Long Beach, Aegean Cafe, and a little extra

playing a little catch up in my posting...
It had been quite a long time since we have seen Andrew and Jessie. As you can see from the photo above, Abram settled right in.

An even deeper sleep.

Aunt Jessie is such a cool aunt. The girls always have such fun with her. She so easily comes up with exciting yet simple things for them to do. I love her.

After our time with A&J, we took the children to the Aegean Cafe. This place has some sweet significance for us. When I went to meet Bri's family for the first time (1997), we had dinner one night at AC in Laguna Beach. So whenever we've gone back, Bri and I like to recall those exciting and nervous sparks that were flying between us. It also happens to be the first time I fell in love with all of Bri's sisters. I wanted so much to have good relationships with them since Brian held them in such high regard.

The belly dancer was one of Santi's favorites of the night as she was studying her dancing. Both of the girls were like, "Why is she dressed so immodestly?" A brief lesson on world cultures followed.

First Day Jitters

School started Monday August 25th, just a few days after we got back from California. I assumed the first day jitters would come from being a little nervous about a new school year. There was none of that though. Luckily.

The jitters were a result of the outbreak of mosquitos in our area bringing with them all of the fears of Malaria, West Nile and any other doomsday disease they may spread about. Since Hurricane Dolly and subsequent storms there's a surplus of standing water in the county. Yah, gross. It's acutally been so bad that the children didn't have recess or PE outside for the first week. Thankfully, our area has been spared flooding. That wouldn't have been a great welcome home present.

So, in an effort to get the traditional first day of school photo in front of the house, I made the girls brave the swarms of mosquitos. Which accounts for coerced smiles and Santi's flinching. Bug spray all around.
Having already met their teachers a few nights before, the girls were more than happy to walk into school on their own. Bri and I had to hustle just to catch up. It turns out Marin had walked Santi to class to make sure she remembered where to go and then went to class herself. When we finally did catch up, they were kind enough to humor us with a photo outside each of their classrooms. I hope next year they'll still need us to walk with them to school, at least. Jeez.


As Bri and I walked home with Abram, we noticed these gigantic mushrooms. With all the rainfall everything grows so quickly. A crazy part of subtropical life I guess. Abram thought they were funny.

Abram struggled the first week of school. He didn't much like the idea of the girls going somewhere without him. The first few days he stood by the front door and peered out the windows. The most heartbreaking part? He kept calling Santi's name, "Tanti, Tanti." When it was time to get them, his eyes lit up and he started kicking his legs and made his way straight for the door. After we pick up the girls, he gets his face right into theirs and just smiles, hoping they've missed him just as much. I love that they do.

Homework time at the table is such an event also. The girls lay out all their things and he tries to climb into his booster. We've discovered that giving him his own "homework" works best. Puzzles and his Cheerios books have been big hits so far. With a snack of course. It's hard work you know.

Blessed Day

One of the best things about being in California this summer was going to baby Maia's blessing. Her gown and accessories were so sweet. We were so grateful that the timing was perfect. Brian flew in the night before and was able to be there too. That is so unlike us. We usually miss everything. Alas.

The doting parents with their sweet baby girl. Joe gave a beautiful blessing. It was so much fun to sit at church with our entire family. I had some fun moments with Sadie Pants. I kept giving her snacks (I'll do anything to win the kids' affection) and toward the end of the meeting, she handed some pretzels back to me. I opened my mouth to eat them and she said, "No, they're dirty. They fell on the floor." So I ate them anyway. Yes, VERY gross, but she thought it was hilarious and I said I'd do anything to win her affection. I'm pretty sure she just knows that her Aunt Xoch is gross. Ah well.


Girls, girls, girls. We certainly don't hurt for a representation of girls in this family. They rule the roost.

The Hulses All (Santi, Sadie, Abram, Marin, and Kimball)! How cute is this picture with all the Hulse cousins (Bri and Cam's kids)? Such a fair group of kiddos if I've ever seen one. Although you can't tell from this photo, Abram really is almost a year older than Kimball.

Three wild and crazy guys. I love this photo.

Big Time. Check out how our family is growing. And there are two little babies on the way (thanks to Als and Laura). I just love this photo because it shows the chaos before a posed picture. I can just hear Big Finn saying, "Now, ah, Bri you stand there... and...ah...Santi, Santi, take your hand out of your mouth....ah...alright...everybody smile. Sadie, Sadie, look over here. Say...ah...Cameron can you make Kimball look over here?" Meanwhile we're all chatting and I don't even know where my kids are. It was really fun. Next time we should hire an events coordinator and give old Finner a break.

Joe and Emmers' ward house was right down the street from Marin's old preschool. Driving by brought back memories of my three-year-old Marin. She's grown up so much. We can't help but relish moments like these, when we get to retell stories from their babyhood while we all drive in the car.

Renee and some of her family that we hadn't seen in too long. It was great for Gina to come. Even though they had a long drawn-out day at Sea World the day before, they made the trek from Glendora since they heard we were actually in town. So nice.

It was so great to see Renee's aunt, Maxine. I don't think I've seen her since Gina and Janell's wedding receptions. So this was a very special treat. I only regret not having photographed my kids with her. Hopefully we'll do that next year.

Here are some fun photos we took of Emmers and Maia Moos.

Man, I LOVE this girl.

Maia's blessing gave us a really great opportunity to take pictures of Renee with all the grandkids. It was a little tricky to try and get a picture with all those little kiddos wiggling around, especially since none of us are professionals. But we had a good time. And it should hold us over until next summer when two new little ones will be part of the pictures. I'm just so happy! Nine grandkids!!!

Grandma Nay was such a sport with these kids. We had marshmallows to bribe them to smile. What would we have done without Amy and her big bag of mallows?

How cute is this picture with Als and Otter Pops?

Chris took this sweet picture of Marin.

I love having a tall husband. I do so hate using a kitchen stool when he's out of town.

It Paid to Discover

While visiting Orange County, we went to the Discovery Science Museum in Santa Ana. It was a great time. We met up with Auntie Boo, Aunt Emmers and Baby Maia, and also the Wilkins. It turned out to be a place where the girls pretty much ran on their own. I kept busy running after the boy and trying to snap photos of him seeing cool things for the first time.

This life-size model of a Brontosaurus (it's called an Apatosaurus now?) allowed the children to walk inside and get a glimpse of the anatomy and physiology as well as the ooey gooey. They loved it.

One of the girls' favorites was going on a dinosaur hunt. They created nicknames worthy of paleontology detectives and used these wands that remotely "uncovered" bones and fossils which became clues to a fun scavenger hunt. There are several different expeditions to go on, so next time we go, they'll do it again.

Abram played with the baby dinos while the girls ran around in search of missing bones. He also crawled around in the caverns. In and out. In and out.

The girls were able to pull their own weight, or what it feels like on respective planet. I wish I could've gotten more details on each planet, but I was trying to keep the little guy from crashing the party. I did get a short clip of the girls which you can see below.

Here is Abram trying to get a better look at his sisters doing something he's just too small to do. He's becoming less and less patient about those situations. I'm in trouble.

How stoked is Baby Maia to be there! I was surprised that she didn't get over stimulated with all the noise and the people. She's such a good girl. Love her!

The girls checking themselves out on TV.

Yes We Can!

Not to be confused with Obama's campaign slogan, Abram loved the Bob the Builder exhibit. It was the perfect thing for a tot of his age and disposition (hands on destruction). He couldn't get enough of it. There was a moment where Destructor Boy came out. A little boy about 2-years-old had built an intricate building of blocks. Without a moment of hesitation, Abram threw his arm completely back and with one strong and decisive blow knocked down the kid's blocks. The boy just sat there stunned, mouth open, jaw to the floor. His creation was gone.

The girls, whether instinctively or from experience, immediately flew in and gushed apologies at the boy and his mother. "We're so sorry. Oh my goodness! He's so fast. We're soooooo sorry." Fortunately the mother thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. Phew! That could've been ugly. Sometimes hands-on exhibits bring out the worst in parents. I'm glad it didn't.

This rock wall reminded me that Marin hasn't been rock climbing since we moved to the land without mountains or rock gyms. And although we didn't get to go this trip, we have to go next time we're in California.

Look at this little treasure we found in the Grossology exhibit. I first heard of it from Santi saying, "Mom, there's a room in there with poop on the wall." I was like, gross, what kind of place is this? I can't believe someone hasn't cleaned it up by now. Sick." Then she wanted to show me, and of course, I couldn't resist seeing poop on a wall, so I went along. If this little nugget alone wasn't worth the trip, then I'm no Hulse. Strangely, Abram did need a diaper change just then. Coincidence? I think not.

The Weeniest Weenie Roast

The pictures speak for themselves. We had such a great time at the beach with Grandma Nay. We went to Aliso Creek Beach for a cookout which further proves the theory that the Hulses believe food makes every event so much better. I married into the right family.

It's probably exhaustive, but I want all of these pictures printed in our memory book.

I have to say that it was particularly entertaining to see Joe (the tallest in our family at 6'7"?) roasting teeny weenie Lil' Smokies on the Smokey Joe. Apparently we ran out of hot dogs, but Grandma Nay, in her unrivaled foresight to ensure we never actually run out of food, brought lil' smokies. Nice backup. I lost count of how many the girls ate, but our bellies were quite satisfied. Joe also roasted marshmallows for S'mores. I just sat there and ate, and ate, and ate. Honestly, I didn't even get up, I had the S'mores summoned to me. I hope it becomes a long-standing Hulse tradition. I love beach cookouts.

Despite being high tide and that the waves crash right onto the beach, the girls got as much action as they could. Abram wasn't too far behind. He doesn't heed any warnings and kept making a mad dash for the surf. He didn't mind playing in the sand and he certainly didn't mind Joe's Lil' Smokies with a few s'mores.

This is where Abram and Michael (Laura's hubby) bonded. After this, Abram looked around for Michael everyday. "Uncle Mike!"

I seriously love to do stuff with my kids. They (usually) are so much fun to be around and they are always up for doing something fun and exciting. As they grow older, I hope they'll still have a zest for family time and a patience for the younger ones. Especially since the younger cousins seem to be coming in droves now days.

Grandma Nay, and some of her adoring grandgirls, getting pulled every which way.