Heat and a hike...

Earlier this summer--when the California heat was at it's miserable peak--we took a family hike up a favorite trail.  We tried to leave very early in the morning to beat the heat--but it was still a scorcher.




There is a grove of trees up on one of the ridge lines. We like to call it Fort Anderson.  It was our destination on the very first hike we took when we moved over to this side of the bay.  We made our way up to Fort Anderson again for this hike.





We were rewarded with awesome views.  We could even see the bridge Daddy takes on his commute into work every single day.





The kids were so tough!  I couldn't believe how well they kept up--heat and all.  We all enjoyed the cool of the pool after the hike.

This summer we will...

Summer has been fine.  I'd even say summer has been great so far.  I have managed to strike a comfortable balance between coming up with engaging activities for the kids and giving them time to be bored and entertain themselves.

We spend a lot of time down at the pool or at friend's pools.  Which makes a crazy mess out of the girls hair...


Some of our dearest friends are moving back east this summer so we've been trying to pack in a lot of play dates with them.


We made flubber and cake pops.  Flubber was so much fun we had to make it twice.  We have enough borax to make it a million times...school glue is harder to keep on hand.


Cake pops were not so successful.  It was a pain in the butt trying to dip those cakey-frostingey-delicious things in the candy coating without having the cake ball fall off the stick.  I think there were more complete cake pops than mess-ups but I can't be sure.  You can see a plate full of mess-ups in the bottom left of the picture (down there).  They were delicious.  I am pretty sure, to be a cake pop expert you have to commit to gaining a few extra pounds (like 100 extra pounds...).  I think I'll leave aspirations of cake pop perfection for someone else.

Colter is having a blast with all his siblings around.  However, even with all these fun kids around Colter still does his best to be my shadow--which can make daily chores like dishes or making dinner kind of hard.  Good thing he likes to hang out in a sink full of dirty dishes and eat soap.

It is really just water in an empty soap bottle.  

One of our neighbors got a dog this summer and every day the kids meet our neighbor outside to pat and play with their dog.  My kids want a dog soooooo much...have I mentioned how I am not an animal person?  Our neighbor's dog is going to have to keep them happy...forever...

So, there are some of the things keeping us entertained this summer.  I do not have any pictures of the hundreds of drawings and letters Adell has made.  She sends a note off to Grandma Claudia every week.  I do not have any pictures of the blanket/couch cushion forts the kids have made (every. single. day.).   I do have some pictures of the few outings we have made...but I'll save those for their own post.  Summer is awesome.

I am Mamma...

Colter knows how to say "Mamma"...sort of.

He's been saying sounds that are like "Mamma" for a couple of months.  Sometimes he calls me "moo" like the sound a cow makes because "moo" is one of the two animal sounds he knows.  The other animal sound he knows is "woof"--all animals either "moo" or "woof".  I guess I must "moo" sometimes too.

Sometimes he calls me "Maaaa!" in a wailing cry, when he is hurt or mad.

Sometimes he calls me "Mammeeee" in a whine to be picked up or attended to.

But my favorite is the combination of all his sounds for me.  He does this whenever one of the other kids are looking to capture my attention.  Just now, Wyatt needed me and was calling "Mom!" across the house.  Right behind Wyatt, running fast, was Colter doing his best to out call Wyatt.  "Maaaam!  Maaaam!  Mamma-mamma-mamma!  Mammeeee!"  When the duo finally found me (in the family room) Colter sprinted past Wyatt shouting even louder "Mamm!  Mamma!  Mammeeee!" and jumped into my lap.  Then he turned to Wyatt and offered a triumphant grin.  Colter won.

Yard work...

I bought an umbrella and table for our backyard/patio today.  We made a day long project of putting the table and umbrella together.

Wyatt is my builder-extraordinaire.  Having to think through a building project is right up his alley.  Wyatt has always been drawn to building toys--now I can take advantage of his Lego skills!

He figured out how to cut the bottom off a milk jug to make a funnel so we could weight the umbrella base with sand.  He followed the directions and helped me get the table assembled and umbrella placed.  He was invaluable.  He worked his way around the table--tightening screws and placing bolts.  I love his problem solving skills.  I love his eagerness to help.  I sure am thankful he is my son.

The girls were helpful too.  Lorien made a fort out of the box the table came in and entertained Colter while I worked.  The little girls helped Wyatt fill the umbrella base.

When all the hard work was done, we had lunch in the shade (lunch made by Lorien!).

Splish splash

It has been pretty hot around here.

It's like it's summer or something?

We spend a lot of time down at the pool.

The kids swimming skills have improved quite a bit this summer.


Wyatt and Lorien dive down to the deep end of the pool all the time.  Lorien can even swim without her goggles--a feat that was deemed "impossible" last summer.


Clare can swim in the deep end of the pool now--even with her face in the water!  Clare also jumps off the edge of the pool into the deep end and will let Daddy launch her into the pool.



Colter really only tolerates our trips to the pool.  He would rather be running around outside than be in the pool.  He hates his floaty.  You should see the ridged poses he strikes in order to keep us from putting him in the floaty.




Here is a little video to show off Adell's swimming.  She will come up from the water, choking, sputtering and 1/2 dead only to gasp out the phrase "I wanna do that again!".   We are always very close at hand--even if she is trying to push us away.

The fourth

And now to celebrate America's birthday!


We dressed in our finest red, white and blue and trotted out the flag.  Wyatt has been in cub scouts for a while and is a flag ceremony pro.





After a stirring flag ceremony we did the second-most-american thing we could think of...we went to the movies.  I know, not the most traditional of events for the 4th of July but it kept us entertained.

For the evenings festivities we made our way back over to the peninsula for the fireworks.  We haven't been to see fireworks for the last two years--you can imagine the excitement.


Adell fell asleep in the car about 3 minutes before we got to our fireworks spot--then she stayed asleep in the stroller until the fireworks started.


We watch the fireworks at this great place right on the water.  They launch the fireworks off of a barge out in the bay.  The kids can run around on the grass and a band plays.  There is plenty of space to set up a picnic blanket and hang out.  Colter ran all over the place and tried (with surprising success) to take the cell phones of strangers.  He would spot a person talking on their phone and wander their way...waiting for them to set the phone down on their picnic blanket...then he'd sneak over and try to grab their phone.  Rascal.





Lorien and Wyatt had free reign of the place.  They came back to our picnic blanket every so often for cookies and to tell all the hilarious things they were up to.


Will's brother, Alan, and his family met us for the fireworks show.  Colter found a new distraction in harassing his cousin, Hazel.


Look how adorable Luke is...super adorable.


My kids are adorable too.





Will woke Adell up about 30 minutes before the fireworks started.  We had tried to wake her earlier--much, much, earlier--only to watch her grab a blanket and snuggle back down for "just a little more rest" as Adell put it.











I always feel like we are in the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty as the sun sinks lower and lower.  Right before the fireworks start I think "The sun has set!  Make ready to welcome your princess!" and the fireworks start to go off.  Sleeping Beauty has always been my favorite Disney princess.


I don't know what was happening behind me when I took this picture...it wasn't the start of the fireworks.  Maybe a cool boat was sailing by?


This was Colter's first experience with fireworks.  He did well!  Other than trying to steal cell phones, run into the bay, or run away from us in general--he was great.


Happy birthday America.  You sure are old!