Austin Mahone and The Vamps Concert With Fifths Harmony...

The concert that made Liliana's life complete!

Trouble Still

This child is for sure part monkey!

Sneaking Food...

Of all food...she snuck a piece of okra off the stove!  Silly kid!

Family Pictures 2014...

We finally got around to taking some family pictures.  The last ones we had done were in November of 2013.  The kids have all grown so much it was time for new ones.  I knew the little ones weren't going to be very cooperative so the challenge was finding a photographer that was good but wouldn't cost a fortune incase the kids acted up.  As predicted, the little ones only lasted 25 minutes before having meltdown after meltdown making finishing the hour long session impossible.  Thankfully I picked the most easy going photographer that not only managed to get a decent amount of photos but gave me a break on the pricing (which I didn't expect) because we didn't shoot the entire hour booked.  Considering it was a good 95 degrees out, dinnertime, and too many people under the age of  5 to photograph I think she did a great job...

Canning...

Canning makes my pantry more prepared for those lazy dinner meals and also for easy prepping as I'm not last minute thawing food from the freezer!  Today I tackled chicken broth, vegetable broth, and a huge batch of my pasta sauce.

While The Big Kids Are At School...

While the older kids are at school and Maia naps...Rosalia got a little princess video gaming in.  Mocha joined her.

"Mommy This Fits Me?"

Yes that's a bra she's holding up to her chest at the store.  She's so funny!

First Day Of School 2014...

Yes, I know it's a little early for a school year to be starting but with our recent move and change in school districts we now attend a "year around" school.  We will enjoy 2 weeks off during Fall Break (October), 2 weeks off during Winter Break, 2 weeks off during Spring Break (March), and then 6 weeks off during the summer.  The kids were excited and nervous.  They seemed happy with their teachers on meet the teacher night.  They seemed at peace with all the change about to occur.  The first day of school came and went.  They all raved about their new school.  They all were happy to have made friends.  Dillon was most excited to give me my "parent homework", Ava was excited to tell me her supplies were put in a class pile and that she now needed more supplies because hers were given to someone else (ended up not being correct but interesting how she was so confused), Garrison LOVED lunch and the "park", and Liliana was anxious to start her first homework assignment... taking a literary selfie.  Oh the things these junior high teachers are incorporating to keep the teens interested in learning.  This year Liliana is in 8th grade, Dillon 5th, Ava 3rd, Garrison Kindergarten, and Rosalia preschool (which doesn't start a couple more weeks).

Kool Aid Playdoh...

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 TBS vegetable oil

1 packet of kool aid

Mix everything in a pan, cool a bit, knead, and store air tight.

Palm Springs Kid Free Outings...

While in Palm Springs we knew many recommend going on the Air Tramway and viewing Palm Springs from over 8,000 feet in elevation.  We also knew of a few hot spots to make sure we ate at.  We didn't know that the weekend we visited was also the weekend of the Short Film Festival.  Although Palm Springs isn't all that big, there was no shortage of places to see, things to do, or places to eat great food.
We checked in on Wednesday at our small private Villa and then headed out to dinner at LuLu's California Bistro.  Luckily we ate early because as we finished it was starting to get busy.  We headed to the local grocery store with plans to buy a few grocery items so that we could stay in and cook for ourselves the following day.  We had couples massages booked in the afternoon and figured all of Thursday we would stay in and just relax.  We managed to watch all of season 1 of Game of Thrones and started some of season 2.  We enjoyed a tasty bacon, egg, and sweet potato hash for breakfast.  We made blackened Cajun grilled salmon for lunch, and decided to go out for dinner eating at a pretty good pizza joint (Bill's Pizza).  Friday we explored the gorgeous views of Palm Springs thanks to the Air Tramway.  Before heading up to the Tramway, we grabbed a huge bite to eat at Pinocchio's for breakfast.  Huge doesn't even begin to describe the size of my breakfast omelet.  Next we ventured over to the Tramway.  The views were truly amazing.  I'll admit I wasn't a huge fan of the Tramway.  The going up wasn't as bad but the going down definitely bothered me a bit.  Ironically it was the opposite for Marc.
We decided to go back to the hotel and use up some of the food we had bought at the grocery store.  Saturday we made breakfast ourselves to again use up ingredients we had bought.  We also hung out in our room waiting for our new room to be ready.  We stayed in Villa 7 but then for the final night were transferred to Villa 4.  At first, when booking the trip I wasn't sure how I felt about having to move rooms but the reviews for each Villa were so amazing that it seemed like a win win to be able to stay in multiple villas for the experience.  Villa 7 was amazing but so was Villa 4.  If we go back I will guarantee we will try out another Villa just to say we stayed in another one for the experience.  They are all equally great!  We enjoyed lunch in our Villa and watched the rest of season 2 and season 3 of Game of Thrones.  Dinner we went out to Fisherman's Market and Grill.  While in Palm Springs there wasn't a single bad dish of food we tried.  One friend had said "Make sure you go to Sherman's Deli before leaving Palm Springs".  We planned to get up somewhat early so we could get home by mid afternoon.  Marc's parents were ready for us to be home.  Food was on low supply with all that we had made over the past few days.  We decided Sherman's Deli would be the perfect spot as we left Palm Springs.  Oh the choices.  It was overwhelming.  Many of the choices were super sized.  The breakfast we ordered to go was ok but the desserts we ordered were to die for.  This trip was so memorable for so many reasons... the quality kid free time together, the adventures exploring Palm Springs, the food (we made and food made at all the different restaurants), catching up on a tv series we never found time for over the last year we've owned the series, and the conversations that weren't geared towards the kids or money or any other normal day to day topics.