Family Visit 2017 Part 2

Even though our week (ten days actually) was jam packed with activities, our two favorite have to get there own thread: The Children's Museum and bowling. Bowling is something we just added to the roster about a year ago, but we have been taking these kids to the children's museum since they were little. It makes me a little sad, because I know each year we are getting closer and closer to when the big ones won't want to do this anymore, but I'm savoring it while I can.

(The noodle forest. Also know as every parents worst nightmare, a death trap of running screaming children, and every child's best fantasy.)

Keeping track of six kids in this mad house is no joke, but thankfully no that some of the kids are older they are better at helping us keep track of the little ones. (Which is a huge plus because overall it's less parenting we have to do!)

And even though it's not too far in the future that some of them won't be interested, this year we had blast.

And then there was bowling. We wanted to make sure A could be included in all the fun stuff the kids are doing, despite her hand to elbow cast, and bowling seemed like a pretty safe choice.

This year the adults even bowled their own game in between helping out the little ones.

And after a very long game of bowling we let the kids go crazy in the arcade for a little bit. It was fun and I even convince my two older nephews to do laser tag with me, which I haven't done in forever!

Family Visit 2017 Part 1

It's that time of year again! Our annual huge family visit, and this year it was even bigger since my brother and his family were in town. They just moved from France (long story) and made a pit stop in  Arizona. So this year we had SEVEN kids ranging in age from 2 to 12! They are quite the group, and there are a lot of personalities, but they love each other and always have such a good time together!

We kicked off the visit with a big camping trip, as per tradition. It's the perfect time of year up at Lake Pleasant right now. The water is ridiculously high still from winter and it's warm enough to enjoy going in the water but cools off at night. 

We got up on Saturday and the adults set up camp (it's so much easier to be one of the kids when you are camping!) and then we immediately set up chairs and got down the kayaks. The bigger boys love paddling around and the little kids played on the waters edge.

(My brother, J, and my beautiful niece A!)

And.... this is were out lovely weekend takes a bit of turn. All of the little kids were playing on the waters edge, most of the barefoot, not to mention the adults that were watching them. We always scan the shore line to make sure there is no broken glass or fish hooks, but apparently this time we missed something deeper in the water. My poor niece fell forward and caught herself on her hands.... and came up screaming and bleeding like crazy. She had cut through her little pinkie, and it was deep. We tried to calm her down and clean it, but it was pretty apparent she needed to go to the hospital. So my brother and his family, along with my parents, took off and after a long day and night she ended up needing surgery. The glass (we think it was part of a beer bottle that we ended up fishing out of the lake) but through two tendons and a nerve. Thankfully she is going to be OK, but it was pretty traumatizing for everyone. And here's a little PSA: if your going camping or going to be outdoors, go ahead and get your drink on, but be responsible and bring cans. And on the chance you find yourself with glass, don't be jerk and don't throw it in the freaking lake!!!

(Poor baby!)

After talking to my brother several times and knowing she was going to be fine we decided to finish up our trip. Even though we all felt bad and were worried about A, the kids look forward to this trip every year and there was nothing we were going to be able to do at home.

Needless to say, we were vigilant about checking the shoreline and even deeper into the water, and we made sure all the kids wore water shoes when they got near the water. Even R, when he was busy getting his groove on.

(I don't know if this video will play. If it doesn't I apologize, because you are missing out!)

The kids were worn out be the end of it, but despite the drama it was another amazing camping trip to put in the books!

First Camping Trip of 2017

It's that time of year again! As the rest of the country is finding themselves buried under snow, we are opening windows, wearing shorts and tank tops, and scrambling to get in a few good camping trips before the weather gets unbearable hot!

This post is late, but we managed to sneak out for a weekend a few weeks ago, and it was perfect. The weather was warm but not super hot, the water was cold but not freezing, and the lake itself was the highest I've seen it in a long time. It was perfect for kayaking and relaxing on the beach with a cold beer and a book!

Our friend joined us again, and it's always such a blast when they do. The boys (All five of them!) are in absolute heaven and it's always nice to have a few more adults around! 

(They brought their cute little puppy. She had a life jacket, and the jacket had a handle so she was like a little suitcase. Don't even ask me how amusing I found this!)

We spent the day hanging out, going  out in the boats and refereeing touch football games, and then after a yummy dinner (seriously, why does food taste so much better when it's cooked over an open fire and eaten outside?!) We put the boys down to bed and got to spend  couple of hours hanging out by the fire and having a few drinks with just the grownups.

We have one more camping trip booked when my sister and her family comes out in April, but hopefully we can get one or two more of these trips in before the temperatures start creeping into the 100's!!

The big 3-3!

Happy (Oh my God, Oh my God) 33rd (33rd!!!! What!!!) birthday to me! OK, I"m not going to lie, I still claim 29 when my kids ask how old I am, but it's only because I genuinely still feel 29! I don't feel 33, but I also can't complain about how pretty awesome my life is at 33.

My birthday was on Thursday, but my birthday week started on Tuesday when a dear and talented friend took the time to do my hair for me. 

**Side note... if you ever have the opportunity to find an amazing hairdresser  who is totally an awesome person and also has a kid the same age as your kids so they can be friends.... don't mess that situation up! It's the best!!! You get a built in amazing friend and someone who is a magician at hair at the same time!

Anyway, after hair, I had an amazing happy hour/ dinner with my amazing friends . We haven't all been friends long, but these amazing women have been my rock for the last few years, and the fact hat our kids our all besties is really the icing on the cake!

 (Jenny is missing from this super cute pic!!)

My actual bday wasn't as amazing. S had to work (which was fine, we had decided awhile ago that we would rather him take off for a long weekend than take of a Thursday.), and I had to spend the morning in restitution court for that darn dog bite L got back in October. Court went fine, we basically only asked the guy to cover the urgent care visit and he was pretty cool about it, but it still wasn't the ideal birthday morning. After that I had a nice lunch with my parents, who were in town. They left to head out to Wyoming pretty much right after, and luckily S was able to  get off a little earlier than usual. 

And, amazing presents aside, how cute is the card that S helped the boys make for me? 

S was wonderful and got me the new fitbit that I've been wanting and also a cute workout tank top that he found when we went to Flag a few weekends ago. For my actual bday we fed the kids dinner and then just had some appetizers and watched a movie and drank some beer. S took Friday and Monday off, so it was the kickoff to my actual birthday weekend!

On Friday S got up and got the kids ready for school and let me sleep in a bit, and then we headed to a local diner for breakfast. We hung out and killed time and relaxed until we had to go and get R from school and then drop him off at our neighbors house, and then we headed out to Scottsdale to do our "pinspiration" day that S got me for Valentines Day.

Of course, as is the way that always happens, after juggling and arranging babysitters and after school care for all three kids, literally as we were walking in we got a call from L2's school that he had a fever and needed to come get picked up. Seriously? After a few moments of panic that our day date was ruined, and talking to the nurse who let us know that his fever was only 100 (is that even really a fever?) we decided that S would run over and get him and bring him back while I started the craft. It was definitely a hiccup in our plans, but it turned out fine and it was so fun creating something together!

The rest of the weekend was equally as perfect and relaxing. On Saturday we went out and did some furniture shopping and had nice dinner in. On Sunday I went to a Spring Training game to meet up with some college friends, including my old suite mate and her new baby that I hadn't met yet!

S took Monday off too, so I had another day where I got to sleep in a bit and then we went and got bagels and coffee before getting R for school. Then we went and did more furniture shopping (we needed new dressers!) and had lunch out! Pretty nice way to round out the long weekend, and it was the perfect end to celebrate turning the big 3-3!!!