Bowling on Christmas Break 2012

While the kids were out of school they got to sleep over at Grandma Julie's house. They were soooo excited! Porter woke up that morning and instantly got his bag packed and ready to go. He asked several times throughout the day if they could go to grandma's yet. Luckily, Grandma Julie called around 4 and said they could come over anytime.

It didn't take much persuading for them to get their stuff and get into the car to go. The next morning they got to eat rolled up pancakes and I got to sleep in--a great treat for everyone! Then we got to go bowling with Grandma, Tressa, Tav, Amie, Tara and Riley. They loved it and it's a good thing there were that many adults there to help with Jess. I didn't even bowl and felt like it was a little crazy keeping those four bowlers on the bumper lanes rotating in the right order and then trying to find them after they had wandered away waiting for their next turn.

Porter got 100 and beat all the kids! Jul's did better than I expected and might have some real potential in the future. Payton did good too and he came away from the bowling alley with a new hat some teenage kid had given to him in the bathroom. That story is a little involved, weird and frightening and a great way to help Payton see why we don't talk to strangers...especially in the bathroom when no one is around.

Christmas Eve

Maybe next year those stockings will have names sewn on instead of masking tape...maybe

We spent the day together as a family the day before Christmas. THE WHOLE DAY! We decided we were going to go play in the snow on Pine Valley. We found as many snow clothes as we could and then started our trek toward Pine Valley...after making a quick stop at ACE for some snow gloves for the boys and myself. When we got on the mountain and all got out to put our clothes on we discovered Porter hadn't brought his coat. Minor detail. I guess mom failed in the area of checking to make sure everyone really prepared themselves the way they needed to.

Luckily I had grabbed two coats for Julia so we bundled Porter up on one of Julia's pink coats (which he DID NOT want to put on because it was PINK!). We put it under one of my jackets that I parted with so he could stay warm. We saw plenty of people playing in the snow that day but wanted to find somewhere that we didn't have to be with all of them so we drove toward the reservoir. The road was blocked so our thoughts of sledding down the dam were off. We could see some hills that weren't too far away in the distance and decided we could haul our stuff through the unknown to spend some time in a secluded area.

Todd plowed the way for our trail with his ice fishing sled filled with Julia and Porter. This was Jess's first time in the snow and she was fine with it unless she fell over and her hands got cold.

The kids had fun playing for a little while. Julia was having fun until I took her down one of the hills and sprayed her with snow almost the whole way down while I was trying to prevent us from tipping over. After that she was done and ready to go back to the truck. Todd was a good sport and took the girls back to the truck while the boys and I played a little longer. We made a snowman and then they had a snowball fight with another family that had made their way over to us.

It took some convincing that it was time to go back and see what dad and the girls were doing because they were having so much fun. We all piled in the truck and drank hot chocolate and ate goldfish crackers. Then we drove back toward home.

We stopped on our way so we could build a snowman together as a family. We got all three parts on and then a huge storm blew in and chased us back to the truck again. It was crazy how fast it came in and how hard we were getting pelted with ice and snow. It all made for memories at least.

That night we had dinner at home--steak and eggs--and then had a FHE where Payton played Silent Night on the piano and we read stories about the true meaning of Christmas. Then PJ Elf stopped and the kids all put on their new PJ's before we jumped in the van and drove around looking at Christmas lights. Why would I think they might, MIGHT fall asleep while we were driving? Lesson learned.

It didn't take long for them to fall asleep but they did come in a few times in the early morning asking if they could go see what Santa had brought and were disappointed when they were sent back to bed each time. What would Christmas be without kids? Not as much magic, that's for sure.

Naked Dinner Guest

Jess loves to be naked. She loves to be a big girl and sit on a stool at the dinner table. She loves to play peek-a-boo. What do you get when she wants to do all three at the same time? The cutest naked dinner guest that has ever sat around our kitchen table. Luckily I had my camera close by to capture the moment. She's getting too big too fast but I sure love all the cute things she is doing!

Two Too Funny's This Morning

I've been slacking on posting (I will catch up and back date someday) but this morning I needed to write a couple things that happened or they will forever be gone from my memory.

Todd left for work this morning at 4:30 am. I heard Payton's alarm go off at 5:16 am. I don't recall hearing it any other morning and thought it was a fluke. Well, soon after I hear Jess wake up. Then I hear someone come from the boys room into the girls room and get Jess out of her crib. Of course my room is the next place of entry. Payton carries Jess into bed with me and then leaves for a minute into the rest of the house. Then he comes back into my room. I asked why his alarm went off this morning so early. He said he set it for that time so he could get up early to look for Scout.

Ahhh. Scout. Our cute little Elf on the Shelf. He arrived last night and the kids have been awesome! They cleaned their rooms (not because I said anything, but because Scout would tell Santa how clean their room was!) and read their books without any trouble. They even brushed their teeth the FIRST time I asked! Why does Scout not stay all year long? Oh yeah. Because he would run out of hiding places and might forget to hide way too often throughout the year. 

Sadly, Payton was unable to find Scout this morning and came back to bed until it was really time to get up. But with a little help from Porter, Scout was spotted at breakfast!

The second funny thing this morning was Payton sniffing his arm pits. He said, "I wonder why my pitts smell like dad's after he's hunted all day?" Ha! He's growing up too fast! He's almost nine but he's such a big kid that I'm sure deodorant on a daily basis will not be uncalled for. I guess he's going to have to start taking showers in the mornings instead of at night so his pitts will be fresh! I love this kid!!

Turek Family Turkey Trot 2012

 Pictures now. Details later.

Seven is Heaven

Happy Birthday to Porter! Seven years have flown past. We sure love you!!

California Family Vacation

Because of fire season during the summer we couldn't go on a family vacation. We knew, from past experience, that this would happen so we planned on taking our vacation in September. Tav and Amie moved to California so we thought that would be a perfect place to take our family Vacation...and it turns out that it was just the right thing for us to do!

Everything had fallen in place for us this year; we bought the van, found a home that we could actually tuck money away for such a thing, and fire season was so good that we really wanted to spend all that money on gas to get there and back! We decided to take the kids out of school for a few days without too much trouble. How much homework could they be missing in 3rd and 1st grade anyway? We went down and stayed with Cheri in Henderson Tuesday night. The kids ran wild and were really hoping we'd get a chance to swim before we set off for California the next day. Todd and I had different ideas of when we'd leave the next morning. I felt like we had all day to get there and he wanted to get up EARLY in the morning so the kids would sleep most of the way there. What was he thinking? We were hunting??

Morning came (too early as usual) and we all got up (somewhat quietly). Cheri was so sweet and made us all sausage and egg sandwiches for the road. Then we were off before the sun was up. None of the kids were asleep but it was kinda fun to see the sun come up behind us as we traveled together.

It took us a while but the kids did really well. Thank you DVD player!! We took a break halfway and then we were back on the road again. We got stuck in traffic the last hour of the drive which wasn't much fun and made us appreciate the size of city we live in. We were so excited to finally get to Tav and Amie's house!

We spent almost every day at the beach. It was our kids first time playing in the waves and they all loved it...well almost all of them. Payton ended up getting a pretty nasty rash on his belly so we invested in a rash guard the next day. Jess wasn't too fond of getting knocked down so she was happy as long as someone would hold her. Porter and Julia played closer to shore and loved finding shells and digging in the sand to make castles and other structural buildings. The water was a little cold but according to those who play in it all the time it was really quite warm. I guess we actually picked a really good week to come because they had record highs. Those who lived there complained of it being soooo hot when I really thought it felt great! I'll take 80 degree weather over 100 degree anytime! 

We spent one day at the San Diego Zoo. That got to be a little hot but the kids enjoyed looking at all the animals and riding on the bus. One of our favorite was a monkey with a bad attitude. Payton looked at him through the glass and the monkey showed his teeth. Payton did the same thing back. He must have felt pretty threatened because the next thing we know, that crazy monkey charged at the glass right toward Payton and didn't stop until he slammed into it! It scared Payton enough to run from the glass window but not enough for him to stop bugging the monkey because he tried to get him to do it again.

I think we set the record at Tav and Amie's for use of the pool. The kids were in it first thing in the morning and then they'd get in it sometimes after we had been to the beach. We were all a bit tired when Sunday morning came but it was time to hit the road and give the Calico house in CA a break from the SG Calico Family. We said our goodbyes and started for our long trek back home. 

I'm thinking it was a great family vacation which we will probably do again...if Tav and Amie allow us to come. Tav and Amie were so awesome to us! Not only did they save us a ton of money but we had so much fun being with them!

Just for memory sake, on the way home we stopped to grab something to eat in a drive through of a place we'd never heard of. We got burgers and at the last moment the lady asked if we wanted to make them chili burgers. Todd said yes, and I just looked at him like, huh? When we drove away and started divvying up the goods they were HUGE! AND they really didn't taste that good...to most of us. Payton had a bit too much and I think he paid for it the rest of the way home.

It was a fantastic FAMILY VACATION!