Spring Break

We had an exciting Spring break. We had a ton of fun. I forgot that I had any kind of responsibility at home and just enjoyed my kidos. I really hope that we made some good memories! We did some fun things. Tom took a day off and we went to one of our favorite spots - Shell Beach. It is always a new adventure each time we go there.

Of coarse, business had be taken care of first. Tom always has to fish (or rather pry) some oysters off of the big oyster rock so her can bring them home. (((Yuck))) I will cook them for him. He gets them open and cleans them. I prepare them and then we BBQ them. I really can't bring myself to eat one. They are just to slimy.


He had brought his swimming trunks with him. We timed the tide just right and it was way out. He wasn't expecting to get as wet as he did. Of course the water was freezing cold and it was hilarious to watch this whole process.
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We always find lots of sea life, but this time we found some things that we hadn't seen there before. The kids found a baby octopus in one of the tide pools. We found a sunflower sea star and several crabs. Taylor caught several little fish in his bucket. The were more rocks covered with oysters where the kids could get to. They had fun trying to pull the smaller ones off from the rocks, it is hard work.

Parker had such a sad pouty face here. He was really upset with me when I told him that we had to put the sea stars back and that we couldn't take them home. He had trouble with this. He didn't realize that we couldn't keep them as pets. He said we can get a tank. I told him that they needed salt water, he said that we could put them in Nana's and Papa's tank (they have a salt water tank.)




There was run off from the rain. It formed a little stream, reaching to the ocean. The kids and Tom tried with all their might to build a dam and stop it. No matter how hard they tried, it didn't work. It made it to the ocean.



It was a really nice day. We had not planned on getting wet because well, the water is freezing. Bailey and Taylor could not help themselves.

Golden Gate Bridge

I took the kids to see the Golden Gate Bridge while we were in San Fransisco. They have lived in California all of their lives and we haven't ever made a big deal out of the bridge. Thousands of people come to California every year and visit the Golden Gate. There is a little tourist park right at the entrance. We turned off and had a bit of exploration. We went with my friend Maggie and her two little girls. It was a nice little pit stop before we headed for home after a long day in the city.
It was an amazing day in San Fransisco the day that we went. It was 65 and clear. Not many summer days are this nice in the city. We wore short sleeve shirts all day, which is amazing. Usually it is cold. By the time we made it to the , it was a little breezy, but it was still nice.

Taylor thought that this was so cool. He used his own money to see San Fransisco with, I am not sure how well it worked.

Addy wants to be like her big brother.

Not sure who is in the back of this picture, but I am sure that he is glad that he is on our blog.

San Fransisco Zoo

We went to the San Fransisco zoo over spring break. It had been several years since we have been. It is an amazing zoo. I wasn't able to get many pictures because my battery died. We just woke up one morning and decided to head to San Fransisco. We had a lot of fun. It was an adventure. Our favorite was the gorillas. They have a new baby and so it was fun to watch in romp around. Addy's favorite was the LION.

The little baby. They had some barriers set up so we couldn't get as close to the exibit as you normally can. I guess that it was for safety. The Momma Gorilla would be protective of her little on. I can relate!

This is such a funny face. The girls were watching the baby run across the grass. The just have looks of amazement.

This was were all of the African Animals are. It is always fun to see Very tall animals.

These little guys seem so peaceful. I wish I could sleep like that.

Best Defender Award

Taylor received the best defender award for basketball. She was pretty proud of himself. His coach made him a little basketball cake. When we came home, he asked me if he could smash the cake in his face. To his surprise, I told him that it was his cake and he could do whatever he wanted with it. He thought he was so funny. I wish that I would of got it on video. He was laughing as he plunged his cute little head into the cake.

Nursery Leader

Well, I am no longer in Young Women's at church. I am going to miss those girls. I served with them for about 4 years. I was in the presidency and when Tom was called to be the Bishop of our ward I was made the Personal Progress Person. I loved it. It reminded me of how much the inspired Personal Progress program really changed my life. I really think that I owe it and some very loving a supportive Young Women's Leaders to the life that I have today. They could of easily gave up on me. When I was in High School, I didn't always attend regularly. They really showed me that there was a different life out there then what I had before me and taught me that I have a loving Heavenly Father.
With that said, I am now the Nursery Leader. I will be with my little Addy. We are going to have fun together. She is always cracking me up. She is so cute with her little friends.
I do have to wish that our Sunday won't be like last Sunday. Bailey brought gum in her scripture case and Addy found out about it. After her chewing and swallowing several pieces, I wouldn't let her have anymore. She started to throw a fit so I had to take her out. She threw the fit of her life!!! She was scratching me and pulling my hair (reminding me why short hair works so well with little kids and long hair is not compatible). I finally took her into a room and sat her on a chair. I told her that when she was done with her fit, she could knock on the door and I would get her. Oh no! She decided that she would knock all of the folded stacked chairs onto the ground. I was thinking -- GREAT, now I get to go and spend the next two hours with this child! I left her in there until she was done. I went in there to get her sniffling and she looked at em and said, " I want gum." I thought after all of that she would forget about the gum. I guess not.
She did calm down and we went to nursery. She was much better the rest of the day. As soon as we came home, I fed her lunch and put her down for a nap and then crashed myself. Needless to say, my kidos took full advantage of my exhaustion. I woke up to kind their swimming clothes on and found the hose tied to the top of the play structure. They made a water slide out of the slide and they were sliding down into our kiddie pool. I asked them if they remembered that it was Sunday. Taylor said, "Oh, Shooot!" Silly guy!!

If anyone has any great ideas for nursery, please pass them along.

Tahoe

The dinning area of the Black Bear Inn.

I told Tom that when I have a fire place like that, THEN he can hang a dead animal in my house, but not until!

The freezing lake.






Brandon and Tom.

Me, Alicia and baby bryce.

I am finally getting to this. Tom surprised me and took me to Tahoe to stay at a bed and breakfast. It was amazing. We stayed at the Black Bear Inn which was very nice. The breakfast the next day was so good. They know what they are doing!

When we arrived, it started snowing and didn't stop until the next day. This made for a comical night. See, We have two cars: a Toyota Sequoia and a BMW (better know as Precious). One good for the snow, the other - not so good. Well, we had to take Precious. We could hardly get out of the parking lot of Harrah's, where we ate dinner. We did finally make it back to the bed and breakfast after many laughs, getting stuck several times, and a few secret prayers by me. Tom of course knew what he was doing the whole time :) We walked out in the snow to the hot tub which was an adventure in itself. I grew up in a snow, needless to say, I love the Calli weather. It is nice to visit the snow but then I am ready for home.

While we were there, we met up with some freinds for lunch and to meet their new baby. It was so good to see them!