We have so many versions of Monopoly. When the boys were little, we always played without the houses and hotels, just so they could learn the gist of the game. Now that they’re older…..it’s game on! Jeremy got Santa Clarita-Opoly right before we moved. It was in storage for a little while, and we decided on Easter to get it out and have some fun! It was pretty fun to play a game that goes along with your hometown. Being a 3rd grade teacher, I taught Santa Clarita History for many years. I was a little surprised at some of the sites/places that were included, and the ones that were left off. But, I guess that’s just the teacher in me. Instead of houses and hotels, you buy blocks and the key to the city. Since there were six of us playing, it was pretty hard to get a monopoly. My boys decided early on that they wanted to make things interesting. Justin and Jeremy wanted to trade some of their properties to make a monopoly. They added in some money to try and entice us. We all kept saying no, but Justin was pretty insistent. We both owned properties…

Do you ever hear a song, recognize a scent, or see something and it instantly takes you back to a different time? The scent one is strange. One time I was walking and was taken back to my dorm in college. It was a plant growing nearby. It was the same as ones outside my dorm building. One inhale of a faint scent and I was walking the pavement at Cal State Long Beach. Last week we introduced our toddler to The Wiggles. I put it on and walked into the kitchen. Suddenly, there was ticking and The Wiggles needed to wake up Jeff. I was transformed to our old house where I could see a two year old Jeremy singing and dancing in front of the TV. The kid loved them, and he had all of their routines memorized. I sat down and watched the whole DVD, smiling at the memories. He’s going to be 16 soon, and for a brief moment in time I yearned to hold that little boy again. It didn’t last too long, though. Those of you who knew two year old Jeremy get it. 🙂 So, there you have it. I’m sure you weren’t…

We used to play chess before we had children. Then the kids came and grew and I’d find chess pieces in with their toys. Some pieces seemed to be lost forever. Fast forward several years. Joey got this game for his birthday. It is a really good game. There are two sides to it. The easy side teaches your children how to play the game. Each player picks a card and has to move that piece. The card shows and explains how to move it. If they can’t move that piece, or that one was already captured, play moves to the next player. It wasn’t long before Joey was ready to flip the board over, not use the cards, and play a real game. We definitely recommend it!

We crammed a lot in during our last three days on the road. There’s just so much to see in this amazing country of ours. Honestly, if you’ve never taken a road trip with your children, you need to. Our first stop was Dodge City. We’d been there before, but it’s got some really neat history. The boys got deputized by the marshal. I was bummed they took the schoolhouse out. The last time I made the boys all sit at a desk while I stood up front ‘teaching’ them. The next day we stopped at Royal Gorge in Colorado. Whoa is all I have to say. The boys weren’t sure about going on the gondola, so we walked across the bridge first. It supposedly can hold 2 million pounds, but that doesn’t ease the nerves when you can see down to the bottom through the wood slats. After a slow trek, we made it. We watched a cool film in the theater about its history and the fire that caused a lot of damage in 2013. It was getting really hot, but the boys really wanted to go to the play yard. It was up a steep hill, and…

The younger four boys, my mom, and I took a vacation to see some family out of state. The boys were great, and we had so much fun doing many different activities. First was the splash park. We weren’t sure how the Jacob would like it. He loved it! It was really fun to watch him get soaked all while cracking up. We took a trip to the zoo on a day we thought wouldn’t be too hot……The tiger was up walking around, and the lions were both sleeping right next to the viewing glass. We got awfully sweaty, but the boys had a great time. After spending some time with their cousins, we took a trip to the small town pool the boys’ dad went to as a kid. They love diving in the water. It’s a really neat experience for them. It feels like going back in time. Since we were so close, we had to take a drive to Pawhuska, OK to see the Mercantile. The boys and I had already been, but my mom hadn’t. We did some shopping and had a delicious lunch. At the end of our visit, we took them to a fun…