9 Months Old!

This sweet little thing is already 9 months old!  Where is the time going?  She is getting to be so much fun, and is showing off her cute little personality more and more all the time!  At the doctor yesterday she was 18 lbs. and 7 ozs., which is the 50th percentile, and 26.5 inches, which is the 30th percentile.  Compared to past measurements, she is slowing down a bit in her growth, but still is in a very healthy range! 

 

Olivia is eating more and more foods all the time.  She desperately wants to eat everything she observes us eating, but with only two little teeth, she is a bit limited!  She continues to enjoy almost everything she is offered. 

 

She loves to be out and about, and it appears that she is going to be a very social little girl!  Coming home from Havasu last week, we stopped at a Baja Fresh for lunch.  She was in her high chair and was supposed to be eating, but she was looking around so much at all the people walking by (and of course showing off her sweet smile!) that it made it hard for her to focus on her food!  And last night we were at Padaro for dinner, and she was trying to talk to two little boys who were sitting near us!  It was adorable!  She is still not crawling, and I'm totally fine with that!  She is close and will figure it out soon enough I'm sure!  Happy nine months sweet Olivia!

First Day of Second Grade!

Not exactly a traditional "first day of school" picture, but this was Faith on her first day of second grade!  Monday was the first day of school for her.  The plan was to start school no later than 8:30 so we could head to the beach by about 10:30!  At 7am Faith telling me she was ready to get started, so we did!  And we made it to the beach by 10:30!  Just one of the advantages of homeschooling!

In school this year Faith is doing part two of a study of World history, picking up where we left off last year.  And of course more math, reading, some geography, Bible, and science.  For Science she will be learning about animals, the solar system, and a bit of geology.  We are both excited about all we are going to learn in second grade!

Beach Days!

Since we came home from Havasu on Friday, it has been perfect beach weather in Ventura!  We have some friends from the Long Beach area who are renting a beach house in Ventura for two weeks, so we went to the beach with them last Saturday and again on Monday!  Shane loves to use the boogie board to ride the waves!  Poor Faith, who was still recovering from swimmer's ear, was not able to get her head wet.  At least we live close so she can swim the next time!

 

Saturday was the first time that Olivia went to the beach other than being there for a walk.  She had a great time, and of course learned the hard way that sand is not very tasty!

 

The kids enjoy swimming in the ocean, playing in the sand, and looking for sea anemones when we are by a jetty!

 

After going to the beach by where the friends' rental house was on Saturday, we took them to our Monday beach spot that we go to with some of our local friends!  Steve is holding Olivia in the water here!  She loved it!!

 

Shane discovered sand crabs on Monday at the beach!  He called them his pretend pets!  I told him that was a great name and he could play with them as much as he wanted, as long none of them came home with us!!  He kept them all in the yellow bucket he is carrying.

 

Up close and personal with a sand crab!

 

Not all the kids who were there on Monday are in this picture, but quite a few are!  Even though the sand in the car post-beach drives me crazy, it is so much fun to take the kids to the beach!

Havasu Trip

What a whirlwind life has been the past 10 or so days!  While we have been having lots and lots of fun, things such as laundry, cleaning, and especially the blog have fallen by the wayside!  I finally have a few minutes to myself while the baby sleeps, so I am taking advantage of the chance to sit still and enjoy the quiet!

It was a bit of a different Havasu trip for us this time, as to be expected, with bringing a baby along.  With such a precious little thing, we had to be more mindful of the heat, the sun exposure, and the like as she is still little!  But all that being said, we had a great time, and it was nice that the "big" kids could do some fun things while one parent stayed back with Olivia.

 

One afternoon the kids watched a movie on the bed.  Olivia started out sitting by me by the head of the bed, and it wasn't long before she had wiggled her way down the bed to be just like the older kids!

 

Shane man getting ready to go for a swim!

 

Both Faith and Shane had a lot of fun swimming with Steve, and of course having him throw them in the air!  The three of them also went to see a movie one afternoon, which was fun too!

 

Mr. Bubble!!  Shane enjoyed a bath to himself on the final evening of the trip.  We had a first on this trip...a first trip to the urgent care center!  Both girls developed fevers, and Faith had been complaining of ear pain, similar to what she experienced last fall, which ended up being swimmer's ear.  So, we took both girls in and were given some antibiotics for each of them for ear infections.  Given how many times we travel to Lake Havasu, this wont be our last trip to urgent care, and now we know exactly where it is!  Thankfully, both girls recovered quickly and are doing well!

 

The sunrise on the final morning.  After a sleepless night for Faith and I (her medicine had not yet begun to work it's magic!!), at least we were able to see a beautiful sunrise!

 

More posts to come as to what we have been up to post-vacation!

Zoo and Beach

Saturday afternoon the kids and I were in search of something to do as Steve was at work.  Faith suggested the zoo since it had been such a long time since we had been there!  So, after Olivia's nap we quickly packed up and headed up to Santa Barbara!  We had a great time seeing the animals and just walking around the zoo!  We were even able to see some baby foxes, which were just adorable!  It was a great outing!

Today's activities included the beach!  Upon driving home from Trader Joe's, a friend of mine texted that her family was heading to the beach for a few hours and they would love for us to join them!  We didn't have other plans, so out we went!  Thankfully, Steve stayed home with Olivia so it was a much easier trip for the rest of us!  What a great guy!

Almost all the kids!  While they played in the sand a bit, Faith and Shane mostly used the boogie boards in the water and were riding the waves!  I was actually quite surprised how much time they spent in the water!  And Shane, who in previous years had not been a big fan of ocean swimming, did really well.  They had blast!

Faith, Shane, and Rose were the boogie boarders who spent most of the time in the water!  We hope to make this a Monday morning tradition since we are SO CLOSE to the beach!!

The Fair came to town!

 

 It's the first week of August, which in Ventura means the county fair is here!  The excitement for the kids begins to build as they start to see rides arrive at the fair grounds, particularly the huge Ferris Wheel!  And then signs about the fair are displayed, causing the kids to ask what day we will venture over to the fair grounds!  So once again we took the kids over for an adventurous day of rides, food, and animals.  Because of the baby being so young this year, we all went for two hours in the morning, and then went home for lunch.  While Olivia took a huge nap, the older two kids and I took the bus (yet another reason for them to be excited about the fair!  A school bus!) back for a few more hours of fun.

 

Faith on her most favorite ride!

 

While Faith went in a Fun House type thing, Shane went on these cute little boats!  He was the only one on the entire ride, so they let him ride for an extended time!

 

Driving the pink car!  A perfect fit for our girl, Faith!  In addition to the rides, we went to visit our neighbor and babysitter Kelly and her pig!  And since it's a must to get some type of food at the fair, we continued the tradition of buying a bag of kettle corn!

Back at home, Olivia found a new way to occupy herself while I work on dinner!  She is just the sweetest!  We could not ask for a better little lady!

After spending the day at the Fair, Steve and Shane went to Blockbuster to pick up a movie.  Goodwill is right next door, and Shane spotted the Bat Cave that he has been asking about for years!  Since it was only $5, the boys came home with a movie and a bat cave!  All the kids, even Olivia, are loving the new toy!  Olivia's favorite part is knocking it over and chewing on the Bat Man figures!  When she's nearby and the older two are playing with it, the call her the giant and warn the bat figures about her!  Entertainment at it's finest! 

Baseball season comes to a close

The YMCA summer baseball league that they kids played ended yesterday!  Both Faith and Shane learned many things, had fun, and progressed as a player.  What more could anyone ask for?!

 

Faith on the final day with her coach and teammates.  For the last game, their team only had three of the eight players there as the rest were on vacation!  With the relaxed rules of the Y, the team batted through the order twice and then just tried to cover as much of the field as they could! 

 

These two pictures were taken by the dad of one of Shane's teammates!  He told me that the above picture is one of the favorite ones he has ever captured as he loved the expression on Shane's face!

Out in the field! 

 

Next up is soccer!  I think we may have two Saturday's off before we start those games!

End of Farm Camp

Throughout the week, the kids continued to love farm camp!  They really enjoyed learning about the goats, sheep, pigs, ponies, and chickens.  As they came home and shared some of what they experience, I learned a few things too! 

 

These two buddies had a great time together as always!

 

And I loved my time with just Olivia!  It sure was quiet in the house with just her! 

 

We had fun playing just the two of us as well as running many errands!  While it was a nice little break for me and a fun and tiring week for the kids, I am looking forward to a lazy Monday morning tomorrow!