Rachel's Feis and a trip down memory lane....

This month, Rachel had a Feis (Irish dance competition) close to LA.  Usually just Rachel and I go to these competitions, but this time Mark decided that he wanted to come watch Rachel dance.  Tommy also wanted to come, but the youngest three were so excited to stay in Vegas and have a sleep over at their cousin's house.
It was so fun for Mark and I to spend one on one time with Rach and Tom.  We had good conversations and games in the car without distractions from the younger kids (even though we did miss them)  :)
We went out to dinner and watched a movie (well they watched while I slept).  These two had a great time teasing and laughing together!

I think it was fun for Mark and Tommy to experience the Feis.  The last Feis that Mark attended was her first Feis, over three years ago!  Here is Rachel getting ready...(yes, that is a wig!)

I didn't get any pictures of Rachel dancing, but she did great!
On our way home, since it was so close to LA, we decided to visit our old stomping grounds....UCLA and the apartments that we lived in for 6 years.  It was kind of fun to visit this place with just Rachel and Tommy because they are the two that experienced it the most.  When we used to live at UCLA family housing and I forgot my keys, I would have Rachel or Tommy crawl under the fence and then let us in.  Well, since we didn't have a key this time either, Tommy had to do it again.  He got a little dirty, but he still fit!

Once we were in the gates, (really the whole time we were driving there and a lot of the ride home), Mark and I reminisced and told Tommy and Rachel all of the memories that we made there.  It was such an awesome experience to be back there.  I LOVED that time in our lives....it was so simple.  I miss that!

Our first stop was at our old apartment...#308!

Then we went to the playground.  We spent so many hours of the day at that place!  Here are some pictures of the kids on the playground when we lived there...

And now....

They used to LOVE this teeter-totter.....and they still do!

But, seeing those big kids on that playground equipment made me a little sad!
They used to walk down the sidewalk like this...(cute smile Tommy!)  :)

Tommy and Mark...

And here they are walking down the sidewalk now...

One of these things is not like the other...can you tell which one?  haha

This is a picture we took right before we moved to Las Vegas.  It is taken in the exact same spot as the above picture that we just took of Rachel and Tommy...

Yes....we have all changed!  But one thing that hasn't changed is our favorite stop in Westwood, right by the UCLA campus.....Diddy Riese!

You can get an ice-cream sandwich with FRESHLY baked cookies for only $1.50

Oh yeah, just like I remembered!

Rachel and Tommy loved them too!  We found out the best combination is cinnamon and sugar cookies with butter pecan ice cream.  YUM!

Then we drove by the building that Mark spent most of his waking hours...

And on our way to the Freeway, we had to drive past the best place in LA...

Our trip was more that a success!  It was so much fun that we decided it should be a tradition every year!

For the love of Basketball....

Mark plays basketball in the mornings before work.  He LOVES it!  But, this happens way to often!

I'm always nervous when I hear the front door open earlier than the typical time that Mark comes home from basketball.  I know I'm going to see him limping down the hall.  Yesterday was a bad one.  The worst part is that he has to walk on it all day at work.  He keeps it wrapped up tightly in his brace, but there's still a lot of swelling.  Maybe he should take up golf?  I won't hold my breath, he loves the game basketball!

Lake Mead

The Downeys invited us to go to the Lake with them.  Too bad it was on a Monday and Mark had to work!  We missed him, but had such a great time.  

Our five kids, their five kids and a friend, that made 11 kids and 3 adults on the boat.  It was a party!

All of the kids got a chance on the knee board.

even Megan and Jessica.  I held on to the back of the board while they rode.

Then Jason dropped me and Janae off at the beach with the younger kids.  He took the three teenagers out to wake board.  

The kids explored and found great treasures, including a golf ball.

Janae and I just floated in the water and watched them play.

Pretty soon, the boat came back and Rachel was driving!  SCARY!

Then we rode the tube.  

Josh, Sam and Jared...

Tommy and Justin...

and then my girls...

Notice the dry hair in the next photo...

Right after that picture, the boat moved forward and the girls weren't back enough so they went head first into the water!  They were a little traumatized, and we were trying hard not to laugh because it really was funny!  Jessie said she wanted to get back in the boat, but we talked her into trying it again.

TAKE 2...

Wet hair and now Rachel is holding onto her little sisters to keep them on the tube!

Jason was going really slow just to make sure they didn't fall off again.    Rachel was getting a little bored so she decided to let go.  

Rachel getting a little more brave and having some fun.  Megan getting a little brave too, but Jessie still holding on for dear life!

Rachel finally talked Megan into "no hands."

and then finally, Jessie joined in on the fun.

They had a great time!

Our last stop the kids decided to play "king of the tube."

You have to fight to get on the tube and not let anyone else get on.  

It was pretty entertaining for us adults to just sit and watch!

By the end of afternoon, we were all wasted.  Can you tell?

Thanks Downeys!  We had such a great time!

LOST Camera!

I'm Sad!  SOOOOO  SAD!
My camera is gone forever!  I've been in depression since I realized it was gone two days ago.  On Saturday, we were at the Spectrum in Newport....last stop before we headed back to Vegas.  We stopped to eat some pretzels and I left it on the ground.  I didn't realize what I had done until the next day.  I called the Spectrum's lost and found but no camera.  Someone stole it!  Makes me so mad that there are such dishonest people out there.  I'm so so sad that my camera is gone.  But I'm also sooooooooooo sad that the images are gone!

We had such an awesome time in Newport with my sister, niece, and their husbands and kids.  We spent two full days at the beach.  The kids played and played and had so much fun.  Mark and Brett made an amazing thing out of sand (don't even know what to call it....that's why I love pictures, I'm not that great with words, so I usually just let the pictures talk.)  Anyway, it wasn't a sand castle, but something that trapped the water during high tide.  It made a little swimming pool, well, really a wading pool for the kids to play in.  It was cool, and I had some awesome pictures of it, dang it!  Everyone who passed by made comments and even other kids came over to play in it.  Oh well, we will have to build it again next year, right Brett?  :)

I had so many cute pictures of Kristin and Brett and their kids at their first beach vacation together as a family.  Sorry Kristin that I lost all those pics.  We will just always have to remember them in our mind, right?  Ughhh!

I guess it could be worse, it's just a camera, right?  That's what I keep telling myself.  But, that camera has been my good friend for the last few years......I'm really gonna miss that thing!   I have a feeling that I'm going to be bonding more with my little point and shoot that I keep in my purse!

Here are some of the pictures that I took with that camera on the first night of our trip.  We went to Fashion Island.

the only child missing in those pictures is little Ava.  She is such a cute little girl.....I really wanted to take her home with me!

I wish I could post the pictures of her at the beach!  I think I took about 200 of just her!

The last picture I had on my little camera to document this trip was of the adults at dinner.

And that's it.  Not a lot of pictures, but a lot of fun memories!
This post is hopefully somewhat of a closure for me on my missing camera.  Sounds so silly, but true!  :)

Girl's Camp

Rachel just got back from her second year of girl's camp.

She had a great time!

Shots

I am officially DONE with childhood immunizations!!!! After 13 years of taking one or more of the kids to the doctor's office to get shots, I'm done, it's OVER!  Can you tell, I'm excited?

I had to take Jessica to get her final round of shots the other day.  I threw my camera in my purse because this was something I definitely wanted to document!

Of course, she was terrified and did not want to go!  It was cute to watch the older kids console her.  They decided that they wanted to come with us to the doctor's office to support Jessica.  And that they did!  Sam comforted her in the waiting room while they watched cartoons.  (This was not a posed picture.  He really was trying to help her, it was so cute!)

And then we all headed back for her appt.

When things got a little tense in the room, we tried to distract Jessica by taking pictures of silly faces.

And then the next 30 minutes, as we waited for the nurse to come with the shots, the kids fought.... or were climbing on the table.... or poking each other.... or yelling....  Seriously, this was the longest I have ever had to wait in this office and there were many moments when I wondered, "Why did I bring ALL theses kids???  But then, the moment came.  Tommy took over as the photographer.  Four shots.

And now another phase of my mothering life that is over.  I will have to admit that I'm not sad about that phase being over.  But, that means that my babies are growing up, and yes, that makes me sad, so sad!

Grandma and the Girls

Mark's mom had a girl's day with the granddaughters in town.  They did a little hand stitching project.

The girls loved the time they got to spend with their grandma!

And they LOVED the finished product!

Thanks Lu!  You are the best!