Saturday Hiking

Since I've been relieved of my blogging responsibilities, I haven't been overwhelmed by the content published (sorry honey). So I figured I'd go all old-timey and throw one up just to show what I've been up to.

Last Saturday, Tara was busy with a Church function, leaving me with an unprecedented amount of responsibility - the livelihood and well-being of all four children...simultaneously. So we hopped in the van, packed bikes and a stroller, and went exploring. There's a great hike here locally that I've been meaning to check out with my family, the Sycamore Canyon hike through Mugu State Park and down to Sycamore Cove on the PCH. I hiked it *many* years ago, growing up in Simi, and figured it would be a great way to spend the morning with the kids.

Here's some pictures, all taken from my phone (can't remember the last time I actually brought a camera). We went in about a mile, most of which was paved. The kids had a blast, and with all the rain we've had, everything was very green.

This is us at the trail head, which was surprisingly dry. There were puddles, and each of the kids on bikes came home (to my utter dismay) with "butt-stripes", but at least they had a good time.

About a half mile into the hike, there's a Native American hut and fire pit. My kids thought it was fun to walk around the fire pit on the log seats.

Here's a picture of the five of us sitting on the trail with the Dos Vientos neighborhood in the background. The trailhead to this hike is literally a five minute drive from our house.

Here's my little angel posing for me in front of Mt. Boney. I told her to smile, and this is what I get. Still cute, though.

Four kids

I have four kids. Aaron is so smart that he often rattles off random facts about space that I had never heard before. He is so sensitive to my feelings that when I start yelling a little too much about why nobody ever picks up their clothes he gives me a hug and picks up everybody's clothes. Ian has the most awesome, winning, handsome smile. His laugh is contagious even to his siblings and, usually, he says he is sorry. Kailani can color in a coloring book for hours, but she also loves "school time," painting nails with mommy, and her favorite thing is to curl up and read books together. Melina is a little pixie. She points a lot at the rabbit that lives in our bushes and says Mommy, and cookie, and ball. In the morning when I get her out of her crib (that's right, her crib-not my bed) she gives me the tightest hug around my neck. I have four beautiful, adorable kids.

Christmas

Christmas was spent at home this year. We skyped Brad's family Christmas Eve morning and had pancakes with Callie, then that night had dinner with my parents and some friends of theirs. I was glad the kids still got to act out the Nativity story. Christmas morning was exciting, but quick because then we headed to San Diego to visit (and meet) more cousins. I met some cousins I'd never met before and they welcomed us in and even had a present for each of my children. We came home and ran over to Callie's for some pizza dinner. Did I mention I love having Callie close by?

The kids loved everything they got and the boys can't wait to get back to the ocean to try out their wetsuits and boogie board.

My Girls

I just can't help myself. I love this video. Melina already wants to do everything her big sister does. She steals her blankie, she follows her around. If Lani has a friend over, Melina is more likely to let me put her down because she wants to do whatever Lani and Seamus are doing.

Christmas dresses-Kristen long ago made Melina's dress. I made Lani's out of the same material.

Twinkle toes

I may a little bit want to live out my dreams through my children. Maybe that's why I put Lani in ballet. But...she really learned to like it. Lani has some social anxiety so about half the time she went to the class, and the other half we sat outside while she cried for me to not leave her there. This is the same girl who I would drop off at the gym daycare to cry for 20 min so I could go work out. Maybe the social anxiety is a result of that. I don't know. Anyway, I discovered if she had a nap the day of the class, she was more likely to stay in the class (and stay awake until 10 that night). So, the day they let the parents visit I was sure to make her take a nap and whala...Lani danced for us.

I love my Lani girl! After the last class Lani begged me to sign her up again so hopefully we will enjoy more footage like this.

I am Back

So, I've decided it's time to take back the reins of the blog posting responsibility. Brad did an excellent job, but I just noticed his last post which was on our daughter's birthday was about an interesting article he had read with no mention of our daughter. Thank you honey, I'll take it from here.

Melina turned 1 on Nov 5. She had chocolate cupcakes (hence the face) two days in a row because I believe you should always get cake on your birthday even if you actually celebrate it at the beach the day before (see Callie's blog for a great Melina photo at the beach).

We took Melina for her one year checkup in December. We headed to Utah and visited my brother and went in to see my kids' pediatrician who I love. Melina weighs about 18 lbs and some change. 48%! This is pretty unheard of for one of my kids. I mean, look at those cheeks. But she really is a skinny minny. Of all my kids Melina has suffered through the most change-Daddy leaves for two months when she's barely 4 months old, then we move to completely new surroundings. Forget regular naptimes, we have no time for those. Maybe that is why she still clings to me. Or maybe I let her a little bit more because she's my baby. My mom says it takes a lot to get Melina to smile, but when she does it's so worth it. It's true.

Interesting Article

It seems I've taken over as the family blogger...not quite sure how I feel about that. But I read an interesting article on Yahoo that popped up on their homepage. It's all about habits of happy moms. Good reading for all you moms, good reading for your husbands. Just don't expect him to help you accomplish all those things without giving him an explicit list of how...anyone who's ever been married knows that mind-reading is not a gift, it's a complete hoax.