(warning: 100 photo slide show!)
Wow, you can leave for a trip so much more prepared when your mom is with you the whole week before. I was feeling so good about leaving my house clean and everything prepared for the hectic week when we returned. But when I got back I discovered an even cleaner house. My mom and dad stayed another day after we left and surprised me (read: majorly blessed me) by cleaning everything I can never get to from washing the carpets and sofa, to walls, to my dustpan even! That's how I know they still really love me! wow.
And after two weeks at the beginning of the month of Aaron working until 2am most mornings, of course a busier than normal church schedule (does everyone's temple recommend expire in March? and why not throw in New Beginnings and a 10hr. scout training just because it is spring?), and everything that comes with holding the fort down on my own, we were SO ready for 12 long, perfect days at the beach.
Here is the list of everyone's favorites this time:
AARON
kite surfing (well, at least the kite part so far)
time to read, sleep and play
spending swimming time with Addie just talking and making up tricks
running with Tiff
TIFFANY
seeing whales and baby sea turtles again
pearls for my 30th birthday
long runs on the beach (amazing how far you can go with so much oxygen!)
massage on the beach at sunset
singing rounds with the fam in the car. the kids singing 'sol, mi, do' with the elevator chime
fish tacos at a 'little place on the beach' and limes in everything, mmmmm.
ADDIE
swimming
walking on the beach
riding the elevator
seeing whales and sea turtles
papa's drinks and mexican treats from the vending machine
snorkeling
wet sand the color of pumpkin pie (direct quote from her)
QUINN
2 mile beach walk with mom to find 'happy shells' (say something that makes you happy when you find a whole shell, then add it to your necklace)
papa's drinks, papa's easter egg hunt, making sail boats, and spending pesos in the vending machine for Mexican treats
learning to swim anywhere in my life jacket, even the deep end & jumping off the wall to Papa
building sand castles with the whole family
crabs in the sand and dophin watching from the deck
ENOCH
playing in the sand
jumping in the pool
jumping off the sand dune
jumping over the waves
jumping in the deep end
JEAN
Papa's special drinks affectionately named 'Screamin' Jeans' after this trip
Chocolate frosting, chocolate cookies and chocolate brownies
Her two new teeth (arrived with 2, left with 4)
Making friends with the entire San Vicente ward, 2 Sundays in a row
March Chronicles
Special Edition: Sea Turtles
We walk 1/2 mile down the beach to release Olive Ridley Sea Turtle hatchlings.
(the drawings at the end are from Quinn's preschool class that we taught when we got home)
Special Edition: Indoor Biking
Here is Enoch practicing on his new big bike before we take him outside. These clips are from his first day on it.
February Chronicles
February was marked by three big events:
1. Valentine's Day- the kids were diligent about making their awesome Valentines. Enoch wanted to write all his friends' names on the same one. We had to explain that you make a card for each of them. Of course, Aaron's pink-white-red-&-unnecessary performance is something more and more people look forward to hearing about. He pulled off another great and totally original year to his growing credit. I got a 'white' book (Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell) for us to read together. I thought it was perfect and we did have fun reading it together. The kids got an off-the-charts original treasure hunt through....their book shelf to find some big marshmallow suckers (by the Zillow: under their pillow). Every clue was a favorite line from a beloved bedtime story. They had to hunt through the shelves to find the particular book, page and line, where a sticky note held the next clue. It's a spin-off of one of their favorite pass-time games: quoting books and movies together. They loved it and were experts, of course.
2. A Trip to Utah- Aaron made his annual recruiting and interviewing trip to BYU and we decided to all tag along since our next planned trip wasn't until July. We got to see everybody even though we only had two short days. The highlights were meeting Baby Aspen and Aaron skiing with his dad. We were really thankful to Todd and Tana for hosting us during such a busy time for them, and to Camille for watching our kids while we went to the temple.
3. More Snow! Since they hauled off our awesome mountain of snow last month we decided to build our own one Saturday afternoon. Everyone helped build a GIGANTIC igloo made from snow blocks, complete with a slide out one side and built in seats on the interior. It was a hit with our kids (like adding and extra play room to the house), & the neighborhood kids (and adults) for a good solid 4 weeks until 4:40 last Monday when we heard a thud and looked outside to find it had finally caved in. Spring has to come some time, I guess.
The last photo is included to document the ongoing brilliancy of our snow plow guy here in Flag. It's our only consolation to rant about the situation here. Why bother clear the cul-de-sac if you are going to leave a burm of snow across the exit? And how about that rubble in front of our mailbox? It started as a 6ft. wall of snow, then we got a 6ft wall of ice, albeit 10ft. closer to the curb this time, now we have a complete lane of chewed up asphalt in front of our mailbox. The mailbox finally melted out and was accessible again only to be hedged in now by a mound that will never melt. The mailbox is pretty worse for the wear after this winter. It deserves a picture. I'll snap one tomorrow and post it.....sometime in the next year.
Special Edition: Addie's Aquarium
Here is how Addie spent a weekend. One Saturday morning Aaron and I each dove into our own projects upstairs and after a couple of hours I wondered what Addie was up to and went downstairs to check in. She had animal books spread all over the kitchen table and was busy at work copying facts. She had collected 'animals' from all over the house and decided to make an aquarium. The research lasted all day from 'building' the goldfish tank (the frog she made on Tuesday night with Dad) to searching and reading and drawing (notice the cute illustrations on each info card) to writing and setting up. At one point we discovered National Geographic for kids online and I showed her how to copy and print a picture from the web. She thought that was great! For the next week she gave each member of the family multiple guided tours on which she read the entire information card for each animal to you (the argument was always, "so-and so, I need your help to test out the aquarium for such and such age group). Thanks to Uncle Anthony for calling in for a narrated 'virtual' tour and to her wonderful teacher Mrs. Drayton for letting her show the slide show on the computer at school and answer questions from her classmates. It has been such a hit we thought we'd share the whole virtual tour with you. We're so glad she is curious and creative and self-motivated.
