Guilty Pleasures...

This is so funny to me because

Gabriel never took a pacifier as a baby!

I love this skull n' bones version

and can't bear to throw it away.

It's floats around in the car,

and every now and then we toss it to him

just to see what he'll do with it.

Hopefully when he's 16 or so he'll have lost interest...

{ smile }

I love you,

Gabe the Babe!

XOXOMom

Grueling...Exhausting...FUN!

I'm a huge fan of date nights,

and for this particular date Samuel and I went

ONTO the beaten path for a

little adventure!

Foresthill Divide Loop in Auburn, California is described by

mountain biking enthusiasts as "FUN!".

That's all we needed to hear,

and boy, were they right!

And though the uphills were super-tough,

they were nothing compared to the downhills:

Exhilarating, terrifying,

-literally, a flying by the seat of your pants-

rush!

We loved every minute of it,

and though we took the 4 mile short-cut loop

(verses the complete 11-mile loop)...

We are determined to come back and finish it all!

I have a kooky brother-in-law

that would have dared something like this,

but we've got five babies at home-

not to mention a brother and sister-in-law!-

that would appreciate us coming home in one piece!

H A P P Y  T R A I L S !

Can You Guess Where We Are?

If you guessed

Roller King

- my favorite place on earth ;) -

you are correct!

The girls were thrilled,

especially since their previous foray with

ice skating proved pretty successful.

Turns out,

without the helper buckets to push around on the ice,

ice skating would be pretty hard.

Guess what?

No buckets at the roller rink!

Which means these girls were going down

A L L  N I G H T  L O N G !

Nursing those bruises...

Ava thought she found an injury-free way to enjoy the evening!

Not so, little missy!

I didn't pay $6 bucks to have you stand around!

All in all we had a great time!

And by the end of the evening,

they were doing their fair share of gliding (hobbling) around the rink.

Good times, girls!

XOXOMom



Laundry Baskets + Boxes = Peaceful Playtime

Improvisation...

Taking Care of Business...

We tagged along for Samuel's

last class of the year because we were

all so excited that he was finally finished!

Three grueling weeknights at school,

not to mention countless hours spent doing homework,

was torture for our family!

The good news:

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Only two more semesters left,

which means soon Samuel won't be making

anymore heartbreaking goodbyes!

The perfect distraction?

Yellow Marshmallow Peeps!

After Easter I found three boxes,

all unopened,

and in a matter of seconds they were gone!

Samuel was amazed that I planned to tool around campus

with five kiddos.

No worries,

there's always something on hand to

explore, distract, or enterain!

Take for instance,

Gabriel's new best friend,

a dog!

I have got to get this girl into soccer!

She denies wanting to play but I know she'd be great!

We love you Samuel!

Thank you for working so hard on our behalf.

You're setting such a great example for our little ones,

and I know that the principles

of working hard

and

obtaining the hightest levels of education

are not lost on them.

This has been a major FAMILY effort and

we're so happy...

S C H O O L ' S  O U T 

F O R  T H E  S U M M E R !

Where Did All The Muffins Go?

Aha!

The Best Mother's Day Ever!

I have the best kids in the whole world

and every single Mother's Day they spoil me shamelessly!

I confess,

I eat it up!

And how could you not with all the tasty treats

set before me!

After a delicious Greek dinner of Lemon Chicken & Rice Pilaf

I tore into my bouquet of chocolate dipped strawberries!

Now that is my kind of "floral" arrangment!

 My little ones,

Thank you for a truly wonderful day!

You mean the world to me,

and I absolutely LOVE

being your mother.

There is nothing greater,

or more important,

than you.

Your father and I are blessed beyond measure!

Love ALWAYS,

Mom

P.S.

And Samuel,

I know you're exhausted...
thank you, sweetheart!

Nephews...

Fun stuff...

The Great Escape

This Father & Son's Camp-out

the boys headed for the hills,

Rollin's Lake to be exact,

where they enjoyed sunshine,

pancakes bigger than Samuel's head,

and a restless night courtesy of Gabriel who

couldn't decide if he wanted in,

or out,

of the sleeping bag!

...

Alternately we girls headed for San Francisco,

our first time going out of town together,

minus the boys!

All checked in at the Hotel Triton!

This hotel is decorated with every color and pattern on the planet

- perfect for a girly getaway -

and the price was right too thanks to Priceline!

The best part about our digs?

We were literally across the street from the

gates to Chinatown!

{ Crispy Chicken Wings-Ava's favorite! }

Yummy dinner!

{ Deep-fried Salt & Pepper Crab }

Why did I order this without Samuel to help polish it off?!?

Back at the hotel,

it was time for some deep meditation...

...and some fierce martial arts!

{ Nice robes, huh? }

Wakey-wakey eggs and bakey!

Open those beautiful peepers, Sleeping Beauty... :)

After breakfast,

we hit Union Square which

meant a tour of Market Street.

...

The girls were intrigued with the SF Muni,

wanting a glimpse of the closest thing we have to a NY Subway.

S.F. Wesfield Shopping Mall...

not quite like the one at home...

 

Next up,

Nob Hill!

This was where we found the best cheap eat ever:

Bob's Donuts

Seriously delicious!

Who ate what?

Ava
The Flaky Chocolate Crossaint

Bella
She never fails to go for the classic:
Glaze!

Iris
Jelly-filled!

Me
A Giant Meringue +
A little bit of everyone elses!

Lunch in Cows Hallow was next,

even though dessert was first!

{ Do you see Ava? }

After eating,

we were perfectly situated for a major walking tour.

First up,

the marina,

where the kites were going crazy!

Then we found a tiny inlet and the girls

enjoyed some much-needed sand-time.

I loved watching Bella skip rocks.

She's so good at it now,

and I love that it's one of the many things Samuel has taught her.

"Just down the street",

or at the least that's what I told the kids

when they complained of being tired of walking,

was the

Palace of Fine Arts!

It is so, so beautiful here

and my girls make a nice addition to the place!

As we sat on a bench looking out onto the water,

a man stopped abruptly in front of us and said

in a harsh, fast voice:

"For you!  For you!  For you!  For you!"

And into each of our hands he placed an ice cream cone!

As fast as he came, he was gone!

We were startled,

so appreciative,

and just delighted

to be on the receiving end

of such a beautiful act of kindness!

Needless to say,

as we enjoyed our ice cream,

we concocted a way to pay it forward!

Details are

TOP SECRET!

Right, girls?

Next we made our way to Crissy Field!

I LOVE coming here!

I can't tell you how many times I came here as a kid!

Now I'm here with MY kids!

That never ceases to amaze me...

How did I get to be so old?!?

Before we moved on to the beach,

Ava, my super-sleuth,

found a drainage pipe with a baseball in it!

This is a huge find for a girl whose been playing catch with...

yes,

I hate to admit it,

a bean bag!

Hey,

necessity is the mother of invention, right?

{ smile }

Despite the novelty of a real baseball,

nothing compares to good ol' plain sand!

My daughter,

at her happiest...

As I was munching on Ritz Crackers I almost choked

when I saw a fin emerge from the water.

Half-screaming and chewing I convinced the girls to

gaze out on the water until they saw it too!

Yea!

I'm not crazy!

It was a dolphin swimming in the bay!

...

After all the excitement,

it was time to pack up and go home.

We MISSED our boys and

couldn't wait to get back home to them!

What to do in the meantime?

How about snag the camera and take random shots

A L L  T H E  W A Y  H O M E !

I'm surprised my battery lasted that long,
but grateful too.

It's a peek into what they see through the lense.

What's fascinating, intriguing, or just plain funny to them.

I'm in there a few times. 
I wonder if I'm fascinating, intriguing,
or the funny...

...

T H E S E  A R E  M Y  G I R L S  !

They are stunningly beautiful,
extrememly intelligent, and so, so wonderfully silly!

It's a blessing to spend some one-on-one time with them.

To talk quietly,
late into the night...

to hold hands on streets
we've never walked before...

to try something new,
together...

I  L O V E  Y O U  A L L  S O  M U C H !

Now let's go give our boys some love too!

XOXOMOM