Relay For Life

We joined the Best Buy Team for the annual Relay For Life. I am not understating when I say we were there the whole day. The WHOLE day. The past 2 years, the kids and I, with Grandma, have attended RFL in Claremont with our cousins, but only ever stayed a few hours. We were there for the start, and left after the Luminaire program. The only thing we did not do was sleep over in a tent. Hopefully those brave ones didn't freeze to death. It was a beautiful day, but we could have done without the cold gusty wind. There was lots to do at the event, and we made sure we did it all.


So much fun! We played Plinko, Bowling, and some football!

We started out by coloring our Luminaire. We wanted to remember our family members who are fighting cancer and make a tribute to them. Of course, Dillan was first in line when it came to coloring with MARKERS!

Our luminaire. A tribute to our heroes Chad, Kyle and Shelby. We love you!

When we weren't walking the track, we had a relaxing spot under the EZUp with blankets, chairs and enough snacks to last for days. There were groups performing on the stage the entire day, and plenty of contents going on. That plus everyone was giving away food the whole day. Various groups had things to sell to raise money, others had games to keep kids entertained. Best Buy had a fun set up with Guitar Hero, so Dillan got his fill of that. He's quite the percussionist on the drums and performed well for all the employees present, who couldn't help but cheer him on.



Leah had the toughest time with all the outdoor exposure. She took a couple good naps all bundled up, but her appetite was weak. Even before we left in the morning, she didn't eat very much. Everytime I circled the track I collected 2-3 water bottles to make sure we were all drinking enough.

It was an exhausting day, but being surrounded by good people who are completely devoted to fighting for a good cause was a lot of fun. I was amazed at the efforts of teams and individuals who have been affected in one way or another by cancer. Everyone was friendly and charitable, you couldn't help but enjoy yourself. We will definantly do this again.

Our Playground

So we were hoping for another 90 degree day today, but 75 ain't so bad either. Since Daddy was home we decided to hit the beach!

A little breezy, a little cool, but plenty of fun to keep us entertained for hours! Plus a nice healthy glow to start up the beach season (some of us with a slight reddish tinge).



Leah braved touching the water, but once she got splashed by the wave, came running to me in tears. We cuddled under a towel every few minutes in between sand castles and snack munching, per her request. She even caught a good 30 minute nap curled up under the towel.

Nothing kept Dillan down the whole day. I love how as 4 approaches, he seems to be whining less and obeying more. He braved the water and played in the sand with Daddy. Then he let me strip him down and stood under a cold rinse-off open air shower before getting in the car. Once he was buckled in with only a towel keeping him real he said, "Ahhh, that was a long fun day!" Sure was!

Let it Begin...

We kicked off the start of pool season today! The water was warmer than expected, and it was great!


Look at those pie wedges! Yeah, on BOTH of them!

I wasn't sure what to expect from Dillan. I was hoping that he would pick up where he left off the end of last summer, where he had overcome any fears and was enthusiastic about learning to swim. Yeah, dead wrong. Hopefully we're not starting from square one, but he obviously needs a few warm up trials to get back on track. That better be how it is. I'm trying to talk him into swim lessons, but he said no way. I know he won't listen to me, but I would want someone who will push him and be a little merciless. Peggy, where are you? He loves his goggles, even though he only stuck his eyes in the water for a millisecond and for all I know, he had them closed! It's just the beginning. I am determined to have him swimming laps by the end of summer.

Then there was Leah.

She started out just giddy to get into the water. No surprise, she's like that every night before climbing in the bath. Once she was in the water and comfortable on the top step, she got more excited. Gradually her excitement escalated to daring, nay psycho crazy. When I tried to hold her, she pulled away and wiggled with all her strength so I'd release her. Sure, she went under a few times, and came up coughing and choking...then smiling. I'm working on cues with her, trying to make it to 3 before dunking or jumping in. She was a jumping machine. It was robotic: jump (or plop) to me, turn to the steps where I'd release her, climb out onto the deck, go under the rail, double back to original jumping point, and (usually) wait for my signal. Too cute!

We had so much fun and look forward to many more days of water water water!

Go Halos!

Yes, normally this family bleeds blue. Cougar Blue & Jazz Blue. BUT, this time of year, our boys of summer just happen to be RED. And we like it that way!

Ahh yes, the warm weather, the bright lights, and baseball season lasts all summer! The smell of the hotdogs (I don't eat the things, but don't mind the aroma at the ballpark), the sound of the crack of the bat, watching the ball fly out of the park, laughing at those die-hard fans that surround you. It's great!

We are so excited for baseball season, and we plan to attend a game or three and cheer on the Angels! One of the first songs Dillan learned was "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," second only to "Popcorn Popping." He's so excited about going to see a baseball game, hopefully it will happen soon!

I should mention the NBA playoffs as well. Once again Daddy's love-hate relationship with the Jazz has taken over his sanity. Bad news: the Lakers. Being in thick Laker territory is hard enough, but he has no one nearby to take his side. It's a difficult time. There are many nights that the poor TV gets yelled at every few minutes, like it did anything wrong! He's been known to have all the blinds up and windows open in the house, while "watching" a game. Hopefully the new neighbors won't come complaining! Don't tell him I said all this!

What he needs is a nice family outing to a baseball game.

This should be fun...

Joyeaux Paques!

Easter started out with this...good times. No really.



then 3 Easter Egg Hunts later (1 @ school, 1 @ the park, 1 @ Papa's house). After school Dillan proudly showed me his decorated Easter Bag full of candy and explained, "I found a LOT of eggs, but Jake found the biggest one of all." Of course he would have recognized THAT! He did great at the park, braving the cold weather, and did WAY better than last year, where he only picked up 2 and was content stopping right there. At Papa's house, he found all the eggs himself, but helped by placing a few in Leah's basket. She'd get one in her hand, shake it for a minute and then pitch it across the grass. Those eggs had money in them. Thanks GGMa Mary and Uncle Mike! Tithing lesson for FHE coming soon.



Some egg coloring with Daddy...



Easter baskets left by the Easter Bunny complete with new bath toys, a foam sword, some Cars paraphernalia, including Flo to add to the collection, new swimsuits & goggles, sidewalk chalk and candy kept to a minimum: Cadbury only...



Finished off with Dillan's first trip to the Dentist.



He was so excited to go, but we're not sure why! Then after the D.H. put the paper "bib" on, the first words out of his mouth were, "Hey, I'm not a baby!" Luckily, Daddy was in the next room over and had one on too. That made it more bearable. He was all smiles for the dentist. He had his teeth counted: 10 on top, 10 on the bottom. And ZERO cavities! The dentist then scraped some "sugar bugs" and showed them to Dillan. "Yuck" Those will make holes in your teeth, so keep brushing. Dillan proudly reported that Mommy brushes his teeth in the evening, but he brushes them all by himself in the morning. Quick stop at the store on the way home to pick out a new toothbrush. This one is green and lights up. When it's time to stop brushing, the light goes off. The dentist was so impressed with him and he was able to pick a toy from the treasure chest. Great job Dillan! and Daddy too!

P.S. Just to clear the air. No, I have NOT cut my daughter's hair. Yes, I am 100% aware that she is going bald! Sorry Grandma, the red is GONE! Who knows what's next??? I sure do miss those piggies!

Conference Moments

For the first time Dillan and I were able to have a great talk about General Conference and everything it means. We printed a great packet we found online especially for little kids. I didn't know what to expect from him, but was pleasantly surprised. He loved it. Leah wanted her part in the action, so she took her turn coloring as well.
We taped Saturday's sessions for Daddy, but kept them on as sort of "background noise." We pulled out our 72 hour kits and car kits, checked the food and clothing, and looked over the mega list of things yet to check off. I finally did an inventory of all my food storage and organized it into a neat chart.
Dillan and I discussed what a testimony is and what we can do better to learn about Heavenly Father and Jesus everyday. Sunday we spent the whole day at Grandma and Papa's house where we ate delicious food and made homemade icecream. The day was complete after talking to Roxy on Skype and seeing Shannon's big belly.
Here are some of the more memorable comments from the weekend:
"Mom, will you come sit by me, it's starting!!!"

"The girls wear pink and the boys wear black!"

"Is he going to say AMEN yet?"

"Look, there's the prophet!"

"Do you know this song? It's my favorite."

"Hurry mom, get my paper with the prophet!"

"He has a LONG testimony!"

He hummed along with the songs, even without knowing the words. He enjoyed filling out the packet that we found online. He was able to color in the different ties worn by the speakers, color in "wears glasses" or "is bald" or "wearing a blue suit" boxes, and practice writing his letters. He even wrote out his primary teacher's name very carefully since he hopes to show her next time at church all the work he did. Mommy and Daddy were able to take notes on those same pages. Such a great weekend and I couldn't be more proud of my little guy and his enthusiasm to learn about the Gospel.

Post San Clemente- Part Deux

So I was thinking...Why is it that our family, for 4 generations now, instinctively returns to the beach every spring? The answer: We're Sea Turtles. Sweeeeeet....totally. Even better, we're Sea Turtles who quote movies. That explains everything...

When I was younger I never realized how many clothes changes there are during the course of the day at San Clemente. I brought my kids a lot of clothes and I was struggling on our last day to find something clean for them to wear!
On a typical day, you wake up and it's a little chilly so you put on sweats. You wear the sweats through breakfast and during your morning time at the campground. Then it gets warmer later in the morning and you change to your swimsuit to prepare for the beach. You spend most of the day at the beach, greased with sunscreen, but still manage some burns on those places you forgot or never reapplied. Later on you hike back up the massive hill in your flipflops totally sticky and covered in sand.

Then you get back to the campsite where you scrounge through your clothes looking for something clean that doesn't smell like campfire and take your daily 2 quarters rations with you to the showers. The showers are normally warm, sometimes too warm for your now-crimson colored back. But you can't beat that shower clean feeling. Back at the campsite, you spend the rest of day light riding bikes and playing games while the adults comment on how burned you got in the sun that day, as if you couldn't feel it. Then the sun goes down and it gets a little cold so you put on jeans and a sweatshirt. Just make sure that it's the same jeans and sweatshirt that you wore the previous night that already smell like campfire.

Then after dinner, it's time for smores and Jan Brown's campfire biscuits that you can never cook as good as someone else and everyone points it out in case you failed to notice. Everyone sits and watches the fire and the little ones as they nod off to sleep. Then there's the final trip to the bathroom before bed, you're completely exhausted, and you try to change into your pj's while trying to maintain some type of modesty, but still need that stinky sweatshirt because it's cold. You're full of excitement as you dive into your sleeping bag because you can't wait to do it all over again the next day!

Although we welcome any outsiders to our campfire conversations, don't be surprised if you don't know the lingo that goes on at these events. I wonder if we could go a whole night without quoting a movie. I really don't think it's possible. I also don't think there's anything wrong with that! If you don't like it, you don't have to stay. Some movie highlights from this week were: Princess Bride, Scrooged, Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Donald Duck, Dumb and Dumber, Liar Liar, Star Wars, to name a few. Some outsiders may think we're strange, but I think we're perfectly normal. Plus, we're happy. We all love our traditions and laughing at the memories we've had. I think that's how it should be.

Thank you, crazy family, for making this place memorable for all of us!

Here's to many more years of camping fun!