First Day of School

Zachary has Mrs. Shugars for kindergarten
Nathan has Mrs. Jimenez for kindergarten
Erin has Mrs. LeWarne for 4th grade
Eric has Mrs. Chavez for 6th grade

Camping

We took all four kids and the dog camping last night. I can't remember the last time our entire family went tent camping but I am pretty sure it was when we lived in Hawaii and the twins were infants and we had to lug all their baby gear with us. It already takes a ton of equipment to camp so adding baby gear (for two) to it is really a lot more effort than really it is worth. So that is probably why we haven't been tent camping since. We have stayed in countless cabins though which is more my idea of camping.

At least this time camping, we didn't need baby stuff. But I guess Mario thinks that I am the baby of the family now and that I need to have luxury when I camp. He stuffed Eric's futon mattress into the back of the van along with heavy blankets just for me. Camping in Monterey in July is not the same as camping in the rest of the country in July. It was chilly. So here I had the warmest blankets in the house while I was worried that my kids were going to freeze with their thinner blankets. Fortunately they were all fine.

The camp sight was only a few miles away from the house so Mario and Eric went early and got everything set up for us. When I arrived with the three younger kids, Mario set up a chair for me and told me to sit down and relax and that I didn't need to lift a finger (a statement I think he regretted later.) He did pretty much everything including all the clean up while I relaxed. Later I commented that the lady at the camp sight across from us was doing all the work while her husband was no where to be seen. Mario got a laugh out of that since he was doing all the work at our camp sight.

We finally got the twins to sleep a little after 9 pm. Anyone that knows us can tell you that we put them to bed by 6:30 or 7 pm every night. We work our whole schedule around their bedtime. If not, we pay the price the next day when they are dragging and whining. So it was frustrating to us when they were still not sleeping and it was approaching 9 pm.

Did I mention that this campground was right next to the military's defense language school? So at 5:45 AM, I was awakened by a drill Sergeant screaming. He kept counting to ten. I wanted to scream myself. Finally at 6:30, the entire family was awake and making lots of noise (which wouldn't have been so noticeable if the drill sergeant was still screaming.) So I am sure all the campers were happy to see me load up my two little 4 year olds and take them home this morning. Mario, Eric, and Erin decided to stay one more night. As for me and my little boys, we are home and happy to sleep in our nice, warm beds this evening. (well at least I am.)

Zach and Buzz

Eric and Erin "Ripsticking" or as Mario calls it "Dipsticking" or as Zachary calls it "Ripoffing"

Nathan practicing soccer

Thomas

Friday was a big day for Nathan and Zachary. They finally got their big treat for working so hard on their reading lessons. We went to see Thomas the Tank Engine and take a ride through the redwood forest (to me that was the best part-seeing the beautiful redwoods!) To make the day even better, they got to go with their best friend, Jessie. Too bad Jessie isn't a twin (she has twin sisters that are Eric's age) because they both want to marry her one day. I see some future fights over girls in their future!

Once in awhile when Zachary didn't want to do his reading lessons, I would remind him that he had to work really hard on his reading so he could go see Thomas. His reply, "Why do I have to do reading lessons to see Thomas when all those other kids that go see him don't have to!"

Ripstick

Erin started her own little business a few months ago. She collects bottles and cans from the neighbors and then takes them to the recycling center. She has earned over $100 since starting her little business. Mario is trying to teach her what it is like to run a business and so he charges her $1.00 to drive her to the recycling center. He did that to discourage her from wanting to turn her bottles in weekly. Then Erin decided that she really doesn't like to sort the bottles, so she hired Eric to do that job for her. But that partnership didn't last long. Eric decided that he was doing all the hard work while Erin was earning more money.

Until recently Erin would never want to spend a dime of her own money. If we (mom and dad) weren't willing to buy it for her then she wouldn't get it. Last week she told me that she wants a "Ripstick." It is like a skateboard but with two wheels instead of four. So she spent $75 of her own money and bought a bright pink one online and then anxiously awaited the UPS truck to deliver it from Amazon. I tried to discourage her from a bright pink one since she has 3 brothers. But she was spending her own money and she wanted pink.

It finally came last night and here are some pics with her new toy. Eric is enjoying it also (despite it being pink). He plans to get a silver one for his birthday. I think it will take a few days for them to learn how to ride it. But after that, I am sure it will be lots of fun for them both. I can't complain, it is good exercise and much better than sitting in front of the wii or the television. Now I just have to sit back and pray that they don't hurt themselves!

The Joy of Reading

Nathan

Zachary

It is great to have big siblings to look up to. Recently I told Nathan and Zachary that they can be like Eric and Erin and read in bed. They thought that was the coolest thing ever. So now they bring "Bob Books" to bed with them. Pretty soon I will probably catch them with flashlights reading under the covers way past bedtime. But as Mario reminds me, if reading past bedtime is the worst thing we catch these kids doing, then they are doing pretty well.

Speaks for Itself!

In protest to the high gas prices, I bought myself a new bike to ride all around Monterey.

Alaska

Mario and I just returned from our Alaskan cruise. We celebrated our 14th anniversary while in Juneau. I think it was the best vacation ever. In fact, I now realize that all those family vacations we have taken over the years were really no vacation at all for Mario and I. They were vacations for our children! I mean, I enjoyed all those trips and we have had some great ones due to our military assignments, but none were relaxing.

We took naps almost everyday and ate tons of good food (now I need to go on a diet and lose the 6 pounds I gained after eating cheesecake everyday.) We didn't spend a dime on all the excursions that the ship tries to sell to you. We did rent bicycles from a local lodge in Juneau and took a 26 mile bike ride to see the Medenhall glacier and waterfall. I think that was my favorite part of the trip. The people that took the tours only got to view the glacier from about 1/4 mile away. Mario and I got so close that he was able to drink from the waterfall next to the glacier. He said it was the best water he ever tasted and filled his water bottle up.

The next day we went to Skagway and it was raining. We decided to take a hike to the Gold Rush Cemetery and the bottom of Reid Falls. That was a four mile easy hike. Then we went back to the ship and dried off, ate and thought about a nap. But instead we decided to go back out hiking and hike to the top of Reid Falls. This was a much more challenging hike but absolutely beautiful. We were so glad we skipped that nap! And the afternoon turned out to be nice and sunny. This was my second favorite day.

Next our ship took us to Tracy Arm where we were able to view another glacier. We had a perfectly clear day as you can see from the picture. We were told that there are only 10 days a year where the visibility is that good. It was windy and a little chilly so we sat on the deck wrapped in a blanket drinking hot chocolate looking for bears or whales. Unfortunately we didn't see any. But it was beautiful. We saw many beautiful waterfalls.

We went to Ketchikan next. It was neat to see where my dad once lived. We got off the ship about 6:30 am and had to be back on by noon. So we didn't have much time to explore. We were hoping to find bike rentals but couldn't find any. We walked around town and visited the city park. Then we went shopping for jackets for our kids. We couldn't come home empty handed (and Erin asked as soon as we saw her-"What did you bring me?") One of the most interesting things I saw there was a boardwalk with a street sign on it. Check out the boardwalk and the street name on the mailbox.

The last night we stopped in Victoria, British Columbia. We got in an hour late so we didn't get off the ship until 8 pm and had to be back by 11:30. So we again just walked around town and got some photos of their government building all lit up. It looked like a pretty town. On the way back to the ship we stopped at a gift shop and Mario spotted a wooden nativity made from cedar that he knew I would like so he pointed it out to me. I ended up getting that for my souvenir. Not really a souvenir that you would expect from an Alaskan cruise, but I loved it.

We owe my mom a million thank you's for coming to Monterey and watching the kids for an entire week. She was their taxi cab to all their camps, she took many bike rides, walks, and scooter rides, played alphabet bingo, gave reading lessons, gave many baths, did lots of laundry, played tennis, took them out to lunch, read lots of books, played wii with Eric, weeded my garden, saved all my dying tomato plants, planted flowers with Erin, cleaned the house, and many more things that I probably don't know about. She has so much more energy than I do. Hopefully she will go home and take a long nap. She deserves it. We couldn't have made this trip without her and we really appreciate all her sacrifice (and my dad too since he had to be without mom for a long time.) Thank you mom and dad! We love you both.