Random Bits of Life...The Photo Edition

I think these photos go all the way back to September.  I've been so off and on with the blog that these little bits of life haven't gotten documented.  And because my memory is lousy (at best) I know I better get these memories posted before they fade away...

Bri and Des' first day of school

Scott's first race

Cub scouts popcorn sales

Painting the ugly wall in the backyard

More painting in the backyard but on a bit smaller scale

First ballet class

Rare moment of brotherly love

Jack and Des

Logan feeding the giraffes

Cub scouts at the park

Cheetah

Bat

 Pink ballerina

Purple ballerina

Jack reading on the jungle gym

Family photo at Thanksgiving

Great Dona and Des

Beautiful Bri

Logan and Marley

Still loving ballet class

One of Jack's swisher shots 

Excited to be playing basketball with friends

Des and Bri's first day of their new preschool

First day of school with a good friend

Photo session with two of their besties...Ella and Yuliya

Cute, silly trouble makers

Whew!  I think I'm finally all caught up on the random bits of life from the past several months!

The (Failed) Experiment...

I had this crazy idea to take one boy and girl to my parents house for a few days, take them home and then bring the other boy and girl for a few days.  The hope was that by splitting up the typical teams (Jack/Logan and Des/Bri) that I would be able to get a some quality time with each kid and be able to see them as individuals instead of part of a two-person team.  And while I did have good trips, I didn't quite get what I was hoping for.

First up, I took Jack and Bri to Nana and Granddad's house:

Baking with Nana

Braving the cold for the beautiful view 

Granddad, Bri and a shark

Storytime with Great Dona

 And Great Uncle James...

 Trip #2 was Des and the camera-shy Logan:

Riding the carousel with Granddad

And getting a lift from Granddad

More baking with Nana 

Special time with Lexi

Being totally entertained acting out "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" with Great Dona and Lexi

Magic forests and chasing gulls...

Just a couple more pics to finish up the rest of our trip to my parents' house...

Every morning at Nana and Granddad's house starts with a walk down the hill to get the newspaper. Granddad usually has our dog, Marley, and both boys in tow.

Logan running back up the hill.

Jack and Granddad with the reason for their quest.

After our morning at the aquarium, we took a short nature walk.

I thought this oak grove was magical but of course, I couldn't get anyone to pose for a pic there.

However, we did convince the boys that the forest was magical because Granddad pulled coin after coin out of their ears...well, until he ran out of coins in his pocket.

The next day we headed to the river beach for a little rest and relaxation.

The boys tried catching fish in buckets...

And when that didn't work they headed to the other side to chase the seagulls.

All in all a wonderful weekend. And traffic wasn't even bad on the way home!

The other side of the camera - Aquarium morning

I'm participating in what I think is a really smart weekly challenge hosted by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans. It seems like mamas spend an awful lot of time behind the camera. The idea of this challenge is for mamas to get on the other side of the camera in at least one photo a week.

When my boys grow up they'll inherit hundreds of thousands of photos taken from their childhood, but how many of those will show their mama? At least for this year I can answer 52!

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We spent the long last weekend of summer at my parents' house in Monterey. The whole family loves visiting there not only because of getting to spend time with my parents but also because there is so much family-friendly fun stuff to do.

On this trip, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We've been there lots of times throughout the years so the boys have their favorite exhibits but we also love to see the new rotating exhibits like the great white shark and the seahorses.

Of course I took pictures of all the interesting creatures to see.

Here is the seahorse family. That's me, Mama Seahorse, two juvenile seahorses and Papa Seashorse. How do I know that is the papa? Because he is currently giving birth . (Male seahorses get pregnant and birth the babies.) Of course, Jack just wanted to know why the baby was coming out of the statue's butt.

Okay, so here is a real seahorse. Yes, that leafy seaweedy looking thing is a seahorse. A Sea Dragon to be exact. (His head is on the lower left side.)

The otters were very active...so much so that I couldn't get a picture of them. The penquins, on the other hand, were perfectly happy to pose for me.

Logan and the great white shark:

My measly photos don't do the Monterey Bay Aquarium justice. If you are in the area you should definately go.