Play Ball!

We've said before in our family that we see each other more than some people that live down the street from each other. This is the 4th time Grandma Peterson has been here since November, the 3rd for Grandpa and the 2nd for Joni. (Although Tessa kept calling her Grandma!) It's always a treat to have visitors. We tend to eat out a little more, shop a little more and do fun things like Dodger games when guests are in town. Thanks to my friend Meghan, we scored some awesome tix to the Monday night game. Seriously, I think I may have been more excited about the preferred parking pass that accompanied the tickets.

We brought so much candy that it was almost embarrassing when we went through the security screening. We're still eating gummy bears and licorice. Joni grew up with 5 brothers and she was going to grow up to like sports whether she liked it or not. She has an impressive knowledge of sports and can even be found watching ESPN all by herself. She is one awesome chick.

This was our first Dodger game of the season and we loved every second of it, even though the Dodger's lost. I have a special place in my heart for baseball this time of year. Two years ago I thought it would be a good idea to move into a new house, tear said house apart, have a baby and have some surgery done on Cal's hand all within a 3 week period. The kids and I spent most of our days chilling in the master bedroom counting the minutes until the Dodger game would start. They had several east coast road trips that would start at 4:00 PST and we all looked forward to the opening pitch. I really feel like baseball saved my sanity that summer.

Hawaiian Surprises and a Bromance

We just got back from Hawaii. As the horrible parents that we are, we took Cal out of school for 6 days and spent a week kicking it in the sun of Kauai. There is plenty to blog about, but I don't have that kind of patience right now. This post is about the surprises. My mom had plenty of surprises for everyone on this trip. This was one of the favorites:
For her rental car, my mom booked a convertible Mustang. I didn't know it was secret, so I had already told Cal, but Libby, Logan and Keaton were pretty impressed. I think it was a fun way for them to experience the island. My favorite surprise was a 4 LB bag of salt water taffy. I'm chewing on a piece right now. Delicious.

Bromance
Speaking of convertibles. Still scratching my head about how we let them get away with this, but few weeks ago, these guys took a boys trip to the beach. Watching them all pack into the convertible together was hilarious. I told them paparrazzi would snap a pic claiming that Brody and Spencer had been reunited, but who does that make Kirt? Doug? Kirt hates Doug.
I hope they had a good time because I'm not sure that will be happening again anytime soon. Not only because they abandoned their wives and children for the day, but because Kirt came home with a sunburn so bad that his legs swelled up and his softball injuries from the night before were that much worse. He was a hot mess.

Owen's Haircut

The other night I tucked the kids into bed so that I could get some serious packing done for our vacay, and sat down to watch a few minutes of The Office while they drifted into deep sleep. Mind you, I had all of our belongings laying out just ready to be packed into suitcases. This includes my hair scissors - Cal is getting a trim on this trip. Just as I thought everyone was asleep, Owen came out and said, "I got a haircut for Hawaii."
I reply, "Sure, Owen we'll cut your hair in Hawaii too."
Then I looked at him. His hair was matted a little funny, so I ran my fingers through it. That's when I realized that it wasn't matted funny, it was gone. I screamed. I cried. I grabbed my camera.
Still hysterical and still searching for the rest of his hair, I called Kirt at work. (I found all of his hair stuffed into one of my tennis shoes - couldn't help but laugh.) We settled on our only option: a buzz cut.
We're all still getting used to seeing him without his big blond curls. He looks a lot older and Kirt says he looks tougher - whatever that means. Good thing he's such a cute little stinker.

Opening Day 2009

Saturday marked the beginning of the 2009 baseball season for Cal. Our morning started early with a parade and opening ceremonies with ex-Dodger Lee Lacy talking to the kids for a bit. With just enough time for breakfast before Cal's game, Grandma Peterson treated us to Corner Bakery - yum! Bonnie came for Spring Break and Opening Day and it was so great to have her here (as always). I got to get out and do some shopping and run tons of errands sans children hanging on me and/or throwing tantrums. It was heaven.
This is the first year for Cal to play kid-pitch baseball. He was a little nervous and told me that he was going to charge the mound if the pitcher hit him. Too much major league baseball watching for this kid. We had a long talk about the difference between the MLB and 9 year olds in the SFV, luckily no fights to report.
Cal's most proficient skill at this point is his slide. He is the envy of the team with the best sliding action. When we went to sign up this year, the guy at the rec center remembered Cal as the only kid that could slide in coach-pitch. I guess it's good to have your signature on something. I didn't get a good shot of him sliding, but another mom did, so hopefully I will have it for your viewing pleasure soon. This is just an aftershot of my future laundry.
Did I mention? The Yankees (Cal's team) won their first game 9-2. I think this will be a fun year for all of us.

Pink is Hot

The fam after church on Easter. Our sweet neighbors took this pic for us. Everyone looking at the camera - always a good start. Maybe we're making some progress and this is a sign of things to come?
Maybe not. At least they're all looking in the same direction.
When Owen pulled this pink shirt from his Easter basket he yelled, "Look! A shirt for Tessa!" He didn't mind one bit when we told him it was his to wear on Easter. We love boys in pink.

Recent Adventures

Earlier this week, we went to Underwood Farms in Moorpark with some friends to pick our own strawberries. There's nothing like eating berries straight out of the field on a warm afternoon - Yum. The kids also had fun riding ponies, feeding chickens and just finding their way around the farm. However, my camera died about 3 minutes into our excursion, so I swiped this from the Fornelli's blog. (Thanks Jake.) Owen and Tessa are on either side of the group.
Yesterday, Cal's school had their annual Spring Fling Carnival. The kids had a blast on all of the big blow-up slides and obstacle courses. I love that you can actually see Tess' face turning from excitement to terror in this picture. She was pretty ticked that Kirt just let her go by herself.
Speaking of adventures, here are some pics of the kids on our way to church this morning. Isn't getting ready for church always a crazy experience? But here is proof that Tessa is finally growing some hair and that she managed to get some curl in there too.
I've had a blogging stupor lately. I figured the only way out of it was just to download some pics and get going. Hopefully we'll have some exciting outings or a witty story to share soon. Cal's opening day is less than 2 weeks away and he's playing real baseball this year with the kids pitching. Can't wait!

On The Mend

As we struggle through what I hope to be the end of our kids being sick, the photo above is what I'm trying to focus on. Happy, healthy, flesh-colored children.
Saturday night we could tell something was up with Owen. He just didn't seem himself. By Sunday afternoon he had little bumps all over his legs, and by Monday morning his body was covered in hives. The doctor thinks that he just got a little virus that his body was especially allergic to. He is currently completely doped up on at least 5 different medications. He was so sad and out of it yesterday that I let him have anything he wanted. I'm paying for it now as he demands pizza and Dr. Pepper for breakfast. At least that likely means he's feeling better?
The playground at Owen's school has proved especially dangerous for Tessa. A few weeks ago she split her lip open and last week, she smacked her eyebrow on an odd corner. This picture was taken towards the end of the injury. For a few days, her eye was so swollen and especially huge after naptime or in the morning she could barely open her eye. Besides the cut in her eyebrow, now the bruising looks like perfectly placed, smoky eyeshadow.

Updated your iPod lately?

Just a suggestion.

Green with Envy

I've been posting a lot of pictures of our awesome weather (minus the rain the past few weeks), and trips to the beach lately. But there are things that we miss that even the California weather doesn't make up for. To all our Utah friends and family, please take some time to enjoy the things we miss so much. In no particular order:

Hawaiian pizza at the Pizzeria is fabulous. Why doesn't everyone put green pepper on a Hawaiian? Yum. And the deluxe salad is not complete without thousand island and blue cheese dressing. I am salivating.

Recently, there have been a few Cafe Rio's opened in Vegas, which is a 4 hour schlep that we make every so often for the weekend, but even when we get there, Kirt doesn't particularly like it. I need one closer to go to lunch with my girls during the day. I know there are recipe's floating around for the pork, I just have failed to even try. Can't a girl just go out and get a sweet pork enchilada?
The Burger Bar - nothing like it. We can't find anyone that can make a shake like the BB. We recently found a little stand with marshmallow flavoring, but still a dim comparison to the old favorite. And not to be all food related, there are other things in this photo that we treasure. Our families and friends. I had to narrow it down to a few pics, but if you see any of our family around, give them a hug for us.
We love our families so much and are so glad they're all so willing to make the trip out to see us so often. And whenever we make it into town, everyone makes a special effort to get together. There you have it, I'm jealous.
(If Kirt were writing, he'd probably mention the snowboarding and sledding, but he's not posting and just thinking about it makes me cold.)

Petersons Came to Play

We hit the La Brea Tar Pits with Grandma and Grandpa Peterson this weekend. We've been a few times and the kids love it every time. It's this crazy place in the middle of Los Angeles where tar just bubbles up out of the ground. The tar pools have been there for thousands of years and have millions of fossils trapped in them. Just today they're making an announcement about a huge new find of fossils. If you live near LA and have never been, it's definitely worth the trip, if just for the huge hill that our kids could spend hours rolling down.
Cal and (a very excited) Owen in front of a Wooly Mammoth inside the museum that is next to the tar pits. Inside the museum is an observation room where you can see the scientists working to clean and put fossils together that are found just outside.
I think Tessa is pretending to be one of the scary animals surrounding her.
Owie was never far from Grandpa's shadow.
I think this is a saber-tooth cat (don't let Cal hear you call it a tiger, he'll be sure to correct you) attacking a sloth. Owen was not bothered by the carnage at all.
Grandma and the kids. We love having family come to visit and it's always sad to see them go (for the kids and for me.) G & G volunteered to stay home with the kids on Valentine's Day while Kirt and I went out. Pretty sure it's the first time we've been to the movie theater for a non-kids show in nearly 10 years. Loved it.

Long Weekend

We took advantage of the 3 day MLK weekend in January and headed north to Pismo Beach. This is the time of year that the mama elephant seals beach themselves with their new pups and hang out for a few months. There are hundreds of these giant seals up and down the beach.
Just a pic of one of the babies next to its mom. These seals can really get moving across the beach. Their whole bodies just shake as they do "the worm" across the sand. I wondered if that's what I look like when my neighbors see me running? Sorry if this is sort of like posting pics of animals at the zoo, but here's one more.
There's this crazy place in Pismo Beach where thousands of monarch butterflies stop on their flights north and south. There are tons of them, but they're mostly contained in about 10 trees. It's pretty awesome. (Thanks for the tip Rudloff's!)
Monday, on the way home, we met some friends in Santa Barbara for some beach volleyball, pizza and ice cream on the pier. Good friends, good food and good weather, what more could we ask for?...
...this view at sunset. We took a drive up the mountain in Santa Barbara and ended up passing some of the huge estates that burned recently in the Montecito Fires. (The homes near Oprah, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres.) The view was one of the coolest I've ever seen. Well worth the extra few minutes it took us to get home. All in all, a successful trip and it feels like time to go again.

Fashion Blog

A few pics for the Grandmas. Cal and Owen may have found themselves in this photo as they both looked very handsome, but neither could quit complaining about the bright sun long enough for me to get a picture of them. They have a really rough life, with sunshine all year long, and trips to the beach in January and all.
This was the Sunday that Cal was visiting everyone in Utah. These two sure missed their big brother.
And now to Kirt's greatest fashion moment. I think he stole this hunting vest from his dad when he moved out of the house 12 years ago. He busts it out every now and then in place of a jacket. Most the time I think it's funny, but I'm not sure it goes with the business casual look for work. I wonder, does he just hang it on the back of his chair? And what do people think when they walk in and see it. They probably think that he lives in an RV and eats deer jerky for dinner.

Holiday Visitors

The Arnold clan packed up and came to visit right after Christmas, we did a lot of eating, shopping and hanging out. In true Taft and Libby form, we made at least 5 trips to Nordstrom Rack in the 6 days that they were here.
One of the best trips we've had to Leo Carillo beach. We researched the tide this time and timed it perfectly. Tons of great tide pools full of sea stars, several different kinds of crabs and urchins galore. Logan and Owen have so much fun tormenting each other tossing insults back and forth.
Taft and Lesha with our newest little nephew. Lesha and Lincoln flew down on Christmas night before everyone else got here. He is such a good baby and we were so glad to get to meet him. It may be noted that he scored some new digs at ever trip to the Rack. He'll never wear all the clothes he has.
Super Aunt Libby. I think she's primarily responsible for Tessa becoming princess-like. Nobody can sing on Rock Band like Libby-Lou.
Jon and Abby took the long way down. They went to San Francisco first, then made their way down on Abby's birthday. All-in-all, we had a great time together and cramming so many of us into our tight quarters was so worth it. I don't think we'd have it any other way.

Rock Out

It appears that there was plenty of Rock Band being played everywhere this holiday season. I've seen many blog posts with hilarious pictures like the ones here. This was our rockin' New Year's Eve. Take that Dick Clark. Owen and Cal both had a blast, along with the rest of us.
Logan takes his music very seriously. Usually it's guitar (he talked my mom into buying him a sweet Gibson while he was down here) but he found equal intensity in the Rock Band drums. Lesha's face says it all.
New Years morning. Grandma Leslie with all her grandkids. (She is in heaven!) Just after we took this picture, with some suggestion from Grandma Peterson, we decided to pack Cal up and let him go back to Utah with everyone. The next week he made his first solo flight home and handled it like a pro. He is seriously grown up.

Better Late than Never?

Although it was over a month ago, Christmas did occur at our house and deserves a bit of documentation. Our Christmas Eve tradition of new PJ's didn't go as planned. Both Grandmas got pajamas for the kids, but I wasn't sure which box Grandma Peterson's were in and my mom was bringing her gifts with her the day after Christmas. I didn't feel like buying each of them a new set just for tradition's sake, so Owen is wearing Cal's Christmas jammies from a few years ago, Tessa is wearing Owen's from last year and Cal is just in his usual pajamas. And we all survived! We had a great Christmas day that began with breakfast at Western Bagel (Jewish owned - so open on Christmas) and Kirt took the boys to see Desperaux while Tessa took a nap and I got Christmas morning cleaned up. Christmas dinner with our little family was the perfect end to a great day.
This was the day after Christmas. I asked the kids to clean up the leaves out back. I think the one-leaf-at-a-time into a bag approach may have taken all day, but I thought it was funny to let them try for a few minutes.

Owen Started Preschool

Owen started school today. He was sooo excited and has been talking about going for months. We finally felt comfortable with his potty skills, so off he went. I was shocked to not be nervous this morning like when Cal went to school. I guess I was just feeding off of Owen's excitement. But as I dropped him off, it was hard to leave. It's so weird to not know exactly what's going on in his day. Is he following instructions? Is he being nice? Are the other kids being nice to him? My mother-in-law always says that she looked forward to not having to worry about her kids when they grew up, but instead they just got married, had kids and gave you more people to worry about. I guess this anxiety of parenthood never ends. But it sure is worth it.
This is Owie and a friend of ours from church. She was so happy to see Owen and helped him find his way around. Just a few more hours and I'll be able to let you all know how his first day was. But for now, I'm off to the mall with just one kid. Not sure I'll know what to do with myself, but I'll manage.

No White Christmas Here

We had a very Merry Christmas, fun family visitors, a serious Rock Band New Years Eve and an unexpected trip for Cal. But those posts will come in time. Today is the day for this:
This is not a picture from the summer or a post about how I wish summer would hurry up and get here. This is a shot of our afternoon yesterday. It has been well over 80 degrees these past few days and we took full advantage yesterday. We dug out the swim suits and the sunblock and soaked it up. Today while Cal was in school, the little ones and I took a drive (windows rolled down, of course) to see Owen's new school. He starts preschool tomorrow and can hardly wait. I can't wait to see how he does. As we left the school I asked what they wanted for lunch. Owen said, "Sweet and sour chicken." The request cracked me up, just seemed like a mature request coming from him.
As long as I'm here, I guess it wouldn't hurt do post this picture as well.
This was following the Utes impressive victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Kirt has spent countless hours since the game reading all about how his Utes should be ranked #1 in the country. For more trash talk and commentary, go here.

(Thanks for the nudge Lola!)