Hey! Where did my Spring Break go?

In the blink of an eye it was GONE! Darren and I both enjoyed the last 2 weeks off from school for our celebrated Spring Break. As luck would have it my little guy decides on Day #2 of vacation to get yet another fever! Seriously?!? It lasts 5 fun-filled days of staying indoors and watching lots of TV. Oh joy!

I should probably thank the stars above that he actually got sick our first week off because the following weekend we were off with friends for 3 days at Disneyland!!!

We did it all: The Matterhorn (at least 5 times!), Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Grizzly Peak and Pirates of the Caribbean to name a few. The most exciting and most frightening ride was easily 

The Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror. 

Why I thought to take the 3 oldest boys on this ride was a good idea is beyond me! I figured I should face my fears and go for it. Well, here's a photo of the boys with their "scared" faces while we were waiting in line pondering our fate:

By the time we got to the front of the line one of the boys decided to back out (he shall remain nameless!) One of the ride attendants was kind enough to watch him while we went on the ride as apparently this happens all the time. Well, let's just say that he who shall remain nameless made a VERY wise decision.That ride was probably the scariest ride I have EVER been on. The first drop wasn't so bad, the second one I thought to myself: thank God it's over! And then the last drop. Um, yeah. It did me in. A free-fall from the 13th floor. I went into survivor mode! I blew deep breaths to get through it and couldn't get out of my seatbelt quick enough to get out! 

The boy who backed out asked me if he had made a good decision by not going and I told him, "Yes! You are so smart to have not gone because it wasn't good!" If you want to see the ride experience check out this You Tube video I found: Tower of Terror

i couldn't tell ya...

...the last time I did a 12x12 layout. I still fear the big empty page. There is so much inspiration out there on the gazillions of scrap blogs I follow but I always end up finding myself working on a mini-album.

What really gave me inspiration to work on a 12x12 layout was this picture of my beautiful niece, Gabrielle.

She was the junior bridesmaid in my sister's wedding last month and I took this picture of her at the beach. I loved her sweet dress and the flower in her hair and how she was putting her feet in the tide like a child yet how it contrasted with the fact that she is becoming such a young lady. I can still remember the days when she was a toddler!

I also loved these pictures I took of Darren and his cousin Jason. 

These two were inseparable during our vacation. They truly enjoy one another's company. I was so excited when I realized my timing was perfect taking the photo in the middle of this layout with Jason jumping in the air. Oh, to be carefree and young!

Me? Hockey?

I have never been a hockey fan nor did I ever think I would be one. But this whole Olympic Hockey madness sucked me in. I'll have to admit I didn't get the chance to watch much of the Winter Olympics because it started while we were in Kauai for my sister's wedding and watching TV (besides The Bachelor and American Idol - tee hee!) wasn't a priority.

It all started with Team USA vs. Switzerland quarterfinals. Although I don't claim to know much about hockey besides getting the puck into the net the whole empty-net goal by Team USA was exciting. Now I get it (the excitement of the sport, that is!)

It's too bad that we lost to Canada but what a great game. Huh?

I also watched Men's Speed Skating. Apollo Ohno is one talented dude. 

 

OK, that's not what he wears while competing but...

I personally think he was robbed of a Gold in the Men's 1000 m race. He single-handedly managed to make it through every single one of his races by jumping over fallen skaters. Total athleticism!

OK - on to another subject.

I love Anthropologie but this month's catalog is amazing. The clothes. The photography. The tropical setting. 

 

 

  

Love this dress. 

 

and this one.

and this outfit.

The colors in the catalog are giving me some inspiration to scrap. My goal is to do just that this week. I haven't sat down to scrap in close to a month. I'm hoping to change that come this weekend.

Our new baby!

 

Uh, no. Not a real baby but still thought of as our newest bundle of joy! A previously gently-loved 23-foot trailer! We bought her last weekend {I think I now need to name her!} although we hadn't planned on actually buying one! 

She was perfect. 

We just had to have her. 

I never thought we would own a trailer since we consider ourselves die-hard tenters in the camp world but now that we are finding we aren't as spry as we used to be. Those cold spring and late fall camping trips found us freezing some nights in our tent and yearning for the comforts of a heater, a toilet you don't have to walk to in the middle of the night and a place where I can just plug in my coffee maker rather than waiting for it to percolate on the camp stove just got the better of us.

So here's to Spring camping, getting a campsite near the lake rather than near the bathroom and to coffee-in-a-jiffy!

Back home to reality...

We had an unforgettable time with family and friends this past week in Kauai celebrating my sister's wedding. The weather couldn't have been better and the intimate setting made it all the more special. The most sincere congratulations to my sister and my new brother-in-law!

 

Besides coming back with a tan I also came back with a cold. Ah well...a small price to pay for a week in paradise!

before i go....

When I saw this photograph of my grandmother camping I had to giggle. Camping must seriously be in my blood!

Granted, my parents kept up the camping tradition by taking me and my 3 siblings on camping trips from when we were young until probably up through high school. We started out in a tent, eventually upgraded to a travel trailer and then decided we wanted to go back to tents again. I camped here and there in my young adulthood but didn't really start camping on a regular basis until I met my husband. From there, it's all history!

So I am probably the only one on the planet to not have watched the Super Bowl yesterday. Instead Ginger and I took off to Berkeley again for some shopping and dining. Our husbands hung out at the house watching the game while the kids played so I think everyone was a happy camper yesterday {um, no pun intended!}

We are off to Kauai on Wednesday for my sister's wedding set for Valentine's Day. I can't wait! It is going to be such a beautiful wedding! Seven days with aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all staying at the same resort should make for a fun {or incredibly out of hand} time!

Aloha!

Scrap Across America

Yup. That is what my good pal Ginger and I hope to do one day! We both love to camp and we are even known to scrap while we camp. When the kids and husbands go to bed we break out the scrapbook stash, portable DVD player complete with chick flicks, lanterns and if we have electric hook-ups, the space heater to keep us nice and toasty! Of course, we get to talking and the "Wouldn't it be nice if ?..." And that is how we came up with our Scrap Across America idea.

We would combine our love of travel, camping and scrapping by renting an RV, loading it up with every last bit of our scrapbooking stashes and hit the road. We'd visit every scrapbook store from California to New York and perhaps even throw in a few retreats if the timing was right. Of course we'd stop off at national parks to do some sightseeing and hiking. Aaaaah....talk about heaven!

Granted, if this were ever to happen it would be when our kids are in college  and our husbands are retired. Our laughable plan is to bunk them up together in a retirement home {insert evil laugh here} and set out on our adventure.

What do you think? Does that sound like fun or what?

We went to an RV show last weekend with the husbands and kids and found a nice little RV for our adventure. Here's Ginger posing in front of our future RV. ;)