Fun in the Sun...meaning...CAMPING!!!!

Okay. So we finally got to go camping and it was AWESOME!!! I mean. Camping is pretty epic no matter who you go with or where you go but I like to think our camping trips are the best. We went up to Cal-Ida campsite right near the Yuba River and it was amazing.

2 campsites.
3 tents.
4 days.
3 nights
6 littles.
2 tired grown ups.
1,000,000 mosquitos.

Doesn't get much better than that! We settled right in, set up camp and the adventures began. Of course with all of us there are moments of fear, arguing, and so on but honestly all the kids did soo well. They broke through some fear barriers, became a little more rugged and showed me especially that they are a tough little bunch. We had a great time and although the day of packing up was a little rough, the trip all together was pretty dang good. I love our little family and the memories we get to make.

I did also see the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and I have decided for sure that sometime before I am 40 I will take a week long or month long hike on it. Just me, a backpack and maybe some company. Either way. How exciting!

So now onto the pics and such to just SHOW you how great of a time we had. Not as many pics as normal because to be honest, I was caught up more in the moments and being behind the camera wasn't the first thought :)

Carina drove for a bit, until she almost killed us. Then I took over. 

Coolest rope swing ever near our campsite. 

 I am actually learning to L-O-V-E the random faces in our group pics!

 Aidan was the only other one brave enough to get on!

 

 

 Pano setting on the iPhone is awesome in these. Click on these pics to see them fullsize. So pretty!

 Honestly. My man is hotter than yours.

 When you gotta go you gotta go and Rian ALWAYS has to go!

 I swear they were having a good time!

 Aidan was a huge fan of the gold mining. We didn't find anything but not for loss of trying!

 Cool waterfall near our campsite.

 Tyler. Pose. Ha! This kid.

 I didn't even know lakes existed that prohibited swimming. Thank you Sardine Lake for disappointing.

 We stopped at a mine and took a tour. Not bad. We did see bats. That was cool.

 Christine said it was sooooooo easy I could do it while camping. So I tried. It worked.

 last but not least. an epic pajama pic. She gets her style from me.

 

 

 

 

Although the camping trip has been the highlight of the summer so far there were also a few other things we cannot forget so here are the pics from a few other random days as well!

 

 

Carina, Jared and I played in a Softball tournament. We dusted off the old gloves and gave it our best college try! We didn't suck.

 

We celebrated the 4th the same as last year with only two littles only this year we went to Downtown Suisun City and it was AMAZING! They fireworks were literally right above us. So fun!

 

 I finally got to see Bubs play 2 t-ball games. So cute. He did awesome.

Pinterest struck again and we built a console table. By we I mean Jared. haha. I decorated it. 

 

Not often do I catch some super cute moments but this was just too adorable to pass up. Jared teaching Aidan how to BBQ. I seriously think my guy is amazing. 

 

21 days...

It has been only 21 days since my last post but it feels as though a trillion things have happened.

No.

I am not in a JK kind of mood.

This is serious.

In the last 21 days we have....

Had visitors from the east coast
Had an earthquake in Napa
Gone Camping again...sadly minus my littles
Started Football Season for Aidan
Got a puppy
Had a much  needed fun day of randomness

Now, maybe to some that doesn't sound like a lot but I feel as though we have literally been going non stop for exactly 21 days. Now. I would normally post a separate post for each thing but lets face it. That would be an insane amount of posting and who in their right mind wants to read my writing for that long. So. I will post LOTS of pics and just little blurbs. YAY!

Visitors. OH. EM. GEE. I love visitors. I have had the honor and privilege of having an amazing friend be part of my life since I was a wee one. Okay. I lie. Since I was a TEEN one. Haha. She is fabulous and this visit she brought her someone special with her. I seriously don't know what I expected of her significant other but I know I wasn't expecting to absolutely adore her. Hard not to do once you meet her. They had LOTS of plans the week they were here but they squeezed us in and we loved every minute. I took only a few pics because I was mostly focused and meeting and getting to know more about their life so my apologies. We enjoyed dinner at home one night, Lauren and her lady took the kids to Scandia and played games one afternoon, we enjoyed dinner OUT one night just us grown ups. So fun. Then we had our last afternoon spent at a local bbq, blues and brews festival topped off with some Froyo and one last walk along the River Front. In hindsight, after the earthquake, I am glad they came during such a lovely week. We really got to appreciate it all before devastation hit our little town.

Camping. We went up to Hume Lake, just Jared, his littles and myself. My kiddos had school and although I have taken them out before for school trips, this wasn't one of those times. I am certain we will have more in the future that are just as fun if not more and very much worth some missed school days for them. We did some hiking, some swimming and we even had a bear trample our site and eat our watermelon and grapes. Whoops! NO need to do much talking here, I will let the pics speak for themselves!

Football Season. So it seems our Saturdays will be full of Football games and we kicked it off with Aidan's Jamboree. So much fun. He played about 5 short 20 minute games and scored 5 touchdowns. Yes. 5. Wow! His team had a shaky start but it ended great! Go Aidan!

A Puppy. Yes. We are insane. Not only do we have 6 kids in our household but we thought...why not shake it up and get a puppy to add to the mix! After all, who doesn't love to potty train and tell something small no for chewing on toys and knocking things over and digging up holes. Oh right. We must have been drunk when we made this decision. Either way, we now have a forever friend and his name is Jack.

Jack Daniels Luomez

Like what was done there. We combined our last names to make him his very own last name. Seems he is the only one related to all of us :)

He is now 10 weeks old and is a black lab/border collie mix, or so they tell us. He has successfully peed on our carpet 3 times and pooped on it once. He has also chewed up one rubber garbage disposal ring during a repair and ruined at least 2 toilet paper rolls. I mean. Hello. Who doesn't love to run their paws on it and let it go round and round and waste lots of trees. Ugh. however, I love him. We love him. He is our little fur baby and the kids little fur sibling and he's awesome!

 

 

On Sunday we had just my littles and then mister Aidan popped up to play with the pup. We decided to make a day of it and we took the kiddos on base to let off some steam. We went bowling, went to a plane museum and had some ice cream. It was awesome. I will say that the girls won both games, albeit Jared and Aidan claiming we cheated. Lies. We would never. I did not stop his team members from taking his turn though and scoring him a zero on one turn. Hehe.  It was fun and just what the doctor ordered!



Seriously. My guy. Handsome.

The earthquake. There was an earthquake in Napa on the eve of our camping trip. It was sad and devastating for our town but also for my kids. They were with their daddy and had more than just an earthquake to worry about. As a mommy I made a tough decision that week that in some ways changed my relationship with my kiddos...at first for the worse and in the end for the better. We got to share something when I returned that I had always associated with just them and their daddy. No details to be given but after an earthquake and a loss it is true. You hold your loved ones closer and I do wish I had done so sooner. We did come home to quality time and eventual smiles and I will say that my mommy badge is still worn proudly.

 

Last but not least we also celebrated my cousins birthday last night. I took over impromptu dinner and cake and bubbles (the non alcoholic version) and we grubbed down, caught up and sang a super sweet rendition of Happy Birthday. Cha Cha Cha.

The last 21 days have been busy. Very busy. Now onto the rest of the year! WOOT!