California or Bust! I say that because i felt like I needed to go to California or I might bust. Ben had Scout camp for a full week and I don’t do well when Ben does’t come home at night. I can handle a night or two but five nights is hard. I get worn out and kids get put to bed early and wake up early and it makes for long days. So the perfect solution – – – go play with friends and family! Then the kids and I have lots of people to play with and missing Dad isn’t quite so bad 🙂 My plan worked perfectly. We played hard the whole week and I just loved spending time with my parents and with Kevin and his family and Michael and Shannon were both home and I got to see lots of friends and the kids Always had someone to play with.

On Sunday June 10th LaNell and I loaded up the kids and drove to Oroville.

We only stopped twice! Once in Elko and then in Wells. Raymond was screaming hungry when we rolled up to Lan’s house but we got there. And we got to my parents house right in time to have Sunday dinner with my mom, dad, Michael, Shannon, Kevin and Liz! yum.

Our trip could be summed up in 2 words Driving and Swimming. That is what we did. Monday we spent in Oroville swimming at Becky’s with my mom, Shannon, Liz and her kids. We had a BBQ that night and played games. Tuesday we drove to Walnut Creek to play with Erica and Than and kids. They have a pool and a community pool that we went to everyday.

We played in the mornings, went to the pool all afternoon and crashed at night. I loved it. The kids always jump right back into their best friends status and just play hard. I told Erica that I came to her for three things: Swimming, Boggle, and Delicious Food. We were successful on all three.

Angelee and LaNell drove down and played with us on Thursday. It was fun to see them.

I packed up and drove back to my parents house on Thursday Evening. The kids fell asleep as soon as we got on the road. I got home before 10pm and stayed up super late laughing and playing with my mom, dad, Shan and Mike.

Then on Friday we went swimming again – that IS what you do when it is 90+ in The Ville. Some friends came to swim in the morning and then that evening after dinner the Barth’s and Ford’s and Mikila all came for more games.

It was a whirlwind trip and I came home exhausted. Exhausted but Happy. We drove all day Saturday. This time we had 4 stops including Rose throwing up and a McDonalds meal. LaNell talked the entire time to California and back – she really was super fun to drive with. I had to give my computer a bath before I could blog because Rose watched Blues Clues on it for a good 5 hours on the drive home : I think Benji is only in 1 picture – He is always on the go so I never catch him with the camera anymore. We Got to see Ben/Dad when we got home and all was right in my world.

Thursday was the last day of school! Within the hour we got a call from the cousins to come over and play in the water!

I am loving summer because I actually got prepared and made a chore chart and … (drum roll please) … it is working!! The kids get up and do most of their chores before I even get up! Who knew that they actually knew how to clean? not me. We are using http://www.myjobchart.com/ where they can log in and check off all chores completed and earn points. Then we have one standing rule; no TV or computer unless the Living room and Family room are clean. I know it has only been 2 days but I AM LOVING IT.

In return for having a happy mom we went and got our passes for the PG pool and swam on opening day! I hope to see some fellow pass holders there! and if I do see you I may ask you to hold a chubby little baby while I rescue one of my other 4 non swimmers. Yesterdays swim went surprisingly well but it was only 45 minutes and everything was new and fun. I did see a friend there and and she assured me that I am “brave” to take all my kids like that – I’m pretty sure she meant “crazy” but I appreciated her support.

Here are the rest of our random pictures from the last week:

HAPPY SUMMER TIME!

Grandma planned a fun treasure hunt for at the cabin. She hid 20 brown bags out in the forest and all of the grand kids got to go search for them. I thought I would just waltz out there with Rosie and find some bags but they were hidden really well so we all got to search. Once found we had a white elephant type gift exchange with the treasures. The kids all had fun finding the bags and playing with their prizes. I think there is a picture of each of the grand kids in here. Well 16 of the grand kids, not the 3 babies and not the 3 oldest 🙂

We planned an early family get together this year with my parents and siblings. We wanted to celebrate my Dads 60th and it is also my parents 40th wedding anniversary this summer. The first of May is right in between those 2 events and it was the best time for the Alaskans to come. Anyway all 12 f us kids were able to clear our schedules and spend some time together at the Eggers cabin in Pioneer, CA. We love being together. I’m glad that we all get along so well and EVERYONE makes the effort to have family time.

This cabin was like camping with a house – – tons to explore and play but nice bathrooms, showers, and recliners when you wanted them.