Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to school they go....

A new school year has begun! Katie is a 6th grader, Ryan goes into 2nd, and Ethan begins his school journey as he enters into Kindergarten. Following tradition, the kids all gathered in the backyard with their clean and new uniforms and stuffed backpacks...some tackier than others (Ethan would not budge on the Darth backpack, ugh):

"mom,  how many more sleeps 'til I am in kindergarten?"....

Repeat daily for one month, and count down. This question was asked by Ethan with big eyes of excitement and anticipation. However, when the day came to actually step out as a big Kindergartner, those brown eyes welled up (OK, and then mine did too) and his face of excitement looked a little more like panic and fear as he lined up in front of his classroom for the very first time, ready to sit "criss-cross applesauce" for the first time, open his own yogurt container at lunch for the first time, and.....well....you get it.  Here is Ethan, killing us all with those darn huge brown eyes...

I mean, the eyes are one thing, but he is tugging on his heart...ugh. Surefire way to send a mommy into tears right there...good thing I was sporting my big sunglasses. I wonder if he knows how sad I was that day, and how hard it was for ME to leave him. Its that way with each one as they venture off...weird how some things just dont get easier no matter how many kids you have. 

Ryan was all ready to roll into second grade. He had several of his friends from first grade waiting for him as he got to school, and Ethan soon learned that Ryan was the cool kid to hang around. He has a great side by side aide, Ms. Leanne, who stays by his side all day to help him be as much of a part of the "typical" students day as possible. She worked with Ryan all last year, so this year they join forces again to conquer the days. Here they are goofing around with one of their poses...

And then there is Katie. WOW how we 6th graders become wayyyyyyy too cool to give mom a kiss or hug in public quickly. Geez, ya wouldda thought I had asked her to kiss her brother or something but she gave me the whole, "umm,mom, I will just give you a kiss in the car and then go to class...you don't need to walk me there, ok?".  Now, mind you...I was raised by a dad who---after I myself tried pulling the same antics with him on my first day of 6th grade showed up to the bus stop wearing his STRAW COWBOY HAT and  singing as I got on the bus in front of my friends. It worked, though. I NEVER made a stink about giving him a hug before catching that bus again. 

I tell Katie that story so she knows how nice I am. But...I also tell her I cant promise I wont ever do something cool like that...just to keep her on her toes. :-)

So they are all back into the school routine now, and life is quieter during the day with just Owen and I at home. Its still too soon to tell if I will have more time to actually relax, as I am now working on all the clean up from the whole summer...we were always coming or going somewhere and the house surely got missed along the way. I am pretty sure Dave wants to fire our house cleaner (me), and our gardener (ditto), and probably the cook too at this point, as all efforts lately have been just keeping above water. I used to have such a clean house-all the time. Even after Katie was born things were always spiffy and cute, ready for the random visitor at any given moment. But now I am always chasing the ball...spraying the stinky playroom couches with Fabreze five minutes before company arrives and re-loading the laundry basket with the unfolded clean clothes so I can hide it in our bedroom. With every other pile of random papers and kids artwork and things to be filed away. Oh, and by the way, our bedroom is certainly a "no fly" zone....not pretty. 

But then I realize that someday I will have that clean house back. 

And it will be quiet.

And I will be sad sometimes.

...just the thought of what it will be like when Owen goes to school and I have NO kids here with me at home. 

I will have to find who I was BEFORE I was a mom. And figure out who that person is now. Somewhere between peg jeans, big hair, and becoming a mom to four children there is a person who I will need to reconnect with. That will be weird. But I cant really worry about that moment now, it will be here soon enough. 

Wow that was a bit of a Debbie Downer moment there...yikes. OK, on to more happy things. 

Back to school was not the only event that August saw for us, as Ethan and Owen were baptized at the local Catholic church. Godparents Fran and Stacey, along with cousins Alex and Jessica made their way up from Los Angeles which made the occasion a fun one for everyone. Here are a couple photos from the baptism day...

OK, so we all joke a little about the boys in their baptism outfits. Especially Ethan, who we say could have at any moment ran outside, looked up to the sky and yelled,"le Plane, le Plane" a la' Tattoo from good ol' Fantasy Island. Their abuelita got them all their special clothing for the day, and they both looked so handsome! 

Here is our brood...all gussied up.
And the fabulous Godparents Fran and Stacey and cousins Alex and Jessica

Baptism boys with Tita and Abuelo

...and with Nana and Papa!

So with a goodbye to the vacation season of summer and hello to a new school year, we once again look forward to more excitement and adventures in our family. Soccer has started for Ethan, Katie continues to take piano and will take 4-H in the fall, and we hope to get Ryan into Special Olympics Swimming in Davis. 

Owen will just continue being an almost-two-year-old wall painter, garbage pillager, table climber, and slobbery kissing little boy. 

For God's gifts we give thanks.  

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.