Another day, another outing

After going to the Demo Class for Ladybug Music this morning (which was totally fun. Thanks Beth), I decided to take the kids over to Travel Town. It was only a few minutes away and the kids had a blast. There aren't too many trains you can actually get on anymore, but they still think it's pretty cool. We walked around, rode on the kiddie train, played in the exhibit hall and then ended up at McDonald's for lunch.

 Sweet, Sassy, and Fierce

aka: Ashlyn, Leah and Brandon

The kids were having fun jumping off this bench over and over and OVER again. I tried to get a picture, but the delay on the camera on my phone was just too slow.

Another "Encino Girls" B-day Celebration

This is my friend Emily. She's cool! Like way cooler than me (which I guess isn't that hard to do but still). She always picks the funnest places to go for her Birthday celebration. Last night we went down to Hollywood to eat at the famous "Umami Burger". It was voted the best burger place in the country. Or something crazy like that. It was good. REALLY good! I got a truffle burger. I wasn't even sure what it was going to taste like. And I'm not sure what other sauce was on it besides the truffle cheese, but it was GOOD!

Then we headed over to the Arclight Dome to see "Super 8". It's like a cross between Goonies, Stand by Me, and ET (gone crazy). It was intense. But REALLY fun! We all loved it. 

But I had to go home and ask Paul why it was named "Super 8" since there weren't 8 kids in it. I guess it was referencing the kind of movies they made back in the day (like the 1970's days). I should have known that. Oh well!

Me and cute Beth, who is pregnant with her third baby. A little boy. I'm always so glad to get to go out with these girls because it doesn't happen very often. Thank goodness for Birthdays. We missed Brooke (who is home with her adorable newborn), and Jackie (who went to the wrong theater), and of course Renee (who moved to UT). You were with us in spirit girls!

There is not a single healthy thing on that table huh?! Not even lettuce or tomatoes on our burgers. Pretty bad huh! But we didn't care.

The LA Zoo

Was HOT today. But the kids still had fun "monkeying" around. I think they were more active than any of the animals were. See for yourself.

In other news, the girls are doing FANTASTIC at swim lessons. And I am enjoying the 8:10 am session because that means DADDY can take them and I can stay home with the boys. Yahoo! Not that I don't love watching them. But being at the Aquatic Center with two little boys who get easily bored, doesn't leave much time for watching my girls swim anyway. Mostly I just chase Brandon. So I am VERY grateful Paul is taking them this summer. 

Ashlyn is there in the middle of the pool with her instructor. She swam out there all by her self, treaded water for 30 seconds and then swam all the way back. When asked how she felt about doing it, she said, "I thought I was going to drown". 

Leah, is moving on up these days. To the deep pool that is. Up until now she has been at the waterslide pool. Today she moved over to the Dive pool. When asked how she likes being at the deep pool, she says, "I like it a lot!" 

We are so proud!

Brandon...well, we registered him, but if you keep up with my FB page, you know he growled at his teacher and threw toys in the pool the first day. Then the next day he refused to even get in the car to go. We decided to cut our losses, get what money back that we could and try again next summer. He just isn't ready to tackle that one yet. He's never been a big fan of the pool. Best not to push him just yet.


This last picture is of the kids right before leaving from my canning day with Kristina.
I just thought they looked cute sitting in the leaves.

Canning Day

My good friend Kristina and I started a tradition last year that I hope lasts us a lifetime. Our yearly strawberry jam canning day. It's the one day out of the whole year that we devote entirely to canning. I seriously had so much fun last year and have been counting the days until we could get together again. 

Paul took over kid patrol for the day and I arrived at Kristina's house at 9:30 am. I open the door to my car to get the supplies out and....CRASH....an entire box of freshly cleaned jars smashes all over the driveway. Oops. Totally not a good start. Then Kristina looks in my car and says, oh no, that's not enough strawberries. Strike two! ahh....I couldn't believe it. Luckily her wonderful husband came to our rescue and drove out the 126 to get double what I had bought. 

Ok, so once we got that mess cleaned up and the right amount of strawberries, we got everything in the house and then didn't waste any more time. All day long we are washing, cutting, smashing, measuring, boiling, organizing and steaming (thanks to Brooke's LIFE SAVER steam canner. I totally owe you Brooke. We LOVED using that thing. Seriously! It was awesome.). We had a definite system down and we didn't waste a moment. In total I think we canned around 100 jars of jam. 

We chatted, laughed, ate, chatted, laughed and ate some more. The strawberries were heavenly they were so good. 

Paul came over with the kids around 3 pm. They ran around and played while we finished up. Then we got pizza for the kids and yummy Pico Rico Mexican food for the adults. I think I pretty much inhaled my burrito it was SO good. 

Thanks for the wonderful day girl! And a special thanks to the amazing husbands/dads we have. Without your help there is no way we would have been able to accomplish what we did! We are definitely lucky gals.

We knew it was time to call it a day though when someone ended up hurt. Sorry for the shot of blood dripped on the back patio, but it makes for a good story. Brandon fell and hit his nose pretty bad while playing swords with the Daddy's and Nicolas. It was quite bloody. After that, we got our stuff all gathered up, said our goodbyes and headed home!

Whew! I'm exhausted. (I think Paul is too).

These photos are all courtesy of Kristina, because I of course forgot my camera....again!

Documenting

I'm documenting my summer activities with my kids so that next summer when Ashlyn tries to tell me we don't do much (like she did recently), I will have PROOF!

We went out to the Fish Hatchery again today. It's really a very simple place to go and some people might think it's pretty boring, but my kids always have fun. And seriously, it's good entertainment for a handful of dimes. Afterward, we stopped at a fruit stand to pick up strawberries for my yearly canning day with my good friend Kristina. I'm SO excited, but I will post more about that later.

And since it was after 1pm and I didn't pack lunches, we had to stop on the way home for a bite to eat. I didn't give the kids any options today. I just stopped at Boston Market because I didn't want a burger and fries. It's really a yummy place to eat. And great for kids too! Plus it's not usually too crowded, which helps me keep a better handle on my kids. 

Oh my! Is this not THE single most adorable face you have EVER seen! I love it. This boy is really learning everyday. Today he started going from laying on his tummy to sitting up. ALL BY HIMSELF! I'm so proud. 

Plus he cut his SIXTH tooth and is working on his seventh. Yes, I'm not joking. Seven months old and has 6, almost 7 teeth. It's not good for the grouch factor, but once it comes through he's back to his happy self!

I'm really trying hard not to freak out about this stuff. It has got to be the single most awful combination of products I have ever seen. Moon dough= finely, finely shredded paper mixed with what feels like chalk. And the worst part is....IT NEVER DRIES OUT!

No, I did not buy this for them. I would never buy this for them. No matter how much they have begged me to get it, I have never given in. Their Dad did. But is he home to clean it up? I think not! 

(haha...love you honey!)

And in the background, the kids are singing and dancing to Christmas Music. Jingle Bells to be exact. Now we are on to Silent Night! Crazy kids. At least they are having fun and not watching a ton of TV. I'm sure that will come once the weather gets too hot to play outside, and they have exhausted all of their ideas. Until then, I will try to not freak out about my house being in utter chaos!

Until next week when we go see my friend Beth work her music magic at Ladybug Music (I'm so excited to go) and then it's off to the zoo for us.