AHH...The racoons won't go away!

So, I have no picture (the picture would be too embarrassing) but I thought I would share anyway. Last night I am laying on the couch watching TV. The kids are in bed and Joe is upstairs getting his things ready for school. I hear a noise...as paranoid as I am I think someone is outside. Of course not, it's our raccoon friends. They are eating and drinking what's left in our cats bowl-which is not much. I hurry to get the sling shot that Joe had bought for our raccoon stake out a few weeks ago. I am thinking to myself, "I don't need my husbands help. I can get rid of these raccoons." I try and fail many times. Let me also say that the raccoons are about 5 feet in front of me. Seriously, how pathetic am I. I guess that goes to show that some things are just meant for our husbands to take care of........

Saturday Night Fun

What else is there to do on a Saturday night other than have a raccoon stake out. We have a major raccoon problem here on our court. The raccoons and yes I said raccoons. We are not sure on exactly how many there are. When we first moved in over a year ago we had 2 raccoons of which one was blind. It would hang out in the neighborhood during the day while the kids were out playing. We tried to have them caught but with no success and then we found one dead in the street. Problem solved! Not really because now we have a family of raccoons living behind my house. They dig holes in the backyard, come out during the day to play :-) or come out at night to eat my cats food. If we open our garage chances are one will find its way inside.

So yesterday Joe decided to buy a sling shot to scare it. It was so funny. The raccoons including 1 little baby one-so cute. I wanted to pick it up, it was so cute. But of course, there are wild animals-getting back to our stake out. When it came to the porch to eat Joe would get the sling shot ready and fire. It would run but come back just seconds later. We both would run outside with a flashlight to find it again and fire one last time. We probably spent 1 hour doing this off and on. We even took the screen out of the window to make it easier.

So, we did not fix the problem. They are not scared of us which is a bad thing but time will tell. We will continue our stake out tonight.......

Summer Fun

It was such a beautiful day yesterday, that I decided to get out the kids slip and slide of which I got on clearance at Walmart for $3.00. Definitely worth every penny! The kids loved it. I had to set it up in my front yard because there was sun. My back yard doesn't really get sun because of the tall trees. In our neighborhood there are about 10 kids including my two so we had every child down slipping and sliding. We were outside for 5 straight hours. No sunburns but the kids slept 12 straight hours last night. That was great :-)

Alexandria got the hang of slipping and sliding pretty quick.
Brady wasn't sure what to do. It was more of a sprinkler for him until about 3 hours into it. He then figured out how to actually slip and slide.
Alexandria trying to act like a diva. She loved showing off to her friends!
The puddle at the end of the slide was where the kids hung out and slashed each other. It was the perfect day.

Labor Day Fun

Since moving to Monterey our kids have always wanted to do the paddle boats down on Del Monte Blvd next to the Dennis the Menace Park. So we decided to give it a try. The kids were excited until they realized that they had to wear a life vest. Alex did pretty good but Brady was another story. Finally he decided to wear it but only because mom promised him a treat after we had finsihed. A treat usually means stopping by 7-11 and getting some mm's. I know this is wrong but you do what you have to do, RIGHT!



The boats are tough because you can only paddle from the front. So, of course Joe and I sat in the front but I didn't feel good putting the kids in the back without me sitting right there. So, we just did our best and put them in our laps-WHAT A WORKOUT. Most of you know that I am anti-workout :) I think I may a lost a few pounds in that 1/2 hour!
So, later on during the day about 6:00 pm we went to the pier down by the US Coast Guard Station. The sea lions are all over. They like to hang out on the rocks right off the pier. We were standing about 2 feet from them. It was really neat.
The kids of course want to swim with them.
This picture is hard to see because of the shadows, sun and the black gate between myself and the sea lion. I thought it's face was so cute!

Monterey County Fair

Yes, we went to the fair. We went on Saturday afternoon. It was crazy-no parking, lines to buy tickets, lines for the rides and the amount of money they charge for everything. But we had a blast. The kids love to sit on these things. They don't even know what they do. The cheapest thing at the fair and they had no idea its purpose.
Bradys all boy. He loved the tractors. Of course, he had to sit on each one and we had to visit the tractors two times while we were there.
Alexandria's all girl but she also likes to get dirty once in awhile.

The kids loved seeing the animals. I think their favorite animal was the "baby cow; Cinnamon". It was pretty cute. I am not sure when she was born but not to long ago because she was still learning to walk. She was very shakey on her feet. Brady was so interested in what she was doing. He just watched her lay there, walk around the mommy cow and he tried to reach out for her. At least she didn't try to nibble on Brady because he got too close to the pigs and one grabbed his shirt.
The goat was so cute! Brady and Alex got a sticker that said, "I love goats." So cute.
This was one of Alexandria's rides. I guess it was like a swing. She was nervous at first but she loved it.
This was one of Brady's rides. He loves motorcycles. I guess you can say this is a motorcycle :) But he loved it as well.

So another day of fun for the Morgans.

I am so exhausted...

I woke Brady up by turning the camera on to take a picture so my point of this post doesn't have one OOPS OOPS OOPS OOPS

I will continue anyway! Brady has really never been a napper unless he is absoutley exhausted and I mean complete and utter exhaust. But being that he has gone to school 3 times now, I have had luck with him falling asleep in the car and carrying him from the car seat to the couch. Even in the past he would always wake up while transfering him from the car to the house. So school must be so much fun and take all his energy out of him. So, now how do I get him to take a nap on Monday, Wednesday and Friday when he is not in school?

Hungry Ground Squirrels

Tonight we took the kids to feed the ground squirrels at Carmel Beach. It's pretty cool. The squirrels come right up to you to get a peanut. You have to be careful because they do come right up to you. Whether you are sitting still or walking away.
The kids are waiting for the squirrles to come out. All you do is hold a peanut in your hand and wait about 1 minute. The squirrels come running!


Carmel beach is so beautiful. The kids love rolling down the hill. The waves are rolling, the sand is white and the ocean is blue. Georgeous Georgeous Georgeous...

11 Years in the Making

Yesterday, Joe and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We went to RJ's steakhouse for dinner. A yummy place to eat but definitely over priced. But your anniversary is only once a year. Its been amazing 11 years. We have had our share of problems but I think each year you grow stronger and love each other so much more.
This picture was taken 6 years ago obviously before children. I really like this picture of Joe and I, it's probably one of my favorites. I look so young and thin. If I could only look like this again :)
We were married in the San Diego Temple on August 5,1997. This is our engagement picture in 1997 (hard to see, I couldn't figure out how to enlarge it).

My happiness is being a wife to my husband of 11 years now and rasing our 2 children. My life has been truely blessed.

Sleepy Brady

I guess it was a great day at preschool. When I picked Brady up today, he didn't want to come home with me. His exact words, "No home, stay at school."

Brady's First Day of Preschool

Brady started his first day of preschool today. He was very excited at first but as we pulled up to his school he shouted, "I don't want to go to school." We think he was confused-he thought he was going to school with Alexnadria. But once we got inside, he was loving it. This was Alexandria's preschool last year so he knew what to expect. I hope he enjoys school and makes new friends.
The school has two birds, benny and tinker. Brady loved looking at the birds.
He found the toys. I was sad and shed a few tears. But I think preschool will be good for Brady. He's so active and curious, he can play and run crazy.

Alexandria's First Day of Kindergarten

Alexandria was ready to go and so was Brady. He didn't understand that his first day wasn't until tommorrow. So, I decided to pack his lunch too.
Alexandria is 1 of 2 kids in her class with blond hair. Kind of different but ok.

Alexandria started her first day of kindergarten today. She woke up so excited and ready to go. It's the earliest I have been up in a long time. Anyways, she was so cute with her uniform, backpack and lunch box. She wasn't scared but probably a little nervous. Mom cried-I will confess. I was such a baby. But I am excited for this big new step in her life.

Alexandria's tooth

Alexandria lost her second tooth. I thought the picture was so cute. Another big step in the growing up of my kids. When they are babies, you think they will never grow up and now that they are, I am excited but sad at the same time.

Ward Campout

Ok so, I don't have any pictures of the ward campout but I thought I would share our experiences from that. We have not been big on camping since having children but decided we should give it a try. The first time we went was a few years ago when Alexandria was barely 2 and I was about 7 months pregnant with Brady. Many of you have heard the stories-locked keys in car, Alexandria screaming all night because she was scared of the wind that blew our tent and so forth. This time we added a child and thought if everyone else is bringing their kids, we can to. Brady pooped his pants twice. Big mess! What's new-he does this a lot however, we have made progress so we thought until last night. Then Alexandria complained of a headache and starting throwing up. That was at about 9:00-9:30 at night. Then after cleaning up the throw up and Alexandria, Brady decides to pee his pants. Mind you we have been standing in front of the bathrooms for 20 minutes because that's where Alex threw up. After going back and forth about going home, we stayed and the rest of the night was not too bad. But what a campout! It was fun and lots of work was put into the planning. Thanks so much Anita!

Excited about School Starting

Alex and Brady are so excited for school to start. We just bought their backpacks and lunch boxes. Pretty typical-princess and spider-man. But I thought it was a cute picture, both kids half naked. Excited but sad at the same time-both kids starting school next week. Big changes, they are no longer my little babies!

Swimming Lessons

My kids are taking swimming lessons at the Monterey Sports Center pool and they are loving it. I am especially excited because it's Brady's first time doing swim lessons by himself. Brady is a Sea Turtle and Alexandria is an Otter. Alexandria is totally swimming. It's amazing-she's not a baby anymore. She's starting kindergarten and swimming all by herself in the deep end. Brady is of course more than the teacher can handle. He's jumping up and down and messing around. The teacher keeps the kids on the stairs while she works with each kid individually. Of course, the other kids can't sit still so Brady's messing around and he slips off the last step. He's under the water trying to get back to the stairs. I am freaking out!!!!! Alex is in the water about 5 feet away from him so I yell to Alex to grab him, she doesn't hear so by now I am about to jump into the water. Another swim instructor about 2 feet away from Brady turns around and grabs him. I was so scared-Brady was fine but it definitley freaked me out!!!!! I may not be ready for him to be a big boy yet.

We have been to the strawberry patch many times in the last couple of months. We went as a family, with playgroup, with aunts, uncles, grandma and our cousins. The kids love it. They have become professional berry pickers. The strawberry patch is in Watsonville, California; about 20 miles from home. They also sell pies, have haystacks and a tractor for the kids to play on.

Disney Land

We had fun on our trip to Disney Land! The kids loved meeting Mickey Mouse. Alexandria is all girl and loved meeting Sleeping Beauty. She also met Cinderella and Snow White. Brady loved meeting Buzz Lightyear. Brady had big eyes and a big smile when he met him. Of course when I took the picture he looked freaked out! Brady also met goofy and Pluto. The kids loved all the rides except the ones that were enclosed, like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White's Scary Adventure and Pirates of the Carribean. The darkness and the loud music scared Alexandria to death. We were gone 4 days; 2 days for travel, 1 day at disneyland and 1 day at California Adventures.

New at blogging

This is my first time blogging. I am still trying to figure out what I am doing. Everyone in Monterey blogs so I thought I better get started.