Friday, June 29, 2018

Week 25

Welcome back and happy Friday!  That's right, I'm a few days late because we were enjoying a camping trip in the Tahoe area so I was off the grid for a few days and am still trying to play catch-up since my return.  It was great fun though and a good way to just escape and enjoy being a complete family again.  We didn't get to camp last year so this was at the top of the summer bucket list for the kids this year.  Thankfully we squeezed it in first thing.  Now let's get back to last week's happenings.

Here's a look at those pictures:


Day 169- Monday 6/18/18
Brandon started basketball camp in Davis led by the college team there so he'll be my fellow commuter all week which also means my hours have to change a bit. 





Day 170- Tuesday, 6/19/18
It's taco Tuesday and the vultures are circling--even the cat is in there hoping to find an opportunistic drop or two.




Day 171- Wednesday, 6/20/18
Some how it became all about the pets today.  I can't get over how white the fur on Bella's paw is now, but it makes a cool design especially when seen from across the room.  Later I bent down to pet Rusty laid out on the stairs and he was intrigued by the ties on my shirt.  Even in this heat he can muster up some playfulness which is impressive for a lazy cat and fun to see.




Day 172- Thursday, 6/21/18
After being at camp for 7 hrs in Davis I had Brandon grabbed a quick dinner and then we headed to Elk Grove for a late basketball game with his West Sac team.  While waiting for him to finish with the coaches after-game talk I took a selfie for national selfie day.  This is one tired mama waiting for one tired kid so we can end this super long day.  I think we finally got home just after 9 pm.





Day 173- Friday, 6/22/18
TGIF!  Justin helped out at tennis for the younger kids today and got a new shirt from last summer's tennis club.  He said it was nice to see coach Dave and may do it again next week. Then John made Tahiti Tea drinks to help kick off the weekend and fondly remember our time in the Tahitian islands exactly one year ago.  I can't believe it's already been a year and I wish I was back there again right now!





Day 174- Saturday, 6/23/18
We were well over the 100 degree mark today and it was HOT!  At least it made for a perfect night swim.  The boys love this part of summer.





Day 175- Sunday, 6/24/18
I'm hoping today will be cooler so I started my day with a donut and ice coffee by the pool to help me think cool thoughts and it worked because a good breeze blew in and we had a much better day.  The plants are all happy about that too especially some of my newer plants that are just babies like this little lily.  It's small flowers are fragile and will just fry in the summer sun which gratefully did not happen today.  It looks fresh and happy with a new sprinkle of water.  



That's it for now.  Check back next week to see out camping fun and for the start of a new month. Where did June go?!

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Week 24

Welcome back an happy Tuesday!  What a week last week was with John traveling for work, car troubles, basketball games starting for Brandon, a couple college tours for Justin, moving Tyler home and, Father's Day.  Crazy summer days!  Hopefully things will settle down a bit moving forward because I can only juggle so much.  At least we don't have school too.

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


Day 162- Monday, 6/11/18
 Brandon is finishing up basketball practice with the in-coming freshman basketball hopefuls.  The summer league games start this week 





Day 162- Tuesday, 6/12/18
 Today I spent the day dealing with a busted front axle.  John is away with our other car on business so thank goodness we also have Tyler's truck and Justin as another driver so I could drop the car off to get it fixed and then still get some work done remotely.  Amazingly enough it was done just in time to run Brandon to his first game out in Elk Grove.





Day 164- Wednesday, 6/13/18
 Bella is hot and sprawled out under the main ceiling fan.  She is also sad as you can see by her droopy ears because she doesn't like it when John is gone on overnight trips.  She likes to have all her peeps home and accounted every afternoon.





Day 165- Thursday, 6/14/18
We're here at the second basketball game of the week.  All the games are held in Elk Grove and sadly they are during rush hour so traffic getting there and back is a nightmare.  We have to plan for it to take at least an hour to get there or back when it should be more like 20 min.  Still it's fun to see my boy play.  After we finally got home this is where I found Rusty.  It's over 90 out and he still tunnels under the covers to sleep the day away.  Tyler's bed is his go to spot but he's going to have to find another spot soon because in a couple days Tyler will be home wanting his bed back.






Day 166- Friday, 6/15/18
 We started the day with a road trip to LA to help Tyler pack up and move home for the summer.  Justin also wanted to visit a couple smaller state schools in the area so on the way down we stopped at Cal State Northridge where you'll find many of these beautiful palm tree clusters.  After Tyler's last final we met up with him to quickly get him out of the dorm before he had to run off to work for a few hours.  We had him moved out in record time--30 minutes tops!  We're so happy to see him and eager to have him back home.  It was a super full day so we treated ourselves to some Diddy Riese which is a Westwood must and then retired for the night.  





Day 167- Saturday, 6/16/18
 Tyler had one last work shift first thing this morning so Justin and I checked out Cal State Fullerton which has a really nice campus with an amazing arboretum that Justin fell in love with.  It was a good way to kill time and stretch our legs before the long drive home.  Thankfully Tyler wanted to help by taking a turn at the wheel.  It's about 6 hours so breaking it up with multiple drivers is a better way to go.  We're home bound people!




Day 168- Sunday, 6/17/18 
It feels great to have the full set home again and just in time for Father's Day.  The boys worked together to make pizzas for a special dinner tonight and they did an amazing job.  Happy Father's Day to John and thanks to him for helping me raise these beautiful boys.



That's it.  See you next week although I'll be a couple days late because we have a small camping trip planned for the early part of the week. It's time to reconnect with nature especially after spending a couple days fighting in the crazy LA traffic.


Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Week 23

Hello and welcome back!  We're adjusting to a summer schedule and trying to figure out a new normal.  This first month is pretty much all over the place in terms of where kids need to be and when, but they so far have been great about biking where they need to go when I'm at work and only needing rides for a few random things.  I also feel the stress level in them decreasing so they are much happier kids as it usually is during summer break. We finally decided we could fit in a small vacation getaway this year but it won't be until the end of summer so we'll just dream about it until then. Meanwhile, today, I'm stuck at home dealing with car troubles but do see an end in sight.

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

Day 155- Monday, 6/4/18
Someone is being silly and even the dog is ignoring him.  Gotta love the kickback days of summer when I can actually see more of my crazy kids.





Day 156- Tuesday, 6/5/18
Nothing screams summer more than fresh picked strawberries.  We can eat them year round here in California but they always taste, smell, and look better in the summer.





Day 157- Wednesday, 6/6/18
I promised them we'd try out our new Cold Stone place once school was out for the break and we're just now getting to that. Yum!





Day 158- Thursday, 6/7/18
Brandon bought this Warriors sweatshirt with money he got from 8th grade promotion and even though its at least 80 degrees out he's determined to wear it.  Bella likes it too because it's black which is her favorite color ;0)





Day 159- Friday, 6/8/18
. . . and it's a win for the Warriors! Another NBA championship and the boys in this house are happy.  I'm happy it was a sweep because that means no more games--not a fan of a 7 game series.





Day 160- Saturday, 6/9/18
It must be the weekend because we're doing more yard work.  The pruning and weeding is done so now we can lay down fresh mulch which is greatly needed.  Brandon helped me pick it up at Lowes and I spread it around the flowerbeds.  We thought 6 bags would be enough, but I had to go back for another 6!  Now the yard looks finished, smells of redwood, and we can enjoy it even more.




Day 161- Sunday, 6/10/18
When Rusty is not napping he's either watching for birds who like to taunt him or watching the kids play video games.  LOL!  At least he's interested in his surroundings.  That red pillow is one of his favorite napping spots as you can see and not long after I took this picture I had Justin clean it for me.  Both the pets are shedding like crazy right now with the heat.




That's it! Another week come and gone. We head out Friday to move Tyler home for the summer.  Yay!  Let's just hope the car is all fixed.  Apparently it's another busted axle which happened last summer too.  The potholes around here are not my friends!


Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Week 22

Welcome back, happy Tuesday, and hello summer!  How crazy is it that June is here and school is out?  We are ready even though we have no real plans this year aside from basketball, cross country, campus tours, work, and camping.  I'd love to take a real vacation but we need to focus on getting our floors done over the summer so we'll have to get creative about a stay-cation.

Until we figure that all out here are last week's pictures:

Day 148- Monday, 5/28/18
Happy Memorial Day!  We had the boys helping clean the pool so we could enjoy it for the first time this year and then later we had a nice BBQ dinner and watched the Warriors bring home the Western Conference Championship. 





Day 149- Tuesday, 5/29/18
Justin had an AP Language Great Gatsby party today at school and won the costume contest in his Pac-Man suit.  LOL!  The kid is crazy strange but everyone around him loves it and he loved this party.  What a fun way to end the year.





Day 150- Wednesday, 5/30/18
Wednesday at work I have some new critters in my care.  There are 6 of them and they are a nice and friendly lot which is great because you never know with hamsters.  I've had some real mean ones in the past.  Love those whiskers though.





Day 151- Thursday, 5/31/18
Speaking of whiskers, this guy has some pretty impressive ones too and he's decided to be a lap cat today because things have cooled down considerably and it's super windy out so he needs my warmth and support.





Day 152- Friday, 6/1/18
It's the last day of the school year and the first day of June.  Brandon had his 8th grade promotion from Bridgeway Island K-8 School today and thankfully it warmed back up and the wind went away because we were outside for the ceremony.  I now have two at the high school again for a year anyway.  Brandon is a freshman and Justin is a senior!  It will be strange not to be part the Bridgeway community anymore since we have been there for so many years. but it's time to  move on to bigger and better things!





Day 153- Saturday, 6/2/18
Justin has been doing yard work and is sweltering in this heat.  It's in the upper 90's today so he's seeking cooling comfort from a cold jar or jalapenos because that's how he rolls.  I actually pulled it out to show him I found a large jar (he finishes of the regular size jar in no time) and he was excited and impressed and then realized it's also cold so game over--straight to the head.







Day 154- Sunday, 6/3/18
I'm so happy to have the cover off the pool so we can see and enjoy it.  I was in the back doing the last of my yard work -yay!- and couldn't help but dip my feet in and also get an artsy shot of my wave ring next to it.  We may not be able to go to a great resort for vacation this year but we have a great refreshing backyard we can enjoy so it's all good.  Later we retreated inside to cool off some more and watch game 2 of the NBA Finals where the Warriors won again at home.




Ok that's it.  I hope everyone has a great start to their summer.  Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you next week.