Summer Bonfire

One of my favorite things about summer is having more time for summer bonfires. This time we went to Seal Rock beach. The Olsen family happened to be walking by and stopped for a bit. The Huston family came down and we played a fun game of football. I don't think any one scored though. It was fun. Hot dogs, s'mores, listening to the ocean waves...some of my favorite things.

We took along the Friend magazine and Linnea read a story to all of us. (I have to take teachings moments that I can and I won't hear any complaints when mouths are full of s'mores. :)

I'm learning to endure summer better and even enjoy it! I just need to be sure and get a run in every morning and get the kids out twice a day. The first week after school let out was tough but I am enjoying extra time for outings with the kids now.

Baptism Day

Two of my nieces were baptized. Above my sister, Tera's, daughter. Below is my brother, Leif's, daughter. So sweet. I got to play the piano for the baptism. The cousins all sang a pretty song. Too bad I have a serious shine factor in these pictures. I'm not used to the heat of Coalinga.

We didn't go to the derby rides because of the filth and digustingness but the parade was great. The kids loved it. Especially Micah!

Leif rode on a float with his class--they had their 20th class reunion.

That afternoon we had a water fight and barbeque. So much fun with the whole family!

Leif's family with Grampa N. and Grama Shirley.

Catch Up-Easter

I'm a bit behind still on posting my pictures.
We had a nice Easter Celebration in Coalinga.
At Grama and Grampa Zuniga's house we dyed Easter eggs.

We barbequed...

...and ate. Jacen is in heaven.

Jacen hid the eggs.

and all the cousins found them.

Micah was proud to show his Dad the egg he dyed.

He even put stickers on it.
It's nice when kids are excited about just the regular old fashioned egg dying. I see kits that enable one to create gorgeous eggs but I can hardly get incentive to do the regular ones. I'm just not that into egg dying. I guess because it makes such a big mess maybe? Not sure.

Then we ate the eggs. It was really funny to me that none of the kids in Albert's family eat hard boiled eggs. Maybe its not a Mexican thing.

We drove home Saturday night and were in our own house for Easter Sunday.
The Easter bunny came.
Linnea learned the truth about the Easter bunny. I think it was a bittersweet moment for her.

The next week, time to give the puppies shots. My first time. It was scary at first but then easy.

Fresno Zoo

Well, I am playing catch-up here.
In April for spring break we visited family in the San Joaquin Valley. We went to Fresno to the zoo with Grama Shirley and Chris' family. It was the first time Micah has been to the zoo and he loved it!

Chris' son below, excited to see his favorite attraction, the elephants.

Micah's favorite was by far the giraffes. He couldn't get enough of them!

Gavin

Chris' youngest.

At Grampa and Grama's house the kids loved the trampoline as usual. Here they are playing with their cousins, Jada and Dezmon.

Oliver!

Linnea was recently in the 5th grade play Oliver.
She was a townsperson with a singing part.
Oliver is based upon the book Oliver Twist. It was so much fun to see!
She did a great job and so did all of her classmates.
Micah sat right in front with us and loved the whole thing! He kept saying, "Nay nay" (that is his way of saying "Linnea")

Me: Linnea, what was your favorite thing about the play?
Linnea: My costume
Me: What is your least favorite thing about it?
Linnea: I wanted to be a different character.
Me: What is the next kind of play you'd like to be in?
Linnea: Another musical play.

Me: What was your favorite song in the play?
Linnea: I liked all the songs but my my favorite one was either "Consider Yourself" or "Where Is Love?"
Me: What is your least favorite song?
Linnea: Oliver
(Try looking for some of these songs on You Tube. I wish we could have taped her and her classmates performing them though!)

Mothers Day

I didn't get any pictures on Sunday, Mothers Day. I did; however, get some pictures of the Saturday before. Saturday was nice too. I got up and ran 9 miles along 17 Mile Drive. It was gorgeous. I also got to go to a cute mothers day tea with Linnea at Pauline's beautiful house and garden. I also took the kids to the park and we had fun there. Sunday was nice too. Church, a nice long nap, family time. I'm blessed to have a great family. I love them so much.

Linnea's Science School/Camp

Linnea wrote this post!
She went to science camp this past week. We missed her a lot but she had a lot of fun!

I love this picture. We hiked by here and this mini creek leads to a pool0like creek bed with a waterfall. There, I made rock paint for my skit my cabin had to create.

Goats. Their secret weapon that eats the broom. There are two goats. I only got a good shot of one goat. This one is Jasper. This is a picture of Jasper eating broom from my hands.

This was my wonderful naturalist Casey. She is the one who taught me which plants are edible, which ones cure stomach and headaches, which ones work as toothbrushes, which ones are weeds that look as pretty as regular flowers (broom), and many more important things that I am so glad I learned.

On our "all day" hike, we hiked down to roaring camp and stopped in a shady grassy spot and ate lunch. I still can't believe I hiked about 7 miles in 100 degrees (or more) weather. But I thought is was pretty cool to see the roaring camp train. It was kinda worth it.

We hiked everyday for class and this is one of my favorite places we hiked to. In a huge circle layered with tall, tall, redwood trees. In this picture I took, I looked directly up standing in the exact middle of the circle.

This is my cabin. I am sitting right in front of my counselor, Victoria (Tori) Lis. My bestest friend Morgan, is sitting kitty-corner from me, she is also in 2 french braids. The rest of my cabin is Vanessa (on my right), Genevieve and Jane, acting silly next to Morgan, and Brianna (green shirt), and Dominique, on Victoria's left. They were the best cabin!

Wrapping Up April

This crazy little guy is acting very typical here.... He loves to "pet" the fish and they actually swim up to his hand. He would jump in if he could. He loves water. I recently found him giving my camera a bath in the sink. Subsequently, these pictures were taken with the camera I just bought Linnea a few days before.

The kids have been participating in a Just Run program affiliated with the Big Sur International Marathon for the past couple of months, practicing running after school. Saturday was their 3k (about 1.6 miles) race and they did so well. Last minute I ended up running with Gavin to calm his nerves. Too bad I didn't have an elastic band for my hair or cool running clothes on (or even a sports bra). It was fun though. Linnea ran on ahead with her friends. Gavin and I enjoyed watching the ocean and sea lions and he never stopped the whole way!

That afternoon was sunny and amazingly beautiful, as it has been here for quite some time. Albert wanted to barbeque. He bought Jacen a steak all to himself and chicken for the family and portobello mushrooms and zucchini and corn for me. I LOVE grilled veggies. They are heavenly!

Jacen with his steak.

My yummy vegetarian fare.

Speaking of vegetarian, I'm thinking of eating vegetarian all week and yesterday I looked up some recipes to try. Tonight I made Unsloppy Joes. I tweaked the recipe just a little and they were So delicious! I wish I could have taken a picture but couldn't because Linnea went to science camp up in Santa Cruz this morning and took her camera with her. (We will miss her!) Anyhow, the sloppy joes:

In a saute pan put chopped onions, shredded or finely chopped carrots, finely chopped or sliced celery, chopped garlic and saute until soft. Add one 8 oz. can of tomato sauce and one 15 oz. can of kidney beans and 2 T. tomato paste. Add 1 to 1 1/2 t. chili powder for just a little kick. I added little more garlic powder because I really like it. Now, you can use rolls and scoop out some of the breading inside for a place to put the "sloppiness" but I used this really good whole grain, seeded bread I picked up at Whole Foods Market today. I brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder and broiled until toasted and then put the sloppy filling inside. I served with a salad. Albert, carnivorous Albert, loved it. Gavin had seconds. Micah liked the filling. Jacen wouldn't try it and just skipped to strawberries for dessert. Of course, Linnea was gone.

Oh, and I am continuously busy with these little guys...plus their seven siblings. SO much work. They are darn cute though. Two more weeks...

Today I took a break though and took Micah to the park and the beach for some sun and relaxation. Micah loved chasing the birds and playing in the water. I loved talking to friends and watching Micah have fun. The puppy poop can wait. Oh, and I made the best salad for lunch. I will have to tell you about it another time. But seriously. so. good.