By Far My Favorite Day of The Year

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!! I love, love, love the first day of school.  I feel like that is my new years.  I love being back on a solid routine.  Knowing what to expect everyday.  And this year Nico started Kindergarten.  Oh happy day.  I know mom's get all sad and sappy when their kids go to school and I did when Sydney went, but when you send subsequent children after that first, you throw a party.   Both kids love their teachers which is good because they happen to be husband and wife.  Sydney has Mr. Smith and Nico has his wife Mrs. Smith.  I am looking forward to the challenges two in school bring.  Bring it on, I'm ready.  Double lunches, homework, showers, crankiness in the morning times two, the fighting to comb hair times 2(cuz i have to brush out Nico's and he gets tangles it's so long).  And I am so happy to go back to the gym, I felt alive today.  Horray for school.

Sydney is so proud to be carrying her Jonas Bros. bag this year.  And she picked out all her own new school clothes, with final approval by me of course.
Nico waiting to go inside his class. At least he didn't cry like alot of other kids.  He didn't even wave goodbye.

What's a new school year without new shoes and little tan legs.

Pure Beauty

How gorgeous is this preggo beauty?  Today I attended my sister in law Natalie's baby shower. And she was gracious enough to indulge me and let me take a bunch of pics of her pregnant glow.  She looked like a goddess today.   Even though you could tell she was tired and ready to not be pregnant, she just glowed.  She radiated a motherly love that made her seem so calm and serene.  I am so glad I got to capture just a little bit of it.   Natalie I hope you like these pics as much as I love them.  I realize the mother to be doesn't always see the beauty, they see the tired eyes, weight gained, large belly, but all I could see was the tender love of our Heavenly Father who allows women this rare and precious gift of baring His sons and daughters.    What an intense honor and privalege.  And Natalie exudes such a beautiful example of this.  I can't wait to meet this amazing little girl that will grace the Garces/Smith family in just a few weeks.  


Natalie and her mom and sisters.  Such a wonderful thing to see the love that awaits this little girl. 

Trost Girls Nicknames

Jayme left a comment on my last blog asking how my sisters and I came up with out nicknames.  Well I really had nothing to do with it.  It's all my sisters, I'm just a victim.   So here you go Jayme.

Lauren-aka Duane= Lauren has grown up with a condition of her eyes called Duane Syndrome.  Or lazy eye.  She's had a couple surgeries to correct it, but the name has stuck, Duane she is.

Megan-aka Margaret= Margaret stems from the movie Dennis the Menace from the 90's.  The annoying little girl is named Margaret and since my sisters have an affinity for quoting movies Margaret stuck. 

Kelly-aka Queeda= Ok so I have no idea where this name came from.  But when we were there this summer Sophie started calling her Queee-Taaaa.  It was hilarious.

Charlotte-aka Char Char Man= Another one that I think just evolved.  She hated it when we ever called her Charlie or Char so I think it just evolved however I don't know where the man part came in.  I'll have to ask Queeda.

Olivia-aka Livvy Lee lee Pirate pee pee, or pirate for short=When pirate smiles she closes one eye unknowing,  and again have no idea where the pee pee part came from.  Queeda would know.  She's the nickname Don.  

Cameron-aka Fats= (my brother) Links from his obsession for body building so instead of telling him he was getting big muscular wise, I think they just started calling him fats.

Me-aka weiner=  Ok so Don Queeda gave me the nickname Skinny Weinie when I was huge and preggo with Sophie and then right after.  Last summer when we arrived my sisters asked Nico was my nickname was and he told them my name was Rachel Weiner, and Queeda commanded Weiner  it was and still is.  I don't exaggerate when we don't even call each other by our real names.  Even my kids use the nicknames.  

Our mom is mama Jill, and Dad stayed dad.  I don't think anyone wanted to mess with him.  So there you go, the history behind our nicknames.  

Auntie Kelly

Auntie Kelly came for a visit this last week.  I am so happy when my family comes out to visit.   Nick says I'm always in the best mood while they're here.   Very true.   We were very busy, so this could take a couple posts.  When she arrived we had to find a free clinic for her to get a TB test for school.  Something she just forgot, and we ended up in ghetto Ontario with ghetto people.  It was almost a little scary.  And it took FOREVER.  We're talking 2 hours to get a little needle stuck in your arm, literally took less than 5 minutes.  So after that fiasco we chowed on some Jack in the Crack did a little shopping, (kelly got a darling bathing suit) and hit up soccer practice for Syd followed by In n Out.  All of our eating experiences are places Virginia can't claim so she craves it.   

Thursday we headed out to Fashion Island for a little more shopping, but really what can I afford there, our real motive was to hit up the highly touted Sprinkles Cupcakes.  And yes they lived up to the acclaim.  At least the red velvet did.  And then we headed down to Corona Del Mar for a little romp on the beach.  Kelly has the beach pics from that day so I'll have to get the from her and the Sprinkles pics.  But I do have the fashion island pics so here you go.

Queeda and my girls.  My sisters and I have silly nicknames for each other. Rachel=wiener, Lauren=duane, megan=margaret, kelly=queeda, Charlotte=char char man, and olivia=pirate livvy pee pee pants or pirate for short.  Trust me it's a little embarassing when we're in public and I get called weiner.
Although I don't fit in at Fashion Island, it really is a pretty mall and has some great architecture, so I snapped some.


Before we headed out we made a pit stop at Wahoo's for lunch.  Our fave place, and don't even get me started on how excited I am that by the end of this year Chino Hills will have one. Anyway Kelly, Sophie's blowing you a kiss.
During lunch, all of a sudden Sophie is really starting to cheese it up for the camera.  I LOVE it.
At the fountain at Fashion Island.

Kelly always looks soooo cute.  Ahh to be single again and to be able to spend my money on me and cute clothes.  Kelly you're my style guru.  And don't think I don't copy her, I'm proud to admit it.
Love these little cheese heads.  It was a great day.

Happy Birthday Stinker Bell

Happy Birthday to the funniest 2 year old I know.  Sophie cracks us up all the time.  She is quite hilarious.  So to honor my stinker I thought I might list a few of my favorite things about her.

-She has a love for art, especially when it's on her body or my furniture.

-She love, love, loves Yo gabba gabba, she won't go anywhere without her Grobe stuffed animal

-She gives the best kisses and hugs.

-She is a total daddy's girl.  She and Nick have a really special bond. I hope they keep it.

- She is my baby who has to have her blankie, binkie and grobe and her bottle where ever she is in our house.  She would bring them everywhere if she could.

-She is a picky eater.  

-and our family wouldn't be complete without her.

I LOVE YOU BABY GIRL!!!!!

Hershey, PA

Back to Virginia, I still have more.  Here are some pics from our trip to Hershey PA.  This was the cutest little town.  And since it is the starting place of Hershey Chocolate, every light post looks like a  hershey kiss and when you pass the original factory they pump the smell of chocolate into the air, it makes your mouth water.  We went to what they call the factory but it's almost like a Hershey amusement park.  We saw a 3-d movie that rivaled the Bugs life  3-d at disneyland.  Even Sophie loved it, then we jumped on a ride that took us through the process of making all the yummy candy that Hershey makes.  At the end of each thing you did, there was someone waiting to give you candy.  Yes, this place was free and they gave you candy everywhere you went, and then there was a giant bakery and store.  Yummo!  

These were the singing cows that welcomed you to the ride and they sang throughout the entire ride.   A little annoying when your sisters learn it and never shut up.
Nico @ Gettysburg again, just another fave.
Our first night in Hershey in the Red Robin parking lot.  Lauren NEEDED to eat there.  You can't tell but there is a gorgeous sunset behind us.  And sorry we look sooo tired.  We had driven all day with our pit stops in Gettysburg.
They had some amazing signs all over from when the company was just starting out.  I loved this one.
Lauren and my kids in front of the Hershey cow.
In the lobby, and don't ask why my dad's not smiling, he just doesn't do that anymore.  SMILE DAD!
After Hershey we headed over to Amish country.  A very different experience.  It's very strange to be driving down the street and seeing buggies and horses everywhere.  Kelly couldn't contain herself and every time we saw Amish people and their buggies she started cracking up.  It was pretty funny.   Amish country falls in a town called Intercourse, PA.  Interesting name if you ask me.  So here we are in a silly sign at a Amish marketplace.
Mom and Kelly at Five Guys.  They have pretty tasty burgers and fries.  They rival In'n'Out.
Posing in the car on the way home.  We hit some outlets for some shopping on the way home too.  What's a trip without shopping.  I got some awesome deals at these outlets.

Here's a pick of Amish Country. Pretty Huh?
Lauren thought it was hilarious that she got Nico's hair in a pony tail.

Vacation....Part 2

Our second trip we took last week was to Laughlin, NV with our boat.  We try to take a couple of these trips each summer, but with gas prices being what they are and our SUV being a diesel, we could only do one trip this year.  The weather was hot 110 degrees on average, but suprisingly I wasn't dying like I usually am.  I don't know if it felt generally cooler or if my body is changing.  Who knows.  We were there 4 days, and spent 3 on the water.  We bought a new pull toy for the kids and we met a wonderful family that was beached next to us.  We go the first day and find the beach spot we want, set up our canopy and all our gear, and when the day is done we leave it all there so our spot is still there the next day.  And we rent a slip in the marina so we don't have the drama of towing the boat in and out every day on the water.  Making our lives so much easier.  The family we met are from Redondo Beach and they have a Sophie that's almost 2 as well.  The girls loved each other, by the last day they were giving each other goodbye hugs.  We can't wait to see them again.  I love meeting new friends.

My little model man, my brother told me yesterday he needed a haircut, um NO WAY.  I absolutely love his hair. I think I'll keep growing it out long.
Our boat. The little boat that could.  This thing is a real trooper.  We brought it new in 1998 and it's never disappointed.  But as our family gets bigger we are looking at the larger deck boats with boat envy. Maybe in a few years.
This is the new pull toy we got the kids.  They loved it, they didn't want to get out.  I rode in it with Sophie and it was fun.  
So believe it or not Sydney and Nico are in the raft at this point.  This thing caught some serious air.  At one point they were at least 7-8 feet off the ground.  They didn't want to stop flying.   The laughter coming out of their mouths was so loud.   And they never fell out.  Never.

Crusing Lake Mohave.  Sophie hated wearing her life jacket.  She cried the entire time she had to wear it.   Safety first.  She loved the water though.  Didn't want to come out.
A momentary smile in the life vest.  Miracles do happen.
Me and my baby girl.  I can't believe she'll be 2 in a couple weeks.
Playing on the sand.  They only bad thing about our spot was the giant red ants that infested because Sophie kept dropping food.   They were trying to carry entire crackers, it was pretty funny to watch.
My girls.  I am so jealous of their skin color.  It's that mexican part of them.  They get so golden and beautiful.  Nico is now darker than Nick with all the sun he's seen this summer.  

Sorry I babbbled a little, I'm trying to detail everything for my journaling sake.