Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Week 29

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  We just had another super hot weekend and are hoping for some relief during the week as has been the pattern but looks like there are many triple digit days lines up in the forecast.  Our pool is getting good use this summer.  We're also making last minute plans for a quick escape with the kids since they didn't really get a vacation trip for the summer.  It will just be a weekend thing but at least it's something and to places they are interested in. Next year when John and I do not have a big trip planned for ourselves we can do more with the family.  I just can't believe summer is almost over and we only have a few weekends left to make something happen.  Ack!  I could use more time.

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 197- Sunday, 7/16/17
It's national ice-cream day and we just so happened to finish making 3 batches of homemade ice-cream not knowing that this was today.  It was meant to be! Chocolate candy crush, strawberry with fresh berries, and vanilla with mini chocolate chips--that's what's for dessert.  Justin will have to get some later.  He's at a movie with his friends and hopefully his brothers will leave at least a little for him.





Day 198- Monday, 7/17/17
When it's hot out this dog does nothing but sleep and when she sleeps with her ears like this she looks like an Egyptian Sphinx dog.





Day 199- Tuesday, 7/18/17
Fresh fruit Popsicle are the best afternoon snack on hot summer days.  This is how the humans deal with the heat ;0)





Day 200- Wednesday, 7/19/17
Nothing screams summer like a sunflower.  I found a few wild beauties on my walk this evening.





Day 201- Thursday, 7/20/17
Wasn't I just complaining about having no red tomatoes last week? Well here you go.  The first once has revealed itself with hopefully more to follow.  Loving the rich red color and the heart shaped sun-glare. All this heat is good for something at least.





Day 202- Friday, 7/21/17
Today was Brandon's last day of summer camp and he brought home this mask that was used in a talent show group act.  It's supposed to be a sheep mask and he thought it was funny showing it off to Bella.  Right after this we loaded up and took Bella to the vet for an annual shot.  This is day 2 of waiting on doctors.  Why the long waits?  It drives me nuts. What exactly is the point of an appointment anymore?  Like none of us waiting hours in a waiting room have anything better to do.  Grrr!





Day 203- Saturday, 7/22/17
We're all relaxing today after a long week and after getting the house chores done.  Rusty likes to mess with Justin's face.  They have an interesting relationship to say the least but it's good for both of them.



Wait!  One more--

July's Family Photo




It's too hot to take a picture outside so here we are in the air-conditioned house, and I love that you can see the picture I have of my kids when we first moved into this house right behind us.  How they have grown!  It's been almost exactly 12 years and the only way I remember is because we got in just in time to celebrate Brandon's 1st birthday here and he'll be 13 next week.  Time flies when you're having fun :0)




Ok all done!  Check back next week as we get ready to say goodbye to July and kick off August.


Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Week 28

Welcome back and happy Tuesday.  Yep--it's still hot especially on weekends which makes it hard to want to do anything especially outside.  Last week was all about getting back into the full swing of things and getting everyone including the pets back on a schedule.

Take a look -


Day 190- Sunday, 7/9/17
John spent the day in another motorcycle class to learn some cornering moves this time.  It was super hot out there in all the gear but he still had fun and learned a lot.





Day 191- Monday, 7/10/17
It's a playful Monday afternoon for Brandon and Bella.  Tug-of-war is one of their favorite games.  He's always amazed at how strong she is especially when she starts pulling him across the floor.





Day 192- Tuesday, 7/11/17
We're patiently waiting on red.  This plant has at least 20 tomatoes but no ripe ones yet.  They are the large beef steak variety so they need to little more time to grow, and then I have a feeling they will all turn at once.  John is eager to make some salsa especially now that the boys like it too.





Day 193- Wednesday, 7/12/17
It's nice to get back to our regular walks and at least in the evenings we have a refreshing delta breeze to make the them more manageable and pleasant.





Day 194- Thursday, 7/13/17
We had tacos for dinner yesterday so today Justin made nachos for dinner with the leftovers.  It's one of his favorites.





Day 195- Friday, 7/14/17
This summer Tyler has not only been taking EMT classes twice a week in his all blue uniform but has also been working like crazy picking up as many shifts as he can life-guarding.  Some days he even has a shift after his 8 hr class day.  That's crazy, but he's motivated to make money to help pay for school and take care of those frat fees.  It's been quite a summer for him so far.  He even had his first real traumatic save at the pool just after we got back from our trip.





Day 196- Saturday, 7/15/17
Why are the weekends so darn hot?  I think it was 105 today so the boys beat the heat by spending time in and around the pool and then we all took in a movie enjoying the theater's air-conditioning which is cheaper and more entertaining than ours ;0)




That's it!  See you next week.  I feel like summer is slipping away from me.  The younger kids start school in exactly one month.  Yikes!  At least Tyler has an additional month after that.


Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Week 27

Welcome back and happy Tuesday.  July is proving to be a warm one for us.  We had many days over 100 last week.  I'm missing that amazing sea breeze and of course the slower pace of island life. Summers are relaxing in terms of kids and no school with less activities but work is always busier for me.  We have a lot of great things going on but it's almost too much at once.  I just need to remember to breathe and take it one day at a time.

Here are last week's pictures:



Day 183- Sunday, 7/2/17
Bella usually sleeps in the garage safe in her crate but it's been too hot out there lately so we let her sleep inside and since she's not allowed to go upstairs the boys have been joining her downstairs for bedtime.  It's like a kid/pet sleepover ;0)





Day 184- Monday, 7/3/17
We just put the cake in the oven for tomorrow's festivities and the one that helps bake gets to help clean up.  Brandon knows that means batter on the beater just for him.  





Day 185- Tuesday, 7/4/17
Happy 4th of July!  We had a nice family day celebrating with good food, good fun, and good fireworks of course.  It was nice that no one had to work, or go to camp, or participate in sports.





Day 186- Wednesday, 7/5/17
Back to the grind.  The first real day back at work after a really good vacation is brutal.  I spent most my time sorting through emails and learning of many things that need my attention.  The list is long and the beach is calling.  *sigh*





Day 187- Thursday, 7/6/17
This summer Justin has very busy mornings doing both cross country conditioning and then tennis club right after.  He starts his days super early but at least his afternoons are free.  His favorite thing to do when he gets home is to check in with the pets.  The cat is mostly napping but the dog is always up and ready for attention.





Day 188- Friday, 7/7/17
Speaking of the cat, these stairs are one of his favorites places to hang out and survey his surroundings.  When he's not napping on his post he's chilling on the stairs. TGIF! Even though it was a short week it was still very full and we made it through so John and I celebrated by going out to have a quick bite and catch a movie.  It was super hot out there so the movie theater was a good place to be.





Day 189- Saturday, 7/8/17
Awww . . . the pool.  Brandon knows it's the best place to be during these hot summer days.  He still loves to play basketball but it's way too warm to play out front with the real hoop. This pool version is so much better in the heat.




That's all.  See you next week.


Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Week 26

Happy Tuesday and happy 4th of July!  We were fortunate enough to make it back from our trip just in time for the long holiday weekend so we had plenty of time to adjust from island life to real life ;0)

Here's a look at last week's pictures wrapping up our amazing stay in French Polynesia.  Brace yourself--it's a long one:


Day 176- Sunday, 6/25/17
First off, on this day back in the states, my parents took the boys to Muir Woods redwood park near San Francisco to explore and they all really enjoyed it.  It's nice and cool there on the bay area coast.  Now back to us.  We are excited to be exploring our resort in Bora Bora today.  We are at the Intercontinental on the far southern tip of the mainland near Pointe Matira and this is an amazing place as you will see--so peaceful and beautiful with a lot to offer. John is standing near the front door of our bungalow, and the best part is the glass viewing table inside.  It looks down onto a small coral patch filled with our very own fish.  Super cool!  We viewed them from the inside and then viewed them by snorkeling in the waters below.  It's so amazing to have this right at our deck steps and again just in waist deep waters with a pure white sand bottom. For dinner we walked to a local place right on the beach just down the road and caught the sunset.





Day 177- Monday, 6/26/17
This place is a maze of over-water huts which is pretty cool.  It's much bigger than the place on Moorea but not really any more crowded.  It's so relaxing and quiet on these islands which is refreshing.  We did at least venture out and do some kayaking in our resort lagoon which was a perfect activity on this extra warm day, and then crazily enough we decided to walk quite a ways to a famous lunch spot.  It really wasn't that far but in the heat it sure seemed like it.  At least it was worth it.  The food at Bloody Mary's was amazing and the drinks hit the spot ;0)  Later we caught another amazing sunset this time at the public beach right across the street from our resort.  I could seriously get used to this island life.






Day 178- Tuesday, 6/27/17
It's time to explore the land with a 4x4 taking us the 30 miles around the island and also up the hills to see the wonderful views.  This really is the best way to see it all.  We even learned about the US presence in WWII and saw the cannon they manned to keep the island safe from Japan.  It's pointed at the only break in the coral reef where ships can get through.  Pretty interesting stuff.  Once we got back to the resort it was time to cool off and get back in the water.  I tried to paddle board and did manage to stand a couple times but was most stable on my knees.  It's harder than it looks for sure, but I still had fun trying.  Dinner out was in the local town at a popular place called St. James which is an over-water restaurant.  We had a good time there, but it was the only place we ate at on this island that was not in walking distance.  I do prefer to walk and we were fortunate that we are located in a place that made that possible more often than not.





Day 179- Wednesday, 6/28/17
This morning was a slow and relaxing morning.  This whole trip has been pretty low key and very relaxing which has been fantastic and much needed.  It's the island life!  After a good bit we ventured into the main town, Vaitape, to shop some and also hit up the local spots around our resort to restock supplies.  The main town is not quiet and relaxing at all.  There is lot's of traffic and people everywhere but still charming and beautiful.  We got what we needed and then got out.  LOL!  Afterward we enjoyed a nice picnic type lunch at our bungalow and snorkeled a bit in the coral nursery.  I had no idea you could grow coral but they do here to add to the resort and to help the island replenish any damaged coral beds.  Pretty amazing and the fish love it! This will be our last dinner on the island and as a treat the resort gave us a special romantic dinner for two.  It was on the beach but thankfully behind this glass wall because the wind was fierce tonight.





Day 180- Thursday, 6/29/17
This line of birds sit here in this same spot and only this spot every morning.  We pass them on the way to breakfast and then don't see them again until the next morning.  It's quite comical.  We walked to a great beach-side place for lunch and the second picture shows our view.  It was pretty amazing and they had good food too recommended by the locals.  John even got some amazing sushi.  The rest of the afternoon we just kicked it on the resort beach.  We no longer have our bungalow since check out was at 11 am, but our taxi boat to the airport is not until after 4 pm.  He slept and I took pictures ;0)  When it's time to say good-bye we wave to the island as we cruise away in our boat.  From Bora Bora we fly to Tahiti and then catch an overnight flight to LA before flying home to Sacramento.  The journey will be long and we are sad to leave but also excited to see the family.







Day 181- Friday, 6/30/17
No that first picture was not taken today, but I forgot to add it somewhere and it's important because we were so fortunate to see these rays swimming by our bungalow and around the resort pretty much every morning and evening.  I will miss them.  Today we made it to LA just before lunch.  Our passports have new stamps and we come back with just under $10 in funny money.  Waiting on transportation has been the theme of all our travel days.  It's pretty much a hurry up and wait game.  We're in the  LAX airport now and will soon board a plane to get us back to Sac.  Let's do this!





Day 182- Saturday, 7/1/17
Happy July!  We are grateful to be home and see these smiley faces.  Brandon's birthday is the last day in July so he posed for my monthly marker and then the second shot was actually taken early Sunday morning but it fits better with this week so I'm placing it here.  We are super thankful that my parents could come in from Texas to help watch the kids and spend time with them.  They are now off on an Alaskan cruise, and I hope they have just as much fun on their trip as John and I did on ours. 


That's it!  John and I had an wonderful and relaxing time but are also happy to be back with the boys and pets who we missed dearly.  This was a trip for us to help celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary which is coming up in August (a bad travel month because of school starting) and we couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate.  Now back to reality tomorrow--the return to work.  At least it's a short week!