Knott's Berry Farm

We kicked off our summer with a trip to Knott's Berry Farm.  I hadn't been there since I was in middle school or high school so it was a treat for me to walk around and reminisce.  We went with Lilly's Girl Scout Trip so we did some group tours/activities first.  We had planned on taking Jack to Camp Snoopy to ride all the rides, but once he set his eyes on those huge roller coasters, he was hooked!  Nana and I took him over to Camp Snoopy and he looked at those kiddie rides like they were the most pathetic thing he had ever seen!  Luckily cousins came over and saved the day.  Everything is better for Jack when his cousins are involved.  My sister, mom, and nieces took turns taking him on rides since pregnant ladies can't ride most of them.  I did what a pregnant lady does best...EAT!  I had an entire funnel cake with boysenberry sauce to myself while they all waited in line for the log ride.  At the end of the day we went to Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant to have ourselves some fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  My family spent every Easter morning at that restaurant with a big group of friends for many, many years, so that, too, was fun for me to go back to again.  I can't wait to take Jack back when he is older so he can ride the bigger roller coasters.

Cousins are here!  Life is grand!

First roller coaster and he scored the front car!

This ride is for Papa!

I think this was his favorite ride.

This was his least favorite.  It could have been because he was tired and hot, or it could have been the technical difficulties it was having.  They waited in line FOREVER and then when it was his time to go, he refused to cooperate with the checking of his height.  He would not stand up straight; legs apart, jelly legs, you name it!  This kid can be quite stubborn (he gets that from his father)!  Just to spite everyone, he refused to act like he enjoyed it.  He never even cracked a smile.

Enjoying some cotton candy while he waited in line for the next ride.

Definitely enjoyed this one!

 As we were trying to convince Jack that it was time to leave by letting him know he had ridden all the rides, we walked by this one and that clever little boy said, "Mommy!  I didn't ride that one!"  Great memory kid (he gets that from me ;).

Of course he had to have the red one.

Nana is such a trooper!

The end.

Halloween 2012

Jack had a super fun Halloween this year!  We practiced saying "Trick-or-Treat" all month and he was a pro come Halloween night.  As usual, I had fun decorating the house and making it festive and fun.  Since summer Jack has been telling me that he wanted to be a ball for Halloween and Surya was to be a hoop, or vice versa. That turned out to be too big of a task for me to complete, so we all settled on his being an astronaut to celebrate the spirit of the Endeavour coming to California to reside and Baugartner's free fall to earth from the stratosphere (I know, I am such a teacher mom).  We spent Halloween trick-or-treating with his cousins in our neighborhood.  Jack ended up scoring extra candy since he was so cute in his costume, said "treat-or'treat" and then thanked people after.  He kept saying proudly that his candy bag was too heavy, but refused to let anyone hold it in fear we would eat it.  About an hour in, he wanted to eat a piece of candy, but we kept telling him that there were more houses to get candy from.  That satisfied him for a little while, but when he insisted, I told him we would have a few pieces when we got home.  He stopped and said, "Mama, all done trick-or-treating.  Go home."  Little stinker!

 Jack having fun with the "trick" from my 7th graders!

Fun decorating the house

Pumpkin seeds!

My little astronaut

My loves

The trick-or-treatin' crew

Jack his Kitty (aka Kaitlyn)

Top from left: Kaitlyn, Sarah, Lilly; Bottom: Jack, Maddie

 

4th of July

I am posting all of these so late because my time has been spent between Jack and getting ready for yet another challenging, but exciting position this year.  I am teaching 7th grade Language Arts and Literature and 6th grade Literature for the 2012-13 school year and I have to transfer all my ideas and mindset from elementary to middle school.  It has been a fun and huge undertaking!  Anyway...here are some pictures and videos from the 4th.  We spent the day with family and friends at my sister's house (did I mention how awesome it is to have them in the same neighborhood?!).  Jack has become quite the "swimmer" and dare devil!  He LOVES the water.

My sister's tablescape

 Just some All-American kids enjoying some corn-on-the-cob.

Woo-Hoo!!  Water Slide Time!

 

Jack gets some air here...

This kid went down the water slide all day!!

Jack with his Papa

Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July!