Week 34

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  We had a great weekend in Monterey escaping the heat and wish it could have been longer, but we must get back to work and school.  Summer is slipping away.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 231- Monday, 8/19/19

It won't be much long before these beautiful sunflowers are gone until next year so I'll enjoy them while I can and am grateful for those who bring them to work to share.  At home this kitty boy is ready to be done with summer and the heat it brings.  He could care less about the flowers. LOL!

Day 232- Tuesday, 8/20/19

We have a deal--if I send him pictures of the cat he will send me a pictures of him out doing something.  Today I got that selfie from Justin out with his group on a field trip.  They are in one of the "Place Based Learning Communities" called Klamath Connection doing field work this week before actual classes start next week.  Thanks to the University and the program directors for sharing these other amazing photos of the group on social media.  Love the school's learn-by-doing approach.

Day 233- Wednesday, 8/21/19

Back at home it's all about high school and back-to-school night. I got to meet all Brandon's new teachers and learn about his new classes.  I think he'll have a good year.  Unfortunately I got home too late to catch the next episode of the 90210 reboot but will watch it on-demand later. I wasn't sure about the whole idea in the first episode but it's growing on me and it's fun to see all the cameos and relive those days.

Day 234- Thursday, 8/22/19

Happy 27th anniversary to us!  Brandon did a good job taking our picture after we got back from a celebratory dinner at Chevy's on the river..

Day 235- Friday, 8/23/19

TGIF!  It's been a super hot week and the tomatoes love it.  It's just what they needed to ripen up so I was able to pick a few more today and will have even more next week.  We need just enough for a batch of salsa.

Day 236- Saturday, 8/24/19

It's a perfect day for a quick getaway.  John and I headed to Monterrey for a one night trip and enjoyed the cooler temps with the ocean breeze.  It sure was beautiful there.  That picture of us was taken at "Lover's Point" which was perfect for us still celebrating our anniversary.

Day 237- Sunday, 8/25/19

Before heading back inland and home we wanted to see the Bixby Creek Bridge. It's the one they all drive across in the Big Little Lies show and sits just south of Monterrey.  We made it there but it was kind of foggy so we could only see about 1/2 the bridge.  Even still it was neat to track it down in it the Big Sir area.  Thank you to Brandon for holding down the fort and taking care of the pets for us while we were away. 

Ok that's it!  See next week in September!  WOW!  Time flies.

Week 33

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  Last week sure was a busy one and now this week we can decompress and hope everyone finds a new sense of normal.  John and I have a weekend escape planned too so that will help.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 224- Monday,  8/12/19

We just got a punch card for a Booster's fundraiser and it's triple digits out so Jamba Juice this afternoon was a great way to help us cool down after some back-to-school shopping.

Day 225- Tuesday, 8/13/19

Someone placed these beautiful summer flowers in our break area at work and it really helped brighten the day.  Later this evening we all worked to fill our shells with our favorites for Taco Tuesday.

Day 226- Wednesday, 8/14/19

It's Brandon's first day of school for his sophomore year and it was 106 out today so I had these new flavors of Outshine Popsicle on hand as a cool after-school snack.  This was mush appreciated especially after a bike ride home in that heat.

Day 227- Thursday, 8/15/19

For this hot August night we chose to partake in night swim.  It was a great way to spend our last evening together before Justin leaves for college.

Day 228- Friday, 8/16/19

Time to load up the car and head out to Arcata which is about 6 hours north west of us.  At least it was cooler up there on the coast.  We made a few fun stops along the way and then enjoyed some time at one of their many beaches after before retiring for the night.

Day 229- Saturday, 8/17/19

Today is move-in day at Humboldt State University and the weather is perfect. The high will be 69--so much more refreshing that 106!  Justin got settled into his room and then we explored the campus to find his home department where he met with his academic adviser.  Later was family orientation and then a BBQ for all before the final good-byes.  This is my last picture with him before we parted ways and those red-wood beauties behind was are right outside his dorm giving him the best view.

Day 230- Sunday, 8/18/19

I spent most of my day driving back home alone.  At least it's a beautiful drive--much better than the one to LA I'll be doing next month to get help Tyler settled into an apartment for his final year. Sadly I'm racking up the miles on my new car but that's ok because this and my commute to work are what   I need it for and it works great.  

Wait--one more!

August's Family Photo

Taken the last evening Justin was with us right before night swim.  We won't see him again until November.

Ok!  All done.  See you next week.

Week 32

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It's crunch time.  We leave Friday to move Justin to Humboldt so lots of last minute details to take care of.  At east he's working shorter days this last week which gives us a bit more time to get things done. We banged out a lot of it the past couple weeks so it feels good to be mostly ready and excited to go. Brandon also starts high school again tomorrow so he's trying to enjoy this last bit of freedom. I also think he's going through another growth spurt or something because he was super tired Saturday and then literally slept the entire day away on Sunday from 10pm at night until almost 5pm that day! He better get it out of his system now because that's not going be good for school days.

Take a look at last week's pictures:

Day 217- Monday, 8/5/19

John brought home this nice little trophy for his 25 years of service with what is now Beckman Coulter in addition to the meat smoker he received a few weeks ago. Interestingly enough I just so happened to notice and snap a shot of an old piece of equipment in one of my labs that his company made many moons ago.  Cool find especially considering the timing.  Now, how many more years until retirement?

Day 218- Tuesday, 8/6/19

It's dinner out with the work girls in Davis, and we started with these refreshing Aperol Spritz drinks that were perfectly cool on this warm summer evening.

Day 219- Wednesday, 8/7/19

The clouds were very interesting today while out on our walk through the park, and then while making dinner I happening to spy a red tomato on one of our plants out back.  Finally!! This year they have taken forever to ripen and hopefully this is a trend.  

Day 220- Thursday, 8/8/19

What an eventful day.  Justin's new glasses came in so we picked those up, and later in the mail was his new updated driver's license.  Brandon also picked up his school schedule and had his picture taken for the new year's ID.  He's less than thrilled with school starting next week but happy to find out he doesn't have English until second semester so he can continue to put off that summer assignment.  LOL!  That kid kills me.  He's super smart but not super motivated.

Day 221- Friday, 8/9/19

TGIF!  Celebrating the start of the weekend with the Wongs and dinner out.  We ate way too much but had a good time as usual.

Day 222- Saturday, 8/10/19

John went for a morning ride and decide to try a little Dim Sum at a new place he heard about.

Day 223- Sunday, 8/11/19

Here's Brandon sleeping the day away while John's in the city, Justin is at work, and I'm making ice-cream.  We had no idea he had never actually gotten up until almost dinner time when he came out in his pjs asking why no one woke him.  I heard 2 alarms go off this morning and we all thought he had been up, ate breakfast and then was hanging out in his room maybe just napping after lunch.  LOL!  That was 16 hrs he clocked!  His body must have really needed it. We'll see if he's a few inches taller next week.  Hopefully it's that and not him fighting off sickness,

That's it!  See you next Tuesday as we adjust to being just three.

Week 31

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  Last week was another hot one so the a/c is getting some serious use.  It was also a week full of appointments prepping for back-to-school so kind of a boring week but it's ok to have those every now and then.

Take a look at these pictures to see how it all went down:

Day 210- Monday, 7/29/19

This was a nice way the start the week.  While walking between buildings at work this butterfly kept circling me and then finally landed long enough for me to snap a quick shot.  I've seen way more butterflies this year than any other which has been a wonderful treat.

Day 211- Tuesday, 7/30/19
After reading a good number of slides this morning I had to take Justin to the DMV so he could get his license updated to a Real ID.  It's all about that golden bear now.  If that's not on your Cailf drivers license you can't use it as valid ID to fly and what a huge pain it is to get it updated but now we are all done.  Yay!  Then off to the bank to get him his first credit card for emergencies while away at school.  Check, check and check!

Day 212- Wednesday, 7/31/19

Today we put errands aside and focused on celebrating Brandon's 15th birthday.  He wanted an ice- cream Oreo cake from Cold Stone and loved every bit of it.  Happy Birthday Brandon!

Day 213- Thursday, 8/1/19

Time for my August monthly marker and no one else was around so I posed with it in the very warm backyard just before the start of a hot August night.  How can it be August already?  Summer is slipping away faster than I would like.

Day 214- Friday, 8/2/19

Back to the appointments and errands.  This afternoon Justin got his annual physical at his new adult doctor--no more pediatrician for him.  Then we upgraded his phone and got out of there just in time for his eye appointment.  His prescription changed a bit for the better so they ordered new glasses and he picked and aviator style frame to change things up for this new phase of his life.  It's weird to see him with such a large lens but his face lights up and he cracks a real sweet smile when he puts them on so they are the ones.

Day 215- Saturday, 8/3/19

I spent the morning tracking down a few last minute things for the dorm move-in and tried to organize and consolidate things.  Our loft has turned into a dorm storage space but at least we're pretty much set.  His new bedding and towels were also washed today and are now ready to go.  This afternoon was baking hot out so the best place to be was in the pool and John took full advantage of that before making us burgers and dogs for dinner.

Day 216- Sunday, 8/4/19

When you've had a bad day and a face plant seems like the best solution.  LOL!  Rusty got caught up in one of Justin's bag strings and frantically tried to escape as it terrifying followed behind.  Poor thing was traumatized. Meanwhile in LA Tyler sent me this picture of how he's enjoying his last bit of free time before starting summer session C with a bio-chem class tomorrow.  It's nice to see him reading for pleasure again and not just because he has to for school.

That's it!  Summer is drawing to and end and the start of school is looming.  Are we ready?  Almost!