Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Week 30

Hello and happy Tuesday!  It's super early and this needs to be quick because I'm about to catch a flight to LA and then to Cabo San Lucas.  WooHoo!  So excited to be going on a real vacation with my family.  We all need this escape. 

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 201- Monday, 7/20/15
I must be out of my mind taking on a responsibility like this, but at least Vice President is a pretty simple job or so I hope.  We had our first board meeting tonight which was long but productive, and we have a fun group of ladies on the board so it will be great, right?  The joys of having a senior!





Day 202- Tuesday, 7/21/15
It bet you were expecting Tuesday tennis for this boy, but today is a bigger day than that.  He did have 3 tennis matches and won them all, but he also tested for his black belt today and passed!!!!  We're so proud.  He was super nervous, and at one point I wasn't sure it would actually happen, but he did it, and he's so happy he's done.  Way to go Justin!  This make our second black belt in the house and Brandon is soon to follow.  Go get 'em boys!





Day 203- Wednesday, 7/22/15
We're trying our best to help with the drought.  Our poor lawn and trees are not happy so we've been collecting shower water to add to the thirsty plants.  It's a sign of the times, and it's not been easy to train the boys to dump their water after each shower, but they are learning and will hopefully be more  conscience of water use for years to come.





Day 204- Thursday, 7/23/15
Yay!  Last day of swim practice.  Gotta love the swim hair.  This boy needs a hair cut and soon.  Even though they were officially done with swim 2 weeks ago, since we are not going to champs, I still had them go to practice.  It's good exercise for them and a great way to beat the heat.  All done now!





Day 205- Friday, 7/24/15
TGIF!  This afternoon the boys and I caught up on some recorded shows and watched America's Got Talent together after camp and work.  Rusty was happy to see me relaxing for a change and decided to join us.  I have a super long to-do-list that I should be working on for our Mexico trip but hey, it's Friday so I need to chill first.  This weekend I'll bang that list out :0)





Day 206- Saturday, 7/25/15
One of the first things on that list was a trip to Natomas to get Brandon a new pair of shoes.  He can be brutal on his shoes and wore a hole clean through the outer edge of both sides.  Thankfully we found a new pair he likes and on sale.  Now to get him a new sweatshirt--one that's not all chewed up on the sleeve by him. I swear, this kid!  He'll be the death of me!!





Day 207- Sunday, 7/26/15
Awe--Tyler!  I miss him.  He's been working long hours all week so thank goodness for late start Sunday shifts.  I swear I never see him anymore now that his internship is over.  He will have worked 8 straight days before we go on vacation.  Everyone will be happy to actually spend some good quality time with him in Mexico.




That's it!  See you next week after we return from our trip!  Pray for safe travels.



Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Week 29

Welcome back!  Happy Tuesday ;0)  I'm looking at a super busy week ahead with a long to-do list and just hope I can get it all done before we leave for Mexico next week.  It's crazy to think when we get back it will be August already.  No!  I'm so not ready to start prepping for back to school.  Can we have an extra month please?

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 194- Monday, 7/13/15
Today we were at Target restocking the pantry and these two had actually earned a reward so they were thinking they'd pick a toy but then decided Starbucks was a better choice.  Fine by me!





Day 195- Tuesday, 7/14/15
More Tennis for Justin.  At least today was not nearly as hot. There was a nice breeze that really helped.  It may not have helped their tennis game but at least it kept it cool. 





Day 196- Wednesday, 7/15/15
I find these camp wristbands all over the house.  Brandon has to wear them at his day camp getting a new one everyday so he takes them off at home and leaves them in totally random places all over the house.  Later this evening he helped me walk the dog.  It's nice to have the company and Bella enjoys having him along too.






Day 197- Thursday, 7/16/15
My kids are actually done with swim meets, but I'm still having them go to practice until the very end.  Brandon waits as Justin swims and is hiding because he doesn't want his picture taken then Justin waits as Brandon swims.  Justin is starting a new book and loves that it's about an orange cat like Rusty.





Day 198- Friday, 7/17/15
Today was a really busy and long day.  I went to work and then on another part of campus attended a presentation by Tyler and his team that did an internship in a plant sciences lab for the summer.  Today was their last day and it was great to be able to see what they learned and how well they understood the science behind it.  After that I spent some time with the younger boys.  We enjoyed a fruit-juice popsicle together before Tyler and I had to leave and travel to Santa Cruz for summer polo.





Day 199- Saturday, 7/18/15
It's so good to see the kids back in the pool and playing some polo.  We usually have many more tournaments and games during the summer than this.  It's hard to believe this is our first one and probably only one for the summer.  At least it's in Santa Cruz which is a place we all love to visit.  We stayed the weekend and made the most of it.  The boys played hard at the boardwalk last night and then tore it up in the pool for 3 games today.





Day 200- Sunday, 7/19/15
Polo is over so today we just play at the Boardwalk before heading home.  One of the parents paid the boys to sit for a caricature and it's hilarious how it turned out.  They weren't thrilled to be doing it at first but totally loved the end result.




That's it.  Back to reality.  I'll see you next week probably posting just before heading out on our flight.



Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Week 28

Hello and welcome back.  It's Tuesday of course.  There's a lot of great things coming up that we are looking forward too, but that also means that summer is quickly coming to an end. I'm so not ready for that!  Target even has all the school supplies out for purchase and my boys about lost when they saw that.   Our summer is now more than half over.  *sigh*  The best thing to do is enjoy all the days we have left and make the most of them.

Until then here are last week's pictures:


Day 187- Monday, 7/6/15
Justin got all call from his long time friend who moved away last year.  He actually moved across the country but has recently moved back to California.  Sadly, they are still too far away to see each other in person, but Justin enjoys talking with him on the phone.





Day 188- Tuesday, 7/7/15
It's Tyler's first time giving blood which is something that was on his summer to-do-list.  Check!  Afterwards we walked down the street for a nice burger--a great way to replenish iron.  This kid never ceases to amaze me. Later that night he got a call from his Stats teacher congratulating him for getting a 5 (highest possible score) on his AP Statistics exam.  He's going places, that's for sure.




Day 189- Wednesday, 7/8/15
Oh Bella!  She will sit and stare at you when she knows it's time for her walk and won't let you leave her sight.  John and I usually trade off walking her and she's pretty good about knowing just who to stare down each day.  Today was my day.  Ok girl, let's go!





Day 190- Thursday, 7/9/15
Not our best day :0(  Justin called me at work to let me know Brandon woke up with a migraine and had started to throw up.  I rushed home also to find our garage door was busted and would not close.  John called a repair guy while I tended to my poor baby.  He continued to suffer and throw up in pain for the next 6 hours. It was a cloudy and thunderstorm type of day so I'm thinking the change in barometric pressure might have been his trigger.  I just wish it didn't have to be that way.  At least by dinner time he was 100% better, all smiles, active and ready to eat.  It's crazy how quickly he can bounce back.  That I'm thankful for!





Day 191- Friday, 7/10/15
I think this about does it for my tomato crop this year.  I got maybe 6 total out of 2 plants.  Ugh!  The pepper plant Justin planted at least looks better and is more hopeful. Next year is supposed to be an el nino year so hopefully it will help end our drought.  This no rain business in no fun!





Day 192- Saturday, 7/11/15
Today the boys had their best swim meet all season and it will be their last maybe forever.  We're not swimming at champs or with the Dolphin's next year.  Everyone needs a break, but hey, way to go out with a bang!  We celebrated at In-N-Out for dinner.  It was just me and these two.  Both Tyler and John are working.





Day 193- Sunday, 7/12/15
Speaking of work, I spent 6 hours in the lab today helping streak county fair samples. Unfortunately the nature of the project means weekend work for the rest of my summer.  At least I have a good team so we all dug in deep to bang it out as quickly as possible.  Also look what came in the mail yesterday--once I finally checked our box--Passports!!  Now my boys can leave the country and more importantly come back!  Mexico we'll see you in 2 weeks!!! 



That's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you're enjoying your summer.



Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Week 27

Happy Tuesday!  It's good to see you back.  I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July.  How is it July already?  Yikes-so much to do and so little time.

Take a peek at last week:


Day 180- Monday, 6/29/15
 Look at me doing bacteriology and culturing salmonella!  I'm a long time protozologist not a bacteriologist, but I'm getting the hang of it.  I did learn how to do this type of work way back in a basic college micro class but have not really used that knowledge in over 20 years.  It's fun to re-learn and experiment though.  We set up spiking experiments to test our protocols and they went well so we are set for our county fair samples coming in next week.  Now I just have to be able to plate about 300 samples for each fair--no pressure there and thank goodness I have a good team.  Oh and look at those differential slants.  Who knew they were so colorful, fun, and pretty?  And they change colors to help identify microbes.  Love them!





Day 181- Tuesday, 6/30/15
It was super hot today (yes, that says 107) and the poor tennis kids had matches this afternoon.  The coach is great about keeping them hydrated, resting in the shade, and making sure they are feeling ok though.  Justin did great.  His doubles team lost the first game but won the second so he left on a good note.





Day 182- Wednesday, 7/1/15
Here we are at the start of July.  This summer is flying by and July will go quick because there is so much going on.  Brandon's birthday is in July so he loves helping me out with my monthly marker this month.





Day 183- Thursday, 7/2/15
Look who's finally home!  John made it back from his business trip late this afternoon.  I was told it was a 10 day trip but it was actually 12 with the travel days so he was gone way too long.  The good news is that we all survived and are happy to have him home.





Day 184- Friday, 7/3/15
John took the boys out this morning to hunt down some fireworks which they are excited to light tomorrow.  Then later it was the perfect warm evening for night swim.  Even Tyler was able to join in.  That's Brandon jumping off the ledge while the rest look on.  They love to see who can make the biggest splash.





Day 185- Saturday, 7/4/15
Happy 4th of July!  We had a great day grilling, swimming, eating, and then setting off some safe and sane fireworks with the neighbors out front.  Tyler ended up working but was still able to be home by dinner and spend the evening with us.





Day 186- Sunday 7/5/15
Since it was a long weekend I got all the laundry and housework done before today so I could just relax and enjoy my Sunday for once.  I did a little shopping, a lot of lounging, and then went on a nice long bike ride with these kids.  John fixed Justin's bike and we wanted to test it out to make sure it was going to stay fixed.  All is good, and he's thrilled he can ride his own bike to tennis club next week.




That's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and see you in about 7 days.