Vacation-- HERE WE COME!!

This vacation couldn't be more deserved by the four of us! It's been a tough week, and a HOT summer! Chris is taking his first official vacation from his new job-- which he is enjoying immensely, but still anticipating a wonderful break from work. AND, he has been moonlighting as well, after work and on weekends! He has completely demolished an old deck (including jackhammering concrete below) at my mom's house (I'm still trying to get progress photos from her... hint, hint, hint). He has recently started the rebuilding of the new and improved deck-- which my mom has designed herself. Take THAT Martha Stewart!!

Keegan is starting kindergarten a few days after we get back from vacation! He is extremely excited about it. We have been doing "homework" almost every night, getting ready for the real thing. We are going to throw a little party for him, cake and all, on our vacation, to celebrate his big-boy-ness!

Tustin has finally gotten comfortable with preschool, so I hope the vacation doesn't start us back at stage one again with all that. He has expressed his feelings to us that he is going to be very sad when Keegan leaves his school, and goes off to kindergarten.

Me? Well, read below, and you'll see that I am definitely ready for a nice vacation! Things are going great at work-- but they'll have to make do while I'm gone! :-)

Tut Talk!

When the stars and planets align, and things click into place for Tustin, he has this mental switch, I call it, that he can just flip in an instant--- when he's good and ready. He started preschool at the end of June, and every morning, the same crying game. The same pitiful looks, as if I'm leaving him in a dungeon.

This week, on Monday, he announced to me in the morning while getting ready... "Mommy, I'm NOT going to cry ANYmore at preschool!" I got super excited, gave him a big hug, and knew we had turned a corner! He said "I'm going to tell Keegan!" And he ran off to find his "brudder." We got to school, and he took a stand in front of the morning teacher, and said "Know what? I'm NOT going to cry anymore!"

And.... he hasn't! When he flips that switch, it's as good as gold in his mind!

Tiffany's Trip to the ER

Well, Urgent Care, but all the same-- just cheaper! I came down with the stomach flu on Saturday morning. Chris was working, and I didn't want to ask him to leave work, and I didn't want to ruin anyone else's weekend... so I "suffered through the day" with MANY trips to the bathroom! Let's just say that the boys had a full day of movies, and not-so-healthy, no-preparation-necessary foods! When Chris got home, I said "We have to take the kids to my mom's, and you have to take me to the hospital!" After laying on the floor of urgent care, bundled in blankets and shivering for 4 hours, I was finally given a bed! They treated me for another 3 hours (two bags of IV fluids for dehydration, 3 needle holes from failed IV attempts and bloodwork), and they sent me on my way... 7 hours later. I had NO energy, a slight fever, my skin was pale as a sheet, and my lips were cracked from being dehydrated. (Let me just add... what kind of idiot doctor gives a patient with severe diarrhea, suppositories for nausea??!!! Hmmm, let's think about how that might work-- IT DOESN'T!!) Sunday, Monday, my symptoms don't go away. Went to my doc for a followup yesterday. She wanted to give me another bag of fluids, but I promised her that I wasn't vomiting anymore (thank GOD), and if she gave me an ORAL nausea pill, I would drink TONS of fluids and I'd be fine. Long story even longer.... she thinks I have some type of bacteria in my tum-tum, so she's treating me with Cipro, in hopes this nasty bug will go away!! On the bright side-- a quick easy way to lose 7 pounds in 4 days!! ARGH.

Tustin's Trip to the ER

Tustin took a little spill at Sea World on Friday and split the underside of his chin open. So, I hauled him off to Children's ER to have his chin "glued" together. They said he could have used 3-4 stitches, but for active kids (and adults), the skin glue holds better. But, it's deep enough, it will surely leave a scar. But hey, what's a little boy without scars!?

"And AAAAAaaaaaway They Go...."

The boys' preschool had "hat day" last week to celebrate opening day at Del Mar! I'd say Keegan had the most creative hat at school that day!!

TIMELESS

1100 miles of driving; 18 hours of driving time; 5 days of on-the-go activities. Spending time with family = TIMELESS!! We had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend up in Rocklin and Auburn this year. The boys got to experience on-the-ground fireworks and sparklers for the first time ever. We got to catch up with everyone in the No-Cal family. Be in awe about how much all the kids have grown. And just plain have a great time. It was probably the best short vacation we've ever had. (Except that hubby wasn't able to make it.)

Park Pictures

We got up early one day and headed over to the park to play. It was great-- we were the ONLY ones there, and it was a really big park. The kids had a lot of fun.

Park Pictures

Keegan found a really cool feather, and wanted a picture of it. The kids had fun throwing rocks into the little creek, and running around on the grass, climbing the rock wall, etc..

Playing Hard to Get...

This little series of photos was too cute to not post on my blog! Rosie was trying to give Tustin a kiss on his cheek. Tustin really didn't want anything to do with it (at first). He turned his body away, turned his head away, gave a grumpy "women!" kind of a look (you know the one I mean)... and finally, he turned toward her and planted one right on the lips!! Well, that wasn't enough for Rosie, the very next frame is her leaning in for more!! TOO CUTE!!

MORE Swimming

Not counting the two driving days, we were in Auburn/Rocklin for 3 full days. Let's see, the kids went swimming.... about 8 times!!! Water Babies! Oh, and the best part-- Keegan can officially swim ALL BY HIMSELF!! He's taken swim classes every summer for several years (4 actually), and his last swim class ended in June. By the end of that class, he started to get the feel of it, and could swim from the coach to the side of the pool, with a little push, about 4 feet or so. But, with all the swimming we did up North, he can actually swim now. That muscle-memory stuff kicked in to overdrive. The shallow end of Kristi's pool is about 8-10 feet across, depending on where you are, and Keegan swam across several times, all by himself!! He's SO excited!

Pool Party at the Moores!

Aunt Syl and Uncle Ted invited the whole clan over for a little afternoon excitement! (Yes, it is called excitement when you have 7 children all 4 years old and under! Well, I could call it a few other things too-- but I wont!) :-) We had so much fun hanging out talking, catching up on our lives, swimming, eating, etc. Tustin found a fishing pole that he became obsessed over, and wants to be a "po-fessional fisserman" when he grows up. We all had such a great time. Thank you Moores!!

More Pool Fun!

4th of July Party at the Derbys!

The Derbys threw a fun 4th of July party for the whole family! Pool time, a beautiful flag cake, some good grub, and lots of fun.

More Party Pictures

They're Legal!!

We were SO excited to be able to enjoy a true 4th of July! With fireworks, of any shape or kind, being illegal in Southern California, I decided it would be a good idea to have a talk with the kids about the do's, dont's, and dangers of fireworks. (I talk to the boys before we go anywhere,even if we've been there many times, just so they are sure about what is expected of their behavior!) So,we gathered all the kids together, and I conducted my little interactive "rules" discussion. Then we went out had had some FUN!! Snakes, sparklers, and a great show put on by Uncle Kevin, and Cousins Ian & Gavin.

Fireworks Fun!

Here's a picture of the area where the men were scheming and planning their fireworks production, and a couple of pictures of everyone "oohing" and "ahhing" over the display!!