18 Month Check-in

I'm not super organized and even though I thought I kept all of the kids stat printouts from their check-ups, I didn't. However, I happen to have all of the 18month stats...and they crack me up!

Emma: 21lb 6oz (11 percentile)

32" (62 percentile)

Grady: 25lb 8oz (45 percentile)

34" (93 percentile)

Landon: 23lb 11oz (21 percentile)

33" (82 percentile)

Stella: 29lb 6oz (99 percentile)

35" (100 percentile) 

The moral of the story is that Stella is HUGE. She measures on par with a 2.5 year old. No wonder my back hurts!!!

And this picture pretty much sums her up: messy hair, pajamas, a blanket, and a tap shoe

YoseMighty 2013

Even though last year's trip was a bust, Dylan's family planned another trip to the lovely Yosemite Valley over spring break, with the contingency that if there was rain or snow or wind or cold temps or anything else miserable sounding, we wouldn't go. Our trip was postponed for a day because of a storm, but when we actually arrived in the valley we had lovely weather, which made for a lovely time. 

Before I go on to post some of the billion pictures that I took, I'd like to take a moment to say that I HATE sleeping bags. In an attempt to save some space in our overcrowded minivan, Dylan and I brought sleeping bags instead of our usual down comforter. Well, we saved some space but nearly froze to death at night because even though they're made for cold-ish temps, there wasn't enough weight to keep me warm. Not to mention that I'm a side sleeper and that doesn't work to well in a mummy bag. Every time I'd try to roll over or try to get up to go calm a wimpering child, I'd find myself completely tangled up and unable to find my way out. Seriously, whoever invented the mummy bag did not use me for product testing. And poor little Stella was squeezed into this super warm, fuzzy baby sleeping bag and she kept waking up and saying "stuck" over and over until I'd unzip her. Next time, we're going back to blankets!

Okay, enough with my rant. Here's some pictures:

A few weeks before our trip, I checked out every book I could find on Yosemite from the Library. There was also this DVD called "Yosemite 4 Kids" which showed video footage and had explanations of different parts of the park. After watching the video a dozen times, Emma and Grady decided that they just HAD to hike the Mist Trail (aka a "strenuous" several mile hike up a steep granite staircase covered in mist from Vernal Falls). Super Dad was brave enough to take them. I kept our runners (Landon & Stella) back at camp. They survived the hike and were SO proud of themselves.

 

Behind our campsite there was a little meandering creek that the boys couldn't stay out of. They started with innocent pine cone races and then ended up fully wading in it. I could only be a little bit annoyed since they are boys...why would I expect anything different!

 

 Grandpa David brought Elk burger and Elk steak for dinners. The reward for eating them was s'mores. Lots and lots of s'mores.

Stella was just a little bit cold in the morning...

Oh, and she had some road rash on her nose that happened within minutes of arriving

Climbing around Yosemite Falls

The kids minus Stella

Because I was wearing her...

Pretty kids, pretty scenery

I don't exactly trust Landon in here with Stella

Taking a break during a family bike ride through the Valley

This view NEVER gets old:

A shout out to our parents for the trailer hitch and bike rack! Now we just need some new suspension...

On our way out we had to visit Bridalveil Falls

 So there you have it. We survived spring break camping in Yosemite. And we had such a good time that it almost makes us forget about last year's trip!

No Man's Land

The back corner of our property converges with the back corners of three other properties, each with some sort of fort/tree house in various states of disrepair. None of the property boundaries are clearly marked- much to my land surveying husband's dismay- and three of the four properties front different streets, meaning 3 different neighborhoods are represented. 

 

Two of the four houses no longer have kids living at them, so my kids and our back neighbors have taken over this no man's land and comandeered the remaining forts as their own. They sit up there for hours and hours cutting up leaves and berries to feed the other neighbor's chickens through the fence. And even though it's quite run-down back there, and not a little bit unsafe, and I may have seen Landon wielding a large kitchen knife out there today (from the other neighbors. don't worry, i replaced it with plastic picnic cutlery which is much safer, right?), this warmer weather that we've been having this week is the beginning of summer freedom. I get hours a day where they are playing with their friends outside in this unaccounted for land (which is what childhood memories are made up of) and they aren't cooped up inside being bored. It's a win-win....until we have to go to the emergency room because someone's finger gets chopped off with a knife, or someone's eye gets poked on a rusty piece of fence wire, or.... Well, anyway, TODAY I'm gonna enjoy the peace :)

Lest you think I've been swallowed whole....

Here are three articles/blog posts that I've read of late that pretty much sum up my life:

1. On how I feel as a parent of multiple children

2. On being an introvert with extroverted children

3. On just about everything else

Read 'em and weep along with me ;)

In other news, my kids are still super cute.

Flies on the wall

If you were the cable guy, a client of dylan's, or a door-to-door salesman stopping by, you might overhear conversations like this:

Me: Landon why are your pants wet?

Landon: I got them out of the laundry.

Me: You mean you pulled the pants that you pooped in earlier out of the hamper and put them back on?!

Landon: I want to wear these jeans. I'll wipe them off with a towel.

Me: YOU CAN'T WEAR PANTS THAT YOU POOPED IN!

Landon: crying and screaming as I take them off him and put them back into the laundry.