“Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout "Bang!"” George F. Will

The  boys had their first Indian Guides house meeting a couple weeks ago (yeah I said a few weeks ago- birthdays +thanksgiving+ christmas= no time)

Anyway, the host is to come up with a craft activity for the boys to do...and yep! the amazing Chris came up with Marshmallow shooter guns.  They all made them and shot bags of mini marshmallows out in to the canyon.  Wahooo!

“Disneyland: A people trap operated by a mouse.” unkown

3rd Annual Birthday Disneyland trip.  We got rained out last year and chose to not go on a rainy day this year. So we waited till the day after Thanksgiving.  To answer the question on everyones mind....was it crowded?  Uhhh yes, crazy crowded BUT we mastered the incredibly cool Fast Pass system and breezed past many oh sore waiters in line throughout the day.  9a.m.-8p.m.

It was a GREAT day.  I love this tradition.

Ben & Dad at Huge Christmas tree on Main street

Ben riding the Matterhorn for the 3rd time!
Mom & Ben on Indiana Jones (he didn't like it too much)
Bridge in Tarzans big Tree house.

CAUTION!! Blurry photos ahead.

"It is not the picture that makes the memory......it is the memory that makes the picture"

                                                                        Ben's mom

I start this post with a caution of blurry, unfocused visions.  No it is not your eye sight going......Ben got a skateboard for his birthday and he is in MOTION!

Ben decided that he wanted a skateboard for his birthday ( I am sure this has nothing to do with Wes getting one for his b.day) He picked it out at a real live skate shop and loved this one because of the green wave.  He got on it and started carving right away, it was amazing how fast he learned.  Although it takes forever to get all those safety pads on....he loves it none the less.

so come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned.  just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in never, never land.
- peter pan

Ben had his 5th birthday at the La Jolla Ymca gymnastics (the one I used to run when I first arrived in San Diego)  It was AWESOME!  The sheer joy that you could see in Ben's face was priceless.  This kind of party really gave some time to focus on the Birthday boy.  He got to be first in line for everything.  He got to choose where to go next.  It really made him feel special!

Some jump-tastic on the giant parachute

Party people in the house all up on the air jump thingy
Here it is!!! The cake....Yeah....that's 4 sheet cakes your looking at there

translated.......3 feet long!!!
 AND! It was edible!!! Yummy!

so come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned.  just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in never, never land.
- peter pan

“"You all look like happy campers to me. Happy campers you are, happy campers you have been, and, as far as I am concerned, happy campers you will always be.” dan quayle

Ben and Dad before camp take off
During camp fun-tastic
Final hike- Yeah Ben for rescuing Dad!!

The boys went on the first official Indian Guides weekend camp trip to Warner Springs.

I hear they stayed in some pretty posh accomodations....but they still called it "camping."

(wink wink)  Good man bonding time.

A boy is a noise with dirt on it. 

Termites+old plum tree= hours of fun scooping out the middle of a tree stump with a spoon

Sadly our plum tree had been eaten through the middle by termites.  So as we prepare for our new backyard transformation Ben has been happily helping with the clearing tasks.

“Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings.” Evan Esar

Ben was so lucky today to venture to the Wild Animal Park with his good buddy Wes.  It is so comical how they dress like twins without even calling each other!   

be yourself. above all, let who you are, what you are what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.
- john jakes

Singing at the classroom party

Parading in all of his spiderman glory

Ben had his first round the school halloween parade.  It was so great!  They all line up and make 3 laps around the inner quad off the school.  He was so proud in his big muscle black spider man suit.  Afterwards there was a great classroom party with a bunch of art stations and ghost toast.  I love elementary school!

Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary.

dead poets society

                   So let's make it extraordinary with a velcro wall and a carnival!

Yep, that's me.  I understand it looks like I just walked up and fell into the wall and got stuck.  But I assure you that I ran and jumped and my feet are a few inches off the ground.
AND! He came home with a goldfish that is rightfully named Rocko!

“It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.” -Anne Sexton

Indian Guides has officially begun.  It is a father, son bonding camping macho testosterone 

fest through the YMCA.  This is the opening ceremonies at camp something or other.

Gigantore tree slide

Zip Line+Ben with no fear= FUN!

Beam me up Scottie!

"Spock. This child is about to wipe out every living thing on Earth. Now, what do you suggest we do....spank it?" -- McCoy (Star Trek: TMP)

Last weekend Papa Phil was so nice and took us to Balboa Park to see the Star Trek exhibit at the Air and Space museum.  It was sooo cool.  We actually got to be "beamed up" and got to sit on the enterprise bridge (trek words for commando area of machismo)

Anyway, it was great fun. Ben and Daddy even got to go on a motion flight simulator.  

Linus: [furious] STUPID? What do you mean "stupid"? Just wait 'til next year, Charlie Brown. You'll see! Next year at this same time, I'll find the perfect pumpkin patch that is really sincere and I'll sit in that pumpkin patch until the Great Pumpkin appears. He'll rise out of that pumpkin patch and he'll fly through the air with his bag of toys. The Great Pumpkin will appear and I'll be waiting for him! I'll be there! I'll be sitting there in that pumpkin patch and I'll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait and see, Charlie Brown. I'll see the Great Pumpkin. I'll SEE the Great Pumpkin! Just you wait, Charlie Brown. The Great Pumpkin will appear and I'll be waiting for him... 

We went to Bates Nut farm this weekend (in the farthest part of no where you could go) Also, so nicely referred to as Nates Butt farm.  It was pumpkin patch glory at it's finest.

Ben, Jenna and baby Kyle
From this.........
To this......  

Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.

Brad Henry

This is why I do not work at Sears portrait studio. Who in their right mind tries to take a picture of 21 people?  11 of them under the age of 5 hello?  Anyway, this is a post dedicated to my sisters and family who travel accross the country with kids in tow, open their homes and host general chaos for extended amounts of time just to allow all of the cousins to spend some quality time together.   I thank you.

        All 11 cousins
Ben, Levi and Jack
       Ben, Joey and Gabby
Ben and Levi.....brothers by choice

the beautiful birthday girls

What if we all got along & people loved each other & sang songs about peace? he said. Would that be a good world? & I said I didn't know about that, but it would be a good summer camp & he looked at me & shook his head & said, It's no wonder you're leaving us with such a mess.

 brian andreas

We had the chance to go to camp Marston, a family camp put on by the YMCA just outside of Julian.  It was  SO,SO, SO! much fun and we can't wait to go back.  Night hikes, canoeing, huge rock climbing wall, archery, bb guns 3 meals a day.  Hello vacation!

Our 5 star accomodations

Smith/Hunt Clan
Row, Row, Row your boat.......
No children were hurt in this activity
Or this one.......

This city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.

Desmond Morris 

For Chris's 40th birthday he wanted to go to New York city for the first time and see a Yankee game before the house of Ruth was torn down at the end of the season.  We has a whirlwind of a trip. Wether you are there for 2 days or 2 weeks I think you would always feel like you were running around crazy trying to fit everything in. A quick run down of our trip. Rays pizza,Empire state building, strawberry fields(jon lennon tribute),row boating in central park, natural history museum, street dancers, dancing on the big piano at fao schwartz shake shack in madison square park(waiting in line for an hour for the best burger,fries and shake) ,toys r us ferris wheel inside, hard rock cafe, time square at night, Yankee game, boat ferry tour around the bay past ellis island and statue of liberty, lombardis, smalls jazz club, rockafeller center and top of the rock!  Whew! That's alot of stuff in 3 days.  It was amazing and we had a great time creating some priceless family memories.

Ben's Loot!

Lombardis original 1905 pizza
Top of the Rockafeller
Natural history museum
Jazz band in the subway
Row boating in Central Park
FAO's BIG piano
Time Square at night
Viewing Monument Park