Vacation (Part I): Orange County

My girls are in love with their cousins. They talk about them all the time. They pray for them, declare them as their best friends, and love nothing more than to see them. When we realized that the pass that would take us to Yosemite would not be open when we left, I seriously concidered canceling the trip because I did not want to make a 15 hour drive to go camping. Then I had the idea to stop at Miguel's sister's house for a day or two to break up the trip and let the girls see their cousins. That sold me right there. The girls were ecstatic! It's actually a pretty neat thing we have in our family. We had a double wedding with his sister and both of us have three girls. Our two middle children are only twelve days apart. So it makes all the more fun.

Raquel, Gabriela, Sophia, Elena, Julianne, and baby Grace

We decided to hit the beach and we all drove out to Newport Beach on Memorial Day. It was a little crazy getting there and parking, but once on the beach we didn't have a problem. Actually we did have a little problem. There were NO BATHROOMS! Sophia had to go, and bless her heart, she wouldn't get in the water, so we had to strap a diaper on her, which she refused to use. That's why she's wearing the towel. She naked underneath.

I just can't get enough of this sweet kid. Her cheeks are absolutely edible. The beach was actually really cold and super windy. I would have enjoyed myself a lot more if I had brought my sweatshirt along with me.

Miguel tried to catch up on some reading and while doing so, Sophia ran off down the beach and by the time we started looking for her, she was already a footballs length away running full speed ahead. I had to run to catch up with her and lucky for me she fell down, so I had time to catch up. It seemed like she was always coming back from somewhere.

My kids love their uncle Mike. He's a real go getter and is full of energy and fun. He's not afraid to get right in there with the kids. He went to the dollar store and loaded the kids with all kinds of stuff for the beach, he build them a pit to shelter them from the wind (which they never used), helped them build a gigantic sand island complete with it's own lagoon, and even took Sophia out wave hopping. Like I said, he's awesome! By the end, my kids were asking for everything, second helpings of food, drinks, and so forth. The whole drive to Yosemite Gabriela kept asking, "when we are done camping, we are going back to Raquel's house, right?" We just can't wait for these guys to move back in two doors down. It will be a glorious day! We miss you guys!On our second day in Orange County, we met up with some our neighbors and fellow camping buddies, the Nielsons, and hit the Orange County Zoo. It is a small zoo that has animals that are native to that region, i.e. black bears, cougars, bobcats, coyotes. It was the perfect size for the kids. They got to pet all of these goats, but Julianne has a fear of animals lately, so she had to be carried.

We then took the train around the park and the kids loved it. It was a great day for all.

More thoughts on the Retreat!

If you are waiting for Vacation (Part I), well you'll have to wait a little longer. I just wanted to jot down some of my thoughts a week out from the retreat, now that I've had some time to reflect. One of the most powerful moments I had, was when I realized that my children are not going to look back and know that their mother loved them by the fancy car that she drove (I don't drive a fancy car), or the perfectly accessorized wardrobe she had, or the six pack abs she had going on. Nope! That's not how I knew my mother loved me. It was her availability, her hugs, her listening ear, her spending time with me. So why should I be stressing out about all of that stuff. It doesn't make me a better mom. (Well a new pair of shoes might make me feel better, and then I'm in a better mood, and I can deal with my kids a little longer), but in the long run it won't make me any happier than I am today. It was a powerful moment and I could feel the stress melt away. Thanks Allyson!

I also learned a lot about giving my children ownership. Ownership of everything really. I've been a little stressed about trying to get my kids to do chores and how to do rewards and such. This was a great topic and I've already used some of the ideas I got. For example, yesterday the girls room looked like I bomb had went off. I really wanted them to feel some responsibility for it and didn't want to just clean it up for them. So one of the ideas I got was to write down the specific chores on pieces of paper, like put movies away, pick up Legos, help Mom with the clothes, etc.  I then layed them face down on the floor and let them choose four. Out of those four, they could put one back, and well that was what Julianne got. I still had to stay on them to keep them on task, but overall, I didn't get much complaining, and the "I can't do it"s this time. It was GREAT! and they got their jobs done.

I learned a lot about organization and have implemented Mind Organization for Moms. My head is so clear now! I know what to do next and feel on top of things instead of behind them. That's worth a million bucks in and of itself. Check it out here.

In short, I feel at peace in what I'm doing as a mom. It really is the most important job out there. Mothering is a career and should be treated as one. We have to be deliberate these days in order to create the kind of family we desire. I often see pictures of an older more established couple surrounded by their children and then their grandchildren and think to myself, "Yes, that's what I want someday!" I want a close knit family that is bonded by traditions and love and memories. I can't just wish for that...I've got to make it happen. It's exciting. It's challenging. It's often times difficult. But it's all worth it!

Vacation (Part II): Yosemite National Park

Yosemite is beautiful! we got there Wed. afternoon after a six hour drive from southern California and were ready to get going. On Thursday, we hiked to Nevada falls. My little girls do not do well on hikes. Gabriela usually is the worst about it, but she was actually great. I think she was the first one out of the group to make it to the falls. Sophia however wanted to be in the backpack and Julianne wanted to walk. That's a problem because Julianne gets too busy doing this, that she forgets to walk.

We all finally made it.

After reaching the falls, we stopped for lunch, and ate on these massive boulders. If your kids like to climb rocks...then this is the place for you. They are everywhere and are humongous.

Have you ever seen a tree sitting on his bum?

On Thursday, we hiked to Yosemite Falls. This is the tallest waterfall in the U.S. and the fifth in the world.

More rock climbing.

I told you they were big!When you got to the base of the falls, it's like being stuck in a rain storm. The air is completely full of mist. Sophia loved it and kept wanting to run across the bridge. Julianne didn't know what to think. And as for Gabriela, well, she made it across and didn't look back.

Miguel turned into a mountain man on the trip. He grew a nice prickly beard. We even got to see some of his wisdom manifest itself in those grey hairs. 

 

It was picnic lunches every day. Here are all of our lovely neighbors and friends.

On Saturday, we biked up to Mirror Lake and the kids had a chance to get wet. They loved it and it was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. They were kids just getting to be kids. It was timeless.

I tried to get a family pictures, but Julianne would not cooperate, as you can see.

My kids' personalities really came out when it came to the freezing water. Sophia is my adventerous one and she would get nervous and think it was cold, but she pushed through for the chance to play. She was jumping off rocks and was really brave. Gabriela is more cautious and does it more out of peer pressure than her own benefit. She doesn't want to be left out. All of the kids had made it out to this log, as seen above, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it and was really nervous. With a little coaxing, we managed to convince her to do it for a picture. She made it out there, got up on on the log, and took the picture. However, when she tried to get down, she slipped and fell completely under the water. She came up spattering and screaming, declaring that she almost drowned. I tried to play it up like, "way to go, that was awesome! Give me a high five!" We stripped her down and all of the other kiddos and put them in the sun to dry out. It was really fun.

We visited Bridalveil falls and it was an experience to be had. The waterfall was so full it was flooding the river and all of the sidewalks. You had to walk in water up to your ankles and fast moving to get to the base. It was raining down on us and there were multiple rainbows as you looked up at the falls. I have another picture that I'll have to post later. Sophis, once again, thought it was awesome.

On our way home from Glacier Point and Bridalveil Falls, we stopped to turn in the girls Junior Ranger papers. The Ranger was great in making them feel special. They sat up on the big desk, said a pledge, signed their names into a large record book, and then he made the entire visiors center give them a round of applause. Sophia was really embarrassed, but they were really proud of themselves.

P.S.: my kids are totally mismatched, becaue I ran out of clothes by the end of the trip. They are wearing whatever was left in their bags and wasn't soaking wet from earlier in the day.

We had a lot of fun, but would reccomend this trip for school aged kids. It's a lot of hiking and biking, and unless you really love to tote your kids on your back, carry them in your arms, or push them on their bikes, it's better to wait till they are older.

Power of Moms Retreat

This weekend, I was priveledged to attend a mother's retreat with the Power of Moms. It was my Mother's Day gift from Miguel and the girls. All I can say was that it was AMAZING!!! I feel so renewed and refreshed. I think my self confidence was given a boost. I met about 33 other amazing moms from around the country who all aspire to be the best moms they can be. These were women with passion and amazing talents. Every mom I know should attend one of these.

Our's was held at the beautiful Red Mountain Resort and Spa in St. George, Utah. There was a mornng walk at 7:00 in the morning and only five of us were up early enough to do this, but the morning sun was beautiful on the red rock. So glad I did it. I had actually been up since five in the morning and had already been swimming and had showered by then, thanks to my roomie and good friend Amy.

During the retreat, I was able to sit and chat with some of my heros. Here is Linda and Shawni Eyre. You have to read their book, A Mother's Book of Secrets, it changed my whole perspective on being a mother. I love, love, love these women and I would never had imagined that I would be talking about family traditions and service projects with them over dinner. It was so fun to get to know them personally.

And here is my dear friend, Amy, who was so willing to accompany me on this little getaway. She's such a sweet girl and it was fun spending some good quality time with her as well.

I also was certified as a Power of Moms trainer while at the retreat and will soon be starting up a Learning Circle here in my community. It will consist of a group of moms motivated to be the best they can be. We'll learn and share, along side each other, as we discuss how to take care of ourselves, as well as discuss better ways to raise our children. If you are at all interested, leave me a comment, and I'll get to you know when it is up and running. It is sort of like a book group, where we will have material to read through and study (3-6 pages max) and then come prepared to share and discuss different ideas. Like I said before, let me know if you are interested. It will be an amazing experience I can guarantee.