My first craving....

I don't normally have things that I call cravings when I am pregnant. Yes I always wanted cake with Ashling but I doubt that was healthy. And with Ali I just wanted Tucanos food for 9 months. But the other night Cameron was messing around in the kitchen at 10:00 pm and I asked what he was making. He said, "taco soup." This sounded very good to me and I begged and pleaded for him to make it. After he wouldn't, I went in the kitchen to see if I had the ingredients to make it. I didn't. There are no stores open on the mountains at 10:00 p.m. and so I gave up. A couple of days later I made it for dinner and it was as good as it sounded. I am still craving it and will buy the stuff to make it again today. I hope my family doesn't get tired of it because I really need to eat taco soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner..... well maybe not quite that much but it is close.

So here is the recipe for taco soup in case you want to know what it is I am craving....

Taco Soup

1 pound hamburger cooked just like tacos
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can ro-tel (it is by the tomatoes and I always get mild)
1 envelope taco seasoning

Dump all ingredients into a pot. Stir around and cook until warm. Serve over fritos chips in a bowl and put sour cream and cheese on top. Very yummy.

In other news I am in my second trimester! Finally I am 14 weeks along and starting to feel better and get some energy back. We went on a hike last night and now I know that being lazy for 7 weeks has not been good for my endurance and I will have to build up again. I am not showing in anyway that looks pregnant and still wearing my normal clothes although they are a little tighter. I am glad this baby is already not as big as Ashling was at the same point. Hopefully the fact that sweets aren't high on my list has helped....

Attack of the Sugar Monster

We invited our friends up for the weekend from Murrieta. We had a great time. We made some steak and hot dogs and then drove over to Lake Arrowhead. Barbara and I got pedicures while the men entertained the kids. After that we did a little shopping. Barbara got a new purse and I got some new shoes that actually have a heel. (They looked really cute to show off my pedicure.) We came back to the house and Cameron made some brownies.

This is where it got a little interesting. I think that Cameron and I are a little unprepared for a new baby. We forget that they get into everything especially since Ashling never really got into anything and always tried to listen. Anyways their little boy is two and like all two year olds into everything. We were enjoying talking and nobody noticed him slip away. Later we went into the kitchen and saw that he had played with our sugar like sand and spread it all over the kitchen. Cameron and Andrew cleaned it up and it seemed like it was all gone. Until today I opened my lower cupboards and found sugar everywhere! It should be interesting to have to baby proof our house and ourselves again. The moral to this story is put the sugar away after you use it Cameron!

It's not hot anymore....

I just thought I would update you in case you were worried about us being hot-that it is not hot anymore. It is wonderful and perfect for summer. We have had cloudy cool days for the past four days and I am not complaining! This is why we live in the mountains. 70 degrees is perfect.

Other than that we went to the beach on Saturday with friends. It was nice and relaxing although the waves were a little dangerous. My little fish stayed in the water the entire time we were there and complained when we finally made them get out when the life guards went off duty. We made a nice hamburger dinner and enjoyed the time visiting with the Holmes. Later we went out for desert at Denny's. Ashling was not happy when I made her take a shower at 11:30 at night. She cried and told me she was too tired and then proceeded to sleep in until 9:00 the next morning.

On the pregnancy front I still feel sick and pregnant even though I am 13 weeks along. I threw up this morning! I thought this was supposed to be a first trimester thing.... When will it be over?

Lake Gregory

I found a new love.... Don't worry you don't have to feel sorry for Cameron it's not that bad. I have fallen in love with a lake that we have in the mountains. I love swimming of any kind and have felt like there was no where to go this year much to my disappointment. Today a friend of mine, (Amanda,) suggested we go to Lake Gregory. It was wonderful. There was a nice lake that wasn't too dirty with lots of sandy shore and pretty warm water. It wasn't particularly warm today and it was overcast but the lake still felt wonderful. We rented a long board that the kids could paddle on and they went all over the lake with it (or at least out to the buoys where they had to stop with life vests on.) Ali convinced me to take her to the other side of the lake so I got to get some exercise while taking her across on the long board.

Other than the swimming there was sand to dig in and the kids played a little frisbie. They also had a cheap reasonable snack bar and the kids got corn dogs. There were shade trees if you wanted to stay out of the sun and plenty of sunny beach too.

I plan on going back lots of times. With gas so expensive the beach is hard to go to this year and so this will be our new beach. What a wonderful little spot to take the kids for the day and let them work on swimming and playing in the sun. Maybe I will remember the camera and sometime we can have pictures too.

It's Hot

It is too hot here. It is not supposed to be hot here. We live in the mountains for a very specific reason and that reason is that I can not handle the heat. I like sleeping with the house under sixty degrees and I like having to wear sweatshirts in the summer. But sometimes we have hot spells and we are having quite a spell right now!

When I was a little girl my dad took me hunting near the Mexican border and I got heat exhaustion so bad that I couldn't walk anymore. My dad had to leave me under a bush and hike to get the truck because I was so sick. I have continued to get heat exhaustion each time it is too hot and I try to do anything. So the reason my house is a mess today is because it was too hot and I didn't want to get heat exhaustion. Right?

I have decided we need a room air conditioner. Today! I tried to get Cameron to stop and buy me one but he claimed his evening was too busy and he couldn't. This is not what you say to a pregnant woman who had a headache and feels sick to her stomach because of the heat. Today it was 85 degrees in my house! Don't you think that is a little too hot? Anyways I know that it isn't as hot as Phoenix but we don't have a pool or air conditioning so perhaps it feels warmer. If anyone happens to have an air conditioner for a window that they no longer need please let me know! In the mean time I will call Cameron every day at work around 3:00 and beg for relief!

Our Trip to Mammoth

We went to Mammoth for 4th of July weekend. It was a great vacation. We left around 10:00 on Friday morning. We drove to Lone Pine and ate Carl's Junior while we played at the wonderful park in Lone Pine. It has a great park, a wonderful field with trees and a creek running through it and picnic tables. We spent about 45 minutes there and then we drove up to Pine Creek on the other side of Bishop. Cameron fished, Ali tried to catch butterflies, Ashling threw rocks in the river and watered the plants and I read. We were all happy. It was all going well until we left. There was one stinging nettle plant in the area we were in and we had warned the girls to stay away. But Ali managed to fall right in the middle of the stinging nettle plant. She got it all over her arms. And of course we didn't have our first aid kit with us. So I borrowed some cream from someone at the creek and in a little while she was feeling better and forgot all about it.

We then checked in to our condo and I took the girls swimming while Cameron worked on starting dinner. He came to join us in a little while and they enjoyed the hot tub while I sat on the side. (Pregnant ladies are not supposed to be in hot tubs and the pool was cold with the wind blowing.)

After dinner we drove down to Crowley Lake to see the fire works. We found a place we thought would be really good and played a little frisbie while waiting. The fireworks were okay but it was a little far from the fireworks and we were a little disappointed. Next time we will know to park closer.

On Saturday morning we made Orange rolls and had a nice breakfast. Then we went to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort and rode the tram to the top of Mammoth Mountain. It was a great view and a great day. We hiked around, had lunch and looked at the distcovery center. We loved showing the girls the Sierras and can't wait to take them backpacking next year! Ali loved seeing the volcanoes and she ran all over trying to catch butterflies. Ashling liked to tell Ali that she saw a butterfly and watch her catch them.

Here is a picture of the butterfly Ali caught. She caught a lot on the trip but this is the one we got pictures of. She crept up on it so carefully and managed to catch it even though it was a big one. She was really sad to let it go.



On Saturday afternoon Cameron went fishing with Ali who went fishing for butterflies. Ashling and stayed at the condo and took a nap. Later we took the girls swimming again. Then Cameron took Ali and Ashling to another firework show in the village. Ali and Ashling danced to beach boys music and enjoyed a small firework show. (I was feeling a little under the weather so I stayed at the condo.)

Sunday we checked out of the hotel and drove around the lakes in Mammoth. We then drove south and stopped in Big Pine Canyon for a couple hours. Once again Cameron fished, Ali caught butterflies and played house with Ashling and I enjoyed reading. We ended our vacation and drove the rest of the way home.