Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Week 25

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  What a long and crazy week last week was.  I'm hoping this week will be a bit slower and involve less time in my car.  At least the weekend looks wide open.  I'm looking forward to doing nothing ;0)

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 167- Monday, 6/16/14
This was such a busy week driving back and forth between my work, Tyler's work training, and other kid activities.  Here I'm waiting out polo practice after a super long day.  Thank goodness this school has a wonderful amphitheater with lots of great shade so I have a nice peaceful place to chill.





Day 168- Tuesday, 6/17/14
Fail and thrive!  I'm not sure why the plant on the right is looking so awful and the one on the left is growing like crazy amazing.  They are in the same soil, same water, same conditions all around.  Oh well! At least one will produce more than enough tomatoes for us this summer, and the other I'm about ready to just pull.





Day 169- Wednesday, 6/18/14
Someone is super tired today.  He had on-the-job training for his life-guard position from 8-5:30 and then we had to head straight to polo practice for 2 hrs.  There was only time for a quick bite and a small nap on the 30 min drive over.





Day 170- Thursday, 6/19/14
Justin is loving his new volunteer job at the KIDS camp and as a reward they get to do fun things every now and then.  This week they got a couple hours in a game truck and next week they get to go to a water park.  He's super thrilled.





Day 171- Friday, 6/20/14
It's his last day of training so he got his whistle and uniform.  It was another LONG day.  Tyler was at the pool in Davis from 8 to 5:30 again, and then once I picked him up we grabbed a quick bite to eat, snapped a road-trip selfie, and took off on our 3 hr drive to Clovis for the weekend water polo tournament.





Day 172- Saturday, 6/21/14
Back home John and the younger boys are at a swim meet.  It seems strange not to be there with them, but I was happy to see this shot of Justin that the swim-team's photographer took.  He's done an amazing job this season of getting shots of all the kids.  In Clovis at water polo land it's kind of sad that this blueberry-pineapple margarita was the best part of my day.  We played 3 games and lost them all.  The meshing of the two teams is just not working out like we had hoped.
Next year it's all us and only us!





Day 173- Sunday, 6/22/14
These boys crack me up.  It must be 100 degrees out and they are all piled on top of each other trying to chill between games.  At least today we had a better day and the best seats in the house--poolside and in the shade.  We even got to dip our toes in and were super close for a great view.  We won 2 out of 3 games, but it was too little too late.  Sadly we did not qualify for the Junior Olympics.
There's always next year and hopefully we'll have enough of our own players to try for it alone.




All done!  What an exhausting and long week.  I'm so glad it's over, and now that we know about JO's I can work on planning the rest of my summer.  That not knowing which way it was going to go and being in limbo land for so long drove me crazy.  I feel like an entire month of our summer has now opened up and that's huge.  Thanks for stopping by and check back next week for hopefully a much quieter one.


The Mom Creative

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Week 24

Welcome back and Happy Tuesday!  We are officially in the full swing of summer.  Last week was our transition week where we got to relax and have some fun so this week everyone is off doing their summer activities trying to figure out the new schedules.  I was happy to have a weekend open up where we could escape as a family and thoroughly enjoyed our time spent on the coast this past week.  I wish we could do that more often.

Here's a look at last week's pictures:


Day 160- Monday, 6/9/14
It's super hot today, but I found a cool spot in the shady grass to wait out water polo practice at Jesuit High School.  We had to join forces with another team to have enough player for a chance at making it to the Junior Olympics.  We'll know next weekend if that worked out or not.





Day 161- Tuesday, 6/10/14
Lunch date #1.  I'm home this week helping the kids transition into summer.  Justin had a Mind and Brain study visit in Davis so we went out to lunch after.  It was his first time at Beach Hut Deli and he loved it.





Day 162- Wednesday, 6/11/14
Lunch date #2.  Tyler needed to get some books for his summer reading homework so we headed to Natomas for a trip to the bookstore and then hit up Chipotle for lunch.  He also got some good driving practice in on this trip.





Day 163- Thursday, 6/12/14
Lunch date #3.  It's Brandon's turn!  He was happy I picked him up early from camp so we could have lunch together just, him and me.  He got to choose the place and of course he chose McDonald's because his brother never let him go there anymore, and this time they didn't have a say ;0)





Day 164- Friday, 6/13/14
We've escaped to the sea.  Tyler's water polo tournament in Clovis was cancelled so we decided to seize the opportunity and squeeze in a quick family trip.  We made it to the beach in Seaside, CA just in time to see the sunset.





Day 165- Saturday, 6/14/14
We spent the day at Monterey Bay Aquarium which is an amazing place.  The best part is that I got to meet the animal care staff tending to the sea otters that send me serum samples on a regular basis for testing in our research lab.  They took us behind the scenes so it was nice to not only meet the vet staff but also the sea otter themselves.  I know all their names from test tubes so it's nice to be able to put a furry face to those names.





Day 166- Sunday, 6/15/14
Happy Father's Day!  We traveled home today from the coast and made it back just in time to fix up a nice Mexican feast in honor of John, the best father the boys could have.  They all chipped in and helped make him a special meal.  It was the perfect end to the perfect weekend.  We'll be back to crazy reality tomorrow.




Wait!  One more-

June's Family Photo

Since we were all together this weekend at a great location it seemed like the perfect time to get our monthly family photo in and what better place than the beach!  It's much cooler here on the coast than we are used to, but we still had amazing, sunny, and clear weather.


That's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next week.

The Mom Creative

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Week 23

Welcome back and happy summer!  We are so happy to be done with school and are enjoying our week off to adjust to the new summer schedule.  Thankfully we'll even get a short family trip in at the end of the week which is much needed and might be the only opportunity all summer.  It sure feels like summer too. It's been down right hot! Yesterday was 110!!  At least my kids do water sports and aren't sweating it out on some field somewhere.  

Take a look at how last week went--the school year wrap up:


Day 153- Monday, 6/2/14
I was at the school for outreach today in Justin's science classes and then after school he had the year-end NJHS (National Jr Honor Society) party.  He was asked to give a speech and then received an award for the top 7th grade student.  Sadly, I didn't know parents could attend.  I think he wanted it that way so it's ok.  I'm still very proud and got to read his speech after.





Day 154- Tuesday, 6/3/14
This afternoon we're in Davis doing paper work for Tyler's summer job.  He's never had to fill out so many forms and to make decisions like this before.  It's a good learning experience, and I continue to be impressed with the city of Davis and their efficient system.





Day 155- Wednesday, 6/4/14
John got a new rear tire for his bike and spent most the afternoon in the garage working on that.





Day 156- Thursday, 6/5/14
Last day of school!  My boys all had a great year.  The 2 younger ones celebrated with an Icee right after, and Tyler got to go with his water polo team to Davis and watch the men's national team play Serbia.  They all really enjoyed seeing the best of the best play, but it sure was hot and sunny out.  This guy put his hands up just as I snapped a picture.  At least it makes a cool frame surrounding our group sitting there.





Day 157- Friday, 6/6/14
Today everyone was home so we all relaxed and then took in a movie.   It's been awhile since the whole family went to a movie so that was nice.  We saw the latest X-Men flick.





Day 158- Saturday, 6/7/14
Enough with the relaxation.  It's time for another swim meet this time at an away pool in Fair Oaks.  Here we are waiting for the meet to start so John is reading the paper as the teenagers chill in the background.  When they weren't in the pool they were on this bench-- all day long!  Love these boys, but we're missing Quinn today.  





Day 159- Sunday, 6/8/14
Tyler and I were at a water polo tournament all day so John took the younger boys out shopping for sunglasses.  Brandon starts summer day camp tomorrow where they play outside a lot and needs some new shades to help prevent migraines.  He was happy to find this cool blue pair.  I'm glad he likes them because that means he'll wear them and hopefully they will help.  Intense sun and heat are one of his triggers so the neurologist suggested we try sunglasses for the summer.




That's all for now.  Check back next week to see how our summer is going.

The Mom Creative

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Week 22

It's the last week of school!  Less than 3 days left.  I'm so excited.  It will still be a super busy week but hopefully it's the last of them for awhile.  I have the next week off with the kids before everyone starts their jobs and camp.  Summer here we come!

Now for last week's pictures:



Day 146- Monday, 5/26/14
Happy Memorial Day!  We pretty much spent the day in the pool ;0)  It's was so nice to have a day off in honor of those who gave their lives for our country and it was a great way to start the summer season.  Root beer floats also scream summer.  The kids were thrilled when I suggested them for dessert tonight.  What a great family day.





Day 147- Tuesday, 5/27/14
We're in Davis after school to get Tyler's fingerprinting done at the police station for his life-guarding job. It's a nice station and very efficient.  We were in and out in no time. Then Tyler got in some freeway drive time heading home.





Day 148- Wednesday, 5/28/14
Today was Brandon's end of the year awards and he made us proud by receiving every award possible.  He's most excited about the perfect attendance medal because with his migraines none of us thought he'd never get it, but this year was his year!





Day 149- Thursday, 5/29/14
I jumped on the fitbit bandwagon and gave it try today to get a baseline of what a typical work day looks like.  I know if I actually tried I could reach more of these goals.  I need to work the most on my "very active minutes."





Day 150- Friday, 5/30/14
Justin had his award's assembly today and did super awesome too, and then we ran home, changed for swim and took off to the police station for his finger printing session in West Sacramento.  WOW!  Huge difference from the Davis experience.  This took forever!  We were so late to swim practice for no good reason.  At least it's done.  Justin applied, interviewed, and was hired as a Teen Hero volunteer (same as a jr counselor) at the city KIDS camp for summer this year.  All our summer plans are falling into place.





Day 151- Saturday, 5/31/14
Today was the first real swim meet of the Dolphin's swim season and my kids did great--way better than last week at time trials.  I'm glad to see that more than one of them decided they would actually try to improve their times today.  





Day 152- Sunday, 6/1/14
Happy June!  I am so happy it is June and this starts the last week of school.  We all need a break!  It was another great day spent in OUR pool.  I'm surprised my kids even want to swim after yesterday, but they had fun and it's the best to beat the heat.




Wait!  One more:

May's Family Photo



This was squeezed in on the very last day of May after a long swim meet so we are all tired and scruffy looking but hey--that's life!




Ok!  I'm done and can't wait to see what summer brings.  See you there ;0)


The Mom Creative