garden

I have some blossoms, but they are all male.

Big Rock Park

Monday we went to Big Rock Park in Santee. The last time I went there was when Porter was just 6 months old and have been wanting go back now that the kids are older. There is a stream with some pretty gross water in it, but the kids had a blast throwing rocks into it and catching tadpoles.

garden

Here is my lovely vegetable garden but in all of this I only have two tomatoes. There are no squash blossoms or anything, what am I doing wrong? Is there not enough sun, should we cut down another tree or just thin them out to let in more sun?

cousins

My sister came down yesterday so the kids were really excited to see them.
I met Shauna at the fabric store after I dropped Porter off at school. Liesl was so excited to see her cousins, it was really cute.

Shauna took Liesl and I took Henry with me to run some errands and to pick up Porter. Henry was a little shy at the school, but Porter really liked having him there. They were talking so much on the car ride home and being really silly.

While Liesl was taking a nap and Shauna was getting her hair cut I made a picnic for the kids on the lawn.

good day

Today we spent the morning laying around the house and the afternoon at a friends house. I took my sewing machine to my friends house and made a dress and skirt for her girls. It was a really nice day.
We are going to Sea World in the morning and we have to be there at 8:30AM. I usually don't get out of bed until then so it is going to be hard. I should probably go to bed right now, I am tired enough.

Party

Yesterday we drove up to LA to my sister's house and it only took us 2 hours. Amelia's 6th birthday was today so she had a party with her friends. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that you can have a birthday party at 12PM on a Thursday. The food was good and the party was fun. Liesl had a fever when we woke up yesterday, but I decided that we would go to LA anyway. She was very clingy and had a hard time sleeping in the car, so in the evening I gave her some ibuprofen when the homeopathic pill my sister had did not work. Liesl perked up and felt better, but sleeping was still hard for her so I did not get much sleep either. This morning Porter was being really mellow and emotional. During the first part of the party he just wanted to sit on the couch with his blanket. I would go in the house to check on him and he would just ask for a hug. He eventually did come out of the house, but would go back in for 10 minutes here and there. When the pinata broke and Porter did not get a red lolly pop, his favorite, he started crying a lot. I know Porter can be emotional but he was overly emotional today and when he was crying I said "he's not feeling well today" and it reminded me of something my sister told me. I can't quote her on it, I am sure she will correct me if I am wrong, but she said something about parents of bad behaving kids making a lot of excuses for them. I really don't want to be like that and when I said that, it made me feel like I was doing just that. Anyway, it was a good trip, but I think I should have stayed another night because I felt like we rushed out of there with a mess for Shauna to clean up. We left at 3 and did not get home until a little after 7. The traffic was so bad, but the kids were good and did not complain that much.
Some photos of before the party.

blah blah

Today we walked up to the North Park art festival, I think that is what it was called. We walked around and listened to some music and walked home. I went with some friends to a BBQ and Jason stayed home with the kids, so that was nice. There is a lot on my mind but I don't want to write about it, time for bed.

garden

Anyone know what is eating my tomato plant?

Switzer Canyon

My friend and I have talked about going on a hike/stroll through Switzer Canyon for a while. We decided to do it today and the kids had a great time. It is so much more fun for them to play under a tree, wander and explore than to play at a playground. Liesl did not poop on the potty this morning so she pooped in her diaper, not a big deal, but then Porter asked to go home and I just said alright we will leave soon. About 15 minutes later he asked to go home because he had to poop, not 5 minutes later he is freaking out because he can't hold it in any longer. I ran over to him, picked him up and took him to a spot under a tree an held him so he could do his business. That has never happened to him before and he has been holding his pee longer than he should and it is resulting in more accidents. The hike was fun and I want to try and go on a hike at least once a week.

canyon

Yesterday morning I decided that we needed to go on a hike so I asked Porter who he would want to go with us and he said his "little sister". Porter and his friend Olivet like to play big brother and little sister together and get along well. We called them and made arrangements to met up at Marion Bear Memorial Park. We had never been there before and it was a really nice mellow hike I look forward to doing again. Liesl spent about 1/3rd of the hike on my back and then walked the rest of the way. Liesl is more of a stroller, take it all in kind of girl so the pace was a little slow. If I tried to tell her to pick up the pace she would sit down and ignore me.

Porter said they were fishing.

Liesl examining the plants.

The afternoon ended with Porter falling and getting a fat lip.

weekend

On Friday when we were getting ready to leave for playgroup Liesl kept on grabbing things and then said "I'm ready". When I looked at her I had to take a photo but I was laughing so hard and she was moving around so this is the best shot I could get. Liesl had on a cape, a christmas bib, an knit hat and she was carrying a headband, two monkeys and a flower.


This is Jason and I at the first stop we made on our Critical Mass ride Friday night. There were 510 people and we rode through Hillcrest to North Park, Golden Hill, South Park, Logan Heights, Chicano Park, Past by Petco Stadium a few times, right when the game got out, through Downtown and then we ditched the group and went home. It was a really fun ride and I can't wait to do it again next month!


Today we went over to City Farmers to buy some soil and plants. Porter wanted to plant some tomatoes so we bought two and a dill plant.

A Dr. Seuss Book

After school today we went to Balboa Park to walk around and explore the cactus garden. The kids had a fun time finding lizards and wandering around. We let the kids run around where we could see them but, that was not very smart of us because Liesl somehow fell into a cactus and has scrapes and little holes on her chest and arm. I feel bad that she had to learn the hard way but, she was careful and didn't get too close the rest of the time we were there. Doesn't it look like a Dr. Seuss book?


Porter had just found a lizard and was calling my to come see it. This is his "why are you taking a photo of me when there is this cool lizard to look at" face.


Trail blazing.