Like, Oh My God! Fer Sure! We're Going to the Galleria!

Sometimes, I'm just out. Out of ideas. Out of patience. Out of my mind.

On a recent Saturday, I found myself without any plans since I had put the entire day on hold in anticipation of a soccer game. By the time we found out the time of the game, it was too late to plan a play date or some other worthwhile distraction. With Kevin out of town, I was on my own to find an adventure for the kids to keep them from killing each other by hanging around the house all day.

So, I thought - The Bus! They're always wanting to ride trains or buses and I thought a quick little trip on our local line to the pier and back would be a great outing.

Except for the part where we waited 15 minutes at the bus stop behind the South Bay Galleria, only to learn that, on the weekends, Beach Cities Transit only runs every 70 minutes. Right.

I needed a new plan.

Luckily, these kids are easy and I'm a quick thinker. We turned around, went into the mall and spent the next hour riding the little train in the food court, and then the escalators and elevators. This may have been the smartest thing I've ever done.



I even had snacks on hand for a nice little break:

Everybody Grows Up

It seems like just yesterday that Holden transitioned from the crib to his big boy bed. But, here we are again, finding Riley outgrowing the crib and needing a new place to rest his weary head. So, as is the norm with Riley, at least until the day he catches on and starts to protest, his first Big Boy Bed is really Holden's old one, and Holden got a new Bigger Boy Bed. As a younger sibling myself, I know how patentedly unfair it is that all new things for Riley are actually old things for Holden. Luckily, he hasn't caught on yet.

He may have got a used bed, but Grandma Sheila and Grandpa Steve made the transition new and special by buying both boys new bedding sets!


Once Holden's old bed, uh, er, Riley's new bed was in place, it was time to take on building Holden's new loft/fort bed. The guy at the store said this was one of their most popular and it would be a breeze to put together. Sort of. Kind of. Not really. But it gave the Men a chance to build something together, and that's always fun bonding time.
We took a break from the beds to have lunch and belatedly celebrate Grandpa Steve's birthday:

Then, it was time to break in the new beds with a nap. Riley didn't actually nap that day as much as he flopped around and got in and out all afternoon. But since then, he's adjusted. I haven't had the chance yet to "accidentally" fall asleep while putting him down for a nap - one of my favorite afternoon treats. I'm looking forward to it, though.
Holden's bed does more than give him a place to sleep. He loves his "fort' underneath, where he keeps a blanket and a little couch, along with a chest of drawers containing all his "treasures." We don't require Holden to nap anymore since he doesn't at school, but we do require an afternoon rest time. He usually goes into his fort and colors or looks at books. Once, though, he actually fell asleep down there and it was so cute!

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!

There is a lot more to soccer than just playing soccer. It's been a frenzy of activity for several weeks leading up to Holden's first AYSO soccer game on Sept. 12. It's amazing that such an old, established organization could be just so unorganized. But, just in time for his first game, Holden got his uniform and was so excited to put it on. I'm just glad we started early. Kevin (the assistant coach) was out of town and it was up to me to figure out how the shin guards work. As if I've ever worn shin guards before. Here's the team, The Bandits, coached by Dave. His son is Christopher (standing), then there's Michael next to him and Anthony in front, along with Holden.
They practice for about a half hour, then have a half-hour game on Saturdays. It's a lot of hassle for an hour a week, but worth it to watch the determination and drive Holden and his teammates showed.

Before the game started, Coach Dave gave The Bandits a little talk about how it's not about winning. In Holden's division, three boys play for each team at a time. The game is four, five-minute quarters. And they don't keep score.
At the kick-off, Holden had the ball and scored within seconds!
I actually don't know what the end score was. Let's just say The Bandits kicked ass with a lot of goals to none by The Bionicles. We missed the second game, but are looking forward to playing again Saturday.

Boy's Week

My friend Russell was in Portland over Labor Day weekend with his wife and figured what the heck - might as well keep going to Santa Cruz. In a 1974 VW van. And he almost made it with no problems. He stopped for gas about 10 miles from the camp site and when he tried to leave, it wouldn't start. He conned someone into a push start and finally made it. Fortunately, Santa Cruz is the old VW capitol of the world and we found a guy the next day who knew everything about those things. But not after I had to push start it. We surfed for three days in terrible waves but had a blast. We camped all three nights and Russell introduced me to my two new favorite things. Molkky and Pie Irons. Molkky is a simple Finnish game with a great deal of strategy. I started off a little slow, but ended up kicking some ass. Pie irons are the camping version of a sandwich maker and are a lot of fun with a little creativity and alcohol.

For the last day we went to Pinnacles National Monument for a little climbing. A little climbing was all we could handle due to not having climbed in many years. A 5.9, 5.8, and a two pitch 5.4 later we were done. All in all, an awesome week. I can't wait to do it again.

More Than 600 Photos Taken and Not One of the Girl in the Orange Bikini

The one thing that always amazes me about our camping trips is just how dirty the kids manage to get. Within seconds of arriving in the mountains near Big Bear last weekend, I already knew their socks were destined for the trash bin. And that's just the start of it.

But we continue to go. I have to admit, my enthusiasm for the trip was pretty lackluster. What I was really seeing ahead of me was three days of the same work I do at home... just with a lot of dirt, struggle and hassle. Of course, as always, I'm super glad we went and had a great time. Nature is good and all, but it is definitely the company that makes the adventure worthwhile.

Holden was one of four 5-year-olds along this time, but the only boy in that age range. It was a bit hard for him sometimes cause he thought no one wanted to play "his" games. But everyone loved playing T-ball and soccer, and everyone improved in our dirt field.

Cassidy, a veteran of our trips now:

On our "hike," the kids were more into running from water spigot to water spigot and making huge splashes. That is, until us environmentally-conscious adults came along and ruined the fun with all our water conservation talk.

Kevin and Josh look like they're discussing something serious. Chances are, though, that the word "boob" or "boobs" is actually somewhere in that conversation:

I love how Brenny is totally off the ground as he runs here:

What would camping be without s'mores? Not only are they yummy, but they made a good bribery tool for every family at least some point during the weekend. Here is Maya with her sticky creation:

Hallie and Maya were school chums until last month, since both are starting kindergarten:

Kevin did some night photography experimentation:

This was how the kids ate most their meals. There was lots of wiggling, spills and whining:

On our second day, we took an outing to a river about three miles up the road. Everyone did some foot wading in the icy stream while I took the boys to a secluded spot for the favorite activity of throwing rocks. There is nothing more satisfying than a good "plop" in the water.

We paused for some family photos in the cold water. The Messingers:

The Fayes:

The Williamses:

Josh teaching Brenny some VERY important skillz:

Cassidy making her dad laugh:

Pretty much every time I turned around, Riley was doing this:

Somewhere on Day 2, I realized Maya had attached herself to me. It was kind of a nice change of pace, and Riley wasn't too jealous:

This is what happens when a 3-year-old gets into the markers and, while all the adults notice, they are too lazy to do anything about it. Sade's feeling blue:

The Moms took turns doing some tag-team parenting when the kids were in need of direction or distraction. I brought glue and we found flowers and twigs to make some art. The girls did a really great job, but I couldn't get the boys interested for more than a few minutes.

He cooks like this at home, too. Hello? You're holding the tongs!

Holden has no shame. With a gaggle of giggling girls right there, he didn't hesitate to whip it out and relieve himself. Denis looks as if he's been there, done that.

Kevin took some pretty photos on the second night and had planned to go get some later with Josh. Their motivation, though, somehow disappeared. That's OK, they both get a "thumbs up" from me.

Our last meal on the last morning. The adults generally hovered around the food table picking at whatever and catering to our demanding children's needs. The coffee was great, though. Thanks to Malcolm and Susan of the Past for remembering it!

We took a zillion of these, but could not get Brenny to look up even once, for a second. They're all so cute, though, and they were great campers:

Yes, you might see this photo again in December:

The whole gang: