Veronica

Second Attempt to Get ONE Picture With All of the Kids Smiling...

Someone decided that the problem was the grass.  So the kids were given a nice blue blanket to sit on.

It's going to be a good day!  First shot and everyone but Sam is smiling...

YAY!  One of a handful of great pictures.

Blurry - photographers error.

Justin is sliding away...it must be time to quit.  We did get a few good pictures to pick from though so Grandma and Grandpa will get a nice picture soon!

A Study in Grandchildren

Alternate Title:  How Hard Can It Be To Get Five Children To Smile At the Same Time?

No pictures have yet been taken and Anne is already disgusted...we should have stopped right there.

Jil looks great!  One out of five - let's see if we can improve those stats with this next pic...

Jil still looks great.  Jed and Anne are at least trying.  Sam got competely distracted.

Jil continues to look great.  Jed is keeping an eye on the kitchen hoping food is coming soon.  Anne is losing interest and Justin just gave Sam an idea...

...an idea Sam quickly put into use.  Justin, Anne, and Jil all look good though.

I think Sam asked to smell Justin's foot.  Jed is plotting his escape to the kitchen.  Anne is in the zone and Jil (for the first time since we began) has lost interest.

Grandma gets involved...I think she's telling Jed that he will get food as soon as this is done.

Sooooo close!  Three look great!  One looks great but is looking in the wrong direction (and what is he doing with his left hand?)  But SAM!!!!  Let's try that one more time - SAM!

We've lost Jil.  If we've lost Jil we've lost the battle because she was the only one we could count on to begin with!  This was it - the final shot of the day.  We'll try again tomorrow.

A Few Pictures from Our First Days in Evansville...

A Very Good Place to Start...

Day One began at 5:30 am and took us from Sacramento, California to Provo, Utah.   

Something odd has happened.  On day 1 we ate lunch at a picnic area alongside the Salt Lake flats.  I distinctly remember taking pictures yet I can't find those pictures!  They aren't on our camera.  Odd.  

Day Two took us from Provo, Utah to Denver, Colorado. 

Lunching somewhere in Colorado - I only know this because the book Jed is reading is called "Discover America - Colorado".

On our way to Denver we stopped at Glenwood Hot Springs for a break and to let the kids swim in the hot springs pool.

Ice cream cones - the perfect ending to a perfect stop in the mountains!

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

Friday, June 12 - Day 1:  Picking Wildflowers in Nevada

In Open Fields of Wildflowers....

Hey  Mom!

I pulled out that wooden flower press that you gave Anne years ago.  We'll be taking it on our road trip and using it to press flowers we see as we drive through the states.

Do you think we'll be able to identify some of the flowers once they are pressed and dried?  Do you have books that will help us identify them?  Can you bring those books to Evansville and maybe the kids can spend an evening looking at the flowers and the books with you?

Thanks!

Mo's Bean Dip Recipe

Dear Mom,

I can't send you the bean dip recipe because your email provider ignores my emails.  I used to be able to send stuff to dad's email at work.  But then he went and retired on us.  So I will post the bean dip recipe here.

The recipe came from my friend Maureen (aka "Mo").  She used to check on this blog, I don't know if she still does.  I'm sure she will be delighted to hear that her recipe is making it's way around the United States.  It is yummy.

1 cup veg oil

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

Simmer the above for 20 min and let cool.

Drain and put into a bowl the following:

1 can black beans

1 can black eyed peas

1/2 jar jalapenos - sliced and chopped

1 11oz can shoepeg corn

1 sm red onion chopped

1 cup chopped celery

Pour cooled liquid mixture over bean mix.

Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight

Drain and Serve with Frito Scoops.

Thanks, Maureen!  

Scenic Shots from Anne's Final River Trip of 6th Grade

I often take for granted just how beautiful my own neighborhood is.  Each month Anne's class walked outside the school's backdoor and entered the American River Parkway.  I was fortunate enough to be one of the monthly parent chaperones.  It was incredible to see the parkway changing each month.  The river rose and fell, the wildflowers died and then returned, the poison oak dried up and then returned with a vengeance making many of our paths unpassable by the final trip.  I'm really, really, really glad I signed up to do this.  

Eating our snacks at the top of the bluff.

Weekend With Heather & Jeff

Heather and Jeff came up for a long weekend visit.  These are just some random shots from the weekend...

That block set was the best gift we've ever received - Thanks Mom and Dad!  Eleven years after we received it the set still gets used almost every day.  Kingdoms rise and fall almost daily thanks to those blocks!

Walking over to the playground.  To give you some perspective - while taking this picture I was standing in our front yard.  The school is in the background just past the cross walk.  K-8 Elementary School which means we have 2 more years of all three kids in one school and that one school being a hop, skip, and a jump from our front door!

Jeff asking what this tube is...

Jed telling him.

Eric and Jeff after the monsters put them in Monster Jail.  

Kick off!

Jed always seems to end up on the ground after the play...even if the ball never comes near him.

Sam Reenacts the Donner Party - Without the Cannibalism

Every year the 4th grade class spends the year preparing for the "Truckee Trip".  The trip is a day long event where the kids dress up like pioneer children and go up the mountain to Donner Pass.  At the pass they meet up with a group of parent volunteers who recreate the Donner Party...with the main difference being they get back into their warm cars and drive back down the mountain when it starts to cool off at night.  They actually had snow up in the pass this year even though it was the end of May and in the 90's in the valley.

Sam and friends - complete with authentic pioneer garb and free Angels blanket that he got at Free Blanket day at Angel Stadium.

Some of the parents dressed up to play their parts.

It cracked me up that this dad put a fake bullet hole complete with dripping blood on his costume.  He had a matching hole in the front too.

The entire class - Sam is in the very front.  You can see the straw hats worn by the parents who played the part of the Chinese workers who built the railroad tunnels.  They weren't part of the Donner Party but there is an old tunnel in the mountains that the kids were able to walk through.