Tanaka Farms

This weekend we went to Tanaka Farms in Irvine. We all had a blast! The kids got to pick vegetables (carrots, onion, radish and green beans), which was a first for all of them. They also played in the mazes, the wheelbarrows, huge pumpkin patch and the petting zoo. We also saw a cool pumpkin launcher, which we all enjoyed watching! Lauren has overcome another one of her fears... petting zoo animals. She is no longer afraid of sheep, goats and pigs. She pet them and followed them all around. We have two more fears to overcome- pony rides and Santa Claus. Anyways, Tanaka Farms is a fun place to take the kids. Different times during the year they also have strawberry and watermelon picking. We will definitely be back for the strawberry's. I am also missing Riley's Farm and want to go back and see some more. I am craving an apple dumpling with carmel on top. They looked so good there and the line was way to long to get it when we left. We just might have to make another trip back there soon.

This week is going to be another busy week. Today the kids were off of school and so we went to Disneyland. Despite the winds, junk in our eyes, and being crowded, we had a good time. We had to go take some more pictures with the characters for Lauren. We went on a couple rides ,then decided to head over to California Adventure (less crowds). We went on some rides there, ate tortillas and sourdough bread (only thing free at Disneyland), and saw a couple shows. One of the shows was the Bugs Life show. Lauren actually sat all by herself with her 3-D glasses on and watched the show without moving at all. That show is kind of scary. She didn't move when the stinger went in her back (which actually hurts), the water sprayed in her face or the bugs crawled under her bottom (it's really the seat moving in areas). When the show was over, Amanda said she started to cry when it got dark and the fog sprayed in her face, which I think she was kidding (I didn't see any signs of tears and she told me with a smile on her face) and Lauren said she liked it when the bugs crawled under her seat. Blake of course liked it too. I would not suggest that show for young children though. Most kids would cry, especially with the glasses on. The rest of the week consists of school conferences for both Blake and Amanda, a Cub Scout meeting, a Daisy Troop parent meeting (yea, finally), a research project study (yea, free money), a birthday party, work, practices and games. Yep, a busy week.

Blake's carrot. He's very proud of it!

We picked 3 little pumpkins.

Corn Maze

Petting the goats

Fun on the farm.

My Bible Class

I just got done teaching the 2 and 3 year old class at church. I have been teaching them for 6 months now. We have A LOT of kids in the class. This picture is most of them minus about 3. The class would range from 12- 16 kids on Sundays. All of the kids were so well behaved and a pleasure to teach. The first quarter I had about six new 2 year old's who had never been away from their parents before. So there were a few tears, but they got over it quickly and now come into class with a big smile on their face and are very confident. The kids are so well behaved, sit on the carpet nicely, treat each other nicely, say their memory verses, sing songs and are all around a good group of kids. I had a fun time teaching these guys. I will now have a break for a little bit and go into the adult class, but will be back in January for another round.

Trying to get 14 kids to all look at the camera and smile was a difficult task, but this was the best picture I could get. It's hard enough trying to get my three to all smile at the same time.

Big Girl Lauren!

Lauren finally decided she was ready to go and hug one of the Disneyland characters. Blake and Amanda were never scared the of characters and I could always get their pictures taken with them with no problem. They would even go off with them if I would let them, but Lauren, no way! She has had nothing to do with them until now. She convinced herself at home that she was going to go and give Minnie Mouse a big hug. So we went to Disneyland last night and when we came in guess who we saw right away...Minnie Mouse (dressed in her Halloween costume). Lauren was excited to see her, but I don't think she cared for her costume. I asked her if she wanted to go give her a hug and she said yes. I could see the nervousness in her face but she didn't back out, which is what she has always done in the past. When it was her turn she went up and gave Minnie a hug and she stood by her so I could get a picture. That was a big accomplishment for her. Of course we all made a big deal and she said she wanted to see Goofy next, but he was no where around. We went over to Woody's Roundup where there was a little singing show going on and Woody and Jessie were there. Lauren had no interest in seeing Woody, but decided after about 10 minutes and with Amanda's help that Jessie would be o.k. to see. She gave her an even bigger hug and sat for another picture. Hopefully our scare of characters is over and she can enjoy seeing them when we go to Disneyland.

Lauren is also fully potty trained! It has been about 2 weeks now and it was so easy to do. She was beyond ready. I just wasn't ready this summer to do it. But she got it in about 2 days and now she's a big 2 year old! Yea Lauren!

Riley's Farm

Well, we've been up to the same ol' stuff. School, practices, games, school, practices, games...you know that's all our life consists of at the time. We try to squeeze in some fun like having school friends over, going to Disneyland, going to Angel games and this Saturday we went to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen. That was a lot of fun. We went with my sister, Matt and the kids. The kids all had a great time! I have been hearing about this place a lot recently and decided to try it out. It's located in Yucaipa and you can pick apples, pears, raspberries, and pumpkins. We decided to stick with the apples this time. There are tons of apple trees with different types of apples and you pay for a bag and fill it up. There are also tours you can go on and other different things you can do, but we just walked around and picked apples. We went on a long hike through the hills looking for the green apples that Bryan wanted, but didn't have much luck in finding them. By that time it was starting to drizzle, Jack was shivering and everyone was starving. We will have to do it again next year, my kids liked it a lot! Other than that there has been nothing really exciting going on.

Blake is doing really well at soccer and baseball. He usually always scores at least one goal a game at soccer and I'm pretty sure they will be going to city cup finals. They haven't lost a game yet. In baseball he likes to play catcher and pitcher and does great at both. Today he played catcher and struck two kids out who were running home. The play looked just like the professionals. He's really enjoying his sports and they are lots of fun to watch. So, here are a few pictures of the last week or so.

Lauren has a lot of apples!

Blake and Amanda having fun!

All the kiddos under the apple tree.

Angel Game

The kids with friends from school (Amanda & Aaron).

LA Fair

Yesterday Blake's 2nd grade class went on a field trip to the LA County Fair and I got to go too. It was a lot of fun! We got to see a cow milking demonstration, pig races, lots of farm animals and a lot of other cool things. Luckily the area we were in didn't have any rides near it, since that's what he wanted to do the most. I told him maybe we'd go back next week before it's over. There is a lot to do and see there. So that was our fun adventure for the week. Last week was Blake's birthday and we had a little party for him with my family. The kids played games and had a good time! Lauren also decided last week that she was going to put lip stick under her eyes. She was awfully quiet and I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm making my eyes pretty." I knew she was into something. When I saw her I thought her eyes were bleeding at first then she showed me what she used. It was a lip stick/gloss from my purse. She actually did pretty well and didn't get any in her eyes. Oh well, it could have been a lot worse, like Becky's couch and carpet. :)

This cow loved him and kept licking his shirt .

Here's Blake practicing his roping skills.

Blake's 8th Birthday!



He still loves Star Wars!

Lauren was making her eyes pretty!

I found this picture of Rebecca Clark (from church)
with my girls in Lauren's bed. I told her I was

going to send this to her friends. She didn't think

that was so funny!

Legoland

Every year now we have been going somewhere "fun" for Blake's birthday. We used to have parties with friends when he was younger, but now that he is older he would much rather go to an amusement park or other exciting place for his birthday. This year we went to Legoland. He wanted it to be a surprise, but he let us know in advance that he really liked both Knotts and Legoland a lot. So the morning that we left, he had no idea where we were going and he was very surprised and happy when we got there. We spent all day there and the kids had a blast, especially in the water area.
The kids also started school last week. Blake is now in second grade and Amanda is in Kindergarten. They both really like there teachers and enjoy going to school (minus the homework for Blake). There is now only Lauren and I at home for a few hours, enjoying the peace and quiet. Yea!
Baseball and soccer have started up and our schedules are busy again. Blake practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and has soccer games on Saturday and baseball games on Sunday afternoons. We enjoy our busy schedule and we all love the sports. They are a lot of fun to watch! Hopefully someone will be starting a Daisy Troop in Amanda's Kindergarten class soon (not me). She would like to be in Girl Scouts and I think that she would have a lot of fun in it. Oh well, we shall see.

These were like big teacups.

Lauren had fun in the little kid area.

Crazy Amanda!

What a good driver.

Blake's favorite ride. It flipped you all around and upside down.

First Day of School.

End of Summer Fun

The past week has been busy with friends and cousins. My uncle Scott and his two kids(Matthew and Ethan) came out for a few days to visit. We went to the beach with them, Blake went to the movies with them and we had dinner at my parents one evening with them while the kids played and had a good time. That particular evening we also had the Austin girls, Delaney and Carley staying with us while their parents were at the hospital with Greg's dad. Thankfully, he is o.k. now, but it was quite a scare for all of them. So that day and night we got to have the girls stay with us. They are such a pleasure to have around and our kids love them so much!
Last week we also went to see the Walking with Dinosaurs show at the Honda Center. We went with a family at the preschool who have two little boys who love dinosaurs and with Princeen (my boss), her husband and their son Brady, who my kids adore, especially Amanda. That night was fun and the kids had a blast.
School is starting on Thursday. Hurray! I can't wait to get back to a normal schedule again. Amanda is excited to be starting Kindergarten at her "brother's school" and Blake is going to be going into second grade. Blake on the other hand isn't too excited and doesn't understand why it is so important that he go to school. I don't think he is looking forward to doing all the work again, even though he does so well at it. Oh well, such is life. He will have to get over it. While the kids are at school, Lauren will be at home with me enjoying the peace and quiet for a few hours (until Amanda gets home at 11:40). We will still be squeezing in naps, homework for two everyday, going to soccer and baseball practices and having games during the week. I am ready for another fun and busy year.

Delaney, Carley and Amanda playing on the tire swing.

The kids in the sandbox, minus a couple.

Blake, Ethan and Matthew at the beach.

The boys at Walking with Dinosaurs

Camping at San Clemente

We went camping at San Clemente State Beach last week and had a blast! It was our family, my parents, and my sister's family. My kids have been counting down the days since April, so they were so excited when it came time to go. Packing up for a trip is always fun. We crammed everyone's stuff into our trucks and we were off and ready to go. Blake and Matt had walkie talkies and it was a good thing because Matt and Kaylee were losing cups out of the back of their truck, so we all had to get off the freeway. They had a little more extra room in the back of their truck so we had to reposition stuff and make sure the light things were strapped down. Nobody wanted to drive behind them after that. :) When we got there the kids went right away to explore and play in the dirt, which they were covered with the entire time we were there, no kidding! Don't think you can keep young kids clean while camping, it's not happening. The guys got the tents up and the girls watched the kids and helped put stuff in the tents. We then walked down the hill of all hills to get to the beach. This is the one I tried to put my sister into labor with last year. (Ask her about it, if you don't already know.) I don't know why I thought I could keep my kids out of the water, I should have just put their bathing suits on. The kids were soaked, especially helping my dad look for sand crabs (they were using for fishing). That night went great for us. Kaylee will tell you more about her view on the night :) The kids had so much fun the entire time! We went to the beach everyday, played around camp, rode bikes, flew a kite, played with other kids around camp, got manicures from grandma, ate smores every night, roasted hot dogs, went surf fishing and ate a lot! At least it felt like I was eating all the time with all the snack foods around. The guys went fishing a few times and caught some fish. They even caught a few leopard sharks. We also saw a couple skunks and rabbits around. One night I heard something outside my tent, so of course I get up to see what it is. I crawl halfway out the tent and see something black and white messing with our trash bag, which we forgot to throw out. I realize it was a skunk so I try to throw a stick at it and it didn't move. I tried a rock next and it runs away. I then hurry back into the tent and realize I just threw a rock at a skunk, Bad Idea! Luckily he didn't spray, that wouldn't have been pleasant! Anyway, the camping trip was a blast and we all had a lot of fun. This will leave us and especially the kids with a lot of fun family memories.

Lauren and Emily

Getting down and dirty!

Monkeys in the tree

Fishing with Papa

Roasting hot dogs

Cousin's Parties

We had a fun week last week with both Emily and Jack's birthday parties. Emily's party was at Chuck E Cheese and Jack's was at his house. Chuck E Cheese was a lot of fun and my kids really enjoyed the firetruck that came to Jack's party. It was a lot of fun!

Amanda and the Birthday Girl!

Lauren loves cake as you can see.

Amanda taking Lauren for a ride!

Cool Firetruck

Driving with her toes

The Birthday Boy!