Adventure #4: Doheny State Beach

We woke up refreshed and renewed on Day 3. Mark set out in the wee hours of the morning to re-buy the battery we returned the day before. Once it was hooked up, we were all systems go! Vacation had finally begun.

Our first stop was the beach. We were camped three spots away from the beach. The kids grabbed their buckets and shovels, which we scored the day before in the Michael's $1 bins. Seth and Sam were initially not sure what to make of all this water. The girls took off as you can see in the background.
Running from waves is so much fun...
...until one catches you or you trip on your water socks that were bought to grow into and fall face first into the sand and surf.
Or you finally muster up the courage to venture into the biggest pool ever and somehow come out soaking wet. Yes, three of our brood ended up drenched in the first 10 minutes of beach play. We talked about what we learned about the ocean as a family and Mark and I noted that no matter how lukewarm it was swimsuits are a better option for beach time.
We headed out for an afternoon walk since the cloud cover stole our warmth. The girls loved having their scooters along this trip.
Some scenery shots. I love the tall palms.
It felt so lush compared to our desert digs
Our scooter posse and sidekick
Always happy to go for a ride

Adventure #4: Rocky Beginning

We planned to leave for Spring Break on March 11 at noon. It didn't happen. Between running last minute errands, a couple loads of essential laundry and my insistence on clearing out the fridge for lunch, we left somewhere closer to 2 p.m. I was also dragging my feet because I had pre-ordered our Disney souvenirs hoping to save money and time. They were out for delivery according to UPS but that usually means a 5 p.m. stop. It seemed futile but Mark insisted we take a last minute loop around our small village hunting for that big brown truck. We found her at the gas station and our super sweet driver made the delivery without question and a smile on her face. All seemed right with the world and we headed our rig west. California or bust!

So, we drove and drove and drove some more. Our top speed while towing is about 65 mph. Mind you, the speed limit in these parts is 75 mph. We've gotten used to the suck-and-blow of the semis passing by. We stopped for Happy Meal dinners and an ice cream sundae for dessert. Then we were faced with where to spend the night. We opted to preheat the trailer and head into California to the first rest area. We made it, unloaded the kids and slept.

The next morning we pushed the button to pull our slider in the four inches it was out and nothing. The trailer's battery was dead. No worries, we thought. The van will charge it while we're driving. We'll go down the road a few miles and pull it in. That didn't work. We were then faced with driving 50 miles to Ludlow in search of an electrical outlet with our slider out ever so slightly or calling the manufacturer for assistance, towing, etc. We decided to take the risk and drive. We were lucky to find an outlet at a gas station turned automotive fix-it place in Ludlow. We plugged in, slid in and were again headed west.

We opted to stop in Barstow for breakfast and to see about getting the trailer looked at. We were sure there was some problem with the power converter. It's under warranty so why not, right? We pulled in to Affordable RV somewhere south of Barstow and were told almost immediately by our super helpful diagnostician that the problem was the van not the trailer. He added a fuse here and replaced another one there all to no avail. And of course because the problem was with the van and not the trailer we owed them money. I just love unexpected vacation expenses.

No worries though. We were headed to our state beach campground that had electric so we could deal with whatever electrical issue we had when we got home. Not the case! We made these reservations before we even bought the trailer and failed to write down that the sites we reserved did NOT have hook-ups. We spent the remainder of the second day of vacation scrambling around trying to find power. We bought a battery, then a generator, then returned the battery, then learned the generator didn't work, then went to bed with no power. We felt frustrated but knew the next day would bring fresh perspective.

In addition to our power woes, Seth was battling a mean cold. Poor guy had watery eyes the entire day. Fortunately, he slept a bunch in the car. Stay tuned, our vacation got much better on Day 3!

A lesson in love

Twelve years ago Mark and I stood before our God, our families and our friends and became husband and wife. We were young and so full of hopes and dreams.

Together, we've faced overwhelming joy and heartrending disappointments. We've shared smiles and tears. We've been praised and humbled. We've been blessed beyond measure and challenged more than we knew possible. We've made choices, both good and bad. We've learned a lot!

Marriage is a verb. It requires action daily. It is a complex web of cause and effect.

Mark, thank you for sharing your life with me. Thank you for loving me on my good days and bad. Thank you for making our marriage a priority. I love you!

Buyer Beware: Not a Family Game

I bought Mark Super Mario Brothers for our Wii this Christmas. It has introduced new vocabulary and tons of new emotions into our once happy home.

Our policy has been to only buy Wii games that are either educational or encourage physical activity or can be played as a family. For this reason and because we like to exercise self-control in our gaming time, we only own nine games after two and a half years of ownership.

I bought Super Mario Brothers thinking it would bring back fond memories of our early years together when Mark and I would duel on our Game Boys. I bought it because I thought it would be a family bonding experience like Super Mario Galaxy. Mark would play and we would coach and cheer him on. I bought it with good intentions.

Unfortunately, this game is incredibly addictive and frustrating in its repetition and rewards. Mastery takes time, especially if you play with more than one player and even more so if those other players are five and under. Through playing our children have discovered a virtual way to jostle and shove each other. They tumble off cliffs and float in bubbles.

I don't play with them. I don't want to be part of that therapy session destined for some distant date. Rather, I watch and cheer and coach when I just can't help myself. Each of the other members of the family has their own gaming personality. Mark is the leader. He is intense and competitive. He gets frustrated easily with himself and others. Tears are shed on account of him as often as high-fives are exchanged. Madelyn models herself after Dad. She is our most capable player of the kids and always starts off encouraging and sweet. Of course, that deteriorates as game play continues and frustration sets in. Catherine bounds around the living room like a kangaroo attempting to simulate the movement on the game. She shakes her hands even when she's not playing. She is bold and reckless in her play. Chloe doesn't like being on the front line of game play so she serves as the 'life saver'. She stays just behind everyone else and waits for them to need her to either save them or finish up. Sam holds his buttons and is a good teammate to Mark. I'm not sure how that works considering Sam only knows how to bubble but it works and for that I am grateful. My only concern is the addition of "me dead!" to his vocabulary when referring to his Wii character. Seth will either watch engrossed or play nearby with other toys. He will occasionally ask to play but is easily redirected.

To date, we've survived the first eight worlds, defeated the BIG Bowser and rescued the princess. Of course, that wasn't enough. Now they have to redo the entire thing collecting all of the star coins. I'll go set the timer!

Flashback Friday: One, two, FREE

In three days our twin boys will be 3 years old. I thought this week I'd take a look back at when each of our girls turned three. It is a bittersweet age for us. It is when parenting really starts, when routine and consequences must be firmly in place, when daycare sounds appealing. Just kidding about that last part, but the months leading up to three and just after have historically been tough as our children fight for independence and control over something in this great big world.

Madelyn turned three a month after we moved to our current home. We were on a 'country living' kick. She loved playing in the mud and chasing rabbits around the yard in her underpants.
When Catherine and Chloe turned three we were living in Texas. After watching Wiggles way too many times (I was trying to get my act together after having a second set of twins), the girls begged us to take them to the beach. So, for their birthday we headed to South Padre Island. We had a blast! Check out Catherine's curls.
Chloe loved digging in the sand.Here's to three! We can't wait to see what adventures await our nearly three-year-old boys. Actually, we'd like to wait but times marches on nonetheless.

Good Times-February

Our little Harrison is a drooly boy. Cute though, huh?
We did a Valentine's Day craft at Michael's this month. The girls enjoyed cutting and glueing cards together for the family.
Ta-Dah! Pop-up Valentine's Day cards!
Our first five kid pillow fight. It was fun for about five minutes...then there were tears.
Harrison bear-ly fit into his 3-6 month clothes. I finally moved him up a few days after this picture.
With all the storms passing through, we've had some dramatic skies to look at.
So happy!
Madelyn is such a great big sister. Harrison was super fussy one afternoon when I had too much on my plate. She stepped right up and patiently talked to, rocked and patted him to sleep.
Madelyn likes to surf Yahoo!Kids these days. She found a recipe for chocolate-covered strawberries to make for Valentine's Day. They were surprisingly simple and super good!
We did a mini-makeover of Catherine & Chloe's room last weekend. We bunked their beds and got them a six drawer dresser. They love the new layout because it gives them more floor space to leave their stuff sprawled over.
One worn-out Wii-er
Our almost three-year-olds. I think this is the most alike they've ever looked.
Fun with Daddy. It's a good thing Mark has a long torso. He needs it to pile all the kids on.
Harrison tries on the goggles from our Lowe's Learn & Grow experience.

More than meets the eye

We headed out to Lowe's this morning to build Lowebots! Mark had Transformers as a child and still has them stored in mint condition in their original boxes. Our kids have handled them once or twice but are still a little too young to appreciate completely their antiquity and value. So we thought building our own Transformers, Lowe's style, would be pretty cool. Indeed, it was!

Seth had fun making towers out of the pieces until Daddy could help him.
Sam always likes to be involved. He was quite the carpenter's assistant.
I got to help Chloe and Catherine.
Madelyn did most of the work by herself. We were all proud of our success in building Lowebots!