He's a Wolfman

The Boy worked quick and hard to earn his Wolf in Scouts. I'm pretty proud of him - even more so

seeing him stick his tongue out for the picture during the ceremony. 

We haven't done a thing in his scout book since.  I'm such a good mom. A note about his leaders: they are saints. Can you imagine dealing with a large group of 8 year old boys? 

Migraine

I have such a sweet boy. While The Man was away on mancation, I managed to get a pretty bad headache. After I put the Girl to bed, it really hit me. All I could do was sit on the couch and whimper in pain. I wanted to lie down, but that made it worse. Eventually, I had to throw up - that was all the Boy could take. Having googled home remedies for headaches, he ran downstairs and promptly made me an ice pack to put on my head. After he handed it to me, he sat down and said a prayer that I would feel better.  It was so great.

I imediately knew what I needed to do to feel better. The ice pack helped enough that I could lie down. I went to bed early, leaving him to put himself to bed - which he did. I was so proud of him for wanting to help me, figuring out how, and then having the knowledge and the wisdom to use prayer on my behalf.  He has such a good spirit.

Tooth

Unfortunately, the Boy seems to take after his mama in the teeth department. I must have redneck in my DNA and passed it on to him. Nothing but trouble, those teeth. 

The icing on the cake was that he was growing an EXTRA tooth up in his gums. It was basically sideways and causing all kinds of havoc on his front, adult teeth. So it had to be surgically removed.

 I think I was more nervous than he was. He took it like a champ.

Soccer Season

It begins.....and he scored a goal his first game!

He's decided this is the end of his soccer career. We are now free of all team sports. Kind of bittersweet for me.

First Day of School

A kindergartener and a third grader.

She is excited. He is excited. I am excited!

Anniversary

For our anniversary this year we decided to do something other than dinner. So we took a trail ride along the beach. 

Beautiful, no? After 16 years of marriage and two kids, I'm not sure who has the bigger butt...

LEGOLAND!

Due to rain (during a 3 year drought) we had to postpone our May vacation until August. It finally came. LEGOLAND! I don't want to write too much about it. We stayed two nights in the Legoland Hotel and it was a blast! The park was a day filled with legos, food, roller coasters, and a robotics class for the Boy!

By the end, they were tuckered out. We drove down to San Diego Zoo the next day. They were so tired and whiney, I took about three pictures of that part of the trip. 

 We will definitely do Legoland again. Such fun!

Soccer Camp

We did the British Soccer Camp again this summer, though we did not host a coach due to some upstairs bathroom flooding and kitchen re-remodeling we had to do. Ugh. But the Girl got to participate this year! (She is dressed as a bunny because it was costume day.)

The Boy had the same coach this year as he did last! We love Coach Charlie! And the Girl really liked Coach Ryan.

They both worked hard during the week and had a good time. The Boy won a camper of the day award on the last day even. The Girl, however, decided that she did not want to play soccer again.  I concur. It was not her "thing".

Swim Lessons

This year we switched our swim lessons to Avila Bay Club. 

What a tremendous difference that made! The Boy worked on all different kinds of strokes, and I no longer fear that the Girl will drowned within seconds of being in the pool.

Fourth of July!

 It looks like this is becoming a tradition in our family. We hit the Blues game on 4th of July weekend. Their fireworks show is pretty darn good and sometimes the only show you can see since the rest are done at the beach and the fog almost always rolls in before it starts. (Who wants to see foggy fireworks?)

This year we also attended a party. I have an incredibly generous friend named Leann. Their family hosts this large, very fun shin dig every year. They had food, bounce houses, snow cones, a DJ, and fireworks. They are amazing people and we had such a good time!

Glamping

There are so many good places and a lot of good weather around here, it's a shame not to camp at least once in a while. So we bought a tent. 

The kids were so excited, we let them sleep in the living room as soon as we got it.  Camping inside the house with my own shower, food, and bathroom - that's my kind of camping.

Scout Camp

This year the Boy got to go to Scout Day camp. And I got to be a den leader to eleven 7 and 8 year old boys.  All week. From 9 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. Imagine the craziness!
Despite the large amounts of uncontrollable boy energy they had, they were actually a lot of fun. We had a busy week of hiking, crafts, archery, rock climbing, water play, and civics.  I think sometimes, I even wore them out!

 They were a goofy group. And they loved shouting our cheer...Who are we?! We're the Rockets! Who are we?! We're the Rockets! 5! 4! 3, 2, 1 BLAST OFF!

 The Girl even got to go to a little tot-lot camp while big brother was with the Scouts. What fun!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl

I was in NYC for the Girl's birthday. She got to celebrate in Phoenix with dad, grandma, and grandpa, and cousins. THEN she got to celebrate again when mom got home. Don't judge the Christmas wrapping paper. She specifically asked for that!

I love you, little one. I can't believe you are five and starting kindergarten so soon!

NYC

I finally made it back to NYC. This time I took my lovely sister-in-law Tamara, my neighbor and friend Maryann, and my friend Chelsea.  I have to admit we did a lot of the "touristy things", but I'm so glad we did. Over the course of the seven or so days we were there, I think I got a total of 24 hours of sleep.  It was great! Here are the highlights:

 The Met. 

 Central Park. *sigh* I love Central Park. We walked a little bit of it one day...

...and biked it another.

NY Cheesecake baby!

And other delicious foods like Japanese mochi ice cream, bagels, and this matzoh ball soup. 

Empire State Building? Not a total highlight. It was rainy/foggy when we went up so you couldn't see much. What we DID see was this guy from Europe proposing to this gal up there. 

 Top of the Rock. Absolutely stunning views on a gorgeous night. Loved this!

 The Lion King

 My absolute favorite part of the trip. We were checking into doing a tour of Radio City Music Hall when, by pure extraordinary luck, I saw that Rachel Yamagata, David Grey, and Amos Lee were playing that venue while we were there. I love Rachel and Amos. I wasn't familiar with their newer stuff so I was stoked to go check them out. I am so glad I did. Incredible concert. Funny, David Grey was the headliner, but we only stayed for a couple of his songs before taking off. 

 Hanging out on the Chelsea High Line after our food tour of the Chelsea Food Market. That was recommended to me by my friend, Amy, and it did not disappoint.

 The New World Trade Center

 The 9/11 Museum. Sad, but well done.

 FAO Schwarz

Improptu performance at Columbus Circle where we stayed

 Times Square

St. Patricks Cathedral

What a trip!