Day of Scavenger Hunts

The school year is JUST around the corner. Yesterday, we picked up all of our curriculum for the school year and realized that we had just 11 days until we began to work through it all. We are supposed to begin on August 24th, but we will be on vacation that week! So, the boys (responsible as they are) have decided to start a week early so that we can enjoy our week away and not have to catch up when we get home.

With all of this in mind, we decided to take advantage of our day. It began with a short drive downtown to the Chamber of Commerce where we picked up a map and a list of the murals found in Chico. After looking at the list, we decided to stick to the downtown area so that we could walk to them all. Keep in mind...the following murals are not ALL of the murals in downtown Chico (only a small handful of them). Wow!

#1 - Phoenix (on the side of Jon and Bon's)
#2 - John and Annie Bidwell (off of 2nd Street)
A was sad that John's face was covered by the tree.


#3 - Academe (on the side of Taylor Hall at Chico State)

#4 - Chico Roller Flouring Mills (we think) off of Salem

Z loved how the trees in the mural were identical to the actual

trees next to the mural!

#5 - Lyon's Books mural (not on the list, but Z thought that it should be)

#6 - Electric Rail Car (City Plaza)

#7 - #60 Electric Rail Car (also in City Plaza)

The people sitting in front of the mural thought that we were crazy!

(If you click on this picture you can see the hilarious look Little B has on her face!)

#8 - Pony Express (on the side of the downtown post office)

We could not believe how many murals there were! As we drove away from downtown Chico we saw many more! Z thought that we could go back another time and add to our list! :) I agree!

Our next adventure was at the Dollar Store. I borrowed this idea from a fellow teacher/mom so I cannot take credit for inventing it. The kids had fun anyway! We pulled up to the Dollar Store and I told the kids that they were going to do a scavenger hunt! They would need to stay together and follow my instructions. And of course they would need to put the items back after they had completed a task. :)

#1 - Find your favorite food and pretend that you are eating it. Of course they went for CANDY! :)

#2 - Find something that you would place school supplies in and put it on your back.

I think that these backpacks were made for preschoolers. :)

#3 was to find a hat and a pair of underwear to wear. Unfortunately, the boys were too embarrassed for me to post that picture...they didn't really wear the underwear, but they made it look convincing. You should have seen them trying to find an aisle with no one in it! :)

#4 - Find a pair of shoes and put them on.

They could only find little girls' flip flops. :)

#5 - Find a school supply and pretend that you are using it.

#6 - Find a cleaning product and pretend that you are using it.

Z was trying to clean A!

#7 - Find your favorite drink and pretend that you are drinking it.

#8 - From all that they were pretending to drink and eat, they decided to go to the medicine aisle to pretend that they needed medicine.

#9 - Finally, the were told to find a toy that they would like and pose with it. After the picture was taken, they were told that they could buy it! :)


FUN! The whole adventure only added up to $3! Hooray for cheap and fun things to do!

Fall River Century

I loved growing up in the Fall River Valley. It was a beautiful, quiet, peaceful place to be raised. I am proud to call it my hometown. This is one of the reasons why I was so excited when my husband wanted to ride his bike in the Fall River Century!

M's longest ride had been 65 miles (and I thought that he was crazy to ride that far)! His new challenge was to ride 100 miles and it turned out to be a sweltering day in my hometown! But he was up for the challenge.

The kids and I headed up with him so that we could be his cheerleaders. We brought along bells and our words of encouragement. We planned to meet him throughout the day. This is what it looked like...

M's first rest stop (with his cheerleaders) was in Cassel (only a short walking distance from my parents' home). The kids grabbed their bells and walked down the street to cheer their daddy on! As you can see, he was so excited to see us! This rest stop was after 44.2 miles of riding. He started at the fairgrounds in McArthur, went through Glenburn and Dana, to Burney Falls, and continued on 89 to get to the Cassel turn off. Next he was off to Fall River (on the back road) heading to his lunch break.

The kids and I went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to pass a little time. Grandma, being the wonderful Grandma that she is, had water guns all ready for them to play with. Their favorite thing to do was shoot the water bugs in the pond. :)

Next, we caught up with daddy in Pittville. At this point he had been riding for 65.6 miles. We came up behind him, rolled down our window, and began cheering while we rang our bells. He later told us that it was a little bit embarrassing, but that he loved every minute of it. We joined him at his next rest stop where we ate lunch and helped him to stay hydrated. At this point, he had been riding for 69.3 miles. Next, he headed up Lassen Bench back to 299.

The next rest stop was going to be at the end of Day Road (a ten mile long road upon which I grew up!) The kids and I stopped at my childhood home and were greeted by the current owner (thanks, Bob!) He let us come in (much to my surprise and delight). I was able to show my kids my bedroom (which still had my wallpaper hanging). Boy, what a rush of memories! That was a trip down memory lane that I will never forget. Z said that it was so great to see where I grew up. I'm so glad that he enjoyed it. The picture above is the view from the community center at the end of Day Road. BEAUTIFUL!

M arrived very tired and sore. At this point, he had been on his bike for 83 miles! This was the best (and most needed) rest stop by far! The ladies of Day Road were incredibly hospitable. There were homemade cookies, fruit, popsicles, gatorade, sunscreen, showers to ride your bike through or to simply rinse your feet. And below you can see the awesome bike rack! :) Ok, so it wasn't a bike rack, but it was perfect. :)

M spent a little while at this rest stop cooling his body down and getting rid of the cramps in his legs. He only had 17 miles to go! The hardest 17 miles of his life!

This is my amazing husband and our two VERY proud boys at the "finish line". Wow, what a feat! M will remember this for a long, long time! He definitely made a lasting impression on his wife and children.

That night M and the boys slept in our tent at the fairgrounds. A and I thought that we would get the tent all set up for daddy. That was another feat in and of itself! I am not much of a camper and have never set up our tent before, but by the time daddy rolled in, it was finished!

Time is a Flyin'

Today I looked at the calendar and realized that our summer is slipping through my fingers! August will begin before we know it! Next week, we have an appointment to get our school books for the fall, yes, that's right! School books already! To be honest, part of me is ready to begin. The other part is holding on to summer with all of my might!

During July we have cheered daddy on during his 100 mile bike race in my hometown, visited the creek, attended a family reunion, attended two weeks of VBS, and just plain spent time with each other! It has been loads of fun!

Water Works Park

We were blessed to be able to go to Water Works Park in Redding this week. We arrived at the water slide park a little before noon. The kids (and mommy and daddy) had so much fun! We rode on every attraction (well, at least Z and daddy did), we applied sunscreen over and over, we lounged in the Lazy Lagoon, and we ate a picnic lunch out at the car! In fact, we had so much fun that we did not leave until they closed the gates at 8:00!

I brought my camera, but found out VERY quickly that I had left the memory card at home. So, I was able to take three pictures. Oh well! You will just have to believe me when I tell you that we had a great time! :)

A Whispered Prayer

I was sitting at the computer checking my email when behind me I heard the sweetest thing. I turned around to see my 3 1/2 year old daughter, hands over her eyes, face down on her coloring book praying to Jesus. This is where I came in. "...and thank you Jesus for Jacob and Liam. Thank you for us. In Jesus' name, Amen."

After she ended her prayer, she picked up her crayon and continued coloring. What a sweet, sweet little girl. Childlike faith right here at my dining room table.

Yes, this is a picture of her peeling a cucumber in front of the refrigerator without asking mommy.

Girl Time

When the boys are away at first mommy's, Little B and I try to have some fun girl time. We usually go shopping, paint our fingernails, or do our hair. On this particular day, the hair salon was open. :) Little B brought out my brush and began to brush my hair. She then ran off to the bathroom to get her container of hair accessories. Before long, I had too many clips in my hair to count! The best thing is that I remember doing this with my mom when I was little! Then it was Little B's turn. Daddy decided to take a few pictures of our master designs. :)

Once our hair was completed, Little B decided to jump on the bounce house that we had set up in the backyard (thank you Grandma Goodie)! She jumped and jumped and jumped! Her favorite part was turning it off and letting all of the air out. She would then turn it back on and run into the middle of it and would stand there as it filled up around her. Too cute! I love girl time!

Animals, Animals, and More Animals

We had so much fun visiting a wildlife safari outside of Bandon, Oregon while we were on the coast. We even ran into a family from Chico Christian there! We live in a small world.

All three kids had so much fun visiting these animals. There were deer, goats, mini donkeys, and many other animals that just walked up to you! Little B loved following a little goat around in hopes of picking it up. Her wish was finally granted and boy was she proud!

A took this shot. The deer walked right up to his camera!

Z was not a huge fan of this lynx. I, frankly, didn't blame him! A and Little B didn't seem to mind it.

Z loved holding this baby leopard. He was pretty cute. Little B loved smiling for the camera.

The baby goat that Little B had her eye on the entire time. :)

Z even got to hold it.

Little B found a pretend horse after visiting with all of the real animals. I guess she didn't get her fix by petting and holding them. :)