Japanese School

Right when we came home from vacation, I saw an email from my cousin Janelle asking if we wanted to participate in Japanese school. Her mom and 2 of our aunts (all of which are my dad's sisters) were doing their own little week long session of Suzume no Gakko! Three of the days consisted of making Japanese crafts, singing songs, and reading stories. There was a swim/Japanese food day at my cousin Sallie's house and an Obon game day at Janelle's! It was great getting together with the relatives, and my boys loved it!

Posing with their den den.
From left: Jason, Jennie (under the tree), Jaclyn, Jake, Adam, Dylan, Auntie Julia, Bryan (in red), David, Justin (the tall one), Cody and Tanner!

Flying their kites

Tanner playing the goldfish game

Cody and the ring toss
Sydney, Jennie, and Jaclyn (all 9 yrs. old!)!

Happy Campers Again!

After the incident with Tanner, we were able to have a really nice time up at the lake! We did the same routine we've been doing since I was 4 years old. (Although, I no longer do the early morning fishing, so me and the boys can sleep in and avoid the freezing morning air!)

First off, fishing for Eagle Lake trout at 6 am.

My cousin Jason and his wife Lotina's catch of the day!

Meanwhile, back at camp, my mom makes fluffy pancakes!

Larry and Jenny had this coffee pot at Jalama camping, and I HAD to have one! Instead of having the coffee percolate on the stove (which takes FOREVER), you just heat up the water and pour through! Saves fuel and time!

After breakfast, we head to the beach!
Sand cake, anyone?

My niece Sydney loves the water!
After the beach, back to camp for a quick bite to eat.

And sometimes, but not always, a nice late afternoon nap.

Then dinner. My mom is frying up fresh trout! Yum!
Our boys couldn't get enough of it!

After dinner, we watch the sun start to set.

I never get tired of this.

Once it gets dark, the camp fire is started, and it's s'more time!

Lost and Found

We went on our annual trip to the lake! We arrived in the evening and just started unloading when Cody said he had to go to the bathroom. So I yell to Ansell that I am taking Cody, who ended up having to go poop! So after a while, we come out and Ansell has his arms in the air and says, "Where's Tanner?" I go, "What do you mean? I was in the bathroom with Cody...WHERE IS HE???" Ansell thought when he didn't see Tanner, that he ended up going with us to the bathroom...but he didn't.

We all start yelling for Tanner, and of course, ran down to the lake shore...five minutes goes by. We start SCREAMING for Tanner...nothing. By now, we are running to other camps and asking if they have seen a little Asian boy walking by. It's amazing how many people jumped up to help search. The camp host also became involved. Five MORE minutes go by... I start freaking out. I start yelling at Ansell (yeah, I'm not too good in stressful situations). A few more minutes goes by (which feels like two hours.). I see the sun starting to set. I start getting short of breath. As I am talking to a lady that has just returned from the showers and is checking for him in her son's Spiderman tent, a guy comes running to tell me that they found him.

I thank the lady for checking and run back to camp. My cousin Eric's boys had found him hiding in the neighboring camp's tent (they were gone for the night). Tanner comes running and grabs onto my leg. He says, "Mama...mama...I went poo poo."

Yes, even as we are SCREAMING for Tanner, he is sitting right in the next tent, taking a dump (in his diaper!). Ansell took him around to tell everyone that we found him and to thank everyone for helping in the search. My dad went to the camp store, where they had already been alerted of "the missing little boy", and he told them how he was found. He said they were relieved, but laughing so hard!
My heart rate did not return to normal until late that night.

The neighboring campers returned the next afternoon, but we couldn't bear to tell them what went down in their tent!

GROSS!

People with boys just have to make peace with germs. Boys don't mind getting dirty. No, wait, boys like to get dirty. I am not a germaphobe at all. I thought I could hang with two dirty boys.

But even I have been pushed past my limits...

Last week we had a playdate at the park. There were water features at this park. The drain had clogged and formed a small pond at one end. Tanner decided to go splash around a bit. No big deal. Before I knew it, he was putting his face in the water. Okay, kind of gross. As I was running over to him, HE STARTED SPITTING WATER OUT OF HIS MOUTH like a fish fountain. Serious threats of leaving happened. He apologized, but couldn't help himself and did it two more times. He was banned from the water area (by me.). Thank goodness he got a Hepatitis A booster three weeks ago.

Saggy Face Strikes Again!

During the sack races...

Summer is here!

We started off our summer by taking a trip to LA!

First off, we went to see Grandma and Grandpa (Ansell's parents)!

While there, we celebrated Lani's Birthday (Ansell's little sis)...

and Father's Day!

Then, we were off to Disneyland! Our boys' first time ever!

Ansell's brother Terry and his daughter, Carissa, came with us!

Here's Cody looking a bit apprehensive about getting on the Storybook Land ride. I was surprised at how scared the boys were to go on rides. They were fine AFTER each ride (except for Alice in Wonderland, which terrified Tanner), but they would always resist going on a ride at first.

We caught the Disney Electrical Parade at California Adventure that night. The boys REALLY liked it. Cody didn't know what to do with his excitement, so he kept on doing a super loud train whistle sound over and over. Tanner just watched in awe.

Waiting in line for Small World at 9 a.m. the next morning. It was a short line, so we had Tanner stuff that french toast stick in his mouth before we got on the ride. He spit it all out on my shoe during the ride. Nice!

After being horrified on Alice in Wonderland, we took Tanner to Toon Town, which he really enjoyed! Whew!


After Disneyland, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's for the night and drove up to Jalama Beach. We camped with four other families, and almost all of the parents are engineers. Camping with engineers is amazing. They, as a group, are a well oiled machine. We all signed up on a "camp spreadsheet" to plan meals and figure out who was bringing what equipment. I loved it!!!

Check out the camp... Leslie called it our little shanty town and her husband Perry said it was one notch above skid row. HAHA!

Frolicking in the sand

and surf!

Julie even organized games for the kids, complete with TICKETS and a PRIZE GALLERY!
There was a powdered doughnut eating contest, sack races, and the spoon with the egg race (but they used a golf ball instead.). All the kids (except Tanner) participated and had so much fun!

From left: Sophie, Claire, Katie, Cody, Peter, Noah, Paul and Jacob.

Toasting marshmallows...no camping trip is complete without it!

Our Little Grad

Haley and Cody