cabin trip

Me and the kids spent the last week on a little impromptu vacation to UT. Ben managed to throw up 7 times on the way there and made it 6 times in the bucket without us having to stop. I think that's pretty impressive. They liked finding rocks and getting filthy, but walking more than a few steps in the hot sun was too much for our, as Jim Gaffigan would say, "indoorsy" Ben. Check out his sweaty, hot, little face and his filthy feet here.















There was still lots of snow on Cedar mountain so we had to stop and touch it. Ben told me that, "I think we should be wearing mittens and snow shoes." I guess flip flops and crocs are not snow appropriate attire, but I will have to agree that although it was only an inch of snow in 3 foot patches and it is JUNE, it was still way to cold for my California family.

I attempted to get some nice sibling pics of them but after so many attempts with grumpy, dirty, sick kids, this is the best of what I got.

They are still pretty cute, mismatched, hair everywhere, dirty little faces and all!!

Funny things my kids said

We went thru an automatic carwash with the kids a few days ago and when we drove out after it was finished Ben said very matter of factly, "well, that went well". Not a phrase you expect to hear from a 3 year old.
Philip later that evening was stating that Amelia was going to make a great lawyer because she is always trying to find the loophole and do what you didn't say instead of following the bigger picture idea you are trying to convey. He said her first case will be her emancipation from us. She asked what that meant and he said he didn't want her to know to get any ideas. She says, "just tell me......I'll give you some candy if you tell me". See what I mean.

Mustache May

This is what the month of May grows at my house every year.

Delicious Disaster

Guess what you get when you add this : My adorable Amelia















with this: Goat cheese swirled brownies. These might be my new addiction. They are better than cream cheese, I promise. (tried to do a dairy free cheesecake option for her and she said it was delicious when she took the first bite, then the second one made her throat feel "weird")

You get this: A total allergic reaction that gave her hives from head to toe for hours!! I guess you add goat's milk to her never ending list of allergies.


BTW: We gave Amelia a digital camera to use and she is becoming quite the photographer for a 5 year old. The top picture she took herself with the self timer. I am working on compiling a collage of her best work, so wait for that.

Joined a club...

I think Ojai has left an impact on Ben. He has found himself bonding with the drum circle crowd and taking to listening to reggae music.

confession

I secretly love spam (still). We ate it almost daily in the Marshall Islands and when we came home, we bought some for our "food storage". Did you know you can get like 8 cans in a pack at Costco!! When I replenish ours, I sheepishly pick up the pack and bury it between some fresh veggies or fruit. It's the same feeling you get when you let your toddler drink soda. You know you shouldn't and it makes you feel and look like like total trash, but you just can't help yourself. (and just so you don't worry, this is my 3rd time buying it since we have been home, so we've gone through like 12 cans in 6 years, that's only twice a year we dip into it. Not too shabby!!) We occasionally pop open a can to "rotate through" the stock, but we are totally kidding ourselves. That stuff expires like in 7 years from when it's made, and even then, it's probably fine to eat. We just occasionally need a little Spam. Spam stir fry, or Spam and pineapple "pizza" or just plain old Spam and rice with Sriracha sauce. Yum.

Sweetie

My kids play mommy and "sweetie". The sweetie is the kid. I think it is pretty cute to hear them call each other sweetie. Usually Ben is the sweetie and is happy to pretend to go take naps!! Have I mentioned how much this kid likes letting other people do stuff for him and how much he likes to sleep. I like this collage for 3 reasons. You can see how happy Amelia is being a "mommy" and how happy Ben is to be the "sweetie", and third, if you question how white Ben really is, look at the background color. That is the eye dropper color of his back!!!!!