Breezy's Graduation Trip to California

As I previously posted here, my baby sister Breezy graduated from high school.

Sniff. They grow up so fast.

I told her we would take her on a trip to California to see the beach and do whatever she wanted. And she could take her BFF Lili (awhile back they came over to baby-sit the baby Lily, and I had three different Lilly/Lily/Lilis in my house when you included the cat).

It was a little chilly.

They were just going to dip their feet in, but they got pretty wet.

It probably didn't help that one would fall over and she would take the other one down with her. I saw Breezy's shorts come down a couple times. Good thing they had suits on.

Other than the beach, they decided to go to Universal Studios.

On the tour tram.

We rode the different rides and went to the different shows. Breezy and Lili were pretty hilarious in the House of Horrors. Before you go in, someone tells you not to touch the actors and the actors won't touch you, but they sure get as close as they can. Reminded me of someone putting their hand right in my face and then saying, "I'm not touching you." (When I thought about it later, after I was done screaming.)

There was one section that had different mirrors, and it was confusing because you weren't sure where to go. Right before that one of the actors popped out and really scared Breezy. She started running full force...and ran head on into a mirror. That didn't stop her. She turned and ran...right into another mirror. And then she did it again.

She told us, "I went in brave and strong, and I came out a sissy la-la."

Hehehehe.

We did another beach day. Here are the girls out on the pier.

I told you he likes to be buried.

I had nothing to do with the mermaid.

I thought it was a really good trip. I hope the girls had fun. I sure did.

And I have a few more reasons to love Joseph just a little more.

Reason # 2,578: He gets angry over the trash left on the beach. He then picks up the trash and throws it away.

#2,579: He has a great memory and knows where he's going when driving on the twisty, confusing roads of LA. There's something really attractive about a man who knows where he's going.

#2,580: He supports me when I want to take my family on vacations. He could tell me no, I'm not spending hard-earned money to go to a place I hate (he hates LA). But he is such a sweetie pie. I really appreciate him. And I think he sets a really good example for Lili and Breezy - they need to find the good guys in the world instead of the jerks.

Baby Girl

I got to hang out with my little two-year-old friend Lily on Saturday.

She took her shoes off, I swear I put shoes on the child before she went outside.

She got sand in her shoes when playing in that dirt pile and didn't like the feel of it.

Joseph was playing a game on his X-Box, and she told him, "My turn." He promptly downloaded a drawing game on his iPad to keep her busy. That didn't stop her from sucking on his controller when he wasn't looking.

Here is little girl Lily chasing little cat Lilly. (No, I did not name my cat after the child, that was what the shelter named her.)

Look at what the Lilly cat did while we were outside.

And over here.

She chewed up the pom-poms. Bratcat.

That's my toy bin.

This was so cute. She would run in and grab his leg.

We don't own a high chair. I had her sit on my lap for lunch, and it was Joseph's turn to feed her dinner. Guess who got to change the poopy diaper? Good thing I can hold my breath for a while.

Overall is was a good day. That is one well-behaved child. There was only one tantrum. I walked away from her and was going to let her scream it out. Joseph came into the room, sat down beside her, and calmly talked her out of it. When I told Joseph how impressed I was, he said, "I learned that after dealing with you for the last five years."

I would be mad, but it is true.

Although I don't throw tantrums, I pout, and there is a difference.

It was a good day. Lily can come hang out and play any day she wants.

If any of you parents are getting ideas, just remember my policy. I don't watch the ugly babies.

I don't know what is going on with Blogger, but it wanted to do some weird things and underline my font when I didn't want it to and smushed my pictures together so I couldn't type between them. I had to go to the Edit Html option and mess around in there. This blog took an extra 15 minutes. I guess I could have left it alone. But it would have bugged me.

Joseph's Arbor

Joseph loves his garden. He has tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries, strawberries and who knows what all else. He decided he needed some grapes as well.

This is one grape plant that he planted against the wall. That trellis is huge. I guess he's anticipating a thriving plant. He refused to plant his second grape plant next to it, because it needed room to grow. So what did he decide he needed? An arbor.

He's so spoiled.

Well, after unsuccessfully trying to make a square (I used the pythagorean theorem and everything) and experiencing anxiety over a permanently cemented structure, we decided we needed professional help.

But Joseph did help. And I did too...I went on two hardware store runs, and the second time pointed out that they were going to need shorter nails.

I'm still The Brain.
Although we did learn a few new tricks.

It still needs to be sanded and stained, but it looks good. I wonder how long it will take a grape plant to cover it. Joseph can't wait to sit under it and eat some grapes.