Friday, July 29, 2011

ow!

Wednesday we hiked Table Mountain.

It just looks innocent ...

It was a killer on the legs/back/hips/butt but an absolutely gorgeous hike.

here we are about a mile up the mountain--yep we parked on that little road way down there



Absolutely.
Gorgeous.

not a half bad view from the top either ...


still quite snowy--that was also an adventure

giddy that I made it


AND we didn't have the kids for practically the whole day--(bonus!)

the trek down--maybe just as killer as the way up on my poor hips!

Now it's Friday morning and I can't move.

Totally worth it!






Tuesday, July 26, 2011

family hike

or ... you know walk in the woods ...

After the gazillions of photos I've posted on this blog recently we have had a major camera lull. Our battery needed to be charged and I'd forget and still bring it everywhere we went. So here are the last pictures from our camera from about 3 weeks ago--our family hike.










Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Keeping it busy

Summer and I are not yet on the same page yet...

Considering I do not yet have children who attend school you'd think that it would be a smooth transition between the school year and summer break but it has pretty much knocked my socks off this summer.

I remember it was a pretty big adjustment for me to go from being crazily busy (in my last semesters of college taking ridiculously hard classes, with a baby, a husband who worked full time, a hard calling, etc.) to being a mom. You know, where the only thing I REALLY had to do each day was keep my kid alive. And I'm the "bare minimum" type of girl ...
It was hard to adjust to doing ... uh ... nothing and being okay with it.

My life has increased in difficulty since then seeing as I now have 2 more kids to "keep alive" but my days are still usually quite mundane.
If you come to my house on any given day It is not clean, I am very often not showered or at least not dressed in clothes for the day.
We have leftovers often and dinner with a side vegetable is usually a bonus.
I try to do at least some cleaning every day, though sometimes my efforts seem fruitless since another room is usually trashed in the meantime.
Turning on the vacuum or clothes washer/dryer in the day means I'm on a roll.
Finding the floor of my kids' room most often initiates tears since my kids thinks the vacuum with eat up all their toys forever (and I'm the type of mom that just lets them go on thinking that since it seems to be a good motivation for them to help).
Getting breakfast dishes off the table before lunch is served is a miracle.
Reading a few chapters of my own book is a bonus--that I probably take more liberally than I should.

You get the picture right? We get stuff done, mostly, but it doesn't seem worth the effort usually since :
1) my kids don't eat what I make anyway,
2) I get more upset after my kids have dirtied a room I just cleaned than one that was already sorta dirty,
3) forcing my children to clean is like plucking each of my eyebrow hairs out one at a time, it takes FOREVER, it's painful, and it usually doesn't look all that great in the end ... (people tell me it'll be worth it eventually but I'm not there yet)
4) mopping the floor means something sticky will be spilled/smeared in the next hour--and why do that to myself?
5) who wants to do 9 loads of laundry in one day?
6) why shower and get ready when I'm sure to be sweaty/spilled on/disheveled or reminded of my stretch marks/belly flab/hairy legs/can't fit into my jeans (or let's be honest, don't have clean clothes to wear) ...

It's easier to just ... not.


So having actual plans every weekend, and playing out in the hot sun and bringing in wet swimsuits along with grass dirt and everything imaginable from outside, and having water/juice/popsicles spilled constantly, and changing clothes (cause they are wet or dirty) 4 times a day to add to my laundry pile, and the icky smell/feel of sunscreen, and my inability to stem some desire to actually cook/clean/do laundry or go anywhere, is REALLY throwing me for a loop. Cause now there really is less time to do it all.
It's just so much EXTRA to worry about (and clean up after) than my normal little routine.

So please--ignore me and my house if you come over ... hopefully we'll get things back together once school rolls around again.

Please feel free to roll your eyes at me and my lack of motivation/organization and discipline. I realize your lives are probably busier and crazier than mine I just am enjoying my sarcastic complaining (While I'm completely ignoring my kids as they mess up their room while I'm writing this blog ...)

Anyhoo--

I really just wanted to post pictures of our adventure a week ago ...
They had a circus going on. Kids got in free ...















It was fun ...
THE END

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Our trip in Pictures (part 3)


Okay here's the last few--I know, finally right?


So, Richard and Kristin planned a mini trip up to Seattle and we convinced them to change their plans a little and let us tag along ... with our 3 kids ... no biggie right?

It was a night of camping and then a really long day LOADED with city fun. We were literally dragging our sleeping kids back to the car that night. And I'm pretty sure all 6 kids slept the entire ride home (which is a miracle in itself).

OKay so here's camping ...








Driving into Seattle

The Space Needle


The science museum (awesome!)





Taking a break by a fountain



Carousel ride

Ferry ride







The Aquarium












So there you have it!
Remind me to lay off the camera a little next time ...