Sunday, March 27, 2011

Spring Is Here (We Hope)

Today was the first day that it did not rain cats and dogs for many days on end. The last time we saw the sun was several weeks ago. We took some cute photos that day of the girls riding on a merry-go-round at the local farmer's market. Here, Amanda shows her excitement while showing off her lady bug painted on her face.



Natalie also makes the rounds....



...with a slightly smeared lady bug!



Today was still a bit chilly but it was finally nice enough for all of us to get out and burn off some pent up energy! After our visit to the farmer's market, we ventured out across the street to the park and found this small field full of Spring flowers. We tried to get all the kids together for a picture, but the chances of everyone cooperating are slim to none. However, one thing we can always count on is for Will to do his scrunchy smile and say "cheese"!



Here, Will and Amanda search for the perfect flower...



Both Will and Amanda try to coax Natalie into the flowers for a group photo.



Enthusiastically, Natalie joins the crew! ;-)



Here, Will and Amanda take a quick rest on the kids-sized bench.



Here are our two spring butterflies!



And to wrap up the morning fun, Natalie tries her impression of Will's scrunchy smile!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Rainy Days

Rain, rain go away and come again some other day. We are going stir crazy in our house!! We have done everything there is to do inside and we are ready to go outside now!!

We have played inside boxes.....





Dressed up like Dorothy...




a tiger....







and a ladybug!





We gave our babies a bath and tried out the tub ourselves....








We played with daddy's phone,



went trampoline jumping,




and even made an indoor slide with a little help from an area rug!

We know we need the rain, but we are all ready for a little break. Please, please let the sun shine soon!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Bodega!

We made our annual trek to Bodega Bay last weekend. This trip started out many years ago as a romantic couples get-a-way but over time has turned into a noisy and chaotic weekend with our many children in tow. Chaotic would be an understated way of describing the weekend given that we had eight kids under the age of six, but it was wonderful nevertheless.

Our kids were anxious to get out of the car and run around after we arrived. Here is Amanda smelling the flowers.








And running around surrounded by some spectacular scenery.


Natalie did the same.










The next day, our clan headed to the beach. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the kids had a great time. Here, Amanda, Will and dad decided to test out the water. It was COLD!





Will loved playing in the sand.





And Natalie, Amanda and dad headed back to the water.





An attempt at a picture of all three kids....only partially successful!





Here, Will and Amanda chase some birds.







Later that day, dad gave some golf lessons to all of the kids. Natalie was up first.
Here she is with Will showing some good form. Too bad the club head was backwards!




Will takes a big swing!





And he loved to dump out the "golf" balls.




Amanda putts.





Dad shows Will the proper form.




Here is Miss Ali posing on the golf course.






And Belle taking a shot.






Later that day, the grown up girls got to escape for a little spa, wine and bread treatment. It was heaven! The next day, the grown up girls were on kid duty while the grown up boys escaped for some wet and rainy golf. To keep the kids busy, we made some beautiful and fruity jewelry. Here is Addison stringing some up.


Belle showing off her finished product.






Dempsey with a beautiful smile along with a gorgeous necklace.






Amanda eating some of that fruity goodness.







Elijah with his necklace that matched his smile!





Natalie with a silly smile.






And Will, showing us the proper way to dismantle the necklace once it was made.


After everyone was done making their wares, they showed them off in a group picture. Here they are minus Will.






And with Will.





After the jewelry was made, it was time to rock out. We had a raging singing and dancing party.






Belle had a great time.





And Ali led the singing.








Steph and Dempsey had a quiet tickle moment.



Will joined in the fun too. (With a bit of purple marker on his face.)





As did Addison.




Here are our 3 rocking out.




Will takes his hand at singing a tune.








Later, we did some gymnastics with help from "Auntie" Stephanie.

















Not tired out yet, the kids all headed for the hot tub for more fun (hence the swim suits in the prior pictures -- the kids were anxious!)















And we ended the party with some dress up.




It was a great weekend with great friends and we look forward to many, many more years of the same.