I can't take them Anywhere!

We were on our way to see X-games 3D and had an hour to kill but no dinner yet so I suggested Costco. Have I mentioned how much I love feeding 4 people for $8 and I don't have to cook! We had about 15 min left until we needed to head to the theater so I started shooting pictures.

Boy full of pizza shot

Deer in Headlights shot.

I'm too sexy for my pizza shot.
(while T hides under the table)

She won't let me take her picture, unless, of course, I'm going to take a picture of her sister and then it is her duty as a little sister to ruin each and every shot. Funny how little sisters everywhere are always the same!
This is sooooo characteristic of these two. T is hopping into the middle of Shaun's picture and he is pushing her away. It doesn't matter what these two do together it is T being goofy and Shaun trying to get rid of her. (unless they are playing alone and then they actually get along, shhhhh it's a secret)

Me, the crazy parent who runs this 3 ring circus.

I wear my sunglasses at night (oh, sorry, 80's flashback)

Me related to them, no, it couldn't be true.

Too much fun for one mom to handle!

childhood tragedy

Today we went to a friends bday party at Pump it up, a warehouse full of bounce houses for the kids to go crazy on. Shaun had a blast, plus pizza, plus cake, plus goody bags. In Shaun's bag was a bouncy ball. The string it was attached to unattached within minutes, Shaun improvised by using a piece of paddle shaped card board to bounce it off of. On the way home he was holding it out the window and SURPRISE he dropped it and bye bye, no more cardboard. I figured, no big deal, it's not like it was his shoe or hat or something important, it was a piece of cardboard trash.
About 15 min. later as we are nearing home I hear soft sobs coming from the back seat. "I want my paddle! I'm so sad I dropped it." I am fairly sure that the sobs had a lot to do with the fact that he stayed up late Saturday, playing with his dad, and Sunday, because his flight didn't even get in until 8:40pm, and Monday, because his cousins were here and they never get to sleep when they are together. He cried himself to sleep on the couch, laying in my lap while I worked on this blog. Tomorrow is another day, hopefully we'll find a new paddle.
Don't feel too sorry for him. After getting his picture taken, the 85 lb sleeping child got a free ride to bed courtesy of mom the amazing pack mule, able to lift dead weight and carry it to the far side of the house in a single bound.

Shaun is Home

Shaun came home from his dad's house Sunday Evening. We didn't have much time to hang out before bed time and then up again early in the morning for me to get to work. Monday evening we had cousins over for dinner and as you can see, things tend to get a little crazy around here.

Yes, the 11 year old does have cheese and sour cream all over her face. Who in charge here?

All evening I couldn't get over how much Shaun has grown and how much he looks like my brother. Of course, he wouldn't cooperate to take a picture so lots of candid "Hey Shaun" moments.

Another picture of the "So Mature" 11 yr old spitting water all over because she was laughing so hard. I wanted to see it come out her nose but she wouldn't let me take that picture.
T hasn't learned better yet, Aunt Shauna always gets her photos! There is no escape.
Hard to believe that a short while later all 3 of them were calmly sitting in the living room for Family Home Evening. We have been learning lessons from two books about the prophets when they were boys. It is a good reminder that even small things we teach our kids make a big difference when they grow up and for the kids, seeing how important it is to keep the commandments and read the scriptures even as munchkins, they really are never too young!

Hummingbirds

One calm Sunday afternoon, Shaun and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. When suddenly a hummingbird nearly ran us down. We dodged left and right and it swooped up and away. Only then did we notice that our neighbors have feeders and that there were several (about 8) hummingbirds coming to feed there.
So, like any good weekend photographer I pulled out my trusty, really old, pretty slow camera and shot away. There's a problem when you combine a very fast bird with a very slow camera and that is that you have to anticipate where the bird is going to be several seconds ahead of time. With hummingbirds this is nearly impossible. Here is the fruit of my labors. I took pictures for 15 minutes before they noticed that two people were standing on the sidewalk taking pictures of their house for over 15 min and started to get paranoid and close blinds. We left before they could call the cops to arrest us for photographing the air around where birds should have been.

Mother's Beach

So, I have come to discover that my mom was crazy. That or she was hoping to knock off a few of her children. She never took us to Mother's beach when we were kids. We always went for the full on waves and rip tides of Seal Beach. No sissy children here.
I was 12 yrs old before I even knew Mother's beach existed and at 12 I was less than impressed. No waves, no boys, no go , in my book.

So like any good mom, who is crazy, I have always taken Shaun to Seal Beach, rip tides and all.
One day, Timarie and I decided to take the kids to Mother's Beach. While there were protests at first, and a constant reminder from children in the back seat that we were driving the wrong way and that water can't possibly exist that far inland we forged on. I think one or two of the kids might have even had a good time.





























The baby is doing his Ray Charles impression. Pretty good, huh?

Trips to the airport

This summer we have gone to the airport twice to send Shaun off to his dad's. Since both visits have been for extended periods of time, longer than he has ever gone before I was a bit sad (meaning tears and sobbing all the way home) and took a few pictures while we waited to happily pass the time.


















We always go through Long Beach Airport and now they know him by name. They are super helpful and always take great care of him. Once we were running late and they even held the plane for us because they knew we were coming. They are really incredible. You can't beat only paying $2 for parking and leaving your house 1 hr before your flight leaves and making it with plenty of time to take silly pictures.



Shaun has suddenly decided that he does not want to pose for pictures. Yes, my ham, who would pose for anything and let me take pictures on end decided he would allow ONE picture and then he was done. Good thing, I never let that stand in my way. So here are all the pictures Shaun didn't want taken.

"Fake Camping"

This summer while Shaun has been gone I have been very lazy about posting, so here is what we have done.

I wanted to go camping and invited my sister and her family to go with us. We ended up going "fake camping" Notice the camp ground, mowed lawns, paved walkways, and even a laundromat. We got there late and were literally blowing up air mattresses at 10pm. (sorry, everybody who was sleeping). It was a little adventurous. We were visited by a raccoon the size of a large dog. Skunks in the bathrooms, and a mountain lion on the hill.


Except for paying $30 and still having to go to the bathroom in the bushes (I'm not going in any bathroom where there are skunks!) it was a good time for family fun.

No matter what, if there is a tree, Shaun will climb it!




Shaun and his cousin, finally another boy!

















Even the baby likes camping!!! Of course, Tri doesn't look that thrilled.
















We found a creek and decided to show the kids what it was like to pan for gold.























Shaun thought there was an animal in the bushes.
As we were driving out we saw a sign that said "No fishing, swimming, or bathing" Oops, it didn't say no panning for gold, so we're ok, right?