First day of school 2011

Good Morning it's the first day of school!

 Carissa drove herself....WHAT the HECK! Carissa drove herself! She passed her driving test last Friday and now she is on the road.

 Carissa is a Junior in high school Addie is an 8th grader, Emma's in 5th and Thayne is a 2nd grader.

 Colton wish's he had school but not for a few more months.

We got one shot by the flag pole and we added Tony, Thayne's friend from the last 2 years.

They all had a great day along with me & Colt. We got dishes done, kitchen floor mopped, 4 loads of laundry done, all the socks matched,  banana muffins made,2 rooms cleaned out and 2 bags of garbage thrown away . I love the back to school cleaning bug that hits me the first week back to school.

Taylor Swift

So this is our evidence of  the first ever girls weekend. You have to be 16 to attend at least for now this may change in 10-15 years. So this all came about because Carissa turned 16 this past June and for her Birthday We booked a 24-hour date with Mom to L.A....and the best part to see Taylor Swift. She was soo good.

Twins for the big night!

 It all began early (5:00 am) Saturday morning on a flight to LAX.

 Our first stop was my favorite L.A. temple...It's all because of this great place I have such wonderful daughters!

 Second stop was Beverly Hill's a quick stop to catch a picture in our funny little Nissan rent-a-car.

 Then a dive by on Rodeo Drive it sure was quiet on Saturday morning...little window shopping.

 and then for some lunch at the Burger place on Willshire Blvd.. Yummy! We can get these back in Walnut Creek but it was fun to have them in Beverly Hills!

 Now for our next stop the hotel we didn't get an outside shot it was crazy busy at the JW Marriott at L.A. live. They were setting up for the VMA's on Sunday night so we had a few celebrity sighting :) Oh yes! Just a few.

stop at the spa to get our nails all pretty @ the Ritz!

This was the band doing a sound check something like"....Starship" one day they may be good but sound check was just loud.

...then we headed to the concert and we found Laura & the gang it was great to see someone from home and chit chat a bit before the show. We saw some really great guy named Josh something-other and then a band that got old called I can't remember.

 We had our boots one like cowgirls do ( we wish we were really cowgirls ) we were for the night!

 Then the star of the show came out and rocked it. It was great we stood up for 2 hours sang our hearts out and danced a ton, along with our  guy who came by himself ....Yikes... he knew every word kind-a-creepy.

Staples center KOBE

Magic Johnson for Dad

At the end of the 2 1/2 hour show that was fabulousoooo we headed over to this Mexican place we saw earlier for some yummo Guacamole!!! Carissa and I love the same things, we ate every last bite.

We went to bed and headed home the next morning. It was so much fun hanging out with Carissa and dancing to tay-tay!

During boys week the girls did this...

Had lunch at Rain Forest Cafe in downtown Disney with Aunt Cathy and Grandma!

 Did a little window shopping... this one was my very favorite, Minnie Ears for the gals!

  Got to visit Lake Arrowhead with Grandma & Grandpa on the annual trip to So Cal  for grand daughters week. The when the girls turn 9 they have gotten to go visit for a few days  in the summer just by themselves but now its 3 girls. they always have soo much fun. With a craft day and shopping how can they go wrong?

 Grandpa and the girls

shopping with Grandma

 Then instead of flying home the girls got to go up to Idaho before landing here at home. So they spent a few days at the Hill family abode,celebrating Alex's birthday, riding on the lawnmower, eating taco's and driving Jon hill nuts at Costco.

Shaved ice in Boise

They two musketeer's!

 And of course these girls love to shop so they spent a day at the mall  in Boise. Shawna was nice enough to spend the day with all those crazy kids and a little baby ! A better mom then me:)

 Then last but not least the Gatchell Crew!!! my girls got to squeeze my best friend!! I am soo jealous they got to see my friends in Idaho  (all but one).  Just looking at this picture gives me tears of joy and a little sadness I miss my dear friends.

here is the whole crew

I am  glad my girls had so much fun in Southern California & Idaho ....I am planning for a big visit next summer when I can leave these dang dogs behind and go on a fabulous family vacation plus add the Phillip's to our route! Until next summer...

Second half of boys week

We spent the day at the Oakland Zoo! The boys go to see all the things they love. Then we let them go to the area were there are rides...they never knew it even existed. You'd think it was Disneyland or something.

Thayne was kind of big for some of the rides but we had fun.

 Then of coarse we topped it off with lunch and Ice cream at Fenton's. Oh boy it was good . I love boys they eat everything, are always happy and love to have fun!

It was a great boys week.  With lots of adventures and just playing time at home mixed with swimming everyday at the pool. The best part was they slept great every night  After bedtime  I had a good 2 hours of quiet time to get caught up on laundry, pick up the house and enjoy some snacks just with Bob:) I forgot how it is when kids go to bed!

Boys Week

As we left the airport on Thursday morning the girls were off on there adventure to visit Grandma & Grandpa along with a trip to Idaho for 2 days, the first thing the boys said as we got into the car...."Can Bradley come over?" really I thought,  oh yes they wanted Bradley to come play with them. Way too funny. I had to tell them he couldn't he had started school and Carissa wasn't even home. He may not want to come play with just them.  "So what !" they replied. They really tried hard to have me call him, and were a bit disappointed when we did not. But this is how we have been enjoying "boy's week."

2 teeth gone in a week  one still had some root...Thayne wanted cash!

Girls camp 2011

This is were I spent my days soaking up the sun, canoeing, swimming to the rock , and chatting with the ladies at camp. I loved spending a quiet morning on the dock while some brave ladies went out fishing.

I caught this one with a canoe...Oops

Girls camp was wonderful as always, it was great to have my hubby there again while He and the girls when out on a 3 day 2 night adventure I stayed in camp and transformed into many Princess, and read lots of stories, while giving lots of mommy hugs to little 1 & 2 year girls.  It will be a year I will never forget. When returning home my little kids all were glad we were back we were missed that always feels good.