Ahh, the Pool Hath Opened

The first of May our neighborhood pool opened. It's even been warm enough to go, yay!



After Nathan's done with work we will all head to the pool and I will watch them all play for a little bit and then I will leave a little early and head home to make dinner in peace and quiet, obviously a treat. It's worked out this way 4 or 5 times this month and it's so nice- hope there is more to come.

The Jungle and A Backyard Camp Out

We had to go into SF on Friday and at lunch we splurged and finally went to this cool place called the Jungle that we have seen so many times. 

This is Kohen trying to see if the huge mechanical Anaconda will lick his hand. It should be noted he did not desire the snake in our back yard to do the same... thankfully.

Though the food was overpriced the restaurant itself was really cool. It was a jungle from floor to ceiling with animatronic jungle animals moving and roaring all over the place, pretty neat. 

We got to sit right next to this big aquarium which was unique and fun and kept the children entertained while waiting for their lunch.

The real fun started that afternoon after naps. We decided it was a good weekend to Camp Out in our backyard and we surprised the kids. They were so thrilled. I found Kohen upstairs gathering camping stuff and he breathlessly starts telling me what all he has 'packed'. "I've got my pajamas, my telescope so I can see the snakes, my Book of Mormon, my chopsticks...I'm ready to go camping!"......Chopsticks??? 

Kohen brought out his snake and tried to scare all of us that it was one of our real snakes. He actually got Nathan pretty good once, lol.

I enjoyed my time cooking outside. We only had one small mishap when I spilled soda trying to hand Nathan a blanket while cooking and when I jerked the blanket away from the soda and started cleaning up I actually threw it onto the coals and melted part of it without even realizing it until Nathan jumped in and saved the day...woops.

Poor Kohen came over bawling to me about his journal where he had been having Nathan write down everything we'd been doing and eating. Below is the cause for the tears- had to laugh at that face though- as I cleaned it up for him of course.

Aly tried her hand at roasting a marshmallow- just as long as she wasn't roasting her hand...

I'm not even gonna lie right now. I make a mean S'mores and you should be crazy jealous.

It had actually gotten really windy and cold so it was nice to get all tucked into our tent and get warmed up. The glow sticks were a huge hit. A buck well spent for sure. The kids were laughing so hard I thought we'd wake the neighbors. 

As the evening wound down Aly - a known partier- refused to settle down. When she declared she needed to go potty I gladly took her in- bidding the other 3 a good night. Though Aly wasn't pleased when she found out she was staying inside it really was for the best for both of us. As far as camping goes- I'd say back yard camping is right up my alley, at least for now with little ones. Fun night!!!

There's a Snake in my Boot

Sweet Kennedy was helping out by running a cereal box out to the recycling bin. She went out the back door and a minute later when she returned, by the look on her face I knew something was terribly wrong. She tells me while literally shaking, that I needed to look out the back door right by the house. Because blogging comes first in this household, I took a few pictures before calling in back up.

Nice. An at least 3 ft snake waiting right out side my back door to- let's be honest- eat me. Or maybe one of my sweet children, should I send them out with some recycling. Anyway, Nathan was on the job and the children were glued to the back door and nothing was distracting them. Nathan was out there with a rake (your obvious first line of defense against snakes) and fearing the rescue/removal mission may quickly turn to a gory extermination, I began trying to distract the kids from their front row seats. I started with, "Hey guys, dinners ready. Why don't you sit down?" zero response. No wait, Kohen said, "He's getting it! He's getting it!" So I tried a little harder, "Whose gonna help me with the cantaloupe? You can even have some while you help..." Nothing. Finally I tried a loud, "WHO WANTS TO GO TO DISNEYLAND?!" Aaaand that's when I officially gave up.

When I saw Nathan jabbing a freshly broken rake handle into the bushes I physically removed each child from the back door and put them up to the table. Meanwhile, Nathan the Snake Hunter was taking care of business. Turns out there was more business than initially thought. 3 snakes, as in one- two-three snakes in our backyard. What the?? 

The area we live in does have issues with Rattle snakes and our fence is actually specifically made to keep them out but apparently this large garden (?) snake has some sort of VIP pass into our yard. 

Unfortunately 1 out of 3 snakes was harmed in the making of this blog. But it was his fault. He was hissing and biting at Nathan and refused to be chucked harmlessly over the fence. Don't tell PETA.     

Medical for the Fam

It's a little weird to open the fridge and see a little box containing a live Typhoid virus. The product of our family visit to get our medical stuff done to move overseas. The office we went to was a little ways away and I was wondering how it was all going to work with all 5 of us being seen together. 

Though it is nothing I care to do again anytime soon, all things considered the children did really well all 3 and a half hours we were there. Sure there were different children climbing the walls at different times but then again, so was I. For the grand finale each child had blood drawn and two additional shots along with Nathan and I. I really wish it would have been like at the Pediatrician's office where they've stuck the child all 3 or 4 times before they can even get out a cry. Instead it was painfully drawn out, each child getting one then starting rounds again. By the end they had certainly had enough. The staff was very complimentary of the kids which is always nice to hear, though a bit odd to hear your children handle getting stuck well.

Anyway, Kennedy and I got a kick out of Aly when she and I were doing our eye tests "E...H...G...C..." and Aly was dying to have a turn. I hand her the little eye cover and she gets herself in position, one eye covered and she earnestly begins, "A...B...C...tuna". Probably would've had to have been there but if you know Aly you may get a chuckle out of it.

When we finally got home, more than half the day gone, we all absolutely crashed. Whatever shot the 3 children and I had was killing our arm and I'm not even kidding. I'm almost glad mine hurt too so that I was appropriately sympathetic to my babies. It hurt to move it at all and it was several days before it went away, crazy. Anyway, we really did pass out because when I shot awake 3 hours later I was getting everyone up and Kohen says cheerily, "Well that was a short rest." No concept of the hours that had gone by, lol. 

Glad to have that out of the way for sure. I'm with my children, I don't ever want to go back there...if that's okay.

Embarrassing Moment #369

We have the most quaint post office near where we live. The service has always been impeccable, they are always friendly and I've never waited more than 2 minutes to be helped- and yes, I am in fact talking about the US Postal Service- hard to believe. Anyway, this morning I went in with Kohen and Aly.

After 1 minute of waiting Aly is trying to rip my arm off so I pick her up as I am called up to be helped. The gentleman helping the customer to my left is Hawaiian or something but he is really tan and looks almost African American. This line of thinking never would have crossed my mind until Aly points her arm clear out at him and says, "He's a TROLL!"......... *crickets chirping*.......WHAT?! How do you recover from that?! At first I thought maybe he wouldn't understand her but no such luck, against all odds the guy understood every word. Thankfully he seemed to have a good sense of humor but I still wanted to die. I mean- I have a suspicion the comment came from a Dora the Explorer episode but how do you explain that to the newly christened 'Troll'? Especially when he looked nothing like the cartoon troll? I can only imagine what the postal worker/troll thinks we are teaching our little children. I knew that Dora was up to no good...

Happy Mothers Day 2009

I've had a lot of time to think without being interrupted this weekend and I have come to several conclusions. First of all: every "normal" family is functionally dysfunctional- don't argue with me- you know as well as I do that if every one could watch your family for a time there is inevitably a few things you all do that the rest of us would raise our eyebrows at. And no family is perfect, though that probably stems from none of us being perfect but you know, usually we do our best. 

As far as my grandmothers go, they both worked extremely hard and made enormous sacrifices for their children. Following in their footsteps my mother also worked very hard, and I have it on good authority- shed many tears over her children and our well being. Their examples were and continue to be a treasured source for me as far as mothering goes. Why so few of the housekeeping skills have rubbed off, I know not but it's a shame. I love my Mother, Grandma Nona, and Grandma Doris very much.

Nathan unknowingly gave me the best gift this weekend (aside from subbing for me with the 3 amigos and the flowers that he sent to the hotel) when last night he had finally gotten the children to bed he texted me 5 glorious, validating words: YOU HAVE A HARD JOB. He told me today that his "Internship" the last 4 days has really been the best way to appreciate the job I do. Being a Mother is the hardest and best job I've ever had. Happy Mother's Day to every woman who is, has been, or will someday be in the trenches of motherhood.

Um...Whoops???

About two weeks ago I went to a friends blog to find a picture of her young daughters Cello which had been accidentally broken badly, though luckily it was covered. My comment was as follows, "Today the Cello tomorrow the car. Let's take this valuable lesson and insure everything that our children touch, lol." Yes, haha our children who break everything they touch, those pesky things. 

So fast forward to Nathan and I's long flight home from Taiwan. Nathan was helping me figure out the buttons to lay the chair further back and as he and I each held buttons that were slowly moving the whole seat forward and down, we were yuckin' it up about something when we heard this ominous "CRACK!" We look at each other and Nathan says, "what was that?" I already knew. I realized my backpack had been laying on the floor as we started moving the chair and eventually the chair had squished it into the center console and...well...see for yourself. 

That ^ would be my not even 6 month old MacBook Pro which had been in my backpack. The white lines on the screen would be a horrible crack shouting to the whole world my clumsiness and stupidity. Pictured below on the left side of the screen you can see some more damage. Ugh, I was sick to my stomach as Nathan and I sat looking over the carnage that was my laptop. It was brutal. All I could think about was that stupid comment I made on my friends blog. Yeah, cuz it's the kids who break everything they touch.

The happy/ironic ending to this story is when Nathan says "Well, it's a good thing I got that extended warranty..." How embarrassing. We have to ensure everything I touch! But I was so grateful Nathan had done that, I guess he knows me all too well, though at the time I'm sure I figured extra protection was because we have 3 little ones around.

Anyway, as it stands right now the only difference I can see between little children breaking things and me is that occasionally toddlers will destroy things out of curiosity. Other than that I think we need to be just as cautious of what I might demolish as them. My sincere apology to little people everywhere.