Fab fall

We started school on the Friday after Labor Day - a strange choice on the part of the school district, but nobody's asking me. Audrey got a cute and very grown up hair cut. She started 4th grade with Mrs. Esquibel and Claire started 1st with Ms. Wood.

Super summer

School got out and we fell headlong into the lukewarm days of our cloudy coastal summer. We spent our time at the beach, the park, the library, rattling around the house, camping, and playing. Nobody bathed, and nobody blogged, but by golly, we did our workbooks and job charts. Every summer, I vow my children will not wile away their time building forts with the couch cushions and wasting all my printer paper drawing 5,000 fairies, so this year I let it be understood that no fun would be had until the chores the workbooks were done. It made a dent in our plans every day, but I stuck to it and may never attempt it again.

Still, we had good times. We took two camping trips - one to San Clemente and one to Crystal Cove. We went to the Southcoast Botanical Gardens. We played in our own sprinklers. We swam in my parents' pool one last time before they sold their house. Claire learned to swim with her face in the water. Audrey read 112 books - some of them while hanging from the tree in our front yard. Both girls perfected their crazy camera poses. We went to a baseball game and the girls took gymnastics. 

Dodger Stadium

Home

Hemet

Fourth of July

South Bay Botanical Gardens

 

San Clemente. While we were there President Obama flew over us in Marine One on his way to Pendelton.

Gymnastics

Crystal Cove

I love summer. I miss summer. It was a cold one this year - never really warm and sunny enough to feel like anything but Spring. But I like having the kids around; I love not having to pack lunches and check homework; and I love all the fun memories we make when we have the time to sit around and see what happens.

The scoop on spring

We've been busy and this blog has been neglected. Between fun and work and school and trips and activities, there's been too much going on to sit and document all of it. But I'll try.

Movie night  

We do movie night on slow Fridays. This time the dollies joined us.

VIP seating

 

Santa Barbara - Spring Break

We went up the coast for Spring Break and visited all of our favorite places - and stopped at Randy's - a Los Angeles landmark - on our way out of town. We all love Santa Barbara - the restaurants, shops, parks, beaches and mountains are so fun and novel. We live in a beach town and enjoy it very much, but we like getting another flavor sometimes.

At Kid's World Park in downtown Santa Barbara

She only looks like she's wrestling this dolphin statue - but she won.

At the labyrinth. What you don't see is the sign that says this is a place of "contemplation." But no one was there besides us so we ran around until we were tired.

 

Gaviota State Beach - Spring Break

The wind was blowing horizontally, but the light and the scenery were beautiful. We love this spot.

He wasn't posing, but I thought he looked so handsome.

Claire is threatening to throw sand at me - but it looks like a really loving moment anyway.

View from the pier.

  Disneyland

Disneyland - we went a lot this spring because our passes expired at the end of May.

Claire lost her first tooth on Main Street. She said it felt really wiggly and when she showed me it was just hanging on by a thread. I thought she was just feeling it, but the next thing I knew it was in her hand. I was so excited I screamed, and Audrey was embarrassed, but Claire was thrilled. An unforgettable moment.

 

Around the house

Her new tooth started growing in immediately.

Gorgeous girls in matching church dresses.

Then they get tired of posing and start fooling around. Lots of funny faces.

 

Trying to teach my girls to sew - an exercise in patience.

I took this because it's a great fort (and a huge mess) and there's nobody's playing in it.

Still our little monkey

Not the apocalypse, just a lunar eclipse that happened at dusk and made the light all creepy. The neighbors were all coming out of their houses wondering what was happening, but none of us were taken up by the rapture or alien ships and after 20 minutes or so the light went back to normal.

Chelsea's graduation

Chelsea Freedom graduated from high school. My brother Eddie's daughter, who has a great mom and dad who always share these big days with us, is all grown up now.

Fun in Phoenix

We spent some time in Phoenix with my college roommate and good friend Kristen. Our kids enjoyed each other and we had a great time catching up. 

I told them to lick their popsicles so I could take a picture - Claire went a little too far. With Audrey, Parker and Matthew.

Audrey and Avery.

Claire and Parker

We stayed in Kristen's casita, or palace, as my kids called it. they were especially impressed and entertained by the walk-in shower.

Disneyland again, and again

We are spoiled, but not horribly. It's very close and we got season passes, so it's easy to go a lot. We never stay a whole day or stay very late or buy food there and never get souvenirs and once we drove all the way there only to find our passes were blocked out for the day and this is just me trying not to seem like a brat and only making it worse.
 

I took Claire to Disneyland by herself one day. She got to pick all the rides and I bought her an ice cream cone - a completely novel experience because I never buy them $10 treats anywhere, especially Disneyland.

The teacups. She's laughing because I scream like I'm terrified and pretend to throw up.

This is a candy-themed train track - Claire was entranced. Toys AND candy - what could be more exciting?

Audrey had her special day, too.

Flash forward 6 years and this will be a real car. Thank goodness it's just Autopia for now.

And together on another day. This time at California Adventure.

Oh, Mickey, you're so fine.

 Armed Forces Day

Watching the parade on Armed Forces Day in Torrance.

The end-of-the-school-year rush

Claire and her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Newell.

Audrey and Mrs. Will. Both my girls had super teachers this year.

Audrey's favorite project - the blanket she wove. She enjoyed it so much her teacher let her borrow the loom and Audrey made three more after this one.

 

Kindergarten field trip to the Los Angeles Zoo - and Claire's first time on a school bus. Fortunately, I did not have to ride the bus with her. There's not enough Tylenol in the world to make that bearable.

That's Claire and her friend Jason in the dome - like little ground hogs.

Lucy, Ellie, Jason, Claire and Garrett at the flamingo field. Claire's mimicking the birds, and I think Garrett is practicing his 'N Sync pose.

Yes, that is a leopard 4 feet away from my child.

Audrey did the long jump for the school track team.

Claire and I spent many, many hours watching the meet.

Audrey's class party - she was surprised to see me there.

Audrey's class.

Claire's class party the day after Audrey's. I was room parent and worked pretty hard pulling off all the end of the year parties and gifts and so on.

Ice blocking.

Claire's class

I'm not sure how to wrap up this whole spread. These are the highlights of the last few months - the prettiest, funniest and most exciting. They add up to about 20 percent of our real lives. The rest of the time we are working, sleeping, eating, cleaning, planting, weeding, doing homework, watching TV, wiping our rear ends (three of us), talking, not talking, doing laundry, doing crafts, getting scolded for not cleaning up crafts, mowing the lawn, getting scolded at for not mowing the lawn, paying bills, turning in our library books late, complaining about the price of gas, and washing dishes - endless mounds of self-replicating dishes. It's a good life.