As we were all sitting around this afternoon, my kids kept saying, “let’s do something fun”. I was thinking “sitting around” was fun! But then Doey piped up and offered to take Scout and Navy down to the beach to look for sea glass. They decided that they were going to walk down to Doheny, search for glass, and then walk back. I was game, but offered to take them down so that they only had to walk one way. And of course, I stopped by 7-11 for them to have a treat and Slurpees for their adventure.
And for the first time ever, I sent my kids off to do big kid things without me.
Doey is rad, and kept sending pictures.
My favorite picture is this one of Scout climbing this rad tree that they found on their adventure.
But I also love this action shot of Navy next to this mural.
Nice eye Doey!
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When they came back, they were going on and on about how much fun it was. Doey might be their favorite cousin for a lot of reasons, but i think the first reason is that she is always willing and ready for adventure. That’s just our family’s style!
I have always loved this picture of Seth, Shem and me.
And I am pretty sure I now know where my kids all get their good looks!
What was once “Adventure Park”, has now become “Jungle Park”. Same zip line, same adventure outside our back fence, same good times — different name. We changed it because we have actually been to a real place called “Adventure Playground” and we kept getting it messed up. That being said, Micah and the kids went out back to the eucalyptus trees, and created kid magic! There was a slack line, two hammocks, the zip line, and tons of other cool things that Micah and the kids all created. I loved looking out to see them just creating.
By the end, the whole neighborhood gang was out helping.
It was definitely good times…
UNTIL
it was clean up time, and magically — everyone disappeared.
My kids were found in the pool.
The neighbors “had to leave”, although one was swimming with our kids.
I looked out to see this scene, and I was so ticked off.
I pulled everyone together to talk about how fun our day was.
And then I informed them that Jungle Park is no more for a bit….until each of them can prove to me that they know what the word “contribute” means!
Getting woken up early is tough, and this is what Pippi looks like when she is woken up from a nap.
Good thing my firstborn has always woken up with a smile.
My second has learned to wake up with a smile.
And Dash, who doesn’t like to get woken up starts out really stinky — but turns his demeanor into a huge giggling smile in just a split second.
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I guess Pippi’s favorite primary song that talks about “turn the frown upside down, and change it to a smile” hasn’t really penetrated her life 100%.
I woke up to the sweetest notes on my computer from Doey — obviously all with a “shell” theme .
Like “Whale, Sea you later”.
But my very favorite is….”You’re as rare as the Junonia treasure”!
Doey — just look in the mirror to sea that it is you, who is the the real treasure.
MWAH.
While all of the other kids were playing with baby Blush, Pippi swiped her snacks, and was eating them by the handfuls.
And when she finally realized that Bella and I were watching her, she “put them away” and went to where she didn’t think we could see.
And then sneaked the snacks, and ate them by the handful again.
It was a good crew at Big Air this afternoon for Grey’s birthday party. These kids jumped until they were all beet red in the face. Pippi was the most hilarious — she went from trampoline to trampoline for hours, and jumped her little heart out. It was awesome.
And after the party — Grey redeemed his gift from us.
A Dive-In movie in our pool, compliments of Micah!
The partying ended around 11:00 pm, and was one for the record books.
Big Air, to Cul-de-Sac fun, to pool party, to Dive-In Movie.
Not much more a 7 year old can ask for.
Dash really wanted a 25 cent ball from Old Navy, and I repeatedly told him I don’t waste my money on quarter machines. He had every reason in the book of why he needed a ball, but the answer was still “NO”.
Fast forward 2 minutes and 45 seconds. I went into the dressing room to try on one shirt, and then came out. And all of a sudden, Dash had a handful of quarters — 12 in total! I asked where he had gotten them, and that boy searched around the base of the machine, and found them all. It was maybe the biggest haul I have ever seen from one of my kids. He was SOOOOO proud of himself — and frankly, so was I!
And then he proceeded to buy himself a ball.
And another for Pippi.
And then one for Scout and Navy.
And a final one for Grey.
And then he pocketed the other $1.75.
Nice work my little scrounge.
Poor little Pips came down with a case of moluscum contagiosum about 6 months ago. It is a children’s rash that has no cure, but fixes itself after 8-12 months (when her immune system starts rejecting them). The rash was pretty benign until just recently. Lately, Pippi has been itching those bumps like crazy, and making herself bloody and raw. And as a byproduct of her itching, I have notice that those bumps are spreading. Poor thing, but we have a few simple tricks — we cover her itchy parts with clothes or Band Aids, and I taught her how to tap them instead of itch them. So she taps so fast, but then usually starts scratching. Poor thing.
We are both crossing our fingers that these things start disappearing quicker than the new ones are popping up.
I was in charge of bringing paint for the scout’s hands to put their hand print onto our pack flag. Micah thought I should bring our ink, so I did. And then I died, when they tried to wash their hands, and nothing came off. We used paint thinner, soap, Goo Gone. Nothing worked.
but the silver lining, is that the Scout were stoked on their colorful hands.
They even “dabbed” for the picture I took of them.
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