Winter Joys

Larry, Joey and I decided one fine sunny day to head on up the hill for a little fun in the snow.  We each got bundled up and into the truck and began our journey.  This year I got smarter and packed a 2nd set of clothes for each of us "just in case".  We drove just north of Pollock Pines and found a great place to play.

We started off with a few sled runs down the BIG hill, a little scary at first, but more fun with each run.  Then we progressed to the action portion of our day with a snowball fight or two.  Joey wasn't so great at making them, but he was a champ when it came to throwing them.  I'd build him up an arsenal so that we could "get" Daddy only to have my little guy do sneak attacks on me, his loving Mommy.  I know that's hard for some of you to believe but its the truth (lol).

When we tired of our fight (or at least when Daddy and I got tired) we moved on to building a new friend for Joe.  We lucked in to finding a couple of already rolled snowballs that we just had to add on to and before you know it had the body of our snowman put together.  Then Larry and Joey rolled the last one out together for his head and got him assembled.  We went hunting for items we could use for his facial features and arms and before you could say winter wonderland we had ourselves our very own frosty the snowman.  Note to self for next year... bring a carrot, some buttons, raisins, and outerwear to finish off the finer points of Frosty.  Larry and I even managed to get a photo of us taken with Frosty by Joey himself.  He's becoming quite the little photographer thanks to his birthday present of a camera from his Uncle Chuck and Aunt Kelli.

Before we left we decided to take a couple of more sledding runs but on the smaller hill this time.  We huffed and puffed our way up and laughed our way all the way down.  When we got back to the car we stripped out of our outer layers and discovered the boys had stayed fairly dry while I somehow had gotten soaked all the way through so I headed in to the ladies room to get on my dry clothes and then we were on our way again towards home with a quick stop at Carls Junior for a late lunch.

It was an awesome day and I'm already looking forward to repeating this tradition next year.

Color My Patio Fun

The other day we had a play date for my mom's group at my good friend Sam's... no small thing considering she's 36 weeks pregnant and has been on restriced movement for 16 of those weeks.  We had about 9 mom's in all and about 16 kids.

We tried a new painting technique (cornstarch, water, food coloring) that didn't work quite as well as we hoped but the kids still gave it their best shot.  They also got to play on the playground equipment in her backyard and run through the sprinklers.  It was about a gazillion degrees outside, or maybe I just felt like it was thanks to my hot flashes.  We were there from 9 to 1, and then everyone but me went home and I hung out with Sam til 4:30.

I tried to be helpful and fixed everyone sandwiches for lunch.  Sam has two kids, Gracie who's 4 and Ethan who's 2.  After lunch we put Ethan down, and then Gracie and Joe read books together and watched a video and then headed back outside to play some more.  I wish I had there energy.

I tried to get Sam to lay down but she refused and instead stayed up and we chatted.  She's one of the nicest women I know and just really down to earth.  I feel blessed to have her, and her family, in my life.

When it was time for us to go Joey didn't want to leave.  He kept telling me he just wanted to stay at Sam's and play with Gracie until it was dark.  They are so cute together.  Gracie is like a little mom, telling the boys what to do and what they can and can't play with... but in a nice way.

All in all we had a great time.

Wonderful Weekend = Making Memories

I am in awe of how a simple day can turn into one of my favorite memories.  This past weekend was a bunch of ordinary moments shared with family who have become friends and because of this fact I am sure they will be some of my, and Joey's, favorite memories.

On Friday Larry had the day off as a special way to recognize and reward him for all his hard work at Delta Dental.  We had planned to get up early and head down to the Marin Headlands for some beach time but as the old saying goes "We make plans and God laughs".  I just had no energy.  I kept lollygaggin' and Larry slept in some and before we knew it the clock showed Noon.  We decided to stay local and went out to lunch at Rubio's which is one of my favorites, but then again I don't think I've ever met a Mexican restaurant that I haven't liked.  After we had made complete pigs of ourselves we headed to down town Sacramento to have some fun at Funderland, a kiddy museum.  I had prepurchased all-ride tickets at 60% off some time before so this outing would practically cost us nil.

Joey got so excited when he realized where we were going and started to rattle off the list of rides he wanted to go on and in what order.  He started with the planes, and had to ride twice, then we all went on this circular coaster, and of course we had to go twice.  He and Daddy rode the Dragon coaster next, only once around on that, and Joey didn't look like he was liking it much at all but Larry had a huge smile on his face.  He dreams of the day that he and Joey can go ride the big coasters at Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm.  I hope he doesn't end up being disappointed if Joey's enthusiasm for today's roller coaster was any indication.  Then Joey rode the Octopus ride and we all loaded up for a ride around the park on the small train.  And boy is it small - I thought Larry and I getting on and off it was going to flip that tiny sucker right over.  After our ride we went on the teacups, all three of us in one and Larry proceeded to spin us so fast I thought I was going to lose all that lovely Mexican food.  Next time I think I'll make him go in his own teacup while Joey and I spin at a more reasonable pace.

Wanting to let my food settle back down I suggested the boys take a ride on the log flume by themselves while I found a bathroom and then got a sprite for us all to share.  Of course I had to get a cotton candy too.  Who would believe that any child of mine would not just love cotton candy as much as him Momma, but mine doesn't.  I think he doesn't like it because it sticks to your fingers.  Oh well, more for me (and yes I did go back for a second one before we left the park for the day).

Larry and I each took turns riding the antique cars with Joey.  He just loves to be the one to "drive" the car and get to turn the steering wheels this way and that.  His smile went from ear to ear.  We decided to end our day on that high note, but then Joey begged to be allowed to go on the planes just one more time.  One turned in to two, two into three and then we began to notice that he was no longer really flying his plane but had begun to nod off.  I guess it really was time to head home.

On the way out we went buy the horse corral and let Joey pick a pony to ride - he chose Rocky.  Daddy walked him along the circular paddock, shaded by towering trees, the sunlight catching the red highlights in Joey's hair.  It made my heart happy to watch my two boys engaging in an age old pastime.  I asked him if he wanted to go around one more time and of course he said yes so this time I took him.  We walked a while, and trotted some, but Joey preferred just amblin' along.

The whole day couldn't have been a better memory in the making.

The next day we met up with Larry's family at the lake and had another wonderful outing.  We all just brought a little of this and a little of that to share and had ourselves a nice little picnic on the hillside overlooking the lake.  Then we took Joey and Elsa down to the lake to play.  They are both such water babies.  Before I knew it, Kelli, Dad, and I had all joined them in the water even though we were fully clothed.  The water was the perfect temperature and so clear.  We swam out to the float and taught the kids how to climb up the ladder and jump off into our arms.  So long as you stayed mostly under the water it was perfect, but once you stood up and felt the cool breeze blowing across your skin you'd start to shake.  Joey and Elsa played so hard in the water, splashing each other and chasing Mary along the shore line trying to push her in.  When Joe's shivers got to be to much we decided enough water was had by all and headed back up the hill to dry off.

I had brought kiddy versions of horseshoes and lawn croquet, as well as some bocce balls, and the kids had fun playing with them all even not if meant in the order they should be played.  It amazes me how kids this young can be so competitive with one another, trying to throw the farthest or collecting the most balls.

We all had some more snacks and then decided it was time for a nap so we all packed up the gear and headed for home - or almost.  I was the last one to take leave of the park and wouldn't you know it my key would not turn in the ignition.  I tried everything, turning the wheel, pushing on the brake but to no avail.  Luckily for me there were other folks around and one gentleman was nice enough to let me use his phone to call Dad to come to the rescue.  He couldn't get it to start either, but at least we had a way to get home.  This morning Larry went over, sprayed a little WD40 in the ignition, tapped it a couple of times will a ball ping hammer and voila it worked.

All in all, the day was so nice that even if we'd had to walk home it wouldn't have put a real damper on it for me.  I just love making memories with my family.  I'll post photo's as soon as I get copies from Dad.

Cinco de Mayo Celebration

Yesterday Joey and I headed out to Hagen Park to meet up with some of our friends for a Cinco de Mayo celebration.  There were six of us moms and nine kids altogether and we had a really nice time hanging out in the glorious sunshine.

The kids got to do bubbles, play on the playground (the swings being the big hit of the day), play emergency spy games, build mounds with their shovels and buckets out of the tanbark and last but not least, break open the pinata.  It was a string pinata so no bats were involved, but the kids loved taking turns pulling the strings and even after the special string was pulled that released the candy, they still wanted to continue pulling the strings until there were none left attached.  The candy and toys rained down on the ground and it was so cute to watch them want to dive in and get some but each unsure if they were "allowed" so they held back until all us moms hollered "go for it, get some goodies".  It was interesting to watch what they all picked.  Joey went for the suckers and some gum (which I made him put back since he likes to swallow it), then sweeties, and last a boucy ball.  Later it was sweet to watch him offer up his bounty to some of the other kids without any prompting from anyone else.

As for me, I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in quite a while and the opportunity to catch up on what everyone else had been up to.  It was nice to swap stories, share parenting oops and get some sound advice from others who had been exactly where I am now.  I'm so fortunate to have my mommy groups and to be able to create the friendships that I have.

Daffodil Hill in the Spring

A couple of weeks ago we ventured up the hill to the town of Volcano to experience the phenomenom called Daffodil Hill.  It was started many years ago by a simply farmer/ranchers wife who began her journey by planting a few bulbs.  Each year she added more, separated others until she had more than 300,000 bulbs planted.  As they emerge in the spring for their short life span it is like a river of gold flowing down the hillside, and fortunately for us the owners of the ranch as it stands today, have been kind enough to share it with the public.

Larry, Joe, myself along with Mary and Else made the trip, with picnic lunch in tow.  It took us just under an hour to get there and when we did, there were a lot of other folks with the same idea.  Although there were many people present it didn't feel overcrowded.

We had dressed Joey and Elsa in the Easter outfits and were going to attempt to take some photo's.  I still haven't seen the end result, so am not sure if we got any good ones or not, but my optimism says we did especially in light of how many pictures we took.

The kids had a ball running up and down the paths, flirting with the mostly senior population in the area.  Once we had sufficiently seen all the blooms on display we made our way down to the picnic grove for our lunch.  We had simple fair - sandwiches, chips, cookies and soda pop and juice boxes.  It made for a nice picnic.

After we finished we gathered our stuff and meandered over to the meadow to take a short siesta in the sun.  It made for a wonderful outing for one and all and it was great to get a chance to hang out with Mary and Elsa.

As soon as I get copies of the photo's I'll post a couple for your viewing pleasure.

Pacific Grove = Relaxation

Larry, Joey and I were the guests of my inlaws at a house they rented in Pacific Grove the second week off March.  It was literally right across the street from the ocean, and only a one block walk to a beach... it was perfect.  Joey got to spend some quality time with his grandparents and had a blast with them.

We spent one day at the beach building sand castles and checking out the tidepools.  Pop Pop was an expert at locating starfish and other crusty crustaceans on the sands floor... but then again he was raised just a few miles down the road in the city of Marina so he's had years of practice.

Another day we ventured over to the Dennis the Menace park which was fun for all of us.  They have a full size locomotive engine (which Joey was bummed would not move), and tons of innovative slides, bridges and tunnels.  Joey had us go back a couple of more times while we were there because he loved it so much.

We had intended to go to the Aquarium but because Joe was having an off day decided it wouldn't be pleasureable for any of us to go, especially at $30 a pop.  Instead we took him to the MY Museum which was created with kids in mind.  They had an actual ambulance inside with a dummy that you could gtive CPR, a farmers market, a lagoon with a boat in it, a small version of a golf course, and so much more.  Totally worth the $7 per adult to go - kids get in for free with an accompanying adult.

We checked out Fisherman's Wharf and ate at one of the local restaurants - seafood was yummy.  We also got to walk around the cannery and do a little shopping which was nice.

On our last night there Larry's parents watched Joey so that Larry and I could go out for a romantic dinner on our own.  We decided on Lattitudes which overlooks the bluff and was only about eight houses down from where we were staying.  It made for the perfect ending to a perfect mini vacation.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad for havings us, we had a great time and it made for some wonderful family memories.

Wonderful Weekend

Larry, Joey and I had the most pleasant three days this past weekend.  On Saturday we were joined by Larry's parents and his sister and niece for an outing at the Sacramento Zoo.  The weather couldn't have been better and the little ones loved riding on the new conservation carousel and of course the small train.

On Sunday we just played it lazy and hung out around the house.

Then on Monday we headed out to Joe's first dentist appointment (which went really well), and then headed over to a dog park in Citrus Heights to let Duke run with the big dogs while Joey got to play with Daddy at the playground.  Once we were all sufficiently worn out we headed over to Larry's favorite barber JoAnna who cleaned both my boys up quite nicely, so now they both are sporting fuzzy heads.

All in all it was a very satisfactory weekend and we made the most out of the gorgeous weather that was given us.

Toot Toot All Aboard

I was feeling pretty run down the day after Christmas, and the day after that as well.  Larry saw how exhausted and worn out I was and he and Joey went off on an adventure yesterday.  First they headed out to the California Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.  They toured all the trains, checked out the station, and last but not least played in the Thomas Train children's area.  After doing all that they headed outdoors to take a walk around Old Sacramento.

They grabbed a hotdog or two for lunch and then shared an ice cream from one of the local vendors down town.

Larry determined that it was still to early to return so he stopped off at BounceTown on the way home and he and Joey had a boucning good time of it.  They have a two story slide that Joey just loves going up and then down on, plus all kinds of bounce houses to play in from basic to everything but the kitchen sink.  They stayed and played for quite some time until they'd both worked up a sweat and were worn out.  Once this stage was reached Larry decided it was time to head home and that's what they did.

He did his best to keep Joey awake so that perhaps we could get him back on schedule that night.  He ended up falling asleep at 6:00 only to wake back up at 7:30 pitching little fits.  We tryed to settle him back down, gave him juice and milk so he'd be able to choose for himself, and finally had to give up and just lock him in his room for the night until he crashed out again.  Took about an hour of his crying on and off, but finally he fell back to sleep and slept through the night until 6:00 AM.

Unfortunately he's woken with quite the cold - congestions, cough, and a whole lot of sneezing.  He keeps telling me that his nose hurts, that he hit it, but really it's just bugging him from the congestion.  Poor little guy.  Hopefully he'll get over it quickly and be back to his boisterous self.

Anyway, thank you Larry for giving me that break in time and letting me get some much needed rest.  I'm sure the memories you made with stay with Joey for quite a while.  I love you both.

A Christmas Tree Hunting We Will Go

This year, due to weather, we did not cut down our own tree, but instead headed off to Mikey's Christmas Tree Lot on Sunrise.  This year I was in search of a Noble Pine, and one that wouldn't take up half of our living room.  We met Chuck and Kelly there at 4:00 and off we went in search of the perfect trees.  This was to be the girls year, we had final say, though of course the men had to have their input.

I kept having Larry pull out trees and set them side by side on the center aisle for comparison.  I'd choose a six, seven, even an eight foot tree to compare and Larry would drag out an additional 10, 11, and 12 foot variety.  Each one was supposedly better than the baby ones that I was choosing.  And Kelly and I kept having to tell them that they were not 'holes' in the trees, but intentional gaps since that was the type of tree I was going for.  I think all in all I must have said 100 times, "that's not a big gaping hole, it's an intentional gap, the way the tree is supposed to be structured".  Each time Larry would chuckle and go off in search of an even bigger tree.

Joey had a ball running around the whole time, in his own personal forest, yellin' Momma come, come, or Daddy here.  He was too cute.

After much deliberation and taking in Larry's input I chose my second favorite, a 7-foot beauty.  The first didn't pass the color test with Larry, and so my first choice went to another good home - Kelli and Chuck's.  We hauled our, and there's in the back of our truck and took first their's to their home and then ours back on home.  I have to admit I had a alterior motive for offering to take their tree for them as I wanted to see Kelli's early Christmas present, a darling little siamese mix kitty.  So I got some kitty cuddles, a quick cup of tea and then we were off towards home.  It made for a nice outing.

We put our tree up the next day, only to have it fall over, again, and again, and again.  Crystal came to our rescue with an appropriately sized tree stand and now we have a beautiful if "baby" tree in our living room and a nice white artificial tree set up in the family room.  Joe's had quite the fun time of it driving me crazy taking the balls off and playing toss with them.  Thank goodness their all plastic at his level.  Now if I could only teach him the right way to hang them back up, but I think that skill is going to have to wait for another year.

Off to the Reindeer Games

My mother-in-love Bonnie orchestrated a chili night at her house this past weekend complete with reindeer games.  We had childi with all the trimmings - sour cream, onions, cheese and let's not forget the pickles.  Yes I said pickles, and unless you've tried it you don't know what your missing.  Pickles really bring out all the different flavors of your chili - who knew.  Plus we had cornbread, homeade cookies, pies, and egg nog cream puffs.  All of it was scrumptious.

After we had thoroughly stuffed our selves we played reindeer games.  We placed one game where you were an elephant mask and had to pick up rings using only your trunks.  Joey, Elsa and Larry particularly enjoyed this game.  I can only imagine what the photo's look like (lol).  Then we played the reindeer game where each of two teams gets a pair of pantyhose and some balloons and your task is to blow up the balloons, stuff the pantyhose to make anterles, then once complete one player on your team (yes that would be me) had to put the stuffed pantyhose on their heads and sing Jingle Bells all the way through.  My team was the winning team of course and I even through in a little dance while I sang.  It was just to much fun.

For a day that started off bad for me, almost where I didn't even go, but didn't want to miss out on the family fun and that was before I knew there would be games, and yet it ended on such a high note.  Thanks mom for organizing this fun get together, Larry, Joe and I totally enjoyed ourselves and the company of family and friends.

Joe and his Gang

My friend and daycare provider JoAnne took this photo at the park one day.  Too cute.

She refers to them as "her boys", although today she was willing to trade my Joey for her Joey (far left in the photo) since he was having one of those days and didn't even want to go to school.  I declined her generous offer with a laugh.

Tahhhhhhhoe!

Larry and I headed off to Tahoe this past weekend to the Foam Fest at the Biltmore Tahoe.  Larry was filling in for his buddy Paul and pouring brew for Alaskan Brewery.  It was a fundraiser, in it's 3rd year, to raise capital for handicap parks and activities.  They had quite the crowd there and Larry was the hit of the brewer's participants, if I do say so myself.  He poured his little heart out, dancing practically the whole time behind his vendor table.  He is so engaging with the folks, talking brewing from ingrediants to what goes best with which foods.  It was a joy to stand back and watch him work his magic without him knowing I was even in the room.

I did help, for brief spurts of time... no more than 20 minutes a visit.  I poured a little, learned that the beer bottle can not touch the guests glass in any way as it's against the food/bev code.  Who knew?  Not I.  And I opened bottles so Larry could keep pouring, but for the most part I just danced a little with Larry and made sure he didn't need a break.  It was fun.

The next day Larry and I spent some time taking photo's around the lake and on the drive back home.  It was so beautiful... a crisp, clear fall day.  The leaves on the trees along Hwy. 89 were just spectacular.  I miss living amongs the trees.  One day we'll retire and hopefully it will be to a home surrounded by pines, and populars, birch and aspens.  We couldn't get over how fibrant the yellow and orange hues were.

We ate junk food coming and going on our journey and had a great time just talking with each other, and laughing.  Thankfully we didn't have to worry about Joe because Larry's parents watched him for us Saturday morning and then Crystal watched him for the remainder of the weekend until we got home. 

Apparently he was a perfect little angel.  Why is it that are children always act better for others and throw the terrible 2 tantrums when we're home with them... that's all I want to know.  He gave us kisses when we got home, but we also got some of his recently aquired shrieks to go along with the kisses.  Crystal said that was the first time she'd heard him screech all weekend.  I'm glad that they had such a nice time together.  He sure had fun playing with the new Sand/Water Table that his aunts and uncles got him for his birthday.

All in all it was a really relaxing weekend.

Boating the Sacramento

Pop Pop took us on an adventure yesterday... Joey's first real boat ride.  He's captained Pop Pop's boat many a time, only it was landlocked in the garage (lol).  Yesterday we got him his very own life vest and headed for shores unknown, at least to us.

We headed out on the Sacramento River and meandered along checking out the turtles sunbathing on the sunken logs.  The logs in the waterway we referred to as "Alligatooors" and it was Joey's job to be on the lookout.  After a short while we took a right under the green bridge and headed down Sutter Slough.  It was so peaceful out on the water.  The sun shining, hardly a cloud in the sky and the whole day ahead of us.

Pop Pop gave Joe his first lesson in steering and let him take the wheel all by himself.  For the most part he did pretty well, only fearing towards the shore every few minutes.  Pop made the necessary adjustments and then let Joey take the lead again.  It was really cute to watch the two of them together.

We had lunch in Rio Vista at The Point and it was all good, until Joe tipped over my tea cup and spilled freshly poured, hot tea in my lap.  Luckily I'd worn layers and could swap out my top for a dry one.

When we got back in the boat to head back Joey fell asleep within less than two minutes and slept like a log.  Larry and I kept passing him back and forth because he was dead weight and our arms kept needing a bit of relief from his hefty little weight.

All the way back we kept picking out houseboats and sailboats that we'd like to own and making up names for them.  It was a lot of fun.

Joey woke up when we had about 15 minutes to go and took over as Captain.  He loved pointing out all the "BIG" boats for us... pretty much any boat on the water and steering our craft.

On the way home Pop's treated us to soft serve cones from McDonalds and I have to say this was the perfect way to bring to an end our StayCation.  We'll definitely be going out again next summer... I can't wait.

Folsom Zoo

Today Joey and I hooked up with one of my mommy friends, Deborah and her 3-year old daughter LeiLani and went to the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary. We had a wonderful time. The weather couldn't have been better and the kids loved running throughout the zoo and even getting to pet an animal or two.

They got to feed the chickens, roosters, and peacocks that are on-site, both inside and outside of the zoo. I had brought some bread along for just that purpose. It was fun watching the chickens go after every little piece and while doing so clearly show what the pecking order was amongst them. The kids also fed a little of the melon we brought to a very sweet doe who seemed more pet than wild animal. She loved to be petted, and really chowed down on the melon taking it right out of the kids hands. They loved it.

After the zoo we headed over to the miniature steam train and took a ride on the rails. It was nice to be able to sit down after all that walking and just enjoy the breeze it created and the beautiful scenery that surrounded it. Both LeiLani and Joey liked it so much that they wanted to ride again, but we were able to dissuade them away from that thought with promises of the park that exists right next store.

They had fun climbing, sliding, and swinging. As well as making angels in the tanbark. LeiLani was a lot better at this than Joe, but I think she's had a little more practice at it as well.

We ended our outing with the kids searching for pine cones and playing hide and seek with us in the many overgrown bushes that flank the property. All in all, I'd have to say its one of the best days I've had in a long time.

Vacation, Staycation

Well as most of you know we were supposed to be at Lake Chelan in Washington this week, but there just weren't any vacation dollars to be found in this months budget, so we sent Mom, Crystal, and her mother-in-love Sharon off to the lake without us. They were going to hook up with one of our oldest friends Jorinda, and her daughter Cassie and granddaughter Sami. An all girls vacation... sounds like fun.

On the home front Larry decided to go ahead and take the week off anyway as he really needed a break, and we needed some family time together and as a couple. So far it's been pretty low key. Friday night we went to a local school carnival to help raise PTA dollars for my daycare providers kids school. It was fun. We won a photo shoot through the raffle, so that was pretty exciting.

My sister-in-love Mary was kind enough to watch Joey for a few hours on Saturday so Larry and I got to sneak away for a romantic lunch for two at this new Thai place I'd been wanting to try - Sala Thai. Man was it ever delicious. Not cheap, but then again I practically ordered everything off the menu, not really, but we did order five or six things to try and wasn't disappointed in one of them. Plus the serving sizes were so ample that we've each had another couple of meals off of just the left overs. You gotta love that, especially in today's economy.

Sunday we spent with the in-loves having a b-b-q dinner at their place. Yummy. That's all that needs to be said, YUMMY!

On Monday and Tuesday Larry began helping his dad with their deck extension. They got it all laid out on Monday, and yesterday began building the stairs and welding on the iron railings. Didn't quite get it finished, so he and Joey are going back over today to finish it up with Pop Pop. It almost double the size of their outdoor living space and will be really great to have come next summer. Even I got my hands a little dirty by helping to drill sink holes where the screws needed to go in. Joey's helped by picking up loose screws and putting them in a box and tossing the scrap pieces of wood into the wheelbarrow for later disposal. Whatever daddy and grandpa is doing, he wants to be doing. These Monson men, they're just so dang cute, especially when they're all working together.

So far we're enjoying the relaxing pace of our staycation and were looking forward to a few outings with family and friends at the end of the week.

Aye Aye Matey

Friday I hosted a Pirates Booty Treasure Hunt play date with my Cradles to Crayons Group at Hagen Park. I had buried gold coins for the kids to dig up and had a small treasure chest with all sorts of prizes from the dollar store for the kids to pick from.


They absolutely loved it and had a blast finding the coins in the sand pit and running to get a prize. I'd also picked up spy scopes for each of them and they had fun searching for "bad" pirates. Joe and I were the only ones who wore "pirate" attire - head scarfs, eye patches, etc. but we didn't care... we loved being real pirates.


We also had original art in the manner of chalk drawings and bubbles galore with the big wands... also available at the dollar store. Gotta love those Dollar Trees.


It was a super hot day, but we still managed to have a blast. As usual I overdid it and so Saturday was a down day for me. Even though I could barely move in the morning, it was so worth it to see Joey have so much fun with his friends.

I feel so blessed to have these ladies and their kiddo's in my life.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off the Home Brew Festival Larry goes

Yep you read right. Larry is going to the No. CA Home Brew Festival this weekend, from Friday through Sunday and then he'll be taking Monday off to finish recovering from all his fun activities. This year he gets to go for free since his graphic was chosen for this year's logo - a pretty big honor. Me, you ask, am I going? NO! Beer is just not my cup of tea... you see I'd rather have a cup of tea. And I've found it's not a lot of fun to be around a huge group of folks when they're all drinking and you're the only sane one in the group. So I send him with my blessing and hope he has a fun, and safe, weekend.

His brother Chuck and wife Kelli are going as well as a couple of friends. I'll be babysitting their two dogs while they're gone - Soc and Leia. Two really sweet girls that Joey really loves, so I imagine will have a high energy weekend around here with three dogs and two cats running around being chased by Joe.

Larry really loves the camaraderie of this weekend and it's his special "boys" weekend, though each year he tries to convince me to go with him. Perhaps I'll give it a go one of these years, when Joe's a little older. It's held in Dobbins on Lake Francis and is supposed to be just a beautiful location. We only made it camping once this year and I'm bummed about that as I'd hoped to go several times this summer and now it's starting to get to cold in the evenings to be sleeping outside. I think next year I'll mark it on the calendar in January, so then we'll be sure to go.

Anyway, I hope the weekend goes well for him, that he comes away from it safe and with some new brewing ideas for his own homemade beer and mead. I'll miss ya while your gone honey, but just think... I won't have to wear earplugs to sleep while your away (lol). Love you baby.

The California State Fair

Larry, Joe and I headed up to check out the California State Fair yesterday and boy did we ever have a great time. It was my and Joey's first visit ever so we wanted to check out everything, though I must admit that even after 5-hours we didn't manage to see everything. Gives us a goal for next year (lol).

Joey went on his first carnival rides - Jeep Explorers, Big Trucks, and Flying Boats. Of course we forgot our camera, but one lady who was taking shots agreed to send me a couple via e-mail so as soon as I get them I'll post for all to see. Larry did manage to get a couple of Joe and I on his phone, which turned out pretty well.


We had yummy carnival foods - cotton candy, caramel apples, tons of bottled water because boy was it hot. Plus the fried foods - fish and chips, battered zucchini, even some Thai... and it was all good.

Joey was thrilled with the livestock exhibit. He even got to get up close and personal with a Llama. So soft.

We spent over an hour searching for the blue ribbon tent for food and homeade goods, but never did find it. Larry was a bit disappointed over that as he'd wanted to check out the craft beers and see if they had entries for mead. He's really getting in to his mead making and wanted to check out the competition as he's hoping to have an entry for next year.

All in all it made for a wonderful, if tiring, day.

Bubbles and Chalk Galore

Today we had a park outing with my C2C Mom's group and it was so much fun for all of us. I brought chalk and bubbles as that was the theme, and so did a few other mom's, plus I threw in a bunch of balls and trucks because let's face it you can never have enough of those.

The kids colored and created art on the cement areas. When they tired of that they moved on to bubbles - them attempting to blow them, me attempting to blow them and quite a few of the other mom's succeeding in blowing them much to the kids delights.


The smallest of the kiddo's enjoyed rolling balls, and chasing after them and all of the kids enjoyed playing in the sand with the various vehicles I'd thrown in my bag of tricks.


Once they tired of that we paused to partake in various and sundry snacks and juices and then moved on to trying out the big kid swings - which surprisingly Joey did really well at, and the slide. Joe's finally getting over his fear of them after having his leg incident a few months bag and it's really a joy to see him have at it with no fear in his eyes or his heart. The kids had so much fun on the slide that we kept getting log jammed at the top.


We only lasted a couple of hours but we filled it with the most fun we could find and all had a really nice morning before the heat got to warm to be tolerable.

I'm so happy to have found this mom's group. It's added so much to my life, and the life of our family.

Auntie Crystal's Adventures

Well my lovely sister called the other night to see if she could have Joey on Sunday. I said yes before she'd fully formed her question (lol). She was going to have Gracie as well and they had all been invited to a picnic her girlfriend group was having.

Larry met her half way and transferred our car seat into their car and then they were off and he headed home. This was a little after 10:00 AM. So at 2:00 PM I call, just to check in, I'm not paranoid or anything, just want to make sure every one's still enjoying themselves. She informs me that there on their way to our house. Oh. Ohhhh. Problems?, I ask. Mix up about locations, a lot of in and out of the cars, too hot outside, both kids heading for meltdown. She just thought it would be easier if they headed home, maybe swim.

So they get back to my house and Grace looks so cute with her little face painted. Both kids are a little flat but once they sit in the air conditioned house for a few moments they begin to gain some momentum once again.

Larry cons Jeff into helping him finish clearing up the garage so I tell Crystal they might as well go swimming. She agrees and her and Gracie get in their suits and Mom too. I have put Joey down for a cat nap as he's begun the tantrum phase of his day. Perhaps in 30 minutes he'll be in a better mood and can join them in the pool.


I, still feeling lousy, prefer to stay within the air conditioned abode. Once I hear Joe begin to mellow out I go in and ask if he'd like to swim. YES!!! I get him ready and take him outside and put him in the pool beside Grandma. Crystal and Gracie are no longer in the pool because Grace has been overtaken by nausea, poor thing. We couldn't even get her to keep water down. That ended the swimming for her. Crystal got her cleaned up, I got extra shirts for her ride home just in case and a bowl, and off they went up the hill to Gracie's other Grandmother's house.

Joey stayed in the pool kicking it with Grandma and then Daddy joined in the fun.

Can't say it was a fun day. Larry and I got quite a bit of organizing done but not much else. I just didn't have any energy. Joey seemed to enjoy his outing with his Auntie and Uncle and Cousin. I wish the day had ended on a happier note for Grace. Luckily by next day the reports were that she had recovered well and was over the Nausea and even had a little energy. Yeah.