You Say It's Your Birthday!

Well, the big 3-6 came and went this year with a fun-filled trip to Lake Tahoe without the kids, courtesy of my husband. Dallin seriously makes my birthdays awesome every year. This year, we wanted to go to Lake Tahoe without the kids and do some of the fun hikes/stuff that we can never do when we have our kids with us. So, we got a babysitter for the kids (thanks to our great neighbors!), left after Dallin got home from work, and headed over to Tahoe City (on the north side of Tahoe).

The next morning, we went hiking over by Squaw. This hike was breathtaking -- literally and figuratively. Although it actually wasn't THAT rigorous, I could not believe how tired I was at the end of it. It's called the Five Lakes hike, although we actually only ever saw 2 lakes. We looked and looked for the other 3 (along with a few other lost hikers), but never actually found the others!

Once we got back from the hike, we headed over to Sand Harbor. I absolutely LOVE this beach. Seriously, I could LIVE at this beach. The water is a gorgeous, clear (I'm talking 'you can see the nail polish on your toenails' clear) teal color and there are these great big boulders that you can climb on, lay on, or jump off of. We had so much fun doing all of the above, and I did a little snorkeling -- just for kicks!

Then we were off to the Shakepeare Festival. I've been dying to go to this since we got to Reno but we never made time for it. So, we went and saw Much Ado About Nothing. To be completely honest, the production is NOTHING close to what you would see on Broadway -- or really at any local community theater. But we had a great time anyway.

The next day, we just relaxed and bought tickets for one of those Lake Tahoe cruises that takes you all the way to the south side of the Lake called Emerald Bay. The cruise was so great. We got to meet a nice couple from Chicago who we chatted with along the way and we got to take in the spectacular views.

All in all, turning 36 has started off on the right foot! Many thanks to my wonderful hubby for making my day extra special.

Starting off our Five Lakes Hike

Relaxing at one of the two lakes we were able to find

Relaxing at Sand Harbor

We loved climbing the boulders behind me.

Snorkeling and checking out the crabs in the water

Bundling up for the Shakepeare Theater

Dallin and I on the Tahoe Cruise

Yes, that's the REAL color of Lake Tahoe -- BEAUTIFUL!!

Nauvoo and D.C. Trip

Trip to Nauvoo, IL

We left the last week of July and headed out to Nauvoo, IL to visit Dallin's parents (who are serving a mission there) and to visit some of the church's historical sites out there. Nauvoo is a very, VERY small town. But the church has done a wonderful job of restoring some of the buildings there and giving you a glimpse of what life was like back in the 1800's. We had fun going to the Nauvoo pageant, watching a play, visiting some of the restored houses, seeing the Nauvoo temple, and of course, just spending time with Grandma and Grandpa D. They were great to my kids and watched them while Dallin and I went and did a session at the Nauvoo temple, which was amazing.

Putting Dallin to work!

The kids showing off the rope that they made

All ready for our horse drawn wagon tour

The Nauvoo temple

Marching in the parade

Trip to Washington, D.C.

After our trip to Nauvoo, we flew out to D.C. to spend some time with my parents. We had so much fun there too! Dallin and I got some time by ourselves, so we went and visited some of the sites, visited one of our favorite museums (the newseum) and drove by the D.C. sites by night. We were also able to squeeze in a visit with some of our friends from our single's ward. We absolutely love these guys and are so happy we got to see them -- even if just for dinner!

We also got to spend time with my sister Ligia and her husband Matt and daughter Maddie, who is seriously so cute! She is the happiest baby I think I've ever seen and my kids had so much fun playing with her. They had us over for dinner and we got to go swimming with them at my parent's neighbor's house. We miss them already, but we're excited to see them here in a few weeks for our trip to Tahoe!

And of course, no trip to Maryland would be complete without a crab fest! Yes, we bought half a bushel of crabs and broke out our mallets and went to work. Those things were seriously to die for -- especially the Old Bay! I'm salivating just talking about them!

And my parents were so wonderful to my kids. They took them to chuck e. cheese, which to my kids is like going to Disneyworld. And they did all sorts of fun crafts with them and played with them.

Lastly, I snuck off by myself one day and flew to NY so that I could visit my 90 year old grandma. My father's mother lived with us growing up for many, many years so we are extremely close. I had so much fun visiting her and flipping through her scrapbooks and journal. We are coordinating writing her personal history together which I am very excited to work on. I love my "Ouita" so much and am glad I got to spend some time with her on this trip.

Aubrey enjoying the Air & Space Museum

Ligia, Matt & Maddie

Me and my granny "Ouita"

Can you say 4-D at the Newseum?

Dinner at my favorite restaurant, Carlyle Grand, with some of my favorite people

The kids with grandmacita and papa

Pool time at the Anderson's

CRABS!

Where Have I Been?

Oddly enough... not too many places this summer. But maybe that's why this summer seems like an ETERNITY to me. I always remember not understanding when moms complained about how they couldn't WAIT for their kids to go back to school. But now I get it! As much as I love my children, the countdown is already beginning!

Since I have done a TERRIBLE job of blogging lately, I'm way behind on writing about all of the stuff we've done this summer, so here's a short recap:

Aubrey finished preschool in June. She absolutely loved it there and became "best friends" with a girl named Madeleine.

We never miss the chance to go to the Reno rodeo every year. The kids and hubby got all decked out in cowboy gear and hats (I would have -- if I had any cowgirl stuff to wear)! The kids loved watch cowboys flying through the air after getting bucked off a horse or bull. They loved the barrel racing and of course the mutton racing is always a big hit too!

We've also gone to a few of the watermelon concerts at UNR this year. The kids always love to get their faces painted.

Of course no summer for us would be complete without a little bit of hiking thrown in. We recently did the Crystal Peak Mine hike which the kids loved. The weather was CRAZY that day. It would be sunny for 2 minutes, and then it would start raining on us for 2 minutes, and then it would start hailing on us, and then it would stop and be sunny for 5 minutes, and the cycle would start all over again. Despite the weather, we had a blast!

The final picture here was taken from our balcony and is of the kids and Dallin flying kites in what used to be a golf course behind our home. We're hoping it stays open space because we love to go out there and play on the land. You can barely see them in this picture, but as you can see, the view here is GREAT!!

Kindergarten Graduation and More!

Earlier this month, Jacob graduated from Kindergarten. They prepared a cute little program at his school, which included lots of singing and each kindergartener had to stand up and read part of a speech. It was so cool seeing my son reading on stage! I thought my son did awesome, of course, but it was amazing what some of those kids could read. One girl got up and sounded out the word "chinchilla" and "celebration," which to me seems like they would be hard for a 6 year old. Anyway, Jacob was excited about the whole ceremony and was so excited to throw his cap up in the air after receiving his diploma. It was so cute!

Also, Dallin and Aubrey went to the annual fishing day at the Sparks Marina. The rest of us couldn't go because we had something else going on that morning, so Daddy and daughter went and had a blast. Although we have never actually caught a fish ever... anywhere! But we'll keep trying.

And lastly, we've had a lot of rain in Reno lately in the afternoons, so we've been doing lots of crafts at home. My kids have become obsessed with painting lately so here's a few pictures of our little Michelangelo's!

Summer in Full Swing... Almost

Once Memorial Day hits, it feels like we're in full summer mode... although it won't really feel like summer until the kids are out of school and we have no schedule to stick to for a few months. A LOT has been going on the last few weeks, so here are some of the highlights:


Father and Son Campout:
Yes, Dallin and Jacob went to it this year and had a blast. Jacob especially loved playing with all the boys in our ward.



School Performance:
Jacob had to sing with his class in their school performance recently. It was so cute because they sang a song about how if you believe in Christ, you don't need to be afraid of things like monsters. And everytime they said the word "monster," they would all make a scary face. Jacob's was especially animated! I loved every minute of the performance!

SPRINKLERS!
Every summer, my kids (and I) spend hours playing in the sprinklers. I've decided that I am a kid at heart because I love playing in them as much as they do. Anyway, now that the weather has warmed up, we've spent endless afternoons playing in the sprinklers. We run through them, fill up buckets and chase each other throughout the backyard, trying to splash each other. I love summer!









The Squirrels
No one can truly appreciate this story except for Dallin's father. We spend lots of time in our yard and garden trying to plant flowers. But to our dismay, we have the most unfriendly squirrels you can imagine and they eat up all of our tulips and other pretty flowers. So, Dallin decided he was going to catch them and "relocate" them to other parts of Reno. When he told me he was going to do this, I thought he was nuts. But he actually got his hands on a cage and not only have we caught some squirrels, but a rabbit too! The kids are convinced that we are going to let them keep one of them as a pet, but I keep reassuring them that I do not want another mouth to feed in this house! So, like I said, our prisoners are taken to higher grounds and relocated far, far away from our backyard.



Strawberry Season
We bought lots of strawberries last week and thus went on a jam making extravaganza last Saturday. Aubrey was elated to be my helper and now we will have strawberry yumminess on our toast year round.



Memorial Day
We stayed around Reno this year for Memorial Day (although we will always remember the good ol' Duck Beach Days!). So, we decided we'd start out the day with a hike up the Tom Cook Trail. We did this last year and it is a great hike for little kids. There are lots of wildflowers for Aubrey to pick, and Jacob had a ball catching butterflies. And he actually caught lots! Evan loves riding up in the backpack, and we all had fun relaxing and eating snacks once we got up to the top, which we've nicknamed "the meadow."


Afterwards, we went to the swimming pool and the kids had fun splashing around. Jacob even went down the slide this year all by himself, which was a big step for him.

The Reno Aces

Last weekend, Dallin and I went to a Reno Aces game. I can honestly say that was the most fun I've ever had at a baseball game. Some friends were able to get seats in the dugout suites, so we were RIGHT NEXT to all of the players at home base. Seriously, we were so close, we could call all of the pitches. It was an awesome game!

Grandmacita's and Goals

OK, life has been very hectic as of late, it seems. So I am going to do a quick post in between errands today. First off, my mother came out over at the end of April to be with jacob on his birthday. She has spent every birthday with my son since his birth -- so jacob was ecstatic and of course EXPECTS grandmacita (aka "Cita") to make the trek out to be with him on his special day! We did a low-key birthday -- just went to chuck e. cheese with 2 friends from school. He had a great time and I have to admit, I had fun too. We've never taken our kids to chuck e. cheese before and I love that I didn't have to do a thing for the party. All of the food, entertainment and games were provided, which meant NO clean up for me (always a plus!).



While my mom was here, we played with the kids, took them to the movies, went shopping, and my mom always watches the kids for us so that Dallin and I can go out too We had so much fun with her here and miss her already. In fact, the week after she was gone, Evan would wake up every morning and ask, "Where's Cita?"


Next up, is Jacob's soccer game and piano recital. Jacob was so excited that Grandmacita was going to be here for both of those events. And while she was here, they won their soccer game. He even scored a goal and assisted in another goal -- his first of the season. So we all were thrilled, of course! And we all went to his first piano recital. I was very proud of him. He walked on stage in front of everyone (and wasn't nervous at all) and played his song by memory. It was all very cute.





And finally, a quick little snippet on Mother's Day. This year on Mother's Day, I woke up and could hear things moving around in the kitchen. The kids had woken up and decided on their own that they were going to "clean" the kitchen for me.... it was very sweet. Then Dallin made me my favorite breakfast (german pancakes). Throughout the day, every one was on their best behavior. And I got some really nice and thoughtful gifts from my kids and husband. It was a great day!