Life Happens...

In the past 8 months, life happened. I didn't blog about it. I lived it.

Note to self: Don't regret not having a record of our homeschool year. There is always next year.

October 2010...
We had the most AWESOME Halloween party ever! We recreated Dracula's mansion in our Little, Tiny, Baby, Pretend House. The atmosphere was spooky yet elegant.

Our friends came dressed as characters from novels...'cause we're nerdy like that.

Collin was Count Dracula and I was Mina Harker:

December 2010...
Collin and I got dressed up, left the boys with a sitter, and headed out for a night on the town. 3 minutes after leaving our house, plans changed. We were cruising along in the middle lane of the 5 lane interstate when the car ahead of us ran over a mattress and spun out of control. Yes, A MATTRESS!!!! We weren't able to avoid the mattress and ran over it too. Collin was able to stop before hitting the cars ahead of us, but the car behind us wasn't. We got rear-ended by a car going 55-60 mph. He then bounced off us, hit a car to the right of us, causing that car to hit us. The recoil from the whiplash caused us to break our seats. We were able to get out of the car and wait for the emergency vehicles. All-in-all, there were 7-9 cars involved in 3 separate accidents caused my some moron who didn't take the time to secure his load.


Collin and I were able to ride in the same ambulance to the hospital, but then we were in separate rooms for 3 hours while they checked us out. Thankfully, whiplash was the only injury we received (although I have been having a heck of a time with it and my right arm going numb). After we got off the phone with our parents, Collin looked at me and said, "Still wanna go on our date?" What a man! He arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the hospital and take us downtown. We got take-out, watched MST3000, and iced out necks together. True love!

January 2011...
"It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand."
The Cherokee was our only car. The insurance totaled it and gave us a nice check to purchase another car. Another JEEP! We got a Wrangler...red...again! This is our family's 6th jeep. Collin knows these babies inside and out.

(Mother's Day camping trip 2011)

We had the pleasure of taking it to the Mendocino National Forest for some off-roading.


Also in January, Magnus turned 10! Double digits! 10!


February 2011...
We hosted a fun party celebrating the Oscars.
I turned a year older and didn't freak out about almost being 40.

March 2011...
Collin and I celebrated 13 years of weddedness!

(My brother's wedding June 2010)

We were also able to find a GREAT deal on a tent trailer! Its 32 yrs. old and in fantastic shape. Camping just got a lot easier.


April 2011...
Girl's weekend in Las Vegas!! (Yes, my husband is awesome!)

Lisa (L) was my roommate through college and Jean (R) I have known since 1987 and also attended the same college. They are wonderful friends.

May 2011...so far...

Mother's Day camping trip at Henry Cowell State Park. It's in the Santa Cruz mountains among the redwoods and 10 minutes from the beach. Perfect location.





We also celebrated Thane's 8th birthday!


Life coming up...
A trip to Washington at the end of the month to visit family and attend the wedding of our cousin.
Mid June into July we're going to visit family in Iowa.
July-September you'll find us at the pool lying under palm trees. :o)

I Survived the Big City

Mother's Day in Pictures

Zoo Trip

The weather was great so we headed to the zoo with some friends...

Wordless Wednesday

Super Bowl Sunday

Um...who was playing? Well, we were! At the beach!

First we hit North Beach...

Then we went to Drake's Beach...

It was simply a lovely day!

Something Fishy

We ventured to the other side of Sacramento today to tour the Nimbus Fish Hatchery with some of our homeschooling friends. They are responsible for growing Salmon and Steelhead Trout. We learned some interesting facts:

1. Female Salmon can have as many as 5,000 eggs in them!

2. Salmon live in both fresh water and salt water.

3. They can swim at speeds up to 30 mph!

4. Salmon can leap 10 foot waterfalls!

5. Salmon swim 2,000 miles against the current to their spawning beds in some rivers! Imagine swimming that far just to die.

Unfortunately, the temperatures are not yet cool enough for the Salmon to spawn, so the run was not in operation. However, we plan to return in November when conditions are right.

Magnus was swallowed by a Trout!

Thane sitting inside an egg. He keeps thinking that since they are eggs, that the fish hatch out of them like birds. Not sure how he is going to feel when he finds out he is from an egg too!

Thane, Tamir, Ameer, and Magnus

The boys were able to feed the fish too. The Trout would go crazy when the boys threw the food in.

There was also a huge Salmon sculpture for them to climb on...

This is their re-enactment of the eggs spewing from the sides of the Salmon as the side was cut open. Leave it up to boys!