Monday, July 28, 2008

Are you out there?

Okay if you can look at my last 3 posts not one person has posted a comment! I know I have gotten emails about my blog but really no comments? I feel a bit sad when I check into my blog and see that no one -not one- has posted a comment.

How can I get you all to come out of hiding? I might rack my brain for a bit about this. I am already getting a few ideas. :)

And just for the hay of it here is a cute picture of a boy I love taken last Christmas. I didn't get to share it with most of you then so I am now! Enjoy

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Redwood trip continued

Day 3
So we woke up and had the breakfast offered at Clarion in Eureka. Not bad, waffles, biscuits and gravy, cereals, etc. We headed South looking for The Avenue of The Giants. This is a road about 33 miles long right off of HWY 101. It was great. I had bought a book on great hikes in the Humboldt Redwoods. This really helped us find some hiking paths that are not clearly marked. We had such a good time looking at the huge trees and trying to find as much wildlife as we could. We found bugs, a banana slug, deer and a snake. The trees in this area are HUGE and there were a lot that have fallen over so we could walk on them and check out their roots. We also went through a tree with the van towards the end of the trip. Alicia was not real happy about this. I think it scared her pretty good. :) It was a tight fit. The truck in front of us had to back out as they could not fit through. We were tired by the end of this "avenue.". We headed back home to Eureka. We stopped of at a small town that had a cheese factory. Ben and the kids had their fair share of cheese. When we got back to Eureka we thought we would have the light dinner offered but we tried their chicken nuggets and decided we would go out to eat. They were hard as bricks! So we headed out to the Samoa Cookhouse. It is VERY well known in this area. It was so good. YUMMY. They serve it family style and you eat whatever they are serving that night. We had fresh made bread and a soup. Then they brought salads. Next was 2 different kinds of meat and baked potatoes, and a side vegetable dish. We then got our choice of desserts. So good. And the restaurant is in a building with all this history. Lots of pictures of men cutting the Redwoods down, old saws, anything you might find at a logging camp. Just really cool. After dinner we headed back to out hotel for another swim in their pool.

DAY 4
Today we had to check out of our hotel. We went down and had breakfast. Then they decided to go swimming again. I kind of cleaned the van out while they swam. Then we packed up and headed to Brookings for our next part of the trip. We were going to stay in a yurt in Harris Beach! The kids were looking forward to this most of all. On the way up 101 we stopped off at a Redwood hike in Lady Bird Johnson State Park. It was really foggy and made for some really cool pictures. BUT the Redwoods on the Avenue of The Giants are some of the BEST in the World so these Redwoods fell a bit short. I guess you should leave the best for last. After the hike the kids were tired of hiking so we headed North again.
We got to our yurt about 3 and were allowed to check in early. We loved the yurt.We kind of unpacked and headed to the nearest Fred Meyers to buy bike helmets! We had packed the kids bikes but forgot the helmets! So we got helmets and when we got back they rode bikes and checked out the park. Then we headed down to the beach on feet. We got down there at low tide so we looked at some tide pools. It was a great time. It was getting late so time for some hot dogs and smores! YUMMO. Then it was time to try those beds in the yurt. Boy, yurts are great. You get beds, a heater, electricity- which we used to recharge phones and camera batteries!

Day 5
This morning I was trying a new camp recipe. I put eggs, cheese and ham in small freezer ziploc bags. Then you throw them in boiling water for 15 minutes and out plopps an omelet.
Ben was a bit leary of this but he ended up loving it. Easy clean up as well! After breakfast we rode bikes, played in the playground and went to the beach throughout the day! We also took a nap so we could stay up late for the seal and seal lion show at 9. That nap was the best thing we did all trip. We all woke up with energy and in great moods. The show was fun and the kids keep bringing up information they learned that night. Like elephant seals can go almost 1 mile under water! We then got back to camp and had smores and hot chocolate. This was our last night of vacation! So sad. Where does the time go?! We headed off to bed and all fell asleep fairly quick.

Day 6
We woke up and started to clean up. Alicia was going to the State Parks Jr Ranger program at 10 so we had to stick around for that. She had a great time and we are looking forward to more years of this. Sadly she lost her passport somewhere along the way back to our camp so we will have to start all over next time. We took off ad decided to go home back HWy 101 rather then I-5. We are glad we did. It was fun to kind of remember parts of our trip on the way home. We stopped off at Cape Blanco for a potty break and fell in love with this beach/camping area. Next summer we have decided to go back here for our summer vacation. They even have small cabins instead of yurts here. We stopped off for Ethan to go potty and 2 hours later we were on the road. :) We all had so much fun on this deserted beach. LOVED THIS PLACE.

We continued on home and made it around 7 o'clock. We were so excited to go see what our back yard looked like.

So that was our trip. Ben and I have thought about this trip a lot. We adults enjoyed the Redwoods but the kids could have cared less after the first few BIG trees. To them after you see a big tree there is no need to see more. :) They did like to hike but we may have hiked a bit much for them. They loved the beaches and hotel pools. And of course all the animals we saw. We even got to see the Roosevelt elk along the Hwy on our way home. That was fun. So now we are looking forward to taking the kids to Yellowstone in 3 years. They will be older and get to see so many cool animals. Before we can take this trip we are going to the Grand Canyon with my family in 2010. Don't you just love vacations?!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Redwood/Coast vacation

DAY 1 So Thursday we took the kids to our church for day camp. (Day camp runs 4 Thursdays for the kids too young to go to normal camps. It is great!) Ben and I came back home and packed up and then went and picked our children up. We hit the road about 11:30 and drove down to Eugene to meet my mom, Nana, for lunch. The kids were as excited about this as the rest of the trip. After a nice lunch we headed for HWY 101! We drove to our first hotel in Reedsport checked in and then headed to the beach. We found THE BEST shell collecting beach. The sand looked like shells. It was incredible. I have never seen anything like this on the Pacific Beach. The sad thing was my cameras battery was packed away in the van and I did not get any pictures. But it was a great beach. We then headed back for some dinner and some hotel pool swimming.


DAY 2 The next morning found Alicia and I very tired as we slept VERY little that night. I was afraid that was a sign of things to come but we did sleep well every other night. We headed down 101 to Eureka. We stopped off a few times at various beaches. It is amazing how each beach can be so different. They will all have something a bit different then the last. More shells, no shells, more rocks, great tidepools, secluded, etc. It was a nice nice day!







After the beach trips we stopped off in Crescent City at a Marine World. The price was HIGH for the normal fish tanks and marine tanks but we did get to pet a shark! And the kids really enjoyed the sea lion and seal show at the end.

And then a shark ate us!









Finally we got down near the Redwoods! We stopped in at the Trees of Mystery and talked with Paul Bunyon and got icecream. Alicia was a bit frightened of Paul and hid behind her brother. The guy talking inside was really good with kids. We FINALLY made it to Eureka and checked into the hotel that would be base for 2 nights. This hotel provided breakfast and light dinners. So we just ate the taco dinner they had there when we checked in and swam in the pool before bed.

Well, I will post more later. This is a long post already! So Day 3-6 to come.

Great opportunity

I just joined payperpost.com on Thursday. it is a get paid to blog site. I have been encouraged to do this for awhile from some fellow bloggers I know through SunshineRewards.com. But I really just wanted to get used to blogging and keeping my family informed of what I am up to. But the chance to make a GOOD amount of money by just blogging has intriqued me, enough so that I looked into payperpost.com. I mentioned that I would like to make about 20 extra dollars a month on sunshines forum and Janet, a payperpost user and fellow blogger, said be prepared to earn 10-20 dollars a day, just by blogging! I am trying to save money up for our WDW vacation I have mentioned before in my blog. This could be the ticket to my portion of the expenses! They just deposit the earned money into paypal after 30 days so it is really easy. I am looking forward to earning money and making some more online friends through . So far it is farily easy and painless. I mean I signed up yesterday and have been approved already and am working on my first paid post. And I can accept or decline as many opportunities as I like! Plus with the kids starting school in a few months I would love to be able to make a little cash without even leaving my house!



Wednesday, July 23, 2008

DONE

I am now finishing my backyard posts. O, who am I kidding. As soon as the grass grows I am sure you will get more pictures but here are the latest! The grass will be in the sawdust areas. We can see small little blades of grass but you can't in these pictures.

I think this path area will be one of my favorite areas when it is done. The plants along the fence are blueberry bushes and we plan on putting 2 more in and the other bushes are hydrangeas. My favorite!

I'm BACK!

Well after a great trip to the Redwoods I am back and will be ready to post soon. I just have to clean the house! and that may take awhile. Going on vacation is fun but the coming home part can stink. We have so much laundry! and coolers to clean and laundry to do! But we had a grand time and once I upload pictures I will show you some great times we had. But my next post will be the backyard. While we were gone they finished our yard! I was anxiously waiting to come back and see it. I LOVE IT. I cannot wait until the grass grows in and I can fully appreciate it. And next year, when we have money again, I have all kinds of ideas for flowers, benches, trellises and furniture. O, this is going to be so much fun.

And I am tired. Yesterday while Alicia and I were taking our shower at the campground she asked me if I was tired. I told her "no" and she said that at the end of vacations I am usually tired. :) Well today I am tired. :) What a smart child!

So even though it is 8:36 am and I have only been up a couple hours I want a nap! Maybe I can sneak one in today!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

latest update

This will be all you get for a few days. But to us it is exciting. I can imagine pretty soft green grass and beautiful ground cover between the stones!



And nice green bushes and trees. Next summer will be the fun part when I am able to add more flowers and vegetables in the flower borders. There will also be a row of blueberry plants up against the fence where the wheelbarrows are.
They will be bringing in the greenery today and then hopefully planting grass next week. So keep checking back!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

From a Blank Slate

For 5 years we have known we need to work on our backyard. When we moved in it was a new house and they landscaped the front yard but left the backyard a blank slate for our imaginations. Ben put the vinyl fence, from Lowes, in right away on both sides and our front but there was a section in the back that we didn't do because our neighbor had their own kind of fencing up, and it wasn't pretty, but O, well. We knew someday we would finish it but money doesn't grow on trees!










So Ben finished the fence last weekend. Then yesterday we had Storey Landscaping come in level our yard out. If you can see in the above pictures the pile of dirt to the left? Well we thought we would have a sitting area on that but we decided that if more then 4-5 peopele came over they would not fit up there. This way if they, those mass crowds that swarm our house, don't fit on the stones they can spill over to the grass with their chairs.











They are out there right now, Storey Landscaping! They are putting in our flagstone sitting area and plantinag a tree there. I cannot wait to show you all that! This is the picture I have so far. Then they will make the flagstone pathway from the kids playground to the backdoor. Later this week they will plant more trees and bushes! I feel like a kid in a candy store. So excited!!! So keep checking back as I will keep you visually updated!



Monday, July 14, 2008

July in a glance

So we started July off by taking the kids to the beach. Like to do this at least once a month. I am looking forward to having Alicia learn to boogie board, maybe next year! She loves to act like she is surfing. Our little water lover

I then took the kids strawberry picking and we met Donna and the cousins! The picture is of Ethan and Zach. They all did really good about not eating them until we paid.
We spent 3 weeks going to the YMCA for gymnastics. Picture isn't too great as they move so much! :)
Made cinnamon rolls and was able to put 4 tins in the freezer for other weekends!


Then one Sunday we decided to take our two kids and the two oldest cousins to the zoo. Try to get 4 small ones to look at the camera at the same time. From left to right, Alicia, Anna, Drew, and Ethan
I got away with 4 girlfriends for 2 days, a whole night, last weekend! These girls I sincerely cherish!
So that is about it. I cannot wait to show you the construction our backyard is under. We had kids over today and they were enjoying watching the tractors in our yard. We have lived here 5 years and we will finally end a summer with some of our dreams for this house accomplished!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Happy Birthday Dear Kindred! Love you and hope you have a good 32nd birthday!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy 4th of July!

The kids have been looking forward to this day FOREVER. Ethan is destined to be a pyro. He couldn't wait for the stands to open so he could buy fireworks and then he has been staring at them every day begging to do them. He is a bit bummed that it is "fireworks day" but he has to wait until late to do them. :)

I can't wait to upload pictures tomorrow and show you what fun we have in store for us today!!

O, I made the cinnamon rolls this morning. The rolls are good but I need a really good icing recipe. So I will be on the lookout for one! Didn't stop Ethan though, he actually ate 2 rolls! I could only get 1 down.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Pioneer Woman Cooks

I found this great site from my friends Karen's blog. One thing that sets her apart is that for EVERY step in the recipe she takes a picture! So you can see what it looks like at every stage. I love pictures. And her food looks so gooood. I have been eyeing some recipes and finally made the Cinnamon Rolls yesterday. I would love to say they turned out wonderful but . . . the truth is . . . I haven't tried them yet! (Bet you thought I was going to say they turned out awful! hehe) I have put them in the fridge to pull out tomorrow morning and bake for a 4th of July breakfast! It was supposed to make 7 tins but I only got six. Two are in the fridge and 4 are in the freezer. I am going to take one of the two over to Alicia's last years kindergarten teacher as she dropped by yesterday when I was making them.

This site has a lasagna recipe I am just dying to make.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

I hope you guys all find a new recipe that becomes a family favorite

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

I just watched the most amazing flag display on youtube, it even had me almost teary eyed.

http://uk.youtube.com:80/watch?v=iCz3BA-oNlY