I'm "Lost"

Dear season 1 of "Lost",

My husband and I started watching you due to the summer break in our regular shows, and since you can be downloaded instantly on the Wii we didn't see the harm. However, I am very disappointed in how you have been affecting my sleep and my morning mood as a result. I mean the last 3 nights we didn't have the self control to turn you off until after 1 am. This is quite unacceptable since we have a young daughter who gets up very early in the morning. After playing rock-paper-scissors with my husband to see who had to get up and make breakfast, brew coffee, and pretend to be alive at that hour, we have decided this must stop. The drama, excitement, and overall amazingness of you must be toned down or else I fear sleep deprivation is in our future. The addictive quality of your show has us wondering- are you some kind of new drug? We are suspicious...

Sincerely,

The Smiths

under the sea

Where else but in Las Vegas could you find a monstrous aquarium that occasionally houses a mermaid?!?!?! The air hose and fake fin are all for show- she's real I tell you! I'll prove it- could a fake mermaid talk to a sting ray? She is not getting eaten-really...that look of terror is for show too. Anyway, Siena loved her and gave her a big hug. I'm not going to be the one to tell her mermaids aren't real!

Happy Birthday my friend !!!!

You are an amazing person and I am lucky to have you as my friend. I can always count on you to make me laugh, and not judge me when I am acting crazy:) We are like 2 peas in a pod and you have quickly become one of my best friends. I hope your day is wonderful (and it better be because we are spending it together!!!).

And don't be mad I put pictures of you on here.. I had to ... so people will believe that I actually have a friend and this isn't a plot I came up with to convince everyone I don't need to get out and be friendly.

Inspirational quote of the day...

Dad

I know father's day is old news but whatever. In my book every day is fathers day- ya my dad is that good.

Things I learned from my Dad... 1. To be goofy.

2. To be a person that other's can count on. Even though being responsible and having integrity isn't always easy, it's always worth it.

3. To never settle. To keep learning, growing, and pushing myself to be better.

4. To take pride in what I do, but also in who I am.

5. That if you have to step on someone else to get ahead, the prize isn't worth the price.

6. Being a parent isn't about what you give your kids, but about what you teach your kids.

You taught me these things Dad just by being who your are. I love you- happy father's day!!!

What a pair!!!

Go Lakers!

We decided to have a Laker party on thursday to watch the final game. It was just the 3 of us since I decided this was a good idea about 15 minutes before the game started:) We made shirts... Painted our faces...

Ordered pizza...

Siena was totally into it which we thought was hilarious! I think the rally sticks were the biggest hit- I mean who doesn't love yelling and banging sticks together. She was even getting upset when they were behind...

And so happy when they won!!!

.

Jam time!

Our apricots are finally ripe enough to make some jam! They started out like this.....and ended up like this...I know I'm leaving out some key details here, but trust me- you don't really want to know.

Let's just say between start and finish there was about: 3 hours, 500 dirty dishes, a sticky floor and stove, 2 burned arms, a scalded eyebrow, and a 3 year old (enough said). And now at the end of all this I have 7 jars of jam. It was worth it. Really.

I'm still hopeful this is the most amazing apricot jam ever and it was totally worth the trouble (since I haven't tried it yet). However, I will say jam making is not for the faint of heart- the crazy boiling (hence the burned arms) and handling hot jars definitely takes more patience and planning ahead than I was willing to do.

And here is Siena's reaction when I told her we were finally done making jam and we could do something else:)

By the way:

Jelly- made from fruit juice

Jam- made using the whole fruit

Preserves-pretty much the same as jam

marmalade-made using fruit and fruit rind

you know you were wondering....

class clowns

We headed down to the Natural History Museum yesterday to check out the new exhibit that opened this weekend. Since we go there all the time, the rules were to not learn anything new this trip and only take weird and silly photos.

Dad I know what you are thinking- don't judge.

Siena wasn't feeling it at first- she was still doing the "I'm so cute- look at me" pose so we had to get her in the mood by pretending to feed her to a shark:)

The people that were actually trying to enjoy the museum (whatever) were giving us some pretty weird looks. We've decided it's because they were jealous of our mad photography skills- I mean who wouldn't want a picture of the best looking dinosaur impression ever ...

We ended the trip with a walk through Ancient Egypt and king Tut's tomb. They have a real mummy set up with a super cool x-ray thingy (technical term) that lets you see through the wrappings and check out all the bones and shriveled skin. Siena always asks to see the broken leg (yes she remembers the weirdest stuff) and it was hilarious to hear the people who looked after us whispering about how the mummy DID have a broken leg and "how did that little girl know that?" We just let them think she was a genius....we've only looked at that mummy about 50 times- details, details....

Brandon failed the mission by learning what a trilobite was (I couldn't help myself), but I'm declaring victory for myself because I left just as stupid as a when I arrived:)

Check out those clouds! Since the weather has been cooling down out here the last few days, we decided to venture out of the house (fondly called "the cave" during summer) and check out the orchard that's only about 3 blocks from the house.
Most of the stuff they grow isn't ready yet- but we did score a HUGE bag of apricots, which I love, so I could have cared less about the squash and tomatoes... healthy stuff blah blah blah.

It's a pretty long walk to check out the whole thing... and you know Brandon wasn't asking the farmer guy we saw working for directions. Siena was convinced the best trees were always down the "next row" and we both left with a few blisters to show for it:)

We left with about 8 pounds of fruit so some jam-making is definitely in our future.... or I'll just eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but you all know what that leads to.....

"Saturday... in the park"

Isn't that in a song? "...I think it was the forth of July..."

Anyways...

One thing I love about where we live is there is always a bunch of fun outdoorsy stuff to do (and by fun I mean free). We've been hearing about a park by us that has a movie night on Saturdays. Since we are such a lively bunch, and never have much planned in the evenings, we decided to check it out. It starts at sundown (which is pretty late around here) so Siena's sunny disposition had already hitch-hiked back home and all that was left was...well this...Although my secret weapon (tickling until she screams "uncle") worked in this next one- it is the only picture we got that doesn't look like she is ready to maul us (what a sweet child) :)

Guilt blogging

We have been a busy bunch around here! Not sure where all the motivation came from- but I'm not complaining! Especially since Brandon is back to work tomorrow and we are back to business as usual...

Friday we decided to check out the Techatticup Mining camp that's about an hour out of town. They have a ton of artifacts and cool stuff to look at- I was into the history of the place (oh how I miss you Bodie), Siena thought the dead animal heads on the wall were pretty much the greatest things ever, and Brandon's main focus was "where could he go to find himself some gold", and if they sold gold pans, pick axes, or any other gold mining equipment (which was a big no).

We needed 4 people in order to do a tour, and with only 2 adults (apparently children aren't "people" yet) we had to go to plan B.

Plan B you say? Renting a kayak and taking it down to the Colorado river of course:) Apparently they are only a few miles from a little cove where you can drive up to the water and throw in a boat:) Which is exactly what we did!

Strapping a kayak to the top of the Hyundai was....interesting at best:) but once we got it all situated, and down to the water, it was a blast.

This pic is from the end of our trip which you can probably tell from the look on Siena's face:)

Brandon teaching Siena how to pan for gold. It's a good skill to have people!

Siena mad because "WHERE IS MY GOLD!!!!!"

Siena and I having a heart to heart and enjoying the water and view!

A little father daughter time in the kayak... and yes I am on the shore taking a nap:)

Overall it was an amazing day. We will definitely be going back and doing it again soon!

P.S- I would like to dedicate this post and the re-starting up of this blog to Katie... because let's face it, without her restarting her blog and making me feel guilty every time she posts, I'm not sure I would be motivated enough to do it. After all, I AM the older sister and the competitive edge runs deep- you will not out post me MUAHAHAHAHA! ok I'm done...