1 year ago
Friday, August 13, 2010
That's hot...
I discovered today it doesn't take very much time at all to defrost a freezer in the garage when it's 110 degrees outside.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Case is a chest man
The Curti have been playing a lot of chess lately (yours truly excluded). Fisher recently beat Jarad (fair and square!) and even Case has gotten in on the action. He asked me the other day if I would play with him and I told him I don't know how and he got this totally irritated tone and said: All you got to do is move your pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queens and kings and make them knock each other over. He knew all the names of all the guys better than I do!
Yep, even four-year-old Case loves chess.
Only thing is, he calls it CHEST. :)
Yep, even four-year-old Case loves chess.
Only thing is, he calls it CHEST. :)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Back in Session
It's back to school time once again! I remember the sleepless jitters the night before the first day of school when I was a kid, and last night I stood outside the room Emma and Fisher share listening to them talk about how excited they are for this school year.
The kids got up extra early this morning... I heard the dishwasher being unloaded before 6 a.m. Yes, that's right. Fisher was up, dressed, had his backpack packed and was unloading the dishwasher, and Emma was in the shower -- all before 6 a.m. No excitement there, right?
The twins will be home with me for another year, and I couldn't be happier. With their fall birthday they have lots of friends their age who are starting kindergarten, but I'm not ready for them to be gone, and I don't think they're quite ready yet either.
Here are my big kiddos on the way to their first day of school. I missed them today, but I'll admit I'm glad to be back to a more scheduled day.
The kids got up extra early this morning... I heard the dishwasher being unloaded before 6 a.m. Yes, that's right. Fisher was up, dressed, had his backpack packed and was unloading the dishwasher, and Emma was in the shower -- all before 6 a.m. No excitement there, right?
The twins will be home with me for another year, and I couldn't be happier. With their fall birthday they have lots of friends their age who are starting kindergarten, but I'm not ready for them to be gone, and I don't think they're quite ready yet either.
Here are my big kiddos on the way to their first day of school. I missed them today, but I'll admit I'm glad to be back to a more scheduled day.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Epilogue: The Winning Photo
I laugh every time I see this picture because it just says so much. We'd been walking around downtown Salt Lake for quite a while and the kids were just done. Done with the touring. The walking. And most of all my camera in their faces. We were telling them that this is the same place Jarad and I had gotten our photo taken on our wedding day. Honestly they couldn't have cared less and Fisher just refused to stand up. Amazing how 12 years and four kids can change things...
Summer Sojourn: End of the triology
Stop 6: Lake Tahoe
We spent three luxurious days at a condo in South Lake Tahoe. After kind of being on the go and camping for a week, we were really ready to slow down and do next to nothing. We spent our time driving around the lake, taking pictures, little hikes and explorations, shopping, swimming at the pool and playing the wii in the kids’ playroom. Oh, and eating at IHOP.
Stop 7: Orem, UT
(HUH? All these uber cool places, and Orem makes the list? Let me just say... free lodging for a month - thanks Mom and Dad!)
I’m not sure how my parents feel about it, but we have spent our summers in their basement (they let us out sometimes) for the last three summers now. It is so awesome (meant entirely Valley girl here). The kids love it there: two computers in the home office, cable TV projected on the wall in the basement, sleeping in their special sleeping bags, playing snake and bocci in the back yard, playing with their UT friends… Grandma and Grandpa spoiling them rotten. We all love it! Before our trip Jarad and I had caught the family history bug, and had been researching stories from both sides of the family, locating gravesites, etc. So a large part of our time in Utah was spent in cemeteries. Yep you read that right. Among the dead. Some of our coolest and most memorable moments of the trip were finding the burial places of and even memorials to some of our pioneer ancestors. I’ll have to write an entirely different post about those stories, but suffice it to say that the seed has been planted and the hearts of these children are most definitely turning to our fathers. We spent a few nights in Logan and completely fell in love with that area. Don’t worry… we know we need to check out the winters there before relocating! Of course Jarad and I got in our annual Lake Blanche hike, this year with an overnighter. We spent a day at Sundance and picnicked with Grandma and Grandpa a few times along the Provo River. We took in an Orem Owlz baseball game (where we lost Case. We visited the Dinosaur Museum in Ogden and drove through some beautiful country in a roundabout way back to Orem through Morgan and Heber. I'll admit I was not ready to come home.
We drove home mid-July and arrived in the midst of extreme heat advisories. The day we drove was rainy from north of Flagstaff all the way to Phoenix and we saw some amazing lightning storms and even a double rainbow. I love that the kids were watching the weather as much as the DVD :) Upon arriving home the kids promptly reconnected with their Gilbert friends and swimming pools, and have lived their summer to the fullest! Everyone is ready for school to start tomorrow. Everyone :)
We spent three luxurious days at a condo in South Lake Tahoe. After kind of being on the go and camping for a week, we were really ready to slow down and do next to nothing. We spent our time driving around the lake, taking pictures, little hikes and explorations, shopping, swimming at the pool and playing the wii in the kids’ playroom. Oh, and eating at IHOP.
Stop 7: Orem, UT
(HUH? All these uber cool places, and Orem makes the list? Let me just say... free lodging for a month - thanks Mom and Dad!)
I’m not sure how my parents feel about it, but we have spent our summers in their basement (they let us out sometimes) for the last three summers now. It is so awesome (meant entirely Valley girl here). The kids love it there: two computers in the home office, cable TV projected on the wall in the basement, sleeping in their special sleeping bags, playing snake and bocci in the back yard, playing with their UT friends… Grandma and Grandpa spoiling them rotten. We all love it! Before our trip Jarad and I had caught the family history bug, and had been researching stories from both sides of the family, locating gravesites, etc. So a large part of our time in Utah was spent in cemeteries. Yep you read that right. Among the dead. Some of our coolest and most memorable moments of the trip were finding the burial places of and even memorials to some of our pioneer ancestors. I’ll have to write an entirely different post about those stories, but suffice it to say that the seed has been planted and the hearts of these children are most definitely turning to our fathers. We spent a few nights in Logan and completely fell in love with that area. Don’t worry… we know we need to check out the winters there before relocating! Of course Jarad and I got in our annual Lake Blanche hike, this year with an overnighter. We spent a day at Sundance and picnicked with Grandma and Grandpa a few times along the Provo River. We took in an Orem Owlz baseball game (where we lost Case. We visited the Dinosaur Museum in Ogden and drove through some beautiful country in a roundabout way back to Orem through Morgan and Heber. I'll admit I was not ready to come home.
We drove home mid-July and arrived in the midst of extreme heat advisories. The day we drove was rainy from north of Flagstaff all the way to Phoenix and we saw some amazing lightning storms and even a double rainbow. I love that the kids were watching the weather as much as the DVD :) Upon arriving home the kids promptly reconnected with their Gilbert friends and swimming pools, and have lived their summer to the fullest! Everyone is ready for school to start tomorrow. Everyone :)
Summer Sojourn: Part Deux
Stop 4: Sequoia National Park
The next day we drove from Newport to Sequoia National Park -- it was an all-day trip. We pulled into the campground around 6 p.m. and it was C-O-L-D (this from an Alaska girl, right?)! A nice change from AZ, but honestly, it was chill-ay. We registered and drove to the campsite, only to find a big snowdrift there! Thankfully it was not IN our site, but we carefully situated our two tents in between the small tributary of melting snow and the drift itself. Then we built a big fire to sit by all night! We had originally planned to just drive through Sequoia on the way to Yosemite, but ended up changing our plans and staying there. So worth it! Of course the kids had plenty of time to complete their Junior Ranger requirements, we saw a bear and tons of other wildlife and did some exploring.
Stop 5: Yosemite National Park
If I could have changed only one thing about our visit to Yosemite, it would be that it WASN’T FREE WEEKEND AT YOSEMITE. It seemed like all 10 million residents of Los Angeles decided to visit that very weekend. We had no idea it was free weekend when we planned our trip, and it was a not-so-pleasant surprise. Look beyond the crowds, though, and you’ll find some of the most awesome (and I mean that in the true sense of the word, not the 80s Valley girl sense) scenery. The snowmelt was still running strong so the waterfalls were huge. Everything was so green and lush. We took the kids on a hike up the Mist Trail – a little steep by children’s standards – and we encountered just a bit of whining. OK some full-fledged whining from all four kids after we passed the halfway-up point. The highlight of the hike was when, on our way down, I heard a father of two girls about the same age as our older kids turn to his daughters and say, “Look at those kids with smiles on their faces (referring to our four – smiling because we were almost DONE!) – if they can do it so can you!” He had no idea what we had endured on the way up. We spent two days in Yosemite, and of course I wish we’d planned at least one more day. Without 10 million of our closest friends.
The next day we drove from Newport to Sequoia National Park -- it was an all-day trip. We pulled into the campground around 6 p.m. and it was C-O-L-D (this from an Alaska girl, right?)! A nice change from AZ, but honestly, it was chill-ay. We registered and drove to the campsite, only to find a big snowdrift there! Thankfully it was not IN our site, but we carefully situated our two tents in between the small tributary of melting snow and the drift itself. Then we built a big fire to sit by all night! We had originally planned to just drive through Sequoia on the way to Yosemite, but ended up changing our plans and staying there. So worth it! Of course the kids had plenty of time to complete their Junior Ranger requirements, we saw a bear and tons of other wildlife and did some exploring.
Stop 5: Yosemite National Park
If I could have changed only one thing about our visit to Yosemite, it would be that it WASN’T FREE WEEKEND AT YOSEMITE. It seemed like all 10 million residents of Los Angeles decided to visit that very weekend. We had no idea it was free weekend when we planned our trip, and it was a not-so-pleasant surprise. Look beyond the crowds, though, and you’ll find some of the most awesome (and I mean that in the true sense of the word, not the 80s Valley girl sense) scenery. The snowmelt was still running strong so the waterfalls were huge. Everything was so green and lush. We took the kids on a hike up the Mist Trail – a little steep by children’s standards – and we encountered just a bit of whining. OK some full-fledged whining from all four kids after we passed the halfway-up point. The highlight of the hike was when, on our way down, I heard a father of two girls about the same age as our older kids turn to his daughters and say, “Look at those kids with smiles on their faces (referring to our four – smiling because we were almost DONE!) – if they can do it so can you!” He had no idea what we had endured on the way up. We spent two days in Yosemite, and of course I wish we’d planned at least one more day. Without 10 million of our closest friends.
Summer Sojourn
OK let’s get down to business here. I promised myself I would report on and post pictures of our summer sojourn before school starts. That’s in about 8 hours…
We started our seven or so weeks away from home with a bang. School got out on Thursday, Jarad worked his last day Friday, we spent Memorial Day weekend here at home and left Tuesday morning as the sun rose (before it could get too hot here). We took the long way around to my parents house in UT, spending about ten days in California before heading down to Happy Valley. Here is our travelogue in parts…
Stop 1: Joshua Tree National Park
Yeah, so this was ALMOST considered a stop. We spent a few hours in the park on the way to California. Long enough to take some pictures, climb some rocks and do the Junior Ranger Program with the kids. After about 30 minutes of climbing around on the large boulders, we told the kids it was time to move on to something else. When they complained we said “but when we’re done here we get to go to Disneyland!” To which Case replied: I don’t wanna go to Disneyland, I just want to stay here and climb rocks! Unfortunately he was having so much fun and going so high that I didn’t get a single picture of him climbing. He was out of sight the whole time!
Stop 2: DISNEYLAND!!
Whew nothing like starting our trip with the highlight. The kids were looking forward to it so much, and it truly did not disappoint. The best advice I received beforehand was to take a break in the middle of the day or there's no way you're making it to the fireworks! The kids were the perfect ages to go -- even the twins could ride every ride -- and they were all old enough that we didn't have to spend ANY time on the small kiddie rides. It was great. Case started the morning with a good cry (OK I'll admit it was a full-fledged screaming fit), but once we got past that it was a perfect day.
Tess's Favorite: Splash Mountain and the teacups, although she beat everyone but Jarad in the Buzz Lightyear ride. Not sure how that happened. Oh, and Fisher got to dance in the parade. Of course he did his signature moves for us all…
Case's Favorite: Haunted Mansion
Fisher's Favorite: Splash Mountain/Thunder Mountain because “I like getting scared! It made me scream like a little girl!”
Emma's Least Favorite: Pirates
Stop 3: The Beach
You can't be in the OC without going to the beach, right? We spent the day at Huntington Beach where the kids literally spent hours running in and out of the waves. Spent the evening in Newport. Pizza, ice cream and the arcade. We were clearly too early for the season rush -- there was NO ONE at Newport pier the night we went! We had the arcade all to ourselves. Cute Fisher won a bunch of tickets and just could NOT decide what he was going to trade them in for at the goody counter: should he get one big thing for himself or lots of cheaper things he can share with his brother and sisters? He opted for a handful of small tops that he promptly gifted to his siblings. I love this kid's heart! Probably our kids’ favorite part of Newport was the IHOP we ate breakfast at. How is it that they had NEVER been to IHOP before?
We started our seven or so weeks away from home with a bang. School got out on Thursday, Jarad worked his last day Friday, we spent Memorial Day weekend here at home and left Tuesday morning as the sun rose (before it could get too hot here). We took the long way around to my parents house in UT, spending about ten days in California before heading down to Happy Valley. Here is our travelogue in parts…
Stop 1: Joshua Tree National Park
Yeah, so this was ALMOST considered a stop. We spent a few hours in the park on the way to California. Long enough to take some pictures, climb some rocks and do the Junior Ranger Program with the kids. After about 30 minutes of climbing around on the large boulders, we told the kids it was time to move on to something else. When they complained we said “but when we’re done here we get to go to Disneyland!” To which Case replied: I don’t wanna go to Disneyland, I just want to stay here and climb rocks! Unfortunately he was having so much fun and going so high that I didn’t get a single picture of him climbing. He was out of sight the whole time!
Stop 2: DISNEYLAND!!
Whew nothing like starting our trip with the highlight. The kids were looking forward to it so much, and it truly did not disappoint. The best advice I received beforehand was to take a break in the middle of the day or there's no way you're making it to the fireworks! The kids were the perfect ages to go -- even the twins could ride every ride -- and they were all old enough that we didn't have to spend ANY time on the small kiddie rides. It was great. Case started the morning with a good cry (OK I'll admit it was a full-fledged screaming fit), but once we got past that it was a perfect day.
Tess's Favorite: Splash Mountain and the teacups, although she beat everyone but Jarad in the Buzz Lightyear ride. Not sure how that happened. Oh, and Fisher got to dance in the parade. Of course he did his signature moves for us all…
Case's Favorite: Haunted Mansion
Fisher's Favorite: Splash Mountain/Thunder Mountain because “I like getting scared! It made me scream like a little girl!”
Emma's Least Favorite: Pirates
Stop 3: The Beach
You can't be in the OC without going to the beach, right? We spent the day at Huntington Beach where the kids literally spent hours running in and out of the waves. Spent the evening in Newport. Pizza, ice cream and the arcade. We were clearly too early for the season rush -- there was NO ONE at Newport pier the night we went! We had the arcade all to ourselves. Cute Fisher won a bunch of tickets and just could NOT decide what he was going to trade them in for at the goody counter: should he get one big thing for himself or lots of cheaper things he can share with his brother and sisters? He opted for a handful of small tops that he promptly gifted to his siblings. I love this kid's heart! Probably our kids’ favorite part of Newport was the IHOP we ate breakfast at. How is it that they had NEVER been to IHOP before?
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