Back in May, we made the executive decision that since my DH had been working NON STOP sometimes with no real day off, we needed to get out of town over night and RELAX. So he took off two days during the week (LOVE that we can do that now!) and go stay overnight in Stinson Beach. We decided to take my mom with us because she could use the break too, and we could use another adult to bunk with the kids :-D

So we took off early Wednesday morning and picked up my girls at their dads house, had breakfast, and were on our way!

Our first stop was Muir Beach. I didn't get any scenic pictures since my stupid photo card was filling up quickly, but I did capture the way Terrible Two spends MOST of her time ... covered in crap.

That beach was ok, but the surf was kinda high, the beach sloped off dramatically, and it was kinda cold, so we set off for our destination of Stinson Beach. Once we got around the mountain and onto that part of the coast we were PLESANTLY suprised! We checked into our hotel and headed out!

To see the sun! And blue skies! And calmer waves and a shallower beach! It was just beautiful, about as close to perfect weather as we could have asked for.

The kids had the BEST time! So did we, it was just amazing, one of those perfect kind of days.

So when we were done and it was getting close to dinner time we went back to the hotel to dry off and make some food!

Our hotel was AWESOME! We rented a smaller room for DH and I, and a bigger room with a kitchen and seperate room for my mom and the girls :-D So I start making a pasta salad to go with the chicken we decide to BBQ. DH goes back down to the beach to BBQ since it was only about 2 blocks away. I was going to make the pasta and then we would all join him down there.

And we did ... sorta. As you can see, Terrible Two is not in this picture. Since she had had no nap, and hates me, she refused to sit down and eat so she ran around in circles chasing birds or something crazy. Weeeeeeell, dinner didn't work out QUITE as we planned.

The chicken wasn't cooking because it was windy, the pasta was cold, and we were all stressing. So I ran up to the little restaurant on the beach right behind us and ordered a pizza :-/ . Then I made the mistake of taking Terrible with me to pick it up. OHHHHH MY LORD. Honestly, she is LUCKY there were no kind looking gypsies there or I might have given her to them.

I got there and they said it still had 8 minutes ... it was to be the longest 8 minutes of my life. She screamed, she ran around, she ran into people who were quietly sipping their expensive wine in this lovely restaurant, she threw herself on the floor and cried like I had thrown her down. It was truly horrible. I did everything I could think of to make her stop, but as many of you know, sometimes there is just nothing you can do, the tantrum takes on a life of it's own.

So we left with the pizza and went back. I was as close to tears and exploding with anger as I have ever been. I tried to explain to them why I wanted give my child away but really, they just couldn't grasp it. Basically it set the rest of the night off on a BAD NOTE.

After we were done, we packed up and went back to the hotel. DH was feeling really bad and had a swollen throat, so I let him rest and went over to get the girls settled in for the night. I tried to lay down with Terrible Two in the other room, she cried HYSTERICALLY for about 30 minutes before she gave in to pure exhaustion and was out like a light.

The next day we got up early and went out for coffee. The little general store downtown had the fresh brewed stuff so we sat outside awhile waiting for them to open - we are early birds I guess. We talked and snuggled and just tried to enjoy our few remaining moments alone, got our coffee and went back to the hotel to make breakfast.

As soon as we were done and loaded up and checked out (still only about 9:30) we headed for the beach. It was a little cooler, but just as beautiful, and TOTALLY empty!

We decided to walk down the LONG stretch of beach towards some tide pools. The tide was out so the kids were finding all KINDS of neat stuff. They would stop and collect shells and sand dollars and Terrible just picked up a bunch of rocks. It was like and Easter Egg hunt except FUN! ;-)

Along the way we ran into a tree hugger who had found a star fish and was about to put it back in the ocean. The kids thought it was pretty damn cool!

We walked all the way down to some huge rocks and some tide pools. We played there for a bit until Princess was running from some waves and didn't notice the VERY deep pocket of water around some of the rocks.

She fell (dove) RIGHT in the whole time we were yelling STOOOOOOP! She pretty much went in flat on her tummy and was COMPLETELY soaked. So it was time to head to dryer places.

We stopped at this little lunch place right off the beach and fed the kids peanut butter and jelly ;-) and we got fish and chips - omg soooo good! The kids played at this awesome little playground while we sat and ate our lunch in relative peace. It was a PERFECT spot though with the FENCED IN playground right there though.

After lunch it was off to Muir Woods. Which as I understand it is basically like Big Trees but on the coast.

It was just gorgeous there, it really was. And as you can see, there are family sized trees big enough to camp inside of!

The kids had so much fun here. They really love being out in nature and seeing all this stuff and learning about it. At the end of the hour long trail we learned about the snack bar :-D And how fast two kids can eat an ice cream when they have to share with their baby sister.

It was a really great trip over all though. The (older) kids were AMAZING and so interested and so fun to watch. My mom had a GREAT time too. I think it was fun for her to see them and be with them in a relaxed and fun setting like this. I know they just LOVED it. So did we! It was nice to be able to have our own room, right across the courtyard from them - close and yet far enough away ;-) We will FOR SURE do it again.

Well, that's it for May, so I guess I just have June to get caught up on! YAY!

So if I had to sum up May for our little family here, this would do it ...


For the most part, May kicked of our summer trip season :-D I gotta say, I do LOVE summer for that. I love taking the kids places and showing them this amazing place we live in. I mean, we pay so damn much to live here, better use it! I mean, sure gas prices SUCK, but what am I gonna do about it? Stop driving? Stop living? NOT take my kids to the beach/camping/mountains and enjoy those places with them and their sweet little faces when they see how amazing this world can BE?! I don't think so. But that is a rant for another time...

Don't worry, I'll warn ya ;-)

Hehehe, my kids are such water babies. DH had to DRAG her out kicking and SCREAMING and SHIVERING her little blue lips off!

So instead, they decided to bury each other in sand to keep warm.

It wasn't a long day, but was a GREAT day. This is a view of Stinson Beach from the mountains you have to brave to get there. It's one hell of a stretch of beach let me tell you. Basically, we came down that day to check the place out and take a look at the only TWO hotels in the city so we knew if we wanted to stay down here. AND BOOOOOY did we :-D That is another post though...

DAMN I wish this picture would have come out better. This is a view of the city of San Francisco from the coastal mountains that set Stinson Beach apart. It was a LOT clearer than this, which was suprising for this area, fog is like air to these poor people.

The following weekend we did something I haven't done in YEARS. I have no pictures of it though. We were bored one Saturday afternoon so we watched a movie I was dying to see, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - LOVED IT OMG. So after watching that and thinking how badly I wished DH and I could go see a movie TOGETHER, I got a little sad. Started thinking about how we rarely get out together, how hard it is to find a sitter, how I miss our couplehood, you know ... my hourly thoughts ;-)

So I started thinking ... WHERE HAVE ALL THE DRIVE IN MOVIES GONE?!

Really though ... it's a place where you can ditch your kids in the backseat or back of the truck and since its late, they fall asleep, and it's just like the good ol days and you drink beer you snuck in and start makin out in the front seat like the teenagers next to ya ;-) It's like a TIME MACHINE.

So I looked it up and there was a drive in theater...showing the new Indiana movie...only 2.5 hours away! Normally that would have been a little far, but since we were basically bored out of our minds and had the boy and the baby, it seemed like the PERFECT solution.

We grabbed some snacks, threw the kids in their jammies, grabbed some beer and HIT THE ROAD! We stopped and got dinner and then some candy (you gotta have candy!) and got there bout 20 minutes early - perfect timing.

Let me tell you, it has probably been 8-10 years since I have been to a drive in, but it was AWESOME! They even had a little playground for the kids in case you show up early to get a good spot like we will be doing next time ;-) You only pay for adults and it's still cheaper than a matinee at a theater! AND its a double feature! And if we didn't have a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us going home, we might have stayed just because we could!

The whole thing was great. We brought some coloring for the kids and got some popcorn and watched the movie. They both fell asleep (which had NOTHING to do with the benedryl I slipped them) and it was like we were alone ;-)

The movie on the other hand ... well it's not my favorite ... but that is ALSO a rant for another time.

So the next weekend was Mother's Day Weekend! And it was like eleventyhundred degrees outside that day. I woke up to cards and coffee and a lovely gift and hyper kids and the HEAT already setting in. So I decided we were NOT staying home ...

So we ran up the hill to Big Trees National Forest. It is GORGEOUS up there for anyone who has not been.

Now, we had been on the trail before and all that so we didn't have to stop every 10 feet to read about it. We just basically walked ... and walked ... and walked some more.

And of course, climbed...

And climbed some more. They had a good time though, and we were still able to get some exercise on a rather warm day.

After we were done there, we went off to check out the campsites near by. They had a little stream flowing through so the kids stopped to cool off, all four of em ;-)

Then after the baby was almost carried off by dog sized ants, we left to have dinner in my fav little place the Snow Shoe Brewery. I have no pictures however, because my camera ran out of memory because I have only 512MB card because I SUCK.

The next major event was the end to my sanity ... you might know it as ... the last day of school.

My little sweetie graduated Kindergarden and is now a big girl. She just turned 6 on Tuesday and OMG wait until you see the PICTURES! She is so damn cute omg.

The next week, we kicked off summer vacation by taking the girls and my mom on a little mini mid-week vacation to Stinson Beach. Basically it was just an over nighter, but it was pretty cool. And since there are MANY pictures and stories to go with THAT, I will spare you and your internet connection, and make it another post.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the stories!!!!

So since some of my family is reading this now and looking for pictures, I guess I'll go back and start where I left off.

In April we had The Boy's birthday! He turned NINE! Yes, that DOES make me feel old, thanks for asking.

So we had a little party for him at the pizza place he loves here in town, and when I went to take pictures, I discovered that a dear part of our family had lost a VERY important appendage ... my camera's SNAP button was MISSING!

Pretty scary ... I KNOW. So I have no pictures of that. But the following weekend we decided to take The Boy out on a little day trip for his birthday and I decided I deserved a present too :-D And a new addition to the family was adopted. She's 8.1mp and blue and has quickly become a part of the family.

So after the adoption, we headed out west, toward the coast. DH and I are absolute soul mates, we really are. I never thought I would meet a man who loved the beach and the coast and the waves and the smell of the ocean as much as I do. A man who would drive hours, even on a whim in the middle of the day, just to see it smell it and be a part of the ocean, like I would. But he is that man, and that is exactly what we did.


Looks positively THRILLED doesn't she? ;-) So we packed up The Boy and Terrible Two and a bunch of snacks and hoped in the car. We didn't really have a destination in mind, just the beach.

On the way we stopped and had lunch and found that coloring is not just Terrible's idea of joy, it's also the Boy's. Coloring makes him very very happy appearently ;-)

So we drove and drove and drove some more. We went all up along Highway 1 and it is just the most beautiful coast line. We drove through a little town called Stinson Beach on the way out. It is one of those little coastal towns cut off by the mountains just enough to feel totally set apart from the world, and yet only 20 minutes from San Francisco.

We didn't end up there this time. This time, we drove and drove and drove some more and ended up finding a little town that is appearently where all hippies go to die. We were a little scared and kept driving. After a long time more, we discovered that the road we were on ended and we would have to go back to Hippietown for the beach or face a riot from the back seat as it was almost 4:30pm.

So we stopped. They played. The shivered their little blue lips off. Then we left.

But all was not lost! Before we left, DH looked up a brewery he has always wanted to visit in San Francisco. One of our favorite brewers is Rogue Brewing. They have an awesome beer I love called Dead Guy Ale - sounds a little more menacing than it's intended. The brewery is out of Oregon, near the Rogue River, the most dangerous river somewhere I guess or something, and a portion of the profits of that beer are used for something or other having to do with all the poor souls lost on that river - or something like that ;-) I just like the beer :-D

So we stopped at the brewery for dinner and found that it was a total FAMILY style joint! And OMG their FOOD! It was awesome. And well, any beer is twice as good out of a tap than it is out of a bottle :-D And OMG THE KIDS WERE AWESOME TOO! Look at that other picture! They just colored and colored and colored! and were quite! and ate their food! and loved it! So basically, it was THE BEST DAY EVER!

And um, that was April :-D

May coming soon!

*Waves magic wand and makes everyone forget she was gone for MONTHS*

So am I the ONLY person out there who burns after about 4.5 seconds in the sun, then peels, and becomes WHITER than they were in the first place? Just wondering...

And this is only ONE reason that FALL is my favorite season.

I have been busy. Very VERY busy. And lazy. VERY VERY LAZY. And uninspired ... well you get the idea.

With the DH going out on his own in a less than optimum economy and me trying to do the same, and holidays and birthdays, and school ending, and summer starting, and an overall NEED to get out of my house - the blog went to crap - as you can ALL tell - all 3 of you ;-)

Actually, I was just informed that some of my family actually checks this out occassionally and expected to see the wonderment that is my family. So here I am :-D

I have many stories to tell, pics to share, and crap to bitch about so providing I get our collective asses on a schedule around here, I should have the time (pray for the inspiration/humor) for blogging - lucky you guys I KNOW!

So it was brought to my attention ... by my OCD ... that I had not blogged about our trip to Yosemite ... last summer LOL

So I said "HEY, voices in my head, I can do that NOW and back date it so it's in time order!" And we all celebrated the magic of the internet.

Back to Yosemite!

So DH got a hair up his butt Labor Day weekend to see Yosemite! So we hopped in the truck and headed up there. It's technically only like 60 miles from here but that DOES NOT mean it's about an hour away since the last 50 miles or so are 25 mph turns.

But the beauty that was there was worth it :)