A campin' we will go, and I really should be folding laundry right now....

...but the laundry is ALWAYS there. Sitting on the couch as if its a hungry visitor waiting for me to serve refreshments or something...just glaring at me. So...I let it sit longer because I know how to prioritize, and blogging is a MUST. :-)

Wow...June and July have been a whirlwind of summer craziness...lots of swimming, playdates, trips, and laundry. Oh, wait..I already talked about the laundry. Anyways, I can not believe we are looking at school starting again in just over two weeks. Part of me is excited but there is always a part that gets a bit sad that I will lose my kids to school days again from 8-2:30. Ok but that part is small. The other part is excited because I lose my kids to school days from 8-2:30...yowza!!

Truthfully, this year as Ethan steps out into the world of Kindergarten I prepare to feel that familiar tug on my heartstrings as yet another one of my babies ventures out the door with their huge backpack that is over half their size, packed with nothing but glue sticks and crayons. I wonder if they know how hard that moment is for a mom. I will miss the little boy who hung out with his mommy (and later-his mommy and baby brother...), and did things like
Play in the bubbles in the back yard at 18 mos old.....and

could be caught snoozing in the playroom...but only once in awhile...

Or blowing bubbles in the backyard at 3 years old

I will miss that sleepy two year old coming up to me with his "kiki" over his head, ready for his nap, asking me to "hold-ju".

I will also miss walking down the hall and finding this little boy, checking himself out in the mirror...

                                                                    ...with no pants on.


And then there were our "dates"...bagels, ice cream-shhh...dont tell anyone about those. We had such great chats, about things like what the coolest Lego airplane would look like, and why doggies cant talk.

So while I will miss those days, I also look forward to the many many more memories of watching Ethan grow and conquer the world as I know he will do with every bit of spite and his sweet sweet charm.

Maybe THAT is what made me keep having more. I will call it the "Kindergarten Effect"...once one is out the door, its time to re-boot. Or something like that. Maybe not. Either way...this time we are done for REALS.

So a new school year starts...but that is another blog. For now, back to the summer craziness. I mean fun.

Camping. I am not sure about this one. It seems so fun and nature-ish at first...and then it comes down to the real deal, and goes something like this:
Prep, pack, make lists, pack more, prep more, double check lists, pack a little more.

Camp.

Return home, un pack, clean children, do laundry, un pack more, clean children again, do more laundry.

Again. I am not sure about this one. Fun? I think for the kids the answer is an overwhelming YES.

For me? Not sure. I am happy for the kids, lets leave it at that for now. So we pull out of the driveway, packed and loaded to the hilt, looking a bit like the Clampetts...all ready to camp. (cue the theme song from Deliverance right about now....)

We headed up to Lake Manzanita at the base of Mount Lassen for our maiden "family camping trip" ---without an RV this time. We did, however, rent a super cute rustic cabin that was brand new and really did provide exactly what we thought we needed, that perfect mix between "roughing it" ( this chick aint sleeping on the ground in a tent thank you very much, the bears will  have to find their appetizers elsewhere), and safety and warmth (cabins had propane heaters). However, these cute rustic gems had no restrooms, and that was less than fun. Keep in mind, we have six bladders in our family, most of them under the age of ten. SIX.

We also have an almost-two-year-old who loves to do two things: RUN and EAT DIRT. What better place for him than the expansive great outdoors. Forget any gym membership, this kid kept us running so much we must have lost a few pounds just over that trip. But we also had a total s'mores overload, so maybe its a wash.

But, all that said, we as parents never go into these types of adventures for selfish reasons, and we know to greatly lower expectations as we paint the "oh yes, of course this is fun for us" look on our faces....all for the sake of our kiddos.

Lake Manzanita is beautiful and the kids really did have a blast. Except for Ryan, but more on that later. Hikes, trips to the lake (freezing cold, but oh so fun anyways), nature walks,  playing with our friends who joined us, and those super fun campfire meals, punctuated by a hearty round of s'mores. Pure camping bliss.

For the kids, that is.

For the adults, as soon as that last bit of roasted marshmallow hits our mouth, we look over to see all those dirty pots and pans from cooking the food, and no sink to clean them in. And we NEED to clean everything, because, mind you...there are bears in these parts, so I will be darned if I leave one speck of detectable food in my campsite. So, just as Ma Hubbard would do, I don my yellow dishgloves (yes, I packed them), and head to the watering hole with my dishsoap and bucket to do dishes. Vacation? Hardly. But I am sure the kids were off really having fun doing something during that time.

So for four days we camped. And boy...when it was time to go home, Dave and I were more than ready. But..we did it! And here are some photos from our trip...

Beautiful Lake Manzanita. A tiny bit of snow still on the mountains meant SUPER cold water. I have to admit, I dont get credit for taking this photo...Dave is quite talented with a camera himself.

And here was Ryans response to camping after day one. Not impressed. Poor guy just had dental surgery the day before, in which he had to get general anesthesia, so he was still not quite himself. He wanted to watch his Disney shows and sleep in his own bed.

But things started looking up for Ry guy once he found the iPad and realized there were a couple movies stored on it. Plus, he swiped a  Coca Cola and was in hog heaven for awhile.  

Owen  spots a fish (no, not really, but it looks like that is what he is doing). Again, kudos to dad for this photo. 

DIRT! Owen loves it....

sometimes, when its dinner time and  you are camping, you will do ANYTHING to keep a toddler occupied, even if it means allowing them to mix catsup and dirt in their booster seat. 

God made dirt, right? 

  Good old campfire time with some of the gang.

                                             
                                   We were lucky enough to be joined by our great friends and their families..
 

 

See how darling those cabins are? Only thing that would make them better are bathrooms. 

Ryan brought his BELOVED ATV up so he could ride it on the roads around camp. FUN! We realized soon that when you are camping even running after your brothers on the ATV is fun..if you are Owen. 

he ran and ran and ran....the good part- TIRED BOY at the end of the day. 

Here are some of the happy campers...minus about four...

Chow time for daddy and Ethan

Finding old fallen logs to climb all over is ultra fun. Something ya cant find in our backyard

Another gorgeous photo Dave took of Katie and Ethan on their trail hike 

Smores!

Sweet Katie Rose...in her element out with Mother Nature and a walking stick

I know...can this picture get any cuter? Again, Dave took it! 

Three of our four kiddos by the lake. Owen would have ended up in that swampy water had we tried to fit him in there...by his own choice

                                                                         ....more s'mores!

Owen, although he is not able to roast his marshmallows, is our youngest s'more-maker in training. 

Clearly, this guy needs help from the littles on his s'more making technique.

Of course I have tons more photos, but I will move on now. I will end this with the final photo which shows my "coming home" scene...post camping: 

I have lost Ryan somewhere in that heap of freshly laundered camp clothing. Oh, and no...this is about half of what was really there, the others just hadnt been brought out yet. Where the heck is the Laundry Fairy when I need her? 

So check off camping on our list of "things to do over summer" for 2011. Done and Done!

We also were thrilled to meet up with family down in Los Angeles in July, as Daves brother and his family came out to visit from Texas. Add to the mix our LA family and wha-la! A bunch of family fun. The cousins were in hog heaven, and we adults had a pretty darn good time too. It was so nice seeing those who we are not able to visit nearly enough, and Daves parents were able to have all four sons together in one location. This, of course, called for a photo op in my opinion! 

Tita and Abuelo with almost all of their grandkids (minus Nick)

Hurtado cousins!

One of the days we went to Newport Beach and Katie was able to try out boogie boarding with her cousins for the first time. They had a blast...

It was a blast being together for the Fourth of July...MEGA fireworks were going on with this clan

Cousins Katie, Helena, and Jessie...those grins were on the entire visit

and of course, with a curious baby who isnt yet water safe, this is what the scene most often looked like for Dave and I....

Tita made her yummy enchiladas one night for a family style feast...

...and Ryan was smitten once again with his ultra cool older cousin, Alex. 

thumbs up for a relaxing day!

If you were to ask this bunch of kiddos what one of the the highlights of this trip was...it would be their Uncle Louie. 

Another awesome summer trip for our family. 

  

Still remaining on our "to do" list is the annual Bridgeport fishing trip Dave and Ryan go on, which is a really neat weekend getaway that is sponsored and put on for families with children who have disabilities. I have to hand it to Dave on this one, because coming off the heels of one camping trip and heading into another is a noble dive by any stretch, so I am reminded during these moments that I most certainly married the right guy. 

Summer's here and I hate bouncy houses

So they are ALLLLLLLLL out of school. ALLLLLL of them are home. ALLLLLLL day. With me. 

God love 'em, because they are pretty darn great kids, really. But...ALLLLL day? ALLLL four? With me?

So we get creative. And fast. Because we like lists, lists give us focus, give us purpose, and get us ALLLLL out of the house. That's a good thing. Out is good-IN is good in small amounts. But after awhile mutiny strikes if we are ALLLLL home for too long. Dads at work. Working hard.  We are lucky he is such a hard worker, and I am extremely grateful. But...at work he gets to sit down for lunch.  He doesn't have to wipe booties all day, make sure that the teeeniest bit of crust wasn't left on a PB&J sandwich, and figure out how the heck to keep four kids-of varying interests, ages, and abilities- occupied over the summer. I am in no way saying his job isn't hard...he does, after all, put in countless shifts of overtime so that I am able to do ALLLL of these things.  But, for now its ALLLL about us. At home.

We do find some pretty fun stuff to do just in our own backyard...here are some fun summer photos from our season so far...

Fun for an almost 2 year old comes cheap and easy. Just mix water and bubbles in a water table..wha-la!

                                                   

Are they the cutest kids ever or what? :-)

You would never know that under this pile of tree trimmings is....

The perfect secret hiding spot built by Katie and Ethan!

These cool fort-building branches would not have been here without the work of daddy and his yard crew...

We believe in the "no child left behind" philosophy over here. Bounce houses, I am there for ya, Ryan, but you are on your own with hauling these branches out... :-)

...some playdates here and there for all the ages...

Katie and her BFF Daniela. I have to add this next picture, which was the one I had to take immediately following this. Ethan refuses to be left out of anything here...

Even the "under two crew" gets playdates at the casa de Hurtado. Here are Owen and his pals Jake and Henry, bouncing (yep, we own a bounce house...ironic, huh?), and hanging out.

The key to these toddler playdates= lots of snacks.

So Katie and I work on our summer list. Things like trips to the beach, playdates, and picnics at new parks are listed. So are things like Marine World and visiting Aunt BK and Uncle Dennis' farm in Sebastopol along with other family visits. Those are all great. They allow us to re-connect with family who we don't get to spend as much time with during the school months as we would like to, and both the kids and I enjoy it. We keep the list going...visit Nana and Papa, take a day trip to Placerville to Gold Mining country, all good....keep going. Lists are good. Then...it strikes. The bouncy house place. Ugh.

Most parents think of bouncy house places as a great way to shlep all kids into one location and let 'em run loose into the various ginormous bounce houses all contained in one area, typically with a few tables and sitting areas for parents to watch their kids have a bouncin' blast. This is just not the case with our family, because we have a different story. Katie= bouncer, Ethan= definitely bouncer, Owen=our youngest bouncer, and Ryan= knows everyone else is bouncing but he is not able. So...it looks more like this:

                             Ryan + Mom= bouncers. Together. 

                   Up, down, up, down, well.....you know.

So one of the many challenges of having children with disabilities is that as a parent we are constantly balancing...balancing the needs of  ALL our children. Its like an ongoing teeter totter where you are always looking to see it lined up and balanced perfectly...nobody should ever teeter down lower than the other. That wouldn't be fair- and fair is what we moms do best. (or at least try).

So the scene is a tad different for us when we go to a bouncy house party or gathering. Instead of gathering with the other moms with their cute hair that hasn't been matted down by sweat, I am bouncing. Up, down, up down,  until Ryan is done. Which is never soon enough for me. Standing behind him, holding him up so he doesn't hit other children (he can fall in a bounce house, but with other crazy bouncers, he risks landing giant head-butt with one of them which would not be good for him at all). 

Ryan LOVES bouncy houses. I LOVE Ryan.

So we finally emerge from these heat holes of torture and I am red-faced and winded beyond words. No cute hair here, not a single adult conversation to be had by me, but....I know in my heart that Ryan has had a blast, doing what he sees ALLLLL the other kids doing, and that alone is what fuels me to re-enter those places over and over. He works so hard every day to just keep up, I am grateful to be able to help him feel like a "regular" kid, all hot and red in the face from a fun day of bouncing.

And of course even though I have already put enough photos on this one, whats a few more.....

                                            
                                                  Ethan and the camera  have a great relationship....

                          A boy and his boots. Even in 90 degree weather. LOVE  his style!                      

                                       Katie got a stylish new haircut that she loves...so do we!

                     

                           Owen Scott, do you know anything about strawberries mysteriously disappearing

                                                            from our strawberry patch??? Hmmm???

                                            These two DO love eachother...most of the time. :-)

So as we continue to head into the heat of summer, we look forward to our "to do" list and warn those who happen to be on it..."GET READY, HERE WE COME!"