Happy birthday to Rachel and Henry (last month)!

Somehow last year I managed to do separate birthday posts for these two, but this year that's not going to happen because I'm getting too far behind.  I'm guessing they won't mind. 

For those of you who don't know, Henry was born on Rachel's fourth birthday, July 30th.  Here I am with Rachel that night after her birthday celebration and right before I left to go to the hospital.

Now two years later, we have this (Rachel turning 6 and Henry turning 2):

 

We set them up on the couch with all their presents and then they took turns opening. 

One of Rachel's favorites was the "Pretty Pretty Princess" game.  If any of you have young girls, get them this game.  They will love it.  

She was pretty happy about all of her presents, though (this girl is not hard to please):

All ready for kindergarten with her new backpack and lunch-bag:

Henry got two new Star Wars shirts.  That's pretty much all he wears now - he just switches back and forth between the two (the other one has a Lego Darth Vader and storm troopers on it).

He also got a little Star Wars book:

And Oliver made some special Star Wars drawings just for him:

We did manage to get him some non-Star Wars presents.  Lizza's Strider bike that she got on her birthday has been a big hit, so we got another one for Rachel and Henry to share (we figured Rachel can mainly use it first until she learns how to ride her regular bike without training wheels, and by that time Henry will be big enough to start crusing around on it).  The seat height is adjustable, so it's easy to switch back and forth between the two.  Henry just likes to walk it around everywhere now. 

 Here he is with some of his other treasures:

The birthday kids enjoying Rachel's breakfast choice of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream:

On our way to the pool.  Rachel was so excited to be able to ride the Strider - she goes way faster on it than she did on her training-wheel bike.

Rachel picked hot dogs and cheetohs and lemonade for her birthday picnic lunch at the pool.  I don't like cheetohs and never buy them, so my kids get cheetohs once a year - on Rachel's birthday.  She picks them every year without fail.  Lucky for her she was born in the summer, because we always go to the pool for her birthday lunch, and the horrible orange fingers they cause don't even bother me there.

Rachel and Henry with their hot dogs:

Rachel swimming with her new mermaid:

Henry fell in love with the cheetohs and wouldn't part with the bag the whole walk home:

After we got home from the pool I spent the rest of the afternoon making these:

Ever since Rachel started noticing cakes at grocery stores, she has begged and begged for one of the barbie "dress" cakes. I found an online instruction video and decided to just try it. Rachel was thrilled.

Henry requested the dinosaur cake.

Somewhere during the decorating process I decided I'm done with making fancy birthday cakes.  I think doing the two of them in one day was just too much.  Lizza did get me to commit to making her a barbie cake like Rachel's for her 5th bithday next year, but other than that, no more!  I made an announcement to all the kids, and they're fine with it.  I think we're going to move on to birthday pies now.  Either that, or the kids will decorate their own cakes like Oliver did last year.

They were pretty happy with their choices this year, though:

Everyone licking the frosting off the candles.  Do other kids do this?  That's always the first thing my kids want to do once the blowing out of the candles is done, and I'm always like, "you guys, let's just eat the cake - there's way more frosting on the cake," but then in the back of my mind I can kind of remember doing the same thing when I was young so I still let them.  Maybe I should add "bowl of frosting" to the list of possible cake choices in the future, and we can just skip the cake altogether. 

I'm so grateful for both of these birthday kids.

Rachel is such a funny little girl, and causes us absolutely no trouble.  She seriously is the easiest kid - she's super obedient, she's never done tantrums, she doesn't talk back.  She just kind of does her own thing, which is usually pretty entertaining to watch.  She has always been a huge help with the younger kids, and I'm going to miss her when she's at kindergarten this year.

(slideshow of Rachel over the years - click the x to close the annoying ad)

As far as Henry goes, we are all so in love with him.  He is just so adorable we can hardly stand it.  Every day he gets cuter because he is learning new things so fast - I could sit and watch him play/talk/interact with the other kids all day.

He talks constantly and is able to have long conversations with people.  He loves Star Wars (obviously), dinosaurs, animals, legos, drawing, and anything the older kids are doing.  He definitely thinks he's one of the big kids, and is not happy about the start of the new school year.  He's just an awesome kid.

Thanks for making us so happy, Rachel and Henry!

Family Reunion - Yosemite National Park

One month ago we left on another exciting 10-day road trip.  The main destination of this one was a big reunion with my family in Yosemite National Park (California).  Since we've been back we've had 3 kids with birthdays, a visit from my sister and her family, football practice 3 times a week, and 3 weeks of different kids being sick, so blogging hasn't really been happening.  

In my attempt to catch up before school starts next week, I decided to just get my Yosemite pictures/journal write-up done in one extra long post, instead of breaking it up into different sections, like I do with most of my trip posts.  Considering that between all the cameras clicking away at the reunion there were around 1500 pictures taken, I'm only slightly embarrassed that I've used over 50 in this post to depict all the fun that was had.  Obviously, this is one of those posts that a lot of people will want to skip/skim over, because I'm writing about every detail!

THE WAY THERE

We left for this trip on a Friday afternoon.  Our goal was to get to El Paso that night, but once we hit El Paso we decided to just keep going and see how far we could get by 11:00.  That ended up being Deming, New Mexico.  Because of the late hour, we put the kids straight to bed, with only a little excitement added by the enormous scary bug that Tristan found in his bed.  Welcome to New Mexico, I guess - I still can't think of it without shuddering.

The next morning we woke up at 5:00 so we could get to our next destination (Las Vegas!) with plenty of time for playing around.  I think we picked the hottest day of the year to drive across Arizona.  We saw the Hoover Dam, which was exciting, and then made it to our hotel in Vegas.  We hung out in our hotel room for awhile until it cooled down enough to go swimming (ha ha).  After swimming we walked down to the Strip to eat dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  Rachel and Henry were so worn out from all the excitement they fell asleep right at the table.  After dinner we saw the fountains at the Bellagio and then decided to walk down to the New York, New York so Daniel could take the boys on the roller coaster. Not our best idea ever - it ended up being a longer walk than we thought.  It was fun seeing the sights of Vegas at night, but after a while of walking around in that environment with 5 kids, we were more than ready to be done.  We made it to the roller coaster, but they ended up not going on it (the kids weren't tall enough).  By that time we were doubtful that my pregnant self or the younger kids were going to be able to make the walk back to the hotel, so Daniel got us a taxi.  That poor taxi driver didn't know what to make of us - there wasn't room for everyone, so I just got in and Daniel started piling in as many kids as could fit (Ollie on down, plus the stroller), and then shut the door and we were off.  Daniel and Tristan ran the whole way back to the hotel, and got there right as I had finished bathing the other kids and tucking them into bed. 

Goofy car travelers, Hoover Dam, Cheesecake Factory, Daniel and kids at Bellagio:

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK- DAY ONE

We left Vegas by 8:00 the next morning, and got to the entrance of the park around 3:00.  I was so excited by this point - Yosemite is one of my favorite places on earth.  Both my parents are from California, and we used to have family reunions all the time with my mom's family in Yosemite (my mom also went there all the time growing up).  I have so many memories there that all came back the minute we rolled down the windows and smelled the air.  I've only been once since I've been married, and Tristan was only 4 then, so it was fun coming back with older (and more) kids.

My family had all gotten there the day before, so we met up with them in Yosemite Valley.  It was so great to see everyone - it was our first official family reunion, and all 8 of my siblings and all 22 grandchildren were there (only one brother-in-law was missing from the whole group).  I think there were 39 of us in all.  

We quickly walked up the trail to see Yosemite Falls, and then drove down to the Wawona Campground, where we stayed for the rest of the week.

Our family at Lower Yosemite Falls:

Back at camp.  Daniel and I got our tent and campsite all set up, and the kids started into cousin play right away.  We all had campsites close together, so all week the kids went back and forth and all around.  I loved it.  Lizza has a major crush on these two cousins, by the way.  It has prompted many lectures from the older kids to her about how you can't marry your cousins. 

 

Our first big group campfire that night:

My little campers all worn out and tucked into bed (Henry's in the corner opposite Lizza).  I don't know how we all still fit in this little tent. 

YOSEMITE - DAY TWO

Daniel and the boys got up nice and early and got a roaring fire going for us.  Building multiple fires every day was definitely one of the trip highlights for Tristan and Oliver.

Cousins started trickling in from nearby campsites to share the campfire warmth.  I love mornings in the mountains - hanging out around a fire while the air is still cool, and then watching as the sun comes up above the trees and all the kids start shedding their jackets. 

Our campsite backed up against a hill that led into the forest and beyond, and it was a perfect exploring ground for all the kids.  Tristan was an excellent firewood gatherer.

Henry eating breakfast.  His little stroller came in super handy this trip.  He loved sitting around the fire with the other kids, but there was no way he could be trusted in a little camp chair, so I would just strap him into his stroller and set him up by the other kids, and he would stay happy.  I usually put him in his stroller first thing in the morning while I got breakfast and things ready because he was such a wild and dangerous explorer, so some mornings he would try to make a break for the hills as soon as we got out of the tent, yelling over his shoulder, "I go hiking with big kids!"  He was a good sport about staying in his stroller and playing with toys or coloring at the table until there was someone available to be his hiking buddy.

We set up our new ladder-toss game (thanks, Mordocks, for the great idea), and it was a big hit with all the kids.

There's a swinging bridge near the Wawona campground that was one of our favorite destinations as kids, and that's where we decided to spend our first day. 

I still remember the summer I first became brave enough to jump off the bridge into the river below, and then climbing back up and jumping over and over again after that.  I was so proud to see my four oldest take the plunge this year (I know I wasn't that young). 

Tristan jumping:

Oliver jumping:

Rachel jumping:

Lizza jumping (she was the youngest of the whole group to jump):

Video clip of Ollie's first jump:

Group shot of all of us:

We set up all our stuff a little ways downstream from the bridge, and just let the kids play all day.  The water was really shallow in most areas of the river, so it was perfect for little kids.  This was a very typical scene - adults relaxing on chairs in the water and little ones playing all around.

My kids were in heaven:

And so was I. This is me with my oldest sister, Laura, who is also pregnant with her sixth (we're due on the same day):

There were also some more exciting sections of river for the older kids:

When we were teenagers one of our favorite things to do at the bridge was hike about 20-30 minutes up the river to a little waterfall with great rocks for jumping into the river.  Daniel took Tristan and Oliver this year, (a small group hiked up while the rest of us stayed back with the younger kids), and they loved it.  I don't have many great pictures of them up there - here's a blurry one of Daniel and Tristan.

They got back from the waterfall around 4:00 and we packed up our stuff and headed back to the campground.

Lizza and cousins getting nice and dirty again:

Henry loving life:

My dad made everyone a delicious dutch oven stew for dinner that night.

Rachel and her cousin Gretchen were inseparable the whole time.  Here they are doing some sort of after-dinner dance:

Daniel telling stories to the cousins.  He is the king of awesome campfire stories.  All the kids were captivated. 

YOSEMITE - DAY THREE

The next day we drove to Mariposa Grove to hike around and see all the giant trees. 

The whole group by a massive fallen tree trunk:

Elizabeth trying to hitch a ride with her cousin:

Rachel and Gretchen were hiking buddies.  I love it when little kids hold hands.

Oliver and Tristan hanging out by a really big tree:

Our family in the tunnel tree:

The kids with my mom and dad:

They entertained themselves on these big stumps forever.  I don't know which they thought was more fun - jumping off of them, or seeing the mid-air shots of their jumps captured on the camera.  They kept jumping over and over again, and then they'd run to see what they looked like on the camera. 
(click to enlarge)

After Mariposa Grove, we went back to our campsite and ate lunch, and then packed up the swimming stuff again, and headed to another favorite spot in Wawona - a place my family calls "Hole in the Rock."  When we were kids there was a big huge boulder out in the middle of the river with a hole/tunnel through it, and we'd swim through the tunnel under the water, and come out the other side.  That same boulder isn't there anymore (I think it broke apart one year), but we still call that swimming area Hole in the Rock, and probably always will. 

The kids playing on the beach:

Adults hanging out (that's me with Henry in the bottom right):

Rachel and Gretchen playing some cards:

Henry and his cousin Pace became rock-throwing buddies:

At Hole in the Rock there is another fun spot to jump into the river.  I don't know why it's so fun to jump off things into water, but it just is.  Here's Tristan:

And Rachel, Oliver, and Daniel:

Henry ready for a nap.  He was great at taking naps every day - I just brought his little tent, set it up in a shady spot on the beach, and he'd gladly climb in and sleep for a few hours. 

Back at camp.  More campfire stories:

A little get-together with my mom and sisters. We aren't doing an official sister trip this year (we've decided to go every other year now, alternating with family reunions), but we decided we could still do a little mini "sister trip" at the reunion.  After the kids were in bed, we all gathered at my parents' campsite and hung out and handed out our "sister gifts" that we'd brought for everyone.  This year was extra fun, because we added a new sister to the group - Alex's wife Lindy.   She brought us all those gorgeous vases on the table from their recent trip to Thailand.

YOSEMITE - DAY FOUR

Back at the bridge.

Henry exploring and collecting sticks.

Eating lunch on a rock:

My husband, younger brothers, and two oldest children contemplating jumping off this ridge into the shallow water below (that's another of my younger brothers down in the water, testing out the depth).  All of us watching on the opposite shore thought that for sure this was not the best idea.  Thankfully, those on top of the ridge came to the same conclusion.

They decided this was a better spot for jumping. 

Rachel and Gretchen just chillin' in some tubes:

Lizza doing the same:

The girls fell in love with their new aunt Lindy the minute she brought out the nail polish. 

Back at camp.  Oliver taking a turn at telling campfire stories.  I wish I had captured this on video-tape - he was born to be a story teller.

By the fourth night of campfires, Tristan and Rachel had perfected their marshmallow roasting skills.  Tristan was surprised to discover that they taste better when you don't just stick them straight into the flames (his previous method). 

YOSEMITE - DAY 5

This was Half Dome day for part of our group.  Daniel's original plan was to hike all the way to the top again (he did it when we came last time), but he decided he'd rather be able to take the boys with him, and just hike partway up to Vernal and Nevada falls with them (they're too young to climb all the way to the top).  It was still a pretty intense hike for Tristan and Oliver- I think they hadn't realized how long and steep it was going to be.

Henry was doing a little hiking of his own back at camp.  He and Pace headed out on their own into the wild.  My sister and I just watched (and took pictures) and laughed because it was so funny how grown-up these two thought they were being. 

All of us who weren't climbing Half Dome set up base for the day at a great sandy beach just up the river from camp.  The kids had another super day of playing in the sand and swimming/tubing in the river.  Rachel was happy to make good use of Tristan's wetsuit while he was gone hiking.

I got quite a workout paddling these two up the river against the current so we could float back down again.   

It was a little easier with just this guy.  I love when I have no responsibilities except to hang out with my children.

Bouncing around:

Playing cards in the shade (it was hot!):

After Daniel and the boys got back from their hike that afternoon, we headed back to camp.  Our original plan had been to leave the next morning (Friday) and drive to Los Angeles, but we made a quick decision to instead leave Thursday night and drive to Fresno (about 1 1/2 hours from Wawona) to get a head start.  That way we wouldn't have to waste a few hours in the morning packing up, and we could drive the curvy roads out of the park when the kids were asleep (those roads are awful).  As soon as we made the decision, we moved fast and got our tent down and the packing under way. 

The kids had so much fun playing together that last night.  You can see me packing stuff up at the table in the background.  I love packing up after a camping trip, because there's so much more room with most of the food gone.  Is that weird that consolidating boxes and reorganizing our camping bins is fun for me?   

A little while after dinner I cleaned up the younger 3 kids and put them to sleep in the van (thank goodness for good car sleepers - they all went down without a complaint). While we were finishing up the last-minute packing the Half Dome hikers got back into camp, and we hung out for awhile around our last campfire.  We then said our goodbyes to everyone and left around 10:00.  As much as I love camping, it did feel good to shower at our hotel in Fresno that night.

THE WAY HOME

The next morning we drove down to Los Angeles.  We were all glad we weren't packing up camp that morning.  We got to LA around lunch time.  After driving around for awhile, we made our way over to Santa Monica.

Daniel and the kids on the Santa Monica pier:

We ate lunch at Bubba Gumps, much to Oliver's delight (he's our shrimp lover):

We enjoyed the ocean view out our window while we ate.  Not sure what Tristan's doing:

After lunch we walked downstairs to the beach and made friends with some of the superheroes who were hanging out on the boardwalk.  Henry would not go near the Joker, and did not approve of this picture being taken.

He felt much more comfortable with Spiderman:

Everybody loved the ocean.  What started out as tentative dipping toes in the water quickly became full-out frolicking in the waves, and all the kids got soaked. 

After our fun at the beach we drove up the Pacific Highway for awhile before going to our hotel in Agoura Hills.  I love Southern California.  We were really near Camarillo and Oxnard, where my grandparents lived when I was young, and it made me homesick.

The kids went swimming at our hotel, and then Daniel went out and got everyone In 'n Out for dinner.  It was a great evening.

The next morning we ate a big breakfast at the hotel and then headed on our way.  We ended up catching up with one of my sisters who was driving home toward her house outside of Phoenix.  We all met for dinner at a great little Mexican restaurant in Phoenix (our Man vs. Food stop for the trip).  We hadn't told the kids we were meeting anyone at the restaurant, and it was funny to see their reactions when they saw their cousins again.  Henry had been so good about learning all the cousins' names while we were camping, and as soon as we walked in the door he pointed and yelled out, "Oh, that's Shayne!!" (and it was).  It was also nice because my sister's husband (the brother-in-law who couldn't make it to the reunion) was able to drive into Phoenix and meet us, too.

That night we stayed in a hotel in Tucson, and let the older kids do one last night of hotel swimming.  It was late, but so hot outside.  They mostly entertained themselves by having me take funny pictures of them jumping into the pool.  Tristan loved how if he went in backwards he could make it look like he was jumping out of the pool.  

The next day was just a long, long drive back to Austin.  Everybody was worn out, but good sports about all the traveling.  They are pros by now. 

It was such a great trip, and I think one that we'll have good memories of forever and ever.