Month: July 2011

Candy Run & Uncle Gino

Post author By Joy
Post date July 30, 2011

On an outing with Grandma (while Chase was at a day camp), we stopped to get some donkey food for Pepper. Charlotte liked the little horses outside the shop.

We went to Powell’s Sweet Shoppe in Petaluma. I was in heaven! cAnDy EvErYwHeRe! Old fashioned candy, sour gummy candy, foreign candy, unique candy, etc.! Why didn’t I take any pictures? Maybe because I was busy drooling all over everything!

Here’s Charlotte sprinting up & down the walkway afterwards. Sugar high! It’s delightful to take her places because she’s quite easygoing in the car & in stores.

We went home to have lunch & she pretended to nap (I think she crashed after her sugar high)

Uncle Gino came for a day! The kids adore him & have a lot of fun with him. What dedication to drive up from So. Cal for just a day before heading back again to work! Thanks, Gino!

Chase Adventures

Chase’s Life on the Farm

Post author By Joy
Post date July 27, 2011

Kids have such a unique viewpoint of things. Sometimes I won’t even notice something or think it’s that great, but my kids will see the awesomeness in ordinary things, point it out, & it’s suddenly an exciting thing.

Chase was the only one who was intensely THRILLED when he & Grandpa discovered that one of my parents’ trees had fallen across the road & needed to be hauled out to the field. After sprinting inside the house to announce it to the rest of us, he headed out with Grandpa to take care of this urgent matter. I got out there in time to take a few shots.

Driving without Grandpa’s help– very focused on his important job. I love it!

Another hard day’s work is done.

Chase cracks me up. He is a very intense, curious child who always wants to be busy & doing projects. Frankly, he’s a major handful for me… But he cracks me up.

I went outside to round him up for bedtime that evening, but Grandpa was testing out the big water faucets, so I couldn’t very easily pull Chase away.

He enjoyed turning this big one on & off & seeing how powerful the flow was.

Then Grandpa suggested that he strip down since he was already drenched…

…Alright! Par-tay!!!! (I could not stop laughing.)

He’d run through the raging water & it would throw him forward a foot or two. Pure delight!

Charlotte Chase Family Fun

Backyard Fun

Post author By Joy
Post date July 25, 2011

This is another California post, and yes, there will be a few more to come.

Below, Chase & Charlotte race each other on a beautiful evening (guess who won the race)!

Rachel tried to take some sentimental Mother + Children pics of us. Look how peaceful and loving we look (Chase & Charlotte were actually both struggling to get away so they could keep racing across the lawn).

Funny blonde kids

The next day, we had some of Chase’s friends over to swim.

Charlotte suddenly spotted a swimmer in trouble…

So without hesitation, she grabbed hold of a sturdy pink pool noodle…

And risked her life to rescue Grandpa & one of the friends!

(ok not really, but it makes a good story. I love Grandpa’s facial expression!)

What a brave girl.

Charlotte Chase Chase Adventures Family Fun

Fire Station & Jaws of Life

Post author By Joy
Post date July 22, 2011

We went to a 4th of July Firemen’s Breakfast at my grandma’s local fire station. It was bright & early, & a fun way to start the day!

After breakfast, we watched a demonstration of how the Jaws of Life are used to slice open a wrecked car with a victim trapped inside (in this case a dummy was used). It was very sobering to imagine experiencing that severe of a car accident.

This fireman recommended against keeping lots of junk in the car, because if you’re in an accident, all that stuff will be thrown around & can injure you. Pace will be glad to know that I’m going to try to keep extra junk out of our minivan! At least I’ll try…

Pretend that the boy below that’s holding the Jaws of Life is Chase. Chase had a turn holding those heavy Jaws of Life, but I missed the photo op. Smile

Health

Juice Juice Everywhere

Post author By McAdmin
Post date July 21, 2011

At the advice of a co-worker, we checked out Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It was an interesting movie. We enjoyed watching the stories of these people. Nathan wondered why I liked the 90 minute infomercial, however the only thing they asked me to buy was vegetables, so I don’t agree with his viewpoint. Matter of fact seven of us at work all agreed it would be worth trying out. So starting tomorrow morning we are going to be drinking just juiced meals. My boss is bringing in his juicer and he’s committed to 60 days! I’ll probably just go with 10 days. Anyway if you have streaming Netflix check it out, or watch this extended trailer and fill in the blanks with your imagination.

Personal

Just Beautiful

Post author By Joy
Post date July 20, 2011

My parents’ land is gorgeous. I feel like I can brag about it because I have nothing to do with it! They’ve done a great job with landscaping & maintaining their place. It’s particularly beautiful at dusk when the setting sun highlights everything. Seeing the beautiful light cast across the land and breathing in the fresh, fragrant air makes me feel sentimental.

And just a few daytime ones for good measure:

Chase Adventures

Play (Kick)ball!

Post author By Joy
Post date July 17, 2011

The evening before we left for California, Chase had his last kickball game. We were glad he’d had a good time & that he’d had a friendly, patient coach.

In order to keep things simple for all the 5-year-olds, they weren’t allowed to run more than one base at a time or get anyone out. Pace didn’t know that at the first game, so he enthusiastically yelled to Chase to keep running around the bases after kicking the ball. Pace was quickly put in his place by the coach. Smile

Chase was glad that his buddy Jaxon was on his team! (& one kid was missing from the team picture.)

Chase enjoyed the kickball season, but not nearly as much as he enjoyed the soccer season last year. He’ll start soccer in about 6 weeks (along with KINDERGARTEN), and he can hardly wait!

Charlotte Chase Family Fun

Marin County Fair

Post author By Joy
Post date July 16, 2011

My kids & I just returned from a 2-week Northern California trip. We enjoyed the change of scenery, all the beloved family & friends, & being spoiled (even though we really missed Daddy).

The first big outing was going to the Marin County Fair. What a blast! Grandma was proud of Chase’s interest in the Compost Workshop for kids.

Chase is like his Grandma in that he’s intrigued by such topics as compost, recycling, & identification of plants & birds. From time to time, he’ll ask me what the name of a particular tree is, and I respond, “Um, ask Grandma…”

Chase also enjoyed the petting zoo. He’s always drawn to the goats! I didn’t enjoy the goats as much as he did, because one of them kept sneaking up to get a taste of my “grass green” skirt & I ended up with goat snot & saliva all over me.

Meanwhile, Charlotte kept her distance from the creatures & simply smiled her cheesy “camera smile” for me.

Sporting their cool shades while waiting for the pig races to start. Rachel & Mom were gracious enough to ride some of the carnival rides with Chase & Charlotte, as I wasn’t allowed to with my pregnant belly!

What a beautiful backdrop for the fair! And perfect weather, too. Too bad a mother nearby allowed her little boy to pee right smack in the middle of the grass, where people were sitting on their picnic blankets… People never cease to amaze me.

Sorry about the blinking picture, Mom! Below is a cuter one. And this one’s funny because Charlotte is too busy with her cotton candy to smile for the camera. We were in the kids’ area where there were free crafts to do (after we saw the AMAZING Chinese Acrobats perform in the auditorium).

And I LOVE these “trash cans”!!!! Notice how the black “Landfill” one & makes you feel guilty & evil for tossing anything in there.

Only in California (or the Pacific Northwest area) would one find compost bins right along with the trash bins.

I always enjoy the earth-conscious, laid-back nature of Northern California. I didn’t see one person ratting their big blonde hair in the bathrooms… but something I did see in the bathrooms were garbage cans labeled “Compost Only.” (Utah, you really need to get on the “earth-conscious” bandwagon!)

Family Fun

Surprise!

Post author By McAdmin
Post date July 14, 2011

While Joy has been out of town, I’ve been very busy. Both at work and at home. You see it all started when we started discussing where to fit three kids with two rooms. A few months ago we had Charlotte start sleeping in Chase’s room to see how it went and if that would work when #3 comes. Well, it had pros and cons. They did talk a lot more at bedtime but they did grow closer and help each other. There was also the problem that Chase still considered it his room, as he should since none of her stuff was in there, and he liked his privacy when getting dressed etc. So the craziest thing happened. Saturday before the family left I had this idea pop into my head. I immediately texted my buddy who builds stuff and asked for an estimate.

I had the idea to separate the girls and the boys! I figured Charlotte likes to stay awake and talk anyways so she probably won’t mind that cute little baby sister crying all night. And Chase is too old to be showing his privates to his sister, he might start to like it… so they need to be in separate rooms. There isn’t room for bulky bunk beds and a crib or vice versa. *BING* (not the search engine) IDEA! I’ll mount a bed up on the wall so there is more room underneath! Yeah that’s a great idea!

Joy is getting home now and she has NO idea I’ve done this. Am I crazy or crazy smart?

Here is the final product! Chase’s Superhero Makeover

And now, Charlotte needs something really nice and girly.

More high res photos & video coming after the reveal. Stay tuned for Joy’s reaction, make a comment to vote if she’ll love it or hate it!

Personal

Family

Post author By McAdmin
Post date July 13, 2011

Been pretty quite around these parts, including the blog. That’s probably b/c Joy and the kids have been out of town for a couple weeks. They took the camera, otherwise I’d post pics of all the fun I’ve been having. Can’t wait till these guys get back tomorrow!