Lazy Days of Summer? Not!

It seems that every minute is consumed with something!
Ever feel that way?

Logan has to be to Track by 8:30am,
which means leave house by 7:55 (in case of traffic).
Hang out at school til 10:30 - to avoid an extra hour of driving.
Rush him to Irvine for Geom class by 11.
Do a couple errands, go home
Take Krystin to Algebra at Capo at 1:25pm (ish)
Todd picks up Logan from Irvine at 1:45-2 (opposite direction)
Pick up Krystin from Capo at 4pm
Head to beach for Kc to practice surfing til 7ish
then other activities -
tonight is Cross Country meeting at 7pm...
So...
If you haven't heard from me much lately -
Blame it on the State of California!
You know, the no talking while driving thing...
2 more weeks and the summer classes will be over...
I CANNOT WAIT!

Here so you can feel like you are on our journey with us:

Just being silly

Shopping for the right board

Oh Yes!
And Kayla had Senior Pictures!
How can it be???
(I took pics on the sly of the session)

She even had some cute ones with the Lily-pup!

Feel like you were there?
Todd and I had fun watching our baby get her pics!


Also, they have July Cross Country (re)Tryouts too
To make it you have to run a 5k under 19mins 30 secs!

That is the coach leading the way in a warm up!

Logan was awesome!
-
Oh, and since we didn't know WHICH school the kids were going to be attending til the end of last week - I didn't have a chance to get the sports physical done ahead of time...
Tryouts were at 9am Monday Morning.
730am we were at Urgent care getting the form signed.

.
and to finish most every day
at the beach...

Ok. I need a NAP!

A week in Review

Just another busy week over here!

Krystin had a ophthalmologist appt, to rule out inflammatory disease process in her eyes, which can be associated with a positive ANA. Her eyes looks great! YAY for that! She also had an appointment with a podiatrist to get special insoles made for her shoes. Well, and then there was the ortho appointment with Logan - they both officially can wear their retainers at NIGHT only! Which means that during the day, and most importantly at meal times, there will be NO mouth accessories on our dining table. The first time in MANY years!!! Todd is thrilled, as I am sure the kids are too!

Logan is doing well in his Geometry class. It is only a 6 week class, and this week marks the half way point! Yay! That is exciting! Krystin is also doing well in her Algebra class. (:

Big News this week

Krystin's doctor's office FINALLY called us
with her blood work results..
and...
They said everything looks GREAT!
Even her ANA (autoimmune test that caused all the concern)
came back fine!
She has a follow up appointment with her Rhuematologist in a couple weeks, but currently we are thinking maybe it was just a really bad virus that caused her all of her issues.
She does seem SOOO much better lately!
THANK YOU GOD!

Other big news...

We have been waiting for over a month to find out if our children would be granted a boundary exception to continue attending the high school they were attending. We were told that boundary exceptions are hard to come by currently, because of the CA budget crisis (school districts are holding on to their students). Not knowing which school they are going to attend in the fall has been a bit frustrating, as they have summer training for sports and camps and you need to know which school they need to train with.
Well, finally, YESTERDAY, we received notice
that they were ALL granted boundary exceptions! YAY~~!!!

In case you are curious, we can see the 'new' high school from our house. It is literally walking distance, and is supposed to be a great school. So, why would we want to drive the 10 miles (5 of which are side streets) to the old school you might ask?
(to the tune of probably between 4-5 hours a day in the car?)

First, Kayla is going to be a Senior!

Second, Logan Loves his Cross Country team, and his coach loves him!

Third, Krystin has amazing friends and is excited about the programs offered!

... well, and stability for the kids is important too!

Finally, the new school's staff PISSED ME OFF!

The kids had told me that the new school had a reputation for being snotty, pretentious, and just not a positive culture (although very academically astute). Well, I decided we should give them a chance, as we live practically on their door step. I have to say, I have never dealt with such rude, unprofessional people at a school. I am NOT exaggerating.
Really rude, example - Krystin my strait A+, top of her class student wanted to find out how she could be placed into their honor's program (as she was supposed to be at the other school).
Counselor was NOT supportive, and I was told that maybe my daughter might get the opportunity to learn a new
"Life Lesson" that she doesn't always get what she wants?!
What?!
Seriously, what kind of life lesson is that?
Krystin actually got letters of recommendation from every teacher,
and has almost 100% in all of her classes (with a zero period),
and this counselor said that. ???
I think all things happen for a reason,
because after weeks of dealing with the rudeness at that school
that final comment convinced me that it was truly not the right culture for our children.
And...
Made me feel HAPPY to drive our children every day!

Needless to say, our children are SUPER excited!
They are sweet kids and so willing to adapt, but I could see in their faces the relief of being able to continue to attend the school they KNOW and already LOVE!

Kayla, Logan, Krystin -
Sorry for stressing you guys out!
I love you guys!

Anyhow, Kayla has Senior Pictures today!
I can't believe she is old enough for that?!?!

Have a Great Weekend!

Summmmmer!

Summer has found us!

We finally chased away the "June Gloom"
which, btw, I LOVED!
and have welcomed the 90+ weather!

Really, it makes us feel better about being blocked out from going to Disneyland, and being busy with classes and everything else.
Well, and it gives an excuse -
to Go to the BEACH! YAY!

We have been frequenting a different beach lately, T-Street in San Clemente. It is known for being an awesome place to Body Board and Surf. I still like Salt Creek MUCH better (no rocks)!
It was crazy we went there earlier in the week and people were being stung by Stingrays, and right where the shore was breaking (and TONS of people, kids included were playing in the water) you could see leopard sharks, only 2 feet long, and stingrays! It was so crazy. The lifeguard said just to 'shuffle' your feet when you go in and they will leave you alone. I decided I would just sit that day out, Kay agreed. Todd, Krystin, and Logan just hopped on their boards and swam over them! I don't know, there seems something wrong about 'knowingly' going into shark INFESTED waters... I mean if there were that many 'little' sharks at the shore, there had to be big ones out further - I would think.

There is a pier at T-street beach and yesterday they had a huge surf fair going on with competitions and booths. It was pretty awesome! We could only get Logan to get up early with us and check it out! Beautiful morning and so much fun!

What is Logan Looking at???


Teen Girl's Surf competition!

(Krystin - this can be you next year!)

Logan enjoyed the competition!


We went home and grabbed Krystin, so she could play in the water. After the shark and stingray sighting the previous time, Kay decided to pass!

Todd and Krystin had a blast!


---

Monsoon in California???
I don't remember ever having an afternoon monsoon growing up in So. Cal, but last week - 95 degrees and sure enough a small storm blew in!

It was awesome!

Pouring rain, with sunshine!

Kids had to go out and dance it!

It was kind of like being back in AZ (minus the dust).

---

Quick update on Krystin...

She seems to be feeling much better!
She had some more blood work done last week, we should have results soon.
She also went to the orthopedist to have custom soles made.
Awesome doctor!

I will update when I find out more about blood work, but currently she has been feeling pretty good! Yay for that!

Bonus: Our three stooges

These little turkeys think they are our new alarm clocks!
They didn't get the - it is SUMMER Memo
(and yes they do the alarm sound perfectly)
Where is the snooze button on them???

the 4th & Girls Camp

The last week has flown by!

Logan started his Geometry class at one the local Junior Colleges. It is only a 6 week class for an entire year of Geometry, so it is pretty intensive! He earned an "A" on his first test - YAY!

It was also the 4th last week!
We celebrated at home together as a family, while Daddy bbq'd.
What could be better?



Well, Disney's fireworks show!
We are on block out, so we had to sit outside the gates to watch the show.

Minnie wanted to come too!
(couldn't get a pic with Krystin NOT blinking)

It was wonderful!

Oh, and we had the Costco Red Velvet Cream Cheese cake.
Everyone seemed to like it, not my thing though.
Where's the chocolate?

Then I was able to attend Girls Camp with Krystin!
I wasn't able to stay in the same cabin,
but I was able to do lots of fun stuff with her!

Like Hiking

Flag ceremonies - morning and night

archery, she's pretty good!

listen to speakers and watch skits

this was a fraction of the girls that attended!

There were also MANY cool crafts!
and swimming...

The girls seemed to love to be on stage!

There were 19 cabins
with about 10 girls each

Krystin's cabin was nice!

Aside from the MANY bugs, lots of dust,
and the fact that it was HOT and humid
(while it was freezing and cloudy at home - so not fair),
the girls had a blast!

The cabins were separated into Baseball teams
(I figured my Dad would approve of that!)

My cabin was the Tigers,
so I brought my girls Tiger print bandanas

I will have to post our team pics later,
after I scan them in.

Krystin and a couple of her teammates.
She was on the Braves!
She had an AWESOME team and team leaders!

There wasn't much sleep during the entire time we were at camp, but I really enjoyed spending time with Krystin at camp! I still feel a little 'Camp-lagged'...
Oh, and How do I love my own shower, so much!
Even though, I did take 2 showers a day out there, which Krystin told me was just wrong. Her cabin made a pack to not shower at all the entire time - euwww.
Luckily, girls don't sweat or stink! PHEW!

Today was back to the grind again.
Boy do I need to catch up on my laundry and cleaning around here.