Growing up

Yesterday, I dropped Sarah off for her 2nd Activity Girls meeting and she told me that I could drop her off at the door and she would find her way to the meeting. Yikes. When she was 18 months old and I thought she was so big I was frustrated that she wouldn't go to nursery like the other kids. I was also worried because she was a late walker and talker. She hated being dropped off and we would have to battle it out many times. I just wanted her to be like the other kids and be happy, and maybe I needed a little break too. I remember dropping her off at preschool at age 3 and thinking being frustrated in the same way. Eventually, she did adjust to preschool and yesterday was Aactivity girls. She is 8 now and she really is growing up. I didn't think that would happen. To quote her exactly she said, "Mommy, you can just drop me". It was cute and I am glad she is feeling confidant with this group but I'm not ready to "drop her"(that's just the way she talks). I guess now I know, she is growing up.

Our trip to Discovery Kingdom

We participated again in the Read to Succeed program through our homeschool group and earned free tickests to Discovery Kingdom. We had a blast. We even were able to meet up with one of our homeschool friends later in the day. It was just a coincidence that we were there on the same day but it was great for the kids. Sam LOVED all the animals. We saw lots of shows and Sarah went on the Boomerang. She is our rollar coaster girl! Poor Jon had to take her even though the Boomerang makes him really dizzy. Bekah takes more after me and enjoyed the animals and tamer rides.

My favorite part of the day was feeding the Lorikeets. We went to the earlier feeding and they were all over us. Last time we went to the 4:30 feeding and all the birds would do is sit on the fence and maybe drink from your cup. We also rode an elephant and that was great. Although I have to say, an elephant is not the most comfortable way to ride(unless you have one of those seats) and Jon and I were both very sore the next day. It was worth it though.

Oh, and Sam had a few bug bites that gradually appeared during the day. I don't know if he was bitten at the park or at home. He had one little bite I could see when we left home. By the end of the day his eye and ear were very swollen. We took him to first aid and the paramedic gave him some bite medicine which relieved the itchiness it seems.

As we were leaving, Jon and Sarah decided to go on Monsoon Falls and got soaked! It was a fun day.

Oh, and we left our(11 month old) puppy in the backyard and he didn't escape. That was good too! We have had trouble with her digging under the fence when we had another puppy living next door.

our mini family reunion

My mom, two of my cousins and their kids, my brother Ross, and my kids and I all got together for a bar-b-que and fun times. It was a blast! My kids loved my cousins' kids who are teenagers and totally spoiled them with attention. It is so sad we don't live closer but we definately could see them more often! Sam really liked the cat, Snickers, too! Snickers sort of liked Sam. It's hard for any cat to really love a two year old though. The kids captured Angelica and got her to swim in the pool with them for what seemed like HOURS. She was great! I can see why she is a good kids swim teacher. We had great hamburgers and tons of fruit and then we had some berries and cream over pound cake for dessert. Yummy! I chased my Sammy around because he was just generally loving all the new sights and trying to get into a little trouble. My cousin Tina showed Sam how to pick lavender and smell it. He loved that! My kids loved all the beautiful plants and the secret little spot with the bench that are at my cousin's house. We even stopped at Pezzini farms to get our favorite, artichokes. It was a good day.

Horse camp

The girls had a great week at horse camp. They loved being around all the animals, the counselors were all so great, the crafts were fun and of course they loved riding horses. Jon and I even got them boots. They have been taking lessons for a while and we figured it was time. They didn't get to ride on Thursday because there was just too much smoke in the air from all the fires. We were lucky that wasn't the case on the other days.

Off to camp

The girls are gone. They went to camp about an hour ago. I was so nervous, I ended up driving back to make sure they were able to get their water bottles if they needed them(somebody put them in the lunch fridge). When I got there, I saw that they had them and luckily I don't think the girls saw me. I just get so nervous. Will they remember to wash their hands before they eat? Will they wear their own helmets? Will their new boots hurt their feet? What if something happens and I wrote down my emergency contact phone number wrong? What if something happens and they are hurt? Man, I never thought I was a nervous mother before but maybe I am. Sam is even down for a nap so I hardly know what to do with myself! I sure do hope the girls have fun.

Sam, always on the go

Isn't he cute? He had Daddy's keys, my sunglasses, Sarah's baby, and Bekah's boots on. Guess he's all set! Wonder where he is going?

My Bekah's made herself up

Well, our Bekah is a bit of a drama queen. She is the type of child to ban you from her birthday party, promise to never visit you when she grows up, or tell you she doesn't love you anymore(lovely, huh?) at the drop of a hat. She is also the type of girl who wears princess outfits or at least dresses almost every day and who loves makeup. She dosen't have make up of her own besides lip gloss so sometimes she uses mine. She isn't supposed to though. This time she decided to use a red marker and colored her eyelids RED. The whole eyelid! It was lovely, especially as it soon faded to a dark peach color and made it look like I put my daughter in heavy eye makeup to take her to Walmart! Couldn't get a picture, sorry.

Sarah is 8

I can't believe how time has flown by! She has turned into such a wonderful young lady. She's learning to read and she helps take care of her brother(she loves babies). She's a cutie too! She got a red wagon for her birthday that she just adores! She also got Pippi Longstocking on DVD and hasn't stopped watching it since. I love that movie too. Let me see if I can find one or two pictures.

The recital

The girls(Sarah and Rebekah) had a recital on June 27th, the day before Sarah's 8th bday. They did great and looked very cute! At one point I wondered why they had changed the demonstraters(older girls) solo part to include some of the younger girls and left my girls on the sidelines until I realized that it wasn't planned and the others girls were doing the wrong thing. Actually, my girls told me which is one of the great pluses of having talking children!