Fun at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley

My friend, Jennifer, and I took our kids one morning to the botanical garden at Berkeley.  There are over 13,000 different kinds of plants found in this beautiful and vast garden.  It is located close to the University of Berkeley, on top of a hill overlooking both Oakland and San Francisco.  The views were stunning, the smells of the roses, lilies, and other flowers were sensed all over the garden, the greenery of the cacti was ironically very approachable, and the creeks and ponds were the best playground for our kids.  My favorite part was how relaxed I felt amongst the trees, water, and flowers.  The kids loved exploring by going up and down the steps or following the creeks.  They loved playing in the lawn where we stopped to each lunch, and they tried climbing rocks, trees, and hills.  We saw a variety of creatures, with butterflies and dragonflies taking the lead. The shade of the trees made the perfect temperature for hiking and the greenery of the garden gave the air the unmistakable smell of fresh air.  Very enjoyable, indeed!

Happy Birthday, my darling Charlton!

My sweet Charlton turned 4 on August 20.  This happened to be a Tuesday, Elijah's temple night, so we celebrated his birthday with friends and party the next day.  For his actual birthday, I asked Charlton what he wanted to do that day and he responded:  let's go to the library all day.  I love low-key kids, but just in case I would regret it later we added a few other activities.  The kids and I had a wonderful day.

The next day was so busy shopping, volunteering at Gillian's school, picking up Gillian's schedule and books, making food, cleaning the house, preparing the decorations, etc.  I love it that I have such willing kids who love to help and have great ideas.  We had asked Charlton what kind of birthday he wanted to have, and he had told us that he loved books and stories.  The theme was decided by my kids to be "story time."  They then proceeded to make the decorations.  They drew, colored, and painted pictures taken from the Golden Books covers.  They stapled them on some twine and hung them across the yard (most of the pictures were drawn by hand by the older kids; Charlton colored his.)  We decorated the table with Charlton's favorite books and stuffed animals.  The party favor bags were all personalized for each guest with their favorite story character.  I found an easy cupcake decoration idea on line that related to the theme of the Golden Books that we had going.  So far so good.  Elijah helped make the cupcakes, which were way delicious, more than any cupcake is allowed to be.  I love it that I have a pastry chef for a husband!

When the guests came (9 kids under 4, parents and siblings, all together about 18), I sat on the chair and took the role of Mother Goose.  I told them the story of Red Riding Hood with puppets, after which we followed the trail of crackers and fruit snack bags on the road to find little Red Riding Hood (Gillian) before the wolf could find her.  The kids had such tremendous fun collecting their goodies.

The second story was that of Peter Pan, an all time favorite in our household.  After I read a Golden Book version of the story, Peter Pan (James) led us through various stops in finding the treasure in Captain Hook's boat.  We stopped at Neverland, Mermaid Island, and the Indian camp, where Tiger Lily had directions for us to follow.  When the kids found the treasure, they were rewarded with gold and jewels.

The third story was that of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, which I told through flannel board puppets.  Jefferson played the troll, and the kids had to walk over the bridge ( a bunch of pillows and cushions on top of Jefferson) without being caught by the troll.  They were rewarded with yummy, sugar- free packets of gum.

After food and cupcakes, the last game was the traditional hitting of the pinata, and competing who gets the most candy.  Fortunately, I had bought two giant bags full of candy and the pinata was filled to the brim.  I thought everybody enjoyed themselves, and Charlton seemed so happy to have his best friends around him.

I'm so grateful to have Charlton in my life.  He is always loving, sweet and witty.  I love hearing his little insights of things he observed.  He is best of friends with each of his siblings, so much so that they all fight over who is going to be Charlton's buddy that day.  On Sundays, I keep a mental note of who is supposed to be sitting near him, who is taking him to primary, and who is picking him up, otherwise I would have bloody battle going on in the church between my older kids.

I'm so happy to be Charlton's mother and to feel of his pure love for me, his desire to choose the right, and his independent spirit.  He makes me laugh with his comments and cry with his innocence.  There are so many fun and sweet moments that I love and remember about Charlton, but I'll share this one that touched my heart a couple of weeks ago.  I was cooking in the kitchen with Charlton playing with his castle in the dining area across where I was standing.  He had just gone to the bathroom and was trying hard to zip his pants up.  He was having a difficult time accomplishing that task.  I was about to offer help, when I was stopped by what I saw and heard.  Charlton said to himself without knowing that I was looking (he was actually whispering this): I'm having hard time with this zipper.  What do I do?  Well, what would James do?  He always says a prayer when he cannot do something.  I'll say a prayer.  (Folding his arms) Heavenly Father, can you help me with this zipper?  I'm too little.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."  He then proceeded to zip up, and he still couldn't.  I went near him, and told him that I heard his prayer and that sometimes Heavenly Father sends other people to help us.  I asked him if he would allow me to be Heavenly Father's helper.  He said:  "Sure, mom.  You are always His helper and my helper too.  I love you."  I thank the Lord for being a mother!

Happy Birthday, Charlton!  Thank you for making my life so happy.

It's always sunny...at the Garmon residence

Abel stayed with us for about two weeks.  The first week was occupied with Gillian's birthday, lots of sightseeing around the area, and eating delicious homemade dinners.  The second week was a bit busy since the older kids were attending basketball camp all morning, and Charlton was continuing with his swimming lessons.  Abel was sweet enough to be part of the kids' lives by accompanying me to the drop-offs and pick-ups and sometimes watching their games.  Not wanting to waste time, we would stop by Chick-fil-A or In N' Out for lunch and then continue on with our activities and sightseeing.

Here are the kids running miles at a time at running club, playing basketball, swimming, and having a great time with their uncle.

Running club started great, but we were too busy to attend all of the times.  In the end Charlton was the most consistent one with ten miles under his belt, compared to last year when Jefferson broke the record with a total of 45 miles throughout 8 Mondays.  Better attendance next year!

 

 

 

 

 

One of my kids' favorite activities with uncle Abe was swimming at Crown Beach in Alameda with nobody around, and then following it up with a drive-in movie.  We took out some Little Caesar's pizza, popcorn, and candy, and fixed our car comfortably for all of us to sit down and enjoy the night.  Despicable Me 2 was the best addition to our day.

The beach was a bit cold for Gillian and I.  We both had blankets wrapped around us.  The boys, however, were of a different opinion.  James kept drawing mustachioed Mexicans on the beach, and Abel and Jefferson swam further and further till I couldn't see them very well.  I had to send Gillian waving her blanket to them so they could come back.  Knowing Jefferson, he would have probably wanted to swim till they reached the other side of the marina, something that I wasn't prepared for him to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before Abel left, we celebrated Elijah's birthday with some yummy taco salad and a three-tier cake.  My sweet husband turned 36!  As always, he didn't want much fanfare on his birthday, just plain good food, tasty cake, and his family around him. How differently he and I see birthday parties!

His boss at work surprised him with an all-edible, beehive-shaped birthday cake.  Elijah had taken some of our own honey to work and they all had loved it, especially his boss.  So it was quite appropriate to celebrate Elijah's hard work and friendship with this particular cake.

After Abel left, we decided the coming week was going to be way more relaxed than the previous two.  And we started our quiet week by washing 6 loads of sheets, towels, and blankets used on various occasions throughout our vacation with Abel.  After that was done, the kids and I washed 6 other loads of dirty laundry with baskets full out of each room.  Folding them was quite a feat!

 

After the laundry came cleaning the house.  Even Charlton pitched in with the chores.  He actually demanded that he be provided with a list just like his siblings.

 

After those duties were performed, we set out to enjoy the rest of the week doing nothing.  Well, almost nothing.  We harvested the garden, enjoyed play dates, jumped on the trampoline or snuggled with mom after jumping, worked crossword puzzles, made homemade popcorn, read a bunch of biographies and other interesting books, and just napped.