dude! Dave, Mindi and I skipped the guitar lessons and went shopping in China Town. LOVE IT!! Sunday was church and views, views, views. And a very cool beach with sand that looked like tiny, polished rocks. The fog rolled in over the bay as we left in rather dramatic fashion, turning the already cool weather downright frosty! Luckily, "Cafe Rio" was waiting for us at home...mmmmm. Lacy and Alex joined us for the sights and variety of other unique experiences. Little Molly introduced them to the joys of parenthood (aka puked all over them, both of them!) Thank heavens for a washing machine and a spare pair of swimming trunks!

Monday we had the full San Francisco tour. We started at Golden Gate Park with it's wind mill and floral splendor. Next was Alamo Square (where the beginning shots of the sitcom Full House were filmed), where we, too, enjoyed a picnic. We also drove through the Haight-Ashbury district ("Peace!) and the very "colorful" Castro district (...don we now our gay apparel...). We strolled through the Japanese Tea Gardens, too bad we just missed the cherry blossoms, still beautiful though. By this time the kids were cranky and the parents were exhausted, or maybe it was the other way around :) but I was determined to buy some cherries on Grant Street ("authentic" China Town). There was NO WAY we were going to try and find parking and get the kids out in the teeming throngs, so I jumped out on a street corner while the caravan drove around the block. What a trip! The 10 minutes or so I spent in that part of China Town was one of the highlights of the trip. It really is like being in another country. And I did get my cherries...for 50 cents a pound! Oooooh, yeah! The next day was our trip home and is mostly a blur, with the exception of the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA and our visit with Uncle Don and Addie in Reno. The memories are already sweeter, now that we've all got feeling in our legs again. HUGE thank you to Dave and Mindi for being excellent hosts and enduring the mess and mayhem for the weekend. We had a ball-we love you!!

San Francisco-Volume One