Sunburst Ranch- Kids Unplugged

On Saturday July 9th we packed up the family and headed to Sunburst Sacred Earth Institute for their first annual Kids Unplugged day. The kids had a blast! There were games, a guided hike, face painting, arts and crafts and even a treasure hunt. The kids got to decorate their own t-shirt and visited the "hobbit house". They also got to participate in a karate demonstration (Caden LOVED that) and got to participate in making a mandala. I think the highlight for them however was playing on the big drum. We are definitely going to make this one of our family traditions. The kids have already been asking to go back. we can't wait until next year!




The kids listening to a story.
Some of the beautiful shirts the kids made.

Daddy and Ashy enjoying the beautiful day.
The kids got to meet a hawk.

Here we are going on a scavenger hunt.




The hobbit house.





The kids favorite part was playing on the giant drum.





The mandala the kids made.

Tea trying to get her shirt.

Fourth of July

Every year for the fourth of July our family has a a pool party/BBQ at my grandparents house. This tradition has been around since we were little kids. It sounds innocent enough but for our family the 4th of July turns into a full fledged war. When we were kids it consisted of tipping each other off of the pool toys and splashing each other. You would think as we got older this juvenile behavior would come to and end. Fortunately this is not the case, instead it's escalated. What used to be innocent splashing now consists of drowning, pool noodle whipping and chucking hard rubber balls at one anothers head. I must say that the kids were quite confused by the adults behavior. We are constantly telling them to play nice and not to hit. Somehow those rules don't apply to us on the 4th of July. At first we thought maybe we were setting a bad example for the little ones but then we decided it was good for them to see since they were next inline to carry on the tradition. We also joked if we'd ever be too old for our family war and unanimously we decided we could never be too old, the only difference is our weapons may change to canes and walkers.




Cousin Aleah enjoying some watermelon.
Caden enjoying the party.
Some of the crew.

Tea enjoying the warm sunshine after a long day of swimming.
 

2 years- before and after

Over the past 2 years we have been working our tails off at building a home for our family.  When you hear us say we've been busy we're not just saying it.  We have been crazy busy.  On top of Don and I both working and having 3 kids we have been putting our last name KAIZEN to the test.  We have been putting forth continuous effort everyday and striving for better.  Here's a brief overview of what we've been up to .

In the beginning..............there was nothing but dirt. (Dec 2009)




Then we found this house at it's comfy location up in Avila Bay Estates
The walkway
The front door and slider

The front picture windows and the old view
We decided to remove this house from Avila Bay estates and take it to its new home in the  community of Suey Creek.  Here it is heading up the bumpy mountainous roads.

A very tight squeeze, YIKES!
Almost there

Our future home, made it safely in one piece, or 3 pieces at least. (Jan 2010)

The picture windows

After the move the house was in shambles. Here's our front room.The future dining area

More of the dining area.
Slowly starting to take shape
Yay, our dining area.
The office area

  The middle bathroom before
 



The middle bathroom after .



The kids room before
A little help from Mommy's paint brush.  Here's the kids room after.

 


 

 







The living room before.


The bar area before.
 
The kitchen 



The view from the kitchen window before. More of the living room and fireplace area before.


Starting to take shape.



The master bedroom before.
 
Some paint. Some furniture.
The master bedroom almost done.

Looking out the slider in the master bedroom before.
Looking out the master bedroom slider after.
The hideous master bathroom before.






Master bathroom after.


The deck before



The dirt aka future yard before. (Dec 2009) After lots of picks , shovels, breaking bars and wheelbarrow loads  the yard is starting to level out.  (June 2010)
And now the fence building begins.  Not an easy task when the ground is almost solid rock. There were a few times we thought dynamite might have been a better option. (Dec 2010)
The future shed space leveled out.
The frame for the foundation. ( I'm about 7 months pregnant with Asher here.)

The cement is in.


Up go the walls.
Small side deck. This is where our future deck will be. (Feb 2011) The beginning stages of our deck and prepping for a paint job on the house. (April 2011)

Finally a coat of paint!
Future garden area.  (Jan 2011) We began by terracing some levels.Planter beds built and dirt and plants in. (April 2011) My little helpers.

Starting our chicken coop.
The chicken coop. Finally feeling like home. (July 2011)

Our home nestled in the trees. 



The beautiful view from our fabulous deck.  We feel so blessed.