Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Week 34

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  School is well under way and so far so good.  The kids are re-learning to balance school work with everything else they want to do.  All that free time of summer is gone!  Last week was pretty hectic but now that everyone knows the new "norm" I think things will run much smoother. 

Take a look at how it all went down:


Day 229- Monday, 8/17/15
I'm spending these last couple days of summer break with the kids running errands and squeezing in a bit of fun.  Today we took in an afternoon movie.  Ant-man was fun and they all loved it.





Day 230- Tuesday, 8/18/15
Time for senior pictures already.  You have to take them early so there is enough time to get them in the yearbook.  I'm just glad we got them done before school is starting tomorrow because it will be near impossible otherwise with Tyler's crazy schedule.





Day 231- Wednesday, 8/19/15
Welcome back to school!  Here we are with a senior in high school, a freshman in high school, and a 6th grader starting middle school.  It's been a stressful morning, but everyone has settled down a bit and they are ready to start their day.





Day 232- Thursday, 8/20/15
He loves her so much he's practically choking her with that hug, but she doesn't mind :0)  It's nice to have an attentive companion to come home to after a long day at school.





Day 233- Friday, 8/21/15
Tyler is grabbing a quick snack before polo practice and Bella is hoping he shares some of those crackers with her. She's been missing not having her boys home as much this week.




Day 234- Saturday, 8/22/15
Today was a busy day.  Tyler had 3 quick pre-season polo games this morning in Roseville.  It was fun to see how the high school team is shaping up this year.  Then later John and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary at the Firehouse restaurant in Old Sacramento.  We had a fun night and a great meal.  Their food is so good.





Day 235- Sunday, 8/23/15
This is not how I wanted to spend my Sunday morning.  Can you believe Brandon had a poster project to do this first weekend of school?  I was not prepared in the supply department and had to run around this morning to get what he needed plus print the required 7! pictures.  At least he was in a good mood about it and was motivated to get it done before 1pm when he had a friend coming over to play.  The nice thing is that he loves the poster because it's all about him and his favorite things and he had fun deciding what pictures and images to choose.




That's it.  Looking forward to a good week and hope you all have one too.


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Week 33

Happy Tuesday and welcome back.  The kids are headed to school tomorrow!  I'm home helping them enjoy their last day of summer and making sure we have everything in order. I hate it when summer just flies by, but we did have a good one so I'm grateful for that.

Take a look at our last full week of freedom:


Day 222- Monday, 8/10/15
I actually got some back-to-school shopping done this afternoon.  It's kind of sad I didn't need to buy crayons this year.  The boys are growing up.  At least a couple of them still need glue sticks and colored pencils.





Day 223- Tuesday, 8/11/15
John has been big on making smoked salmon lately.  He's has many requests and is now smoking a batch for the weekend guys trip to the mountains and kindly threw in a couple extra for us girls left back at home.  Thanks babe!





Day 224- Wednesday, 8/12/15
Brandon LOVES penne pasta.  He says it's his favorite food so he was super excited when he found out I was making some for dinner.  He'd eat this whole pot if I'd let him!





Day 225- Thursday, 8/13/15
Justin had his freshman orientation this week and has been practicing with his combination lock for PE.  I so remember doing this when I was his age.  It took him awhile to get used to it but now he can open it in the blink of an eye which helps him feel more confident.  One less thing to worry about.






Day 226- Friday, 8/14/15
This week is ending on a warm note so what better way to beat the heat than with a cold treat.  We all love It's-It ice-cream cookie sandwiches--a true San Francisco treat!  Tyler's favorite is the mint flavored one.  Yum!  It's turning out to be a very foodie week ;0)





Day 227- Saturday, 8/15/15
The guys are in Tahoe for "mancation" so the ladies got together for a little lunch and wine tasting.  We were at the Old Sugar Mill which has been converted into a wine tasting mall of sorts.  It was perfect because it was really hot out and we could stay in the air-conditioning and still taste from several different wineries.  I ended up bringing 7 bottles home!  What a fun day with good friends.






Day 228- Sunday, 8/16/15
Yep!  Still HOT!!  We broke the century mark this weekend so when John returned from his trip he and Justin did the most logical thing and hit the pool.  We probably only have about a month left of use before it starts to get too cold and the pool will need to be closed until next summer.  It's so sad to see summer go.  Really?!  Are we there already? :0(




That's it!  Thanks for stopping by and check back next week for the start of our school days.


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Week 32

Welcome back and happy Tuesday.  Wow!  This week will be really busy with the start of water polo practice, high school freshman orientation (2 days!), and senior seminar plus back-to-school shopping, parent meetings, and dr. appointments.  One day at a time.  School starts in one week!  I wish we could just enjoy these last few days, but there is too much prep work to do and somehow I've got to figure out how to continue my lab work through it all.  At least once the kids are back in school we'll have a more normal routine that will help make things run a lot smoother or so I hope!

Until then take a look at last week's picture:


Day 215- Monday, 8/3/15
These are the only things thriving in my backyard right now.  Justin's peppers are doing great, and we were happy to see a lot of bright red peppers ready for picking when we returned from Mexico.  Last year he planted peppers he thought would be red, but they ended up being green peppers so this year he made a point of selecting a plant that would give him true red peppers.  Of course they start off green which had him worried they would never turn but they did and now he's thrilled.





Day 216- Tuesday, 8/4/15
Rusty has been very clingy and playful since our return.  He follows me everywhere, and if I sit even just for a second he's either got to be right in my lap or sitting right next to me.  Both the pets missed us and are happy we are back where we belong.  Just wait until we leave them again this weekend!  Poor things.  At least our sweet neighbor girl, Amanda, takes great care of them for us.





Day 217- Wednesday, 8/5/15
Brandon has always loved plush toys and right now he's into the Minecraft plushes.  He got a couple new ones for his birthday and enjoys playing with them on his bed.  That darn wolf he wanted so bad had to come all the way from China.  At least Amazon had free shipping and the price was normal for a plush like that.  I really hate the sellers on Amazon that try to scalp you with their insanely inflated prices for hard to find items.





Day 218- Thursday, 8/6/15
Justin and I are at Target stocking up on food for our camping trip this weekend and of course we'll be needing the stuff to make s'mores.





Day 219- Friday, 8/7/15
After work, tennis, and day camp we headed to the hills for a short camping trip.  Last year was the first year we didn't camp in ages so the kids really wanted to make sure it happened this year.  We're squeezing it in at the last minute, but at least we're here and with a great group of friends too.  This is Lake Rollins in the foothills.





Day 220- Saturday, 8/8/15

Here is our little tent city at sunrise.  It's so nice and peaceful this early.  We are camping with 5 other families, and I'm really glad Tyler could rearrange his work schedule so he could join us.  The outdoors agrees with him.  It was a full day chillin, grillin and hanging by the campfire.





Day 221- Sunday, 8/9/15
This is our last day so we're saying goodbye to the lake and packing things up to head home. We had to leave early so Tyler could be home in time for work just after lunch which actually worked out perfectly.  We got all packed before it got too hot and became unbearable to manage. That's it for camping until next year. It's fun but sure is a lot of work.  I think I prefer showing up to a hotel and having everything all ready for me to just relax, but we did that last week so you gotta rough it some time.  Plus the kids really love camping, and I love to see them happy ;0)




That's all.  This week will fly by with so many things going on but maybe just maybe next week we can all settle into a new normal.  We'll see ya then!


Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Week 31

Hola! We had a fantastic vacation in Mexico last week, and I have many pictures to share.  The trip was short but sweet and ended up being a perfect length for the kids.  John and I could have easily stayed a few more days, but the kids were getting home sick and wanting to see their pets.  Now it's back to the rat race.  We only have 2 weeks left of summer before school starts!  How can that be? There is so much to do before then I can hardly keep it all straight, but let's not even go there.  Instead here are last week's pictures which are way more fun to think about.

Enjoy our journey:


Day 208- Monday, 7/27/15
Today is a packing day.  I had to work this morning and then run some errands, but now it's time to pack everything up and prepare for our trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  We leave for the airport at 4 am tomorrow.  Dang that's early!





Day 209- Tuesday, 7/28/15
The good thing about starting your travel day early is that you get to your destination in time to actually enjoy it a bit before heading to bed.  We arrived in Cabo San Lucas late afternoon and were able to check out the beach, the resort, the food, and our room.  This room is affectionately known as the turtle room because it was on the ground floor and the balcony opened up to a pond well stocked with turtles.  Brandon loved it and it was cool, but we soon realized that EVERYONE heading to the pool stopped to visit the turtles and had the perfect view of our balcony straight into our room.  There was way too much traffic and no privacy so we asked for another room.   Nothing was available today but they will move us tomorrow which is perfect.





Day 210- Wednesday, 7/29/15
This morning we headed out early to beat the heat and go zip-lining in one of the local canyons.  We had 8 zip-lines to work through and it was a blast.  It was fun that some lines required us to ride tandem which helped with the speed and distance on the longer runs so no one got stuck.  The only down side was the heat even with an early start and all the hiking between the lines which really wouldn't have been that bad if it wasn't so darn hot.  At least we had plenty of water.  We made it though just fine and would most certainly do it again.  When we returned to the resort we were greeted to a new room--the room with a view and privacy!  Now this I what I'm talking about.  You can't get a much better view than this.  After dinner John and the boys enjoyed night swimming in the pool which was perfectly lit by all the surrounding hotel lights.  It really is a beautiful resort.






Day 211- Thursday, 7/30/15
An ATV tour was on the schedule for today.  I thought it would be another hot one and it was hot out, but even with all the gear they had us wearing while we were riding we were not hot at all.  It was actually refreshing and a great way to tour the local landscape.  We rode by the beach and also in the desert.  I've never seen so many cactus in my life!  Once we got back to the hotel it was time to clean up, grab lunch, and then it the beach.  Our resort is perfectly located on an amazing beach overlooking the famous Cabo rock formations across the Sea of Cortez.  Cheers!





Day 212- Friday, 7/31/15
It's time to cross that sea and make our way out to those rocks.  We took a water taxi to Land's End so we could view Cabo's famous El Archo.  On the way back we stopped at Pelican Rock to snorkel for an hour before heading back across the sea to grab some lunch.  The boys were thrilled to see so many colorful fish, and the water temperature is perfect.  Just a short walk down the beach from our resort is a famous food place called The Office we were told to try out.  This is where we ate lunch right there in the sand, and Brandon, my birthday boy who is 11 today, was happy to grub on some steak tacos.  All the food was amazing.  Tyler and John enjoyed some fresh lobster tacos they say were to die for, and I had chicken tostadas that were super yummy.  Justin had a burger--lol!  Later that evening, to further celebrate Brandon's birthday, we ventured out on a Pirate-ship, sunset, dinner cruise that was a blast.  What was supposed to be our most relaxing day actually turned into quite a full day, but it's our last day here so it's good to go out with a bang ;0)





Day 213- Saturday, 8/1/15
Happy August!  I brought my monthly marker and Justin kindly posed on our balcony for me.  Sadly we are saying goodbye to Cabo and starting our journey home.  That went by fast!  We stayed at Pueblo Bonito Blanco and so enjoyed it.  The location is perfect, the view is amazing, the beach is swimmable (not all in Cabo are), the staff was super friendly always seeming to remember us, and the resort was in amazing shape.  You can see they take pride in having a well kept resort.  It's one of the smallest and oldest resorts there, but it doesn't feel like it at all.  I'd most certainly go back again and if any of you want to give it a try ask for room 230--the room with a view.  You won't regret it!





Day 214- Sunday, 8/2/15
We're home!  What a long journey yesterday was.  International travel is no joke especially with 5 people.  I've never stood in so many lines in my life.  At any rate, the first order of business today is a small family birthday party for Brandon.  He wanted a doughnut-tower, volcano, Jurassic World cake which was perfect for me because it was super simple to throw together.  How can my baby be 11 and soon be starting middle school?  Time flies!  *sigh*  Next order of business is laundry.  I hate vacation laundry, but it does feel good to be home.




Wait!  One more:

 July's Family Photo




This was obviously taken just before starting our zip-line adventure.  It was a super hot but fun day and an amazing canyon to zip through.  I'm so thankful they had photographers there and at the ATV place to help us get pictures that were impossible for me to get.




OK-all done!  Sorry for the picture overload.  I have so many great pictures it was hard to choose even these few.  Brace yourself for the weeks to come.  I wish I could say I am ready, but really I prefer vacation schedules and lack of commitments.  Who wouldn't?