Stories From School

Tonight it was our turn for a Halloween Book from school. Each child put together their memory from their first field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Here was Drew's contribution:



At the Pumpkin Patch,
I saw 200 pumpkins.
I found two pumpkin darts.
I like the hay maze.

And then the picture he drew of himself among the pumpkins. It's great to see how much his art and storytelling have changed in just a few months!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Super Bowl: It's All About the Commercials

For Drew, Super Bowl was all about the commercials and one in particular in fact...  here is the video of his favorite.



Drew loves the song Gangnam Style... and he heard that song from the other side of the house and had us replay it over and over and over again.  We caught his dance moves on camera.

Cabin Fever

The past month has been a rough one in our house with both Dave and I hit by this brutal flu/virus. I was working from home for 2 1/2 weeks and Dave was bedridden for a good 4 days and we are just now getting back to normal.

That means poor Drew has been left to fend for himself for much of this time. So this past weekend when it was nice Dave and Drew joined our neighbors at a couple of local wineries (I stayed behind to sleep because I'm not quite 100%).

It looked like they had a great time!!












Dave and our neighbor Julie.



Drew overcame cabin fever - whew

Tackling Tink

Last month I joined my friends from around the country for the 2nd annual Tinker Bell half marathon race through Disneyland.  I'm happy to say I successfully completed my first half marathon of the year!

Here are three of the five of us with our bibs two days before the race.

L-R: Me, Kacia and Amanda.  Krista (who took the picture) did not to run this year due to illness and Angie came down later to get her race gear.

Sunday at 5am the race got underway.  I started this year in the B corral - and we were so late and it was so crowded I couldn't get into position until the first wave left.  This year things were more crowded, but a lot more faster paced.

See that heard of people... that's all my group B fellow runners making our way toward the start.  At the beginning we had the send-off by Daisy and Minnie.

The route this year was a little different, and I have to say much better and more scenic.  We started out making our way in front of the Disneyland hotel and then onto the streets of Anaheim briefly before entering the back lot of California Adventure.  It was here that I ran into my friend Angie who got there ahead of us.

I have to say the highlight of California Adventure was running through Cars Land!  It didn't open until last June - so we didn't see any of it last year.

After leaving Cars Land/Radiator Springs we went through more back lots and around the pier inside California Adventure.  What you can't tell is I started running this race with wings...

But they were falling apart so badly you can no longer see them in the above photo.

So I hit the last bathroom in the park where it took me maybe 10 minutes to untie the darned wings from my shirt (I had a razorback tank and I tied them up pretty good).

Finally wing free, I left California Adventure to make my way through the Disneyland Park - about 4 miles in I believe.  But not before being greeted by my cheering section along the aisles between the two parks - my Mom, My Aunt Connie, Aunt Ardy and cousin Jodi.

Then it's time to hit up Disneyland!

We ran down Main Street and then through Tomorrow Land and more back lots where employees cheered us on.  It's such an awesome feeling to have that as well as to see things you never see when you visit the parks.

Another highlight we saw this year was It's A Small World still lit up with the Christmas lights.  Last year the race was a week later and you couldn't see Small World because it was "under construction" while they removed the lights.  We made it this year by 2 days :)

We then circled around and came through the backside of Sleeping Beauty's Castle...

 And look who I saw on the front side of the Castle!!

This is my first and only character stop.  They have nearly every character out on the race course, but the lines are ridiculously long and I was trying to run for time.  But I noticed there were only 2 people in line when I had turned around to take shot of the castle.  Score!

After leaving Disneyland - about mile 5 I believe - we ran through Downtown Disney where I again spot my cheering section.  So awesome to see someone familiar among all those faces!


We then ran through the streets of Anaheim for miles 6-11ish.

Boy it feels good to reach the 10 mile mark and know you only have a 5K left (3.1 miles).  At this point I was really hurting and feeling the mileage.

At about mile 11 we made our way back into the backlots of California Adventure again - this time we could actually see where we were going!

Only.one-tenth.mile.left.

Thank goodness for the finish line!  My final time 3:00:09. Worst time ever, but it turns out according to my RunKeeper app I ran about 1.5 miles more... with all the bobbing, weaving and picture taking. That makes me feel a little better.

And we all made it to the finish line!!
L-R: Amanda, Angie, Me, Kacia

This was Amanda and Kacia's first race ever and they started with a half marathon and FINISHED!!  We were all so proud of ourselves - and them!

And the reason we run these races...

...it's all about the bling.

My goal is to run another half marathon at Disney World this year so I can earn not only another Disney medal but the Coast to Coast - a 3rd medal for running 2 Disney races in one calendar year.

We were powered by Pixie Dust!

Celebrating 2013

I've fallen behind in my blogging... that's what illnesses will do to you. 

We rang in the New Year with good intentions of a healthy and prosperous intentions.  We went to the annual celebrations at our friends Brian and Stephanie. 

The happy couple...

Stephanie and I as we closed into midnight....

Some of the guys...

This is a party for the adults and kids...

 Only ours couldn't stay up until 9pm.  Talk about easy night for Mom and Dad.

On the health front, if you weren't aware Dave and I have been sick for most of 2013 - and in fact Dave has been sick for all of 2013 (he was diagnosed with bronchitis the day after Christmas).  We're mostly recovered but are looking forward to a much healthier remainder of the year! 

What a Zoo!

Here's some math for you... 3 friends from high school + 4 kids = A Zoo!  Literally.

We made our annual trek to the Oakland Zoo on New Year's Eve with my high school friends Irene and Heather and our kiddos.  Heather and I started this tradition about three years ago, and Irene joined us last year.

Here the boys enjoy looking at bugs...
L-R: Nikos, Kingston, Drew

My not-so good attempt to catch a picture of all four of them at the alligator exhibit.
L-R: Nikos (age 5) Kingston (age 2 1/2), Olive (age 3 1/2) , Drew

Thankfully no kids were lost or fell into the exhibits this year.  (Last year Drew ran ahead and got lost at the playground scaring everyone half to death).

Drew and Nikos climbing on the frogs posing for the camera

We made our rounds and managed to stay at the zoo for about three hours before they all started whining almost on command.  So we made our escape, and tried to capture one final photo of everyone.

Clearly cooperation for photos is not their strong suit....

We're mean moms because we they were "starving to death",  "wanted to ride rides"... pick your complaint.
L-R: Drew, Olive, Nikos, Kingston

Niko cracked me up, he said he refused to look at the cameras because he thought the pouting would get him on the rides. It didn't work for him any better than it did for Drew.

Reliving My College Days

At the end of December it was a bit like re-living my college days when Dave and I went to the Hunger Bowl game at AT&T Park where my Alma Mater ASU played Navy.  One thing I learned from this experience... I can't hang like I did in my "youth".

After getting of BART/Muni, we tried to find the ASU hangout, and we ended up at MoMo's across the street from the park.  There I proceeded to slam about 3 beers before going into the stadium (mind you Dave also had 3 beers).  We also met up with my college friend Mark who was also going to the game.  It was awesome being in the sea of Maroon and Gold at the bar.  Oh and boy was it packed with Sun Devils!

Our seats were awesome!   We paid for middle of the road seats - not the cheapest, and not the most expensive.  It worked out since there was an ever so slight chance of rain, that we would've been covered.

 

And then it was time for some Football! 

Sparky our mascot was ready for the action.... and there was plenty of it by ASU, not so much from Navy.  The Devils took the ball to the end zone on their first two drives (I know it was their first drive, and I think it was their 2nd drive as well - I'm too lazy to double check my facts).

 

Facebook is a great thing... I found out one of Dave's friends from the Santa Rosa area (where he went to college) was also at the game with her Dad.  During halftime we ran into Nicole while walking around trying to stay warm.

Afterward we replenished our drinks and settled back into our seats to watch the rest of the game.

And yet another touchdown!!

Needless to say Sparky did a ton of push-ups that day.  He does one for every point we get when ASU scores.   The final was ASU 62, Navy 28.

 My friend Mark joined us for the end of the game, and then we headed toward the field for the trophy presentations and fanfare.

Yep, I'm wearing gloves in San Francisco... it was quite cold!

Of course Dave wanted to have a picture of himself for the Sun Devil post-game festivities.  He's a wanna be Devil.

Afterward we left the park and Mark caught Muni, and Dave and I had this "brilliant" idea to grab another beer before going back and fighting the crowds. 

While it looks good in our final picture, it ended up not so good rather quickly.  It turns out I "forgot" to drink water all day and had beer instead.  Luckily I did eat some football foods at the game, but on the BART ride home I almost hand an "incident" where I'd have been quite embarrassed.  And I left my "mark" at the parking garage.

I was in bed that night by 8pm.  Um, yeah I can't hang out like I did in my college days....