What A Wonderful Surprise!

Last night we had a nice surprise! Jason's cousin Marilyn and her family are in town. I got a phone call while getting ready for "Back to School Night" for Kindergarten and making baked chicken and pasta. I gathered the kids, and headed for the city. We had a wonderful dinner together, although listening to Kevin's dissatisfaction with his chicken probably wasn't ideal. The kids played in the hotel lobby and had a blast! Thanks for a wonderful evening Marilyn, David, Nicole, and Nathan! Have a safe trip home to Pennsylvania!

Since we missed "Back to School Night" last night, we headed to Juliana's school this morning to see her new classroom and meet her teacher. I am glad we did. I would have been completely lost if I hadn't check it out today. Juliana is very excited for her new Kindergarten adventures.

I am off to the beach this weekend ALONE! Jason is on full-time Daddy duty while I have Karen time. I've somewhat forgotten what that is like. I honestly can not remember the last time I was without Jason and the kids at the same time. Perhaps there has never been a time that I've done that. I know I'll have a great time with Meara and crew! Can't wait!

August Days

Another week has passed, and of course, countless more memories have been made in our household. Monday started off with a Daddy/Kevin, Mommy/Juliana night. Daddy and Kevin headed to Costco for a much needed "Costco run" while Mommy and Juliana stayed at home and played Candyland, noggin.com, and made brownies. Mommy was a hit that night that's for sure! HAAAA!

The rest of the week was somewhat mundane until friday morning when we all woke up and realized that our weekend had started a little bit early. Daddy had the day off!! I was able to clean this house like a crazy lady, do piles of laundry, and get rid of useless clutter that has been driving me nutty.




Saturday, we headed for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. What a perfect day! The weather was perfect, the kids were nearly perfect, and there was an abundance of things to do. Juliana and I went up in the ferris wheel while Daddy looked at us like we were crazy. Juliana also went on a couple other rides alone like a big girl. Who can go to a place such as the boardwalk and not enjoy a yummy ice cream cone? Well, we couldn't resist the urge to splurge and enjoy a cool treat dripping all over us in the summer heat. Another memorable day...

Today, Grand (Rosie) headed for our house with Shadow. Shadow ran into the house like he knew exactly where he was. As usual, Shadow just sniffed around a bit, then laid down in the sun. Grand, Juliana, and I headed off to see GG (my Granny) for the morning and for a quick lunch. You will see in the pictures that Juliana took full advantage of the fact that GG's house is going through construction and wrote a message on the walls without getting into trouble. The message was, "Juliana loves gg". We also went on a tour of Stanford University, or what I call, "Granny territory". I can't quite grasp all of our fun outings since moving here. I knew it would be good experience to be here, but I never thought it would be close to perfect!

A Weekend in the life of Us

Saturday morning when I woke up, I knew I was in for a marathon of things to accomplish. I started the morning making the worst batch of pancakes that I'd ever made, doing laundry while they were cooking, and packing suitcases for our overnight stay at my sisters house. Once all of the mundane, yet necessary household chores were done, I packed the car, and we headed for the valley.

Our first stop was Sonic. Jason and I have never been to one, and thought we were in for a greasy, yummy, and unique fast food experience. Well, we got two out of the three experiences. We got greasy (REALLLLLLY GREASY, YUCK) and unique. Yummy wasn't really the word we'd use. It certainly wasn't terrible, but we both said we wouldn't rush back to a Sonic, that's for sure. All of those goofy Sonic commercials certainly won't catch our attention anymore.

From Sonic, we went to the Yolo County Fair, my hometown. We only stayed for about 15 min because I realized we were running late for Trace's birthday party. Juliana and Kevin made friends with sheep, goats, enormous pigs, milk cows, and beef cows. As Juliana walked by one of the cows being auctioned for slaughter (I apologize for the visual), Juliana says, "Thank you cow for my milk, my cheese, and my meatballs." The handler cracked up laughing, along with about five other listeners. Oh boy, if Juliana ever knew why that 2000 lbs Angus cow was going into that show ring, she'd feel really bad. Off to Trace's party....

The party was a lot of fun and hot too. We aren't used to the heat over here. Juliana was able to swim the whole time, yes, meaning 4 hours straight of swimming with her cousins, Uncle Kyle, and other friends too. After the party, we stayed for an adult party of our own and had a great time. By morning we regretted that last drink or two, but I'll leave the story alone.

Off to Woodland again... we drove by my childhood home yesterday. The first time in almostthree years. I got choked up not being able to walk in like it was my own house. It is a good thing that it was maintained. Not as cute as when my mom owned it, but I can't complain, it was in decent shape. After seeing the house, and going to lunch, we headed for Mom's house for a little bit and saw Mom and Shadow. What a good doggy!

We didn't end up going to Danny's 30th birthday party yesterday because after 2 days of action packed days without naps, and a 2 hour drive home, it would have been a disaster. The drive home actually ended up to be a little more than 3 hours because of Bay Area traffic, so I am glad we came home. I did hear the party was a blast though!

It's 8:47am, and Kevin just woke up. I have to get him now. Perfect timing.

Happy Thursday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACE! My little nephew is 5 years old today! Juliana can't wait to give him the gifts she chose during his party on saturday. Last year we were in California coincidentally for Trace's birthday party, so this will make 2 years in a row. WHOAAAA, who woulda thought!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Around 10:00 this morning, we headed out to see my friend Kristen. Kristen and I went to Holy Rosary together, and last saw each other at 8th grade graduation, although we were thinking maybe once freshmen year in high school. Soooo, that was 16 years ago or something like that. Our lives seem to have paralleled lately. She moved from the midwest (Wisconsin) in July, she broke her toe the day before I did, and she had a wonderful time selling her house too. Ok, so the breaking of the toe is useless information, but I found it funny. Humor me! The kids were not the perfect angels that they usually are at the restaurant, although I've seen worse. We got through it, as always. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon Kristen!!! I wish I took a picture or two. Next time.

Oh My, The Ocean!

Hello again! Well, I found out last week that I did not get the job that I interviewed for a few weeks ago. The position I was going to fill was not open from the start. The teacher already in place decided to keep her position, rather than moving on to another. That's ok, I was told in a very professional manner, and not strung along. I was told to hold on until September because it is not unheard of for another position to open this late in the summer. I am sure it will not happen, but at least I am ready to work in this state after going through background checks, fingerprinting, physicals, etc. Who knows what lurks around each corner!

We started off our weekend heading to see Auntie Meara!! What a fun day! Juliana finally swam like a little fish... with her life jacket of course. She left the sides of the pool for the first time, and ventured into the middle of the pool, and then shocked me by jumping off the side of the pool too. What a big kid!!! Meara treated us to frozen yogurt to congratulate Juliana's milestone. Juliana had a great time at the yogurt place. She chose chocolate yogurt, with m&m's, sprinkles, gummy bears, and a few other toppings. I believe she ate nearly all of it too!

From the pool with Auntie Meara, we headed to Uncle Patrick and Auntie Laura's house. Shadow was so excited to see us, and even ran to the car expecting to jump in the back and to head back home. He is a happy camper at his newest camp. Another great visit with Pat and Laura, especially at the park. Thanks for a fun afternoon!

Sunday morning we decided to head to Capitola, right outside Santa Cruz. What a great decision that turned out to be. We had such a fabulous day covering our bodies with sand, building sand castles, running in the water, and even made friends with a sand crab. Jason and I looked at each other when we got home and just said, "Let's do that again!" I can't wait!

Another busy week and weekend coming up. My nephew Trace turns 5 on August 16!

Kevin just woke up. It's 9am. He must have been exhausted from the beach yesterday. Going to get him now.

At Home and Lovin' It

There is something to be said for simply staying at home. After leaving the city on friday afternoon, we have stayed at home. Ok, not literally stayed within the walls of the house, but not driven far distances, or had any agendas to follow. We've gone for long walks, gone to the parks, cleaned the house, had photo sessions at home (my favorite), and mundane things like that. Life is settling into place.

My camera is beginning to show its age. A full battery charge used to last me a month or longer, and now it is lasting a week or longer. Yesterday while at Juliana's school playground, I went to take an adorable picture of her hanging on the monkey bars, and it never turned on. I was so bummed, and so was Juliana which I thought was pretty darn funny.

Here are a few pictures during our photo sessions at home. It makes me laugh that the kids are excited to have pictures taken at home, but if I were to get them next to the Queen of England, they'd throw a fit. That's what we get with a 5 year old and a 22 month old... ok, I'll throw in the extra day, 23 month old. Holy cow, I can't believe our baby will be 2 next month!

Summer Days

Who would have thought that living here would be so helpful?! I picked up Laura from the airport since she could not get a flight into Sacramento at all yesterday. She ended up taking the kids to the park for about 2 hours while I cleaned the house with blaring music, and stayed for a few hours until we went out to eat, and met Uncle Patrick too. These visits are the best and have been missed for 12 years now.



Today we spent the day in "the city". We went to Pier 39, and were typical tourists. It was soooo wonderful to be so close and have such wonderful memories. Juliana and Kevin loved watching the sea lions jump in and out of the water, bark at each other, and thought the baby sea lion was really cute too. After Pier 39, we went to Golden Gate Park to play. TONS OF FUN! We only went to the children's area for a short time, but next time we will venture to the Japanese Tea Gardens and other fun places too. These family outings are absolutely wonderful!

Random news: I have been following a blog for a while now, along with about 200,000 others in this world. thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com. A sweet girl Suzanne from Texas has been pregnant with quads and has shared her experiences with so many people. On August 1, her little quads were born. Little twins Ethan and Andrew, and little princess Savannah, and prince Benjamin were welcomed into this world. Suzanne's blog is a fun break during the day. Check it out!

August 4: HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY SHANNON! MUAHHHHHHH-- HUGS TOO!


Happy wedding day to Juliana's favorite teacher Becca and her wonderful fiance Dan! A couple made in Heaven. CONGRATULATIONS!