HSM 3-Scream!!

Payton, Gabbi, Hallie outside the theatre

Well, we saw THE movie tonight-High School Musical 3, and loved it.  I took Hallie and two of her friends, Payton and Gabbi.  It was a really  fun atmosphere there.  After the previews, as soon as the movie started screams and claps erupted in the theatre.  I was laughing at all the excitement.  When it was over, again screams and claps.  Little girls were commenting how it was "the best movie ever!".  

Jumping and screaming for the news camera

Then we walked outside and saw the channel 12 News guy and a camera, and more screams.  We waited for a few minutes so the girls could be LIVE on the 5 o'clock news.  And, you guessed it, more SCREAMS!!  It was really loud, but really cute.  I had called Mike and told him to start recording the news,  so we were able to watch it when we got home.  Hallie felt like such a celebrity for her 5 seconds on the news.  We are totally buying it when it comes out on DVD.

P.S- Yes, I think Zac Efron is cute.  For me, growing up it was  Corey Haim and Kirk Cameron...come on, they were "rad" in  Jr. High...

Home Again

Hooray!! We're home.  We had a fun time in California, but it's so nice to back.  I can"t wait to sleep in my own bed tonight!  There are a few more things that I don't want to forget before I move on from our California Adventures:

First, on Monday, when we were driving to the beach, we saw a small tent looking thing in the distance and Spencer says "Look, a Mexican Circus!". (He was half serious) And I said "No, someone is just probably getting their house exterminated."  We continue to drive, and turn the corner to see a little circus tent and a sign that reads "CIRCO MEXICO!".  We all started laughing. Only in Oxnard....

Second, for breakfast one morning, we decided to make Blueberry Pancakes -(from a mix with dried blueberry bits, not REAL berries, the kids LOVE 'em)-anyway, I proceed to make a small batch, and Dylan ate 3, Emily ate 2, and I had one big one.  Spencer and Hallie woke up and wanted some, so I started to make a new batch when I notice the blueberry bits have LEGS. Several are trying to swim out of the batter, and I immediately feel like I might throw up.  I wasn't sure what to do.  I was totally grossed out, and I felt like "Mommy Dearest" feeding my innocent little children bug pancakes.  Needless to say, the mix was thrown out and we had other food for breakfast.  

And third, my kids occasionally sleep walk (Hallie) and talk in their sleep (so do I), and this morning I woke up and walked by Emily and saw she was almost falling out of the bed, so I picked her up to move her and she says "No, wait..my super-clothes are on the bridge and I need to get them when we get to the snow."  I said "ok, we'll get them when we get to the snow" and she said "ok", and went back to sleep.  This is funny because she LOVES superheroes.  My mom made her and Dylan matching super capes and they play superheroes together.  She even wanted to be "Batman with all the muscles" for Halloween, but I was able to talk her down to Super Girl.  We love that crazy nut!

Santa Barbara Zoo & Pumpkin Patch

    ZOO

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day!  In Santa Barbara there wasn't any wind and it was in the 70's...perfect for a day at the zoo.   The kids liked that there was hardly anyone there so it was almost like it was their own personal zoo. There is lots of grass and trees and flowers , and it's across the street from the beach, so in some places you get an ocean view. 

It was great.  On the way home, we stopped for dinner at a Japanese restaraunt.  We all love Japanese food. Spencer even got an adult combo meal and ate every bite!  

PUMPKIN PATCH

Today was another really nice day.   We went to Underwood Farms, a pumpkin patch in Moorpark.  It was actually was hot there, and crowded.  There were tons of kids on field trips and I was turning mental trying to keep track of my own kids.  (Note to self: Next year go in the afternoon when all the fieldtrippers are gone.)

This year I was smart, and went into the corn maze  from the exit and beat

everyone to the hay stacks in the middle.  Last year I was trapped for like 30 minutes wandering aimlessly, getting angrier by the minute, while everyone else

 mocked me.  Finally Spencer came and showed me the way out, I was very annoyed.   My Dad got lost this year, but noone made fun of him.  We didn't get a chance to go into the actual pumpkin patch, either--which is fine, we can't take pumpkins on the airplane.  I promised the kids we would find somewhere when we got home to get pumpkins, and it would be better.  Now I just have to find a place that isn't the grocery store.  That wouldn't go over so well.  And, I actually like the thrill of choosing a pumpkin from a pumpkin patch.  

California Adventures

It's Tuesday now, and we are enjoying our time here.  On Saturday night, my brother, Stephan and his family came over and we got to meet Ginger, the newest baby.  She so sweet and tiny.  And she is really cute, especially for only being 2 weeks old.  Their oldest, Penny was loving our kids.  She's almost 2, and she is bigger than Dylan, and weighs more!  He is such a little peanut!

On Sunday, we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa and as usual, it was "interesting."  I always feel like I'm back in Dental School in San Francisco when we visit.   That was also an "interesting" time.  We have some good stories.  Anyway, Sunday night, we went to my brother Joel's house to visit his family and the kids got their dog fix, since they have 2.  Emily especially was loving all the "kisses" she was getting.  It was just grossing me out.

Monday (yesterday) was a nice day.  It is crazy windy here, so our plans for the day were literally 'up in the air' in the morning.  We went to the Gold's Gym here so I could workout, and the kids were actually excited to go because it is an AWESOME gym.  I wish I could teleport it back to Arizona.

Then we went to the beach, which wasn't as windy for some reason (and it's only like 3 miles away), and the kids collected a some shells and  sand dollars. It was so nice, and of course I didn't bring my camera! 

The highlight of the day was FAMILY HOME EVENING.Stephan and Marnie came over Grandpa made a fire , and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  Spencer and Hallie  stayed outside until it was past dark, playing and singing retarded songs, and having a great time. Those two fight like crazy, but deep down, they're totally BFF's!

Fall Break in California

Me and the kids are in California this week for the kid's Fall Break from school.  It was quite an adventure just to get here...our original plan was for us all to drive to my parent's house on Friday morning and enjoy the weekend together, then Mike would fly home Sunday night to work, and fly back on Thursday to drive home with us on Friday.  

So we packed up the car and left our house around 9:30 am on Friday and followed Mike to the airport to drop his car off so it would be waiting for him on Sunday.  We continued on our merry way, just like any other drive to California when suddenly we start to smell a wierd smell in the car.  We determine that it isn't the air outside, so it's coming from our car.  Then Mike looks down at the dashboard to see if anything looks awry (because he knows so much about cars-ha!) and the RPM's are revving really high, but the car is not speeding up when he presses the gas.  We immediately find a place to turn off the freeway and pop the hood to look inside.  Steam and smoke are coming from somewhere and there are splatters of something all over the engine.  We are all stressed because we aren't sure what to do, and we are really in the middle of nowhere.

If I had thought clearer, I wouldn't have done this, but I call 911 and tell the lady where we are and ask her to send us a tow truck.  Instead she gives me a number of a place I can call.  So, I do that and about 20 minutes later, Kid Rock's brother appears with his tow truck to take us to the nearest place-Quartzside.  If you've never been to Quartzside, you've probably driven by it while on the way to California-and I will tell you that the part you see from the freeway is the scenic side.  It is a hole.  Anyway, we get towed to this place and an old guy comes out, opens the hood and says "looks like something splattered all over" (duh) "it smells like transmission fluid, I think your transmission is gone".  Now we are stranded in Quartzside in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the day, with 4 restless kids that can't leave the shop's dog alone.

I think they felt bad for us, and a lady  that works there, kindly drove our family to McDonald's for a delicious, nutritious lunch.  We decided the best thing to do was to have the car towed back to Mesa Honda and let them look at it.  

The tow truck with our van attached to a flatbed, came and picked us up from the McDonald's parking lot.  Now remember, there are 6 people in our family and 5 seats in the tow truck.  I wasn't going to hold Dylan for 3 hours on my lap, so again--what do we do?  Kid Rock's brother tells us that we can ride in the van.  I mention that perhaps that was illegal, and he says "no, as long as the wheels aren't touching the ground it counts as 1 vehicle and you can be anywhere on it".  I didn't really believe this so I say (kind of joking, but not really) "ok, but if we get a ticket, you're paying for it" to which he gives me a look and says "we aren't getting a ticket".  So all the kids climb up and get into the van with me and Mike rides in the tow truck so he can tell the guy where to go.  We had the car on, in PARK, so we could run the air conditioning, and the kids could watch a movie.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.  I felt every bump and wiggle and I swore that I kept hearing the chain wiggle around, and I was convinced we were going to slide right off.

Three hours or so later, we were at the Honda dealer, and the kids were helping themselves to the free snacks and drinks and getting all of their energy out.  I tried to pretend I didn't know them, but the jig was up when they kept calling me "mommy".  Mike called one of neighbors, and they were nice enough to come and pick us, and the contents of our car , up and take us home.  By the time we got home it was 6:30pm.  I was done with everyone and had no desire to go anywhere.  I was ready to bag the whole California idea.  Then I felt guilty because the kids were so excited, so we decided we would just fly me and the kids out and Mike would stay home.  So , Saturday afternoon, we flew into Los Angeles, and now we're here.  In beautiful, cold (to us) and crazy windy, California.

We LOVE preschool

Emily started preschool this year and she absolutely loves it!   She has a really fantastic teacher, and everyday comes home and says she had a great day.   And, as much as I love all my kids, I really enjoy having alone time with Dylan.  He really IS my spoiled baby.  Anyway-yesterday when I dropped Emmy off at school, I witnessed a really cute scene.  I pulled up to the school, and she hopped out of the car, and started to run across the grass to the other kids lined up against the wall, with her arms out.  Suddenly, another little girl comes running at her and says "Emily!".  They embrace, and then ALL the kids come running across the grass and everyone is hugging everyone, backpacks are falling off, children are tumbling to the ground, and they all keep smiling.  There was a lot of love going on.  It was SO cute.  I've replayed that in my mind several times in the last day, because it just makes me smile.  If only life was that simple when we become adults!