Thursday, July 21, 2016
It's Officially Finished!
Finally!! After months of tractors, jack-hammers, Spanish radio and other general construction waking us up at 5:00 am each day, we are finally finished with the pool! We filled it up July 8th and even jumped in for a quick swim before it was totally full. The boys have gone swimming everyday since then. It's the first thing they ask to do when they wake up. There are still a few lagging little details we need to work through but it's up and running. I love going out with the boys and spending that time together as a family. I could do with a few minutes of relaxation and not have to watch every little cool jump they made from the side but I know it won't be like this forever so we make do and indulge them for now. It was pricey, took a while and now we don't let the boys out back without a parent but it is worth it. We love it! I could sit in it for hours. When it's a 110 degrees outside, the only place it makes sense to be is in the house with the AC or in the pool, so now we have the second option.
Inspiration
I love little inspirational quotes. Sometimes they have such a perfect way of summing up how I feel or addressing my feelings. There has been so much going on the last few months. I have turned to these few quotes for peace, guidance and validation. I want to capture for future reference.
Monday, July 18, 2016
California Trip - Day 4
Happy 4th! Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. While sometimes it feels like our country is falling apart the reality is that it’s still the best country on Earth. We are incredibly blessed to live here, to have the freedoms that we have and to have military and service men and women who sacrifice to protect the blessing of freedom that we enjoy. While I always enjoy traveling to foreign countries, learning about their culture and seeing the sites, it always gives me a greater appreciation for the United States. I wish more people had been instilled with a love of country and respect for our land. There are too many that take for granted, that which we have. I have, and always will, try to instill in my sons, a love and respect for this great nation.
We started the celebration off by swimming with cousins at the hotel pool. They had a great time executing cannon balls, getting launched by Uncle Tevye and giving themselves beards with the foam in the hot tub. It was more successful cousin bonding at its best.
One thing I like to do when we are in California is eat meals at places that are unique to CA. We try to find our favorite places that we used to frequent that we don’t have in Arizona. We had lunch one day at Togo and for lunch on Monday we ate at Pick-Up Stix. It was just as delicious as it’s always been. It was the perfect lunch spot.
The evening of the 4th we went to a gathering at Marc and Karen’s house in La Habra. They were having some friends and family over. We got to visit with all of them, many of which Ricky has known for 25 plus years and I’ve known as long as long as Ricky and I have been together. It was a wonderful night of fun, food, friends and fireworks.
After a long night of much needed sleep, we got up the next morning and headed home. It was a fun and memorable trip for the books. I hope that our travels give the boys opportunities for connecting with family and friends, broaden their perspective on the world around them and create wonderful lasting family memories.
We started the celebration off by swimming with cousins at the hotel pool. They had a great time executing cannon balls, getting launched by Uncle Tevye and giving themselves beards with the foam in the hot tub. It was more successful cousin bonding at its best.
One thing I like to do when we are in California is eat meals at places that are unique to CA. We try to find our favorite places that we used to frequent that we don’t have in Arizona. We had lunch one day at Togo and for lunch on Monday we ate at Pick-Up Stix. It was just as delicious as it’s always been. It was the perfect lunch spot.
The evening of the 4th we went to a gathering at Marc and Karen’s house in La Habra. They were having some friends and family over. We got to visit with all of them, many of which Ricky has known for 25 plus years and I’ve known as long as long as Ricky and I have been together. It was a wonderful night of fun, food, friends and fireworks.
After a long night of much needed sleep, we got up the next morning and headed home. It was a fun and memorable trip for the books. I hope that our travels give the boys opportunities for connecting with family and friends, broaden their perspective on the world around them and create wonderful lasting family memories.
The boys with Grammy.
Lincoln, Vance and Caden
Lincoln, Caden, Vance, Logan and Danica
Cousin group hug.
Two of Vincent's friends, Vincent, Logan and Lincoln
Uncle Mark on the BBQ
Karen ringing the bell for dinner.
The fly over to start the fireworks show.
The boys doing a little cheers.
Logan carefully doing sparklers
La Harba fireworks show.
Lincoln was way excited about the fireworks this year.
Mark Mower, Rick, Marc Rizzo and Mike Rizzo
All the boys
Me, Ricky and Karen
California Trip – Day 3
Sunday morning we realized that despite the overcast weather the day before at the beach, we were all sunburned. We decided to find indoor activities and take it easy. After applying some aloe lotion, we headed to Brea for some school shopping. We hit up Old Navy and the Brea mall. It felt a little funny, but all too familiar, going back to this mall to shop since both Ricky and I had shopped there for so many years while living in So. Cal. After the shopping was complete, we went to the Brea Edwards Theater where Ricky had worked for ten years previously. We watched the BFG. To my pleasant surprise, the theater had been remodeled and they removed the old theater seats and replaced them with leather (like) fully automatic reclining seats. It was the best way to watch a movie….that is for the portions that I watched and didn’t sleep through. Smile.
Sunday was actually the triplet’s birthday and since we were in town with Calee, we gathered at Grammy’s house for the traditional Sunday tacos and birthday cake. The boys loved that their cousins live right next door so they spent almost all of their time and Tevye’s house playing with Caden, Vance and Danica. It was nice to visit with my siblings since I don’t get to see them often, and especially without the kids interrupting every few minutes. This was my boys first time every participating in family taco dinner. Rick and I had taken Lincoln when he was a baby and we still lived in CA but he never was old enough to be eating tacos. This time they both were and everyone enjoyed it.
It was nice that Dad could participate in the evening. He tried to be present for most of the time. Given that his health is so poor, it is likely that he won’t be around for many more gatherings. We’ve planned for him to come to Thanksgiving at our place and hope that he is healthy enough at that time to make the trip. Overall it was a wonderful visit with no drama and great cousin bonding.
Sunday was actually the triplet’s birthday and since we were in town with Calee, we gathered at Grammy’s house for the traditional Sunday tacos and birthday cake. The boys loved that their cousins live right next door so they spent almost all of their time and Tevye’s house playing with Caden, Vance and Danica. It was nice to visit with my siblings since I don’t get to see them often, and especially without the kids interrupting every few minutes. This was my boys first time every participating in family taco dinner. Rick and I had taken Lincoln when he was a baby and we still lived in CA but he never was old enough to be eating tacos. This time they both were and everyone enjoyed it.
It was nice that Dad could participate in the evening. He tried to be present for most of the time. Given that his health is so poor, it is likely that he won’t be around for many more gatherings. We’ve planned for him to come to Thanksgiving at our place and hope that he is healthy enough at that time to make the trip. Overall it was a wonderful visit with no drama and great cousin bonding.
At Brea Edwards
The boys eating at Pick-Up Stix for the first time.
Danica, Vance, Dana, Caden, Logan, Lincoln, Ricky
Calee and Grammy
Grandpa David
At the hotel
Logan pretending to be a girl. He thinks he's got it all figured out.
California Trip – Day 2
Saturday was beach day. It also happened to be the only day on our trip that was cloudy, overcast and cold. That is my luck. We were all (except Ricky who doesn’t like the beach) looking forward to beach time since our last beach day was spoiled by jellyfish during our Florida. I promised the boys we could swim in the ocean but when we got there, the sun wasn’t even out. Instead we visited with Grammy, Auntie Calee, Uncle Tony and some friends of theirs that came to hang out also. We had bought special beach sand toys especially for this trip so the boys made sand castles, walked the beach collecting shells, played Frisbee and ultimately go to play in the water. I was surprised they lasted about five hours which was much longer than I anticipated.
That evening we had tickets to attend the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament. The boys had never been and I thought it was something fun and different that they would enjoy. We invited Grammy to join along with us. We were assigned to the yellow knight and although he didn’t win, we had great seats and enjoyed the show. The boys were thoroughly entertained and quite into all of the tournament games. They loved cheering for the knights, booing the enemy and awing with the crowd when one “died.” Both boys quite enjoyed the dinner and were thrown for a loop when I told them they actually got to eat with their hands – there were no utensils. It isn’t something I would pick to do for myself but it was so fun to watch the boys be intrigued and excited by what they were seeing. They are the perfect age to enjoy that type of experience and for me that is what makes it worth it.
That evening we had tickets to attend the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament. The boys had never been and I thought it was something fun and different that they would enjoy. We invited Grammy to join along with us. We were assigned to the yellow knight and although he didn’t win, we had great seats and enjoyed the show. The boys were thoroughly entertained and quite into all of the tournament games. They loved cheering for the knights, booing the enemy and awing with the crowd when one “died.” Both boys quite enjoyed the dinner and were thrown for a loop when I told them they actually got to eat with their hands – there were no utensils. It isn’t something I would pick to do for myself but it was so fun to watch the boys be intrigued and excited by what they were seeing. They are the perfect age to enjoy that type of experience and for me that is what makes it worth it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)