Desert Camping Trip

Blame my mother who thought camping at Lake Perris in July would be a good idea. I wasn't quite keen on it to begin with because, once I partook of glamping, I haven't been able to look back. And Lake Perris is usually pretty dusty and dry and we knew July was going to be hot. But, we still were able to make it happen for one night, with AJ agreeing to actually camp overnight with Sophie while I took Summer back home after spending the day there.

Sophie was so excited about camping once we told her it was happening and was counting down the days. She was almost too excited to go to her dance class that morning but I told her we have to go to dance first before we can go camping and she was able to suppress her excitement just long enough. We drove out right after her dance class and both girls got a nap, even though they didn't overlap for too long. And when we got there, maybe around 12:30... IT. WAS. HOT!!! We met Gangy and Grandpa Jim and Auntie KitKat and Luca and Enzo at the marina but even just there I was breathing in an oven and we had to go back to the campsite where we immediately set up the kiddie pool for the kids (although Luca apparently thought he was too big for it??)

I was so miserable, it was just confirming everything I don't like about camping- at least in a dry, dusty hot place! I want to camp somewhere lush and foresty! I was ready to call the audible and go hang out at my mom's house nearby for the air conditioning, but the heat peaked and we lounged and survived.

AJ didn't get there until later afternoon and missed the worst of it. He embraced the role of cook (as usual) and along with my mom, got us a great dinner of steaks and corn on the cob and grilled carrots and green onions. I left later than I wanted to, but I refused to leave before I got a mini s'more (or two or three or four) and Sophie got full use of her flashlight and the great idea of my mom to have the kids wear glow stick bracelets and anklets.

Summer and I then had a long drive home which I was surprisingly awake for, and with no traffic at all whatsoever, it was faster than I anticipated. According to AJ, Sophie just loved sleeping in the tent and couldn't even fall asleep because she was just up talking about it. In the morning, AJ texted me "Sophie wanted me to tell you that she spent the night in a tent" LOL

It was nice to have the morning "off" just needing to deal with Summer until AJ and Sophie got home. What is my life that I feel relaxed and off the hook when I "just" have to take care of an eleven-month-old??

California Adventure

I swear I was only interested in buying one day tickets to Disneyland for Summer's birthday next month, but in true Di$ney fashion, it was basically just as much to buy the 3-day tickets for the Summer, and I suppose it worked out in the end because AJ's cousins are coming into town later and we'll be going again with them, and then we just needed to pick a third day to go, which ended up being Wednesday this week. We decided to do California Adventure, which honestly I'm not the biggest fan of (it's fine) but despite that, it ended up being great!

It was Summer's first trip and she was just so fascinated and happy! I must have had more fun just watching Summer enjoy all the sights and sounds (and bubbles) than the park itself. Sophie is so much more fun and interactive, and she was able to do the dance party and appreciate the parade, and I think we went on Little Mermaid four times...?

Sophie was also so floored and stunned meeting Mirabel and Elsa - she was so shy and quiet when it was our turn to talk to them, but she's obsessed with the photos and remembering meeting them.

Summer and the bubbles! This was so fun to watch, we were playing in the bubbles for forever...

We were playing the day by ear and were hoping we could last long enough to not leave in the middle of rush hour, and in the end, it was us being kicked out of the park because it was closing! Twelve hours there! The girls did amazing in the end, and we were exhausted (probably a big mistake to go on a Wednesday when we all had a normal day the next day) but we're looking forward to our next two trips later this summer, especially because we'll being going to Disneyland (and Sophie kept asking for the rainbow slide - yes, the playground in ToonTown is her core memory LOL) and hey! Summer is 11 months today!

Summer's First Fourth (+ Baking Blueberry Pie)

We had a nice 4th yesterday! We kept up our usual tradition of going to the Thompson's since their neighborhood is great and also (most) fireworks are legal. 

We started in the pool and with Summer in her trusty little loungey chair, she became absolutely enamored with some diving ring pool toy and was content the entire time to just hold it, eat it, put it up to her face. Sophie had a great time swimming around with Bryce and Jaxon, and I had a great time sittervising with my white wine while AJ was in the pool with them.

Once Ara and Nadine came over, it was really on, because Bryce and Penelope are great little friends, and Sophie and Scarlett just love each other so much and it was so sweet to watch them just do 3 year old things together - like show each other the leaves they found, find it hilarious to push a doll on a skateboard, and hold hands and jump around while the fireworks were going off.

I even got a delicious nap in with Summer upstairs which tided me over for the long evening.

We had sausages and different dipping sauces, tabbouli salad, fresh berries, cheese and cracker spreads, and I brought a homemade blueberry pie.

I probably should've consulted my own lessons in baking before attempting my blueberry pie again yesterday, because I wasn't too thrilled with it and I think it's the same things annoying me. None of the recipes that I ever come across call for mashing the blueberries in any capacity, and yet without doing that, they just... roll right out like beads when you cut it and then you're just eating blueberries and pie crust side by side. No one seemed to mind (I don't rule out the fact that they were probably just being nice) but it's something I plan to experiment with for next time.

Also - the latticing! It is so much harder than it looks (don't stare at mine too much or it will break your brain) and I did find that a big cause of that is my dough being a little too flimsy but... another way I'm learning I'm suppose.

Summer was mostly mesmerized by the fireworks at first, but they started to get louder and as night fell, the street was turning into an absolute warzone, and Summer, Sophie and Scarlett were all over them, so we went into the house and they watched Gabby's Dollhouse while AJ and I loaded up.

They both pretty much fell asleep immediately in the car, which was such a shame, because driving home was a beautiful display of fireworks everywhere, practically 360 while we drove home, seeing them go off from every which way was so pretty (and also, distracting). I'm surprised they were able to even fall asleep at home because the crackling and low rumblings of fireworks was a constant sound as we went to sleep.

Daycare is closed today which means extra long weekend for these kids!