The Tech Museum

Back from vacation.  This was the most fun we've had in a long time, and it was right in my own hometown.  Glenn needed to be in San Jose for 2 weeks so the kids & I decided to come along.  After all, there is nothing they love more than staying in a hotel.

Day 1 was spent traveling.  Day 2 swimming at Shauna Klippel & Co. The Tech Museum was at the top of Emry's list so it became Day 3.  

In this picture, the 3 Wallwork kids, 5 out of Shauna's 6 children, my nephew and Shauna's niece.  Does taking 10 children to a museum qualify as vacation?

Ethan typed in his name and a robot arm grabs block letters to spell it out.  This was a popular attraction.

 Gwyneth Klippel and Lila Wallwork walking in downtown San Jose.

A child took this picture.  A child who was in a hurry to go explore and obviously didn't care about getting a focused picture.

I try my best to look good in photos with Shauna.  She's a hard one to compete with as the camera loves her and she pretty much looks like a supermodel with the most amazing smile in every picture.  If I was smart I would have chosen a best friend who wasn't so good looking.

  Kalen Klippel and Ethan create a roller coaster before trying out their completed project in the simulator.

Cisco Systems.  Sponsor of the San Jose Tech Museum, and our vacation =)

 The cool thing to do in Silicon Valley is to take a photo with a bunch of microchips.  (Full disclosure:  I am not sure what microchips are and if this is even them.  I lived for 30 years in San Jose and I understand I am a disgrace to this city.  I am sure they are happy I am gone.)

 Apparently this is Ethan's idea of a good picture.  Lila getting bored with us taking so long to eat our lunch.

Kalen Klippel and Emry Wallwork.  I make sure to take plenty of pictures of these 2 together because they have so much in common, are cute, and you know........to have on hand if needs be for a future wedding.  

 Holding the newest addition to the Klippel family, baby Summer.

 After the Tech Museum I had planned on having dinner with Shauna and her family but there was a little bit of drama with my kids so I had to pack em' up and go back to the hotel.  Emry and I got Subway and the 2 little one's  shared a burger, fries and a shake at In n' Out.  The classy family we are we not only brought our Subway's to In n' Out, but we were dressed in a mix of clothes, bathing suits and pajamas. 

 Not cooking and going home where a maid has cleaned everything up.  That's a real vacation.

And We're Off.......

 The kids and I will be gone for a few weeks visiting friends and family.

Seeing as I have no laptop, cellphone or any idea of what exactly wi-fi is, it's a pretty safe assumption that I won't be blogging.  But we will be having lots of fun and come home with tons of good stories.  


Happy Summer Everyone.

Dear Children........

I am a wonderful mother and have the pictures to prove it.

Sleepovers entail way more than just having friends spend the night.  Necessary in our household is the need to......

     *Trick out every bed into some sort of  fort
     *Play tag until 10 pm
     *Get up as early as possible so as not to lose a second of play time
     *Open up the front and back door and run around & around the house ringing the doorbell as often as possible with the dogs trailing behind.
     *Be loud enough so the whole neighborhood can feel included
     *Leave socks, wrappers, legos, stuffed animals, bits of food & any other random tidbits all throughout the house

My day will obviously include lots of cleaning. 

For the record, this is the 3rd sleepover in the past 5 days.  I might be on my way to sainthood ........... other than the fact that I pooled all the remaining butter from our lobster dipping last night and used it in the kids waffles this morning.

Oops.

15 Years

15 years ago today Glenn and I were married.

June 7, 1996.  I was 22, Glenn 23.  So Young!!!  What were we thinking?  What most young kids think (because really, we were kids).  We are smart.  We know what we're doing.  We're ready.  We are invincible.  And mostly, we are more in love than two people have ever been in love.


Glenn and I met when we were 12.  At Aloha Roller Rink.  Our church was having an activity and he asked me to skate with him.  I gave him my phone number.  He called once when I wasn't there and then did what most 12 year olds would do, he never called again.


I saw Glenn throughout the years and had quite a  crush on him.  I would see him at church sponsored activities and at youth dances.  He was always with a pretty girl.  I remember one particular time my friend and I were at a table close to him and a girl.  My friend knocked down our whole table and I literally wanted to die.  He looked over and smiled. 


He had girlfriends, I had boyfriends.  He left the country, I left the states.  He went one way, I went the other.  Our paths just never seemed to cross. 


Then upon returning from Hawaii I saw him at a church dance.  We caught up on the past 10 years.  Six months later we were engaged, and six more married.

Life got busy and the next thing we know we turn around and 3 blond headed children are saying  we're their mom and dad.


We've had a lot of fun and worked hard.  We've grown and changed.  Sometimes I still go in one direction with Glenn going in another.  But I know there is nothing he wouldn't do for me.  Sometimes it takes my breath away when I think about making the biggest decision of my life at 22. 

Happy Anniversary to the one I can't live without. 

Blue

After spending 5 hours at the pool on Thursday, I decided Friday needed to be a little more low key (and shaded).  But only after stocking up on some Temecula blueberries.

Lila is such a good mommy and slathered her baby with sunblock

 No day would be complete without  some good old fashioned fighting between cousins.

When we got home Kylee (13), Emry (10), and Lila (8) biked down to Rite Aid for some ice cream.  They had to go through a major intersection, but I thought they were up for it.  They felt oh so cool and independent and it made me happy that they rose to the challenge.  It can be hard to let go and trust kids but they can only learn by doing.  Lila barely missed knocking down an elderly lady in front of the grocery store, but other than that, they did great.


They were on such a roll that when Jeannette and I took the little ones (my Ethan and her Nathan & Kiera) to the library, we let them bike to the pool on their own.


When I got home (Ethan went with Nathan to play) I celebrated summer and the rare quiet house with this.  Greek yogurt, mangoes, fresh blueberries and homemade granola.

Summer is here......and it tastes Great!!!!

Summer Started

What else would we do on the first day of Summer?

Melanie (from Utah), Nettie, Ryan, Jared, and Glenn striking a pose of course.

I have the palest child on earth and have been forced to use zinc as a normal sunblock.  

                                                                                         

Between 5 couples we had 20 kids, and they all made it home safely.  And if that wasn't enough fun my family met up with some friends and spent the night camping!!!!!  Camping is my ultimate least favorite thing to do in the world, but the kids had a blast.

And it's only just begun!