My Family Brings The Rain

So…I know I am supposed to be updating these things on Sundays…but Monday & Tuesday are the NEW Sunday, right? After my sister’s visit this weekend, I have come to the conclusion that my family brings the rain! We always have had nothing but blue skys until my parents brought the first round of rain a few weeks ago, and then my sister :) And not just a little rain either. Per the news, the amount of rain that is occurring this week is the biggest rain storms they’ve had since 2005. I am living in the area where there were the recent fires in the Angeles Crest Forest, and all this rain has caused 107 + homes to be evacuated for fear of mud slides from the recent fires and authorities plan to evacuate 489 homes early Wednesday as the worst is yet to come Wednesday evening. So, yes, all the rain the news keeps talking about in California, we are in the middle of it! But don’t worry. We are safe, or so we think, we are about 1 mile away from these feared mud slides area. But even then, we are only renting, so we aren't particularly worried about the house...just the people inside & our insured belongings --Oh the joys of being first time home renters :) But, this much rain is sure putting a damper on our outside park play days…

So, back to my sister….we had a fun weekend. We went to the Santa Monica pier again, to the beach, and the original Muscle Beach. If any of you have never ventured to the original Muscle Beach, it is where fitness buffs still publicly pursue some pretty entertaining workouts...you can’t but help yourself see these people doing these workouts and think, “I could do that!” Well, my sister & I had to try something..it was just too irresistable! We didn’t get pictures of this, but my sister and I did conquer the swinging Traveling Rings (well, we almost did…I had 2 rings left until I noticed that Haley was missing from my view…so I used this as an excuse to excuse myself from finishing…but between you & me, my hands & arms were killing me.) Note: The Traveling Rings are a set of about seven rings hanging on chains stretching out toward the ocean that you swing from.

Haley's hair...Craig did it :)

Cousins Natalie, Dylan, Jessica, & Haley....Cole was at home taking a nap.

Jessica 6, Dylan 3 (almost 4), and Haley 4. Dylan & Haley are 4 months apart. My kids are tall!

Cousin Dylan, almost 4.

Cousin Jessica, 6 years.

The picture above, is when we first got to the rides. The picture below is when were were done with the rides :) Can you tell a difference?

Oh Haley and her natural curly hair.

These two kids are 3 weeks apart. Cole is in the 75th percentile for heighth and cousin Natalie is in the 3rd percentile :)

Haley has been getting into her dance outfit for like 4 days in a row now...all day.

We also saw a coyote this week. He was across the street from our house…literally 30-40 feet away. Coyote are common in this area, but his is the first we've seen. There has been a mountain lion in the area killing deer and I guess the coyote could smell and wanted to see what was going on? My neighbor saw the mountain lion cross her yard a few days ago. Scary! I have to say, that when I had to go to the store the other night (without Haley), I put Cole on the side that was closest to the house, so I didn’t have to go the other side & put my back to the mountains, afraid I might have a mountain lion encounter! EEEEK! I also asked Craig to watch me from the door...but he wouldn't.

Can you see the coyote? He is between the two trees.