A great day for a river walk

Today was such a gorgeous day! We took a walk/bike ride down by the river to burn off some of those winter woo's! So pretty today! :)

Weekend Rockets

We have been blessed (so far) with a very VERY mild winter... usually, the first week of January, we are in the single or negative digits with snow on the ground! Today, it was in the mid-high 40's.. no wind and a perfect day to launch ROCKETS!! Luckily for the kids, we had plenty of motors, so all the rockets got to go up 3 or 4 times. The kids love to do the countdown, and then go and fetch the rest of the rocket wherever it may land!

Phebe, our brave and fearless Lab (haha) does NOT appreciate the joy of the rockets! She is the first to hide under a car! The horses, cows and birds are not big fans either!!

Her first attempt at Bowling!

A few days ago, we met up with my BIL/SIL and all my nephews to celebrate my nephew Tommy's birthday. They had decided to have everyone go bowling!

I can honestly say, in all the years with our kids, we have only gone bowling maybe 2 or 3 times!!! It has been well over 5 years since we have gone, because Miss O has NEVER gone! While we do have a small bowling alley in town... it's just not something that we do because it seems to cost over $30 for us all to bowl a game or so... and for that much - I'd usually rather take everyone to a movie!! Not to mention that I am not a fan of bowling... Many moons ago, I ruined a beautifully manicured set of (my real) nails on my right hand... haha! Broke every single one and then had to cut the other hand to match.... anyways - back to current times....

Miss O was SUPER excited that they had PINK balls!!! She did really well (we used the bumpers on the sides so the kids had more fun!) with throwing the ball and watching it (ever so slowly) make it's way down the lane! She jumped up and down the whole time while watching it go too... so she got a workout as well!

She had a great time, so did the boys as they got to spend some extra time with their cousins, so it all worked out! And of course, she wants to do it again... soon!!! :)

Weekend fun!

Thank Heavens for nice weather this weekend! The boys got in some motorcycle time, and Miss O got some time in the uhhhh.. wheelbarrow?? She just loves being hauled around! Must be her inner Princess coming out!

Cuttin a rug!

We attended a wedding reception for a family friend tonight! There was not too many kids there - but Little J and Miss O put the DJ to work and kept the dance floor dust free! They were too cute!

Weekend Fun

Since a large majority of the weekend has been spent working on and trying to clean up the septic system... we missed out on all the "Holiday" kickoff activities that our town puts on... since the kids were not really aware of them - it made things alot easier! (one benefit of two kids with short term memory issues!)
Below is PJ, our beloved family dog, who in his advanced years, has taken to doing anything he can to stay in the house... including laying right in front of the fireplace... Little J joined him to warm up before bed!


Our "pet" cow, Bambi was concerned with what the kids were doing in his field... Eventually, all the cows showed up to watch Little J and Miss O, hit the slopes!



A great day for sledding!! Since Big Al was still in the doghouse, no sledding this weekend for him! It was really cold, so these two snowbunnies only stayed out for about 30 minutes... The whole time, I was worried that one of the cows were going to try and chase them down the hill! While most all the cows are gentle and loving... they DO get wound up when Miss O is screeching and giggling!

Our big summer adventure!

This summer, we took all three kids on an "international" vacation! Ok, so it was only to Vancouver, Canada.... but still! First time that Little J and Miss O got to actually use their US passports! We stayed at the Strathcona Lodge on Vancouver Island - pretty much out in the middle of no-where!
After this so called "vacation"... I think that I have come to the realization that there is no such thing as a "vacation" when you take these kids ANYWHERE! Each child had their own issue with this or that - and when they started feeding off one- another... LOOK OUT!
Fortunately, our little cabin was right on the beach, so the kids spent HOURS playing in the water! That was our only blessing! Well, other than coming home in one piece!

A day at the park

Today was a ho-hum kinda summer day! It was a good day to take the kids to the park to burn off a little excess energy!

Weekend fishing

This weekend, we decided to try out a different fishing pond. For the first time in many years, I got a fishing license... just to be legal when I had to hold the poles! haha!
This was a pond we have never tried. After about 30 minutes, the hubby and I were ready to pack it up. Big Al had cast into the trees over head twice, Little J kept losing his worms... the hubby was getting sick of being everyones "fishing guide" (meaning me - I don't touch worms!) and it was getting late... then WHAMMMMMMOOOOOO!

Miss O said "I got something!"... We assumed it was just a big weed, since there was alot of vegetation... nope - she reeled in a cute little perch or something! Her first fish of the season! She was QUITE happy with her self!
About 5 minutes later, Big Al screams that he has one.. another cute little spiny fish... Little J was starting to have a "moment" and got really hacked off - since he is the only one who really LOVES fishing (according to him!)! I then had a bite on my line, so I handed it to Little J to reel in... thinking that I was being nice by letting him catch one on my pole! The whole time he was whining about how it was MY fish, not his (ummm yeah - I have not actually caught a fish on my own in more years than I care to admit!) Within minutes, he had one on his pole... and the excitement was back! We ended up catching about 7 or 8 of these little guys.. they all survived and are now living in our pond! The kids all ended up having fun and only the hubby came home fishless! He tried to be a good sport about it!! haha!



All three kiddos having a good time at their "favorite" new pond!

Easter!

Well... there was not much fan fare this year for Easter! The Easter Bunny was out ill with the stomach flu! It took all the Easter Bunny's strength to get the eggs and baskets hidden! The kids really enjoyed hunting for their stuff! Fortunately, Big Al and Little J were helpful to their little sis in finding her stuff! She sure LOVES holidays!!!

Spring Break Fishing

Spring Break this year was pretty laid back! We stayed around here and the kids just hung out and relaxed! Since the weather was ok, we ended up going fishing one day. All three kids did ok... unfortunately, Captain Little J caught NOTHING, and made sure that EVERYONE had to feel the wrath of his disappointment! Big Al, though, caught the king of the pond... a whopper of a trout! We did release him back, as he was too big for the bucket AND the kids were not in the mood to eat trout (nor was I in the mood to attempt to clean trout! haha)
Miss O lost interest after about 45 minutes and went off to search for "wabbits"!

Weekend Fishing

We took the kids fishing this weekend to one of the local ponds, just to get them out of the house... and of course, Little J was in a fishing "Mood"! We said we were only going to stay a little bit!

As I gave the final warning to leave (the kids had not caught anything yet!) within minutes, Little J had one on! Not long after that, Big Al caught one too! Poor Miss O caught nothing and was kinda upset!

Spring Rocket season

Every spring, before the wind starts to howl... the hubby and the kids pull out all the rockets! Since the dogs have finally learned to NOT chew them up when they land, the rockets have lasted alot longer! Yesterday, Miss O was brave enough to hit the launch button! Since it was such a beautiful day, it was hard NOT to enjoy some springtime activities!

Road Trip - Day 3 - San Francisco!

Well ... day 2 was one extremely looonnnngg day! Our hotel was pretty much a joke- and we were kept up half the night by the sound of rolling luggage being drug down stairs outside our door... that's what happens when you use your "perks" to get free rooms... you get the crappy rooms!!

Anyhoo - another night of very little sleep... 50% was the stair traffic outside - the other 50% was a certain older brother who kept trying to wake everyone up... yep - fun!

We had a meal at the Rainforest Cafe on Fisherman's Wharf... extremely over priced and over loud and over stimulating... it was an adventure getting kids unwound after that! Here they are extremely happy about the fish!

Of course Lion had to come to dinner! Miss O was happy to have something very familiar with her on this trip... it made it easier for her!

We had lunch with John's aunt and uncle - Miss O was really thrilled to have the full attention of Uncle Greg - and of course - Lion was there too!

Being tourists - had to go and see the Golden Gate bridge! We were so lucky that the weather was perfect while we were there!

Here are the gruesome threesome in front of the GGB... Miss O was cranky that Lion could not be in this picture!

Having some fun with the street musicians! The boys really enjoyed him - he was pretty good... Miss O was staring hard at the money in his case... I could see the wheels turning! :)

The kiddos in front of Ghiradelli Square - right after some samples of chocolate! Yummy!

All three kids at the Cannery, a couple of blocks from our hotel! The actually all look happy!

Family Road Trip - Day 2 - California bound!

You will notice that we have ALOT of pictures of Lion - which is Miss O's favorite (at the moment) critter!

Lion went along on the trip - so we figured we would track his journey! It was easier than getting the kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time!



We made it to the Bay area by the end of day 2... here is Lion with the Bay Bridge in the background!

Miss O and Lion pose for a picture in front of Mt Shasta - after we got to California!

Here is Miss O and Lion taking a break in front of the "pink" tree that she really liked at a gas station in Redding, California... she is just soooo easy to please!

Day two was a little more challenging! Our first day was about 8 hours in the car with actually driving.. lots of pee - stops along the side of the road - as a certain someone needed to stop every 30 minutes (usually less!).. we arrived at Medford Saturday evening and enjoyed an AMAZING electrical storm! The storm was literally right over our hotel! The thunder shook the building and everything in it - set off car alarms, while the lightening lit the room up every 5 minutes until about 1am.. needless to say... no sleep! So - it made Day 2 driving... fun.. haha!

We drove south and passed Crater Lake, and into Northern California... it was a very scenic drive for me - very boring for the kids! We arrived in Millbrae, CA at about 5pm - to some beautiful weather!

Family Road Trip - Day 1

Ahhh the joys of a family road trip! Honestly - I wonder how many families do this more than once or twice???
We left last Saturday and headed south to San Francisco... here are some of the "high lights" of our journey from Day one!
After a long day in the car... Miss O and Lion get ready for bed... we spent our first night in Medford Oregon!

Chipmunks ran rampant at a rest stop somewhere in eastern Oregon... the kids enjoyed spending a few minutes chasing them!

Our first official stop was at the "Stonehenge" memorial next to the Columbia river right before the Oregon border! It was a beautiful day - to be outside, that is!

More May fishing

Little J and Miss O concentrate hard on fishing! They had a great time!

One of our rules... you catch it, you clean it - you eat it! John and I passed on the trout - we already are fully aware of the wonderful pond-scum taste! The boys ate one trout each.. the cats got one, and the others were returned to the earth via a hole in the garden!

The fishing derby!

I am pretty behind in updating the blog! Here are some pictures from a family fishing day in May!

Miss O caught a fish by herself - using the infamous pink Barbie fishing pole!

Big Al shows off his whooper of a trout - he caught 4 fish total! Wait til you see him try to eat it!

Little J gets very excited about fishing! He ended up catching 3 trout and had a ton of fun!

At the end of the afternoon - Miss O declares that fishing day is over! It was home to clean the trout and eat them! ha

Big Al shows off all four of his trout at the end of the day... it was way too much fish!