February Birthdays - All 3 of Them! (Phew!)

Darren had a terrific birthday on the 8th! He turned 39. We have a family tradition that you get your favorite breakfast in bed the morning of your birthday. You also get to choose your favorite dessert (doesn't have to be a cake) and your favorite dinner. Darren had a breakfast sandwich with grapefruit and some juice. He chose oatmeal cake with caramel sauce and ice cream for his dessert and Papa Murphy Pizza for dinner. He was spoiled with many presents. Happy Birthday to a great guy who does so much to serve his family. We love you Darren!

Matthew has always LOVED a party. So two days later on the 10th (also my mom's birthday), he turned 7 and wanted bacon, eggs, and juice for his birthday breakfast. For dinner we had pizza and he just wanted a normal chocolate cake for his birthday. I sent him with cupcakes to school and about 12 friends from school, church, and neighborhood came over after school for a party. We played a lot of fun games and Matthew received many wonderful gifts. He said his favorite was his new football. Happy Birthday to a wonderful boy! We love you Matthew!

Matthew with some friends at his party.

Emma turned 11! This was birthday cake number 2 for Emma, given to her on her actual birthday - February 21st. I made some cupcakes for her to take to school and forgot to turn on the convection oven instead of the bake oven and the cupcakes on the bottom rack didn't bake. When I turned them over to cool, it splattered all over the counter. So Walmart helped us out and Emma took 24 donuts to school instead. On such a busy morning, McDonalds breakfast had to do - there wasn't time to fix anything! Emma asked for hamburgers and homemade fries (Darren's specialty) for her special dinner.

Birthday cake #1 at her party the Friday night before her birthday.

13 girls came to Emma's party on Friday night. (2 more came after we took the picture). Second Friday in a row for a party at our house. It was really a lot of fun. They played a get to know you game upon arrival, ate lots of yummy food, painted nails, sang karaoke (Darren was the star of karaoke that night), played outside on the tramp and swing set (a novelty for many of the girls - Nevada yards typically aren't big and lots of grass isn't common), more games, and of course cake and ice cream. Julie Moore stayed to help me paint all the girls nails for which I was very grateful! Emma's favorite gift was new clothes. (One of her favorites is below). Happy Birthday to our only girl. We love you Emma!

And I am relieved that the birthday month is OVER!!!

Miracle

We watched Miracle the other night, the famous Disney movie about the American Hockey team that miraculously beat the Soviet Union. We found Herb Brooks and the movie inspiring.

October Fun

Last month, after observing Benjamin's preschool that cost $350 a month for 2 half days a week, I took him out after not being very happy with what I saw. I decided to do preschool myself. I really have a greater appreciation for preschool teachers now! Preschool is the reason our family blog isn't getting updated as frequently. All those years of volunteering in my kids' preschools are paying off now as I have embarked on doing preschool. Even though I'm finding myself with little of my day free between teaching piano and doing preschool, I feel a great sense of satisfaction of watching my little class learn. The Warnick kids are all very interested and involved in the preschool. Emma plays school teacher with Matthew and Benjamin in our office which has been converted to a preschool room. Matthew comes home with ideas of lesson plans for me. This month we took a preschool field trip to Ferrari Farms which had a corn maze, hayrides, games, farm animals, a bounce house, and tons of pumpkins to choose from. My older kids wanted to come so badly that I agreed to let them skip school and come along. We bought a 70 lb pumpkin for $20. What a fun place!

Today was Preschool Halloween Party Day. I think everyone had a good time. We bobbed for apples (not a good activity for preschoolers - they just couldn't do it...) played pin the stem on the pumpkin, read scary stories and made a ghost craft. We also did the mummy wrap and musical chairs. We finished up with treats and prizes.

Last night we carved pumpkins as a family and had scones. We are enjoying October.

September Is Fun in Reno

The Great Balloon Race

It was fun to have Grandpa and Grandma here this past weekend to join us for a really fun Reno tradition - the Great Balloon Race. We got the kids up at 3:30 am this past Saturday and headed out with our juice and sausage biscuits, blankets, flashlights, and sleeping bags. We parked and walked to San Rafael Park through the dark. We "set up camp" and just waited for the "Glow Show" and "Dawn Patrol." To our great surprise and joy, they started setting up the Darth Vader Balloon right in front of us. It was really very interesting to watch the crews roll out the huge balloons and see the propane burners heat and blow them up. At 6:45 am the balloons took flight. What a sight it was. We loved the Great Balloon Race!

Star Wars Characters were abundant near the new and exciting Darth Vader Balloon. Grandpa and Grandma took the kids to see them and get their picture taken.

Afterwards, we went to breakfast and then came home to try to catch up a bit on lost sleep before heading out to drive around Lake Tahoe and have lunch on the beach.

Sand Harbor

Sand Harbor is the most popular beach at Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful, the water was as clear as a swimming pool, and there was tons of really soft sand. It wasn't that cold either! Jacob and Carter Moore went water-mountaineering. Later Emma, Jacob, and John Moore went cliff jumping just before we headed home. Emma and Kaylee Moore were nervous at first, but then she thought it was fun! The water was high when we went, so it wasn't too dangerous. The rest of us just played on the beach and went swimming. Sand Harbor is our favorite spot so far at Lake Tahoe and we plan to visit often.

Reno Rib Fest

Every September, award winning rib booths line the streets in downtown Reno. The streets are packed as people stand in line to try the barbeque ribs, pork, beef, and chicken. A lot of people will go from booth to booth just trying a sampler from each venue. The food was very good. You can also buy fire roasted corn, funnel cakes, and homemade lemonade.

Darren's Trips

During my trip to Vancouver I took a walk along the sea wall pathway. This is the Olympic Stadium.

Another view of Vancouver.

Along the way, there was a street artist balancing rocks on top of each other. There was a sign that said, "No tricks, No Glue, No Joke."

Vancouver, BC is a very pretty city. This is a view from the sea wall walk heading towards the Olympic Village.

I also took a trip to San Francisco. This is one of the famous Pier 39 Sea Lyons. They just sit there on the docks and you just walk right by them.

This is a view of San Francisco Bay close to where I was working.

Don't Let Your Kids Take the School Bus on the First Day of School

Emma and Matthew really wanted to take the bus on the first day of school (a new experience for them). We arrived at the bus stop 10 minutes early. We waited and waited. Finally when the bus was 20 minutes late we walked home in order to drive to school. Just as we pulled out of the driveway we saw the bus and the kids still really wanted to ride it. So they got on the bus and I followed it to the school to make sure they made it in alright. They were really late! That wasn't even the end of our bus troubles.

At the end of the day I waited for Emma and Matthew to arrive at the bus stop. Finally the bus arrived and they didn't get off the bus. I asked the bus driver where they were and she casually said they got off at a different stop! I ran to the car and started driving around the neighborhood. I knew that they would not be able to find their way home on their own (being so new to the area) and that they were probably worried. I drove all around the neighborhood and I couldn't find them. But I found the school bus again. I walked up to the bus driver and told her I couldn't find my kids and asked if she had seen them. She hadn't.

So I continued to drive around, stopping and asking people outside if they had seen my children. A few minutes later I found myself behind the bus again and a little boy who had just gotten off was staring intently at me. I asked him if he had seen Emma and Matthew. He said the bus driver picked them up again and they were on the bus. Relieved, I went to the bus and brought them back to the car. They looked flushed from the heat and from all of the walking (there are a lot of hills here).

We didn't take the bus the following morning because we had to take Ben to school about the same time, but when we saw the bus driver this morning she said, "Thanks for giving me another chance!"

Lesson learned here: Wait a few days for the system to get the kinks worked out before you put your children on the school bus.

Jacob's first day of 8th grade.

Emma started 5th grade.

Matthew started 1st grade. He was very excited!

Benjamin stayed in his PJ's the first day of school, but attends preschool 2 half days a week.

Lake Tahoe

We spent three days at Lake Tahoe this past week. Darren's company reserved him a room at the Embassy Suites Hotel for a retreat. The kids and I decided to tag along! Darren's itinerary kept him fairly busy but his company did take him on the Tahoe Queen (an old Mississippi style river boat that served dinner and hosted a 4 hour tour). He had a great time. The kids and I spent the three days biking, exploring, swimming, jetskiing and hiking. Lake Tahoe was beautiful - more beautiful than what words or pictures can adequately capture. If you come and visit, we will gladly go again. 2 Thumbs up for Lake Tahoe!

We brought our bikes with us and rented a bike trailer so I could pull Benjamin.

We biked to Camp Richardson and stopped for icecream.

Swimming at the Hotel

Jetskiing -

Matthew giggled and screamed with delight, and Benjamin cried and screamed because he wanted to get off (a lot of water splashed in his face when it was his turn). Jacob would have preferred it if I would have gone faster and made some sharp turns.

Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe -

the second most photographed place in the US

(the Grand Canyon is first).

Hiking to Cascade Falls at Emerald Bay

First hike this summer that Ben did all on his own - no one carrying him.

Way to go Ben!