San Diego Family Vacation

So, we just got back from our family vacation to San Diego, and the kids had a tremendous time!!! It is going to take me a few blog posts to get through it all... so be patient. Plus, I got sick the second half of the trip and I am still not 100% yet, so again.......be patient. (I am used to being (a) patient!he he)

We went to San Diego from June 8th thru June 13th and when we got there the first day, it was already dark, and very cold.....

 But did the kids care?!   Nope, they went straight into the freezing surf.

 The next morning, we started early. It was cloudy and cold most of the time on the trip, but the kids didn't ever seem to notice.  This picture is Will trying to figure out the boogie board...

 Sarah loved boogey boarding, even though she looks like she is screaming. Those are shouts of joy!

  Morgan took a candid of me at the beach. I am the chicken in the sweatshirt!

 Lund rented a surfboard with his own money....and we will show you the surfing pictures on the next blog....see...patience! he he

 We also had tons of fun looking in the tidepools when the waves were far away.

Now you have to wait for the next installment......
 Just to give you a glimpse......there will be dolphins, surfboards, sand, starfish, and even sunshine....yes, sunshine folks !
 When I am at the Mayo clinic for my four-hour chemo tomorrow, I will try to catch up on some more blogs.

Bailing to Bagdad...

Every once in a while we get to accompany Morgan to Bagdad for a work trip and the kids LOVE it! They love to see our old house (we even stayed the night there which was a combination of awesome and weird), and they especially LOVE to see the people there that we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

Thank you Pacheco's for hosting all 6 of us with a smile on your faces!!

 While the menfolk were at work, we got together with a bunch of friends at the Bagdad park and had a picnic lunch. These cute girls were hanging out in the giant willow tree. Tori, Cassidy, and EmmaLee.

 These monkeys were hanging all over the "yellow death" park toy. Landon, Andrew, Will, and Jazzlyn.

..And my, how Eric has grown!

 
 The Hulse twins and their little brother up above.

The baseball boys!! Connor, Lund, Taylor, and Canyon.

 
 And look at this tree monkey!

 And these boys were racing on their reliable horses... Will, Andrew and Camden.

 Crazy group: Brody, Canyon, Wyatt, Stevie, Sarah, and Haylee

 I love this picture because it shows what Bagdad really looks like. A park and baseball field right next to the wide open desert.  Oh, and Connor and Lund are pretty awesome too!

 Then we headed to the Bagdad pool. And these two are always trouble together. Hannah and Will

  Friendly faces: Stevie, Delany and Sarah.

Oh boy, these two had MANY adventures together before we moved. Wyatt and Sarah!

It is always great to see friendly faces and get a break from the heat. We sure do love Bagdad!

Wahoo summer is here.... Wait, who are are these chores for?!!

The kids just finished the school year and they were sooooooo excited! The first day of summer we celebrated...I let the kids invite one friend over and we ate McDonalds chicken nuggets and then went swimming and had fun on a surfing simulator we love at the nearest junior high pool. Then we rented some movies and hung out. Pretty much it was pure heaven for the kids....

 
 
 
 Oh, yea. the day was great. But this is what they woke up to the next day....

 Each of those notebooks contain their "New Summer Chores" and the charts are for the library reading program. And each day I write the schedule on the blackboard. Oh baby, summer is here....

And here are the next three months of our life. We will be pretty busy with girls camp, boy scout camps, cancer camp for my kiddos, and of course chemo twice a week at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. So we will be really busy and all the grandmas might get tired too. Happy summer to all!!!!!

Diamondbacks game to cap off Memorial Day...

Morgan had some tickets to the Diamondbacks game on Monday night. I haven't been to a game in a while because I have just been too busy, or not feeling up to it. I decided to go with them. And I was truly amazed at how close the seats were. In fact, I was a bit nervous that a foul-tip might knock our heads clean off. Never fear, a couple sat in the row in front of us, the only row it front of us seperating us from the field, so it was their heads at stake.

 I was having "lens-envy!".

 See how patriotic bobble head Randy Johnson is?

These are the crazies that sat next to me! I know what your thinkin' but their assigned seats just happened to be next to mine! What can you do???!!

 Snuggle up with them, I guess!!!!

 Lund wanted to snap a few pictures too.... so he did the two pitching pictures. Pretty good for a 10-year-old!

Oh and this is what we took to the game...... our new Nissan Titan truck!!! Our huge van is gone... a tear! (Not really). It was hard to drive around the valley and even harder/close to impossible to park in the hospital parking garages. Will says that his favorite color is now red!!!

Memorial Day Re-cap...

 We started our patriotic day with a new patriotic flag on the house.

 Then, in Johnson tradition, we walked to breakfast. (Correction: Will and I drove there... so we cheated.). We ate at Bruegger's Bagels and it was yummy!

 Will was very patriotic....starring at the neighbors flag for about 15 minutes straight. No matter that we had a flag on our house around the corner... he preferred the pole kind.

 Can you find Waldo?

 Will performed a few tricks for  us before his dad decided that he was ready for two wheel riding sans the training wheels.

 I sat outside with the ER on speed dial, as his dad guided him through his first ride...

  I guess sometimes in life we have to let go and see what happens...

  Even if this is the end result..

 But usually it all works out o.k. Will was riding like a champ in a few minutes flat. I was astonished!

 And, while Morgan headed out to a car dealer (that story later), the boys and I went swimming. The girls were playing with friends.

 There were snorkles....

 And slam dunks....

 And dolphins carrying Lund around the pool....... So basically, a lot of fun!

Then if that wasn't enough, the boys spent the afternoon on the trampoline throwing water balloons at me and Will. I would say it was a successful holiday. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Memorial Day, called.... Memorial Night!