I'm trying a new thing for the blog - stories at the top! And then just a quick item before a series of photos because there are 280 pics in this post and good Lord that's a lot.
Bradley during Eleanor's birthday party, when I told him we might not make it to church the next morning because the girls were having a sleepover: Yes!
Me: Bradley, we like to go to church to learn about Jesus.
Bradley: But I have to stand too much!
Me: Jesus died for you
Bradley: But he only did that one time, I have to stand a whole bunch.
Yes, we are deeply concerned about him and also grateful that his room is in the basement so he is less likely to be hit by lightning after saying things like this.
Patrick had a sleepover at my parents' house. At one point, while playing ping pong, he crashed into some boxes in the room.
Grandpa: Be careful!
Patrick: What does that mean?
Callie flea story: When we were in California we had my parents watch Callie. Each day they would take her to Woof's, the nearby doggy day care, so she could get in a half day of play time and they could run errands and not have to worry about putting her in a crate and she would be nice and tuckered out at night. When we got her back, my dad let me know that he thought she might have gotten some fleas because she was acting a little funny. So when we were home I rolled Callie onto her back and looked at her tummy and sure enough, there were some little flea bites on her lower tummy but I didn't see any actual fleas and so I figured they died after biting her because of the flea and tick medicine we give her. But then after searching around a bit more I found a tick embedded in her! I tried to remove it with tweezers but she yelped both times I tried so I figured I would leave it to the professionals and I called the vet and made an appointment to come in a couple days later and have it removed. When Nathan got home from work I had him look at her tummy and he found the tick bite ... and then he found a matching tick bite on the other side of her tummy. They were her nipples. I tried to remove Callie's nipple because I thought it was a tick. To be fair to me, at least I stopped when she yelped and the nipple was slightly irritated on the side because she had been scratching her tummy so it sort of looked like a tick. And I had never seen a black nipple before! The kitties have cute little pink nipples. Anyway, I felt terrible and we're pretty sure Callie is the nicest dog ever because she still loves me.
Nathan's company picnic
Musical bingo is so much fun!
Proof I can still carry my little boy
Eleanor went to an Italian festival with her friend Elise to see Cate Constantino perform. We didn't know who she was before this but she's was on The Voice and Eleanor is now a big fan.
The ended up having a sleepover. It was very cute.
A rare date night!
Followed by a sleepover with Juliet when she decided she was not having a sleepover with Patrick anymore. She was complaining about his poison ivy touching her and I assured her he didn't have poison ivy. The joke's on me, he totally did. But she didn't get it. I, however, got it on my forehead. It went away quickly but I was miffed. Also, this is how Juliet sleeps in a bed and I really don't want her to have a sleepover with me again.
Saving a baby bird. It did not go well for the bird.
Maya came over for a swim and a sleepover too!
VBS picnic at church. This is Juliet and her buddy Luke from preschool. His mom is gorgeous and always perfectly put together so we can be friends in public but she can never come over to my house. Not that she asked ... She's also really nice and incredibly patient with her children. I'm correct in actively resenting her, right?
They have a fire truck come and it's very cute.
Juliet with her friend Abigail. Abigail's mom is also very put together but she has a very wild 3 year old boy and that endears her to me.
I cleaned the art table so Juliet promptly got a bunch of stuff out
She took this picture of me with the fish sticker she insisted I put on my arm.
Eleanor has been into her Just Dance game lately and Bradley played it with her!
I usually get rid of toys but I mentioned to my folks that the only toys my kids really play with are Duplo Legos so they gave us their entire collection.
Adorable bool time for the boys and Juliet.
Once nice thing about having our own pool - the kids actually play Marco Polo now! You can't really do that very well in a public pool or even a neighborhood pool.
Making Eleanor SWAPS for her Girl Scouts day camp and singing songs together.
They also had a bit of down time to create their own game which involved throwing balls around in the living room, so it didn't last too long.
Show Choir camp! They had their big performance literally an hour before we had to leave on our trip to go to California.
Airport!
Matchy shirts
On our way to get the rental car.
My parents watching Callie - there was not much suffering for the cute puppy.
Bradley was a little tired on the drive to Diana and Bill's from the airport.
Playing Game of Life Goals.
Patrick's cooking face.
Cribbage! I was thrilled we got to play a bunch of standard card games on this trip. Bradley even learned how to play Hearts.
We played on teams and this was the winner/loser photo.
Another winner/loser photo, this time was less fun for me.
Santa Cruz boardwalk. We missed a big heatwave back home, it was pretty nice to get to wear a sweatshirt and not be hot and sweaty.
Crazy Bradley and Eleanor on a scary ride.
A nicer ride
Winning prizes
Obligatory churros
I was so happy
I was also a little amped up on caffeine at this point
We decided on this trip that the three younger kids definitely have hazel eyes.
Comparing eyes
This used to be Juliet's favorite ride
And now it's this!
She was so excited. She also made the height requirement exactly.
This is the boys' favorite ride.
It was either huggies or constant fights for the boys
It was a love fest for the girls the entire time.
Dude time! Patrick had different faces for each photo I took.
I insisted we at least step in the sand even though it was a bit too chilly to swim.
We went out on the pier for ice cream and to see if we could find some sea lions.
Found them!
More beach on the way back for the girls!
We brought a bunch of teeth for the fishies on this trip. Didn't even get taken into custody by TSA for our weird bags of teeth as we went through airport security. Great success!
There was great joy when it was time to put them in the tanks.
Juliet enjoyed having Aunt Diana read to her one night.
The tween setup in the room above the garage. This went really well!
The next morning I accidentally got us to the Monterey Bay Aquarium an hour before it opened so we went to a nearby beach to hang out for a while.
It was chilly but really nice!
Patrick decided to write a message in the sand and we think someone is going to come along and think that this is a marriage proposal gone wrong.
Standard picture of the Scott children - ignoring the stairs in favor of dangerous rocks.
We love this aquarium so much.
There are little fish blending in with the rocks. Our kids aren't super great with zoos, they seem to do a lot better at aquariums where you can get really close to a lot of the animals.
The area where you can stand under a wave remains a favorite spot.
We like to be up close but the kids are so-so on actually touching anything. Same here!
The jellyfish exhibits remain my favorite.
The girls and I hung out by the shops while the boys hiked to the car and came back to pick us up.
In-N-Out on the way back to Soquel
We went to downtown Santa Cruz that evening and made an important stop at Book Shop Santa Cruz.
Then it was time for Pizza my Heart for dinner!
A very accurate picture
And a cute one!
We love the candy store and we adore the sign out from. Kale salad! As if!
Bill's turn to read to Juliet.
Patrick picked flowers and went around proposing to people. Mostly me.
He's a very special boy in general.
Mystery Spot! It was cute but it was probably our last visit for a while. We know all the jokes.
Also I have to run out of the little house so I don't barf.
We went straight from the Mystery Spot to Natural Bridges beach. It was crowded but it was fun.
Okay, it was fun because I took a nap. But I wasn't the only one. Tweens were also a bit tired.
Cute couple pic!
Morning cuddles for adorable boys!
We learned from Father's Day the previous year and headed over to the Capitola Beach early the next day. It was a little chilly but at least we could find parking.
I call this the beach of girls stealing my hats. At least she looks good in it!
Patrick only got in a little bit of trouble for digging this hole so deep. A police officer came by. Apparently you can't dig a hole deeper than you are tall.
He recruited a couple other boys hanging out at the beach to help him dig the hole. Patrick always makes new friends at the beach.
It was a legit giant hole.
Obligatory ice cream at our favorite ice cream shop! We've been doing a better job at talking Juliet into dairy free alternatives at these places, she had a much happier tummy on this trip.
Nathan and I got in a cute dinner date at our favorite Hawaiian restaurant that evening.
I probably could have taken a picture of Nathan ... he was busy with the camera.
We went to Gayle's, our favorite Santa Cruz bakery. The danish was deemed superior to McLain's, which is high praise.
Bearclaw for Bradley.
Juliet ate an entire cinnamon roll, which was enormous. We were all very impressed.
Then we went to the playground near Diana and Bill's house for some hangout time.
Juliet is naughty.
We had our best beach time of the trip that afternoon, as you can tell by Juliet's delighted face. Also, she's stealing one of my hats again.
It was warm, not too crowded, and we were all well-rested. Everyone actually got in the water.
Patrick was really good at skipping stones, which I had informed him was impossible in the ocean.
Bradley made a little rock throne for himself by the water.
And the girls jumped in with Nathan over and over again.
Eleanor got a little cold and tired after a while. Please note my hat. I brought two hats on this trip which I thought was silly but it turned out it wasn't enough.
Guess how many children are in this picture? Three. No, I'm not kidding. The water was rather cold so once you got wet it felt really nice to crawl under a towel and be in the sun.
The biting picture was about when we decided it was time to go back to Diana and Bill's house.
Time to leave in the morning! Pictured with the giant truck which was the only rental car available for us for the week which could fit six people. It was something driving around in this thing, although it was cute having the older kids vie for the honor of sitting in the front between me and Nathan.
We only had to have one child write an apology note on this trip. I had assured Bill that my children liked chicken, rice, and pesto, but unfortunately Bill made his own pesto which was not the same as Costco pesto and Patrick made some comments about throwing up in his mouth. Patrick assures me he knows how to be polite now and Diana and Bill were delighted to get to keep this ridiculous apology note.
He's lucky he's cute.
We had some very tired kids when we got home. Juliet and Bradley both wanted lots of cuddles which would have been a lot sweeter if it wasn't about 95 degrees out when we landed.
And after we got home and got Callie and I tried to tweeze off her nipple/tick bite we went ahead and gave her a flea bath just to be on the safe side because she had definitely gotten a few bites. She was so sweet and Nathan is pretty amazing about getting in the bath with her.
An evening swim with kids who had surprisingly taken a week off from swimming because it turns out you don't really swim when you're at the beach.
Nathan is adorable with kids in the pool.
We had one rest day but then I had to pack to stay over for an overnight camp for Eleanor's Girl Scout troop. I almost had some extra luggage.
Juliet really really wanted to go. And it seems she fits perfectly in carryon luggage!
I got to spend my 40th birthday with Eleanor at her camp. It was so worth it! I went to McLain's with the boys and Juliet in the morning and Eleanor forgave me for going without her because I brought her some coffee cake to have as her breakfast the next morning.
Cute girls in the pool.
We had a really nice evening. The girls are so fun.
I might not be the most responsible chaperone. I got to supervise the food line and was trying to make sure the girls used tongs and forks to pick up their food and not just grab handfuls of things with their hands, so I told them they would go to Girl Scout jail if they used their hands at all. But then I thought that was a little intense so I informed them that the jail was on the padded mat in the corner of the room and we would build the jail with stools around it. Then the girls wanted to be in jail, so things sort of backfired. But everyone observed proper hygiene standards and then built a jail for fun at the end.
Eleanor got to make her own lemonade.
And we went on a night hike
Juliet sent me a cute goodnight video while I was gone.
And apparently sits around singing a death destruction and despair birthday song to herself because of Diana and Bill on our California trip.
The next morning I left to go home to recover and Eleanor had a full day of camp. Crate stacking!
More swimming. She got higher up the climbing wall than anyone else.
And I was the sole chaperone for Saturday, Eleanor's birthday and the final day of camp. This was great news for the girls because I told them I wasn't really there to be in charge, they just needed to handle their business and I was along for the ride. I handed off the schedule to a Girl Scout and followed them around and took pictures. They loved it and I loved it. I also cheerleaded when they were a bit nervous about the yoga activity at the end of the day. Everything was very nice and easy but Eleanor made sure to let everyone know that she could do a back bend. She's so fancy!
They also had an ice cream truck for the girls and it turns out I've been extremely cheap for no real reason, most of the stuff isn't too pricey.
Meanwhile, Juliet had softball!
And she got her trophy, the entire purpose and reason for her playing.
Nathan and I took Eleanor out for a birthday dinner on her actual birthday. We took her to Cactus Grill. It's a newer thing we're trying out, taking just one child out for something special with both parents on their birthday. We all really like it!
Free dessert!
Then we came back and opened presents. The kids were so excited to get to give Eleanor the presents they picked out for her.
And I had my official 40th birthday bash at Chicken n Pickle on Sunday the 23rd. We rented an indoor pickleball court for two hours and had friends come by and play a bit. It was easy and a lot of fun.
The Darnalls brought a puppy!
A bonus story that perhaps could have gone at the top: Bradley maybe kissed Stella while trying to kiss the puppy? Or maybe he just air kissed right by her ear. Regardless, he was trying to kiss the puppy while Stella was holding it and he missed and we all started cracking up except Bradley had no idea what was going on. After that when Bradley wanted to smooch on the puppy Stella just handed it over to him. She's so nice, and a very good sport.
We had a long Monday after that with nothing planned so the kids got to watch Hamilton. Eleanor had watched a few clips at school and was very interested. Only she and Patrick made it through the whole thing.
Bradley hung out on the stairs and watched interesting bits while Layla worked on cuddling him.
More kitty cuddles!
I finally got it on camera when Layla brought in one of her prizes for me.
From the pool you can often look up and see a kitty looking down at us.
Eleanor did a cooking summer camp with her friend Elise and had the best time ever! Bradley did a logic puzzles camp and Patrick did one with nail art. Eleanor was the only one to get her picture on the Blue Valley Facebook page though. Juliet is desperate to join in on the camp fun next summer, that will be the first year she can do the Blue Valley schools summer camps.
We got in a play date with her buddy Caroline on one of the camp days though.
And a shopping trip complete with a fancy fountain.
Callie has such schmoopy eyes when she wants you to love her.
She's such a cute, sweet doggy. I'm so glad she's ours.
We had perhaps our best family swim ever one night when I had the kids compete in a series of competitions. We did fanciest jump into the pool, fastest to swim across the length of the pool, furthest underwater swim, and then Eleanor suggested a treading water competition. It lasted 20 minutes until I called it and declared everyone a winner and then they still didn't want to stop because they're so darn competitive. It makes me so proud!
We did fit in some Juliet carrying by Nathan. Gosh the backyard is pretty in the evening.
This was the final day of Eleanor's camp and I made sure we took pictures of her adorable cupcakes before she was forced to share them with her siblings.
We had the neighbor girl Lilah over for a swim! A mermaid moment for the girls.
Juliet had a cavity filled! This one went great, no issues at all. The next week we had a different dentist and hygienist team and it was really rough on all involved. If we ever have to have Juliet have another cavity filled I'm making sure I'm going with the A team.
Then I tried to take Juliet out for some birthday blizzards in honor of Eleanor but she opted out in favor of staying with Charleigh. She came home from getting her cavities filled and ran across the street to see Charleigh and besides me going over to check on her a couple times I didn't see her again until dinner. At least the rest of us enjoyed our Blizzards!
Nathan and the boys are terrible and have trained Callie to beg for popcorn.
And here are some pictures of the birthday party I almost forgot. I was busy prepping for Eleanor's party in the afternoon and forgot that we were supposed to be at Caroline's party. Oops! At least we made it. We were just about an hour late. I was so embarrassed.
And Juliet's best buddy Abigail was there! Bonus!
That afternoon was Eleanor's big sleepover pool party with friends. She had Judy, Aria, Malia, Ava, and Faith come over.
They swam so much. And we were incredibly lucky, because it was warm but not too hot and the previous day had been stormy but the party day was nice and clear.
She was also lucky because Juliet had her last t-ball game during the party so she was out of the way for most of the time. Juliet would have crashed that party so hard.
Her friend Carmen was on the opposing team, which was extra fun. She came over and swam with Juliet for a bit after the game.
Meanwhile, the girls took some breaks to play ping pong and do Just Dance.
Judy's mom was lovely and took a bunch of pictures. Eleanor had blueberry muffins instead of birthday cake which was super cute. I made at least three different batches of muffins leading up to the party in order to perfect the recipe which was also a nice perk with the choice she made.
Tta and Jessica stayed and hung out with me for a while, which was very nice. Especially since they took way more photos than me. Much appreciated!
Singing Happy Birthday!
In the morning we traumatized all of Eleanor's friends by having them sing the Happy Birthday song Diana and Bill taught us. My kids love it so much.
After the sleepover we had a pretty mellow Sunday. Tired kids got to play video games and do a bit of swimming.
I love summer! The pool is so fantastic and I love all the fun things we get to do as a family. Here's a Juliet pool dance where she's chanting her initial to end this blog post.
Also, if you have a lot of time, here is the story Juliet and Eleanor wrote together while we were in California. Enjoy!
