The Ultimate Slip and Slide Party

We very happily spend much of weekends at birthday parties. Two week's ago was Nyda's 3rd birthday party. Mark and Marcelle, Nyda's parents, thrilled the birthday crowd with an incredible homemade backyard slip and slide. The kids started calmly, but soon graduated from going down on their behinds to running and throwing themselves down headfirst. The grade was so steep that parents had to serve as catchers at the bottom to make sure that no one's head went through the fence at the bottom. Things go really serious when the kids started taking rafts down the slip and slide. As if that was not enough, the party also included a fantastic treasure hunt. That's our beloved friend Tatum with Sadie at the bottom, and Tatum and her little sister Hazel on the raft. If you have to celebrate a birthday outside in triple digit temperatures, this is the way to go.

Go Fly A Kite

We spent Sunday afternoon celebrating Jack and Sadie's friend Juniper's birthday and flying kites. It was the kids' first time flying kites and they loved every minute of it. It helped that we were at the Silver Lake Meadow, AKA the magic kite flying place. Our $5.99 kites were airborne in a matter of seconds. Jack would not let anyone touch his kite for more than an hour, but he finally gave in when it was time for cupcakes. As a mother of twins I am always learning new skills, like how to fly two kites simultaneously.

Frequent Fliers

These are oldies, but goodies. We were traveling so much last month I did not get a chance to post these photos of Jack and Sadie in the cockpit of one of our flights. The pilots on our flight from LA to Phili invited Jack and Sadie up to the cockpit. Jack was ready to fly the plane. He tested as many pedals, joy sticks, and buttons as he could before we all got nervous and decided that we belonged back in coach.

Point Mugu

Sadie and Jack went camping for the first time this weekend! We had to make the reservation 6 months in advance, which explains the bad timing, but we couldn't resist going ahead and camping out for a couple of nights. Point Mugu is on the Pacific, just north of Malibu, about an hour and half from our house. The close proximity reduced the pressure and the nearby beach ensured entertainment during the day. Our campsite was in Sycamore Grove, across the street from the beach, in a beautiful wooded canyon. There was an amazing .7 mile hike from the campsite to the top of the bluffs overlooking the water. Sadie never quite made it, but Jack hiked it one day with me and the next morning with J. The kids' favorite activity was roasting marshmallows, but I am starting to worry about the power of my genes as neither of them were interested in smokes. I made up for the lack of interest by eating enough smokes for the whole family. The trip was definitely a success and will hopefully lead to more trips next summer!

Key West

We were gone so much of July that it has been impossible to keep up with the blog. Our most extended trip was too Key West to visit Grammy and Papa. As you can see, we spent most of our vacation in the water. Both Jack and Sadie are swimming without aids now. Sadie is in a life preserver above because we were on a dolphin-watching and snorkeling excursion. Between the beach and the pool we managed to spend about 50% of our time in the water. When the kids were not swimming we had lots of parties with Grammy and Papa. Balloons and cake were in abundance!