Joey's 7th Birthday Extravaganza!!

This weekend was Joey's 7th birthday and his first grade class had an unofficial field trip to Monterey Bay  Aquarium.  So, we decided to make it a birthday weekend extravaganza with Monterey on Saturday and Santa Cruz on Sunday.

It wouldn't be a family vacation without scheduling something the day we are leaving... so to stick with tradition we accepted a very generous invite to join Logan's friend on a behind the scenes tour of Raley Field Friday night.  The plan was to have the car packed for Monterey and leave from the field.  That's not quite what happened...

Friday was insanely busy as we tried to run all the errands we needed to run, get ready, pack, etc.  We were running late for the tour (shocker I know) and finally hit the road only to have the seats of our double stroller also literally hit the road.  They were supposed to be secured to the roof, but not so much.  Unfortunately for reasons we will never understand, the cars behind us stopped before running them over and then ever so carefully ran them over.... and dragged them... and we refrained from shouting obscenities at them which we deserve a medal for.  Minimal damage to the stroller seats despite their adventure and we were back on the road headed to the baseball field.

As soon as we arrived at Raley Field we were waiting to be let in the gates and Emmie announced she peed her pants.  Great, just great.  Here is the pic Cheri snapped of Jeff changing her pants in front of the gates, lightening speed before the tour guide arrived -

The tour of Raley Field was awesome.  The kids were totally oblivious to what a special privilege such a tour was, as was evident when Logan removed his shoes and made himself comfortable on the leather couch in the executive suite we toured.

Jack and Logan (Logan sporting his complimentary River Cats hat)

One of the suites was set up for a photo shoot and the kids took full advantage of that.  That 's Emmie being a river cat.

Logan looking happy from the executive suite seats at Raley Field.

We got to the hotel around 11 pm and finally got Emmie to sleep close to 1 am and she didn't even take a nap in the car.  Crazy how late that girl can stay awake at age 3!  The next day we were off to the aquarium for a fun filled day of exploration!

"What do you think penguins eat Logan?"
"Penguin seed." - Logan

Behind the scenes at Monterey Bay Aquarium for the birthday boy! 

Dinner at Bubba Gumps - thank you Uncle Dick for the VIP passes! 

Sunday was Joey's birthday and he happily woke up saying, "Good morning 7!!"  First stop for the day was Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey.

Logan wanted to read his book at the park.  He sounded out every word  - so proud of him!

After the park we were off to Santa Cruz to experience the Boardwalk! 

Wall Collage

I have been focusing on home redecorating lately, and after pinning way too many images of other people's wall photo collages I finally made one of my own.  Besides the fact that I am missing actual photos in any of the frames, I think it turned out great!  

Painted the wall a nice neutral color, got some matchy-matchy frames from IKEA, a vinyl letter statement about family, a big "F" from Michaels, and viola! Now just have to print some family pics in black & white and get them up there to complete the look.   

Blue & Gold Cub Scout Dinner

Last night we attended the Blue & Gold Cub Scout Dinner where Joey got his official Tiger Cub badge and another bead.  Currently his goal is to achieve Eagle Scout status someday and we fully support him in that. 

Cub Scouts has been a wonderful experience for him so far and we are looking forward to the coming months where he will get to build and race his Pinewood Derby car, and of course the camping trips start this summer.  

Here are some pics from last night.  Thank you to Cheri and Aunt Megan for attending with us last night!

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

I am a Pinterest addict and proud of it.  Love that site and love to pin all kinds of ideas for life.  The best is when I see an idea that is so super easy to do that I don't have to go to hardware stores, gourmet food stores, and craft stores to be able to do it.  This is one of the easiest ideas I have seen and I'm happy to share!

Cinnamon Roll Waffles 

All you need is a can of refrigerated cinnamon rolls and a waffle press.  Viola! Instant yummy breakfast. 

Top with the enclosed can of frosting and you have a sinfully delicious breakfast that will make you feel like you should get on the treadmill later that day...

The Rollercoaster of Life

This past August we took the kids to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, bound and determined to have a great time no matter what.  While at the park Jeff took Emmie to change her diaper and I agreed to take Joey and Logan on a rollercoaster in the little kid section.  This is huge for me because I get motion sickness after 1 minute on playground swings at the park!  But, I wanted to be a good sport and it wasn’t a giant scary rollercoaster so I figured I would be fine. 

We got on, it whipped around the tracks, made sharp turns, and generally knocked me around like rollercoasters do.  We came to the end and I was so relieved that I had made it, it was over, and I only felt mildly ill.  But then the ride operator said, “we don’t have a line and as long as no one wants to get off… who wants to go again?!”  The whole rollercoaster full of children cheered in delight and my boys were no exception.  So around we went again.  And this time when the ride stopped I felt sick but still happy I sucked it up and went again. 

And what happened?  That ride operator exclaimed, “Still no line!  Again?” And the children screamed, “Yay!” And I thought, “NO!!!” but just kept my mouth shut.  So around we went again.  And again.  And again.  After the fifth time I decided I had to get off, or I was going to puke and ruin everyone’s day.  Thankfully someone got in line and we all had to get off anyway. 

I staggered off that ride.  The world was spinning around me and Jeff, taking pity on me, helped me to a bench so I could just sit.  He brought me some Cherry Garcia ice cream (because that solves all problems) and I remember just being so happy to be on solid ground as I waited for the nausea to subside.

This story has come to mind today as a perfect metaphor for the past 7 months.  I have been on a rollercoaster, stuck on one actually.  Every time I think we are done and the end is in sight, the ride operator of life sends me around again.  I need to get off please.  I need to sit on solid ground and recover.  I need some Cherry Garcia. 

Catching Up

I really have to get better about blogging.  I have a lot to say and a lot I want to document but I never seem to make the time.  So, this is me catching up and making a mid-February resolution to get better about blogging. 

Catching Up

Update: New Years Resolutions
Status: FAIL
I resolved this year to not make plans with the exception of running a half marathon on March 17.  I have been repeatedly schooled on the uselessness of making plans lately.  That saying, "We make plans and God laughs" is pretty accurate for me this past year.  So, I resolved to go with the flow, with an asterisk of that half marathon.  And what happened?  God laughed.  While on a training run a couple of weeks ago I stepped on an errant pine cone and went hurtling to the ground.  This would not be all that ironic if I were running in the woods, or in Lake Tahoe, or anywhere on the planet that grows pine trees.  But nope, not a pine tree in sight and this random pine cone was directly under the only burned out streetlight.  You can see why I immediately pictured my guardian angel tossing that pine cone underfoot and cracking up!

That stupid pinecone fall resulted in a torn ligament or muscle or something and what my doctor lovingly refers to as my first "jock injury."  Great.  No half marathon for me on March 17.  I can't even go for a walk without being in pain right now.  So annoying!

Update: Joey's Run for President of First Grade
Status: Crappy Life Lesson
I am so proud of my little man for running for president of his 1st grade class.  He was beyond excited about the process and never even flinched at the thought of giving a speech in front of his whole class.  Above all, I am proud of the way he ran his campaign and the integrity he showed at the ripe old age of 6.  Unfortunately the same can't be said for at least one of the other kids who apparently played dirty.  Of course the mama bear instincts wanted me to march into that school and demand this kid be removed from the race.  But the "I cannot be THAT mom" instincts prevented me from doing that.  Instead we gave the "do the right thing" lecture and the "people who make bad choices don't win in the long run, you shouldn't stoop to their level" lecture.  And what happened?  That kid won the election.  Well, as you can imagine I was not happy.  I don't mind that my kid lost, I mind that my whole life lesson on karma backfired.  This fact was not lost on Joey either but he was still a good sport about it.  He still congratulated the winner and he decided he was the vice president (totally made that up on his own, not part of the election, love that he can make any situation a win for himself!).

Update: Superbowl
Status: Good Life Lesson
This is the first year we have gotten the kids into football.  Growing up I was always a 49er fan.  I grew up with Montana, Rice, and Young so it was easy to be a fan.  As an adult I didn't pay much attention to football anymore, mostly because I was too busy watching Blues Clues to turn the channel and risk screaming toddlers.  Jeff grew up a Rams fan but also started to lose interest when I refused to let him turn the channel from Steve finding Blue's last clue... Anyway fast forward to last year and I decided that we needed to watch football.  It wasn't even an option, it was a need.  We have boys, we must watch football.  Another thing that wasn't optional for me, my boys (and girl of course) will be 49er fans.  I was totally biased obviously, but I also had a good argument that they were a local team and we could actually take them to a game someday and tailgate.  This won over Hubby and we officially became a 49er family. 

This year we followed the games and got the kids excited about having a team to root for.  Lucky us, the 49ers ended up in the Super Bowl!  I couldn't have asked for a better year to introduce them to football.  And to top it all off the quarterback is a wonderful adoption success story?!  It was perfect! So we got the gear, we cheered them on, and we celebrated when they made it to the big game.  And when they lost the Superbowl, and my little boys burst into tears, I had to hold back a smile because I knew they were hooked.  I hate to see them cry though and when Logan ripped off his 49er hat and threw it to the ground saying he now needs to get a Ravens hat I realized it was time for another life lesson.  So we talked about how we root for our team no matter if they win or lose, how we should be proud of how good they played, how you don't just give up on them because they aren't the champions.  All things that mean so much more on the grand scale of life than what my 4 year old could grasp, but I was happy to have laid the groundwork.  And I was happy he put his hat back on.  Looking forward to next season!


That pretty much wraps up the blog-worthy excitement of the last couple of weeks.  I hope to stick to my new resolution to post more often.  :o)