pictures from here and there

It's been too long since my last post, so this will be my photo dump of things I haven't been able to blog about, or just plain forgot!

 I just adore the picture above. The story behind it: Jack had a paper come home from his teacher with information about his benchmarks and what he still needed to work on. One thing that caught my eye was that Jack, when he counted to 20, would forget 15! It was so cute, but obviously not something we wanted him to continue to do. So for about two days we set out to ENGRAIN 15 into his head. Even my dad stopped by for coffee one morning and helped, and that's when I snapped this photo. And I love it. As I recently said on my facebook page, I'm so glad my kids have genuine, unique relationships with each of their four grandparents, and even their great grandparents. I will always remember my dad helping me help Jack get 15. :) Thanks dad.

 This is just a snapshot of Ginger, Sidney's favorite LPS toy. We ALL love Ginger, and we have all been caught up in the peril of Ginger being lost at one point or another. It's stressful. We all know that when Sidney LOVES something, she LOVES something, and so the entire family helps her when she's in need. It's very sweet. But at the time, when Ginger is lost, there's a sense of panic that flows through all of us, especially Sid, and it is SUCH a relief to find Ginger and see Sidney's body go from tense to calm. When I saw Ginger just hanging out on this dress of Alyssa's, which had been thrown off so she could jump in a pool, I just had to take a shot of it. Nothing like KNOWING WHERE GINGER IS! :)

 I finally got to take family photos of my DEAR friend Marti and her family. This was just one of the shots I thought was kinda cool looking. They were VERY fun and easy to photograph. And I think we went to about four or five locations. It was a blast, and made me realize once again how much I love taking family photos.

Jack and I helping out at a golf tournament. This was after my portion of the job was finished, and we got to hop into a golf cart and drive around the golf course taking candid photos of the players. SO much fun. Jack and I LOVE golf carts.

 Here we are, Jack and I, putting together the Playmobil house he and Alyssa saved their money up to buy. I was so proud of them, and I LOVe to put things together, but OH MY GOODNESS did it stink to have to put this thing together! So many pieces, and soooooo much time! At the end of a long day. but it's beautiful, and I secretly want to play in it and rearrange the rooms all the time. I love kids' toys.

 This is just a snapshot of a breakfast outside, only possible because my kids start school so late in the morning these days. We have so much extra time each morning, it's wonderful.

 Here's a snapshot of Sid's room one day, as she was delving into all the National Geographic magazines my Great Aunt Inge handed down to her. She LOVES them! I love to see her going on little expeditions in her imagination because of what she has read in these magazines.

 A shot from my phone during our last day of our camping trip to Leo Carillo beach in Malibu. I just loved the group of crazy sweethearts in this picture.

 Another phone shot of my new favorite bread in the world - the pretzel slider buns from Costco bakery. Yum. Lucky agrees. When he gets a hold of one, he hides it. Usually we find it a few days later, all crusty, in our laundry baskets. Oh, Lucky.

 Another shot from Leo Carillo beach, with Alyssa pointing out the opening of the cave where the water comes in from the waves!

Yet another phone shot - Sid used some charcoal to write this out on the side of the fire pit at our campground. I love California, too!