San Diego Zoo

I love this zoo. It is so beautiful and has so many amazing animals. Plus, its a great workout, especially carrying a 55lb 7 year old piggy back up one of the many winding trails.
The weather was perfect and we stayed all day. Ellie took a short nap in the stroller and then was good for a few more hours. Hayden loved the Sea Lion show, Ellie loved the hippos and the tigers, and Chloe loved the pandas and Polar bears. The new Elephant area opened up the weekend before, and it was very cool- tons of animals, plus lots of information on extinct animals, and lots of things to climb on. We can't wait to go back.

To the BEACH!

The Craft family headed to the Beatsch house this week, and we had such a good time! The first few days were cloudy in the a.m., then sunny in the afternoon; perfect beach weather! The girls had a ball digging and finding rocks, and the boys were on the boogie boards. I managed to take a few pictures while lounging on my beach chair. AC had to leave on Wednesday, but Grandma and Grandpa arrived that afternoon, so the kids hardly knew he was gone. Having Grandma and Grandpa there was great, however, they BROUGHT RAIN. That's right- not just ocean mist but actual rain- for 3 days. We braved the beach anyway, but its just not the same bundled up in long pants with 3 towels for blankets. Hayden managed to get in the water everyday- no matter what the weather. Don't worry, we found other ways to amuse ourselves- we went out to lunch, visited the bookstore and Hayden and Grandma went to "Night of the Museum 2", which Hayden loved. Also, I saved a fortune in sunscreen. The kids were great on the way home- hardly any complaining and lots of coloring. We are planning a return to the Beatsch house in a few weeks, cousins in tow, and there had better not be any rain. What would we do with 6 kids inside the nice, cozy condo? I shudder to think.

Sleepover Fun

Emi and Billy spent the afternoon with us the other day, and Emi got to stay all night. First, I drag the poor kids to Hayden's baseball game at 5:15 on a 100+ degree day. Poor munchkins all got pink faced and lethargic. At one point, Billy was laying down on the bench and wouldn't even watch the game, and the boy loves baseball. So I took them home early (missing 2 of Hayden's 3 hits that night!) and fed them a gourmet meal. Okay, so it was beans and quesadillas, but they gobbled it up. While we were waiting for Travis to pick up Billy, the five kids started putting on shows. It was so cute: Emily was the director, Hayden was the roadie, and Chloe, Billy and Ellie were the performers. So cute. They sang an "I love daddy" song to Travis when he walked in the door.
Friday, Emi, Ellie and I dropped Hayden and then Chloe off at school, and headed to Target and then the gym. However, between Target and the gym I got a big fat nail in my tire. So instead of Yoga I got Fletchers. We had to wait about an hour, so the two girls and I went to the haircut store while I got a pretty darn good $13.00 haircut! Emi and Ellie were SO good. They just sat there and watched, and chatted to me and were angels. Ellie loves getting Emi to herself, and I love having Emi to chat with, because when Chloe's around the two of them are off playing. One quick trip to Starbucks and our tire was ready. It was quite the adventure.
Well, since we skipped Yoga, we decided to do Kids Yoga at home. The girls got out their "mats" (beachtowels) and went through the whole routine. Even though it wasn't quite the same as a class at the gym, it was very fun.
I love having Emi over- she is so sweet and adds a smile our day!

I'm not sure which pose this is . . .

Poor Billy- its hot, and he was tired.

I wish I knew how to re-arrange the pictures once I upload them. They are out of order!

Rub-a-dub-dub, 3 Girls in a Tub

After a fun evening playing outside, the big girls decided to take a bath. Every time Emi comes over, they all end up in the tub! Billy and Abi were so interested in the big girls' bath, they decided they wanted one as well. I ended up with 5 kids in two different tubs at the same time! (Hayden just played the Wii- he's not big on baths anymore. . . or showers for that matter!) They all had a great time, but the big girls win in the "most water on the floor" contest. I didn't get a picture of Abi and Billy, b/c I figured I'd better put the camera down and make sure no one drowned. Alls well that ends well, and we had 5 clean kiddos.