Oh what do you do in the summertime?

(splish splash!)


(taste test)


(yum!)


(picnic basket)


(sidewalk chalk)


(new books)
(In N Out burgers)

When all the world is green?

** You stay up late
**You sleep in
** You play with bubbles in the yard
** You have picnics
** you go to the zoo
** you play video games
** you play legos
** you have picnics in the backyard
**you play at the park
** you taste test strawberry jam
** you stay up late for movie nights
** you get forced to do errands with your Mom
**you bowl in the backyard
** you drive your Mom crazy with "I'm boreds"
**you get to play with your cousin at the pool
** you read books
** eat yummy cheeseburgers
**write messages and draw pictures with sidewalk chalk

Oxymoron

(Ivan loved this and didn't want to leave!)

(All pictures were taken on our first trip)

While on Facebook one day, I laughed as a friend wrote, "The term summer break was not named by a Mom. It is one of the biggest oxymorons ever!"

And this morning as the kids uttered those dreadful words, "I'm BORED" 2 minutes after breakfast was over, I found myself anxiously awaiting for school to start! Unfortunatley, CA schools have only been out for a week!

The kids asked if we could please go back up to the zoo. It is not far and we purchased a membership...but I wasn't too interested. I mean we had just seen all the animals the other day.

However, they didn't want to go see the animals. Not really. In the lunch/picnic area, there is a little green hill. If you have a piece of cardboard, you can use it to slide down the hill. They had their boxes all ready to go.

When I realized that was the only reason they wanted to go, we nixed it. But I am sure we will do it sometime soon!

Santa Barbara Zoo

(at the enterance)



(looking at an exhibit)


(2 cute little monkeys)



I recieved an email from a friend, asking if we wanted to meet her and her boys at the zoo today. Needing a break from the house & unpacking, we jumped on the chance.

This was Mason's first time at the zoo and Ivan's first time...that he can remember. The last time he went was...uhm...yeah I don't remember.

Harmony's favorite animal: Snow Leopard

Ethan's favorite: "that is an unanswerable question"

Connor's favorite: the lions & snakes & snow leopard & giraffe

Ivan's favorite: flamingos

It was a very fun day. I did start going Northbound on the freeway instead of Southbound on the way back but I got us back (:

bath boys

(bubbly kisses for Mason)

(bath buds)

(Mr Wyatt)

I think every single one of my Mom's grandchildren (and great grands?) have taken a bath in this tub. Sometimes with siblings, sometimes with cousins. But no matter who is in there, it is always cute.

Mason was taking a bubble bath when his cousin Wyatt decided to jump in with him!

goodbyes

Although we got to spend plenty of time with family, we still had a few goodbyes. I think this one was the hardest for the kids...saying goodbye to Astro. Our new housing doesn't allow pets, and so my parents very graciously, said they would keep Astro. He has been enjoying his time chasing after birds and squirrels, and not worrying about being on a leash.

Both Harmony and Ethan were in tears as they bid Astro goodbye.

after a month...

(Connor and Khalil)

(look at all those boys! Poor,poor Harmony!)

it was time for these cousins to say goodbye. We enjoyed getting to know Khalil and Wyatt over the time that we were at Mom's. I was laughing as Khalil gave Connor a kiss goodbye, and Connor replied, " A hug is enough." (: Gotta love kids!

Since my brother Tom, and his family live in Maine, and we have been on Guam, it had actually been a few years since I saw my *little* brother. It was good to hang out with him also.

Altan Baker park

On the first day of our trip, we decided to stop in Eugene for lunch. In case you don't know, Eugene is seriously one of Ben's favorite places in the whole world! (: He loves the UofO and Eugene holds a special place in his heart!

Anyway, we drove past one of our old apartments and stopped at a grocery store to pick up lunch. The kids were freezing but we knew we wanted them to get some energy out before another few hours in the car.

I had such a fun time watching the kids try to protect their lunch from the ducks! We took them there when they were teeny-tiny, so it was fun to bring them back.

We got them back in the car, swung passed Autzen stadium, let Ben get an Oregon fix and then kept on going.

Oregon ducks...

meeting some other Oregon ducks! (:

abc's of being home

(entering the Discovery Center)


(Discovery Center)


(happy to be reunited again!)


(lots of rain!)


(cousins eating pizza at Spooky's)



A- airport to pick Ben up!

B- boys! Lots of them! Brothers, Uncles, Grandpa's, cousins...

C- cousins. The kids have had a blast playing with their cousins!

D- Discovery Center in The Dalles

E- entertainment. There is never a dull moment around here

F- family time

G- getting to know Grandparents again

H-hanging out

I- Ice cream from Dairy Queen.

J-jumping on Aunt Amy's trampoline

K-Kennedy relatives

L-lego tables

M- movies before bed

N-naps for Mom!

O- overindulged by Grandparents

P- playing outside without sweating

Q- quiet? Only when the kids are asleep...and sometimes not then!

R- rain, rain and more rain!

S- sweatshirts

T- Turner relatives

U- uniforms are non-existent

V- value meals that are actually cheap

W- waiting to go to California

X- hmmm...sorry I am not that clever (:

Y- yawning

Z-zzz's, and a lot of them as we are still gettng used to the time difference