Joshua Tree

As a parent it is my job to make sure that my kids are as protected and safe as possible. Each day I make sure they are safely in their seats, hold hands while walking across the street, are always within ear shot while playing outside. But, although I am a parent, I also love experiencing things and enjoy a sense of adventure. While baking in hot Joshua Tree this past weekend, my love of adventure won over and my little man was able to experience the thrill of climbing up a rock face attached to a harness.

He loved every single second of it, and anyone watching could tell that he thought he was so big and tough. He was, too, although he didn't get quite as high as he thought he did, but in his 5 year old mind he scaled that rock face like no one else that day.

Little lady also had a great little weekend and her dreams came true- her two favorite boys, other than Teigue, sat and colored with her. A great day for all.

Oh, and once again, a picture shows me just how much my kids look alike when they are sitting and calm.

Stella Day

With Teigue being in school everyday from 8 am until 3 pm, Stella and I have loads of time together every Tuesday and Thursday when she is not in preschool. I try to fill the days with things that are fun, but some days we need to stay home and get things done here. Today was one of those days. 

We made some delicious chicken broth based, orange juice infused, rice noodle soup. Yes, it tasted just as good as it sounds.

 We painted the hallway...

...and a little bit of ourselves.

 Then we went on to the zoo and visited the rhinos, big cats, met the baby giraffe, rode the Skyfari, and paid a visit to Teigue's favorite orange tree.

And, to end the day, Stella spent the last few minutes before getting Teigue doing what she probably wished she could spend the whole day, everyday, doing.

Kindergarten

On September 6th a monumental event occurred in the Fox Family- Teigue entered kindergarten. We talked about it for weeks, he was so excited, he was the mandatory 5 1/2 that Stella insists all kids in kinder must be...it was just a giddy, can't wait for it to come, day. So exciting, in fact, that Teigue even asked Ollio to come and pay him a visit and to see him off. Of course Teigue built him a little room to stay in just in case he should get tired from his journey. Did Ollio show up? Of course he did, silly!

He was there when Teigue woke up- at 5:45 am. Yes, 5:45 am. He was supposed to wake up at 6:30 but was so excited and was afraid that he was going to miss his big day that he woke up at the break of dawn like a ball of fire. We played a game of Go Fish, ate some breakfast, got dressed, and we were all ready to go at 7am. Which is too bad since Teigue didn't have to be there until 8. So we waited...and waited..and waited. Oh, we did take a picture while we waited.

My big kid. I still can't believe that he is in kindergarten. It is over a week in and although he isn't waking up at 5:45 anymore, he is still very excited to go to school and loves it. His teacher is just wonderful, he has met some wonderful little kids- exactly what I had hoped his journey into school would start out like. Well, until the other day.

Teigue came home and talked to me about these big kids that were chasing him all over the playground. These 1st graders it seemed were pulling at his shirt, trying to take him down, and wouldn't leave him alone. I asked his best friend Avery if this was true. "Oh yes, Erika, and I kept on telling them to leave Teigue alone but they wouldn't listen." My Mama Bear came out something fierce. What kind of school allows kids to be chased and tackled? I emailed his teacher, she said she would look into it and would talk to the kids about using their words when someone is doing something to them they didn't want. The next day I picked him up and asked if it happened again. Yup. Fire was building up behind my ears. Where are these kids that are bullying my baby? Where I ask you?! Teigue pointed out one of the little villains. 

He pointed to a girl. It appears that a group of first grade girls have been chasing my little boy around the playground in hopes that he goes to "Girl Town" with him. "What are they going to do with me in Girl Town? Make me play with dolls?" he asked. Oh my sweet little innocent boy...

Blackout

Yesterday we were sitting at the doctor's office waiting for the flu vaccine when the lights went out. Seeing how the temperatures have been soaring higher and higher, and therefore people have been making their air conditioners soar higher and higher, I figured that it was just a simple brown out. We then left the office and drove through downtown, at around 4:00, and discovered that the lights were out there. Weird, I thought, to have a brown out in downtown during rush hour. We exited the highway and found police officers directing traffic. Hmmm....something strange is going on. I also didn't have any cell service and the radio was all crazy. I was starting to get nervous. I arrived home to find that we also had no power and a fire in the distance. Needing to find out exactly what was going on I grabbed my phone and tried to get on local sites. No connection. Finally I was able to get on Facebook and friends from Connecticut let me know what was going on, a transmission line in the desert failed.

We soon learned that power was not going to be restored until Friday night, a full 24 hours. We went to our storage room and grabbed all the candles. head lamps and camping lanterns that we have. School was canceled for today, ice cream was melting so HAD to be eaten, and neighbors were outside chatting with each other. While no planes were flying in, so Brady was stuck in San Francisco for another night, the sky was filled with stars, something we don't see very often here. It was really a lovely calm night, and everyone was content without power. Then, at 10:30 pm, the lights came back on and all was well and good again. 

Although the lights were back on, school was already canceled, so we had today off. We decided to continue calm from the night before and spend the day fishing at Quail Gardens. 

Connecticut

Teigue has declared Connecticut his favorite place in the whole wide world. I knew he loved going but his favorite place in the world? More loved than San Diego? Yup. Bend? Yes. Even Yosemite?! Even Yosemite. You know why? Well, it could be the high amount of creepy crawly squishy things that were just beggin' to be caught.

Or, could it be the woods, lakes and ocean that we played in?

It had to be that they got to pretend they were a wizard and witch!

Oh, wait. Could it have been that they got to play with their beloved cousins, quality time with their aunts and uncles, trick Grandpa and Grandpa  into letting them win Slapjack and Go Fish over and over again, and learn some new Ninja moves?

Or maybe it was just everything wrapped up all together that made the kids love Connecticut so much. How we wish it was closer so we could go every weekend!

Beach Ninja

Being a ninja is hard work. Even a relaxing day at the beach means a workout session for my little ninja.

Not to be outdone, Stella did some moves of her own.

Pump

My big girl. She can now spend as long as she likes on her beloved swings.