2nd Week of Junior Lifeguards

Ready.. set... GO!!!

It's week 2 of Junior Lifeguards and if you thought life couldn't get better than week 1, you thought wrong!

On Monday, after we dropped off Parker at the Back Bay, we headed to Circus Trix in Mission Viejo! It is owned by some family friends who live in my parents' ward and sweet Trianna met us there and got us in for free with her VIP pass since she's an employee there! The kids had so much fun jumping on all the trampolines into the big foam pits and trying out all of the cool equipment! It's a trampoline park unlike anything I've ever seen and I'm so glad we were able to check it out! I had a great time chatting with Trianna who I've known since her birth. She just graduated from LHHS and will attend BYU-H in the fall after a humanitarian trip to the Philippines! She's amazing!

We took our time getting into the car so the kids could see the Surfliner cruise by (Jack loved it!) Then we stopped by the Toys R Us "going out of business" sale (NOT great deals...) and the kids had fun checking out all the toys. I let them each pick out 1 thing since I thought everything would be much cheaper. Oh well... YOLO.  We drove through Krispy Kreme on our way to the park for a fun picnic and my Dad came down to join us! We shared a donut with him and asked him to bring one back to my mom who was feeling under the weather. :-( We played at the park for a while and then picked up Parker and headed to day 1 of the second week of swim class! Jack is getting better! And THEN we joined our friends for a private viewing of Incredibles 2! A boy in our ward rented out the theater and sold tickets to earn money for scout camp. The kids were excited and loved eating treats and popcorn but I have no idea what the movie is about. I stood with Ella the entire time, trying my best to keep her quiet, Jack barely sat in his seat, Rayleigh asked me to take her to the bathroom 5 times.... it was nuts. They all fell asleep on the way home cuz duh. But it was a fun filled day!!!!!

On Tuesday, after we dropped off Parker, we took Ella to the doctor for her 10 month check up! She had to get 2 shots but she was soooo good. We were a little loud and crazy because the kids had been in the car for quite a while and were ready to get their wiggles out. But everyone was happy so I count that as a win! It's a good thing our doctor is a good family friend! Ella weighs 20 pounds and she's 30 inches tall which is in the 97th percentile. This is not new news- all of my kids are giant. But she is healthy as can be and still the sweetest, happiest baby on the block!

We had a picnic and played at the Montage for the rest of the day and it was magical! Once again I was blessed to associate with strangers who complimented and uplifted me as a mother. The kids and I spent about an hour with the Tidepool Educator learning about the local wildlife. She pointed out cool little creatures crawling around the water and I was so thankful for this sweet young woman who took the time to teach my kids. Ella took a little nap on me but when was SOOO happy to get down and play on the beach when she woke up! She turned herself into a little churro baby. Rayleigh was excited to help push the stroller up the hill and I was excited to let her! ha ha We bribed ourselves with ice cream so that we would leave the gorgeous beach and it was soooo yummy. Totally worth the catastrophic sticky mess that is now left in my car. Swim class was fun and Rayleigh and Jack had synchronized kicks! That night, after I got the kids to bed, I went to a baby shower at Jill's house. Busy day but filled with every good thing! Poor Tanner never came home from work that night. He worked 40 hours straight- from 7am on Tuesday until 2:30am early Thursday morning. The washing machine broke at work and they had to work around the clock to get the linens cleaned. And THEN the state came in and gave him  a hard time, stacked him with legal paperwork, and pretty much ruined his week. Poor guy!!!!!!

Rayleigh LOVES to help at the doctor- she is all about a medical career right now

Rayleigh has pink zinc on her cheeks....

On Wednesday, I figured if I was going to spend $15 to park at Crystal Cove, I was going to make it worth it! We hiked around the canyon which was super fun! Then we went down to the beach and had a picnic. The beach was beautiful and the kids were so happy to be there. The baby fell asleep on me while they were playing with a little boy and his grandpa. I was stressed that the little boy, Tran, wouldn't want them to play or that they would do something like hit or throw sand. I worried that the Grandpa was thinking, "Go away little kids. Where is your mother?" But I said a prayer and you know what? Tran and his grandpa, Peter, were so sweet and kind! I prayed that they would be blessed with whatever they stood in need of for surely everyone is in need of something. This wonderful man ministered to me and he wasn't even aware. I was able to SIT on the beach and hold my sleeping infant in my arms, relax and enjoy the beautiful day. My kids were happy and looked after while I was preoccupied. Peter showed the kids how to find sand crabs and for an hour the 3 little kids ran up and down the beach catching sand crabs and delivering them to a little terrarium that Tran brought from home. His parents and grandma and little baby brother were there too. But Tran and Peter were the ones to play with Ray and Jack. When Ella woke up, I walked over to Peter, put my hand on his arm, and sincerely thanked him for playing with my children. I had to fight back the tears of gratitude. Peter told me a little bit about himself: he's 72, lives inland with his wife of 52 years and his son's family. He's from Korea and is retired from an airline. He said life is what you make of it and chooses to be happy and active. What a remarkable soul. I am so glad I had the chance to meet him and I hope I can be a little more like him.

"No Ella! Don't crawl to the ocean!"

4th child problems. Thanks Jack!

Rayleigh is dying to get deeper into those waves- one of these days I'll have Tanner with me and one of us can take her further out!

I got lots of thumbs up this day

...and a thumbs down because she scraped her elbow on the sand

Thumbs up from Jack

Parker had scouts on Wednesday after swim class and I'm just amazed at how much energy this kid possesses. He has been a total rock star and I'm so proud of him! ALL my kids have been amazing and super well behaved! We've had very little crying and no tantrums. The car rides have been fun and relaxing  and we've made some pretty special memories.

On Thursday we stayed and played at the Back Bay for a little while and then headed to my parents' house for a picnic while the baby slept. My parents work in the temple on Thursdays but we were able to give them a quick hug goodbye before they left. When Ella woke up we met my brother and his kids at the water park by their house and it was soooo fun!!!!! A couple of years ago, it was a disaster and I swore off the water park. But this time is was perfect. My kids don't love anything more than playing with cousins! How blessed we are so live so close to them! My brother is so rad and I love spending time with him too!!! Ella loved the shallow water and Rayleigh and Jack were thrilled with the whole thing!

Parker got Rayleigh dressed and I think her outfit is so cute!

Friday! The last day of Junior Lifeguards! Yesterday was our last day of swim class and the kids had a blast there too! On Friday's, the kids get to play on the inflatables out in the bay and it's super fun. We picked him up early so we could see him in action. I'm so glad he's able to do this every Summer. It's such a great experience for him! 

I took the kids through Laguna Canyon to the Marine Mammal Hospital. We had an educator tell us about all the different animals they are rehabilitating there. She also explained to us the difference between a seal and a sea lion: Sea lions have ear flaps on the sides of their heads and seals don't! We then cruised down to the Laguna Koi shop and checked that place out. I've been wanting to do this for SO long! I was proud of myself for making it happen! The man working let the kids have a cup of food to feed the koi fish and they loved walking around exploring the difference tanks and habitats! So pretty and free! We then went to Chuck E Cheese because it's their favorite. We ran from game to game and had a ton of fun! They earned enough tickets to get one big lollipop each and they were stoked. Skee ball forever! When we went back to the bay to pick up Parker, we walked around the loop that goes around the bay and Rayleigh had so much fun climbing all the cool trees. She is the embodiment of Summer. I just love her so much! She was so proud of herself and she was so happy! 

We then drove down to Baby Beach to meet Taylor, her son Jack and baby Poppy but by the time we got there, her kids were over it. So we only got to see each other at the car. Poppy is so big and the girls were so sweet reaching out and holding hands. Taylor is so vivacious and fun! She's such a great mom and you can't beat the view from her house! I wished we could have spent more time together but there's always a next time. Tanner had meetings in Irvine all day so he met us at the beach when he was done- he was not interested in stepping onto the sand so I had to gather everyone up and take them back to the car. I had arranged for Cami to swim with the kids that night so that Tanner and I could go to dinner and finally sit down and talk. I picked up pizzas and met her down at her little pool and the kids were sooooo excited! I hopped into Tanner's car but before we even got to a place to eat we were in a huge fight and I asked him to just bring me back to the kids. He was hurt that I hadn't been communicating with him all week (this is what I found out days later) and of course he was tired. To me, his anger and ugliness towards me came out of no where and I wasn't prepared. I had no words. In my mind, I was facilitating a date for us to connect and touch bases again. But the entire ordeal blew up royally in my face and it was very very sad. Thank goodness for sisters. I was able to cool off with Cami, eat some pizza which was delish (I was starving) and the kids had SO MUCH fun swimming. We couldn't get them out of the pool and so we didn't end up leaving until 8:45, wayyyy past my kids' bedtimes. Tanner texted me to apologize but it was still very awkward when I got home....

2 weeks of Junior Lifeguards is something we ALL look forward to. This is Parker's 4th year participating it in the program and I think it was the best yet! It's also the first year he talked about girls... so..... not sure what to do about that. We were all blissfully exhausted at the end of every day but we felt revitalized and energized as a result of all the sunshine! I lost 4 pounds, read 5 books, and saw friends I haven't seen in a long time. We got to spend meaningful time with cousins and see my parents' more frequently which is always a treasure.

We can't wait for next year!!!!