Everday Life - Karate!

 Jackson and Sadie play fairly well together. Sadie likes to be the boss, and Jackson is easygoing, so the dynamic works. Today I will highlight a game they play often called, KARATE! It involves going into my room, turning on dance music, jumping crazy on my bed, and of course practicing some karate kicks. I have given up trying to stop them.

95% of the time the game ends like this:





But it has yet to deter them.

Flip-n-Out - Birthday Edition

You may remember that Sadie's birthday was 2 months ago?! You also may remember that she was insistent on going to Flip-n-Out on her birthday, but had a terrible cough and thereby could not. Well, only TWO MONTHS later she finally got her wish. She LOVES it there. Probably more than the rest of us combined. She couldn't stop smiling:

We spent a significant amount of time jumping, sliding, playing basketball, dogeball, and volleyball. Happy Birthday (again!) Miss Sade. 

Five For Friday-Stomach Flu Edition

The stomach flu has taken over our house this week:

1. It hit Sadie first. While throwing up, she exclaimed, "THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!" It was the cutest/saddest/funniest thing I have ever heard.

2. Megan was next. Having an 11 year old with the stomach flu is much nicer than having a smaller child with the stomach flu. They can actually anticipate the throwing up coming on, and can make it to the toilet in time.

3. Then it was my turn. It was AWFUL. To add insult to injury Eric was out of town, and Megan had it at the same time as me so she wasn't any help either.

The only benefit (and I use that word lightly) to the stomach flu is the weight loss. My weight hasn't been this low since I had Sadie.

4. Jackson got hit with it while at school. It was always a big fear of mine to throw up at school, but he seems to have taken it in stride. He is not to the point that he can make it to the toilet in time, so the cleanup has been unpleasant. It seems unfair to me that we have concrete covering so much of our floors, yet the children manage to throw up on the carpet every time!

5. Last Man Standing:

Cleaning one of the carpets.

Thankfully Eric arrived home last night and didn't have to go to work today. I spent the day in bed, while he did the approx. 100 things I had planned to do. I am crossing my fingers for him.

Valley Of Fire

Saturday was gorgeous! Truly perfect weather. We took advantage of it with a trip to Valley of Fire.

First we hiked the White Domes loop, which we have never done before. Pretty easy hike, and good for those with kids!



Amazingly (to me), it was sandy the entire way.






Sade was impressive. Although she complained about her legs being tired, she hiked the entire 1.25 miles without once being carried. Unprecedented!



She also proclaimed many times when we offered to help her, "I don't need help. I got this!" I'm thinking she is becoming tougher.



Jackson hanging off a post from an old movie set you find on the trail:



My favorite thing about hiking is never knowing what you are going to find around the next bend. I was delighted to find these rock walls, with the trail going through them:



Megan and Jackson making a man-made arch:



See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil......



Have no fun.




Eric is a blast:




After hiking the loop, we went to see the Seven Sisters:




Jackson got stuck under this rock:



Not really. But it totally looks like it. Right?

Our last stop was a quick hike to Elephant Rock:

 Sadie caught a ride on this one:

In my opinion, there is nothing much sexier than a backwards baseball cap. Overshare?



Once again we wore Miss Sade out.



I live a charmed existence.