Long-time, no blogging

In case anyone has been wondering I did not fall off the edge of the earth but I did take five kids across the country for three weeks (I know it's been four since I posted but I needed a week of "recovery time" after our "vacation" :) We went to visit all our California cousins, aunt, uncles and all four grandparents. Other than the jet lag and a serious lack of Internet access we had a terrific time!! The kids and I were very excited to come home and see daddy (he only came for the first weekend) and Ethan, especially, was excited to see all his things again--when we got home from the airport he walked straight over to his little bin of trucks and cars and said, "Well, hello toys, what are you doing here?" I thought that was adorable!! Here's a quick overview of what we did in CA. I will post some pics soon I have about 2000 to go through so please be patient :)

July 2nd-We arrived in CA and got to visit with everyone that night

July 3rd-Jason and I were able to sneak off to the first Temple session--wow it was nice to only be 15 minutes away!! We hiked in Tilden with Carl, Melissa, Mark, Laura, Erik and Kyle (and our kiddos of course)

Ethan was wondering aloud who that boy following him was--I tried explaining and he seemed excited, though I am not completely sure he understood--I do wish I had videoed him dancing with his new "friend" :)

July 4th-We decorated the strollers and the kids and went to the 4th of July parade in Moraga. We spent the rest of the day swimming and playing with the cousins.

July 5th-We went to Muir Woods and the Golden Gate Bridge with the cousins. In the afternoon we went swimming again and Emily told me we really needed to get a pool in our back yard because this is so cool :) I didn't tell her most pools are not like Grandma Barbara's--why squash her dreams??

Abby fell asleep in Heather's arms--It was so cute!! July 6th-Jason had to go back to NC :( We wish he could have stayed and enjoyed the next three weeks with us!!

July 7th-Erik and Kyle went to Mexico :( We hung out with Heather on her last day home before her mission

July 8th-Heather left for the MTC --To cheer Emily up we went to the Jungle with Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Steve

Ethan was holding his nose and "swimming" in the ball pit!! I was so cute to watch. He must have done it over and over at least two dozen times--I love when they use their imaginations to make something fun "fun-er" :) July 9th-11th-We went up the the lake house but our visit there got cut short due to the heavy smoke from the wild fires. We spent a fun three days indoors but we were not able to really get out and play like we would have loved to do.

July 13th-We visited Grandpa Russ' ward, the kids had so much fun at their linger longer especially being basically the only kids there--let me tell you though, I am not used to such a quiet Sacrament Meeting!!

July 14th-We went to the Lawrence Hall of Science--the kids had so much fun!!! Kapla blocks are awesome :) We could have stayed and built and experimented with different things for the next four days!

July 15th-We went to the Exploratorium in SF with Grandma Barbara, Melissa, Mark and Laura. Words cannot really explain the fun the kids had there. I am hoping some of the photos captured their fascination with the different experiments there.OK, I I was just going through my photos and I am missing about 200 pics!! I hope Melissa still has them on her computer because they are most of the ones from the Exloratorium :(

July 16th-We went to HabiTot in Berkley with Melissa and her kids. They all had such a great time. I love places like that where my kids can just play, pretend and explore.

July 17th-We went the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. Everyone (just about) came--we had nine kids and six adults. It was a great outing. It is a far drive for just a day trip but for some reason I find it to be such a relaxing, peaceful place. I love watching the different tanks and seeing part of another world--I don't know, Jason must be wearing off on me :) Emily and Andrew had a sleep over in grandma's living room with Mark and Alexandria (and Grandma was there all night too-she needed to help settle the kids down and was pretty much needed all night)

July 18th-We drove down to Ali's to return Alexandria to her house and we played at the park there for a bit and had snacks, a mini parade, played with super bubbles and had lunch. Then we went back to grandma's for a swim and later that night we had a "Dive in Movie" That was so much fun!! Next year, Brandi, you and the kids will have to come over one night and watch a movie in the pool on the big screen with us :)
July 19th-A trip to Tilden with Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Steve to go to the petting zoo and the trains. In the afternoon more swimming and fun with cousins!!

July 21st-One last trip to the Jungle :)

July 22nd-We ended our trip with a cute little "Fancy Nancy" tea party with the cousins at Grandma Barbara's. The kids got to dress up fancy and eat fun fancy foods and of course read the "Fancy Nancy" book with Grandma.

July 23rd-Laurie helped me fly across the country with the kids. It just so happens we had one first class upgrade and instead of switching it we let Andrew sit there (we were just in the row behind him--so I could keep en eye on him). I know Jason thinks that is awful but it really worked out perfectly for us because he couldn't bug the twins and Emily, Laurie and I each were able to help someone one-on-one the whole flight.

Can you believe that the three weeks went that quickly?? We had such a good time. Really, this has been a fantastic summer and I don't want it to end in just a few short weeks.