I need to give Maren some more credit! She is absolutely wonderful and very helpful to me, most of the time. Honestly though I don’t know what I’d do without her. Vaughn was fully engaged in the story! I love it.

So, for her reward I took her on a date.  I can not remember the last time I spent some alone time just Maren and I.  We had a great night. I asked her what she wanted to do.  Her favorite dessert is cheesecake  and it just so happened to be the 30th anniversary for the Cheesecake Factory and in celebration they were offering $1.50 a piece for their cheesecakes.  So we put our name on the list then Maren wanted to have someone do her makeup.  She really felt special.  But when the lady was finished she was shocked at how light it was and with a huge smile asked why it doesn’t show up?  So she got some extra silver eye shadow and was quite satisfied.  I was glad she didn’t cake on dark lipstick and blush!  Then we went to the pet store, and Claires to look at earings etc.  We made our way back to the Cheesecake Factory and shared dinner.  Maren couldn’t get enough of the bread.  She was in heaven devouring the bread and butter.   I had picked Chicken Marsala for us and was thrilled Maren liked it.  While we waited patiently for our dinner and desert Maren kept doing the robot and got out of her seat and danced around!  She cracks me up.  She kept laughing and smiling!  She is so full of pizazz and energy.  I enjoyed getting to know my oldest child.  We had such a special bond together when she was a baby.  I used to dance with her, give massages, sing, read her tons of books even before she was born, and cuddle a lot.  It makes me sad sometimes that I do not get to spend quality alone time with each of my children.  But I am so blessed to stay home with them.

more makeup please!!

This morning the girls both had friends over.  Maren and her friend Noel decided to set up a surprise hair salon for Kaili and Haven.   Maren put up signs and both girls  meticulously set out the makeup, jewelry, hair stuff.  Then Maren went to get their “clients”  Kaili didn’t like being bossed around by Maren but after some convincing they each chose a stylist for hair, make-up,  fashion accessories, and nails of course.  There was luckily only a dab of nail polish spilled on the carpet.  Kaili and Haven didn’t mind the special treatment one little bit.

Maren gets ecstatic when a friend comes over.  She has been asking me to invite Noel, our neighbor, over for a while now!  The girls are pretty easily pleased when it comes to play dates!  These Summer days are long so its nice to break up the day by having friends over early in the day.  Today I didn’t here the typical “mom what are we doing today” or “what now”.  We also met a bunch of friends this afternoon at the pool which is always a nice time killer!  The girls never cease to ask each morning what our plans are for the day.  I better get to sleep so I have enough energy to keep up with my 3 tomorrow.

This way to the spa

Noel Haven Kai and Maren in their spa

what a nice sister

Make-over complete!

Thanks for the invite Zimmerman’s we really had a great time at your cabin! So this is how it all went down: We arrived about 10pm Friday night to meet up with our friends the Zimmerman’s and the Barbers. We were all excited to get out of the car after the twisty turning roads on the way up the mountains. Both Marc and I got queezy but luckily the girls were plugged into their movie and didn’t notice! We unloaded the kids ran around and played while the guys went to get some groceries. Then war broke out between Logan and Owen! At least it looked that way as they wresled and hit each other. Before I knew it the time was past midnight Maren, and Jayne were still awake in their sleeping bags. Kaili fell asleep around 11:30 and Vaughn was passed out so we played a few rounds of Blokus staying up past 1am. The next morning the kids were up early we had pancakes and went on a nature hike/walk to the wilderness discovery center. The kids got to pet some donkeys and feel a ton of animal furs. Then we went to the alpine slide and drove the race cars. The kids LOVED it. Kaili screamed the whole way down the mountain on my lap. I took her down pretty fast too!

Only half the day was gone and we had already done so much so we went back to the cabin to chill and make lunch. John (”the cookie monster”) broke out the cookie dough I had made for the trip and cooked a couple batches. They went fast! When Brad and Marc woke from their naps in the living room they asked for cookies but —-you snooze you lose! Right? I snuck 1 even though I am supposed to be dairy free for Vaughn still. We decided to pack the day with 1 last outing to the bowling barn. But this proved to be too much at least for Kaili and some of the younger kids. We bailed out early and took Kaili home for a nap. She was a wreck. The girl gets exhausted by 7 everyday. She really needs her sleep! All the parents agreed the kids needed to go to bed earlier so we ate an early dinner and cleaned up for bed then Haley found the Hannah Montana concert on the Disney channel which proved challenging getting the girls away from the TV and into bed. I think it was after 9 and I was feeling the exhaustion from lack of sleep the day before etc. But we finally got the kids to bed and spent some adult time playing card games and the name game– We haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. The guys regressed back to their pre-teen years and laughed till they fell over and cried!

Sunday we took it easy and played at the park then cleaned up and loaded up our cars! The kids all loved swinging on the bench outside, riding bikes, playing makeover etc. Even though I get irritated with the mess and the noise I really did enjoy watching the kids have so much fun together….. I learned my lesson this weekend that I need my sleep or I turn into mean mom and I just can not function well. I must have passed out just a few minutes after getting into the car to drive home. We had planned to walk around the Village but Maren and I were pooped. Marc told me we slept the whole way home. He had some great bonding time with Kaili as she talked the whole way home!

All of us at the Discovery Center

Jayne, Maren, Haley, Paige, Owen, & Kaili

The lazy kids, Reagan doesn’t count of course.

Owen with the donkey! The kids loved these “mini horses”

The kids touching the animal fur and listening to the bizarre wilderness dude

Marc tried putting this on Maren. Haley didn’t mind it at all.

This is all too fitting. LOOSE THOSE HANDLE BARS PLEASE!!

Kai finds a soft place to rest!

The kids discover

Paige and Maren find butterflies

Paige and little Brock

Kaili pretty much always complain of being tired so here’s the soulution

Logan’s an undercover bear, ROAR!

Vaughn is the cutest!!

Owen, Logan, Jayne, Kai, Haley, Maren, and Paige (when our babies grow up they’ll have to muscle their way on the swing)

Maren loved going fast with her dad

Brad & Logan. The Zimm’s behind

Kaili and I in our attempt to race Marc and Maren (the only bummer was “no racing aloud”)

Maren awaits her victory!

I wish you could see his Chopper hat…. he fit the stereotype.

Brad doesn’t know his own strength!

Laughing till we cry. Some fun adult game time.

Jessica joins in the kids circus!

yippeee!

Marc comes down stairs to head out the door to work with this!  He says he’s bringing sexy back????  I think not…

We really are blessed to live in such a great neighborhood. We have such wonderful friends. We got to celebrate Karly’s 30th birthday with some neighbors at San Onofre beach last Saturday. Marc pilled up the truck with 3 surfboards, boogie boards, chairs etc hoping to get both Connor and I in the ocean for a surf. It really was a cold beach afternoon. All the adults stayed bundled up on the sand. Marc is a bit dissapointed he doesn’t have a “surfing family”. Some day hunny, some day!

Karly’s dad BBQ’d some of the best tasting teri beef kabobs I’ve ever had. He also makes a mean pot of baked beans. The guys went out for a cold surf and the kids made a really awesome fort! I love the summer beach day BBQ’s and bonfires! Thanks for the fun times Karly and Jeff!

Karly and her daughter Ella

beach games for the kids

“Please anyone, lets partake of the waves”

Jimmy, Braden, Taylor, and Noel begining the beach fort

Maren , Noel, and Taylor proud of their finished product!

“hey that’s my soda, dad”

The Kai and Connor