Almost Camping

We went to Valley of Fire on the most perfect weekend.  The weather was great and we have no sports that fill up our weekends right now.  Unfortunately a lot of other people thought it was a perfect weekend too because the campgrounds were all full by the time we got there.  So we went on a fun hike.  Our little family is getting so big.  All of our kids walked on their own for our hike. They got tired but it was pretty great.

Then we went to a picnic area to cook our hot dogs and smores.  That's when we realized we brought toothpicks instead of matches.  So Bob drove off to find someone to borrow matches from.  We stayed until dark and then drove home.  We had a great time. Maybe it'll work out for us to stay overnight in the fall.

This is a good camping face.

Bob's birthday

Bob had a quiet birthday. We had pizza and sprite and chocolate cake.  All of his favorites. He was a great sport about my quickly made chocolate cake because I didn't have time to go get him his favorite chocolate cake at Costco. This year he finally upgraded and got himself a bigger tv and a blue ray player.  Bob and the kids have been pretty excited about this birthday.

I asked the kids a few questions about Bob.  Here's their responses.

What do you like about Dad?
Danny: He's fun to play with and helps when you need it.
Rachel: He understands kid history as much as I do
Aaron: He's fun to play basketball with.

What is Dad good at?
Danny: Helping us
Rachel: Helping us with the little kids
Aaron: Basketball
Seth: Talking lessons (Bob wrote Seth's first primary talk today)

What does Dad do that you want to do when you grow up?
Danny: Plays with his kids
Rachel: He knows about maps
Aaron: Drives a car

Basketball

We just finished our basketball season.  Danny, Rachel and Aaron all played.  This was Aaron and Rachel's first time.  They all had friends on their teams, which was really nice for them and for me for carpooling. They all had a great time. 

Danny loves it so much.  He gets so into his games.  He looks up the rankings every week. He got the sportsmanship award for his team again this year.  He's a great all-around player.  His team took 6th overall, but they took 2nd in the tournament.  He had some pretty exciting games.

Aaron had a great time too.  He was so fast up and down the court.  He did a good job learning rules of basketball.  He was even asked to try out for the all-star team.

Rachel had three other friends on her team and had a great time with them.  Their little team had mostly new players on it, but they did a good job learning the game and had fun playing.  Rachel was a great little player.

(I guess we didn't get a good "after" shot of Aaron.  This is him waiting for his medal)

Visalia

We went to Visalia for President's day.  We had a great lazy weekend.  We enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa's new hot tub and Grandpa's xbox.  And, as always, we enjoyed the pond and the park.

Fun weekend

Right after Bob got home from being gone 3 weeks taking care of his mom's funerals and other business I left him with the kids for a long weekend with Amanda and Wendy in Scottsdale, AZ. It was such a great weekend.  We shopped and ate and talked for three straight days. We didn't take care of anyone other than ourselves (except that half our shopping was for our kids)

Bob had "Dad Party Weekend" at home with the kids.  They ate tons of junk food, went the the park and on bike rides and played a ton.

Seth is 4

We had a quiet birthday at home for Seth this year.  With all the funeral travel for Bob, it was nice to just be together.  Seth picked a Lightning McQueen theme this year, complete with a pinata; he was so excited about that.  We made cupcakes ("puc-cakes"-we love that Seth and Ruby call them puc-cakes. It's so cute, we haven't even tried to correct them) They were blue with orange frosting and sprinkles, all picked by Seth. His main present was a roller coaster.  The kids all love it and use it often.

Seth won't smile in a picture for anything.  He's such a poser.

 So many attempts at a regular picture of Seth, but they all failed.  Well, maybe these are regular Seth.

What makes you happy: When Maeli comes over (his best buddy)
Favorite Food: Yogurt
Favorite TV show: AFV
Favorite Movie: Despicable Me
Favorite color: orange and blue
Best friend: Dad
What do you and your mom do together: play toys
What do you and your dad do together: play tetherball
Favorite sport: Riding skateboards
Favorite place to go: Grandma's house
Favorite animal: Giraffe
What do you want to be when you grow up: police man

Seth still likes his silkies, but he doesn't need to have them anymore.  He loves to make up silly songs and words. He's a great big brother to Ruby. And he's a great eater.

Linda

Linda passed away suddenly in January.  I'm going to let Bob write this one so check back later for the rest of this one.