Camping

San Simeon was fantastic and a blast for the kids, but man am I tired. We got to the site around noon and set up the chairs, kitchen, table, kid's play tent, family tent and beds. Jesse, Amy and their three kids: Aliyah(6 yrs old), Austin(4 yrs old) and Katie(2 1/2 yrs old), and Eric, Jessica and daughter Kylie(almost 2 yrs old) were already at the campsite. Yes, I did say Eric. Now my husband Eric has three best friends from high school all named Eric; Briggs, Metcalf, and Troxell. So we were joined by Metcalf and his family. The kids immediately started playing so nicely together.

We got settled and took a little walk to get the wiggles out.

We were in the overflow campsite "Washburn" and it was further inland than the main camp.

It was beautiful and you can see below with the whole gang.

Enzo chillin in the sling.

After the walk, we came back to camp and everyone took naps except for my kids. They decided to not sleep for an hour! Enzo was so cranky and Kira was so excited about all the kids and her new friends , she could not wind down. Finally around 4:00 they both were out and everyone else woke up. I let them sleep until 5:30 because I figured they were going to be up late anyways. I got out the bubbles and the kids went to town with them and were busy while we got dinner going. Tri tip, Tofu dogs, grilled veggies and garlic bread surrounded the grill. I do not know what it is about camping the normal dinner always tastes better coming off a campfire grill. As the day slipped away across the ocean and it grew darker, I busted out glow sticks. Oh yeah, I was prepared. Luckily I bought six sticks and there were only six kids. It was great they were running around waving them in the air. At one point they crammed into the small kids tent and hung all the sticks in the middle. Next, of course, we made s'mores. "How can I have some more if I haven't had any yet?"( The Sandlot) I do love a good s'more but it is hard to perfect the perfect mallow. My mom has the best marshmallow roasting sticks that have a handle and turning mechanism that you can regulate how much heat you want on the mallow. Anyways, the kids all had a great time and of course went to sleep as soon as their little grubby heads hit the pillow from running around like crazy monkeys, dirty crazy monkeys.

The adults stayed up, talked and enjoyed Eric(my Eric) jamming on guitar and the fire. I went to bed and slept like a baby...waking up every couple hours. I was so worried Kira was going to be cold and that Enzo was going to cry and wake someone up I slept really light. Finally at around 6:20 I got up and started to make coffee. My hubby left and went surfing. He and his buddy drove to Hazards and were the only two out and surfed for three hours. I scrambled up eggs and the kids woke up around 8:30. We ate tasty blueberries, cantaloupe and eggs. Then Metcalf made pancakes and the kids wolfed those down too.

Even though the glow sticks were no longer glowing the kids were still stoked on them. I packed up our stuff and Eric came back around noon and we packed the car. Metcalf and his family went home to Salinas. Amy, her family, Trydyn(another one of Eric's buddies) and his two kids joined us down on the beach in Cambria. I got out all the sand toys and they all went down to the beach. Amy told Eric I was the best mom because I had the kid's tent, bubbles, glowsticks and sand toys. I simply replied I only know to bring these things because of all my friends. Enzo fell asleep and I stayed in the car with him. He was laying on my chest and we both slept for about a hour. We finally had to get back home. It was such a great time and I was actually really prepared for everything, thanks to my mom and all of her camping equipment. We are planning on doing it again soon.

Here is Aliyah, Enzo, Katie and Kira at the beach.


Enzo loved being surrounded by the ladies!

Wall-e

Friday night Eric and I take Kira to the movies for the first time (with us, she went with Mimi before). We went to Paso Robles Cinema downtown. I got the small special popcorn/drink/candy combo, that came with the jumbo Wall-e cup and bucket. Perfect for the beach or sandbox. What a cute movie, Kira loved it. She sat down between us and we gave her a little portion of popcorn** and she was so thrilled. All I will say about the movie is the first half I started getting worried that the only dialogue was going to "Wall-e" and "Eve". Don't worry folks it isn't the case there are other people in the movie and they talk. It was really funny, adult funny and kid funny. She has been talking about and imitating Eve since then. I would suggest the movie and probably at matinee.

**Disclaimer: When I said that I gave Kira popcorn I just want everyone to know that I watched her like a hawk to make sure she was eating it slowly and with only one piece at a time. Robby, Eric's brother, who is a fireman went on a call to the movie theatre where a two/three year old choked and died on popcorn. So I want everyone to know that I am very careful with her and popcorn and you should be too with your kids. Thanks.

Five Year Anniversary

So Thursday night we (meaning I) made reservations at Madonna Inn's Gold Rush Steak House. It was so delicious and pink!

We went there five years ago for my birthday and it was fantastic. First course we orderd a cheese plate. I asked the waitress (now I am a waitress so I use both terms food server and waiter/waitress) if it was enough to share and she almost laughed at me but said yes. She brings it out and she was not kidding. It had four different cheeses and to huge chunks of each kind and it was only $10.95. The stilton blue cheese was a enormous wedge about two and a half inches wide and five inches long and there were two of them! Yummy. We chipped away at the the starter but were unable to finish it. We then proceeded to order dinner. Eric ordered the Filet and I ordered the Lobster. I know I went big, but only because Eric said I could. It was the best lobster I have ever had and his filet was perfect too. There was a band playing and we danced to one song and it was so sweet and romantic. Then our server brought out the Pink Champagne Cake....ohhhh yeah.Now if you know me, I love to eat and I love to eat really good food and 90% of the time I am very healthy, but on my anniversary I went for it and with no regrets. Dinner was sensational. Eric swears it is the best steak he has ever had and let me tell you he has had his share of good steaks.

The other best part of the date was that since we were planning on going camping this weekend, I forgot about going out for dinner and did not pack anything nice. So my sweetie said I could get an outfit...I really did forget. So I went to one of my favorite bargain stores Ross. I love Ross and there is a reason it is called Ross, dress for less. I found the cutest white dress with green big flowers outlined in black on the skirt and comfy but stylish black sandals for $30.02. What a bargain. I love a good deal and a good deal that does not take all day to find. I was in and out of there in less than thirty minutes.

Anyways the date was wonderful and I brought up the question of what were five "highlights" in the last five years. It was kind of cheesy at first but then it got fun bringing up one highlight and sparking another. A few good highlights were as follows in no particular order:

The Macadamia nut crusted Mahi Mahi at The Beach House in Kauai on our honeymoon.

The birth of Kira and Enzo.

The fact that I caught Enzo when giving birth to him, oh yeah talk about amazing.

My birthday when we went to Pismo beach for lunch and drove up to the top of the mountain range overlooking San Luis Obispo county and then went to Madonna Inn.

Our trip to New Zealand.

Our camping trip to Plasket Creek.

Our camping trip to Catalina Island with Kira when she was three months old.

Those are just a few but it was fun to relive those moments.

What are some of your highlights of being married? Obviously the birth of your children, if you have any, but anything more specific? Let me know.

Vacation!!

We are leaving tonight for the Central Coast and I am so excited. We have not all been up to SLO since last year for Eric's sister's wedding. Kira is ecstatic to see cousins Hobie and Zoe, Eric's brothers kids. She talks about them almost everyday. Eric and I are going to go out for our five year anniversary tomorrow night and Grandparents are watching the kids. That reminds me to make reservations somewhere swanky. Then Friday and Saturday we are camping with four other families up in San Simeon. They are all friends of Eric's from high school. I am so looking forward to making family memories and having fun. We went to Plasket Creek, in Big Sur, two years ago with Kira and it was a blast. Yes of course it is hard to camp with little ones, however if you do not do when they are young then you will probably always put it off until they are older, whenever that is. We will be back on Monday most likely.

On a funny note, when we drive up to SLO it is about a five hour drive. However if Eric drives it can take longer. He likes to stop and get coffee or snacks but never in a timely manner. It is usually right after the kids fall asleep and the they wake up thinking that we are there....Argh.
When I drive it is just go and do not stop unless maybe one potty break or dirty diaper change. That is why we drive at night. We are leaving around 7:00 or 8:00 pm and I will drive to begin and let Eric sleep since he worked today and I already had a little nap.

Okay, I am off to pack and to have a blast!!

Pear Budget Giveaway

Simple Mom is giving away a lifetime subscription to Pear Budget!
I signed for the free 30 day trial, which was so nice you did not have to give any credit card info for the trial. Usually the company will take you credit card information and at the end of the trial if you forgot you signed up and did not cancel they will charge you. I do not know how many times I have done that or I try to cancel and they still charge me. I am very thankful to actually have a free trial!

Anyways to sign up for the giveaway here is what you need to do:
Go to her site and follow these direction she gave.

In order to win, simply enter a comment in simple mom post! In your comment, please tell me your best cheap date idea. To enter a second time, subscribe to Simple Mom’s feed by either RSS or by email, and email me the secret code you see at the bottom of all the posts (see here if you want further explanation). You don’t have to be a new subscriber to get a second entry - just email me the code! To get a third entry, post about this giveaway on your blog, and let me know about it.

That’s it! This is obviously open to worldwide readers, since there’s no shipping involved. And you don’t need a blog to enter, but you need to make sure you provide a valid email address with your entry.

This contest will be open until Wednesday, June 25 at midnight Pacific Standard Time.

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• Pear Budget giveaway secret code: bananas

Swimming Pool

Today was such a beautiful day and I wanted to take the kids to the pool.

But then I start thinking how am I going to watch two little ones?
Solution:
Swimming pool $8.44
an umbrella stand $7.47
pool toys $3.97

Look on their little faces when they sit in their own personal pool

Priceless

Devotion

The gal from Simple mom has inspired me to get up earlier. Which means going to bed earlier! I went to sleep last night a 11:00 pm and woke up at 6:30. I was so excited to wake up and have my devotion time and get ready for the day. However, as you know having little ones, things never go as planned. Enzo woke up at 6:35 and Kira at 6:45. We went downstairs and I made smoothies. I brought my bible and prayer journal. Kira was asking about my books. She wanted to see my bible and I asked if she wanted to read with me and she was so very excited. We read

	PSALM 100 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. MAKE a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
	Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
	Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
	Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
	For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

I was so blessed by her in her response to the scripture. I explained each verse and we talked about it. When I asked what she was thankful for she replied, "For Jesus, because He loves us." Doesn't that just melt your heart.

Journal

I have had such a great time getting into this whole blogging thing. There are a few blogs that I have started to read on a regular basis and I love what these ladies have to say. Owlhaven is great and I love her style of writing. She has TEN kids and is amazing. Simple mom is another great site. She has inspired me to journal again. Not just a prayer journal, I already try to do that with my devotion but a daily journal of life. Meaning just write a little note of things that occurred during the day. She had a link to a beautiful site Holy Experience and she has a visual homemaking journal that is gorgeous and peaceful to look at.

So I went to Micheal's and bought a blank journal, (I used a gift card if you are thinking about my recent post about consumerism). I cut out pictures from magazines that were laying around. I cut out about twenty or so with the idea I will not always be able to clip and paste that day. So why not make this process easy and have an arrangement of pictures to choose from daily. I want to document what the kids are doing. I started last night with an entry about the kids. It was great because I wrote what Enzo did in therapy and what type of sentences Kira is saying. I wish I would have thought to journal Enzo's progress...oh well. I know I was so overwhelmed in the beginning I do not think I would have had time to.

Well I am excited to write again and get some of the random thoughts down, we will see how it goes.

Ahhh

Life is slowly coming together. Our room is almost all unpacked and put away. It is so hard to get anything done with two little ones. I think we will be just fine living here for a while. I love having my mom around, she is soooo helpful with the kids. It is so great to see them interact with her and Andy. They love their Mimi and Papa.

Enzo's Brace

Today Enzo got his Dennis Brown Brace for sleeping. It is two shoes connected by a bar and the shoes are positioned with the feet turned out at a 45 degree angle. He is supposed to wear them when he sleeps. The guy who made the bar showed me how to put it on and recommended we just start out with him using it at nap time. He also said it is easier to put on once he falls asleep.

So we got home and he finally falls asleep. It took me about ten minutes to get the shoes on. I will take a picture hopefully tomorrow, I can not find my camera since the move. I hope this helps with the bowing of his leg. I hope he will actually wear it as much as possible too. We will have to see.

30 Days of Nothing

Alright so I read this blog about 30 days of nothing and it really struck a cord with me. Basically this lady was talking about going for thirty days without buying anything other than your basic needs. It is a fast from consumerism. Wow, especially here in Southern Orange County where it is all about consumerism. I honestly do not know if I would be able to do this. I want to try though, I think it will be a good lesson for myself and Kira too. I am going to pray about doing it July 1st.

To be totally honest I thought about doing it just for the next week and I am feeling pretty silly that I can not even do that because of other arrangements. For instance, I have a haircut appointment, it is my brother's birthday party at a restaurant on Wednesday, we are camping for the weekend in the Central Coast....and so on. I think this is going to be very difficult. I think if I really get organized and realize what will be difficult and over come those issues in the next month

I bet I can do it. I don't think sleeping in the same room will be an issue as we already do that. Maybe we will eat rice one day for every meal. I think it will be the little things that will get me. I do not go and get coffee every morning and I do not eat out that much but we do occasionally.

I also want to make it clear that I am not doing this as a holier than thou thing by any means. I want to do this to get a perspective to where my priorities are. Especially when we are trying to save every penny. I know it will change me and I hope it at least gets someone els thinking too.

We Moved!!

It is official, we have moved from our apartment and into my parents place. Whoa, am I tired. We started moving on Thursday and took our last load this morning. I did not think that it would take this long, however with two kids and a weekend job, man did it take forever. If it was not for my mom watching the kids the majority of the time it would have taken even longer. I had to work Friday and Saturday night so I could only do so much. I am pooped.
Yesterday when Eric and I were making our second to last trip I asked him what he had learned from this move, besides the fact that we have way too much stuff. He replied, "I have learned not to take anything free from someone just because it is free and not to get things to fix up if you you don't have the means or the time to do so. Isn't that the truth! So often I will take things people are giving away because, first I don't have it and I "might" need it and second I think it is a bargain, free does not necessarily mean free. Especially when you are paying almost $200 a month for a storage space for stuff that you do not really need and was at first free but now has cost you way more in time and energy.
I am ready to just give away everything. I know there are people that could be using these items that really need them and can not afford them. This next week I am continuing the purging of my "stuff". I would love to know how the non-pack rat lives. Or if there was an efficient way of going through things and keeping what is important not necessarily everything.