We said farewell to some dear family friends of ours a couple weeks ago. They lived 3 minutes from us, and now they live 3 hours away (for a great job). How we will miss trampoline fun, homeschool chat, their goats/chickens, VBS, swimming at the beach, slip-n-slides, date nights, and most of all… true friendship! About every 2 weeks we’d swap date nights … all the kids would go over to one house so a couple could have 3 hours alone. All 4 of our kids matched up in age with all 4 of their kids within a few months. We won’t let them escape easily though… we’re going to visit them in April to see their new digs. We miss you Murray Family!
A rainy (unofficial) day at running club.
Heart Night at AWANA. Josh’s love language is face paint.
Rachel (here flashing us her brilliant yellow shorts underneath her skirt, lovely) has been coming with Zac and me to Cubbies… she loves attending!
We caught a UC San Diego baseball game Friday night… so fun!
Go Tritons!
We brought a sack dinner, a few “special” drinks (aka soda), and found 6 seats right behind home plate… perfect. A little on the cold side – we’ll be sure to bring more blankets next time for bundling and snuggling.
Now that we have annual passes to Disneyland and CA Adventures, we’ll be getting to know the theme parks really well in the coming months. It’s all very new for us right now, so we’re learning our limits such as how many hours we can last at the park, which kids can handle the scary rides, and how much food to pack in. I’ve taken the kids twice by myself so far, and I’m exhausted at the end of the day from keeping track of 4 kids all day long, navigating the park with a map that I’m not familiar with yet. I’ve only lost one kid so far (Josh – thankful for the friendly dad he found who promptly called my cell number written in sharpie on Josh’s arm).
I blurred out my number, just in case you thought I had horrible handwriting.
I had a major Mom-FAIL recently when we joined up with another family for a few rides (We love the Cliff Family – group photo below with Jenni, her Mother-in-Law Mary plus our 8 kids). We had such a fun time with the Cliffs, and it was so nice to “join forces” and trade off watching the little kids so the older kids could go on more advanced rides.
Zac, our 4yo, had gone on many of the rides so far, and he rode the wave of excitement and decided to go on Space Mountain (a high speed roller coaster in the dark) for the first time with our friends. Sarah and Josh loved it, but for Zac, it was horrible. I sat next to him and the entire ride he cried through tears “I want to get off! Make it stop!” I should have known better, and wish I could go back and talk him out of it. Totally stressful, and now Zac never wants to go on Space Mountain again. I eventually talked him into “trying it again once he turns 5.”
After our disastrous Space Mountain ride, we headed over to the Autopia ride (where you drive your own mini car around). While waiting in line, I stuck my hand in my pocket to grab my cell phone, and my it was gone. Talk about a sinking feeling in my stomach. Note to self: do NOT lose your cell phone in Disneyland. Duh.
I knew I had it just before going on Space Mountain, so I asked my friend Jenni to call it to see if we could hear it ring on my stroller, but no luck. Sadly, I knew that I had lost in on my stressful ride with Zac on Space Mountain. Oh joy. Not expecting much, I made my way back to the Space Mountain loading ramp to inquire about my phone (with Zac… talk about throwing salt into an open wound). Between the lines and area between “lands,” you do a LOT of standing and walking at Disneyland… it’s a great workout, but it’s tiring! I approached a Space Mountain cast member (employee) and asked if they had found any cell phones. He had me describe it, and then, magically (almost)… he pulled my phone out of his pocket! Ahhhhhh! Wonderful! How that made my highly stressful day better, knowing that there were good, decent people who had chosen to help out a stranger by turning in my phone. (It had fallen out of my pocket as I was comforting Zac on Space Mountain.) So, so thankful.
Row 1: Louisa and Josh
Row 2: Mary Cliff
Row 3: Evie and Sarah (with her head down because she was worried about losing her glasses)
Row 4: A scared out of his mind Zac, and me trying to comfort him.
This photo will always make me cringe. I learned a valuable lesson this day.
Zac did recover, but you won’t find him riding Space Mountain again… maybe when he’s 5.
We’re gearing up to start some soccer and tball games!
Backyard lovelies.
Plum tree blossoms.
And here’s the handsome devoted Mr. Garland. Just because I like looking at him.
Have a great weekend!
blessings,
Wendi
