Laughter

Yesterday, Emily wanted me to go swimming with her.  She said she would teach me how to swim underwater.  I can swim fine.  I do triathlons. I just cannot swim underwater.  My body just won't sink.  Anyway, I went along with her just to spend time with her.  It was so funny!  I was so pathetic.  And she is a little mermaid.  She has this funny underwater swim she calls the 'otter swim'.  She swims underwater on her back and crawling.  At one time she had me hold on to her arm like you would a 3-legged race so she could show me how to use my arms.  I laughed so hard.  I haven't laughed like that since Jim was around.  She made me quit looking like a blow fish when I went under.  It was so funny how she would react when I just didn't get it.  Anyway, yeah!!!, I learned to swim on the bottom of the pool.  It is so much fun!  We went again today.  I love my little girl.

Gardening 7/11/2011

I love to garden, love to grow things.  I find it very relaxing and fascinating.  I love the way growing things displays God's power and tender touch.  This year I planted oregano, thyme, basil, tomatoes (only 2 plants), okra and artichokes.  The okra was overpowered by the tomatoes.  I planted one heirloom and one roma.  We had so many tomatoes and they were very yummy.  I also planted cucumbers.  I harvested a couple of artichokes but decided they are too much work so I let the rest turn into flowers - beautiful purple flowers.  Anyway, here are some pictures.

Legoland 6/29/2011

Emily's friend Jessica and her family visited relatives here in California so we met them at Legoland and spent the day.  Emily adores Jessica who babysat her sometimes.  Jessica is a senior now and such a beautiful soul.  We love her and her family.  Her and Emily really click.

Here Emily is standing by a Lego replica of a woman with a baby carriage.

Emily and Jessica copying the display.

Lego owls on a branch.  Emily is all about owls.

Legoland has a wonderful display of Starwars! 

Emily Tin Man Triathlon 6/26/2011

My little girl decided she wanted to do a triathlon so we found one just right for her.  It was a quarter mile run, a mile bike and a 50 yard swim.  She did it like a pro.  I was shocked.  All the kids were jumbled up at the start and they took off way too fast.  So did she.  But she hung in and then got on the bike, so serious.  It was not a very organized tri so kids and parents were everywhere.  When she got off the bike she was running to the pool putting her cap and goggles on at the same time.  She did so well in the pool.  When I went to meet her at the finish, she was overjoyed and saying she wanted to do this again.  My girl!

Here she is before the race.

Finishing the bike ride.

Coming out of the pool area.

All done!  She was so excited getting a medal.

Hotel Del Coronado and Race 6/19/2011

I love to do things in the summer while Emily is out of school.  One of the outings we did was to stay in the Hotel del Coronado for a night.  I scheduled it so I could do a 8.2 mile hard packed sand run along the beach.  It was so much fun and Greg and Emily were waiting and cheering for me at the end.  We then checked into the hotel.  It was beautiful.  The room, the hotel, the grounds, it was all good.  It was a great experience.  We got to do smores on the beach at night.  It was fun.  Well worth it!  Maybe this will become an annual thing. 

This was me finishing the race.  I was tired.  We got to run on a naval base that was closed to the public.

My Greg loves to travel and he loves architecture.

Emily and I making silly faces.

A view of the hotel.

Mmm... smores!

Having lunch on the beach!  The good life.

My sweet Emily.

Jax is 1 year old 6/18/2011

Our precious Baby Jax.  We call him 'Giant Baby' because when Emily, Kru and I are playing with trains or blocks on the floor.  He comes and either sits on everything or plows thru the middle of everything so we always say 'Watch out, here comes giant baby'.  Such a precious little boy, he is the spitting image of his mommy.  He also has her personality.  He is very quite but he doesn't miss a thing.  He is walking as of 10 months and loves to climb stairs.  He was born on Tony's (his Dad, my son) birthday.  What a nice present.  The boys really have everything so I bought a huge birthday bag and filled it up with every kind of ball imaginable.  Jax loves to play with balls.  He got such a thrill out of taking them all out of the bag.  So did I.  They had a really nice party at Tony and Rikki's house for him.  He had his own little cake.  This boy loves to eat so we thought he would just dive into his cake but he didn't.  After he figured out it was ok to have all that good stuff he got a little more excited about it.  I am so blessed to have my precious grandsons and a great daughter-in-law that takes very good care of them and lets me love on them as much as I want.

He got a time-out chair for his birthday.

Here he is opening gifts. 

Sweet little dumpling!

Tony and the boys!

Huntington Beach Trip - 6/22/2011

What a great trip. It took some coordination but we were able to ride our bikes to Huntington Beach (32 miles) and spend the day there with family and friends. Tony, Rikki and the Boys, John and Kate Arnold family and Emily and I all spent the day at the beach. John, Kate and I rode our bikes and met the rest at the beach. We stopped at Starbucks after the ride, as is our tradition (when we can). The kids all had a great time. Our cars were packed with bikes and beach gear. Jax, my one year old grandson was a hoot. He had so much fun playing in the sand. He got so tired he actually stood up and bent over and stuck his head in the sand. Cute, cute baby. Emily got to play with Grace and her cousin in the water. They had a huge piece of seaweed they all held onto and would all dive in the water when the ways came. They also boogie-boarded. We cooked out while we were there also. Great fellowship, great day. 

EOY Pool Party - Emily's Class 5/25/2011

Emily's class had a pool party at one of her classmates home.  They had so much fun.  Fourth grade was really great for her.  Her teacher was unbelievable!  Here are some pictures:

Memorial Day Camp Trip - AZ 5/31/2011

It is always a great time to camp with Dave and Barb Minich and all their friends. Emily and I drove to Arizona and camped on the 'rim'. Kathy taught Emily a new game. It was quite fun. Below is a picture of her and Dave playing. We ate really well, play lots of games, sing to music, played Frisbee golf, and chatted. The kids usually get together and watch movies at the end of the night.

Cactus to Clouds Hike 5/21/2011

This is the first time I have done a really big hike. Lots of work but lots of fun. There was 8 of us and we started at about 5:30 in the morning. It took us 10 hours to go 13 miles. When we got to the tram, four of us stayed while the other 4 went to the summit which was another 6 miles up. It was covered with snow. By the time the others got back it had been dark for about two hours and very cold. We were getting worried about them as the last tram down was at 9:00pm. They made it about 2 minutes till. Once we got down and to our car, someone had broken the window to our van and took several things. Luckily, I had left me purse in my car. Anyway, I had a great time with some great friends.

 

 

Emily Field Trip to Rileys Farm

To study Gold Rush Days, her class went on a field trip to Riley's Farm where they have a 'Gold Rush' area. They can dig and/or mine for gold and trade it in for cash (play money) or they can work to earn money. Gold prices went up and down depending upon the demand. It was really a lot of fun. Here are a few pics.

Emily getting ready to sell her gold.

She decided to earn some money the old fashioned way. She negotiated $20 up front to sweep the floor.

Christmas 2010 Big Bear Trip

I ran across pictures from our trip to Big Bear the day after Christmas.  A friend of mine was gracious to let me and mine stay in her cabin.  We had a great time.  It is always wonderful to spend time with family.

Packing for 2 babies for a one night stay - priceless!