Santa Cruz, again

Brandon's birthday was on the 27th, so we took the boys to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for rides and games. The boys had the best time on all the rides. Brandon & Owen surprised us with their love of one of the ferris wheels. Brandon must have gone on it 3 or 4 times; Owen rode twice. They went on rides for 2 1/2 hours and then played games for another 1 1/2 hours. Owen didn't quite make it to the game portion of the day. The rides wore him out! Russ & I were exhausted by the time we left. Brandon had a great birthday. We spent the rest of the week at the beach. July isn't the best time to go since the fog didn't really burn off until 1 or 2 pm each day. No one really cared. The boys had toys and video games to occupy their time at the house.

Brandon's big day at Bounce U

Yesterday was the big day! Brandon had several friends from kindergarten, his pal from preschool, his cousin, and family friends come to play. Everyone had such a great time. At least I assume they did based on the red, sweaty faces. Benjamin, 3rd from the right, is one of those friends from kindergarten. He had his birthday party here during the school year, and it's all Brandon was able to think about for months. When it was time to plan his party, it was pretty much a no-brainer. We did our best to give him other options, because we honestly didn't want to drive to Roseville for his party. He considered these options, but in the end, wouldn't be swayed. Once the place was booked, we involved Brandon in some of the planning. He went shopping for his cake with his dad. With so many cakes to choose from, it took a good few days for him to decide. Russ also involved Brandon in shopping for and assembling the party bags for his friends.

It turned out to be a great day for everyone. Brandon had the best time. I barely saw him the whole party! Dylan did his best to keep up with big brother and Gracie, from preschool. Owen, on the other hand, wasn't too sure about the place, because the music was too loud and the bounces houses were too big. He kept saying he wanted to go home. That all changed the moment I was able to get him to slide down a slide with me. He was hooked just like everyone else. We all played (yes, Russ and I played, too) for the full 75 minutes. Russ & I were just as sweaty as the kids. It was the quickest party we'd ever experienced. Hmmm! Wonder why???

After pizza, cake and presents, we packed it up and went home. We were so happy with how the day turned out. The staff was super friendly. They reminded me of Dylan's preschool teachers. They were all about keeping the kids happy and safe. They were just great. It made the long drive worth it!

Neighbor pains

Don't get me wrong, the people next door are nice, but it doesn't stop me from disliking the fact they are adding a second story less than 12 steps from my back door. (Just imagine that the neighbor behind you is just as close as your next door neighbor.) I'm just now realizing that all common area windows that face the backyard will no longer see blue sky. All we will see is the house next door. If you haven't been here, our backyard is very shallow and long since we are the corner house. Now our yard will look like an alleyway. I'm already trying to come up with ways to block the view of their house. If we ever want to sell, the backyard is going to be a huge factor now.

I took some photos, but it's hard to tell how close they really are. I took all of the photos from our two different back doors:

Outside our laundry room door: You can't see it, but he's
framed 2 windows facing our backyard and it looks
like he's going to frame a 3rd.

Standing just outside of our two huge sliding glass doors,
this is what we see. They are so close I need a wide angle
lense (which I don't have) to capture the whole house in one shot.

The polka dot tree

We picked up the boys from my mom's house last night. Before we left I had a plastic bag in my hands, and I told my boys to get their shoes on so they could help me pick polka dots from the polka dot tree. They thought it was funny and weren't quite sure what I was talking about. I told them I was picking plums from Lola's tree, and that's when they wanted to help. They also made a point of making sure I knew it was a plum tree and not a polka dot tree. I can't help calling it the "polka dot tree" because that is what Brandon used to call it when he was about 3 years old. He had insisted they were polka dots, NOT plums. It's little things like this that make me sad that they grow up so fast. Brandon doesn't even remember calling them polka dots.

I want to be sedated

It's been a horrible, stressful week. Russ has been gone since July 10. That right there should be enough, but that's just the beginning. I've dealt with a 2 day migraine that left me completely useless. Once I got over that Dylan woke up complaining about a crummies in his tummy. An hour later he threw up all over his favorite blanket. I was torn between comforting my child and the necessity of work. In the end my poor mom had to come over to take care of him because I couldn't miss another day of work. I'm the only graphic designer this month, so if I don't work, ads don't get designed. (Nevermind the "if I don't work we make no money" reason.) The next day I was carrying a sleeping Deets to Brandon's swim lesson, when Brandon announces he has to go #2. You can imagine me trying to help Brandon use a public restroom with one hand. Complete nightmare! I finally had to wake Deets up and make him stand in the corner. Poor guy had no clue where he was, while Brandon had his hands all over that toilet. Can you say "freak out"???? I so badly wanted to but did my best to control myself in front of the children. The day after that Deets fell out of bed in the middle of the night and landed on his head. Of course this was the only night that I haven't put a big pillow on the floor just in case this happens. He sounded like he dropped 4 feet to the ground. It was an awful crashing sound followed by a cry. I couldn't hold him tight enough or give him enough kisses. Needless to say he slept with me that night. And finally yesterday, I was given a new project by a client of mine, but they want it turned around in less than a week...the same week we ship our papers to the printer which is always a nightmare week. Through all of this I'm leaning hard on my mom to help with the kids just so I can work. The days she wasn't able to help, my stress level went through the roof. Good times! All I can say is THANK GOD RUSS IS FINALLY HOME NOW! Maybe I won't have to be sedated after all.

STRESS relief

After a horrible stressful day, I gave up trying to work, trying to plan birthdays, trying to figure out gifts, trying to straighten the house....and just laid in my bed with my 3 boys and watched Muppets from Space. We snuggled and enjoyed the movie together. They relaxed me and loved me and that was just what I needed.

Baby kisses

Ok, technically, Owen is not a baby anymore, but his kisses feel like baby kisses. He's recently started giving me kisses on my cheek. It all started when I pointed to my cheek and asked him to kiss it. Now he does it when he's feeling affectionate. Sometimes he wants me to tap my cheek so he knows where to kiss, other times he just kisses it just because it's there.

Swim lessons

I finally got to go to one of Brandon's swim lessons today. I could see how much he just loves it. They do the very basic stuff which is perfect for Brandon. I hate to say it, but he is not all the coordinated in the water. When given instruction, Brandon follows it to a tee. The instructor was showing him where his arms should be when he swims. He made sure he hit all the points perfect and stopped his arm movement at each point as well. I think that's also why he doesn't kick fast enough. He thinks too much when he should just be doing it. He's our little perfectionist. The best part is he isn't getting frustrated and giving up. He's just trying and trying and having a good time. They ended the lesson jumping off the diving board. The poor kid was shivering to the bone, and he still kept getting in line to jump in the water.

We also took Dylan and Owen to swim lessons. All Dylan cared about was going to play at the park. Owen on the other hand kept saying, "Wanna go too!" when he saw Brandon go off to his lesson. Owen was even taking his shoes off. It was a real battle to get his shoe back on his foot. After the two of us muscled Owen's shoe back on, Russ took both boys to the park. Owen was fine until Russ brought them back at the end of the lesson. That's when Owen wanted to touch the water. When I said no to that, he switched strategies and asked to "wash hands" in the pool. We knew were fighting a losing battle, so Russ took him to the edge of the pool and let him "wash hands".

Brotherly bops

Well, I'm marking my calendar today. For the first time in my life one of my kids finally said in that whiny, sing-songy voice, "Well, he started it." The infamous phrase came from Dylan's lips. Kind of ironic, because he's usually the one stirring the chili.

All three boys weren't even home all day. Brandon & Dylan came home at 5pm. We were at the pool for swim lessons by 6 and home by 7. By 7:30 I was ready to pop in some ear buds and have a glass of wine pretending I live in a child-free house. Every second they were together was filled with yelling, crying, hitting, tattling, grabbing....causing Russ and I to participate in the yelling portion. Sometimes I feel like an outsider walking by must see smoke and dust smoldering from the foundation of our home.

I'm not broken!

Finally made it to the doctor yesterday afternoon. I've got a bad sprain. I'm already doing everything I should be to help my ankle get better. That was soooo good to hear! The last thing I have time for is a broken ankle! Actually feeling really good today. The swelling isn't so bad, and the bruise isn't as disgustingly green as it was a few days ago. So far so good!

First day of swim lessons

Brandon is taking swimming lessons at our neighborhood pool. His first lesson was today. Russ said Brandon seemed to be super excited. Such a good sign! After the lesson, Russ and Brandon came to pick me up at my office. Before I could even get close to the car, Brandon was yelling about his lesson to me through the open window. He LOVED it! He thought it was so cool that there were 4 other kids in his class. He was telling me the swimming terms and that he loved the whole lesson. He didn't have any favorite parts. Sounds like I need to sign him up for the next session before it fills up.

I had planned on signing him up for tennis lessons, but it looks like that will be put on the back burner until the fall. I actually mentioned this in the car, and Brandon was really receptive to the idea. Russ also suggested golf lessons. That's when Brandon said he wanted to be one of the golf guys on the tv. Looks like we'll be looking into golf lessons as well.

4th of July

The boys were so excited about fireworks, as Russ knew they would be, he took them out front in the morning to light off smoke bombs, sparklers and snakes. He even lit off some snap-crackle-poppers. Owen wasn't expecting the noise and went running when Russ lit them off. He was done with fireworks after that. Poor little O! (It was kind of funny watching him run in a panic trying to find me. I felt so bad for him by the time he found me.)


After dinner we popped across the street to joined in on the dessert potluck and fireworks bonanza. The last couple of years the family across the street had hosted, so that was really nice for Owen. He was able to watch the show from the window. He did eat his fill of sweets at the potluck, though, before all the noise really got going. Brandon's baseball coach and his family joined the fun this year. His daughter, Emma, (from Brandon's class and on the t-ball team) came across the street to hang out with us. She even brought Brandon some sweets to share. It was really cute. Brandon liked having her there, but he's such a boy already. He kept leaving to do this and that and not asking Emma if she'd like to come. He finally figured it out by the end of the night and asked her to come watch the big Cal Expo fireworks at the park with him. Good boy! She didn't come, but at least he thought to ask.

Simple photo advice

I randomly found this simple advice. It was directed more towards moms, but dads don't always make it into the photos either. Please read it. Your children will be thankful if you follow it:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2009/05/snap-out-of-it/

My doctor closed early!

So much for having my ankle taken care of today! I spent an hour and a half on the phone trying to get an appointment. By the time I got through it was after 12 and their "We're closed for the holiday" message came on. I was pissed! It was like they were refusing to answer their phones. I have never had that much trouble getting a human being on the phone. The silver lining in this story is that my mom had broken her ankle not long ago and still had her walking cast. At least I can hobble around in that until Monday.

Big klutz

That would be me! I was carrying Dylan down the last few stairs and thought I was on the last step when I was actually on the third step. I tried to turn the corner and fell to the ground floor. I did my best to protect Deets, and landed on my ankle instead of my foot. I crumpled to the floor in pain. My other two boys were watching, so they were a bit freaked out watching their mother yelling in pain. I was thankful that Deets came out of the fall fine. I spent the remainder of the day laying on the couch with my foot elevated and on ice. All I could do was watch what was happening around me or sleep. Not the way I thought this vacation would end. It sucked!

I woke up this morning with a super swollen ankle but not in any pain. I figured I could limp from the bedroom. That was a huge mistake. I was in such intense pain, I hobbled back to the bed. I had to elevate my foot for another 20 minutes before the pain went away again. I'm really worried that I may have fractured it. We're heading home today, so I'm hoping to get an afternoon appointment. We'll see!

Big Vern & Connie's house

Today we checked out the rental house to stay at Connie & Big Vern's house. (It's really Diane's house, but I still call it Connie & Big Vern's.) We haven't stayed there in almost 6 years because there had been a long term tenant living there. I didn't realize how much I missed the house until we went inside. It was like the last 6 years hadn't happened. It looked the same, and it even smelled the same. It was like seeing Russ's grandparents everywhere I looked. I expected to open the fridge and see all the goodies Connie used to make or glance out on the deck and see her sweeping leaves. In the morning I could here Big Vern asking me if I was ready for my orange juice. The kitchen would always smell like bacon and bell peppers because Big Vern would have our breakfast prepped for when we got up. All he had to do was crack the eggs into the pan. I can't even image how Russ & his mom were feeling. After the boys went to bed tonight, Russ built a fire in the fire pit. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the fire and talking about all sorts of things. It was a hard, but good day today.