The Cat and the Hat

Miss Natalie

Our time with Miss Natalie is almost over.  Natalie has been Haidyn's speech therapist since April.  Haidyn has come so far and will soon be graduating and moving on to continue her speech improvements through our school district.  It has been such a joy to watch Natalie work with Haidyn - she is patient, loving, encouraging and highly professional.  Our family will miss you Miss Nat, you have played such an amazing role in Haidyn's development- THANK YOU!

The BIG FOUR-0

He made it!  Ryan survived turning 40!  Hooray!  I have been secretly planning his 40th getaway trip for quite sometime.  It couldn't have come at a better time for us.  As some of you may know, Ryan was recently given a final employment date of December 31st - he was laid off.  It has been an emotionally draining past couple of weeks so this trip was even more special.  Saturday we flew out to Palm Springs for 5 days of relaxation and pampering.  It was a great trip once we got through day #1.  Unfortunately, our first night there we got food poisoning - we thought we were dying.  It's not fun being sick with only one bathroom.  But we pulled through and had so much fun the rest of our trip.  On his actual birthday (Tuesday, September 16th)  I had a convertible delivered to our hotel for the day.  Ryan was so ecstatic!  It was the highlight of the trip for him!  I, of course enjoyed the pool and our spa day.  We had an 80 minute couple's massage - it was heavenly!  Once we were feeling better, we enjoyed some great dinners.  We highly recommend Bing Crosby's and Le St. Germain Restaurant ~ spectacular!!!  

The Car (2008 Audi A4 Convertible)

Heading off to Ryan's birthday dinner @ Le St. Germain

"I wish to be younger."

Cruisin' in the desert...

Lunch in downtown Palm Springs (9-16-2008)

Ahhhh......the spa day......ZZZZZzzzzzz

Oh, did I mention the waterpark at our resort?  Here's Ryan...

Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa (our home for 5 whole days)

One of the many pools...

Bing Crosby's Restaurant (best meal we ate the entire trip!)

My sexy 40 year old husband...

Us...

Room service - Ry's birthday breakfast

Our room #411

Happy Birthday Honey!

Too busy to blog...

Life is so fast right now!  I haven't a second to spare.  You can follow what's new with Haidyn on my daycare blog.  (Click here)

We'll settle into our new routine soon and I'll be back to blogging - maybe.  

They're Off!

Today was the first day of school.  They were both so excited and ready to go bright and early. We had a family meeting last night to remind them of our morning routine and go over what was expected of them.  Here's our plan:

Ashlee

1. Don't get out of bed until 7:00

2. Get dressed 

3. Make your bed

4. Feed the dog

5. Eat breakfast

6. Brush your teeth and hair

7. Get your backpack and lunch

8. Get in the car by 8:40

9. No fighting

Nolan

1. Don't get out of bed until 7:00

2. Get dressed

3. Make your bed

4. Feed the cat

5. Eat breakfast

6. Brush your teeth (no hair to brush - his idea)

7. Get your backpack and lunch

8. Get in the car by 8:40

9. No fighting

Day ONE was a huge success!  Everyone was dressed and fed and happy!  I even had time to snap a few pictures.  

Nolan (2nd grade) and Ashlee (4th grade)

Awesome job Ashlee and Nolan!  Hope you're having a great first day back at school!  See you at the bus stop - we love you!

(Mom, Dad & Haidyn)

Last Weekend...

The last weekend of summer!  My parents came with us to take the kids miniature golfing.  Again, it was hot.  

The girls taking a break to plan their strategy.

Nolan couldn't decide - left or right?  Mostly he was trying to drive the ball rather than putt it.

But once he figured it out, he got  a HOLE IN ONE!

Ashlee was patient - taking her time to look cute.

Haidyn's golfing abilities are still a work in progress.  Mostly she attacked the ball with the club.  Getting mad at the ball for not moving.

Until....she figured out that it was easier to just put the ball in the hole - with her hand of course.

Here's Papa Larry in quite the predicament.

After a hot day golfing it was only fitting to sit down and enjoy some blue raspberry ICEEs.  Yum Yum!

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT SUMMER!  WE SURE DID!

Camp

I'm a a little behind on my posts but now that summer is officially over for the kids tomorrow - Whoo hoo!  (Oh wow, did I just say that? I meant, how sad - I shall miss them dearly.)  I decided it time to add the final summer posts.  So, here is our ever so fun trip to Lake Mendocino.  We took the kids camping for 4 days.  It was fun although by day 4 we were ready to head home - back to hot water and electricity.  My sister, Tammi and her family joined us on day two and that made  it even more enjoyable.  Despite the killer heat and the lingering smoke from nearby wild fires, the kids had a blast! We decided in the near future that there will be no more camping at the lake without a boat - it's an essential.  (so anyone reading this who has a boat - we would love to have you over for dinner and a game night) hee hee

Sean, Tammi, Kaihla, Haidyn, Kimberly, Ryan, Shad, Ashlee & Nolan

Us

Ashlee...

Nolan...

Kaihla...

Haidyn...

Shad...

Makin' S'mores...

________________________________

Oh, and let's not forget Max, our newest addition to the family.  Caught by Uncle Sean at Lake Mendo.  We brought him home and he is now Nolan's new pet...

A Gym Swim - (or not)

It was a nice night so we decided to go for a swim at our gym.  We were disappointed when we got there and the pool was closed - earlier in the day they found a "floater".  Yuck!  But we decided to stay and play in the water park area.  I brought along my camera and snapped a few before I was told to put the camera away by security.  I wasn't aware cameras weren't aloud at the pool but once I thought about it I was in favor of the rule.  I wouldn't want just anyone snapping pics of my kids in their suits.  So enjoy the few that I got.

My boys

This is such a rare shot for me to have captured - Nolan hates the camera.  But isn't he handsome?

Miss personality!

Ashlee - "Weeee!"

I don't think I'll ever understand why Ry calls Haidyn, Hai-a-lot.  I think it somehow relates to the CareBears and the land of Care-a-lot???  So far, she doesn't seem to mind though.