And you barely look devilish at age 43.

We promised the kids to take them to Hamilton when it came to Seattle, so it wasn’t a hard decision to purchase season tickets for all 5 of us so that we could guarantee our seats when #Ham arrives in February.  But the tickets came with a bonus of 6 other shows to see!

September’s was Sound of Music.  Like my younger self, my kids have seen the beginning of classic movie a dozen times, and never the ending.  So it was a bit of a gamble if Kyla could stay in her seat the entire show.

This is our polished side.

This family shot is far more accurate.

Fortunately (?) we have seats in the very, very, very back and to the very, very, very left of the stage, so we disrupt as few of people as possible if any of us falls apart.  Wesley was doubtful of the entire experience, but became quickly entranced with the stage craft (like his Mama).   The girls liked everything about it (also like their Mama).  Dwayne enjoyed the whole experienced and we shared amazement that Wesley didn’t break anything.  He definitely clipped on his lucky tie.

Sure, we kept them out late on the first day of school, but our family is a theater-going family for a year! 

You know how moms remember to take notice of all those important social markers?  Birthdays, lost teeth, first day of school?  Well, thank goodness for those moms!!! After seeing about 10 of them taking pictures while I dash around for PTA stuff, I realize I should take pictures, too.  Of course, I didn’t know where my kids, but I knew where their classrooms where.  Caught them!

This is Kyla’s last year at elementary school.   I resolved to enjoy this year of having all my kids in the same school for one last year!

I love my kids too much to bake them cakes, so Kyla got to choose her birthday treat from an impressive selection at our local grocery.  She came out with two gourmet plus donuts.  None of us minded. ‘

Owl post is really convenient.  Even though we were staying at Great Wolf Lodge, Kyla’s Hogwarts acceptance letter still arrived under the door on her 11th birthday.

Instead of a party, Kyla wanted to go on a family adventure for her birthday.  We had to compromise a bit by leaving Dwayne behind to work, but taking our mom-daughter friends instead. 

Happy Birthday, my beloved firstborn!  You are a delight, a marvel, a wonder, a treasure. 

We had spent 3 days driving north of San Diego…and we weren’t out of California yet!  But we love the Mount Shasta area and have fond memories of McCloud, so we grabbed a hotel there and headed over to the Shasta City Park, remarkable for being the head waters of the Sacramento River.  It’s a beautiful spot, though perhaps all the pot smoke made our memories hazy.  What kind of people really, really like river sources?  Hippy, pot-smoking, skinny-dipping hot women and unbathed men.

I have to say all that before I show you the edited version through family pictures.  It’s an amazing park, but the following is not an accurate portrayal of an average experience.

 

The smoky skies made the sunset a bit eerie.

It was the end of our first day’s journey home, and we had driven our 5 hours (plus 2 for LA traffic) and we wanted food. And the beach.  And food.  Luckily, we found a beach café where our feet were actually in the sand as we ate burgers and the best prepared salmon I’ve had in months.  Did I mention the sunset?  It was Perfect.

Guess who’s going to be wet by the end of the evening? (Um, Kyla, if you haven’t been paying attention.)

#2 & #3 amused themselves by racing the waves up and down, up and down.  I slept well that night just watching them!

Must come back someday!  Come with me??

Our plan for the drive home was to get in about 5 hours of driving a day around Family Adventures.

First stop, La Brea Asphalt Flypaper (yeah, Tar Pit does sound better, though less accurate). 

This is a real life pit, with lots and lots of predator bones…greedy sabor-tooths!

The Giant Ground Sloth would be a wonderful addition to current zoology.

It’s safer to be up in a tree around the tar pits!

Isn’t this a cool exhibit?!

Wesley got to be photographer for a few minutes!

Everyone but us left this morning, as the eclipse was (what’s the verb?) eclipsing.  We took the day to clean up and prepare for the long journey home. 

There may have been a nap involved.

But you can tell that we were not up to standard this trip—a 1000 piece is put away unfinished and no marathon games of Kings and Serfs. 

So long and thanks for all the memories!

San Diego Zoo is almost too big and exhausting.  But, Piper found her wombat! SDZ has two wombats, but the statue was the most cooperative.

In retrospect, we should have had our big family day at the beach or park, because 17 people can’t really roam the zoo well together.  But we did get a little time with everyone and saw many amazing things.

Well, if They won’t let me have a koala of my own, these kids will do.

This is how Wesley measures up to a Mammoth.

Somewhere on this vacation, we invented “ice cream o’clock”. Really, it helps everyone survive all the fun we’re having.

And after all we saw that day, Piper and Wesley were most excited about the lizard they caught back at the house that evening!