Legos!

We love Legos. Yesterday, we went to a Lego building event at the Mall. They were building a two story Yoda out of Legos and anyone could help. The only problem is that I am kind of "lego challenged". I can't seem to follow the directions and get all the pieces where they are supposed to be! The kids were better at it than I am!! Cameron is in Lego camp this week ans there were 20 boys signed up. And not one girl. None. It made me sad. Gracie likes them almost more than Cameron! I will sign her up when she is old enough...
Here is a small version of the Yoda they were building

Children's Playground

Today we visited the newly revamped Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park. This playground is thought to be the first playground in the United States, opening in 1887. Here is what it used to look like:

Here are some pictures of it now:




That is only half of it!There is a cool rock climbing wall and sand and water area. It is a great park, but it was so crowded, it made it difficult to watch both children...I hope some of it's popularity dies down...Cameron's favorite part was the huge cement slide.

I will definitely go back, but with Scott to help!

Bad Kitty!

It's good to be home...

I love vacations, but it's always good to come home. The entire set of Mexico Pictures is Here. Here are some pictues from our weekend...

Swimming with Dolphins (well, almost!)

We went out today with a Marine Biologist to see and possibly swim with dolphins. We saw so many, at one time they were all around the boat! It was amazing. They came right up to the boat and swam in front of it. But most of them were mother's with Babies and they were very protective of them (understanbably). So whenever we got in the water, they swam away. But it was still an incredible trip...

Crazy Kayakers and rock climbing...

More fun here! Only two more days, but tomorrow we swim with dolphins-in the ocean! I'm a litle scared, but mostly excited. Here's what we've been doing...

When in Rome...I actually love her hair braided, because you can see more of her face.

Hola, again!

OK, that last post was kind f a joke. Gotta love Babel fish! All of my blogger toolbar is in spanish, however. It's a good thing I have that memorized! We are having a geat time. Basically staying in our bathing suits all day, only getting out of the pool or ocean to eat! It's a good thing, too, because I haven't felt heat like this since China in August of 2004. This morning we went kayaking, which was so fun, until a wave tipped us over and Cameron got stuck under the kayak...then he said he never wanted to do it again! He has bee amazing on the boogie board, though. I think he could learn to surf pretty easily someday. Well, gotta go. Gracie and I are taking a break in the room from the sun. I swear we have gone through a whole bottle of sun screen so far...Adios!

Hola!

¡Hola, amigos! ¡Estamos teniendo un gran rato! ¡el nadar, comiendo, boogie que sube, comiendo, pirata envía, comiendo... tiempos de.fun!! ¡Aquí está mi pics del favorito!

Things I've been doing to keep my mind off the fact I am NOT on vacation...

Internet shopping for all those things I didn't think I'd have time to buy before we left...(Zappos is so cool! I ordered these at 8:00 Thursday night and got them Friday morning!)
Watching the moon rise, and thinking how much cooler it wold be in Mexico...
Hiking with the family...
Rewashing and repacking...
Generally counting the days until Tuesday...

The vacation that wasn't...

We are supposed to be sitting on a beach in Mexico. Right. Now. But when we got to the ticket counter (after a looonnng line), they told us that we could not go to Mexico with Grace because she only has a Chinese passport. Now, I'm sure we should have checked this out more, but our travel agent said it would be fine. We had the certificate of citizenship, the Chinese birth certificate and the adoption decree. She assured us that would be fine. And even Cameron (and me) crying about it didn't help. So we went directly to the U.S. passport office for a long day of waiting for a passport. Well, the San Francisco passport office rocks! after only an hour and a half, we will have a passport by 6:00PM. The bad news is that all the flights are booked. we could go standby, but I can't go through that again and not get on the plane! So we leave Tuesday. It's no the end of the world...Here is a picture of us watching a movie on the DVD player at the passport office!


Don't we look happy??
This is costing us a thousand dollars-ugg!

What have we done?

Last week Cameron went to Basketball camp. He seemed to like it, but maybe I should have known something was up, because when I picked him up he would be laying in the middle of the court.But when I asked him, he said he liked it. So I signed him up for a league. Onece a week, on a team. He started saying he didn't want to do it, but I thought he would be fine once he got there. Scott even took off early to see his first game. When we got there, and he saw how many people were on the bleachers watching, he started to cry and didn't want to play. So we watched for a while, and he did go in for a few minutes. I was sitting there cringing at how awkward and uncomfortable he looked and I said to Scott "You know, I hated team sports as a child". And he says "Yeah, me too". And I thought "Oh my God, what did we do??". Why do we push these things on our kids? Now I am not sure what to do. I don't want him to learn that he can quit anytime he doesn't like something...So I told him that we will go to all the games and at least watch and cheer for his team (who are all great basketball players and it's way more competitive than I thought). And never make him do it again!

Ahhh, Summer!

First time off the high dive!




And a cute one of Gracie

I am a crafting slacker

I haven't finished last months Get your craft on, which was flowers. And I haven't started this months which is buttons. I actually did do last months, but I didn't like the way it turned out. I made pillow covers with an Amy Butler fabric for our couch pillows. But I didn't use a pattern, and I don't like it. Here it is. Then I was going to do fun button hair clips for June, but someone already did it. I may still do it, because it's cute. I feel like I am either really motivated to do crafty stuff and get a lot done, or I do nothing....I need inspiration!

Oh, how quickly they grow...(No, not the kids)

The Kitties! Remember when they were so tiny? They are growing by leaps and bounds. They get into everything. yesterday,I opened the pantry and found this. I don't know how long they had been in there, but apparently, they decided to go to sleep until I let them out! This weekend, we will surrender "Happy" to his new home. I feel immense guilt about this. They love each other so much. But I promised him to a friend, and we really don't need two cats. We will get to visit and maybe even have "Kitty play dates"!

Fun in St. Louis

Home and Happy Father's Day!

We made it home safe and sound. The kids were really great travelers. I think next time I will get one more DVD player, thanks for the advice! What a fun way to kick off summer! Great friends, seeing fire flies (for the first time), slip n slides, lemonade stands, going to the top of the Arch, and seeing huge Clydesdale horses. I have a ton of pictures to upload, when I find the time.
Happy Father's Day to my Scott and my Dad! Dad, as usual, your present is on it's way!

We made it!

It wasn't nearly as bad as I feared! The kids were great. FYI...Direct on Southwest does NOT mean Nonstop. I knew it didn't take five hours to get to MO!

Headed to Missouri

What is in Missouri, you ask? My very best friend with her 3 children, the third I have not met! I was very excited. I thought I was prepared. I bought a DVD player, with two sets of head phones. I bought coloring books. I bought lollipops. I bought a new Leapster L Max cartridge. Then I looked at my itinerary. Do you know how long it takes to get From Ca to Mo??? Five hours and 20 minutes. Five Hours. On a plane with a 5.5 and 3.5 year old. By myself. How did I not know this? I mean, really, I thought it only took 4 hours to get from the West Coast to the East coast. I think I might need more lollipops...

Now back to our regularly sceduled programing...

We went to the Haight Ashbury Art Festival today. It wasn't quite as,er,family friendly as I though it might be. But it was still fun. Here are some pictures...

Since I am taking a break from my own blog while visiting my sister, I decided to hijack hers. Lisa and Scott are out and I am babysitting, so there is nothing she can do about it. Mwahahahahaha! I have some photos to upload, but here are some highlights of our trip so far:
-Coming up here to visit was definitely the cure for the doldrums I was feeling at home with nothing to do. It has been Go, Go, Go since we got here! I don't think I could keep up with this family for more than a week.
-A couple of days ago on a visit to Target, Gracie had a COW over I can't even remember what and was so busy screaming she forgot to tell us she had to go to the bathroom and when I picked her up she peed all over me. Lovely. She continued to scream for another twenty minutes and people were staring at us and I had pee all over me for the rest of the day until we went home. Fun stuff.
-Today we went to the pool and Gracie laid her towel on the chair next to me and said "I'm gonna sit right here and have another beer in Mexico." Ha! (If you aren't into Country music, it is a song by Kenny Chesney of the same name)
-In the car, the following conversation took place:
Gracie: "When you gonna grow a baby in your tummy Aunt Shell?"
Me: "Oh, Aunt Michelle can't grow a baby in her tummy. My babymaking parts are gone."
Cameron chimes in with : "Well when are you going to China to get Sophie?"
Me: "Not for a long, long time."
Cameron: "Why don't you just take Gracie?"
Me: "Gracie, would you like to come live with Aunt Michelle and Uncle Joe?"
Gracie: "Yes!"
Well O.K. then. I guess that's settled. Now I just have to get Lisa and Scott to agree! :)
-At the pool today I sat in the sun and watched the kids swim for over two hours and forgot to put sunscreen on(Smacks self in forehead) and I got FRIED. Duh! I forgot to put sunscreen on Cameron too(I'll make a great Mother someday), but luckily he wears long shorts and a swimshirt so it was just his face that got burnt.
-Right before bed Lisa and Scott's dog slammed Gracie into the stair banister and she hurt her shoulder. She was crying when I put her to bed and I came upstairs and she cried for forty minutes before it occurred to me that her arm might actually be injured and I went down to check on it. I thought she was crying because she didn't want to go to sleep. Yeah, I think I might be up for an "Aunt of the Year" award.(Her arm turned out to be fine. She said she was crying because she wanted her Mommy. I am such a caring, sensitive Aunt.)
-I have tons of photos to post, including some cute kitten pictures and some Monkey Lovin'. You'll just have to wait and see.

Hmmm...it is much easier to find things to post about when it isn't my blog. I may have to hijack Lisa's blog more often!

Pre-K Graduation...

WIth Aunt Michelle and Papa




Today was Cameron's Pre-K Graduation. I can't believe he will be in Kindergarten next year! Time flies, I tell you. I cried. Something about those cute little kids singing does it to me every time...

Somebody stop the (Birthday) Maddness!!

Is is the season? Is it the weather?? We have seriously had 2 or more birthday parties every weekend for the past two months. I, for one never need to see Safari Run, again. And the presents! My God, the presents! What kid needs 30 presents for their 4th birthday?? Not mine! I don't have room in our house. We have always kept our parties pretty low key. At a park. With a treasure hunt. No bounce houses,clowns or ponies over here. But it's getting hard to keep up, when the kids are invited to these kind of parties. And the pinata? Really, who thought of this? Hey, I know, let's get 30 kids hopped up on sugar and then give them a baseball bat.. And watch them trample each other to get more candy than they could possibly eat in a year. Sounds fun! So I made a deal. I told the kids they could have a party at one of these party playhouse type places if they have it together. Their birthdays are 6 weeks apart, so it seems reasonable. I'll let you know how it goes...

Priorities

This morning while pouring my coffee, this conversation took place:
Gracie-"Can I please have chocolate milk?"
Me- "We are out of milk"
Her- "Why do we always have coffee, but no milk??"(said indignantly!)
Me- "Priorities, honey"

An Interview...

Nino, from one of my favorite blog Cease cows, Life is short, asked if anyone wanted to be interviewed by her. So here are the questions and answers..
1. How did you and Scott meet?
We met in Mexico on Spring break! He asked me to dance and I said no! He sat down and we started talking. That was 16 years ago
2. Did you always want children? How many?
I always wanted children. At one time I wanted 10! Then I really wanted twins, until I had one! I think 3 would be good.

3. What is the greatest life lesson you've learned as a Mother?
To let the little things go (although I am still working on it) Have fun every day with your kids.
4. Do you like where you live (city)? Do you think you'll always be there? Oh, I love it here. But it doesn't have good schools and we may not be able to afford to move to a house with good schools. We have considered moving and Texas is one of the places we considered...

5. What is it about photography that excites you, what about it do you love the most?
I just love to capture people's emotion. I also love taking pictures of beautiful scenery...

Memorial day hike

My new obsession...

Digital scrapbooking. Now if only I had a 12 x 12 printer...(this one is 8x10)

A day off...

Listen! Do you her that? It's nothing! It is quiet here. I have only taken one day off all year, and last night I wasn't feeling so good (I swear!), so I called a sub and now the kids are at school, the babysitter is picking them up and I am alone! I have the babysitter a few hours a week so I can run errands and things, but it is very rare that I am home by myself. What should I do for the next 4 hours? I'm sure I'll think of something.
On another note, I can't believe I didn't mention this, but guess what I got for Mother's Day? (besides the camera, I know, i am spoiled!) This. I know what your thinking. What about the allergies? The Asthma?? Well, I talked with my Doctor, and the last time we had a cat was 13 years ago in Houston. He thinks my asthma may have had more to do with the humidity than the cat. My asthma has been under control for a while and he can always put me on a new medication. So we now have two kids, a dog, and a cat! The kids are having so much fun with her! (And me , too) Cameron's friend from school is taking the other one as soon as they get back from a trip, so we will get to see him occasionally, too. We named her "Lucky" because she is lucky we found her and we are lucky to have her! Ok, off to do something constructive with my day off (or not).

Baby pictures!

This weeks Family Foto Challenge is baby pictures! I don't have many baby pictures, and I couldn't find any without my twin in them! Can you tell us apart? Then, I had to put one of Scott, because he was so darn cute!

You know your husband has been working too much when...

He is actually home when the kids get up (rare, he leaves very early). He says to the Kids, "Let's go up and eat breakfast". And Cameron says "All together? Hey, it's almost like we're a family!"

Playing around with my new software...

We have been just too busy around here! I hope your Mother's Day was great. We went for bagels, then walked around the Farmer's market. Then Gracie and I went to a birthday party(she didn't realize it was Mother's Day when she planned it!) But it was actually relaxing. Then out to dinner. It is nearing the end of the school year and I am ready for a break. This first year back to work has been fun, but challenging. Having Gracie in my class proved to be harder than I expected. And then there is the extremely violent child that the other parents want kicked out, but his parents think it is all the other kids fault. Arrg!
Here is a scrapbook page I did with Lumapix. I love this program!

Mom

THis weeks Friday Foto challenge is Moms. I only have this badly scanned picture on my computer. I will scan more and make it pretty later. But I miss my mom. I think of her on Mother's day, especially. I wish she could have met her grand kids. They would have loved her.

I had to try it...

Well, here is my 1st collage.Mary-Mia and Donna went on about how great it was, that I had to get it too. I love it!(it's LumaPix Foto Fusion)

Mother's Day Gifts.

I am so lucky!

More Kitty adorableness(yes, that's a word!)

Even Buster loves them! We are having a great time with them and I think I have found them homes. We wil miss them:(

Operation Kitten Rescue

So, it is beautiful here today and we are sitting on the deck. The kids are playing in the little pool and I hear something. I shush everyone and it sounds like a very young kitty. I go look over the fence and can't see anything. this happens four or five more times (shhh! Did you hear that?? I get up on the gate to look. nothing) Scott is now getting annoyed. It is just some one's cat! he says. But I knew it was a very young cat and that cry meant it was lost or in trouble. So I decide to go look around the neighbor hood. Now he is really annoyed."Why do you have to obsess about these things??". So I walk around and across the street under some bush, very close to the road, I find this.I knew it! They seem very young anyone know how old they might be? They are very cute. I have no idea how to take care of them. I gave them a little bowl of milk and they drank some. The kids are so excited, I wish we could keep one, but I am deathly allergic. (and I mean,I can't breath because of asthma-allergic). So we will try and find them homes...poor things.

In about two months, we will be

Here. I am beyond excited. Bring on the margaritas! Kayaking! Water slides(for the kids, of course:) sail boats! Sun! (something we don't see to much of here in the summer)Food!Beaches! Yay!

I'm in Love...

With this. Isn't it pretty? It is very cool. And I have been working on this for The Get your craft on Challenge.The challenge was aprons. The monkey fabric is oilcloth, which was hard to sew on! But I finished it...Now off to play with my new toy!