I should be packing...

... or cleaning, or I dunno, sleeping. Instead I am catching up on my blog. We leave Wednesday for another week in LA, and as I shot this photo of Constance and "Ketchup face" (Victoria) I noticed that my card was full. I need it empty if we're going on a trip! Lots more photos are coming for sure!

I really need to take some photos of my sister and brother-in-law's new house. Everyone has been super busy the last 2 weeks getting it ready for move-in. The boys laid hardwood, they got new carpet installed, and we all did a LOT of painting. My mom, dad and sister more than I, though I definitely put in my time. The girls are thrilled with "Baby Audrey's new house." They love to ride there in the wagon (only .8 miles!) and they adore the stairs!

an ingenious wading pool, lots of cupcakes and Griffith Park

arrr matey

weeee!

splash!

they played with Britt's old dollhouse for hours

resting up

helping Aunt Brittany

Travel Town at Griffith Park

choo choo

waiting for the train

looking at the model trains

Daddy works at the Beach

While we're in LA to visit Zach's family, of course, the reason we stay so long is so that Zach can get in his days working on the beach. He's still a recurrent Lifeguard for the LA County Fire Department, and to keep the job, he has to pass an annual recheck, and work about 5 days. Thankfully he was able to get work while we were down, so he's fulfilled his commitment this year.

The girls love that their Daddy works on the beach. We went to drop him off at Dockweiler one day, so we stuck around for an hour and played in the sand. I'm really quite proud of myself that I was (almost) by myself at the beach with two toddlers. I got everything and everyone packed up and back in the car safely. We didn't even need the Lifeguard to rescue us!

Pony Rides

Vickie and I took the girls to the Lakewood Equestrian Center to ride ponies and visit the animals in the petting zoo. The girls were so proud, riding the ponies all by themselves. I could tell they felt very grown up.

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Constance had a thing for the goat with no ears. I think she wanted to take him home with us. I don't think our cat would have liked that much.

Disneyland

First up, Disneyland!

By far this was the most fun Disney day so far with the girls. It was a blackout day for Vickie and Ian was working, so Zach and I took the girls. By now they have seen Sleeping Beauty enough to totally recognize Princess Aurora's castle, so it was priceless when we were walking down Main Street and the castle came into view. I brought the girls into the center of the street and crouched down to them. I said, "look, girls, what's that?!"

"Princess Aurora's Castle!!!" They both exclaimed, as the incomparable Disney magic look came over their precious faces. I just about cried, my heart was so full of joy at that moment. Then we ran to the castle together.

We rode on some rides and met up with our friends the Dunns. The girls met Goofy and fell in love with the Pirates. They are now asking to go to Disneyland to see the Pirates. I think it's because we made such a big deal over the dips in the Pirates of the Carribean ride

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LA Trip

10 days is a long time to be away from home. We had a wonderful time in LA, but I am very happy to be back. This trip was packed with fun for the girls, and I think they had the best time yet. They turned 2 and-a-half on Aug 9, and are at the point where they know exactly where we are and who we are with. They can ask specifically for what they want (most of the time) and are usually pretty polite about it. Victoria even says "no, thank you!" while throwing a tantrum. It cracks me up, but I try really hard not to laugh out loud when she does it.

Tuolumne Meadows

We just returned from four days camping in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park. The weather was perfect, the girls were able to get totally filthy and have a great time, Grandma Vickie and Grandpa Ian were there, and our Scamp worked great. Zach was able to climb three of the days, and I even squeezed in a climb while Grandma, Grandpa and "Aunt Edith" watched the girls! I only wish we could've stayed longer.

If you want to see lots more photos, as usual, they are posted to flickr.

Victoria and Constance free-solo one of Yosemite's great monoliths.

The girls got to try out the littleist climbing gear - I think they liked it!

That's Zach at the top of the climb, waving at the girls,
who came to watch their Daddy climb the rocks.

Zach and I on Lembert Dome, which we climbed with our good friend Kirtus.

More Clothesline

Another cow pic

Not too bad from a really slow cellphone cam

Cow

We had dinner with Mark, Emily and Franklin Spannagel last night. Victoria picked peaches and fed them while Constance offered a drink from her cup.

So cute. So much fun!

Clothesline

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Originally uploaded by katiesgirls

I finally got my clothesline set up in the yard. Victoria likes helping me hang the clothes to dry. She hands me clothespins and tells me where to hang each item.

I was worried that the clothes would be really wrinkled, but so far they haven't been. I'm just trying to get used to using the liquid fabric softener; I had always used dryer sheets before.

Now to keep an eye on the electric bill to see if there's any significant savings.

Pretzel Dogs

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Originally uploaded by katiesgirls

I made pretzel dogs for the 4th, adapting a recipe from recipezaar.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp (or 1 package) active dry yeast
  

• 2 qts water
• 1/3 cup baking soda
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten

Put the first 6 ingredients in bread machine on the dough setting. When the cycle is complete, separate the dough into 8-12 portions and roll them on a lightly floured surface into 18" long ropes. (You might want to play with the dough portion size.) At this point, if you prefer classic soft pretzels, you shape them now. Allow dough to rise a little, about 20 minutes.

Make a baking soda bath by combining 2 quarts water with 1/3 cup baking soda in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Bathe each dough portion individually for about 10 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon. Roll each dough portion around a hot dog and arrange on a greased baking sheet. Brush with 1 egg slightly beaten. Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired. Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.

Praying Mantis

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Originally uploaded by katiesgirls

I found this little guy on my chives. Isn't he cute?

Garden

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Originally uploaded by katiesgirls

I planted late this year, but I'm finally starting to get some yummy veggies! My herbs are all still kickin' from last year: basil, chives, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, spearmint, and peppermint. My sugar snap peas are awesome and so cute, and the corn is about as tall as the girls now. No tomatoes yet, but starting to get lots of cucumbers. My romaine is doing ok, but my red chard is looking sad. Still waiting for my zucchini, too.

The girls love the garden. They help me water every day and they try to pull weeds, too. They got very excited over the sugar snap peas. They're a good pick-and-eat snack.

Grandma Vicke's Visit

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Originally uploaded by katiesgirls

Zach's mom came to visit for a week at the end of June. We had such a great time, I forgot to take pictures! Actually, Vickie took some cute ones, but I don't have them in digital, so I'll have to work on that. The visit was so relaxing, fun, and wonderful... I have the BEST mother-in-law ever!

We went to the Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento, where the girls loved climbing on the train cars and playing with the wooden Thomas the Train toys. Vickie bought them each a train, which they have been taking everywhere with them.

We also visited the Folsom Zoo, which is a great zoo for toddlers. It's small and the animals are close. There are roosters, hens and peacocks wandering around, which the kids get a kick out of.

Father's Day

I'm catch-up blogging. My desktop PC has been down, and that is where I resize, file and organize all my pictures. Took me a couple weeks to work up the desire to fix it. Thankfully, it's up and running and here we go...

Father's day was good. Took the girls to mass, and they made it almost to the end. They looked darling, though, and as we were loading them into the wagon, a lady said that they were "such good girls at mass!" I was so encouraged and proud of them!

Girlies at the Beach

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Originally uploaded by katiesgirls

Everyone left yesterday to drive to Nebraska for Grandma's burial. Zach really wishes he could have gone, but he has to get back to work; he's already taken off two shifts. We decided to stay in LA through the day, to relax a little bit, straighten the house for Vickie, and just unwind from all the emotion before we drove back home.

We took the girls to Seal Beach and they had a blast! Victoria was intrigued by the muddy sand at the water's edge, and a little unsure of the water. Constance, on the other hand, had no fear of the ocean. She would run all the way out to the surf with Zach, cracking up the whole time. It was really nice to have this little outing at the end of our trip.