Hot Fun in the Summertime

I shared with you the other day the adventures we had at Dodger Stadium, but baseball wasn't our original intention for going to Los Angeles last weekend - it was to see Tata and Abuela, Dave's parents!

Friday night, Tata and Abuela came to the hotel with dinner and some adult beverages so they could spend some quality time with Drew.  The next morning Drew read Abuela a story - you know to show off a bit.

That day we went to the Dodger game, and afterward headed over to Tata and Abuela's house to watch another game... football - Soccer that is.  US vs. Mexico.  Guess who this group was cheering on?

It was a divided group as we watched the game from the front yard - about half rooted for the US the other half for Mexico - who ended up winning.

Drew only napped for about 30 minutes from Dodger Stadium to their house, so he was a little feisty to say the least.  In trying to take a picture of he and Tata he would only make weird faces.

And a bit later on he was beyond ticked that I wouldn't let him ply outside the fence.  You couldn't tell that he was mad or anything by looking at him...

He did however pose with his cousins, Jasmine and Henry as we were leaving for the night.

The next day we met up with Tata and Abuela at Jonathan and Claudia's house - Drew's Aunt and Uncle and enjoyed their pool!  It was definitely warm in the sun!

Little Henry - who is about a year younger than Drew - was too small to join everyone in the pool, so he had his own pool.  And loved splashing everyone in the big one!  They of course returned the favor (you can see Drew's orange water wings in the big pool).

L-R: Dave, Drew from behind, friend of Drew's cousin Johanna, Henry & Tata

But alas we had to make the long drive home - so we needed to say our goodbyes.  I love this shot of Drew and Abuela.  We were hoping to make a few pit stops on our way home and visit a few friends who live along the way, but Drew had enough and was quite the beast (until he finally fell asleep - thankfully for 2 hours).   

We decided to take the 99 all the way home - we usually take I5 - but with some road construction on the 5 it seemed to make the most sense.  On the way to LA - the road construction detour allowed us to have a potty break at our friend's Mel and Chris' house outside of Bakersfield.

Civil Service Complete

To interrupt the LA recap blogs, I bring you the interruption to my week. Jury Duty.




I tried to be a productive employee while spending the day in the jury assembly room. The problem was that the Internet was at dial-up speed... Ugh. I gave up and decided to read and work from my cell phone.

The day was rather interesting. Fight for parking. Get up to the courthouse security and I'm kicked out because I apparently still had a camera in my purse from our trip. Of course the security guard couldn't have told me before I pulled the laptop out and began putting it all through the machine.

Back out to the car for me to put the camera away. Of course as I was repacking my laptop and gear I dumped my coffee all over myself and the courthouse floor. Oops.

Once I safely made it back all was well until it started pouring during our 2+ hour lunch break. Rain. At the end of June! That's like snow at the end of June for all you non-Californians.

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Dodger Blue - Up Close and Personal

Wow, I have people begging for this blog post!  Not only through me, but through Dave.  So by popular demand here you go...

For those that live under a rock or don't have Facebook, we were in LA this past weekend.  Mostly to visit Dave's Parents (Tata and Abuela), but also to catch a Dodger game.   Ironically we made it to the same game (Fan Photo day that is) last year... if you missed it here is the post.  This year we planned to go to the game this final weekend in June because it fit into the schedule and Dodgers were in town.  It was by chance that it fell on Fan Photo day.

Being the experienced "fans" we are (have no fear - I am still a Twins fan, but must go Dodger Blue in order to stay married) we knew when we had to be there, where to park to get closer to the front of the line etc.  Of course it helps that my Dodger fanatic husband has Dodger Stadium programmed into his phone and he called to get the scoop. I mean what MLB fan doesn't program their favorite stadium's phone number into their phone just in case they need to call for fan information?  (Insert the eye-roll I gave him when I found the "contact" in his phone this weekend)

So once we entered the stadium, we ran -not quite literally- to our "spot" near the first base line. 

Not long after we made "camp" our first ballplayer surprised us from the left side rather than the right side - where all the other players were starting.  Ted Lilly - who is a starting pitcher (not that day) but has also played with the Cubs, Yankee and A's organizations.

Player number two - Jamey Carroll, the Shortstop. 

If you couldn't tell - behind the fence, the players were standing behind a rope, so they don't always get too close to the fans.  That will change shortly as you'll see.

Third it was a former classmate of mine from my days at Antioch High - Aaron Miles, the Dodger 3rd baseman.  He graduated a year after me, and why I didn't think to name drop is beyond me.  We did chat for a few minutes though.

And then for the highlight of the day, the All-Star player Matt Kemp (who later got thrown out of the game).

Notice how he closed right in on Drew?  He wasn't doing that with anyone - in fact he was covered with bodyguards/security and he kept his distance, much to the dismay of the 7 or 8 year old who came in next to us trying to get Kemp's attention.   Rather than chatting with that little boy he swooped right in for Drew!

Those were the only players that came right up to us, but from a distance we saw several other including Casey Blake - a 3rd baseman (and the reason Dave's favorite player can't have his old number 23 on his jersey).

They announced at 12:04 that they were shutting the field down at 12:10 and Dave's favorite former player and current Dodger Manager was never going to make it to our little area - so instead we tried to go to him.  We had to settle for a few far away shots of Don Mattingly.

After that we had to have Drew catch a "ball" against the center field wall.

And since he did so well we went to our seats - which were fantastic and thankfully in the shade - and grubbed!

I believe it was in the 9th inning that Daddy and Drew tried to rally the Dodgers to get some runs - they were trailing the Angels 6-1 - by wearing their Rally caps.  They changed the cap every time it stopped working

(Ethier at bat)

Unfortunately it didn't work out to our advantage - Dodgers ended up losing.  Despite it being a loss, it was a a great game for the family.  Dave now wants to try and make it to all the Fan Photo days for our "annual" Dodger Game in SoCal.

Yesterday morning on our way to school, Drew asked me if I was taking him back to Dodger Stadium.  When I said no, he asked "Well are we going to LA then?".  Sorry buddy - you're stuck here in the real world with the rest of us.

Looking For Trouble

Last Tuesday my Dad a.k.a. GrampC, and Dave decided to cheer in the Minnesota Twins who were playing at AT&T Park.




I was being bombarded with texts from the two of them. It seems they tied an MLB record of 8 straight hits, which by the end of the inning resulted in 8 runs. Yes in the first inning.




The boys acted just like that, boys.





They had a great time and that's what mattered. Well that - and the fact the Giants lost.

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A League of Their Own

Dave has played in a softball team since we moved to this community 6 years ago. He joined the Monday/Tuesday group first and the a year or two later the Wednesday night league.

Drew and I try to make it to the 6pm games when we can - which is maybe once a season and almost never to the Wednesday night games. Those are further away and it's cooler in Walnut Creek in the evenings.

The other night the stars and moon aligned because not only could we make the game, but it was also their annual BBQ!





Drew managed to hit on one of the girls... The coach's daughter.





He was probably carving their initials in the tree.

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Come Again?

If you spend a full day with Drew (or likely any 3 year old for that matter) you will find yourself shaking your head or chuckling to yourself a lot about the random things they do or say.

Case in point, my frequent conversations with Drew after I pick him up from School.  Here's how they usually go down:

Me: How was school?  What did you do today?
Drew: I don't know.
Me: Did you play with any friends?
Drew: Yes.
Me: Who?
Drew: I don't know.
Me: What did you learn today?
Drew: I don't know

I'm always oh so glad we had that discussion...

Other days this is the conversation:

Me: How was your day?
Drew: I didn't hit anyone today

I'm thinking - well gee isn't that swell!  Since I hear this only once a month, does that mean you're pummeling your friends every other day of the month?

Then two nights ago,  I really wished I'd have had the video camera for this one... we're driving to Chili's for dinner when I got a call from our friend Brian (Ms. Stephanie - our former day care provider's husband) asking if we wanted to come over.  I told him we were headed to Drew's swim lessons, but we'd try and swing by afterward if Drew was still in the mood - he can get really cranky afterward due to the later hour.

After hanging up with Brian I asked Drew if he thought he'd feel up to going over there - Drew's response (you have to imagine him saying this with all the flair and attitude a 3 year old can muster):

"I think that's a brilliant idea!"

He emphasized the "brilliant" sort of like brillll-i-ant.  I have no idea where he picked that one up... but I died laughing - and had to call Brian back to tell him what Drew said and that we would in fact be there that evening.

Taking the Sting Out of Father's Day

This past Father's Day had a real sting to it...

It started out pretty well.  Dave didn't stay in bed long enough to get breakfast in bed, but he enjoyed a great gift from Drew (a coffee cup that Drew colored) and a few cards.  Then I made breakfast for everyone. 

Afterward we went to Shadow Cliff's in Pleasanton - a local "beach" at a park.  (For my Antioch peeps - think Contra Loma).

While he was in the water - Drew had a great time.  Coming onshore not so much.  Between getting ticked at the sand between his toes or in his shoes... mixed with the light breeze that was blowing helping keep us cool on the hot day... Drew had enough less than an hour after we arrived.  He started screaming unbearably about our stuff blowing away.  Why he freaked out about the light breeze on the beach, but loved the 30+ mph winds at Niagara Falls is beyond me. 

Dave and I grudgingly left the park - when surprise, surprise guess who fell asleep in the car while we ran a few errands on our way home.

After getting home we were trying to relax in the backyard, but Drew wanted to be entertained - saying he was "only" in the house by himself and refused to come outside with us (only = Lonely in Drew speak).  After a bit we decided to go down to the pool and burn off some of Drew's energy and keep us cool.

We weren't at the pool more than 5 minutes when Drew got stung by the bee that was hanging around the pool's edge.  It nailed him in the stomach.  So that trip was cut short too - it seems it was an off day for the kiddo.

After the sting wore off and we got home and gave him some Benedryl, Drew was ready to rock and roll.  He actually asked Daddy to go outside and hit some "bombs" - as in home run balls.

Did I mention that Dave's now working with Drew to become a switch hitter?  He naturally bats lefty, throws righty.  So he's now showing Drew how to bat righty too....

He's starting to get the hang of it... and can't believe it when he hits a true "bomb".  His expressions the other day were cracking me up!

While it was a traumatic father's day for Drew, Dave said it was the perfect afternoon - I guess that's what matters!

Game-a-holic

Drew is taking after his parents and their addictions - not with wine, but games.  We love to play games, and that trait was handed down to our kiddo, but a person can only handle so much Chutes and Ladders or Candyland.

Drew on the other hand can go all day long if we'd let him!   I can't wait until we can play the big kid games together!

Reliving his 20s?

Pool season finally arrived this weekend - and to celebrate we joined some of Dave's softball friends for a pool party at their apartment complex.  Dave sometimes forgets he's not 20 years old anymore when he tries to keep up with the young'uns.

Poor Drew didn't have anyone to play with - other than me and Dave when he took him into the pool - so he pretty much kept to himself playing games on my phone or with his Mobigo all afternoon. He really was happy though!

Drew and I ditched Daddy when the sun went behind that building - it got cold REALLY fast, especially this time of year when the wind kicks up in the evening.  Daddy continued to party like he was still in his 20s too.

Parkapalooza

Finally the weather was supposed to turn this past weekend into what would otherwise be known as spring in California - we have yet to see that as winter has hung on far longer than it should.  Saturday didn't turn out to be the low to mid 70's we were promised, but it was good enough to get out for a tour of a few new (to us) parks.

Park number one was an absolute hit!  I can't recall the last time I saw a tire swing up close and personal (it could very well be my elementary school days in Minnesota!).  

Drew seemed to love it too - refusing to get off unless some poor soul finally got tired of waiting from afar for him to get off and started forming a line right next to the swing. 

Although he was pretty exited to see this park not only had the tire swing, but some of his beloved "spinners".

After a bit, we decided to move on to park number two - which wasn't as exciting, but Drew did scarf down some of his favorite - chicken and french fries!

Daddy even got into the action at this park (not that he didn't at the other)

 Since this park was much smaller, so it didn't take long until we moved on to our final park on this parkapalooza tour.  At this third location, on top of playing on the swings, slides and sand - he caught up on his braille reading skills...

One would think that after such and adventure an afternoon nap would be in place for the child, right?  Nope.  But there was one for the Mama who worked hard at taking pictures and figuring out which location we were hitting up next!

Most Annoying Questions

Let's face it, a three year old asks a lot of questions. And I mean a lot!  I get they are inquisitive little beings that are starting to learn about the world around them.  But it's when they ask the most obvious question - even to a three-year-old - and when you ignore it for the first 10 times (because it was so obvious), they just get louder, and whinier until you respond.

It all starts out with the famous question "why"?  Why do I have to?  Why does it do that? But why? Why? Why?!

I learned about a year ago now, the only way to avoid the "why" question turning into a game of 20-why's (you know as in 20-questions), I needed to ask Drew a question back.  "Well why do you think?"  The responses can be rather imaginative or usually stating the obvious, which I've already told him the first 19 times he asked "why".

I never thought I'd say it, but there's a more annoying question than "why".  They're:

• Are we there yet?
• Are we on the freeway?

I was in denial about when the "are we there yet" question would come - I figured in a couple of years on long road trips.  Not just short jaunts to the grocery store, the library or one of our many local errands.

The "are we on the freeway" question is constant in the car!  I have no idea why he's so intrigued with freeways right now, but he MUST know at all times if we're on the freeway (or the street).  Even if the answer was yes (or no), 2.5 seconds earlier.

I'm trying to use this annoyance, and teach him about road signs, and how to tell the difference between the surface streets and freeways.  It's starting to curb bot the "are we there yet" and the "are we on the freeway" questions and turn driving into a game to read the next road sign to tell whether we're coming to our exit, our street etc.

I suppose there could be worst things to complain about right?

Outthinking Active Boys

The other day Drew was driving me batty with all the furniture jumping he was doing. Both on the couch and trying to do acrobatics off of it.

So I decided to let him hop around on the floor by taping down a hopscotch play area.




That worked for about 20 minutes. He's really gotten into hopscotch lately. Who says it's a game just for girls?

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Visitors from Afar

I've mentioned my Mommy friends a few times - but I'm usually the one traveling to places like Virginia or Kansas City to meet up with them.  This time they finally came out here to see what the San Francisco Bay area has to offer. My mommy friends and I all met online the winter of 2007 when we got our positive pregnancy tests.  Nearly 4 years later we're still in touch and really good friends - getting together every chance we get (for example my last business trip to Baltimore in April I had dinner with my friend from Virginia, my business trip in March in Philadelphia, I had dinner with a friend from New Jersey).

One of my friends this trip is from Michigan and until last weekend had only been as far west as KC, the other is from SoCal and just wanted to "crash" the party LOL.

We did San Francisco in a day - and where I took only a handful of pictures (I'll snag a few of their pictures from Facebook).

L-R: Angie, Krista

First order  of business the ferry ride to Alcatraz.  It has been so long since I went that I had no idea it changed from leaving out of Pier 41 to Pier 33 (I suppose I should've read the tickets more clearly - oops).  We had a great time exploring the former prison.

Angie behind bars

 

Krista's getting some of her best thinking done... on the prison potty.  

Angie and I exploring the nooks and crannies of the prison/former military base.  After a picnic lunch on "the Rock" we hit up Pier 39, the Sea Lions and Ghiradelli Square.  On our way over to the Golden Gate Bridge we drove down Lombard Street - the crookedest street in the world (I'm sparing you those pictures).

But one of the requirements this trip was to show Krista the Golden Gate Bride - and a cable car... which were closed for the weekend due to maintenance... oops.  So going back to the Golden Gate Bridge...  we drove toward Ft. Point, which is the Civil War fortress housed beneath the bridge.

To get to that view point we had to walk down (and then back up again) nearly 200 stairs - I lost count about half-way through, but Angie tallied them up.

After walking around all day, Krista's feet and blisters weren't happy.  Did I mention Krista was doing a marathon tour of the city with a bad back?  What a trooper.  As her reward we drove across the bridge rather than walk the 1 mile span, and had dinner in Sausalito.  That night we relaxed with some adult beverages.

Day two, we took it easy and just hung out around my neck of the woods.  Had lunch at a favorite hangout, went to a few malls and had more ice cream.  While at Ghiradelli in San Francisco the three of us shared one hot fudge sundae.  This time, at the San Francisco Creamery - which Dave said is famous thanks to Man vs. Food - we each had our own.

Angie's quote of the day, was when she wondered if anyone would ask where we met.... Weight Watchers!  Needless to say we were a little green after consuming that much dairy, so after a little mishap at a nearby store, we just headed home.  (I'd talk more about the mishap, but we must protect the guilty from prosecution...).

That evening we had to bring Angie back to the airport so she could get back to her family (she had her second child earlier this year.  Krista and I returned home totally exhausted and just had dinner and hung out with Dave.

Saturday  the weather turned wintery - Juneuary as my co-worker called it - and the rain kept us mellow.  We caught a movie, and just gathered the grub for our crab feast.  Krista wanted SF crab, and we delivered!   

Dave is asking for more crab - thanks a lot Krista ;).

Sunday after recovering from my hangover (those of you on Facebook may have noticed a little random activity Saturday night) we went back into San Francisco to do some more shopping before heading back to the airport.

We crammed a whole lot in, knowing the weather was going to turn south quickly.  Now to get the whole group together again - sans kids of course!