A Simple Field Trip

We have been so busy and my tolerance levels have been low that I just wanted to go back to the basics. So for this field trip Thursday I picked up the kids and we headed to a great park with a picnic lunch.
The kids thought having bagel bites at the park was great. I had thought ahead and called some friends of theirs to join us. Fun was had by all. We came with our shoes full of sand and very tired. Now homework is being done and everyone is happy.

I think with all the changes going on around us sometimes it is nice just to enjoy the simple things and be happy with them.

A very happy Birthday!

My good friend, Dianne, wanted one thing for her birthday, a trip to Disneyland with our husbands and no kids. Her sweet husband granted that wish and last Friday the 4 of us went to Disneyland for the day.

We had so much fun just hanging out and going on fun rides and not doing parent swapping (where one gets to go on the fun rides while the other waits with the kids). We ate at Cafe Orleans for lunch. We sauntered around without strollers and weren't forced to deal with whiny children. We spent some of our time over in California Adventure on none of the kid rides except Toy Story. We went on the raft ride and I got soaked. It was the perfect day for the birthday girl.

That night we met up with some more friends, the Sadlier's, for dinner at Rainforest Cafe. We had good food and a lot of good laughs. After dinner we went back to Disneyland and watched the Halloween fireworks and went on the new Space Mountain. We had fast passes which were great because the line was 140 minutes long. It only took us 15 minutes to get through.
We came back exhausted, but happy and Dianne had her magical day. Gone are the days where we could open and close the park. We still manage to have fun in our "old" age.

Magical Field Trip

We went to Disneyland for our field trip today. We had our sitter, Kaitlyn, come with us just for fun. We weren't there for to long, but it was a nice way to shake off the sadness of earlier this week. Enjoy the pictures! We love Disney at Halloween time. It's way cool.

And the punches keep coming.

I won't lie. It's been a rough week. The bad news just keeps coming. First some family stuff, then the horrible earthquake and tsunami that hit Samoa and American Samoa. The devastation from the islands just keep coming in. Those islands had little to begin with and now have nothing. Damon and I are grateful that his family members are safe from the initial blows, but now have a hard long process of rebuilding to begin. The quake in Indonesia is hard to take too, but that one isn't so personal.

The fam at TafaTafa beach. This side of the island was hit hard. This was a great beach with a tiny little village and one small road to get in and out of it. I can't even imagine what is left of it right now. The whole area is at sea level. Time will tell.

The kids and I have only been to the Samoan Islands once, but we completely loved them, except the roaches. Samoa is a small independent nation where Damon's parents grew up. We have such fond memories of the islands and their unique beaches and simple lives. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.

The last blow came today when we found out that Noah's 4th grade teacher was being forced to leave the school due to low enrollment. This news isn't as life changing as the above mentioned, but still hard. All the 4th grade classes have 30+ kids. I guess that is considered low.

In all situations I feel like my hands are tied behind my back and I am helpless to help. I sent emails to the school board. Damon made phone calls. It won't change the decision that was already made before we were told. I really want to help the people of Samoa, but how? I just don't want to send money. Who knows if it will get there. Again I feel helpless.

I really hope the rest of the week goes better. Noah will have to say goodbye to his teacher because Friday is her last day. That idiot in office thinks that longer school days and school years will help our kids. What will really help is smaller class sizes and more one on one time.

Enough on my depressing soap box. One should not blog in an upset state of mind.

Field Trip #3

I know all I am posting right now is field trips, but life is pretty boring and I don't feel like getting up on my soap box right now. There must be something wrong with me. I will try to be a better blogger in the weeks to come.

This Thursday, since summer has refused to ebb, we went swimming at the pool with our friends. It has been over 100*F for the past few days and I am really quite sick of it. We had a great time at the pool except it was almost to hot to lounge by the side of it. I had to get in a couple of times. It is nice to see that Lily hasn't lost her swimming abilities yet. I was worrying about that. We had some extra girls with us today. I was watching my friend's twins.

Scotty had a blast pulling the girls on the noodle. The girls thought it was so fun and at one time had Scotty pulling all three of them. We were glad to be at the pool for so long. It definitely made us tired for the rest of the night.

I was able to go to choir practice for our Christmas concert in December. It's been a while since I have had to sing for long periods of time and man was my voice tired. It was fun though.

Today Damon had a free day off since he had to work on Labor day in China. We had a nice morning, went to the Temple, went out to lunch and then picked up Lily from preschool. We then went to Home Depot and Costco. It was so fun to have him around. We even had time for a quick game of scrabble. I beat him by 30 points. It was a great day!

Stay tuned for some exciting posts for next week.

Field Trip Thursday #2

We are still trying to adjust to being in school again. This week was a little easier. The kids are getting up and ready on time. This week it is the parents who are having a hard getting up and moving. Maybe next week we will all be on the same page.

Mom's field trip Tuesday involved going to the beach with a book, towel and no kids. It was a great morning. The only downside was that it wasn't long enough. 1pm just comes by way to quick when I am out having fun. My friends and I still managed to have a good time.

The field trip we went on today was to McDonald's. It wasn't one of my personal favorites, but the kids like it and, truth be told, it requires very little effort on Mom's part. We met our friend's, the Shoff's, there and stay for about two hours. Not many casualties and a good time was had by all.

I am so excited for Survivor to start tonight. It is down in Samoa and was filmed on Damon's Uncle's land. It is so beautiful down there. I can't wait to see it on TV. YEA!!

Field Trip Thursday #1

I can call it the first field trip Thursday since it is the first one of the new school year. Since it is still pretty warm here we decided to go to the beach. We want to enjoy the beach as much as possible before the weather turns cold.

It was a great day at the beach. The water was warm. It was to crowded and it was nice and sunny. Noah and Adam both caught some great waves. Lily is getting a little more adventurous about going out in the water and would go out a little ways without me.

I love my new piano schedule and not having to teach Thursdays. It is so relaxing to enjoy field trips with the kids. I hope the kids enjoy it. If you have suggestions on what we can do send them my way. I am always in need of new ideas.