September 27, 2011

Last minute mini trip

On a very last minute whim, we decided to leave town for a 3 day weekend. On Friday, after Kirk got home from work (kids had the day off for teacher development day), we headed to Orange County just for the heck of it. We stayed in Costa Mesa (Kirk's and my old stomping ground for work) at The Westin right across the street from South Coast Plaza.
That night we went to our very first Angels game as a family. Justin couldn't have been more excited about it. It's been on his wish list for a long time now. And even though we sat in the family section way out in left field and they lost, we had a fun time! And I must add that we had dinner there - Carl's Jr. Normally when we go to Carl's Jr. we spend about $25 for our family. Can you guess what we spent there? Come on...guess. You'll never even come close. Are you ready for this? Drum roll...
$70 and some change!!!!!!!!!!! That is robbery!!!!! Just had to throw that in there.

We sat right in front of the bull pin and were able to watch the pitchers warming up. Avery kept asking for a ball from one of the A's relief pitchers and he promised to give her one later, but then never did. Mean! :)
At first this sleeping arrangement looked like a good idea, but in the middle of the night I found him half off the chair and looking quite uncomfortable, so he ended up on the floor with some very nice down comforters for padding.

Saturday the plan had originally been to hit the beach or at least the pool, but it turned out to be a chilly and overcast weekend, so we decided to use the free coupons we got from the Angels game and went to Irvine Park and went to the zoo. Always a lot of fun. Love that park!
The whole park is all decked out for Halloween already, so that was a lot of fun.



Our awesome Angels coupons also included a buy 1, get 1 for the train, so we did that too. Devin's favorite.
Their pumpkin patch was open with a free hay maze and very kid friend haunted house, so we took advantage of those too.






After all that fun we headed back to our hotel for some rest and then headed across the street to the South Coast Plaza where Avery bought this very cute hat and Devin and she rode the carousel.


Then it was dinner. After that we took the kids to see where we met (our old work) and to watch the planes come in at John Wayne Airport. It's changed a lot in the fact that there are now signs on the fence saying no loitering and it's monitored by Homeland Security. About 3 police cars with spot lights came by us and saw us, but we never got asked to leave. Not sure if that makes me feel very safe, but it was fun to watch the planes come in. The next morning we went to my parents, had lunch and picked up Haley and came home. It was a fun weekend!

September 23, 2011

Congratulations, Avery!

Avery found out yesterday that she won 3rd Grade Executive Board Member at her school. Quite an accomplishment in a school her size. She campaigned hard and earned her spot on the board and she couldn't be happier! I wasn't allowed to go watch her tape her speech, so I taped it myself before we left for school the other morning. It's only 1 minutes long if you're interested in listening. Way to go, Avery! We are so happy for you!

September 19, 2011

So proud!


Saturday Devin had his second soccer game and scored 2 goals! Kirk had made deals with the other 2 kids that if Avery made a goal or Justin hit a double he'd buy them their own big bag of chips. Devin, of course, wanted in on the deal and after last weeks game we really didn't think we'd be paying up so soon. He sure surprised us! They were very deliberate goals. On the way home he said "I'm so proud of myself" and then a few minutes later he announced "I love myself!" He was one happy camper! And even more so with his huge bag of chips. Way to go, Devin!

September 17, 2011

Devin is 6!

Devin's birthday was Wednesday and he had a fun day! Of course it's always fun to go to school on your birthday and be able to wear the birthday crown and have it be a little about you. At the end of the day I brought in popsicles for the class and when I got there they were singing Happy Birthday to him.
Then his teacher, Mrs. Tyndale, has them mix the words up and sing it silly. Always fun!
Devin with his buddies Jack and Trent.

This was his first year to have a friends party and he had it at Sky High. Such a fun place with bouncy houses galore, ping pong, air hockey and more.
This gives you an idea of what it looks like. A kids dream!





We invited his Primary class plus about 3 other friends. He was all smiles! Happy birthday, Devin. We love you!





September 16, 2011

The Campaign Train


Avery is running for Executive Board Member on Student Councel for the 3rd grade. On Tuesday she put up her posters and made sure to talk to all her friends to ask them to vote for her. Today she found out she made it to the finals! She's so excited. Now we need to get campaign stickers made and a couple more posters done and write a speech. Fun for her! Let's wish her luck!

September 14, 2011

Justin's baseball


Justin was drafted onto our arch enemy team - The Red Sox. Ha! He had his first game last night and did great...even stole a base first time up to bat. They won 11-6. Woo hoo! Seems like a nice team too. Fun times ahead! The picture I'm posting is the only one that came out. I hate night games. I just can't get any pictures in that (non)lighting!

September 12, 2011

Devin's first game


Devin had his very first soccer game on Saturday. Oh boy! The sweet little thing didn't have any idea of what to do other than kick the ball. It was quite comical watching him (and some of the other kids) out there. Luckily, they don't keep score at this age, have a goalie or really even care about any rules. But he sure looks cute in his red uniform! Go Red Hawks!

He played against his friend that lives down the street. Seems they were having a little conversation here above.

September 7, 2011

Labor Day Weekend

Over the weekend we tried a new location in Chula Vista (or Chulajuana as Kirk calls it) and went with some friends. They tent camped while we trailer camped. It was a fun time! And best of all my stubborn kidney stone didn't act up at all making it an even better weekend!

We left Friday. I picked up Devin and Trent from kindergarten and checked Avery and Tommy out a little early and then when Justin walked home with Lauren and Lacey we all took off.

We got there at about 5:00 or so, set up camp and we hosted the first nights dinner having burgers, potato salad, broccoli salad, corn on the cob and watermelon. Our site wasn't the best of locations being on the main drag. Made me pretty nervous actually. After looking around the campground a bit, though, the interior part looked much better and we'll be giving that a try another time.




After dinner we had smores, of course.
They boys got tired around 9:00, so they went inside and watched Toy Story 2.
The next morning....beading. Always a hit.
The boys playing around.
Visiting the Paulsen's campsite.


On Saturday around 11:00 we headed over to Coronado and the kids played in the bay. It was a great afternoon with perfect weather!

Then we saw who we began referring to as "Hover man". Isn't that wild? Never seen anything like that before. Pretty cool!
The kids building up a sand wall.


So proud of their hard work.
But it's more fun to tear it down!


That night we all went out to Chili's for dinner and then to the Paulsen's campsite for smores and Mad Libs and some fun with glow sticks.
Sunday we headed over to the Mormon Battalion Historical Site and learned about the battalions trek west and how they helped settle San Diego.
Avery volunteered to get dressed up like a wash maid.
The Paulsen's
Panning for gold. So much fun!

That night the Paulsen's hosted dinner and served burritos, salad and watermelon. And they made peach cobbler in their dutch oven for dessert. YUM!!!

We had a great weekend! What a great family to share it with!