Ventura County Fair

I was excited for the fair this year. Spencer was given box seat tickets to the Saturday afternoon Rodeo and I was totally looking forward to going with the kids and watching their reactions. I was so excited in fact that I left early from a "Mama's Retreat" baby shower up in Santa Barbara where we as guests were showered with pedicures and a poolside lunch. I made it for the pedicures, but only had time to scarf down a bit of lunch before heading back towards Ventura. I was  sure the rodeo was going to be a huge hit and I didn't want to miss it! Boy was I wrong, and at first completely annoyed that I'd cut a completely relaxing afternoon short to come listen to whining children! It didn't help that Spencer had forgotten to pack the stroller either. We had to high tail it over to the rodeo, practically running to make it on time. We were exhausted from lugging Cal and a heavy diaper bag around, and the girls were hot and tired by the time we sat down. Plus, I don't think they really knew exactly what a rodeo was cause they were both visibly disappointed as soon as it started. Elle kept complaining about it "not being any fun" which drove us all crazy. Spencer and I tried staying positive, and enjoyed ourselves for awhile, but we finally gave in and left early. 

From the rodeo we headed off towards the rides - which I didn't want to do, but Spence let them pick just one to go on. They both chose the Ferris Wheel. Spencer stayed below with Cal while the girls and I hoped on and had a blast!

I had a little too much fun taking pics with my iphone!

From the rides, we splurged and shared a funnel cake, then headed over to the animals (didn't take many pictures, but it's always my favorite part)!

After we'd had our fill of the Fair, we walked back along beach, stopping to play at our favorite beach playground before heading home. Definitely a great ending to our 2013 Fair experience!

Saturday with Spencer

Oh how I've missed family Saturday outings. Spencer worked late last night and decided he didn't need to go to work today! We were all thrilled! We had all sorts of fun today, but my favorite was climbing the sandhill as a family. I doubted the girls ability, but they were first to the top!! Then Madi did a nice face plant on the way down. Ouch! 

The evening was topped off with Stake baptisms for two kids from our ward, dinner at Olas, dessert at Johnson's, and home for date night in with Spencer (red box and twizzlers)!

Elle's 4th Birthday!

Just a bit late, but wanted to make sure Elle's big day didn't go undocumented. Calhoun cousins got into town the afternoon of the 16th. It was such a treat to have them at our house (their first and maybe only time coming to this house). I'm pretty sure Elle believed their visit was completely in honor of her birthday and I'm totally ok with that. With the craziness of company in town (the day before her birthday) and busyness of getting ready for a week long trip (leaving the day after her birthday), I tried extra hard to make it a super special day. She woke up to streamers, balloons, presents and a house full of fun! Her request was pancakes for breakfast. To accommodate our large crowd, we ate outside. The early morning sun was much too bright though so all the kids packed onto one side of the picnic table.

Spencer had to leave for work by 8am and Calhouns had to get on the road by 9am, so there wasn't much time to mess around. Right after breakfast Elle opened up presents.

She loved the new shoes from Aunt Tisha and all the dress up shoes from Calhoun cousins!

Elle also opened up barbies and a barbie car from Spencer and I, and more barbies and barbie doll clothes from Gram and Papa.

There was a little bit of time to play before we had to say goodbye. At least it wasn't a sad goodbye, we knew we'd be seeing the Calhouns the next day. But oh how we miss living close to these cousins! 

And love the shot of Elle holding herself here - it'll always help me remember how she was at this age. She'll hold it till the very last second!

At 10am Elle headed off to a swim lesson and special birthday play date with Lily Hays while I got to deal with a flat tire, a Costco trip, and getting 4 new tires on the van. Then it was home for Cal to get a nap, Elle to play with her new birthday toys, and me to start laundry, packing for our trip while also making cupcakes for our ward picnic at the park that night.

At 5pm we picked up Eric and Tyler before heading over to Valle Lindo Park. The kids ate hot dogs for dinner and were entertained with Nancy Sanchez's extra special games and face painting. She'd even gotten a special crown for our birthday girl, but Elle didn't want to wear it. The kids were having so much fun that we stayed past 8pm (totally unlike me - I'm a major stickler with bedtime).

Cupcakes for birthday dessert!

I got home with the kids around 8:30pm and Spencer still wasn't home from work. I was bummed that he had to miss Elle's entire birthday, but taking off a full week for our family reunion had it's cost - he worked till 10 or 11pm everyday for a week before the reunion, the week after the reunion, and even put in about 20 hours at the reunion. But by the time I'd tucked all the kids into bed, Spencer walked in the door and was able to say goodnight to the girls and hear all about Elle's special day.

Plus, we had done an early birthday celebration at Boppi and Grandpa Al's just 3 days earlier with presents . . .

. . . and her requested flower cake (which I made and Spencer decorated while I was gone at a Sunday morning meeting)!

Then the celebration continued when we got to Vegas with a present from Gram Rox. . .

. . . and the honor of being the first cousin to hold baby Leila!

Pretty sure Elle had a fabulous 4th birthday! 

Surviving Summer

Another summer month down, one more to go! I am so ready for school to start! I'm tired of having to plan out every single activity week after week. Ya, I could never home school - at least not all the kids at once.

Three things have saved me this summer:
1) Having lots of family in town
2) A family reunion away from home
3) Friends with pools (I totally miss having a pool and have decided it's a must in our next house)

While going through all our Vegas reunion pictures I started getting really sad, wishing we could go back for another week. Luckily, my parents live a short 5 1/2 hour drive away, so I'm planning a week trip to Brentwood before school starts back up. One of the best parts of summer is getting away and I wish we'd been able to do more of it. I guess I've still got August to plan some fun day trips. Unfortunately anymore family vacations this summer are totally out of the question with Spencer's current work schedule. He's got his first trial coming up at the end of the month and he's totally swamped. We get to see him for a few minutes every morning and on Sundays. He'll get home at night anywhere between 10:30pm and midnight (sometimes without having even taken a break to eat dinner- and all I pack him for lunch is a PB&J - don't know how he does it!) and then heads out by 8am the next morning. And unfortunately it won't be getting better anytime soon, as he's got 2 more trials scheduled for September. At first I didn't mind the quiet evenings - I'm able to get a ton done and I love my alone time, but I'm totally over it now. I miss my husband! I miss our family time! But, I am very grateful that he has a job, doing exactly what he's always wanted to do. It's a good feeling.

And I really shouldn't complain about summer here in Camarillo. The weather is heavenly! It's August 1st and check out this weeks forecast:

Seriously, who can complain with temps like that!?! 

Elle's swim lesson got canceled this morning and for once I didn't have anything planned or anywhere to go. It was great just to lay low. Sometimes I wonder if I over plan my days for fear of going crazy at home. Either way, it was nice to do what we wanted when we wanted to do it.

Also, wanted to include a few things that hadn't been documented yet- like getting zoo passes (one of the kids favorite day trips):

There was a lot of construction going on one day we went - couldn't resist the picture.

We love the "hill"! 

Below: my friend Amber with all our kids minus Calvin

An early morning outing I got to spend with my dad when he was here at the end of June. We went for a ride down the PCH to the sandhill (one of my favorite things to do with out of town guests) and had a nice climb. Love you dad! 

My sweet Eleanor with such an organized mess of baby doll accessories. One of the hardest things this summer has been experiencing how fast a perfectly clean room can be destroyed, and then how long and grueling the clean up task is.

Summer backyard BBQ's are the best - except when you've got an overly tired 16 month old. He'd undressed himself and was more than ready to get into jammies! 

Rudd Family Reunion

Las Vegas, NV 

July 18 - July 25, 2013

Another Rudd family reunion down in the books and it was an absolute blast!! I feel so very lucky to be part of this amazing family. Our entire week was planned and organized to a "T." Clark and Jo were in charge this year and they planned so many fun games and activities - every day was a party! 

Prior to the reunion a 4 page email was sent out with a schedule for the week, food and activity assignments, a packing list, and specific reminders for each family (I love how the majority of my family thrives off of structure and organization)! Then each day a white board with the schedule and assignments for the day was displayed in the kitchen/family room area. I didn't realize how much my kids loved having this schedule up until we got home and Madi immediately got out a white board and wrote the next days schedule on it (thinking I'll be starting something like this in the near future when kids get older and there's so many activities to keep track of). 

The first day we all arrived was dad's birthday, so that evening was dedicated to him. We each went around and shared stories and/or memorable moments with dad. 

And what's a birthday celebration without dad's favorite butterscotch dessert (with trick candles)!

Friday morning the swimming began! My kids were beyond excited to have our very own pool in our backyard and we were out there every morning before 8am! And the BEST part about having a pool was that by day 3 Madi was totally swimming all on her own- underwater, no nose plugged, just swimming! So proud of her for conquering her fears!

Even Grandpa got in on the pool action!

One morning it was even chilly enough to get in the hot tub.

The majority of the morning the pool was the hoppin place, but once 10:30am hit most of the kids were getting out, drying off, and heading in for snacks, crafts, legos, dress-up, and naps. Gram's dress-up box was a huge hit! Madi always seemed to have on some sort of costume.

Madi and Ani, best cousins- just 2 months apart!

Snow princess costume and crown on during story time.

While each family was to prepare one art project for the week, Mom also brought along all of her craft stuff so that the kids could always be doing arts and crafts. And we all took advantage of glitter nails done by Amy!

A few of the other crafts done throughout the week:

Monster making

All about me collages

There was always a good amount of adults ready and willing to help!

ornament making

Minute to win it challenges were also being done throughout the day. Clark and Jo would introduce  new challenges the night before and we'd have all day to perfect our score.

One of my favorite things about the week was that there was always someone to read to, play with, adore, snuggle, eat with, or laugh at. I dealt with very little behavior problems cause there was always someone to play with, something going on, or someone else around that would make it better.

It was also kind of hard to have misbehavior with an incentive system like we had for the week. Kids were awarded a ticket each time they were caught doing something good. Then they cashed in their tickets at the end of the day for treats or prizes.

All the kids usually chose the candy drawers to cash in their tickets, except for Madi - she always wanted to pick out something from the prize box. This system was golden though. We always had several kids ready and willing to pick up toys, clean off tables, wash windows, help with a younger kid, etc. It was awesome!

Madi showing off some of her prizes- glasses and a gummi ring!

A house full of 16 adults, and 11 kids made for a lot of chaos though! I had to laugh one afternoon as I stood upstairs, looking down into the family room - Curt was napping, Amy was reading to kids, Jo and another kid were listening to the story, Rox was entertaining a lapful, Grandpa was engrossed in his book, mom was vacumning, and Cal was crying cause he couldn't find me! Had to snap a picture!

Every afternoon around 4pm was movie hour. It was during this time that whoever was in charge of dinner could have a nice quiet hour plus of kid free meal prep.

I wish I would have gotten pictures from meal time, but it was usually total chaos and I was always busy helping a couple children. Spencer and I made our meal on Monday. We made spring rice bowls - a recipe from our friend Stacy Sundberg. Delicious!

After dinner bedtime prep would begin. Another favorite part about the reunion was that all kids were in bed by 7pm!! Seriously! And they were usually so exhausted that they were asleep within seconds! Our first night in Vegas Clark and Jo had taken the triplets up to bed. It was only 6:30 so I wasn't worried about my kids yet. Then Clark came down and told me that Elle wanted to go to bed. I came upstairs to find her on her bed asking to get into jammies and brush teeth. Since her cousins (especially Leah) were going to bed, she wanted to too! Awesome! And while Calhoun cousins were all awake by 6am, my kids slept til 7am every morning (big thanks to mom for bringing darkening curtains for our bedroom).

Once all kids were asleep the adult fun would begin. Some nights we'd sit around and talk. One night we played a fun newlywed game that Jo had planned. Another night us girls went out on the town, then the next night the guys went out. But every night ended with an intense game of "BANG" that usually would last late into the night and sometimes into the wee hours of the morning.

Our girls night out ended up being a bust because of the torrential downpour that started as soon as we arrived at the Bellagio. We walked around for a bit then picked up ice cream on our way home to share with the guys.

Our drive back was quite entertaining though. A crazy amount of rain fell in less than an hour and people were wading through it with water up to their calves.

And if they weren't wading through it, they were walking along the medians. We had a pretty awesome lightning show too!

The guys went to Sky Zone for their night out. I was actually pretty jealous - I would have preferred to do something like that. It's a big warehouse with trampolines everywhere. Apparently, during a particularly intense game of dodge ball, Clark almost got into a fight with a 12 year old. Nice! Then they headed over to Mandalay Bay to check out all the fools throwing their money away.

Each day a new activity was on the schedule. One day was hair cuts. Mom had 10 people signed up making it a busy morning for her! Cal was a pill though and it took an entire army to keep him calm!

Let's see that close up:

Mom's salon with two in the waiting area!

Saturday was family pictures. We were told to bring a solid color shirt and jeans or solid dress for the little girls. And our photographer was my tripod and self timer! I thought the pictures turned out pretty good considering!

On Sunday we attended a 9am sacrament meeting, but then came home for our own primary and Sunday school. I did a lesson, the kids shared their projects, and Karlee led the music.

We also discovered new things, like our neighbors friendly horse:

Monday we hit up a water park in the afternoon. It was awesome and I'm super bummed I didn't get any pictures from it. I sure had a blast going down the big slides though.

Tuesday was our family talent show. Madi and Elle recited poetry (no pics, just video). Matthew's rendition of "I am a Child of God" was awesome.

Clark's magic show was a huge hit! He's super good and had us all in awe!

Calhouns acted out the bear in tennis shoes:

Adley performed a number on the guitar:

And Bobby did what he does best! Everyone loves Uncle Bobby!

Then that night we had an early birthday celebration for Bobby and JoSue.

Wednesday was our last full day in Vegas and we had plans to go wake boarding with Spencer's cousin Seth and wife Stephanie. Everyone seemed to be doing their own things for the afternoon anyway- Clark, and Jo to a Children's Museum, Tisha wanted to pack up, and Bob, Amy, and Matthew had to head back to Provo. Curt, Adley, Ani, and mom joined Spencer, the kids, and I on the lake. We had such a great time!

Elle was not a fan of the tube and just had a short ride.

Snuggling with Gram was a better option!

Madi loved riding the jet ski! 

 I took Madi and Adley on the tube with me - it was such a blast!!

Around 5:30pm Cal was getting fussy and I knew he wouldn't last. My mom's so awesome and volunteered to take Cal and Elle home early. I vascillated between staying and going - I just felt super bad making my mom go alone, but I ended up staying and had such a fun time (thanks mom!).

After mom left with the kids I mustered up the courage to try wake boarding (my very first time)! I got up on my third try but then on my second time up I did a total face plant that totally knocked the wind out of me. With a throbbing headache and stomach full of lake water, I called it quits. Later I discovered a nice goose egg on my forehead from the fall. Ya, I was sore for 3 days afterwards!

Thanks Seth and Stephanie for the fabulous time!

Thursday morning we were all up early. Calhouns took off around 7am (they had a 12 hour drive ahead of them), Spencer took Roxy, Clark, Jo, and their kids to the airport at 8:30, mom, and dad took Grandpa and Grandma to the airport at 9am, and Spencer and I were on the road by 10am. It's always so hard to say goodbye. Sure gonna miss everyone! Already getting excited for our next reunion in 2015!!