Our own little Pigpen

Remember this kid from Charlie Brown?

We hadn't thought about him in a while either

Until we went camping a few weeks ago, that is

So giving, isn't she?

Our litte nature girl

I'm not sure why we even bothered throwing down tarps at all

Can you see the cloud?

Despite one very filthy crawler, we had a great time camping. Here's a recap by the numbers:

Seven kids,

four parents,

three tents,

two pack-n-plays,

thirty s'mores,

eleven hoodies,

several stories 'round the fire,

one burning blob of marshmallows on a stick,

lots of scenic views,

nine cups of hot chocolate,

a lot of happy campers.

Hugs from tired, little Pigpen

Colette and Eli playing in the tent

Abigail and Bennett washing up

Stephen telling stories to the kids

For a more thorough and well-written summary, visit Laura and Joel's blog.

Backwards to School

Taking inventory of jeans and jackets. Trying to predict just how much B's feet will grow over the next nine months as I decide which shoe size to buy. Assessing the damage done to last year's backpack and lunch box. Procrastinating the purchase of school supplies in hopes of one store having ALL the things I need ALL on sale at once.

School will be back in less than two weeks. Crazy. Could the summer have gone any faster? And yet, I'm wishing I'd enjoyed it a little more while it was here. I was so busy yelling at my boys to stop fighting, shoving chore charts down their throats, and hurrying to get them to swim lessons on time, that I didn't relish the luxury of lazy mornings and uninterrupted afternoon naps like I should have. It's only now that the realities of daily school life are looming large that I'm appreciating the freedom of the past few months.

As I think about the start of a new school year, I also realize that I haven't even blogged about the end of the last school year. In my waxing nostalgic for a summer that hasn't even ended yet, allow me to wax nostalgic for B's salad days of kindergarten.

Some day I'll get my act together. I'll blog on time. I'll enjoy the moment. I'll take better pictures. I hope.

Dancin' in the rocks as they wait for the slow train
(Millie and Mom) to catch up

Waiting yet again, since they had to race down every sidewalk

between our house and the school

"Stop Light Man," as Eli so endearingly named our friendly crossing guard

Unhappily stroller-bound Millie and masked-man Eli

Waiting with some of his classmates for the door to open one last time

Class picnic at the park

Lunching with good friends, Lionel, Nicola and Kiana

(notice Millie, happy in the arms of Lores, one of the two Filipino moms

who loved to hold Millie at morning drop-off every day)

La Ciudad

Quintissential bridge shot

Millie giving her Uncle Brett an orthodontal check

The wharf with a lot less wildlife
(It feels like a ghost town with so few sea lions out there)

Steep and sinuous Lombard Street

The kids at the bottom

Grandad and Mills hangin' on the wharf

It's Miller Time

No, not the beer, although my boys' constant fighting just might drive me to drink . . . I'm talking about the Miller kids, who are out visiting their dad's family for the summer. Stephen and I are lucky enough to live a few miles from their grandma, so we've been able to spend some time with them. I think each of them has slept on our living room couch for at least a night or two, if not several more. The boys would wake up every morning asking, "Who's on the couch today, Mommy?" and before you know it, Eli is out there lifting up poor Maina's eyelids to determine if she's awake, or Bennett's asking Kaelan or Kati to play Sorry with him. All three of our kids have loved having their older cousins around for so much this summer.

Watch out for the tweens and teens! There was quite a crew gathered at Grammy Miller's pool when the Jorys and Millers gathered to swim and barbecue. Let me list them by age, so you can feel a little, or a lot, of sympathy for the adults hanging out with these kids:

Brett, 17
Shemaina, 16
Kaelan, 15
Kiersten, 13
Ashley, 13
Haley, 13
Kati, 12
Solana, 9
Kendra, 9

Good grief, I get tired just listing all of them. Now imagine them dunking, scratching, chasing, splashing and generally harrassing each other in a backyard pool. Craziness. Good craziness, however. There's nothing like all that teenage energy to distract and entertain, and let's face it, it's fun seeing all of them have such a good time together. Uncle Don grilled up 'da meat and busted out some deeeee-licious, homemade mango ice cream which we all greedily gobbled up. The motley crew were then off to the drive-in for a double-feature, while Connie came home to hang with us boring folk who had to get our little lambs to bed before midnight.

Eli enjoying some mango goodness

Solana doing the same

Stephen, Connie and Millie relaxing poolside

Eli and his buddy/punching bag, cousin Maina

Kendra and Benito gettin' their swim on

Kaelan taking a break from the chaos

At the Boardwalk

After beachin' it up long enough to get sand evvvvvvvvverywhere, we hit the boardwalk to try and shake some of it off. Rides, music, kettle corn, sunset views and quality people-watching seemed to do the trick.

**All photos courtesy of Brett and Connie. (Thanks, you two!)

The place was hoppin'

A view from the log ride.

Benito flying with the dragons, and his little bro, of course

Sand-speckled Millie attempting to swallow her binkie whole

(we have got to remember to feed this kid)

Dad, Connie and none-too-thrilled Kendra Leigh

Snoopy would be proud as the boys fly the Red Baron

Grandad Jory with B and grumpy-faced E

Just Beachy

The next wave of family visitors brought Dad, Connie, Brett and Kendra from Seattle. We loved having them here on our Bay area turf to play and relax together. They were very flexible with the normal parts of our week, like Stephen's having to work a few days and the boys' daily swim lessons, and they were extremely helpful with the unavoidable parts of my week, like meals, naps, diapers, laundry, and dishes. Not the relaxing vacay they would have hoped for, I'm sure, but you never would have known it from how willing they were to pitch in and help. Every time Brett, my teenage brother, walked in the door he'd ask what he could do, and the second he completed that task he'd be back asking for the next!



Here's a glimpse of what we did with them:



Day One included church, where they got to see the Miller fam sans Jana, Ligretto, naps and homemade apple pie.

Day Two was your classic Californian summer day: In-n-out and the beach.

Eager, little beach beavers

"Will this gun help save you from that nasty riptide?"

Catching up with Connie while the kids consider catching a wave




Bennett and Kendra

Us

Second heat

We were lucky enough to have lots of family come visit us during the month of July. It's a little harder to get up to Seattle or out to Utah the way we used to, so their coming to see us this year was much appreciated. The kids were positively spoiled with attention and fun from their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Those first few weeks of summer proved harder than I thought, adjusting to the lack of any real routine and having all three kids all day long.

Our first welcome visitor was Solana, as mentioned in a previous post. The next week brought Aunt Kendra and Uncle Joseph, who are thrilled to be expecting twins at the end of the year. The boys finally caught a glimpse of "the babies in Aunt Kendra's tummy," whom they've been praying for the past few months, and we happily passed along all the maternity clothes and baby gear/clothes. Kendra brought us a bevy of wonderful kids' books that she saved from her classroom, books that have spiced up the kids' bookshelf quite nicely. Do you get sick of your kids' books as fast as I do? New books = happy bedtime readers (aka Mom & Dad).

Anyway, besides swapping books and baby stuff, we took it easy for the most part and just hung out together. Per tradition, we got in some quality Wii time--Joseph gave the boys some much-needed tutorials on Lego Batman and Lego Starwars--and even played a bit of bocce at Cuesta Park. We also got in some games, most notably Kymber's newly-purchased German card game, Ligretto, and of course lots of eating and talking. I almost forgot that we spent an afternoon over at Shoreline, flying kites, picnicking, watching wind surfers, and dodging duck poop. Thanks to Kendra's blog and photos, from which I shamelessly stole the pix on this post, I was reminded of our outing.

Grandpa, Joseph & boys skipping rocks at Shoreline

Uncle Joseph helping B with his kite


Benito beating us at bocce ball

Soon-to-be parents, Kendra and Joseph