Donut Falls

On Saturday, we took the kids on a hike to Donut Falls. It's about 3/4 a mile, but seemed so much further since the trail was rocky and it was mostly uphill. Poor little Jenna didn't feel well, but she still made it about halfway up on her own. She's got a nasty head cold.Jarren was so thrilled to go "camping!" He was a trooper. And of course, Kendall and Kristen were in heaven.The campsites nearby were all full, we we went back down to the canyon a couple of miles to a picnic site--a bunch of tables with fire rings along the river. We roasted hot dogs and the kids played hide and seek (on the opposite side of the river). There were lots of loose rocks, but the kids had a blast! And it was pretty shady too. We're hoping to get out camping once or twice this summer. We all love it!

"When I Grow Up"

Kendall is busy with his friends and school right now. But I call him Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (not to his face of course). I swear one minute he's the sweetest kid in the world and then next minute, he's turned into a monster. Over little things (like Jarren asking which food he should eat with his fork and which he should use his spoon for) and big things (like not wanting to go to bed). Then the next minute, he's back into a sweet boy. I guess it's his teenage self showing glimpses of what's to come, even though he's not quite 10 yet. Let me just say that I'm scared to death for him being a teenager!!!

Kristen is so helpful and sweet. She is such a good big sister (most of the time). She, too, is busy with her friends and school. She's wanted to be a vet when she grows up for a long time now, but after going on a field trip to a vet, she now wants to be a fashion designer. When Jon asked her why, she said that she didn't want to hurt animals and sometimes you have to in order to help them. Very tenderhearted. But she gets super emotional and overreacts a lot (can I say "drama queen?"), so I'm scared for her to be a teen as well. :)

Jarren makes me laugh. The other day he said, "Mom, do you know what kind of job I'm going to do when I grow up?" I asked what and he said, "I'm going to help you pick weeds!" Hahahaha! That's a good way to support a family. Then he changed his mind and said, "Well, that's when I grow up to be 7. When I grow up to be bigger (notice he said bigger) than Daddy, I'm going to be...... (drum roll please) BATMAN!" Wow! An even better way to support a family. But hey, maybe he'll get all the crime off the streets and make the world safer for us all. Then just this morning he informed me that all he wants to be when he grows up is a daddy. Hopefully that means he won't be a deadbeat dad, since that's ALL he wants to be. But still.....how sweet!

Jenna has no idea what she wants to be, but she'd be great as a mom or a librarian, since all she wants to do lately is swing and read. She's obsessed (almost to the point of it being scary) with books. She'll put a stack so big in her bed to read that she can hardly fit in there. I'll try and get a picture of it to post. She stalls bedtime so much with reading that I have to turn out her light and she's still turning pages in the dark for awhile. Then she's asleep (usually) in minutes. She's also started trying to grow herself up faster--she often tells me she's 3 or 5 or 8 or 10. She knows she's 2, but I guess she wants to be older.

Well....that's what the future holds for us so far. It'll be interesting to see how it all really turns out.

Reasons Why I'm Not A 2nd Grade Teacher....

All I can say to all the teachers out there is: WAY TO GO!!! And GOOD FOR YOU!!!

I went on a field trip with Kristen's class today--2nd grade obviously. They do these walking field trips at the end of the year and today's was the long one. We went to this Karate place across the street from the school. Then we walked about a mile to a local grocery store. The kids were really hungry by that point, because it was around their normal lunchtime. They gave them a potato wedge, a cookie, and an apple. We then walked two blocks to the library and then had lunch at the park right there. After that, it was on to see a demonstration by a cop and SWAT team member and then a visit to City Hall. Then we had the dreaded, slightly inclined, long, HOT, walk back to the school.

As for the title of this entry....
#1 They don't listen to me. "Stay on the sidewalk please!" as one girl tries to jump in front of a car. Talk about heart failure!
#2 I feel like I'm nagging. "C'mon, pick up your feet. If I pass you up, I'm going to hold your hand and drag you back. Faster! Faster!" as about 1/3 of the class drags along soooo slowly I feel like I've melted into a puddle on the sidewalk. We were only about 1/2 a block behind the rest of the group. Yes, I was the lucky one who got to bring up the rear. Oh, and then the kids start trying to hitchhike. Wouldn't that have been funny if one of their parents was driving by?
#3 I don't have the patience. There were 8 girls and 12 boys and a lot of the boys were just sooooo rowdy and crazy! They were asking the cops if they could try on the handcuffs and I almost begged them to lock the kids up for awhile.
#4 I'm too tired.

One boy was sooo funny. He was being so naughty and the teacher said, "Do I have to call the principal and have her come and get you?" He was one of the biggest draggers too. He said no, but if I were him, I would've said YES so I didn't have to walk back. :)

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Batman??

Jarren goes through phases faster than I can blink my eyes sometimes. First it was Star Wars, then Indiana Jones, and now it's Batman. He still likes the others, but just adds to them I guess. He's been saving his money up and decided to buy this new costume (in preparation for Halloween I might add--his idea, not mine).What can I say but, Holy Torpedoes Batman! He bought this mega cape that's like a backpack and you pull a string and the wings pop out. There are two strings you pull that reel the wings back in. Lots of excitement on our street today. He sat out on the curb opening and closing the wings for about an hour. Now we just need someone for him to rescue or a crime to solve.

On to Jenna....I'm not so sure this new bed is a good thing for her. For some reason, this is where she ended up the last two nights:In case it's not obvious, she ends up in our bed and totally stretches out so there's about 8 inches left for us. Maybe I should shut her door tightly or put a deadbolt on it or something. I guess I could set her crib up again. Or maybe if I got her a really big girl bed, she'd think it was ours and stay in it. Hmmm.....I doubt it.

Nostalgia

There are some milestones that Jenna meets that I don't have a problem with. For example, sleeping through the night; learning to talk so I get some idea of what she wants/needs; learning to sit, crawl, walk; and stuff like that. There are other things that I have a hard time with. Weaning her was hard for me to do. And sleeping in a big girl bed is another.
Yesterday Jarren and I took her crib apart and set up the toddler bed while she was napping (in my room). I was worried about how she would do but she LOVES it!!! She kept saying, "I go to bed now" and then she'd go in there and read a book. When she was done with the book, she'd come back out and said, "I awake now."I guess the bed rail broke (and I didn't know about it) so we moved her book shelf over there to block half of the bed, but she still ended up on the floor sometime during the night. She slept in there all night though! I just get kind of nostalgic thinking of my last baby growing up way too fast.

A Travel Log of Germany

First of all, the pictures don't have captions. My sister pointed out that if you click on the pictures, it takes you to the site where you can view the captions there. Then you'll know what the pictures are about.

We left early in the morning on June 3 and got home late on June 12. It was a long time to be away from the kids! We could NOT have done it without our moms helping us out! THANK YOU!!!!

About Germany....it was very green while we were there--not much in the way of grass, but lots of vegetation, trees, fields (out in the country) and plants. We stayed in Kleinmachnow, a city just outside of Berlin. I went to a bus stop just down the street from the hotel and got on the bus and went to the S-Bahn (commuter train). I rode that downtown--it was so easy and convenient. I actually remembered enough German to get around, surprisingly enough. :)

I toured downtown Berlin for 4 days and then Jon and I went about an hour North to Chorin and Brodowin one day. Jon and I hiked around a lake and in the forest and took in some of the sites and sights. I spent another day in Potsdam, which is near Kleinmachnow, and walked around the Sanssouci park. There are some neat palaces, houses, and statues there. On our last day, we went to Dresden, about 2 hours to the South. Dresden is near the Festung Konigstein (fortress) and the Bastei Bruke (Bridge) and we spend a long time walking around those places.

Some things I liked---the sidewalks are very large. In Berlin, they are large enough to have outdoor cafes and bikes and people on them. Outside of Berlin, they are divided into two paths--one half for pedestrians and one half for bicycles. They usually had one half in gray and one half in red. The cobblestone streets were so quaint! I love how easy it is to use public transportation. The people we met or talked to were very nice. Oh, and you can stay as long as you want at a restaurant--there's NO pressure to hurry up and leave.

Some things I didn't like---every drink is lukewarm and if you ask for water, you get mineral (fizzy) water. I don't think they know how to make ice. :) There are no drinking fountains anywhere. And you have to pay to use the bathroom pretty much everywhere--even if it's a port-a-potty. Berlin is built on a marsh, so you'd occasionally smell that marsh-stink coming up through the street. There's also no such thing as air conditioning. And it's humid there too.

I can't just pick one favorite thing that I saw or did. If I could choose two, I guess they would be going to the bridge and fortress and seeing some of these places in Berlin that have been standing for ages! BEAUTIFUL buildings! I am soooo amazed that they could come up with things like that and construct them before modern day technology. And all the statues on that one palace? How in the world did they get them up there?? It was an amazing trip and I would LOVE to go back again someday.

Pictures from Germany

We're Back!!

We got back last night from our FABULOUS 10 day trip to Germany!!! It was a fun trip, but we did really miss the kids a lot.

I have so many pictures to go through and label and so much to write about and so much to do here at home, so just look for more to come. I'll get to it--I promise.