June 20, 2013

The Homeless People That Are Traumatizing Our Neighborhood

We have a homeless couple that has been seen walking around our neighborhood almost every night for the last couple of weeks. They are really starting to freak people out because we don't get homeless people in our neighborhood and the neighbors just don't know what to do.

There is a male that carries a big backpack which includes a tent and a female who usually is holding onto the dog's leash that walks with them. They have been seen all over our area and people are starting to talk.

People stare them down as they drive by them. Some people flat out interrogate the homeless couple if they walk past their house when they are out front. I don't think the cops have been called yet but I wouldn't be surprised if they were at some point.

How do I know all this?

Well, Kurt and I are the homeless couple!

Yes, you read that right. We are the homeless couple . . . except that we aren't exactly homeless - it's just that the neighbors don't know that.

Let me explain:

I signed up to do a 1/2 marathon in October (yes, I am on that kick again) and so I have an exercise schedule that I am following. And Kurt is (literally) on a 50 mile backpacking adventure (as I type) so we both had some training to do so we decided to do it together. We put the kids to bed at 8 and the just the two of us head out for our walk. Ok, Cody comes along too so I guess there are three of us! Kurt has been carrying his backpack, including his tent, to get use to the weight.

And people have thought we were homeless people wandering the neighborhoods. I am totally serious when I say people glare at us when they drive by or want to know what we are doing if we walk by while they are outside. We have been questioned a lot. I told Kurt that people thought we were homeless and he totally disagreed with me until people we know told us. We have had several people that we know drive by and stop to talk to us and say "hey, I thought you guys were homeless people." Ha ha ha ha!

We have got a good laugh out of this adventure but I do have to say that I am looking forward to when he comes home and we can go walking without all the gear. Then we can just be regular old Kurt and Jenn (and Cody).

And yes we will continue going out almost every night because it is AWESOME! The evenings are cool and breezy. Nobody else is really out. We don't have the kids hanging on us or whining or complaining. It is actually quite romantic to just walk the two of us and guess what? We actually get to talk! You know that thing you did before kids came along? We have FULL conversations. It is great! Yes, we talk about everything . . . Well, except that one night we were rather irritated with each other. Then not much talking happened but we still got out and enjoyed the evening.

So if you are up in our area and you see a couple walking along, be nice to them. Chances are it is just us wandering the neighborhoods!

June 4, 2013

Memorial Day Camping Trip

We went camping for Memorial Day and as I said in a previous post, we took the kids out of school Thursday and Friday so that we could have an extra long weekend. The trip was wonderful! The weather was AMAZING! I mean totally perfect. We couldn't have arranged anything better.

In planning for this trip, I wasn't in the mood to cook at all. I was really dreading it. So one day Kurt happened to be home for lunch and I asked him for meal suggestions. He said "Is there a Chipotle near by?" (Kurt is seriously addicted to Chipotle! I mean seriously!) To humor him I looked it up and it was only 3 miles from our camp. "Well, there you go. Dinner for every night!" Ha ha ha . . . but wait, that sounds like a great idea! So literally this was our meal plan:

Thursday dinner - Chipotle
Friday dinner - Chipotle
Saturday dinner - Pizza My Heart (awesome pizza place!)
Sunday dinner - bbq hamburgers

This was the best, most easiest camping trip ever! I loved it! I only had to cook one night! I think we should plan our camping trips around Chipotle locations from now on!

So these pictures are kind of out of order but I am too tired to fight them into the right order. Plus, basically all we did was play at the beach so it doesn't really matter what order they are in because it is all beach activities! 

The kids were excited because this was the first time that we got to go camping with the Fife family. The Fife family have the exact ages and sexes of kids as us except for the youngest boys - we have a big gap and they had their 4th closer to their 3rd - so the kids all have friends their age. Kayla and Natalie are BFF's, Hailey and Sidney are BFF's and Evan and Ethan and Lincoln are all BFF's. Trevor is the only one with out a buddy but he just joins in an plays with everyone else.

Thursday dinner:
Happy Campers!

Hailey and Sidney

I love this picture of my boys!

Kayla and Natalie

Evan the pack mule.

Everybody handed Evan all the things we were carrying down to the beach and he held it all. Of course, we didn't let him walk down there like that but he had fun playing around.

See, I was there! The only picture of me, I believe.

Funniest story - Evan had a friend at school that said he was going to Santa Cruz too. Technically we were in Capitola so I thought there was no way we would see him. But guess who was camping in the same campground as us? Yep, Evan's buddy, Henry, from school. They got to play several times at the beach together. Such a small world!

This is Lincoln, Henry and Evan

One of Kurt's creations. I have mentioned before that Kurt can't sit still. And here again is proof. He had the kids working, carrying logs down the beach to create this structure thing. We unfortunately didn't get a picture of it but we did get one of the kids working.

Saturday we went to a different beach and explored. There was this cool arch in the rocks. It was a bit windy at this beach and we were a bit cold. Can you tell?

Oh look, Kurt was there too! 
The only picture of him. 
At least you can see his face!

We walked out onto these rocks that had tide pools looking for ocean life. This point is where the waves would crash into making a big spray. The kids loved watching it.

On the way home we stopped at Pizza My Heart - very yummy pizza. This is Trevor's little buddy Grayson. They are 3 months apart.

"Hey, your mom let you bring your binkie?"

"If I could just grab it when he turns around . . . "

Somehow Kurt ended up at a table with all the little kids. Oh, there's another picture of Kurt!

The girls table

The boys table

Sunday morning a dance party broke out

I love Hailey. She is such a free spirit that can just let loose and have a good time. She definitely didn't get that from me but boy do I wish I could get some of that from her!

Trevor and Grayson exploring a log.

Such cuties!
Oh look, there I am in the background with the dog. Picture #2 of me!

Kayla and Natalie again. These girls are growing up WAY. TO. FAST!

Hailey and Sidney made thrones for themselves.

Trevor tried it out.

Such cuties!

I love this picture of the 4 boys walking to the beach together. What great buds!

Ah, yes. The trip home. Wouldn't have been complete without lunch from Chipotle.

I told Kurt that we know we have a serious addiction problem when they start writing "Kurt" on his lid no matter what Chipotle we are at. We still aren't too seriously addicted because they are staying somewhat general with Dad.