Camping at Tropic

Derek, Sofie and I spent the weekend down at Tropic Reservoir (Dixie Ntl. Forest) with the Blatters. It was nice to get out of the heat, although a little cold the first night. Relaxing on Mom's bed after a night of not-so-much sleep
Sofie got plenty of extra attention from cousins Cameron and Broden.

Fishing at Tropic Reservoir. (With so many boys in the family, Sofie gets plenty of attention!)

The highchair rig. Sofie loved having pancakes for breakfast! And yes, the dork hat to keep her ears warm :)

Loving Cousin Cameron

The camp.

And just in case the woods don't keep you occupied...Jake brought up the foosball table. This thing got PLENTY of use over the weekend!

A little too close to a forest fire. Don't worry it was managed, but still a little smokey.

Highlights of the Evenin'

My (Andrea's) mom and I got to watch Sierra for the day. Both girls took a nap at the exact same time, and woke up at the exact same time! Sierra was an angel all day, and also kept Sofie entertained. :)
Looks like the pecking order is already beginning to settle in this relationship, although Sofie doesn't seem to mind the labor.

Darling baby girl watching a butterfly. I feel like I should attach a poem!

Who says '95 Ford Escorts don't need a little TLC every once in a while. Derek spent the evening fixing a problem with my car...although we didn't have enough Lube for the job Derek was resourceful and found something he's a little more familiar with (as a massage therapist): Soothing Touch Lavander Scented Massage Oil.

Should I be jealous that my husband was using massage oil on the underbelly of my car??

Pic of the Day

Okay, I couldn't choose just one!

"Why so serious?"

Better Pics

People are always more willing to pose when they're holding a cutie pie :)
Heidi and her brother are actually from Macao, which apparently does not do the whole one-child policy thing. There are 5 kids in her family!

Pics of the Week and Wonderful China-ness

Sofie is finally well and happy and re-learning how to sleep through the night (although it's taking mom a little longer to get used to)! Oh and she is growing a sweet mullett...yikes!

Now that Sofie finally has some energy and doesn't need to be held by mom 24/7, she's practicing the grown-up way of life...walking!! Well, not on her own just yet, but it shouldn't be too long.

Sofie playing with Grandpa's tools.

"Please let me play on the laptop mommy!"

Kissing Roo's wolf. Hee hee hee

As some of you know, we can't stand to have a home without visitors. This week we have exchange students from Zhong Shan, China (In Guangdong province, not too far from Hong Kong). This first picture is Li Meng (Laura). She is an English teacher and can't seem to get enough of Sofie. Sofie loves the wonderful Chinese people!

Here is He Jiawei and He Jiafei (I actually can't remember which is which...) but their English names are Eric and Heidi. Eric is 14, Heidi is 12 (brother and sister, a rare scenerio in a one-child country). Their first time to America, they will be here at our home for 10 days while going to English class and seeing the sites around here. Then they will be touring around in California. Although they primarily speak Cantonese, their Mandarin is perfectly "biaojun" and easy to understand. It's so fun to be able to use my Chinese again! Making cornbread for their first American dinner!

I wish I was in Seaside

This background reminds me of the lovely honeymoon Derek and I took in Oregon. Does anyone want to sponsor me a trip to Seaside? I'd kill to be there right now!!

Pic of the Day

Second diagnosis of the day:

Diarrhea of the Mouth

Doc update

Well, she's not dying. So, that's good. But she probably wishes she was. On top of the flu/cold she got a couple weeks ago and never recovered from...she has a new virus that gives you a sore throat and fever for a week. Yikes. Can't give her anything but Tylenol for it. Oh yeah, and I'm sure the four teeth that are making her feel miserable don't help the throat pain. Poor little thing. But she never cries! Such a trooper!

Celebration...then Back to Reality

Here we are on the 4th at Burgess Park in Alpine. We had a giant Porcaro Family picnic, like every year. I think there were more people there this year than ever! The weather was relatively cool (relative to the unbearably hot years of the past). This is the only picture I have until I can get a hold of the millions that Grandma took. :) So maybe a later post...About half way through the day Sofie started getting a bit lethargic but refused to nap. Then she got this crazy fever, which I attributed to cutting four upper teeth. However, now we're going on day 3 of fever (yesterday it was 103) so I'm thinking something else might be up. She has a doctor's appointment in about an hour, so hopefully we can solve this thing. She's been so pathetically attached to me the past few days :( I miss my talkative, mobile baby.