Playing Catch Up

It appears as though Fall came and went before I had a chance to stop and update the blog. To make up for it, I thought I would post a few of our favorites so that you can see what we have been up to. Since school began, life has been full of kindergarten for Ryan, pre-school for Caleb, and constant growing for Noah. We were able to do one last camping trip before school really kicked it into gear, went to a rennaisance faire, enjoyed hiking at Alsea Falls, visited several pumpkin patches as part of our week long halloween festivities, spent some quality time at the barn, and have just had great time playing and being a house full of brothers. Enjoy the pictures!

Kindergarten!

It's official - we have entered the realm of grade school! Today was Ryan's first day in kindergarten and boy did he have a blast! His days as a kindergartner began last week when he, daddy, and I met Mr. K at a special 30 min. meeting. John and I got to sit in tiny chairs at Ryan's desk and fill out paperwork while Ryan and Mr. K chatted about numbers, shapes, colors, etc. In true Ryan fashion, he spoke "grown up to grown up" and afterwards, Mr. K jokingly asked if he had only been this shy?! Ryan felt very good about his first meeting and was really looking forward to getting things started. Soooooo, after a fun weekend of camping to bring summer to a close, we went through our first of many nightly routines to be ready for school in the morning. Ryan checked his backpack and placed it by the front door. Then he chose his clothes and layed them neatly on his trunk, and went to bed early to be ready for his big day! This morning, before we even made it downstairs, Ryan was up and getting dressed. A breakfast of eggs, fruit, milk, and toast (his request) and he was on his way. We got to school a bit early and had to wait in the lobby with all of the other kids. Ryan looked so little amongst all of the big kids, but very confident with his nerves of steal! When it was time, he marched right into his class, waited for his turn, hung up his bag, grabbed his things from his cubby, and went straight to his desk to get to work on his first assignment! Obviously he had things under control and so Daddy, Caleb, Noah, and I said good-bye and I even made it out of the building before I shed the first tear (a personal best!) Caleb, Noah, and I headed home for a morning of numbers, shapes, playtime, and books. Before we knew it, it was time to pick Ryan back up. We waited anxiously for him to be released, and when he emerged, I swear he had aged about 20 years. "Hi Mom, it was good" and headed for the car. For a man of many words, he certainly likes to keep me in suspense on some things! As a celebration of his first day, daddy met us at Arby's for lunch where he finally spilled the beans about his fantastic day at school!

California Here We Come!

This Spring, we packed up the kids and the dog and headed to California for 17 days of friends, family, and tons of adventure. We left the day before Easter for our longest day of driving - 11 hrs! Above is a picture of the start of our trip - 6am, Saturday, April 3

We only stoppped a couple of times on our drive down to Grama's house in Merced. One was for a picnic lunch at a rest stop between Redding and Sacramento. (BTW - The bruise on his head was a failed attempt at pulling himslef up at the coffee table a few days prior to our trip- ouch!)

Robin Hood's improvised bow and arrow

Still on Day 1, we stoppped for dinner at our dear friends Mai, Luis, Sophia, and Andres. Day 2: Easter! Nana and Papa came up for the day at Grama's House

Day 4: We left Merced and headed to Clovis via Yosemite where we met our close friends, The Sheldons, for a hike to the Vernal Falls Bridge (aka by the Evans' family as "Snicker Bar Bridge") An unexpected 2 feet of snow the night before added an element of excitement to the hike, but the kids did fantastic on the 3 mile round trip hike.

Day 5: Wake Up Call!!

Playing with Mommy's My Little Ponies =)

Day 5: A visit to the Staffords. First,Caleb gets a lesson on Tink.....

.....Then Mommy gets a lesson on Bella

Caleb gets cozy with Papa

Day 6: One more ride before we leave Nana and Papa's house

Mommy enjoys showing the boys how she grew up - like feeding the little orphan kitty

Day 6: In-n-Out at the top of the Grape-Vine

A beautiful day at Manahtten Beach before heading to BJ, Cori, and Taylor's house for some good Mexican Food and to spend the night

Day 7: We're happy to spend the next three days with Uncle Carl, Aunt Lani, cousin Maile, Grama, and Uncle Mike in Yucaipa

Everybody loves to rub the Buddha head

A trip to Build-A-Bear

Day 10: With Uncle Mike at the Hotel Room

Day 10: Exploring Downtown Disney before dinner with the whole family at Rain Forrest Cafe

Day 11: DISNEYLAND!!!!! =)

Noah thought the bubbles were hillarious!

A short snooze through It's a Small World

Mr. Ryan's Wild Ride

The anticipation of Space Mountain

The delirium of 13 hours of Disneyland

And he's out....literally five feet out the gate

Day 12: We spent the day (and night) with Uncle Clint, Aunt LeVonne, and Elaine - what a relaxing day!

Jackpot!

Day 13: Waiting for Cousin Grant to get out of class at college in Landcaster before we take him to lunch.

Day 14: Playing in Grama's and then off to the Cabin in the Sierra's with all of the high school and college buddies.

But first, an early Birthday celebration for Caleb with his dragon cake!

Day 15: John got up early to skiing at his old stomping grounds. At the top of a really steep run (only the 3rd one the day), his rental ski popped off and he did an olympic style tumble down the hill and dislocated both shoulders! He was able to pop the right one back in and then ski down to the ski lift where ski patrol then took him the rest of the way in the sled. I left the big boys at the cabin with the girls and other kids while Noah and I came to take Daddy down the mountain to the ER. Needless to say, we spent about 5 hours of Caleb's birthday in the ER. John spent the rest of the trip with his arm velcroed to his side with an immobilizer. A rotten way to end the trip, but a good story none-the-less.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Caleb!!!

Day 16: Leave the cabin, meet Grama at the bottom of the mountain to get Shasta (the Dog), then on to Chico where we had dinner and a great evening at the park with Aunt Margeret, Uncle Bill, Cousins Wayne and Dawna, and their kids Maddie and Braden. Then off to spend the night with friends Steve, Julie, and Luke.

Day 17: Yreka, one last picnic lunch before the final push for home.