Weekly Round-Up

Meg makes me the sweetest signs and cards for when I come back from a run or yoga...and Owen.... well this is him greeting me.  

 Owen likes to grab a Lunchable now and then but they just don't cut it anymore for a growing 13 year old.  They fill him up for like 5 minutes.  So I grabbed him one of these the other day and brought it home  - the look on his face... it was like Christmas came early!!  Food+13 year old boys = happiness.

 Out at the ranch the owner adopted two new dogs!!  Maggie and Tess...they are so sweet and Owen and I are going to start walking them while Meg has her lesson.

 Check out this new riding helmet!!  Meg sold enough bubble wands to earn it and she was super proud!!

 I had to get a picture of this cute store that is on the way to the ranch.

 We have found some great thrift stores.  We found Meg a bike basket for $3.00.  She shed a few tears when her other one broke.

 Meg is so cute... she saw people riding these down by the beach and so wanted to rent one.  So here we are getting ready to peddle away.  The following photos are from my backseat view.  Owen was the bike master.  This kid was a power house on this thing! We reminded him several times that it was not a competition - to slow down and enjoy the view.  Owen had us flying!!

 Check out the seals!! They were so funny to watch.  Just how they were sun bathing was hilarious.

and that's a wrap for this week  - California has so much to offer - I have a feeling we aren't going to be able to squeeze in everything we want to see on our list in the amount of time we have here.  We'll give it our best shot though!

Weekly Round-Up

The beaches here are so different than what we are use to.  We are finding it so fascinating!

 I told Owen to pose and this is what he did:

 Hanging out in the neighborhood with the kids on the street

 Meg at her first riding lesson - she stuck with Western style and her instructor is a sweetheart!

 So this week we landed in the ER with Poison Oak - This stuff is really a nightmare!  Owen seems to be very sensitive to it!  Owen's leg was so swollen he couldn't bend it.  So we left with steroids - but then we couldn't find a pharmacy opened late on a Sunday night.  Finally, after searching we found one!!  This will NOT take us down - Owen lives outside  - so we have to just figure out how to best wash so we he doesn't keep getting it.

 We just finished this book as a read-aloud.  The kids didn't love it.  It is a sweet story but the kids just  weren't into it.  I told them we are FINISHING it!! Sometimes you have to read books you don't love.

 We gave The Invisible Man an honest to goodness good try!  But we just didn't like this one.  This one we read several chapter of and then decided to ditch it.

So sweet Meg has a little entrepreneur's heart.  She decided to make and sell bubble wands.  She sold 10 this past week!!   She wanted to earn some money for a horse riding helmet.  So off to work she went!!

The name of her business:  

One of our sweet neighbors bought a wand and left her payment under our doormat.  She wrote on the envelope:  To the CEO of Pops for Joy

 Meg's little assembly table

Check out the video below of Meg and her Bubble Wands!! - Meg said I could be her "manager"  I feel super proud that I get to hang with the CEO!!

Out and About

We headed to San Francisco for the first time. Pascal has been there before but it was a first for the kids and myself.  We loved it and we are super excited to go back again.  Alcatraz is on our list of things to do.  We visited the National Cemetery located in the Presidio of San Francisco on Memorial Day.  

 The kids and I love to drive around and find places to explore.  We found some thrift stores this week.  (insert happy face and dance) beside one of the thrift stores is a bagel shop.  Its  a total win-win for the kids and for me.  I buy them a bagel and it buys me some time in the thrift store.

 Owen is growing out of clothes like crazy.  This is one of his favorite tee shirts and he doesn't want to get rid of it but it is getting too small.  (This is always my clue he hasn't done his laundry...he wears this shirt when all of his other shirts are in the dirty bin.)  It works as a perfect reminder when I see him wearing it. I always just say, "hey buddy time to for you to do a load of laundry... "

 We have had to adjust to the weather here.  We are learning to have jackets in the car at all times.  The average tempts in Monterey have been in the low 60's.  With the ocean breeze it gets chilly. None of the houses on post have air conditioning.   We sit by our heater most mornings. This has been so crazy coming from the HOT south!  We are enjoying it.  Cool mornings and super cool evenings!

So here is a very crazy story.  We went to bagpipe practice last Sunday for the first time.  There was a lady sitting beside me and  we chatted and were getting to know each other.  At the end of practice some of the members were asking Meg and Owen what they like to do.  Owen mentioned hockey and Meg talked about how she loves horses.  Well, I got a text later that week from the gal that sat beside me at practice and she wanted to know if we wanted to come over for a BBQ. She said she had a horse and Meg could meet him.  So we headed out to their property and had no idea what was in store for us.

   We got to meet Tubby - their tortoise.

 Then Flower their Pot-bellied pig

 we couldn't believe it! and then it was Alpaca time

 they also had goats and sheep

 and if that wasn't enough.... they let Meg ride Stephen

 This girl and horses - when we left their property she said....  "that was right up my happy alley!"

 I only met this sweet gal one time and she shared her home and farm with us.  She offered to let Meg take riding lessons on Stephen!!  She has her first lesson Thursday.  Talk about seeing the Hand of God.  We feel so blessed and this whole experience has shown us how God can orchestrate something and you can just stand back in awe.

 Owen enjoys the cats and dogs around the farm

I've been taking the kids to the pool in hopes it would ease Owen's poison oak.    Good news on that front... its almost gone!  The Indoor pool is just about 1/2 mile down the road.  We would ride our bikes but the kids are freezing when we head outside after a swim.  We love the pool!

 The kids bought new goggles

and that's a wrap!  June - we welcome you with open arms.  We are doing just a "little" school in the mornings and then heading out to enjoy you!