California trip

Last weekend the kids & I go to go home for Laura's wedding. Rick's boss is an evil Nazi so he couldn't get any time off. Lucky for me, my wonderful mother-in-law Evlyn & Rick's sister Jaime came along for the ride & to help me with the kids.
The trip was way too short, every time I think I'm getting homesick, I end up going home & then missing it even more.

Guess where we started out the weekend.... about 10 minutes after we got into Redding Friday night!!!

Brian caught the garter at Laura & Matt's reception
(wedding pics will be the next post)

Uncle Todd & Olivia

Brian, Livvy, Aiden, Erin, Trevor, Todd @ the reception

After church on Sunday with Grandma & Grandpa Nordstrom


Re-fueling at Grandma's.... we talked Kim into ditching church after Sacrament since we were leaving to see the Russell & Davis side for the remainder of the weekend.

Erin & Kim

Aunt Sarah & Aiden

The Russell's.... Seth was in LA, we'll airbrush him into the middle

The ladies

The guys

Trevor gnawing on Uncle Brian....

Aiden gnawing on Uncle Brian....

I miss my sister so very much, it'd been 4 years since we'd seen each other. Thanks for making the drive up from San Francisco, Bear.

Our clan, minus Seth & Rick

The kids got a kick out of my George Washington hair at the pool...

Isn't his smile just the cutest thing?

just playin' beach ball...

Uncle Brian teaching Trevor "the wave"... we all ganged up on Sarah later on. It was great

Uncle Todd & Olivia..... he's absolutely infatuated with her. She kept having him dunk them underwater over & over & over

Our pool-side crowd

The kids just loved staying at Aunt Crista's house, thanks for putting us up & all the fun times

Nothing like a quick game of football after a day of swimming & pizza

Olivia said she was cold so Sarah gave her one of her sweaters... she wore it the rest of the night.
(What was I thinking, not packing a sweater for my children.... Redding in August? Sheesh...it was 95 for Pete's sake, which is technically pretty cool)

Uncle Todd & Aiden getting tuckered out at the end of the day

Babies are so much fun

Aiden really liked his uncles, he chewed on them all weekend

That look is good on you Sarah.....

Olivia was literally drop-dead tired by the end of Sunday night...

Trevor's First Day of Kindergarten!

Seriously???
Where have the last 5 years went? Trevor started Kindergarten last Thursday.... which means that I had an emotional breakdown on the floor of my closet with my mom on the phone Wednesday night (thanks for the pep-talk).
He LOVED it, our next door neighbor is in his class. They were actually sitting next to each other but that only lasted 2 days... too much talking.
Shocker.

Pointing out his name outside the classroom.

His Birthday is the first of the year.

His desk....

The obligatory outside-the-house-first-day-of-school picture. Awww....

Leaving with his teacher to pick up the other kids from the playground.

Goodbye Kitty Tonks

Crap.
Apparently we were wrong about the last post.... unfortunately that also means that the kids were right & that Tonks is dead.
Rick found her in the field behind our house tonight. They've been mowing & bailing the hay (hence all the mice) & she git hit by a combine.

Sorry little Kitty Tonks, we'll miss you.
Olivia can't stop crying.

Here's a few of her finer moments:

Cat & mouse(s)

Every parent of a child with a pet worries about the day that they are going to come home & find that their pet is dead. Devastation & years of counseling will invariably follow, right?

Not in the Davis home.

I came home from work today & the older kids were sitting out on the back porch coloring while Rick & Aiden were napping upstairs.
They casually glanced up at me & here's how the conversation went from there:

Them: We put the rats in their home, Mom. (& point to the potted plants. I take a gander & sure enough, there's a little dead mouse)
Me: Did you pick it up?!?
Them: Yeah, there were 3 of them (still coloring).
Me: You touched it? Go inside & wash your hands!
(a few minutes later, back outside)
Me: What? Wait, there's only 1....
Them: Nope, there's 3.... Yeah, & Tonks got hit by a tractor, she's out on the dirt.
Olivia: (still coloring) Yeah, she's dead
Me: WHAT?!? Does your dad know this?
Them: Yeah
(I run upstairs laughing & not too sure of the truth, wake Rick up & ask him if our cat got hit by a tractor & is dead... he tells me no)
Me: You guys, the cat is not dead & there is only 1 mouse here.
Them: No, there's 3
Me: Ok, maybe there's 2 (one in each flower pot)
(I proceed to teach my kids math with dead mice... 1+1 = 2)
Olivia: Nope, there's one more here, it's face got eaten off.... (she picks up the top mouse to reveal the half-eaten one below)
Me: Olivia! Go wash your hands!
Olivia: I just did!
Me: ... yeah, & then you picked up a dead mouse again!
Me: Tonks! Kitty kitty kitty kitty! (no answer)
Trevor: (looks up from coloring) She's dead..... we need to get another cat.

(Edited 8/18: Turns out that they were right, they had been upstairs looking out the window & saw it. Poor kitty, I'm so sorry kids.)

WARNING:
Graphic images, not suitable for weak stomachs
(or Evlyn)

Darn mosquitoes!

Poor Trevor got eaten alive the other night.....

Picture time!

Aiden is smiling & cooing all the time lately, we just love it.
Why on Earth I thought that meant he'd be happy when we took him in for his newborn & Mommy/baby pictures yesterday, I don't really know.
He started out asleep, turned mildly grumpy, & by the end was crying. We didn't get any "smiley happy baby" pictures but we still did manage to get some good ones.
Enjoy.

If any family members are interested in viewing all the pics from the sitting or want to purchase some of the pictures just click here & enter my name, "Erin Davis" when it asks for Guest Name.