To CA and Back

Well, it could be too early to really tell, but Evan MIGHT like Annie! At least a little bit...last week, I caught him reading books to her when she was crying, and then right before we left for California, I caught this moment on film:

This is the approach--checking her out and deciding what to do

He comes in for a closer look, still a little aloof

And now acceptance and a peace offering--Mike and Ike's candy.
Luckily, she didn't take any candy, but I don't think that will be the last time she is offered a forbidden item by one of her brothers.

Annie isn't exempt from any of the acrobatics Jeremy subjects our (willing) children to...but I think he's definitely gentler with her.



We were planning a trip to California while Jeremy went to Atlanta to visit his brother and hear evangelist and apologist Ravi Zacharias and teen heart throb Kirk Cameron speak (I just think it's a funny combination). When I told Evan it was time to pack (after his bath), he got excited and put on his backpack ("packback") and rushed to the door.

My mom flew out and drove with me to California. We were fine except for the fact that Sam peed his pants within the first 45 minutes of the trip (succeeded by 3 more emergency potty stops on the side of the road...where does he store it all?) and Evan's meltdown in the Kingman Burger King. Our first day in CA, we went to our friends' house in San Clemente. Their backyard is the beach. Nice.





My kids love playing with Grandpa. Evan calls him "Campaw", which is cute. Campaw made them this crane...I'm sure he was teaching Sam the proper physics principles with it when I wasn't watching. And I bet Sam was using it to crash and destroy stuff when Grandpa wasn't watching.

I took a picture of "Campaw" in an unusual moment when the kids weren't trying to play with him.

He's so tired, he just fell asleep on the floor. I used to feel sorry for him that he only had daughters. Now maybe I see that he would have a lot more gray hair if he had had boys. I can feel mine turning gray many days while taking care of those busy guys. He had some good sweet moments with Annie, too--she always calms down and falls asleep with him.

And with Grandma, too.

My cousin Jenny and her husband Jon came to visit and fell in love with my sister's dog (I wasn't offended because they complimented my kids first).

Here's Evan eating a chocolate chip cookie while swimming--two of my favorite things to do, just not usually together. I don't think the old "wait half-an-hour" rule applies to a wading pool.
We tried to take some family portraits. This one finally worked:

This one not so much:

We had a birthday party for me with my old gang from high school...it's hard to talk with so many little ones between us!


(I love how kids act around cupcakes...you can practically see them salivating)

The boys sleep in tents while at my parents' house. I don't think Evan will fit in his for much longer. Sam always wants to zip the whole thing up and comes out soaking wet with sweat in the morning.


The drive back to Flagstaff would have been great (Sam wore a pull-up the whole time, lesson learned), except that Sam got a horrible toothache. Now we are dealing with dentist/orthodontist appointments around town and maxing Sam out on pain meds until he can get a pulp extraction to save a dying tooth. Yuck! The boys were so good at the 90 min. dentist appointment...entertained the whole time by 2 cars and a nursing cover that doubles as a superhero costume (oh, and Sponge Bob blared in the background on the t.v. but they weren't too interested...yay!)