And the Award Goes To ...

Last weekend was our first annual family reunion campout with our extended family on The Man's side. Since we are the only "out-of-towners," naturally we went camping up in the Utah mountains. Now, when asked the question, "Do you like camping?" I'll be the first to say, "Oh, yeah! Who-hoo, we LOVE to camp!" And then after a few minutes I'll decide I should let you know, "Um, but I don't really like being dirty. And I don't really like my kids being dirty, either. Will there be a toilet, um, that flushes? And possibly a (dare I ask) shower?" Of course, not having these lovely amenities will not keep me from a camping trip, but oh, how I LOVE flushing toilets.

So last Thursday we were off; car loaded to the hilt (who knew it would take about half of our household belongings just to camp for one weekend?), kids buckled in and watching a movie, The Man jammin' to his iPod, and me reading Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix - yes, I'm two and a half books behind the rest of the world. But hey, I'm reading them. Get off my back.

We arrive in the middle of the night to Grandma Darlin' and Grandpa's house to catch a few winks before we're off the next morning out to, uh, wherever it was we went camping. The place was beautiful. A nice open campsite with a creek running through the back. It was pretty hot during the day, so the creek was awesome to have for the kids (and adults) to play in and cool off. The nights were cold, but since I'm the family wuss, no one else seemed to mind. Plus, I made sure to bring plenty of snuggly clothes for the chitlens for nighttime, so I wasn't too worried about them.

The kids had a blast playing with all their cousins that they don't see nearly enough. Friday night we had a great little show where each of the families shared some kind of skit, act or game with everyone. Not everyone stayed over Saturday night, but for those that did, we had a great time staying up late and talking by our "campfire" after the kiddos went to sleep.

So to everyone who helped make our camping trip fun, delicious and memorable, we're giving out some awards to thank you all for the efforts you put in.

The award for making my camping trip pleasant by providing a camper with a flushing toilet, a shower to hose of my filthy kids, and a warm (mostly) bed at night for my 4-month-old baby and me .... Grandpa and Grandma Darlin'

The award for the best dutch oven banana crumble ever ... Shawna!!!

The award for a face so dirty you looked like a chimney sweep ... it's a tie between Christian and Little E!!!

The award for killing the most moths so they wouldn't fly at my neck and make me throw ANOTHER bottle of water on my loving husband and tick him off again ... Spencer!!!

The award for staying such a short amount of time that you can't even consider it "camping" (but we're so glad you came anyway) ... Glenn, Kristen and Max!!!

The award for brilliantly putting together a bunch of lanters to form our make-shift campfire (since we weren't allowed to have a real one) ... Grandpa!!!

The award for the greatest bathroom tent that took 4 hours to set up just so that no one would use it all weekend ... Brett and Mike!!!

The award for the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) whoopin' of a misbehaving child ... ME!!! Sorry to my little Devil Child, but sometimes you make mommy just LOSE IT!!!

The award for providing the most super fun activity that will most likely cost my family thousands of dollars in the future because now we HAVE to have a four-wheeler ... Scott and Shawna!!!

The award for the scariest real-life ghost story where your grandma basically told you she was going to hell instead of heaven ... Rheina!!!

The award for making sure that Devil Child wouldn't be the ONLY one up screaming and crying multiple times in the middle of the night ... Brett and family!!!! (Thanks, Little E, you always got my back)

The award for the most talking ... Jessica!!! (She even beat out Miss Priss - and that's sayin' something!)

The award for the best kid game in the wild (nature bingo) ... Schmindy!!!

And last but not least, the award for the best kids-say-the-darndest-things-story, and the beginning of a lifelong tradition of asking someone who is sick or just mean if they have a "rope in their bum" ... Me and Miss Priss!!!

***Sorry to those of you who missed out on Saturday night stories around the campfire and have no clue what I'm talking about. Those who were there are now laughing hysterically again. I'll fill you in next time we get together.***

Anyway, it was fun, it was rough, it was dirty, and I ate too much junk. Ah, I do love camping. So now the question is ... Will there be a SECOND annual family campout? Only time will tell.

Fun with the Fam

We've recently returned from a fabulous 10-day trip to my beloved home town of San Diego.

Note: This was, in fact, a trip, not a vacation. You can't call it a vacation when there is absolutely NO down time for yourself, or when The Man doesn't come along.

That's right, the kids and I braved the road alone this time. It actually wasn't bad at all -- may the good Lord bless whomever invented portable DVD players. Mini Man slept almost the whole way. Babies are usually great like that. Although I must say, our usually 30-min. lunch/gas stop turned into almost an hour and a half with just me to pump gas, take everyone to the potty, order food, nurse the baby, make sure everyone ate at least a few bites, and feed myself. I discovered having just one other adult cuts a tremendous amount of time out of all of our travelling chores.

We skipped on Disneyland, Sea World and the Zoo this time so we could spend our time visiting family. We spent our first week swimming, playing with cousins, eating at The Pit (a deep pit bbq restaurant owned by my brother-in-law's dad and run by my brother-in-law), shopping, and going out on Papa's boat.

(Devil Child fell asleep sitting up. There's something about sailing that makes everyone sleepy.)


At one point when Papa was getting the sails ready and I was steering the boat, Devil Child looked up at me and said, "Mom, you like a pirate! You drivin' a boat like a pirate!"


(Passing by some seals on a buoy - the girls thought they were so awesome!)

And I even captured pictures of Miss Priss' biggest acheivement while we were there ... SHE LEARNED TO SWIM!!!!





I think I might be more excited than she is. Having three kids that don't swim made it nearly impossible for me to take them swimming by myself. I always needed someone else to help out a little. Now that Miss Priss can swim, and Devil Child is fine by herself with arm floaties, I can actually take the kids to the pool WITHOUT a panic attack! Hooray!

It took only two days at the pool before she caught on. Yes, she's had swimming lessons before, but she's NEVER done it by herself before. I'm so proud!

Devil Child's biggest acheivement while we were there ...

She stopped using the potty. I guess that's the opposite of an acheivement, but whatever. It was a HUGE pain. But I'm happy to report that after returning home, she's back on the pot again. Now, if we could only get her on it in time for #2. But I digress. That's another story for another day.

(Mini Man LOVES his grandma!)

We had a birthday party for their cousin at my sister's new house where she has a pool, and it was awesome. More practice for Miss Priss. Our last three days were spent at her house where we swam some more, played with their cute little puppy, Sammy, went shopping, and rode Plasma cars. The girls had so much fun on those things! We might be asking Santa for a couple for Christmas this year.

The weather was so great down there. It was nice to get away from the heat. Unfortunately, we were gone for the beginning of the monsoon season at home, so we didn't get to see some great lightning storms, and missed a bunch of rain. I love those summer storms where it's raining like crazy but it's still warm outside, and when the lightning lights up the sky all night long. I've never been one that's afraid of lightning. I've always just thought it was really neat. The trip was a lot of fun, but it's the longest we've been away from The Man, and it was SO GOOD to get home to him! We talked every day, but sometimes that's just not enough. Next time we'll make sure he gets to come along!

This weekend we're off again (this time WITH The Man) for a reunion up in Utah. We're going camping, and we're all really excited. Cross your fingers for us; it's the first time we're taking a 4-month-old camping in the mountains. We'll post pictures when we get back.

No Such Thing

This morning while getting the girls ready for the day, I noticed their fingernails were getting a bit long, so I asked if I could trim them. I sat with Miss Priss in my lap, and we talked a little while I cut her nails.

About halfway through the second hand I said to her, "Do you know how much I love you?"

"Too much," was her response.

"There's no such thing as loving you too much."

"AND," she continued, "there's no such thing as aliens, either."