You Can't Hide... Or Can You?

We just got back from being out of town for almost a month, going on three different "trips." Obviously, I have a lot to write about, but I just wanted to write about two things before I forgot.

It's always funny to me how small children try to hide things (usually unsuccessfully) from their parents. (Kind of like when I ask Jackson if he is wet and he insists he'd not but there is a huge wet spot at the front of his pants.) This morning Jackson was throwing a tantrum and got up from where I put him on time out, so I took him up to his bed. He didn't WANT to stay on his bed and was very upset at me. I went out of his room to look for something and when I came back, Jackson was "gone." He had hidden by sitting next to the armchair in his room and putting a blanket over his head. He held very still, certain that if I didn't move, I wouldn't notice the huge Jackson-sized bulge under the blanket next to his chair.

The other funny example of this was when we went camping with my parents. We were setting up the camp kitchen (my mom is a SERIOUS camp cook-- don't mess with her pop-up tables, camp cookers and multiple organized holders of cooking gadgets). We had just set up a pop-up table with a rack for hanging stuff on top and gotten everything on it organized when Addy pushed on it a little bit too hard and the whole thing fell over. After one huge-eyed look of panic, Addy immediately lay on the ground and pretended to be asleep. I guess maybe she would thought she was just taking a nap in the middle of the dirt and some nearby squirrel had pushed the table over. :)

California Catch-Up Part IV: The Final Chapter

After about 3 weeks in California it was almost time to go home. Dave flew out to CA two days before the Fourth of July so he could spend the break with us and then drive with the kids and I back home.

Jared and Camryn had happily spent days on end picking fruit from Grandpa's trees in the backyard and playing with Marty. Jackson became addicted to clementine oranges ("Ownge! Ownge!") --he could reach himself from Grandma's fruit basket-- and would eat 5 or so a day. He also happily spent his days dumping stuff and terrorizing Marty. But all good things must come to an end.

The day before the 4th, we all went to Great America for a last hurrah (thanks to free tickets procured from my mom's friend Terry). Jared was tall enough to go on all of the rides in the park, so Dave took him on pretty much every single one. Jared loved it! Camryn was almost tall enough to go on all of the rides, but could still go on most of them. The older kids had a ball with daddy, Alisa and Grandma. I on the other hand... am pregnant. So no roller coasters for me. "That's fine," I thought, "I'll just take Jackson around and do some of the kiddie rides. It will still be fun." I went to go on the putt-putt cars (that go about 5 miles per hour on a track) and the sign said, "This attraction is not recommended for park patrons who are pregnant." The putt-putt cars? Is it just me or is this the fruit of a litigation-happy society where people want to protect themselves from liability. (I went on the putt-putt cars anyway... I guess I just tried to pass for fat. I know... I'm bad, risking the life of my unborn child by riding the putt-putt cars.)

But that was one of the few rides that I actually went on. We decided to split up and Dave took the older kids to the thrill rides while I went to ride kiddie rides with Jackson. We came to all the Nickelodeon rides and I went to take Jackson on "Dora's Dune Buggies." Guess what? There was a sign that said, "Not recommended for park patrons who are pregnant." Really??? You mean it is safe to take my not-quite-two-year-old on this ride, but I can't go on a little car that goes in circles at 1/2 a mile per hour? So, again I threw caution to the wind and risked everything by riding Dora's Dune Buggies with Jackson. Later we went to the water park and, shockingly, the lazy river wasn't off limits for pregnant women! (Maybe they figure that we get the whole lazy thing pretty well.)

The highlight of the day for me was when Jared and Camryn went on the bumper cars for the first time. We ran into a friend of ours (from our ward growing up) who was there with his boy. Everyone (except Jackson and I) went on the bumper cars together. It was Jared and Camryn's first time to ride bumper cars and steering was a little bit harder than expected, especially for Camryn. Camryn could not get her car to go more than a few inches before it spun and stopped. She and Jared ran into each other and they could not get untangled. The more they tried to separate, the more they kept running into each other. Meanwhile they were blocking almost the entire lane and pretty much the entire room of bumper cars was stopped in a traffic jam behind them. Poor Camryn was upset and in tears, but I couldn't stop laughing. How the kids had managed to make a traffic jam that stopped the entire ride was beyond me. Auntie Alisa made Jared and Camryn's day by buying them stuffed snakes. We finished the day by riding the famous double-decker carousel (hooray, they let me on!).

On the 4th we had an amazing barbecue. We gorged ourselves on Dave's grilled steaks and mom and dad's friend Dan's AMAZING ribs. We had tons of yummy side dishes and stuffed ourselves silly. Mom and I took Jared and Cam to watch fireworks while the PARTY POOPERS of the family (i.e. Dave, Dad and Alisa) stayed home to work. Sheesh. What are they trying to be? Responsible? But Dave made up for it by doing sparklers with Jared and Camryn when they got back from fireworks.

The next morning right after church, we headed back to Oregon. The 3 weeks just flew by. And now you won't have to read any more California Catch-Up posts.

California Summary Part I

I am falling into the "must catch up on old stuff before I can post new stuff" trap lately on my blog. As a result, I have been avoiding my blog entirely because it makes me feel overwhelmed. I'm going to try to give a quick catch-up on some of the stuff that I've been putting off forever so I can move on with my life... and my blog.

Our Trip to California: Yes, this trip was in June. Yes it is now August. But could you really live without seeing pictures of:

The kids and I at our favorite beach with Grandma. We love this beach because the parking is free and it has a little "river" that the smaller kids can play in without waves. Jared and Camryn laid down in the shallow water and waited for waves to go over them, never-mind the chilly water temperature (they get their tolerance of cold from their Dad, not me).