Greg's Parents

Greg's mom sent this picture around asking all the grandchildren if they could guess who these people were. Many of them said Greg and Kristy (his sister.) It was taken in 1961 of Greg's parents at a Halloween party. I would say there are some serious genetics going on here:)

King Salmon Alaska

Early this morning, Greg arrived home from a fishing trip in Alaska with people from work.  I'll let him give you the details but I wanted to post some awesome pictures.

We finally made it to the beach this summer. Or I should say summer finally graced us with its presence with a SUNNY day at the ocean's front. I didn't have the energy to deal with it by myself so I had a sweet teenager offer a second set of hands. Now I know why people have a nanny even when they're home! I even got a chance to take a dip in the FREEZING water.

Amy's first "big" haircut

Bribing Amy to let me brush her hair has become a bit tiresome lately. There has even been moments where I chase her around the house with brush. Not my idea of fun. So we came to an agreement to have it cut off. I admit that there was a part of me that was sad when I looked at her locks on the ground but now she is beaming with her new do and has already asked me if she can cut it again in case it grows out.

Summer Pool Day

I'm getting a bit of a late jump on our summer pool days but the reality is that the weather has been a bit on the chilly side. I've been avoiding "public" pool water as well....at least until my incisions heel:) Cousin Charlie came over to visit as well which is always a treat for Jamison because on top of having fun games to play on his phone, he's another guy to wrestle with. Amy has been our little fish. We've passed up on swimming lessons due to intermittent episodes of moodiness which refunds don't entertain. Becca is our pool toy collector....even if things aren't ours, she'll collect them anyway. Of course, she insists on wearing goggles on her head while attending her duties.

Quote of the day

"Mom, can you pause my "quiet time" while I am going poo because it's going to be a while and it's not fair if Amy gets shorter "quiet time" than me." -Jamison

Wheels and puppies

Becca has been quite the busy bee trying to keep up with all the kids on our street. This of course requires assistance on some at some point. And then there are the occasional dog walkers which she is completely enamored by. She LOVES dogs.

Training wheels

I think the standard age for attempting to ride ones bike without training wheels is around 5. Due to the whole idea of peer pressure on our street, the age for ditching the training wheels is between 3 and 4. Recognizing this fact, Amy requested that Dad take off her training wheels. Apparently the idea of it all was better than the actual reality. Add that and a little girl who desperately needed a nap, the situation resulted in tears. The training wheels were reinstalled.

THE Camping Trip

Last week Greg wanted to get out of town and camp.  This came as a surprise because I'm always the one saying we should go camping.  Off we went to Green Valley Campground in Cuyamaca.  There were waterfalls for the kids to play in and chipmunks to name.  Every other one was either Alvin, Simon or Theodore.  As we set up camp we discovered our car would not provide the energy necessary to blow up our aerobed so we visited our friendly camp hosts who were willing to help us out.  This is the one time where driving with a mattress on top of your car is indeed appropriate.  Greg thought I was crazy but it worked out.  Becca did a face plant into the dirt within the first 10 minutes and once we got her calmed down we started on dinner.  We had pizza pies cooked over the fire.  Delicious!  Bedtime was the kicker.  By 5 am Greg and I concurred that it would be best to cancel our reservations in Sequoia for the end of August.  I think I got an hour of sleep the whole night.  Greg however took a nice 2 hour drive at 5 am to watch the sunrise as Becca refused to sleep a wink unless she was driven around.  The kids woke up ready for their hot chocolate and cereal.  By 8:30 am we were packed up and headed home to get some real sleep.  We'll have to give it another year or two before we try it again.

Everything but exercise

Most of us have one of those fabulous exercise balls.....few actually use it for its intended purpose but it does however make a fabulous toy for kids. An exercise ball is good for hours of fun.