Lazy 5 Water Park

It was a blistering 80 degrees today, so we went to the water park. It was in Spanish Springs and they actually charge you a small fee to use the facility. It is kind of hilarious to me, because in Las Vegas there are water features at about every park in the city. But then again, it was only 80 degrees today, right?

I met my friend Yvonne there with her little ones.  Raef and Eli played in the water, Zach played on the regular playground, and the babies whined at my feet the whole time, pretty much. It was about what I expected.  Julia didn't want to have anything to do with the water.  When I was able to get her mildly interested in it, she ran away in fun and fell down and smacked her head.  Sheesh.  Harry had fun in the end, running on the outskirts of the water.  

Yvonne doctored up Julia and she loved all of the special attention she was getting.  Yvonne's daughter Alyssa is in nursery with Julia and loves to baby her and take care of her. It is really cute.  Yvonne's kids didn't want to get in the water either.  Then the wind changed right before we left and the water was misting our way.  Julia was really unhappy then.

It was still nice to be able to get out of the house and enjoy the beautiful day.  I took the boys directly from the park to their violin/viola lessons. They did really well. I took the little ones to Costco and they did a lot better than the last time we went. Then Harry and Julia fell asleep in the car.  

Now, it looks like Julia is a little bit sick, so I guess her crankiness at the water park was justified. Who knew?

Reconnecting on Spicer's Reservoir

It is one of those wonderful blessings when you have the opportunity to reconnect with family, where there has not been that much connection in the past. One of the incredible benefits of moving to Reno is that I was able to reconnect with a part of my family that I don't know very well. My Dad has a brother named Ron and his family always has a family reunion every year at Spicer's Reservoir, high in the Sierra Nevada's. Amazingly enough, the campsite was only about 2.5 hours from my house.

So I had to go.  Unfortunately, Rinar had to work, so I braved it alone.  I spent one night there and it was great to see everyone. However, it was not great sleeping in a tent with my kids. Julia had a hard night, therefore so did I. She fell asleep at dawn right when the birds started to sing. Hence, I got about 1 complete hour of sleep. It was a very long night.  What can I say? She is my sleeping beauty.

Here is my Uncle Ron, cousin Sue, and her daughter Cassie. I think you know those little tikes.

Uncle Ron is on the right, with Dino, my other cousin Debbie's boyfriend.  The lady on the left is a family friend.

This is another family friend, Jeff, holding a distraught Harry. Everyone was so welcoming and inviting and they all were very happy to help  my with my kids.

Cassie is standing, then her dad Chris (Sue's husband) is sitting behind  his oldest son C.J., and next to my other cousin Debbie.  Sue's family owns a restaurant in the Monterrey area called New Awakenings. It was actually featured on an episode of "$40 a Day" with Rachael Ray.

Let's get dirty, oh yeah! My Dirty Harry. Don't worry, it got much worse.

Dino was so good with the kids.

There you go...me and my cousins, Debbie and Sue.

Debbie and Cassie

This is Peggy, my Aunt Vicki's sister. Vicki passed away almost a year ago from cancer. I first met Peggy when we went to Ron's house to pay our respects.

Chris and C.J.  C.J. was so cute with the kids.  Harry and Julia loved playing with him.

On the way home, we drove on hwy 4 through Ebbett's Pass. It is an incredibly beautiful and  harrowing road.  My pictures do not do it justice.  It must be one of the beautiful places on the entire earth...truly God's country.

I actually think I have been on this road before. I have a childhood memory of driving with my dad and sister's up a really windy road. There was snow everywhere and then we had to stop because at this point, there was a huge avalanche of snow piled right here and we had to turn around. If it wasn't at this specific spot, then it was at a place that looked exactly like this.  Weird.

Getting To Know You

Rinar and I have devised a strategy for getting to know people in our ward.  We have been inviting people over for dinner!  Every Sunday we have had a different family over and it is great.  We get to know them in a more relaxed setting, our kids play together, we eat, we talk. I love it. So, for the next while we will be busy entertaining. There are a lot of families in our ward!

We are also getting to know Reno better, and the more I see, the more I love it. Yesterday, I went for a 4 mile run.  At our house, it is a bit daunting. We are on the side of a mountain and the hills are brutal.  It is hard to do a long run under such circumstances. Instead of trying that, I drove down to the valley 2 miles away and parked at a Bower's Mansion Park.  I then did my run. It was just beautiful. The weather was perfect as it was about 7pm and was nice and cool. I was in the shade and it was a rural area. There were lots of horses and cattle, a ranching community. I enjoyed it immensely and I am glad that I have found an area close by where I can get a reprieve from the hills and just run.

Our family is also getting to know the house better and we seem to be getting into a rhythm around here. I spent the day yesterday cleaning and organizing our school room. I made good progress and we should be able to really get some good learnin' in this coming week.

But not tomorrow.  I am going to do something completely insane tomorrow. I am taking my kids, by myself, to a family reunion in California. It is in the high Sierra's, at Spicer's Reservoir. I hope I can find the group as it is a branch of the family I don't know that well. Since it is 3.5 hours away, I am probably going to just camp. If I don't think I can hack it on my own, I guess I will just drive home late.  But regardless, I think it will be a fun adventure.

Thoughts on Parenting

Sometimes it can be hard.

Meet....

Trial


AND

Tribulation

Oh, What a Fourth!

Yesterday was a really nice day. We started out by attending a kid's parade at our church.  Kid's parade really means you go on a walk with your kids.  We put the babies in the wagon, Raef and Zach rode their bicycles, and Eli drove his tricycle.  Did I ever mention that Reno is quite hilly? It just so happened that this particular parade involved ascending two rather large hills.  Eli insisted on riding himself. He did NOT want to be pushed.  I don't think I could even ride a tricycle uphill unassisted.  Needless to say, it did not take long before the parade left us far behind. I would sneak push him and he would keep yelling at me. We finally came to a complete standstill halfway up the second hill, in front of neighbors who were sitting out on their front lawns. Believe me, they got quite a show.

I was miraculously able to coax him up the hill somehow, and after a little shortcut, we were back in the game. Whew. What an ordeal. But I kept my cool.

After this little festivity, we headed to our neighborhood for another kid's parade. It was great. NO HILLS!  We ended at someone's house and were able to meet lots of new neighbors. I found someone to run with, the kids found some new friends, and I even have a name of another babysitter.  It was a pretty darn fruitful expedition, I must say.

Rinar and I decided to brave the crowds and cranky children and go see the fireworks.  It worked out perfectly. We went to Carson City and camped out in the church parking lot. The fireworks were right next door.  We waited for about an hour. The babies had lots of fun. They ran around us in circles. They were non-stop until the first firework ignited.  Then the fun really began.


I didn't know how they would react, but it was so perfect. Julia giggled and laughed. Harry oohed and aahed. Eli jumped for joy and did his little eagle scream.  Raef and Zach were enraptured.  They were great. It was a little long, so right before the finale, we loaded the little ones in the car. Then as soon as the finale was over, we hit the road and stayed ahead of all the traffic. We were home in 15 minutes.


It was a perfect 4th.

Happy birthday, America.  We really love this country. The best country in the world. I am so grateful that I can call myself an American.

Weekend Pictures

This is what we had for dinner Friday night. Isn't it beautiful?  Pizza is so easy to make. Why do I ever order it from a restaurant?

They just looked so cute today, as we were getting ready for church.

I laid down to get a better picture and so they laid down as well. Harry kind of looks like a politician in this picture.  It reminds me of Richard Nixon.

Eli had very strong feelings about blue corduroy pants.

We had to do Julia's hair. She likes to get pretty.

My Little Explorer

Here is one reason why Reno is spectacular.  It is perfect for little boys. My little Eli spends hours out in our backyard, looking for lizards, jumping on the trampoline, riding his tricycle, following chipmunks through the bush.  He can just be a little boy. I love it.

Of course, there is something else he has been doing in the backyard that needs to stop.  He still likes to pee on the rocks. I have caught him a few times.  Grrr!  The little rascal.

This rock is a favorite for the black lizards that hang around our house.  Therefore, Eli is constantly sitting on it watching the lizards. He gets so excited. He runs back in the house to come and show me what he has found.

Yes, Eli has just informed me that he wants to pee pee on the rocks. I tell him no, but in my heart I really wish he would do it so that I can take a picture for you to see.  But I decided I might be sending him mixed signals.  But trust me, he loves to do that.