Briseno Family Adventures

The Other LA Fun

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

While the past few posts make it seem like all I did while in Southern California last weekend revolved around running - that's not entirely true.

We also took our chances among the body parts and played tourist...

Thankfully we survived this trip - the scariest part was our tour guide (we did a tour) was making a call to who was likely his lawyer talking about bail or perhaps turning himself in. I'm wondering if he was wanted for reckless driving... wowza!

After the tour, we headed back to my friend Angie's house for some adult fun...

Funny the ladies were partying happy, but Angie's husband was the one who woke up with the hangover. Hehe Clearly we ladies can handle their liquor better than some men (we won't discuss the hangover I had the last time Krista and I got together).

Friday morning we had to head over to the first of several trips to Disneyland to pick up our race packets.

We then did a little shopping in Downtown Disney.

Saturday was a down day for us, so we drove through LA, Beverly Hills, hit up Rodeo Drive and had lunch at Canter's.

Saturday night we had to be low key since we were getting up so early Sunday morning so Angie and I could run. After the race we all had well deserved naps and then a celebratory drink (or two) at Vinatero. Angie has some good connections...

How do you like our bling?

After getting a slight buzz it was back to what was our 4th and final trip to Disneyland to actually enjoy the park!

L-R: Me, Angie, Krista

With our Neverland 5K registration we received one twilight ticket to a park of our choice. The twilight ticket is good after 4pm (or 6 hours before close) and had to be used by Monday. Going Sunday gave Angie and I a good reason to stretch out our legs. This was Krista's first time to Southern California, and while she had the behind the scene's tour on Friday night, it was her first chance to see the park up close and personal.

Powered By Pixie Dust!

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I mentioned the Neverland 5K I did with some friends from around the country. But that's not all I did last weekend. The finale was the Half Marathon I ran on Sunday morning - as in I was awake around 3:15 am to make sure we were at our starting corral by 4:30am and a start of 5:45am.

Crazy right? I joined 11,100 other women and 900 men (in case you can't do the math, that's 12,000 runners) for the Inaugural Tinker Bell 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland.

With so many people running through Disneyland, the streets of Anaheim and California adventure, they put us into Corrals. I was clearly in Corral D (my friend Angie who was running was in Corral E) and you're assigned a corral based on your estimated miles/minute. No need to put slowpokes like me up front only to be run over by the Kenyans or something.

Once we had our start, I started snapping away periodically during the run... including this one from the starting gate.

We had a brief run through the streets near the Theme Park then started inside of Disneyland where we spotted some unusual pirates...

Like the 5K we ran through some of the back lots and they pulled out some of the floats for our photographic pleasure.

Then it was on to Main Street! By now the sun was starting to peek through.... I believe this is around mile 2.5

I had to snap a pretty picture in front of the Castle! I love how the sunrise is turning the sky a beautiful shade of pink! Then it was time to run through the castle...

On the other side we had to watch out for some pirates...

Just on the other side of the castle we hit mile marker 3 - nearly 5K in, another 15K to go....

After running through Disneyland we hit the streets of Anaheim. It was around mile 6 the sun started really getting warm (mind you I'm used to running in the dark in about 30-40-degree temps.. this was probably 60-degrees at this point) and I started doing the Run/Walk technique which took me to the finish line.

That 10 mile marker was a sight for sore eyes... it means there's only a 5K to go! Shortly afterward we ended up in California Adventure!

And we had more friends to cheer us along the way...

Do you know what 13 miles means?! There is only a tenth of a mile left!!

And I made it across the finish line! Final time 2:51:23... about 11 minutes slower than my previous half marathon in October. (I'm in the center of the picture above looking really relieved to be done).

There was a ton of food and beverages at the finishing line, and then before I could get out to find my friends they forced us to take one final picture...

So Angie and I successfully crossed the finish line for the inaugural Tinker Bell 1/2 Marathon, and our one-woman cheerleader Krista watched from the freezing cold bleachers.

We're all inspired to do it again next year! All you need is faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust!

Neverland 5K

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

I'm back to reality now after spending the better part of my weekend at the Happiest Place on Earth - you know Disneyland. While it sounds like a lot of fun, it was really exhausting! I drove down on Thursday to visit Hollywood and meet up with some friends - one of which flew out from Michigan to participate in a weekend of running around, literally.

L-R: Angie, Krista & Me
(These are my friends I met online while pregnant with Drew more than 5 years ago!)

Friday night at 10:30pm we actually hit up Main St. USA inside the Disneyland park to join 4,000 other crazy people to kick off the Inaugural Tinker Bell 1/2 Marathon weekend.

What you can't tell in the picture, is all three of us are wearing fairy wings!!
L-R: Me, Angie, Krista (her first race ever - I'm so proud of her!)

In these next two pictures you can get a feel for how many people were crowded there on Main Street...

That bottom picture the starting line is over to the far right side of the image - almost where those spot lights are close to the Castle.

We were in I believe the 3rd corral - and we finally got our Starting gun - after moving up a bit.

So we started the race inside of Disneyland, and it wrapped around throughout the areas you have regular access to as well as lot of things behind the scenes. Included in the behind the scene tour were characters and floats!

(no that's not us in front of the float - I just snapped pictures while the other two were on the move).

We hit mile marker 1 on the hidden trails of Disneyland.

Mile Marker 2 I think was around Critter Country inside the Disneyland park.

Then we crossed Downtown Disney and more hidden trails to California Adventure. It was at this point Krista was getting tired and not sure she would make it. I found some friends to help us...

Once we rounded the corner, we were excited to see our good friends Lighting McQueen and Mater. Our boys (all three of us have 4 YO boys) are Cars fans - well mostly Krista's son.

L-R: Angie, Me, Krista

And then we were off to finish this race once and for all - no letting anyone give up this close to the end! We hit a beautiful area of California Adventure!

While it was gorgeous this past weekend in Southern California, I'm not sure this is the normal kind of fun in the Sun...

... I mean how many people run through two Disney parks after 11pm?

Only a tenth of a mile left!

These next pictures were from the professionals as we crossed the finish line!

Me cheering for Krista as she finished her first race - and a 5K at that!!

You can see me, Angie is over my shoulder there, and directly behind me is Krista.

And the prize for crossing the finish line - our Neverland 5K medal (or rubber medal I should say). While this race wasn't timed, my RunKeeper app clocked us at 53:50. It was uber crowded and we stopped to take pictures. So I think this is a fantastic time!

A Story About What Not To Do

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

I go to pick Drew up from school earlier this week and I see some new art projects on the wall.... and before I get to the drawing Drew did, let me give you the back story (that I didn't have at the time of seeing his drawing).

Turns out they recently read this book:

He was talking about it at home, but I didn't put two and two together until the day and saw the project and book together.

Here is the Amazon Review:

Officer Buckle is a roly-poly bloke, dedicated to teaching schoolchildren important safety tips, such as never put anything in your ear and never stand on a swivel chair. The problem is, Officer Buckle's school assemblies are dull, dull, dull, and the children of Napville just sleep, sleep, sleep. That is, until Gloria the police dog is invited along! Stealthily pantomiming each safety tip behind Officer Buckle's back, Gloria wins the children's hearts. Meanwhile Officer Buckle assumes the cheers and laughter are all for him. As the master comedian Jerry Lewis once explained, every slapstick artist needs a straight man! Children will be highly entertained by the laugh-out-loud, adorable illustrations in this 1996 Caldecott Medal winner, while learning the value of teamwork and a pawful of nifty safety tips. (Ages 4 to 8) --Gail Hudson

Well here was the "safety tip" Drew drew for his project....

That's right - Drew's safety tip, never pick your nose... and the drawing in yellow... is someone picking their nose with a "don't circle".

Now if only Drew would follow his own "safety tip" all would be well.

Who Has More Muscle?

2012-01-26T05:40:00.000-08:00

Within the past few weeks Drew found out that "Rocky" is also "Rambo" - although he sees Rambo and calls him Rocky.

Anyway, after watching Rambo 2 this past weekend and the conversation that "Rocky" made other movies too including one about arm wrestling. Of course Drew asked what arm wrestling was.

So Dave showed him...

Any guesses who won?

First Dental Visit

2012-01-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

It's good news bad news from Drew's first ever dental visit today. Let's focus on the good news!

He did fantastic!! I was a little worried with his sensitive gag reflex that he might puke on the dental hygienist the moment they put anything in his mouth. I actually warned them verbally when I made the appointment, on all his forms and again this morning.

They were beyond great with him, asking him in the lobby if he had any questions (he didn't have questions, but bragged at his brushing ability). Then took him into the room and explained all the tools that would be in his mouth, let him touch everything, offered him some rubber gloves to play with.

They proceeded with the cleaning, the counting his teeth and his x-rays. Now the bad news... he has one cavity that needs treatment between is two front teeth (that appointment is next month) and another one that just needs monitoring. The dentist said his teeth are really scrunched together, so we can expect to have orthodontia in the future and that it is why there were cavities. We should start flossing now because his teeth are so close together.

He was so happy to get his goody bag and pick out a toy and stickers. I neglected to tell him about what the "sugar bugs" means for him next month. But he was busy showing everyone at school his clean smile.

Man I'm glad to get that appointment over with and with zero drama. Now to hope for the same next month....

Preschool Pre-K Assessment

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Another first for me - in many many ways - yesterday. It was Drew's first parent teacher conference at school, which is required for all Kindergarten aged kids. This means anyone with birthdays before November first in the state of California.

Well there was an awful lot discussed at this meeting, some I wish I could've buried my head in the sand or put my fingers in my ears saying "La-la-la" but we'll save that for last just as his teacher did for me. I'm just trying to suck you in to the very end.

They gave us a very lengthy packet which shows the results of his assessment on December 21st. They rated on a scale of 1-5, 5 being mastery of the skill. She prefaced by she does not give 5s because that means there is little room for improvement and nothing more to learn.

Social and Behavioral Skills

Child can usually inhibit body movements and keep his/her hands to themself while in line and during circle time - 4
Child is able to sit quietly for at least 10 minutes while attending to circle time or short story - 4
Child is learning to use his/her words to express their feelings and comes to get help from the teacher when needed.* - 2
Child participates in clean-up activities - 3
Child verbalizes or tries to verbalize his/her frustrations or problems other than physically acting out. - 2
Child is able to work in small groups - 3
Child attempts to complete a teacher assigned task* - 2
Child chooses a free choice activity and maintains his/her involvement in this activity - 4
Child easily separates for parents and feels comfortable in his/her school surroundings** - blank
Child understands the concept of sharing and taking turns - 3
Child seems to feel comfortable in school and demonstrates the ability to participate, and ask questions when needed - 4
Child shows respect for his teachers and classmates* - 2
Child follows direction and obeys school rules - 4
Child is excited to play with the other students in his/her class and seems to have several friends - 3

NOTES: The items above are marked where we had discussions.
* - She said she really didn't think a lot of his emotional issues were necessarily immaturity but rather stubbornness. For example, he gets frustrated, and he is no longer lashing out and punching the other kids - there has been a lot of improvement there, but he will whine and cry or throw tantrums. This results in being disrespectful to classmates and teachers. Another example she used is when it comes time to put his shoes on, rather than asking for help to tie his shoes he'll whine that his shoes aren't tied. His teachers say as soon as you ask we'll help, but he'd rather cry and whine than ask for help.

** This teacher isn't there for my drop-off (because it's also a before/after care facility) so she said because she doesn't see it I could fill in the blank. I told her he rarely knows I'm even gone, so she'd put it at a 4/5.

Self Help Skills

Child uses appropriate bathroom skills (wipe self, flush toilet, wash hands etc.) - 4
Child can dress self. (Socks, coat, and attempts tying shoes) - 3
Child is learning to take responsibility for own belongings - 3

Personal Information (They ask a series of questions and post their replies)

What is your full name (both first and last) - Andrew "Middle name" Briseno (he inserted his middle name - I'm choosing to delete it because it is a public website)
How old are you? 4
What is your Mom's name? Brenda
What is your dad's name? David
Do you have any brothers or sisters? There is an arrow to this question from #6
What are their names? My brother is Luke, but he lives far away ** (see discussion below)
What is your phone number? He gave our house number (as in address house number)
Where do you live? He gave our street w/o house number or city and I'm refraining from posting again because it's a public website
Who are some of your friends? A bunny, His name is Andrew (I have no idea where this came from for the record)
What do you like to do at [Name of Preschool]? The puzzles that are little

NOTES: So his teacher asked if he really did have siblings. Um, no, and the Luke he's referencing is my friend's son from Southern California (who ironically I'm going to see later this week) and he's met Luke twice - the last time about 18 months ago! He randomly makes up who his siblings are - usually they're our friend's kids.

Language and Listening

Child can verbalize his/her first and last name - 5
Child can complete a two step simple direction - 4
Child can share an idea, experience or description - 4
Child has heard a variety of stories and participates in follow-up discussions - 4
Child practices accepted patterns of speech. (However, irregular verbs are still emerging) and is easy to understand. - 4
Child can engage in socially appropriate conversations - 4
Child can participate in informal creative dramatics. (Play house, puppets, role playing etc) - 4
Child has developed a beginning sense of phonic awareness - 5
Child can sing and recite the alphabet - 5

Writing, Spelling, and Recognition

Child recognizes his/her first name - 5
Child tries to write his/her first name using lower case letters with a capital at the beginning (see attached) - 3
Child can copy draw, and reasonably trace a line and a circle (see attached) - 4
Child can identify and name at least 8 of the basic colors (red, purple, white, blue, green, pink, yellow, brown, grey, orange, black) - All were checked
Child can identify and name some of the basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond, star, heart, moon) - all were checked
child can recognize and name at least numbers 0-10. She only went as high as 25 for this part of the assessment and he got all of them.
Child can recognize some letters of the alphabet (Upper and lower case) - He got all of them.

Above is the "attachment". They are working with him to spell his full name and not just Drew (which he's learned to this point) so the proper upper/lowercase for Andrew is slower. Then the lines were her doing one, and him having to do the same thing as well as a small tracing sample.

Math Skills

Child can count to 10. During the 1st, assessment, the child counted to 100 without skipping.
Child can count concrete objects up to his/her age. During the 1st assessment, the child could count objects up to 100.
Child can identify 2 objects in terms of large/small, tall/short, long/short, more/less - 4
Child can recognize similarities such as color, size, and shape - 4
Child is beginning to count by 10s to 100 - 5

Large Muscle Skills

Child can identify general body parts (back, stomach, legs, arms, head, etc) - 4
Child has had experience throwing/catching balls - 4
Child has had experience with block building - 4
Child can walk backwards - 3
Child can walk on his/her tip toes - 3
Child has had experience with keeping their balance. (On a a balancing beam, standing on one foot, hopping on one foot etc.) - 4
Child can jump with both feet off the ground - 4
Child is beginning to learn how to skip - n/a
Child is beginning to learn how to gallop - n/a
Child can propel him/herself on the swing - 2

Small Muscle Skills

Child tries to grip crayon or pencil correctly - 2
Child can cut with scissors holding scissors correctly, with thumb facing up - 4
Child can mold clay into a desired shape, such as a ball or snake - 3
Child can manipulate puzzle pieces to go in their desired place - 5
Child is successful at stringing beads - 4
Child can complete the attached figure with at least 6 characteristics - 5

They started the circle for the head and the stick for the body - Drew drew the rest.

Teacher's written notes: Drew is an amazingly bright child. He amazes us on a daily basis! He is always eagar to learn new things and picks things up very easily. I am concerned about his emotional maturity and we are working on that. We have seen improvement since the beginning of the year. Ms. Kirsten

We chatted about where how Drew has had to take the role of helper at school since he knows the answers to everything and it's hard to know if other kids are repeating what Drew says or if they actually know it. So he has to sit alongside the teacher and she'll ask the questions and then ask Drew whether her answers are right. They do this with the language, math and sign language areas that they incorporate into school lessons.

We also discussed in detail about whether she recommends he go - TK vs K. She said he'd be bored in TK and she thinks the emotional side will come with time. And her remark was that her son was held back in 2nd grade (an October birthday) so Drew could always get held back later in time.

Then the biggie... what I bet you all held on for the entire boring post for...

She said and I quote: Drew is an excessive self-stimulator.

Yep, my child likes to hump things at school, preferably the side of his cot at naptime. But she said he returned a book to the "library" and "stimulated himself" at the bookcase. She says we need to do something about it and have a chat with him, and if needed speak to his pediatritian.

Can I just tell you how badly I wanted to disappear at that moment?!?

Living Room Campout

2012-01-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

Friday night we had a living room campout - the campers Drew, Mason and Troy. That's right we hosted a sleepover for Drew's friends. Think of it as returning the favor for our friends - from September! Better late than never right?

The boys did great! They were super excited when I picked them up from their house and school and we came home. They all enjoyed playing our new wii and Mason (he's the oldest at 6) was impressing everyone with his awesome gaming skills. We had a brief break for pizza and then they were back at the wii. Around 7:30 we put on a movie (The Incredibles - Drew's new favorite movie) and then had a living room campout.

While I had big plans about having all three boys sleeping in Drew's room with the Trundle bed, they had other plans. They wanted to sleep right in the living room - with several lights on of course. No problem.

The next morning they were going to come with us to Drew's soccer practice, but at the last minute Mason and Troy wanted to stay behind and play - what else - but wii. They passed the time quickly with Drew and after they got home all three boys wanted to play playdough.

They made plenty of food for Dave and I to eat. I expected cabin fever from these three since we couldn't go outside due to rain, but they had a blast inside. I think they were all a bit tired from having so much fun - bed at 10:30, up at 6:30am. Drew fell asleep later that day while running errands at Costco. I heard the other two took naps as well on Saturday.

Nighttime Fears

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

Some will read this post and judge. Others may relate and perhaps sympathize. Some will probably think we're being played.... c'est la vie.

For years Drew has had issues sleeping at night - with night terrors going back to around the age of two (if not earlier). Now they've mostly progressed to nightmares - but there are still night terrors mixed in. It's gotten so bad recently he will begin crying at 5:30pm about the fact he has to go to bed in a few hours and he is terrified to close his eyes.

Around Halloween Drew's nightmares reached an all-time high (at the time) and we attributed a lot of the issues to the scary things you saw every time you went to the store or saw any holiday decorations. The dreams and fears started to dissipate as Halloween passed, but then picked up again late in December. And I mean picked up to a new form of... well torture is all I can think to describe it.

Late December Drew had what I would call cluster nightmares. He'd wake up in a terrified scream (you would think someone was attacking him physically.. kind of blood curdling scream) every 20-40 minutes. We'd go into his room, calm him down, get him to fall asleep to only repeat less than an hour later. This went on over a couple of weeks.

While with some kids I could see this as a ploy to get their way in the middle of the night, and I know when my child is trying to play us, but you cannot fake that kind of a scream. We were frustrated, exhausted - which didn't help with the frustration - and we would often get mad at Drew to "just go back to sleep! Don't scream like that!" (Dave actually fell one night trying to race to Drew thinking he was really hurt - and nearly knocked our tv off it's stand).

We have a blow-up mattress (a Scooby bed) alongside our bed which we said was OK for him to get into in the middle of the night -but he couldn't sleep in our bed. For those who don't know or have pleasantly forgotten... the only one who sleeps when you have a child in the bed with you, is the child. They flail, kick, and punch in their sleep. Most unpleasant. So we settled for Scooby. Well for a while there it was enough to lay in Scooby. Then he started having nightmares in his Scooby bed so I would have to hold his hand so he could fall asleep.

Seems rather sweet right? No it's torture! Our bed is elevated. Scooby is on the floor. I'm only 5'5" and while I think I have monkey arms, they're not that long. It hurts to reach that far - my shoulder nearly rips out its socket after about 30 seconds. When I came down with sinus crud, that was the end of hand holding to get him to sleep. Conveniently Dave was able to sleep through most of these hand holding sessions because Scooby is on my side of the bed - so I was the only sleep deprived one.

While fighting the sinus crud, desperately needing sleep - I convinced Dave that Drew should sleep in our bed. Drew wasn't sleeping and it was starting to carry over to school as well. He was so tired that it was making everything worse - going to sleep, the dreams, everyone's frustration level....

Since he started sleeping with us, nightmares are at a minimum and we're easily able to calm him down when he's next to us. We do move him sometimes to his Scooby bed, and we have dreams of moving him back to his room as soon as possible....

Even in our room he requires nightlights, TVs on (although its not on all night), bathroom lights on, book lights are preferable and if he had his way the entire bedroom light would remain on. He hates the dark, he hates being "lonely" and he hates to close his eyes.

Over the weekend he had another rough night - with a nightmare about fire near his feet - that he refused to close his eyes for hours. I periodically would wake up and find these big brown eyes staring straight at me. This went on from about 2am - 4:30am.

Poor kid. So yes, he's sleeping in our bed. While it's not ideal, at least we are all getting at least some sleep.

One night earlier this month when he was too afraid to fall asleep in our bed alone, he cuddled with Daddy on his chair.

Boys Day Out

2012-01-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the boys in the house had the pleasure of another day off. Intending to have them use a Groupon I had for Pump it Up, they set out for there early afternoon. Problem was there was a hidden disclaimer that the Groupon doesn't work on holidays (doesn't state it on the Groupon or on the ad when I purchased it. Just an added "disclaimer" because they felt like it at some point along the way). So rather than turn around and head home, Dave paid for the session.

Apparently it didn't start out so well when Drew started screaming because he was afraid of the slides - the only way down. Finally Dave managed to convince and older child to help him down the slide. Once he was down, what does Drew say but, "That was fun, I want to do it again!"

After a while they moved on to safer territory - baseball and basketball.

Once the play time was over at Pump it Up, they picked up some lunch and then played some more at the park. One of Drew's favorite parks - with the tire swing.

Needless to say Drew was one tuckered out kid when he got home. He had an early bedtime and everything. Surprisingly in the middle of the night he wanted to sleep on the couch - alone. (We've had a lot of issues with sleeping and nightmares with Drew)

One Final Christmas Celebration

2012-01-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

I'm more than a week late with my post, but things were too hectic last week... but it's better late than never.

Last Saturday we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. Yes in January. The kids patiently waited for Auntie Lisa and Kady to come over, and when they finally did, it was a race for the bigger kids to go upstairs (we wouldn't let them in the kids play area).

And that was why - too much temptation to go snooping where little eyes shouldn't go. Isn't that a plethora of stockings?! Nearly all of them were cross-stitched by Mom over the years. Next up on the stockings to be finished... Adrina, then Rana. Mom has her work cut out for her... but back to the story at hand.

We opened stockings oldest to youngest. Of course it doesn't help to ask my 4 year old who is the next oldest - it was a blur for him after the kids. I mean he had Grammy going before me I believe....

Here Kady opens her stocking...

Then Drew...

...who got a new set of underwear among his loot....

And Adrina had plenty of sparkle and tween fun stuff.

After stockings and dinner it was time to open presents. This year we let the kids each open one at a time simultaneously. The thought was to speed up the lengthy presents opening and let the kids go play with their new stuff while the adults open their gifts. It also meant less opportunity for me to snap pictures. Here's what I got...

Kady opening all of her loot...

Drew got his first dictionary which is perfect timing since he asks me constantly what something or other means, or "what's another word for....". This is a very clever way of offering definitions for young kids! Thanks GG.

Drew and Adrina going to town with their presents...

And Grammy relaxing after all presents were opened. She went up and down the stairs quite a bit that she used her new wine fridge as a foot stool. Poor Grammy is getting old and her knees aren't what they used to be.

It was a fantastic day with family and of course everyone was spoiled rotten!

TK vs K

2012-01-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

This September birthday business is the pits! I mentioned a little more than a year ago the difficult decision we were going to be faced with in the future... well that future is here. Where to place Drew come the fall - Kindergarten registration is taking place now - well technically February 1.

The state of California says he's eligible for Kindergarten - the cutoff for next school year will be November 1 (this is the first year of a 3-year rollback plan which ends with September 1 in 2014).

While our preschool parent teacher conferences aren't for another week-and-a-half, the local school distrcit held a Transitional Kindergarten (TK) meeting on Wednesday. I have no doubt academically that Drew is ready for Kindergarten academically - there was no doubt 2 years ago. :) In fact one of the teachers was joking with me today that Drew's ready academically for 1st grade.

But it's the social/emotional side that's always been the iffy. Yes he's a boy. Yes he is and always will one of the youngest (for the record, so was Dave and I).

Anyway, at this Transitional Kindergarten meeting the stressed the things they would work on and tried to convey the differences between Preschool and Kindergarten. Honestly I was hoping that attending this meeting would offer the definitive answer I was looking for - it was not. I left just as unsure as when I went in. Here's a snapshot of what they do in TK:

Learn their letters and their sounds (Drew mastered this before the age of 2)
Begin learning and recognizing sight words (Drew again was reading Dr. Seuss on his own at 2 1/2, and has progressed since. And he's understanding what he reads, it's not just repeating the words on the page. NO we did not use Your Baby Can Read!)
Learn numbers 1-10 and begin recognizing larger numbers (Drew can count and recognize 1-100, and beyond as well. Admittedly he occasionally flips the numbers around... so he sees 52 but will say 25)
Learn to count in sequence (he's mastered this around the age of 2)
Learn to cut with scissors (he can do this admittedly not a master at it, we really need to get kid scissors at home to help him work on this)
Write and recognize his name (check)
Play independently (he is an only child, duh)
Learn to manage emotions when performing activities (this is where Drew is "immature" or rather age appropriate, but being as he's younger he of course appears more immature compared to some of his peers).

(If you want to see more of my dilemma, look at the kindergarten readiness skill "checklist" our district puts out. You see why my only issue is emotional/social).

So honestly is it worth putting him into a two year kindergarten and have him learn to mange his emotions or is it better to challenge him like I know he needs and craves? He's already telling us he doesn't do certain things at school because he's bored or it's boring. This is precisely my fear by "holding him back" and putting him in TK the 2 year preschool program.

I've been the child who was bored and shoved in the corner to read or do irrelevant worksheets while the rest of the class "caught up". It sucks. This went on until middle school/junior high when I could go to a class where I would be challenged.

So I guess we'll speak in depth with his preschool teacher in the next week, in addition I am going to have Drew evaluated in May by the District to ensure that wherever we put him, he's in the appropriate place. That said, I'm going to sign him up for both Kindergarten and the TK program (which not at our home school, but somewhere else in the district) and make the final call in May. The TK administrators said they do not want to put anyone in this class that truly belongs in K and they do not want to put anyone in K that should be in TK.

Did I mention having a kid with a September birthday is the pits?!

Pee Pee Happy Dance

2012-01-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

We are doing the pee pee happy dance at our house this morning. While Drew was daytime potty trained since Presidents weekend 2009 (he was just shy of 2 1/2) we haven't mastered the nighttime training. He's worn a pull-up to bed for the past two years.

Of course he is starting to get to an age where he was commenting that pull-ups are for babies (Dave always called the pull-up a diaper). So he wanted to start going to bed without the pull-up. For months - like the past year - he was dry only 50-75% of the time, so I told him if he could stay dry for one week we would let him sleep in underwear. That one week ended yesterday and last night he slept in his undies for the first time - and stayed dry!

We're so proud of him!! (And he's rather proud of himself too)

New Year, New Goals

2012-01-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

I meant to recap my 2011 annual goals and how I fared about a week ago. But time got away from me. So better late than never right?

So in 2011 I vowed to run 475 miles... I actually ran 524.75! I could've done better but I really slacked through the month of December. So I decided to challenge myself this year. I am going to run 600 miles!! I'm off to a slow start thanks to some sinus drama, but I have my first race of the year at the end of the month. And it's a 1/2 marathon at that (13.1 miles)... through Disneyland. :)

I needed to get some new tools to help me get across the finish line and before the New Year I picked up a newer model of the shoes I bought last year. I got them 1 full size bigger than I normally wear because the dreaded black toe never went away. Runners understand this common ailment.

In addition to my mileage goal, I started doing a 20-30 minute walk every workday. I actually leave my desk and take a quick stroll through the area. It's a nice mental break and a good reason to get an extra work out in.

Another goal I set for myself, to read 40 books through the year since I received my Nook last Christmas. Not only did I read 40, but another 10 for extra credit. Yep 50 books!

Here's the list and my personal rating system for what I thought... maybe you can find something interesting to read.

1.) My Antonia (+)
2.) Cutting for Stone (-)
3.) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (-)
4.) Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet (++)
5.) The Missing by Tim Gautreaux (+)
6.) Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (+) Slow start, good ending
7.) 9th Judgment (+)
8.) Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest (++)
9.) Water for Elephants (+++)
10.) Dark Places - Gilllian Flynn (+, dark.. slow start)
11.) Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (-)
12.) The Book Thief (+)
13.) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (-)
14.) A Reliable Wife (+)
15.) The charlamagne Pursuit (+)
16.) The Lacuna (+/-)
17.) The Big Bad Wolf (+)
18.) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (++)
19.) Hell at the Breech (-)
20.) Blood of the Prodigal (+)
21.) The Art of Racing in the Rain (++)
22.) Room (+++)
23.) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (+)
24.) The Shadow in the Wind (++)
25.) Broken English (+)
26.) The Wednesday Sisters (+)
27.) The Paris Vendetta (+)
28.) A Stolen Life (++)
29.) London Bridges (+)
30.) Still Alice (++)
31.) The Wednesday Letters (+++)
32.) Girl in Translation (+)
33.) Unbroken (++)
34.) Molokai (+)
35.) The Tiger's Wife (-)
36.) The Paris Wife (+)
37.) Eat Pray Love (+)
38.) Heaven is For Real (+++)
39.) Before I Go to Sleep (++)
40.) In the Garden of Beasts (+)
41.) What Alice Forgot (++)
42.) Emperors Tomb (+)
43.) Sister (+)
44.) The Language of Flowers (++)
45.) When Darkness Falls (+)
46.) The Memory Keepers Daughter (+)
47.) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (+/-)
48.) Caleb's Crossing (+)
49.) The Kitchen House (+++)
50.) 10th Anniversary (+)

This year's goal? Another 50 books. I don't plan to do as much traveling for business or pleasure this year, so I'm not planning on finding as much time. I'm still working on my first book of the year....

It's kind of fun to set some interesting goals and track them throughout the year. I hope you stick to your own resolutions!

2012 - Something to Cheer About

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

We joined our friends Brian and Stephanie for their annual New Year's Eve Party and as expected had an awesome time - in fact it was one of the better parties over there.

They had about 50-60 people over - adults and kids (which you can't tell by these pictures), but it was all the usual suspects. We've become friends with the "regulars" and recognize their other friends.

The ladies are getting the night started...
L-R: Me, Jonelle, Stephanie's Friend, Stephanie

If you can't find your husband we've all learned to look outside...
L-R: Dave, Brian, Travis, Greg

Dave and his ladies...
L-R: Jonelle, Dave, Steph

When it came time to ring in the New Year we had the ball/TV on in two different rooms to hold us all. Drew was oblivious to all the activity around him...

L-R: Me, Dave, Rene

And the happy couple I think after the official start of 2012... but after consuming as much as we did who knows for sure! We were both impressed that we made it to church the next morning so Dave could fulfill his ushering duties. (I didn't say we felt 100%... just that we were in attendance).

Annual Zoo Trip

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

This appears to be a new tradition, for my high school friends to gather at the Oakland Zoo the Friday before New Years - along with their kids. We started this last year (here's the evidence), this year Heather, Irene and I brought all the kids together (4 kids total). Thankfully the rain held off.

L-R: Drew, Nikos (4 1/2), Olive (2 1/2)

L-R: Olive, Nikos, Drew

L-R: Nikos, Drew, Olive

Despite the lack of pictures, Irene did have her nearly 2 year old son there as well. I apparently never snapped any pictures and at dinner later that night, Heather confessed she didn't either. Some friends we are! Ha!

Only mishap of the day was when Drew and Niko ran off together near the children's play area, and Nikos stopped, but Drew apparently kept going. He and all the kids in the play area were wearing brown jackets so it was tough to find him. He turned up with one of the park rangers while I was off looking for him - MIA maybe 2-3 minutes.

I think he learned his lesson about why I tell him to stay where I can see him!

Santa Visits the Hotel

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Did you know you don't have to have a chimney or a house to have Santa visit? All you need is some reindeer food and cookies for Santa!

Drew woke up Christmas morning to see that Santa came.

He was mighty excited to see that Santa listed and brought his wii. Of course 3 days later he was complaining that Santa forgot his VReader (no he isn't getting one nor does he need one).

And here he is opening some wii games from Grandma and Grandpa.

Drew was so excited to give Daddy the Christmas present he made - a ceramic travel mug.

We passed the camera to Drew to have him take pictures of the gift he made at school...

What you can't see is that it was an ornament with his school picture inside.

Daddy was super excited to finally get the Dodger's windbreaker he always wanted.

Drew opened a ton of Rocky figures - including the Thunderlips/Hulk Hogan in his hand.

And then it was time for the annual bury Drew in all the wrapping paper...

Feliz Navidad from LA

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas we drove to LA... leaving the Bay Area at about 4am on Christmas Eve and checking into the hotel by 10am. Not bad! We managed to beat all of the traffic and were hoping we could all get a nap in. Well 2/3 of us did... a certain 4 year old did not.

That night we joined Abuela's family for their traditional Christmas Eve dinner and visit from Santa. Drew of course crashed by 8pm and missed out on the awesome dinner (he did have a PB&J before falling asleep).

And it's tradition for a family member to dress up as Santa Claus and pass out presents to the kids. This year it was Uncle Lupe.

We were all a little chilly at that hour.

Drew did end up waking up, but wasn't in a good mood. He was a bit nervous of Santa and then when everyone laughed at him grabbing his gifts, Drew was rather embarrassed and it was the end of him for the night. We went back to the hotel by midnight.

The next morning we went back to Tata and Abuela's for the gathering of Tata's family. Including Great-Grandma Tomasa.

And we managed to get a family shot...

The family was awfully generous for Drew and brought him some presents - lots of noise makers.

After awhile, Drew was begging to go back to the hotel. I think he needed to unwind - we were hoping for a nap - but we went back to Tata and Abuela's that night for the exchange of our gifts.

Drew couldn't believe all the Rocky stuff he got, including the Title fight Ring from Rocky III.

It was wonderful holiday filled with family. We are very lucky.

0-2 for Bowl Games Together

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

We don't exactly have a winning record when my friend and college roommate Lisa watch ASU college bowl games together.

On Thursday our Alma Mater Arizona State played 7th ranked Boise State at the Maaco Bowl in Las Vegas. It wasn't pretty to see our Sun Devils ~~get spanked~~ lose 56-24.

But we weren't bad lookin'

Our first bowl game watching together was back in college when our Sun Devils went to the '97 Rose Bowl and lost to Ohio State.

The highlight of the evening... when I was again carded for a beer and the server handed it back saying "Oh my gosh. You so don't look like you were born in '76. I thought you were a student home for the holidays!"

Festival of Lights

2011-12-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

We were celebrating the holidays this week by getting out and looking at the lights throughout the neighborhoods.

Drew was dressed for the occasion...

And then we went to one of our favorite houses. They didn't do it last year, but this year they were back at it with the light show paired with music. It runs for 20 minutes and then resets. Here is a video clip of the show - and I have to say the video doesn't do it justice.

That is Dave and Drew going up to the collection box. Every year the home owners raise money for a different charity - this year is St. Jude's. 100% of the money collected goes to the charity - the homeowners pay for the electrical bill themselves.

Then we ventured out to another favorite neighborhood where some 200 homes are decorated for the season.

This garage has a different theme every year.... this time Santa's Lodge :) Can you "spy" where Drew is at Santa's lodge?

Then Drew had to carol with Bugs and Taz

Dad wanted in on the action too....

It was a great night and we managed to tucker Drew out nicely. He was asleep before we made the 1.5 mile drive home.

Spreading the Message of the Season

2011-12-22T08:45:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Drew took part in his second Sunday School Children's Service - the Christmas pageant for our church. He was in much happier spirits this year compared to last I think because he was a cow vs last year's pig.

Now that he was four, he seemed a lot more into it. Of course it helped how they set up the preschoolers this year (this is put on by all the children in our church Pre-K - Seniors in High School). The preschoolers were sitting in the pew not facing the intimidating congregation so they were a lot less fidgety.

That's Drew singing "Away in a Manger" - I think. Despite the fact he doesn't appear to be singing in the picture - he really belted it out.

I think this last picture is Away in a Manger as well. I was in the second row making sure Drew behaved as well as cuing him and his friends the words and actions. I think this show was much better than last years overall - it was phenomenal! There was an amazing duet from some of the older kids who played Mary and Joseph - I'll share some of that song.

I promise to get my act together sometime and show the video from this performance and and the Preschool show at school.

Happy Birthday Jesus

2011-12-20T08:00:00.001-08:00

Last Friday was Drew's last day of Preschool for the year - and to celebrate they had a birthday party for Jesus. Yes, with party hats, birthday cakes and all! Of course they got to keep the gifts.

That's about 1/2 of Drew's classmates...

They did a book gift exchange and Drew was happy he was the lucky one to get a two-for-one deal. Two books came out of his package.

Notifying Santa

2011-12-19T07:51:00.001-08:00

This past weekend Drew wrote his first letter to Santa. We had to remind him not to deliver presents here!

For those having trouble reading it...
Dear Santa
I want Rocky figures. Please bring them to LA. Love Drew

We gave the letter to Doodle our elf to carry back to Santa that night. If I didn't introduce Doodle last year -here he is from today's perch.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Preschool Christmas Angels

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night it was Drew's annual preschool pageant, and this year he was a Christmas Angel and he sang about 1/2 a dozen songs - which he spent the past several weeks singing around the house. I love listening to him sing! In fact the other night at Target he was singing songs from Rocky nice and loud... but that's for another post..

Back to my little angel...

Don't be fooled by this innocent looking angel before his performance. He was actually put in time out earlier in the day at school because he refused to practice.

But he did great when it came time for the real thing!

Here is most of his preschool - his class are dressed as the white angels on both sides of the stage. In the center is another class (Frogs) which are in animal costumes. Not pictured is the Bunny class - which is especially young this year (mostly 2 1/2) and only made a brief cameo.

Afterward our Angel was happy to pose for the camera.

And then afterward Drew smiled for the camera with his friend Troy and Mason. Troy is in his class and Mason has since moved to Kindergarten - their Mom watched Drew for his first 2 1/2 years almost 3 years.

Supporting Cousin Kady

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last week we drove out to Brentwood to support Cousin Kady who was performing in her annual preschool concert. We couldn't make it last year due to some scheduling conflict, so Drew and I made sure to do it this year.

While Kady didn't sing much...

... she sure did jingle a mean bell. I think she got intimidated looking out at all those people looking at her. Kady is wearing the cream colored sweater.

After the performance there was a visit from the Jolly man himself! And he brought presents for all the kids!

Drew and Adrina shared Santa's lap and were rewarded with a coloring book.

C is for Cookie and That's Good Enough For Me.... Nom Nom Nom

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

C is for Cookie and that's good enough for me.... and boy were there cookies!

As we do every year, the ladies in my family get together the first Saturday of the month to bake until we drop. I started at noon (because of the Bah Humbug race) and got home around 10:30pm.

So after baking dozens and dozens of cookies, here we are showing off the goods and enjoying some adult beverages... wine!

L-R: Rana, Mom, Me, Grandma (not pictured - Lisa who was only there for about 2 hours)

Most of the cookies... there were still some in the oven!

We Beat Daddy, Bah Humbug!

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Drew was so excited to run in his 2nd "Grinch" 5K (3.1 miles). Well to be honest I pushed him in the jogger this year (Daddy did it last year) and he braved the cold and very windy morning without much complaint.

Daddy was with us at the Start line...

But when the "gun" went off he ran ahead, while I was stuck at the back of the line because of the stroller. Once we were out of the herd of people I managed to pass Daddy... much to Drew's delight.

The entire race he sat perched up in the stroller commanding me "Go faster Mommy, there are people way up there. You have to beat them." Occasionally he'd peer around his strollers asking "Where's Daddy".

I smoked him buddy ;)

We hit the finish line and then circled back to cheer Daddy on - who is looking to get in shape before softball season...

And here's a bad shot of Daddy getting crossing the Finish line (he's in the Santa hat) and was caught in a group of people.

And we have to get the family finishing photo....

So here's our official race results:

Brenda - 32:49, 30th place out of 64 women in my age range, 186 overall
Dave - 36:02, 15th place out of 27 men in his age range, 211 overall

My personal best is about 30-seconds faster, which I think I could've beat if it wasn't so wind AND I wasn't pushing a 35lb 4 year old in a stroller. I'm impressed with my finish regardless - and Dave's too!

Kicking Off the Holidays

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

On December 1st, we kicked off the holiday season with the annual tree lighting in town. We've gone the past couple of years for an easy way for Drew to get a picture with Santa. This year there was even snow!

Drew gets silly standing in line for Santa....

One of the elves had to make sure Drew was on the Nice list before visiting with Santa... he passed. Whew!

Must take a picture with the pretty Elf....

The big guy himself...

After telling Santa he wanted a VReader and a Wii we went over toward the colored water fountains....

Mommy & Drew

The weird Christmas bear who was all alone by the fountain.

And then the reason we came... the tree!

Despite how it appears from this cell phone shot, the tree is HUGE! This is looking at it from the fountains.

I Don't Want to be Handsome, I Want to be Awesome

2011-12-09T08:43:00.000-08:00

So the battle on the way to school today was why Drew doesn't want to be handsome everyday, instead he wants to look awesome. Daddy put him in a Dodger's ball cap, and that apparently turns you from handsome to awesome... cause of course the two can't go hand in hand in the mind of a four year old.

So as we started another battle down the stairs at school about why Drew should wear his jacket outside in the 30-degree temps... we get inside school with a grouchy Mom and child. Then his teachers said a few things that shocked and impressed me, turning the morning around.

First of all we all got a chuckle out of Drew's use of large words about how he's feeling. They were talking about how he yells out when he gets time outs or other things don't go his way... "I'm so Frustrated" (you must imagine the most pissed off face you can imagine as Drew is yelling this at you). I had one or two of those calls this morning myself...

Then, they announced Drew knows how to spell my first name - I was thinking they meant M-O-M - but they clarified it was Brenda. He showed off for me. I then asked if he knew how to spell daddy's name... D-A-V-I dunno. We gave him credit for the silent "E".

The raving about Drew kept on when the Preschool Director (who we don't usually see at school) mentioned how she was doing Insect Flashcards last week - since they were working on "I" and most kids think bugs are cool, but they're not familiar with them. Except Drew started shouting out what they were when she was certain most kids would have no idea. She asked how he knew - and he proudly told her I'm reading the bottom.

There were more anecdotes, but I think you get the picture. Needless to say I changed my attitude this morning.

And since Drew wouldn't let me take a picture of his "awesome" self this morning, here's a goofy picture I took about two weeks ago.

Running Off Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-12-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

I forgot I never blogged my Turkey Trot 10K race from Thanksgiving! So here it goes...

About 2 weeks before Thanksgiving I decided to sign up for the local Turkey Trot, which is offered in a 5K and 10K distances (3.1 or 6.2 miles). I opted to go the distance with the 10K... I am in fact training for another 1/2 Marathon after all.

As you can see from this starting line picture.. conditions were less than ideal. It was raining!

While I normally refuse to run in the rain for fear of getting hurt, I decided to still brave the elements and donned my Niagara Falls Poncho and hit the road. This was the first time I didn't have my own cheering section at the finish line, and while there was a twinge of disappointment, with the weather it's more than understandable.

And great news, I set a few personal race records...

After two previous 10K races, I finally ran the entire distance. Last year I drank water on the race route and had a side-ache from hell. This past September I was battling a sinus thing and started out too fast.
I set a new personal race record for the 10K beating my previous record by more than 7 minutes! My official finish time was 1:08:08.

Miles 4.5-5.5 were rather muddy, and thankfully the rain started to go away, so I removed my visor and my rain poncho and had a strong finish - for me that is. I was still in 83rd place (out of 109) for the ladies running this distance (1,030/1,291 overall). Thankfully I run for my own personal bests and improvements and I don't put too much into the overall placement. I'll never finish number one, and that's just fine by me.

VIDEO: Christmas Comes Early

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

So Christmas came early to our house... on Black Friday to be exact. Dave and I were tossing around what to get Drew this year and one thing we really wanted to get was a punching bag - seeing as he's fascinated by Rocky and has been for more than 2 years. Dave's wanted a punching bag for nearly as many years as I've known him (and actually almost got him one last year for Christmas).

Well scouring the Black Friday ads, I found a great deal on a punching bag/speed bag combo. Dave and I said we'd check it out to make sure it wasn't cheap - because we need a stand. We don't have anywhere to hang the bag without taking our entire house down.

We were in luck... at about Noon when we were heading home, we went to the sporting good store and they had one left. The Floor Model. We scooped it up, and since it wasn't boxed it couldn't sit under the tree - so Dave set it up.

Here's the father/son team....

In the Red Corner - Drew - a.k.a. Rocky Balboa - a.k.a. The Italian Stallion

And in the Blue Corner - Daddy - a.k.a. Dave

All I can say is... Like Father, Like Son.

Old Friends and Santa

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

On Friday we were invited back as alumni to Ms. Stephanie's annual Daycare Family Christmas dinner. Of course we are invited back year after year because Dave plays an awesome Santa.... Here is last year's dinner and I think this is the first one from two years ago. There wasn't a point in doing it Drew's first year - he was the only kid she watched for a long time.

Well Friday night the house was filled with I think 9 kids and 11 adults. It was a fun night of friends, laughs and prime rib (kids had pizza). Forgive the cellphone pictures, I forgot my camera at home. And then I played photographer for Ms. Stephanie with her camera - which is far more important than my own pictures.

The kids getting dinner ready (Drew is to the right side below Amber - who is in the black shirt).

Drew talking to Santa (Daddy).

Ms. Stephanie's 6 year old figured out this year it was Dave and then whispered to Drew the secret that Dave was Santa. Drew came over to me and asked... I nonchalantly said that Daddy went to home to get his shoes - which he did forget for this costume. You can't tell, but he's wearing socks instead of shoes.

And as you can see this party tuckered Drew out. He fell asleep before we hit the main road home. He cuddled with the Grinch all weekend (we ran the Bah Humbug 5K the next morning - and Drew was the designated Grinch holder).

VIDEO: Action Figure Rocky Reenactment

2011-12-05T09:04:00.001-08:00

Drew uses his Rocky and the Rock action figures to reenact the fight in Rocky IV (play fight with Apollo Creed and Rocky).

I'll apologize now for the length....

Photo Scavenger Hunt

2011-12-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

In one of Drew's recent fast food kid's meal toys was a kit to have a scavenger hunt. It included a list of items to locate around the house.

It was designed to have the child write the items and then seek them out. I made it a photo scavenger hunt, using my phone's camera.

Here are some of the "finds" from his last one:

Clock

Cell phone

Toothbrush

Hairbrush

Stuffed animal

He LOVES this little adventure game.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Time with St. Nick

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

We decided to skip the Mall Santa this year and instead paid less to have Drew with sit with Sears Santa. For $10 we got several creative poses with St. Nick and Drew got to announce what he wanted for Christmas.... a V Reader.

Please excuse the cell phone picture of the actual picture - the flash disturbance on Santa's beard.

We really liked the creative shot! And for the price we couldn't beat it - even with a Groupon. So before Thanksgiving we had the obligatory time with Santa pose finished without the line!

Another First for Drew!

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since Drew's experienced a first - well this holiday weekend, he had one. His first trip to the movie theater!

After the preschool luncheon we took Drew to his first big screen movie to see Happy Feet 2. He had a great time, but he was a little wiped out by the early wake-up and his Thanksgiving feast cooking. So I think he was fighting to stay awake in the dark theater. He said he had a great time though and has been reciting movie quotes all weekend.

And he's busy telling anyone who will listen all about his first movie. I guess he's proud of it. Does that mean we have to go back and do more?

So Much to Be Thankful For...

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

We have so much to be thankful for this year.... and our Thanksgiving festivities started early this year, with a lunchtime feast put on by Drew's preschool.

I love handprint artwork! This one says...

This isn't just a turkey,

as you can plainly see.

I made it with my own two hands

which are part of me.

It's made with lots of love especially to say,

I hope you have a very

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

After school we took Drew out for a special afternoon and evening - which I'll save for later blogs this week - and then on Thursday we went to my Mom and Dad's new house for Thanksgiving Dinner.

My niece Kady and I - she was having fun with Drew's Mobigo. My sister Lisa was home sick.

The Family - L-R: Uncle Doug, Grandma, Dave, Kent (Rana's Dad), Matt

And we were blessed to spend the holiday with my cousin Jodi!

Family shot

The Newlyweds freshly returned from their honeymoon

GG and her Great-Grandchildren, Kady and Drew

Drew and Adrina posing for the camera

And guess who likes black olive fingertips? Kady!

It was a great night and it was wonderful to spend it with the family.

We were even insane enough to go Black Friday shopping - but we skipped the midnight sales, and ventured out at 4:30am and were wrapped up by 8:30 for breakfast (with an extra stop for a present for Daddy and Drew).

VIDEO: Get Your Gobble On

2011-11-23T08:20:00.001-08:00

Here's a little song from Drew to help you get your gobble on tomorrow...

And here's an encore... of another song...

I love the songs he comes home singing from school!

Paying His Way

2011-11-22T08:32:00.001-08:00

On Sunday Drew was playing with my phone when he asked me to get him some new games. He found one he really wanted - Team Umizoomi - but it cost $1.99 so I said no. We're cheap and mostly get him free games since he wants them so often.

When I explained that he couldn't have it because it cost money he excitedly said he had money!

He pulled $1.10 off his bookshelf... funds that he had yet to put into his piggy bank. I thought that was so sweet that he was willing to buy his own app.

Needless to say, being the good parent I am, I diverted his attention and he forgot about the app.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Matt and Rana Tie The Knot

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

It was a busy weekend for us - as my brother married his girlfriend of three years on Saturday! The short engagement didn't mean there was anything short about the wedding - it was BEAUTIFUL!

All three of us were in the wedding again - yes that's two this year alone. I was a bridesmaid, Dave a groomsman, and Drew a ring bearer. Enough about the chatter... here are some pictures I snagged from my cousin Jodi who was the official unoffical photographer....

L-R: Lisa, Me, Rana, Denise (bride's friend and Matron of Honor), Adrina

L-R: Lisa, Me, Rana, Adrina, Denise

L-R: Lisa, Me, Rana, Adrina, Deinse

Matt and Grandma

Uncle Matt & Drew the Ring Bearer

L-R: Dad, Lisa, Matt, Mom, Kady, Grandma, Me, Drew, Dave

L-R: Wes (bride's Brother-in-law, Dave, John (Best Man), Matt

Drew and Adrina walking down the aisle

Kent (the father obviously) and Rana

Sand Ceremony

All the Koch's: Dad, Mom, Kady, Lisa, Rana, Adrina, Matt, Me, Drew, Dave, Grandma

The new merged families:

L-R: Kent, Michael, Grandpa, Tom, Jan (bride's mom), Dane, Wes, Jess (bride's sister), Denise, Rana, Adrina, Matt, John, Drew, Dave, Me, Mom, Dad, Kady, Lisa, Grandma

VIDEO: Can You Smellllllll What the Rock Is Cookin'

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but my husband was a WWF/WWE fan. His favorite ~~character~~ wrestler was the Rock.

Apparently the Rock made a pit stop back to the world of wrestling, taking a break from his acting career. So Daddy seized the opportunity to show Drew who he was. Dave's little "mini-me" instantly took over...

He did another one after "Boston" with our city... what a ham. I can't wait to see my boys tonight!!!!

VIDEO: Rocky vs Elf

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

For more than two years Rocky has been Drew's hero. He impersonates Sly every chance he gets and even draws pictures of his idol...

For those that can't quite make it out... Drew is on the left in "jail" and Rocky is on the right "busting him out". He made that at pizza the other night.

Then on Sunday Dave sent me a new video of Drew watching his new favorite movie - Elf.

I despise Will Farrell, and therefore hate watching his movies. But Drew seems to take to his crazy antics. Figures.

Baby Steps

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

While I was working this weekend in Southern California Dave sent me a shocking new picture of Drew.

While the fact he's eating wouldn't shock the typical person, because it was a vegetable was surprising to this Mama. Yep he tried celery with peanut butter!

Dave said he only had 2-3 bites before he was "full". But he tried it and didn't gag. Baby steps...

Running to San Diego....

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to run 475 miles this year... an average of about 9 miles a week. This past Saturday I surpassed my goal... running 478 or the distance from my house to San Diego (where I am working through Thursday). In fact I have run a little beyond San Diego which is only 474.26 miles from my house....

So now it's my mission to get to 525 by the end of the year...

I have done several races this past year and I'm currently training for my next Half Marathon at Disneyland at the end of January where I will meet up with some of my friends. But yesterday I decided to sign up for a couple of additional races to finish out the year.

First up, will be the Turkey Trot 10K at a nearby city on Thanksgiving morning. I've wanted to do this run since I heard about it two years ago, and I finally got the courage to sign up this year not for the 5K, but the 10K.

I need to work off that Turkey dinner!

And then in December Dave and I are doing our annual Bah Humbug Run. Last year Dave pushed Drew thinking he would just walk the 5K route, but he ended up running it - you can get the recap of that race here.

Well this year I'll push Drew in the jogger and Dave will try and break some personal records by running the race, intentionally, and hopefully avoid the week of sore stiff legs that he had last year. He has already started training and is looking forward to crossing the finish line.

I asked Dave if he wanted to do the Turkey trot with me, and he said he didn't figure he'd be ready in 2 weeks vs the 4 he has to train for the Bah Humbug run. Rookie...

Here's to a healthy holiday season in our household!

Drew's Pizza Art

2011-11-11T08:39:00.001-08:00

Last night we went out for pizza and they gave Drew some paper and crayons.

Sure I wrote I love Drew (upside down I might add) but then he did it himself WITHOUT asking how to spell either mom or dad.

Love that kid!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

VIDEO: My Hero Rocky

2011-11-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

Last night we happened upon a Rocky Marathon on AMC and you know Drew... he can spot (or shall we say hear) a Rocky movie from the other side of the house. We were also notified that Rocky is Drew's hero.

This was the Original Rocky and the training session... Drew had to do as Rocky was doing. Situps and Push-ups.

But then the famous climbing the stairs scene.... wait for the kicker at the end when Drew breaks character.

Training With Mom

2011-11-07T06:41:00.001-08:00

I may have just finished my first 1/2 Marathon, but I have another on the horizon. Drew on the other hand just likes to train with Mommy.

That was this morning after I came back from a 5 mile run. (my first run in over a week thanks to the sinus crud).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hangin' Around

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned earlier this week, school was out on Halloween, so Drew had to join me at the office. While it started out rough in the end he did fantastic!

In fact at one point he had everyone in the office howling (and I'm sure he'll hate me later in life for telling this story)...

But when we were coming back from McDonald's with our lunch, he was so upset because his "ookiepook" was moving around. (his ookiepook is what Dave grew up calling his "manhood" and has passed that on to Drew). So we're walking back into my office with Drew shoving his hands down his pants so he could straighten out his "ookiepook".

He kept growing more and more upset saying it won't stay still... and at one point crying that it was stuck to the side of his leg. My coworker and I were trying our hardest not to laugh out loud - and my boss (the only man around) didn't hear the conversation at first.

I tried to help Drew...errrr.... adjust himself, but apparently I wasn't helping matters. I asked my boss what should be done. Needless to say, Drew figured things out for himself, minus a few laughs at his expense.

We called it a kind of early day since he was starting to get impatient with being at the office for so long.

He was so anxious to leave he even offered to drive home. His latest thing is to climb into the front seat to try and "drive" Jean Grey - the name of our car.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

So Long, Farewell...

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

For those that know us, you know that from 2nd grade until I was in 7th grade we moved every year... almost like clockwork. Not just your move around the block or to a city, but across country - Minnesota to California. Well in 1989, my parents finally found a house and stayed put for 22 years, but now they're saying So Long Farewell to the old.... and hello to their new house.

On Sunday we helped them out of their old place and into this "palace". It's HUGE and it has a lot of characteristics of my dream home - look at that front porch!! We told my parents we're happy to throw our parties there anytime... they need not be there if they don't want to hang out :)

The inside was a mess with boxes and furniture everywhere, so I didn't take any shots so as not to ruin the surprise. Let's just say we're excited to have sleepovers in our own "wing". Oh and with my addiction with Pinterest - I could have a field day decorating the inside!! (yes I'm a tinge jealous).

Double Dose of Costume Parties

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

We had a double dose of costume parties on Saturday - first up a birthday party for Drew's friends Mason and Troy.

Drew and Mason

That would be Dave and I in our kid friendly costumes helping out.

Rocky attempting to break the pinata - he didn't.

And then we went home and got ready for the adult version of the costume party - when all the birthday kids went home. Parents could bring their little ones but it was for the most part an adult only party.

Get it?? Deer in headlights! We won for most original costume.

Brian... er... Brianna.

And Greg, the girly SF 49er or my politically incorrect interpretation queer 49er. He and Dave loved to pretend they were the Deer and Queer in Headlights every time I went outside for a beer.

Hey Yo... Trick or Treat

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Um, in case you haven't noticed... Drew was going to be Rocky Balboa for Halloween. We started the day at work and he trick or treated at my co-worker's desks (I provided the candy).

We came home from work early since Drew had had enough and relaxed for a bit before getting ready for the real thing.

Daddy joined us for a few homes, then had to get to his thing... scaring the neighborhood kids.

He said there weren't as many kids this time around. Either they moved away or perhaps they decided to hit up different neighborhoods.

Drew had a great time in the beginning but after about an hour (and one candy drop-off) he was finished. I think it was the other scary house in the neighborhood that had a coffin with a monster trying to get out. His costume was a hit though! Everyone thought he was just a boxer until he turned around and they saw the "Balboa" on his back... then they would all yell out something. Drew even did a "Yo Adrian I did it" once for a couple of ladies.

Rocky Goes to School

2011-10-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

Drew is at work with me today because school is closed for a teacher workday - so let's see how productive a day it is. We've been here 45 minutes and he's already driving me nuts.

But on Friday he had his preschool Halloween party. And of course he went as none other than Rocky Balboa. He even lead the class in the flag salute/pledge.

Parents were invited for snacks, Scooter the clown and to fill the kids trick or treat bags! It's always fun to see Drew at School!

Yes that's Daddy handing Drew his tricks or treats.

VIDEO: God Bless America

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

The World Series brought out more than just baseball... it brought out our little singer. We had no idea until the 7th inning stretch that Drew knew "God Bless America". Dave recorded this while I was in Philadelphia last week.

He's since recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the entire song of God Bless America

Zippity Do Dah

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

We had a double dose of birthdays this past Saturday. One for a preschool friend and the other for cousin Kady (of course I didn't pull out the camera for Kady's party - I think I was feeling a bit of jet lag after a week in Philadelphia.

But at the party for his preschool friend, Drew enjoyed an afternoon of zip lining!

I think ziplining was a hit!

Crossing Items Off the Bucket List

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Since I started running in 2006 I had my goals on running in a half marathon. Well this past weekend, I did just that - so cross that one off the bucket list!

I rolled my ankle about 2 weeks ago and did 4 runs in that time - two of them made things worse forcing a 6day break. I did two, two mile runs while I was in Philadelphia last week. So needless to say I was out of "shape". I was forced to walk off and on from miles 8-11 -- I figure about 2 miles total. But I did cross the finish line!

That was my prize at the end. My little buddy - who said he was so proud of me!

My official finish finish time - 2:40:32! I have another 1/2 marathon on the horizon.. this one through Disneyland at the end of January. So time to start training yet again! My goal is to shave about 10 minutes off my time.

Double the Pleasure

2011-10-24T08:00:00.001-07:00

A little more than a week ago we took Drew to not one but two pumpkin patches in one day. Of course it lead to an allergy nightmare, but we had fun nonetheless.

We started in Livermore where they have the better photo ops. I have so many pictures I'll save you the dialogue.

That's Drew head butting a pumpkin... don't ask....

Drew had to read the signs and find out all the chicken trivia.

And then we went to another pumpkin patch... Delosso Family Farms in Lathrop.

Playing Tourist

2011-10-20T03:01:00.001-07:00

This week I'm in the city of brotherly love for work, but I did manage to get a little down time to play tourist. Being the history buff I am, I love coming to Philadelphia and seeing the sites - I wasn't an American history minor for nothing.

In the past two or three years I've been to Philly at least five times - twice this year alone. But I've never been inside Independence Hall - for one reason or another. Well this trip I hauled my way down there determined to get a ticket - and I did!

For those who haven't studied American history in a while, it's here that our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence as that painting shows.

Recognize this room? It's the room from the painting above.

And then we headed upstairs to the long gallery. This is where the Americans held parties and when the Brits occupied the building, used it for a jail and weapons room.

It was awesome to go inside and see a piece of history.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Best Mail Ever

2011-10-17T07:53:00.001-07:00

I'm headed to the airport as I write this, but on the way to BART I grabbed the weekend mail. Among all the bills and other junk mail I found the coolest thing EVER!

The best piece of mail I've received -ever! And he was so proud to tell us about it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Preschool Pumpkin Patch Day

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Holy photos batman! I knew I took a lot of photos intending to share them with Drew's preschool photo share site, but there were a lot of great ones of him too. Sorry for the photo-fest you're about to receive...

Yesterday was the pumpkin patch day for Drew's school and I managed to get a few hours off work to help out. Well helping out in the bigger class is more along the lines of watching and assisting when needed. We started out by going on a bear hunt (I was in this hunt so I didn't get many pictures, and those I did get were blurry from all the running kids.

So here the kids are getting their cookies so they can make pumpkin faces with frosting and candy.

Drew had to be told many times to not eat anything before he decorated it...

I'm not sure what the sticker dot is all about - he told me he felt like putting it there.

Notice the bites out of the "smile"... clearly patience and four year olds don't go well together.

After decorating and eating their cookies and having snacks, Drew and his pal Troy wanted their pictures taken while acting goofy. Some things don't change at school either.

Then after getting the kids high on sugar it was time to quiet them down for a story.

After stories, they each got a bag with their name on it and were given instructions that they had to pick ONE pumpkin, ONE gourd, and ONE corn. And the pumpkin had to be just right.. big enough that their own muscles would carry it.

See what Drew did with his bag?

Yes that's my son with a bag over his head. He's his father's son, what can I say?

What was great about this event is they brought the "pumpkin patch" to us - no field trips! They set it up in front of the church where he goes to school.

Of course Daddy arrived as I was trying to get Drew to look at the camera. I don't win out to Daddy shouting "GooGoo Necks! Oh GooGoo Necks!" (One of Dave's many nicknames for Drew).

Mommy and Drew

And Daddy and Drew staring into the sun.

They let kids stick their hands inside the pumpkins... of course mine was the one who nearly threw up from doing so. Guess we know that Daddy will clean out our pumpkins again this year (I'm allergic and Drew pukes).

He was much happier decorating his pumpkin!

Afterward he told me I had to join him on the turtle/dinosaur.

Where he instructed me in his best airline pilot voice to "fasten your seatbelt because we're goin' on a ride".

Of course we can't forget about Rocky...

It was a great afternoon at school. He was a bit disappointed because we were leaving and he had to stay behind. Gotta love the warm temps we had! Low 80s and it felt every bit of it.

VIDEO: Aussie Impersonation

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Drew apparently came upon a new commercial....

For those who cannot make out his Aussie accent he's saying: "Fosters, Australian for beer."

Yeah we're proud parents of a kiddo who thinks those Foster's beer commercials are hilarious - well they are after all pretty clever.

In other beer news Drew saw the Octoberfest sign-ups at church last weekend, and being the good Lutherans we are, the artwork on this sign-up included beer along with the brats. Well he pointed to the beer steins and said "Apple juice"! Yeah that's right kiddo.. it's "Mommy and Daddy" apple juice!

Ladies Night

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

It was ladies night on Saturday when we went out for Rana's Bachelorette party in San Francisco. Mind you I haven't been to a club in YEARS and I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Especially since it was also Fleet Week here - where all the Navy ships are in town and showing off their stuff.

We went to Infusion Lounge near Market and Powell (Union Square area). Everyone drove while I took BART - since I needed to be responsible the next morning and watch my 4 year old so Dave could usher at church.

We started by having dinner at the club...

L-R: Jamie, Me, Leticia, Rana (the bride-to-be) Deanne, Korina, Denise (the matron of honor), and Tiffany

Getting started with dinner. L-R: Korina, Deanne, Rana, Me, Jamie, Denise, Tiffany, Leticia

Bet you haven't been to a club where penguins were also the guest of honor!
It was a special event night at this club, with their annual Signature Black Event.

So I didn't get any pictures of dinner, but I had to take a picture of dessert. As one of the girls said.. "I'd take this over a ding dong any day".

Ready to get our groove on:
L-R: Korina, Rana, (in back) Denise, Leticia, (in front) Me, Deanne, Jamie (Tiffany only stayed through dinner).

Once they opened up the dance floor (which had to be cleared from dinner) I spotted a pair of Marines. I had to get a few guys for Rana to pose with. You know someone else in uniform - other than my police officer brother/her betrothed.

They were good sports, posed and were out of there. Unlike the next group of gentleman.

I found 3 Navy guys who weren't used to seeing the ladies while out to see. And since it was Fleet Week and all - they were ready for some "attention".

They were nice, but one in particular was hoping to get "lucky" I think. Mind you all but I think 2 of us were married - the other two are engaged.

It was a fun night! I was a little bummed to have to leave just as the party was getting started, but responsibility called. The boys are going out for their bachelor party on Saturday. I doubt Dave will share his photos ;)

Shhh He's Sleeping

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

So on Sunday we were headed to church and we were waiting for the light to make the the left into the church's driveway when suddenly this conversation took place:

Drew: (yelling) Shhhh turn down the radio Mommy.
Me: Why?
Drew: Because it's too noisy and he's trying to sleep.
Me: Who?
Drew: That deer over there (pointing to the side of the road at a dead deer)
Me: (holding back a chuckle) That's right honey he's just sleeping.
Drew: Shhh we have to be quiet because he's really tired, we can't wake him up.

And since we can't just have a tragic story about a dead deer... here's a picture from Drew's soccer practice the other day.

Don't you dig the matching cleats? Gotta love Adidas hand me downs!

Fork 'Em Devils!

2011-10-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the benefit of mixing business with pleasure when I flew to Arizona for work, but added an extra day to my stay to visit with some friends and check out my Alma Mater - Arizona State. My friend Rachel and I hit up a football game. My first second time back to the stadium since graduating, but the first time in about 10 years!

Let me just say those college kids are getting younger and younger!! Was I ever that young and dumb? (Don't answer that it's supposed to be a rhetorical question).

I didn't get any pictures with friends this trip - why is it when I focus on having fun I don't take any pictures? Instead I did get a few from the football game - mind you we were in the nosebleeds, so they're not the best quality. Starting out with some pre-game festivities.

And here was the final ASU touchdown of the game!

Final score - ASU 35-20 against the Oregon State Beavers. Go Devils!

Family Night at School

2011-10-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack in posts... it's been a busy week for me with travel to Arizona, work and getting back to life at home.

Last Friday it was family night at preschool, and after a slight mishap with Drew's face and knees hitting the pavement - leading to a nosebleed - we were able to enjoy the pizza and company.

Drew loved having his face painted - the first time he's ever asked and enjoyed having it done..

It's a Ninja Turtle!

Then his friend Mason was going around trying to get people to buy his playdough (Smelly things) so Drew wanted to make a buck too. Daddy gave him a dollar and made "smelly things" come out of his ear.

It was fun to hang out with the parents of Drew's classmates and to have the kids play together.

Wall of Fame

2011-09-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend Dave started a new art project - the first since he sketched Drew 2 days after he was born. This one was on a much larger scale - a wall mural - for some friends of ours. The mural is in their boys' bedroom and takes up a good chunk of one of the walls.

I got to see it about 2 weeks later when we stopped over at Brian and Stephanie's after our Parents Night Out. Dave had to show me that he really was working all those hours he spent over there while I was home slaving away at Drew's birthday cake attempts.

For the record Dave free-handed the design and began the painting process... Brian finished it. I'm sure they wanted the project completed faster than Dave could have gotten there to finish it. It really does look amazing!

Party Like It's 1599

2011-09-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

It was that time of year again that we travel back in time to the Renaissance period and join our friends Mel and Chris for some debauchery.

That picture was taken at the end of the day. Dave actually came through the gates with a sword, but within the time it took to walk maybe 50 yards to get from the front gates to the beer stand he lost the sheath. So he had to take his exposed sword back to the trailer. He was rather bitter about it.

So to try and make him feel better we attended a few "new to us" shows - preferring the NC17 version kind of things since we didn't bring any of the kids.

Here's a video sample of their hit song... a bit of a warning, they have an NC17 rating for a reason. I don't advise listening to it while at the office and in earshot of your co-workers...

Dave had the hots for the redhead.

We then headed over to the joust and met up with Melody's sister and her boyfriend. After the show we were amazed to find someone taller than Chris.

That man is a giant next to my 5'10" husband.

After lunch we went back to another joust, thinking the Queen would be back.. no such luck.

Here's the gang.... starting in the 2nd row:
L-R: Eric, me
L-R: Megan, Mel, Chris

It was all about shows this time - we hit up another one, the Dirty Laundry Women (again on the "naughty" stage). They asked for volunteers and my ever so "bashful" husband volunteered...

To earn a flower for his lady he had to make an ass of himself by wearing a feather boa...

... walking to the back of the arena...

... and shouting about how much he loves himself and then proceed to hug himself. He got off easy compared to the other guys.

My flower :)

Notice where I put it? Another great afternoon, and thankfully the weather was perfect! It's normally scorching hot, but this year was beautiful.

Showering the Bride-to-Be

2011-09-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be getting a new sister-in-law in a little less than two months, and two weeks ago she had her Bridal Shower. I postponed posting this thinking she would post pictures on Facebook... I didn't want to steal her thunder. But nearly 2 weeks later... Rana, we have family itching to see the pictures. :)

The shower was held at her Matron of Honor's house in Oakley and she did it in the colors that Rana will be using for the wedding...

The favors were bottles of wine and personalized M&Ms with the wedding date on it.

The cake was absolutely beautiful... and better yet it tasted great too!

I was in charge of doing the games, and we did... the Price is Right (honeymoon style), the Almost Newlywed Game (I asked Matt questions then asked Rana the same ones), and name that bride (celebrities).

Here are the ladies from my family...

L-R: My Sister Lisa, Me, Rana (the bride) and my Mom Kathie
Apparently Rana didn't get the memo about which color to wear....

And here's her bridal party....
L-R: Lisa, Me, Rana, Denise (the Matron of Honor)

I think the prerequisite for making the "cut" into the bridal party was blonde hair and blueish color shirts - HA!

It was a great afternoon and I think she scored BIG time with some generous family and friends. Now figuring out what to get them as a wedding gift will be tough!

Go Go Grammy

2011-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday I did my first 10K, but Grammy too did her first "race" the Delta Harvest Family Run/Walk. Rather than bore you with duplicate details from yesterday I'll share the two photos I received this morning in my email courtesy the race photographer - Rick Felix Photography.

Yep, that's Grammy at her first "race" pushing her little Drew Bear who went "running" too. He even got a ribbon.

Here's my official crossing the finish line photo...

Race to the Finish

2011-09-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my first 10K of the year... ok my only 10K of the year. For those who aren't familiar with racing distances, a 10K is 6.2 miles. This year I had the privilege of doing it suffering from a sudden slaughtering of allergies and sinus troubles - gotta love the far East Bay foliage and fires.

This was my second ever race of this kind, the first being last year when I had to walk some of it because I stopped for water and didn't know how to "do that" yet without suffering from side aches. So this year I really wanted to run the entire distance - which I can easily do in my 1/2 marathon training. But the stupid hereditary sinus cavities had another agenda.

One of my usual cheerleaders had a better offer so Dave wasn't there to root for me. Instead it was Grammy and Drew, who were going to do the Family fun walk/run around the Streets of Brentwood while I spent the next hour or so running through the town.

Once I hit the road I managed to run a 10 minute mile through 4.35miles - which is actually pretty fast for me. It was at that point I lost my breathing routine and ended up walking off and on for the next mile or so. I came into the Streets of Brentwood aiming to run to the end, and had to walk off and on a bit more. My final official time 1:17:46 - almost 2 minutes slower than last year's 10K.

I'll chalk it up to the sinus troubles and now I'm even more motivated to finish a 10K without walking. I know I'm perfectly capable of doing it.

Beer, Friends and Bowling

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

What's better than a night with friends, booze and bowling? That's how we spent our past Parent's Night Out (PNO) or as Drew lovingly calls it - his preschool PJ Party. We met up with fellow couples, Stephanie and Brian, and Jonelle and Travis.

We started the night enjoying the all-you-can-eat shrimp deal at Red Lobster (where Dave and I met). We randomly ran into an old mutual co-worker who is now managing the Fremont store. It had been 10-12 years since we last saw her... and in a weird twist I was Facebooking with another mutual co-worker from the same Red Lobster (and who we're getting together with this weekend).

After eating our weight in shrimp, we decided to work it off by bowling. Unfortunately many of my pictures didn't come out great because the ~~trailer trash~~ very competitive bowlers about 7 lanes over said the flash was distracting them. Here's what I could salvage.... (most of which included the flash after the 'professionals' left).

Needless to say we're not professionals by any means, but we had a blast anyway!

4 Year Check-up

2011-09-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

Another year and another normal child. Drew got his well check and clean bill of health at the doctor's office.

Weight: 33.6lbs
Height: 42 inches

Some new additions to his check-up this year included a hearing test and sight check.

Despite the fact he regularly doesn't hear me - his ears are fine. And the fact he rarely finds what he's looking for on his own - his sight is perfect.

The downside of this visit were a few vaccines: MMR, Chicken Pox, and Flu shot.

He was quite ticked at the nurse and announced to me with tears streaming down his cheeks, "I don't ever, never want to come back here".

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Look Out David Beckham

2011-09-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Look out David Beckham because here comes Drew!!

We stopped doing the swimming lessons because he was plateauing if not regressing. When I listed a series of activities he could switch to: karate, basketball, soccer... he first said baseball, but settled on soccer. (out here baseball is for 5 year olds at least in the competitive leagues like Dave demands).

On Saturday Drew had his first soccer "practice" - I say "practice" because it's more of a class where they learn fundamentals... such as listening to your coach.

Drew surprised us immediately - he's a natural when it comes to soccer!

Warming up with Daddy. Dave explained what "dribbling" was with a soccer ball in the parking lot, and Drew did it immediately inside.

Practicing his coordination with placing his feet on the ball.

Practicing "carrying" the ball down the field.

After the class Daddy and Drew went to the bathroom and Dave asked him what he thought about soccer. Drew's response...

"I love soccer! But what about baseball?"

Dave told Drew that it was ok to love more than one sport. Silly kid. Needless to say we absolutely made the right decision moving to soccer. He cannot wait for Saturdays now.

Wanna Have a Catch?

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last night Dave and Drew managed to get outside to play some catch and practice pitching. Daddy told Drew they had one year to get into "baseball shape".

After I went back inside I started hearing this little voice proudly announcing "I caught my first pop-up!" I didn't get any pictures of that to the dismay of Drew, but here is a video of the two of them practicing pitching and catching grounders.

Birthday Bear

2011-09-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Drew's preschool class has put up a website to share pictures and events online, and this morning I finally got a chance to peek at it. Here's a cute picture from his birthday eating his cupcakes...

Looks like a happy 4 year old!

Riding into the Sunset and a Funny

2011-09-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

For those who aren't on Facebook, for whatever reason aren't friends with me, or perhaps you've since blocked from seeing my posts.... here's a funny from Drew at Sunday School which resumed this weekend.

Teacher 1: Jacob and Esau are twins. Do any of you know what twins are?
Drew: (very enthusiastically) They're a baseball team. From Minnesota!
Teacher 1: (trying hard not to laugh) Well yeah that's one kind of twin...
Teacher 2: (trying hard not to laugh) You are your father's son aren't you.

In other news, Drew is a riding machine right now. He's had 2 bikes and a scooter since he was just over two years old but refused to ride them growing very frustrated at his skills. He had trouble staying on the sidewalk and getting the pedaling thing down.

I went to pick him up from school last week and he said all he wants to do is ride his bike. He surprised us by doing the pedaling (as long as it wasn't uphill) and then on Sunday I pulled out the scooter for him to ride around our complex.

He loved it! After about 30 minutes he announced his legs were tired and we went back inside to bake the birthday cupcakes for school the next morning.

I love the new found independence and confidence being four has brought!

Drew IV

2011-09-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

Our little Rocky Balboa is FOUR today! On Saturday we held his birthday party at the local park and what other theme could we have but Rocky!

Yep that's the invitation I made!!

The star of the day... our own ~~Drew~~ Rocky Balboa.

The cake I slaved HOURS on (of course some of the "seam" fell off in the transfer from home to the park)

L-R: Elijah, Heather, Steve

Thankfully the weather was fantastic (thunderstorms the night before) so the kids could play in the splash park.
L-R: Naomi, Charlize, Drew, Jayce

Drew getting water from the "fountain"

Cousin Kady and Drew

Drew showing his Rocky muscles

Drew and his "Adrians" showing muscles.
L-R: Drew, Zionna, Naomi

Time to sing Happy Birthday to the star of the show....
L-R: Elijah, Drew, Zionna and Mason

The fake candle blow-out. The wind kicked up just then so we couldn't get a single candle lit.

Someone is going for the sneak attack....

And it's all caught on camera!

For background music Dave had a playlist of Rocky theme songs from various soundtracks. When the "training song" came on, Drew decided to do some "training"

At one point he even had all the kids running after him, just like the kids did in Rocky II.

Then it was time to open presents....

L-R: Adrina, Rana (my brother Matt's fiance), Naomi

It cracked me up how all the kids hovered around Drew to open gifts. They even handed their own gifts to Drew to open up.
L-R: Zionna, Elijah, Troy, Naomi (hidden a bit), Riley, Drew in the chair.

Josh and Rhiannon looking on

And saving the best for last... Uncle Doug, Aunt Connie, Grammy and GrampC behind the camera

There were a few other classmates and friends we didn't apparently get pictures of. The park is pretty big so it was hard for us to be in all places. For lunch we served pizza for the kids and of course Philly Cheesesteaks for the adults.

We thank all of our family and Drew's friends who came to make it such a special day for him. He really felt pretty good about it - as did Mom and Dad.

Mommy's Birthday Letter to Drew - Age 4

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Buddy,

Happy birthday to my sweet little boy! Every year I marvel at how you're fast growing and how quickly time is flying, I can't help it... I can't believe you're already four years old! You've been looking forward to this day for months haven't you? You're ready to grow up. But hold on dude - I need you to stay my little boy for a bit longer.

You've been in preschool a year now, and while you're wowing your teachers what you already know - you're wowing me at what you're learning. I'm seeing the progress in your writing, your drawing and your people skills. You're transforming to a big kid before my eyes. Long gone are the days I read bedtime stories to you. Now you'd prefer to read bedtime stories to me (whether it's from your book or mine).

And the imagination... this year your imagination really took off. I love listening to your theory about everything from what people are thinking to the little stories about "Fido". And tell me, where do you get the ideas for your "don't circles"? You crack your Daddy and I up with your interpretations of the signs we take for granted. I'm going to miss the little things like that when you grow up and that "innocence" is gone. It's part of what is so very special about this age. That's why I need to document it now, so I can look back on it in your teenage years when I'm not "cool" and you don't want to speak to me. :)

Things that you've been into this year include: Rocky Balboa, training like Rocky, puzzles, books, letters/phonics, the iPhone educational games and videos, your mobigo, games, movies, Blues Clues, The Upside Down Show on Nick Jr., Super Why, Dodger Dog made a comeback, don't circles, and purple flowers... you still can't get enough of purple flowers, spinners are still a hit, and you love coming to work with Mommy.

Keeping up with tradition... here's what you have taught me this past year:

You have an opinion about everything, and I need to get used to it
Acknowledging what you say will help avoid frustrations on both our parts - the nod of a head does not count
The no U-Turn sign really means you can't go upside down....
There's still no reasoning with you when you think you're right about something - I need to stop trying to convince you otherwise. (I can we'll both need therapy in your teenage years...)
You're extremely sensitive and I need to chose my words carefully - because the way I say them, and the way you interpret them can be totally different
We can go one year without a trip to the ER!
You're inquisitive about everything, and expect an answer to all of your questions - even the never ending ones (Like... what happens if you park in a no parking area? Then what? Then what? What does that mean?....)
I can really come up with some clever answers on the spot!
I need to refresh my spelling skills - you ask how everything is spelled. I can't spell worth a darn without spell check or seeing it written down.
You are developing your Daddy's mannerisms everyday - the good and bad
I live with a couple of boys.... farting is a fact of life, and you'll think it's hilarious until the end of time

I'm so proud of the boy you are and the big boy you're becoming. Keep your innocence, inquisitiveness and love of learning. But most of all, stay the same sweet child you have always been. I love you sweetheart, never forget it!

Love you the most,
Mommy

Going to the Gardens

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we took Drew to Gilroy Gardens for his annual birthday excursion - his present from us. This is a young kid's dream... to have a theme park just for them, with rides designed just for his age. What's even better is that it's only open 10-6 so it's not a brutal all day thing the way Disneyland is.

Here's the professional shot I snagged... which is why it says proof :)

Drew loved the rides, many of which Mommy and Daddy couldn't ride because we're too big.

First up, some spinning tubs...

And then a little cheese-face with the goldfish.

Mommy and Daddy wanted to get in on the action so we rode the train which takes us around the park, and we were able to scope out the various rides we could hit.

It's not a park without a carousel!

We hit the water/splash park area early on while it was still cool. But we would come back to cool off later! Of course we forgot to bring Drew's swim suit, but he didn't care.

There were some fun waterfalls that Daddy and Drew were able to walk/run behind. I think this was one of the highlights for Drew.

We all were able to hit up a Ferris Wheel - Drew's first ever.

When we happened upon a playground we had to take a few minutes break so Drew could play...

He finally became brave enough to tackle the twisty slide - he's always so nervous they go too fast.

That's Daddy and Drew inside that garlic. This is yet another ride that spins in circles... something Mommy's tummy cannot handle, so Daddy braved these rides with Drew. I think this was the biggest thrill ride for Drew - it did go pretty darned fast! Dave had to hold Drew with one hand, while trying to spin the garlic with the other... it went that fast.

The longest wait we had was about an hour for the paddle boats, but Drew was adamant he wanted to go on them. Daddy who had done all the spinning rides wanted a break and didn't want to "work" at entertainment (aka bike/paddle) so Mommy joined Drew for this ride - braving the hot sun.

Funny thing is that once we got our life jackets on, and got into our swan, Drew was no longer excited about this ride. So we waited an hour in the hot hot sun only to get a grouchy almost 4-year-old who did nothing but complain while I was working hard to get us around the pond.

Toward the end of the day we circled around the park and hit up the remaining rides we missed in our first go-round. Include the strawberry ride - yet another spinny one.

One of the cool things about this park is not only the rides - which entice the kids - but the gardens as well. In these gardens there are some very unique trees. This one is a circus tree.

It's just kind of fun to see the various plant life - although we didn't get a chance to enjoy it a whole lot. A certain child wanted to hit more rides.

It was a fantastic family day for the three of us. It's these quality moments and trips that make me appreciate everything I have. And this was a great start to the birthday celebrations!

Booze Cruise!

2011-09-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

As soon as we arrived in Hawaii we set out to find a booze cruise. We found it - not as long a cruise as we would've liked (we were hoping for 3-4 hours) but a 2 hour sunset cruise works just fine. We even met an awesome honeymooning couple from Philly. I think the four of us were the only group to consider this "sunset cruise" a booze cruise. Shoot, we wanted our money's worth!

Here is the happy couple before we set sail...

That's the cool couple we met, we ended up hanging out with them for dinner that night and then the next day they had us come over to their place to snorkel with the sea turtles (as soon as I develop the underwater camera I'll share those pictures).

I'm not sure if you can make out the faint rainbow in the center of that photo....

Dave after a few drinks was giving the "people's eyebrow" the other couple was into WWE back in the day too - well at least the groom was.

And then a beautiful sunset! I must have snapped about 2 dozen shots of it.

What a great ending evening for us - well next to the last night. We planned our last full day to be a mellow, soak up the sun kind of a day.

Road to Hana

2011-09-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

With some 600 turns, 54 bridges, most of which are one lane... the Road to Hana is not something for the weak stomached. Thank goodness we had a convertible - constant fresh air. A lot of pit stops to enjoy the views helped too!

We didn't buy an audio tour, instead I researched a few mile markers to stop at online before we left. There is one stop I wish I'd have found, but I have no clue where it was at - 7 Pools.

We started our Hana adventure at Mama's Fish House, a requirement by my boss for an expensive but amazing lunch.

My plate is toward the front - Ono with a stir-fry vegetables and jasmine rice. Dave's is in the back, lobster and crab stuffed mahi mahi with a macadamia nut crust, rice and corn on the cob. We ordered virgin drinks and all told our lunch came to about $130, before tip. I did say it was pricey didn't I? But it was absolutely the best food I think I've ever had!

After we left, it was time to get to the heart of it... the drive to Hana... our first worthwhile stop, mile-marker 14 (the mile markers start at 0).

It was an awesome swimming hole! I think it was the highlight of the "Hana" trip for us.

Then back on the road - a shot of the one lane bridges...

At mile-marker 14 a "black sand beach". This wasn't as black as we expected, and we saw another at the end of our trip.

The drive while treacherous, was beautiful!

And thankfully we had the convertible and my personal chauffeur.

We saw so many waterfalls along the way - I am only sharing some of the best pictures since we took so many!

We debated swimming in the next "pond" but it was a little too murky for our liking. Dave was afraid of leeches.

And then around mile marker 32 (the last stop for us - I think Hana is about another 6-8 miles up the road) we stopped at a state park with lava tubes, a blow hole and black beaches.

The natural lava bridge - the water is a spectacular blue here!

Dave in one of the lava tubes we found. That is water to the left of the picture.

Dave in another lava tube. We had to be careful in here, that lava rock is really jagged - Dave nearly crushed his skull trying to outrun a wave.

We had to turn around and head back after this stop. It was nearly 5:30 when we left, and driving the roads in the dark is not the kind of thrill ride I was looking for. We managed to get within 6 miles from the end before it got dark.

A fantastic drive with wonderful views, but if you're prone to carsickness take a Dramamine! We saw a few pulled over losing their lunches.

Hawaii From Above the Water

2011-09-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was trying to put a video together on this, but for whatever reason my various movie makers wouldn't recognize either the video or the music I wanted to play, so I gave up. Instead you get a snapshot look at our craziest Hawaiian adventure - parasailing. I was rather nervous about this one since I recently heard about some couples who died while doing this in the Bahamas and Tampa.

So I apparently had a death wish when I let Dave talk me into doing this one. I agreed to do the middle-of-the road height, 800 feet (lowest was 400, highest 1200). Of course that is until we got on the boat and all 6 other couples - well 1 couple and a family of four, 2 adults and 2 kids - were all doing 1200 feet. I agreed to go the extra 400 feet higher.

Here we are in our saner moments, just after boarding.

And then it was our turn, we went second....

These are all pictures they took for us (of course we paid extra for them)

When we got on we had to let them know if we wanted to get wet - we all said yes. That means they dip you into the water!

Needless to say - it was amazing. Unlike Dave who was hardly hanging onto ropes during the ride, I held on nice and tight! But we survived!

Night of Laughs

2011-09-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night while we were vacationing, we hit up a show my boss told me we weren't allowed to come home if we didn't go.... Warren and Annabelle. There is a lot of secrecy surrounding this show, so I won't spoil the surprise, but it's a magic and comedy show. Warren is the comedian/magician and Annabelle is the resident ghost.

That piano is where Annabelle plays to remember her long lost fiancee who was lost at sea. She plays any song requests the audience may have.

But the highlight of the night is the magic and comedy by Warren... we nearly peed our pants and his shenanigans.

We didn't get a lot of pictures, but we were in the front (it's a very "intimate" stadium type seating) and there are four couples up front who are part of the show. If you know Dave, you know we were picked to be up front. Those that participated most were given names from the Andy Griffith Show - Dave was Otis (I escaped detection).

Dave had been drinking all day long and especially prior to the show, and therefore had a full bladder... yes during a comedy show....

Thinking he escaped detection Warren saw "Otis" a.k.a. Dave had stepped out and decided to pull a joke on him... He was going to tell a pointless joke later in the show and when he said the magic work "Papaya" everyone is supposed to bust out laughing - all but one other poor soul in the front who was named "Goober" - was supposed to act completely clueless. So Warren would tell "Goober" the joke a second time, and again "Papaya" would be said, and he'd laugh hysterically....

The point was Otis/Dave would either act clueless and take his "laughing" cue from me or would be clueless and pretend to "get the joke" when "Goober" laughed. Well Dave thought he "got the joke" from the get-go... let's blame the booze... and thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Fast forward to when we're leaving the show, and we shake hands with Warren... We're the last couple out and Gomer and his new wife were just ahead of us (they too were in front and part of the show) when Dave announced that the "Papaya joke was great". We all laugh hysterically - including Warren - because I had yet to clue Dave/Otis in on the fact that the joke was on him! So I'm giving the hand signal that I haven't told him - so everyone bursts out laughing even harder!

Dave just kept going - talking about those penguins and the papaya... and then the other couple snaps a picture of us with Warren....

As you can see I'm hysterically laughing and therefore take a horrible picture!

I asked Dave later if anyone clued him in on the joke, and he proceeded to tell me that the bartender/server did. Suspicious, I ask him to explain the joke to me. He actually tried to do it, offering a bizarre explanation... when I realized he was so full of crap! I broke it to him, not so gently, that he was the joke, to which he came back with a solemn "Oh". I love retaliation like that!

Our Bear

2011-09-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Since he was born Grammy has always called Drew her "Bear", well today he is one officially. In preschool that is. Last year he was a Bunny and this year he's graduated to the Pre-K class otherwise known as the Bears.

Something new this year, they have to have a backpack and it needs to hold their lunches, jackets and any other share/nap toys.

School has been shut down since we came back from Hawaii, so Monday he stayed home with a sitter, and Tuesday and Wednesday he joined me at work. Needless to say, we were both ready to start school again.

He even proudly showed me his new cubby this morning.

Let's see how he does with the larger class. We really need to work on his social skills so I'm hoping this helps.

And I'll have more Hawaii posts I promise. My computer's been a little wonky lately and uncooperative.

Shake Your Coconuts

2011-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've been to a Luau, Dave hasn't so we of course had to hit one up on Maui - my brother said we had to do one in particular. My sister who honeymooned in Maui in May and also visited this luau....

It is right behind the grocery store we frequented, but right along the water, which made for some beautiful fun pictures....

And of course some of the fun of a luau is the history and the kalua pig being unearthed from the underground oven (Imu in Hawaiian).

After that finishes we're able to enjoy more free drinks (included with the admission) and the sights. This photo below is with our backs to the water and looking out at the hula stage and the Maui Mountains. Our table is just to the right of that house looking building.

We of course had to take advantage of the sunsets!

But we're not only there for the hula dancers, but the food!

Yep, that's my plate! Note yesterday's blog bragging about how much I lost between trips was before I ate and drank my way through vacation (although for the record I only gained 3 1/2 lbs).

And then there's of course the hula!

Of course if Dave can get a shot with the hula dancers in their coconuts... he's gonna do it!

A very memorable Monday evening. This was the first event we'd had planned that trip... I've been sharing things completely out of order and will continue to do so.

Hawaii Then, and Now

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Before I left for Hawaii nearly 1 1/2 weeks ago, I was thrilled to see what progress I've made in my weight loss. It was after my first trip to Oahu in 2006 that I looked at my picture and decided to lose weight. We were trying to get pregnant, and it would be about 5 months later after losing 30 lbs that Drew was finally conceived.

Fast forward to this year... and 49 lbs exactly I'm going back to Hawaii, this time Maui. Look at the difference!

2011 2006

My success? Weight Watchers off and on over the past five years... and most recently I switched to MyFitnessPal - which is calorie counting. I compared those two plans side by side for a couple of weeks and opted to go with the free option.

Another reason for my success: running. Training for two half marathons will slim you down a bit. I can't help but revel in my success, I'm rather proud of it. It hasn't been easy, but seeing the results from one luau to the next is very motivating!

We Can Find Wineries Everywhere

2011-08-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

We're like a magnet for wine and wineries. So when we found out there was a winery on Maui, one that makes pineapple wine no less... we knew we had to see it for ourselves.

It's quite away from anything civilized, and that's part of it's charm. We took windy roads to the winery which doesn't even have a physical address! That's right we had to plug the coordinates into our GPS because they are so far in the middle of nowhere that there's no address. But the views on the drive up were spectacular!

We're currently in Southwest Maui here, and I believe the smaller "island" is Turtle Bay where they have snorkeling expeditions and then the larger island in the distance I think is Kahoolawe (which isn't very large by the way).

Of course we had to get pictures of the scenery... our car and the landscape hehe

Only a mile up the road from those pictures we found the winery!

They have complementary tastings on four wines, but you're not allowed to buy a glass or consume them elsewhere on the property because of the type of license they have. So instead we joined the tour of the premises. They offer two free tours a day.

The property was purchased somewhere around 1850 I believe and was used for sugar mills and a ranch. The gentleman who owned it would brought hundreds of trees from around the world here, both things he bought and were gifted to him.

In the 1980s I think it was Tedeschi (known for his winemaking in Sonoma) came to Hawaii to experiment with winemaking on Maui. While grapes aren't plentiful, pineapples are, so came about the pineapple wine (they do have estate grown Syrah too, which we couldn't taste).

They have the barrels on the grounds, but cannot use oak barrels due to wood pests (which are responsible for ruining trees) so they use steel tanks.

The grounds were absolutely gorgeous! So we set out to explore and have some fun.

When guests sailed in to visit the original ranch owners, they would shoot off this cannon to let them know they saw their ship arrived and would be down as quickly as possible to pick them up. One of Hawaii's kings was known to visit and would stay in what is now the tasting room. The distance from where this photo is and the shore is probably 3-5 miles down some steep hills.

As I mentioned there are so many varieties of trees here. This one Dave's standing in front of is a camphor tree. We'll think of this trip every time we smell noxema...

This building used to be the tasting room before they moved it to a larger building. It's one of the original standing structures and it was nicknamed the "Old Jail" because when they were renovating it for the winery they discovered a secret "basement" with shackles inside. The winery isn't sure what it was orignally made for.

Another oddity, is this two faced statue....

The left side is the front of the statue, the other picture the back. The locals would come up to this statue and pray and give offerings for safe voyages, successful fishing, or various other things. It appears some still pay tribute to this guy.. er .. girl.

One case of wine later... we were feeling fantastic and Dave was making friends with everyone...

This was a totally unique experience and I'm so glad we took an afternoon to do it. It was an awesome drive and made even better with the convertible!

Aloha!

2011-08-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

I'm still not used to the time change, so while I'm awake at 4am Hawaii time, it's 7am at home. That's sleeping in for me - if you consider California time acceptable on the islands... I do not, but I cannot help it. So instead I'll ~~torture~~ update you on our first two nights in Maui.

Our flight was totally uneventful which is good, and we were giddy with excitement when we landed. Of course who wouldn't be if you're on the islands driving a convertible!

That's Dave at the helm of our red Ford Mustang...

We landed at about 9am Maui time, so while we tried to drive to the timeshare and check in early, our room wasn't ready. We decided to park the car and walk and explore what there is in the area. We found a fantastic shopping/dining location and had lunch with our first cocktails of the trip (on the flight we did receive a complimentary Mai Tai but we won't count that).

We managed to get in about an hour ahead of schedule so we went upstairs and got ready to hit the pool and enjoy the sun (I was already a little red from walking around).

We found some people who were doing these adorable family pictures of the sunset so we offered to take pictures of the whole group. They returned the favor by posing us so I have palm tree hair....

It didn't take away from the gorgeous sunset we saw right from our lounge chairs.

We then went up to our room to enjoy a few beverages on our balcony and made dinner in our room - the frugal people that we are.

The next morning I of course wasn't used to the time change and was up long before the sun was. Rather than run, I enjoyed coffee on the balcony and waited for the rest of the world to wake. It was designed to be a do nothing day. And well, that's exactly what we did. Nothing. Unless you count laying by the pool, snorkeling and drinking as doing something. Yes we had our first adult beverage in our hands poolside by 9:45am. It's 5 o'clock somewhere right?

Those would be our 2nd or third drinks....

And this would be our happy hour bar. We brought a cooler with our beverages down, but we had to order mai tais from the experts for Happy Hour!

The entire day we just lounged around and people watched.

That night we decided to have a late dinner and BBQ some Beef Tenderloins, made mashed potatoes and salad. And lived up the views of our pools and fountains with all the lights and tiki torches.

I love that it's 9pm at night and you are not the least bit chilled by the night air... ahhhhhh.

Today we're beginning our week of excursions. By day we're doing some shopping and exploring a few towns. By night, the luau - and more drinking :)

Aloha!

When The Sun Goes Down....

2011-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

When the sun goes down at the campground there are two things you can be certain of especially with a loud group. The adults will get rowdy and the rent-a-cops will bust you for it.

It all starts out perfectly innocent...

First Dave and Brian do some more cooking - and we have to hand it to them for making delicious food all weekend long!

Travis and Jonelle chillin' enjoying the adult beverages...

Drew trying to escape it all by climbing up a tree....

That is until Ms Stephanie and Brian pull out the fun glow sticks for the kids!

Mason & Drew with their glow sticks - Mason has the cool hat that he bought with his very own money!

And all the kids together with their glow sticks
L-R: Zionna, Charlize, Mason, Troy and Drew

Then it's time to get the kids ready for bed... and then the guys bring it full circle when they get their hands on the glow sticks. Or should I say... um.... well you can get the idea...

L-R: Travis, Brian and Dave

So both nights we were there, apparently our "neighbors" reported us for "disturbing the peace" or at least disobeying quiet time. The second night we were much quieter and still someone ratted us out. Even the rent-a-cop acknowledged there was no reason for the report since he never heard us the several times he drove by. Anyway we were silenced again.

Who cares - it was all a great weekend and a fantastic time!

S'more Much Fun!

2011-08-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a little math problem for you...what do you get when you join 8 Adults and 5 Kids together for a weekend adventure two hours from home? A camping trip to remember, that's what!

This trip was to the same campground we've gone since before Drew was born outside of Jackson in the Amador County foothills and it was nearly 2 years to the day since Drew burned his hands in the campfire - and thankfully mixing that many kids around a campsite and campfire didn't lead to any ER visits. In fact it was a terrific weekend - from the weather to the company!

Since I decided to share a plethora of pictures (do you expect anything else from me when it comes to a weekend getaway?) I'll share them over a couple of days.. rather than bore you all at once.

What's better than just chilling while camping? I mean isn't that what it's all about?

Brian & Ed

Mason and Troy finding pine cones to fuel the fire.

And what's camping without dirt?
L-R: Charlize, Troy, Drew, Zionna, Mason

S'mores!!!

Then the next morning all the kids enjoyed breakfast together!

L-R: Zionna, Drew, Charlize, Mason, Troy

The weather was pretty warm up there - the best it's been in all our years camping here! We had a blast in the pool and splash park!

Soaking up some sun!

L-R: Jessica, Charlize, Zionna (hiding behind the wall), Jonelle (Drew's Preschool teacher)

Troy was enjoying reapplying the sunscreen to Ms. Jonelle.

Dave and Stephanie soaking up the sun and enjoying some adult beverages.

Since I'm pretty photo heavy, tomorrow I'll share all the stories about what comes out at the campsites when the sun goes down....

"X" Marks the Spot

2011-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

While I was in Phoenix last week for work, Daddy and Drew decided to hit the drive through rather than make dinner. In Drew's kid meal from Carl's Jr. was a Treasure Map so all he wanted to do was find the treasure, and was quite upset when Daddy said they couldn't do it that night because they had to power clean the house before picking me up at the airport. Instead Daddy promised to do the treasure hunt the next day.

So first thing when Drew woke up he wasn't excited for camping which was the next day, and something he's asked about every morning for a week. Instead he asked if it was time for the treasure hunt. He was satisfied knowing he could do it after school.

So he and Daddy tried to come up with a game plan to find the treasure... then they were off!

Low and behold the map brought them back toward our house...

And "X" marked the spot.

And look at all that treasure! Jewelery in the way of beads and ring pops, some candy and a coloring book. Even a hot wheel! Now that's a fun treasure hunt. Drew kept talking about it all night.

1, 2, 3 Strikes You're Out

2011-08-08T08:27:00.001-07:00

On Friday night my brother Matt and Dave redeemed their Christmas present from my parents - a Giants baseball game.

They tried to make their schedules work for the Dodgers - Giants but it was a no go. Instead they saw Giants - Phillies and the Giants lost so that made Dave happy.

That and they got to see the benches clear for a brawl.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

2011-08-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today's blog wraps up our weekend getaway to Monterey, and boy were we feeling like we were the rich and famous - ok so not so rich and not so famous....

After we had breakfast at our amazing B&B, we did the 17 mile Drive (the famous Pebble Beach route). The last time I did this was apparently in high school - I thought it was longer - and Dave's never done it. Of course we came upon one or two dream homes...

There are about 19 different turn outs where you can park the car and explore. This one was one of the few beaches you could walk on, most were gated off.

Further down the road is the world famous - Lone Cypress. This tree has sat alone on the rocks for more than 250 years. These Cypress trees have a life expectancy of 300 years.

And then there's the very ritzy Pebble Beach - this is the Lodge/Golf Club.

After doing the 17 Mile Drive, we went back to Cannery Row to do some wine tasting.

Unfortunately responsibility called - we had to drive out to pick up Drew who stayed at Camp Grammy's. Of course the 2:30 trip took more like 4 hours - since it took us 2 hours to get about 40 miles.