San Diego Trip

We arrived at the Wyndham hotel on Wednesday at about 4, chucked our bags in the room and went directly to sea world. The kids enjoyed a few rides, we watched the dolphin show and then they ran around in the fun zone until it was time to watch the Shamu Rocks night show (which by the way, does rock!) After the shamu show we drove back to the hotel to grab dinner and go to sleep. (by now it was about 10:30). The hotel has a restaurant connected to it so we decided to order to go and eat in our room. We got our food and drove over to our building. We drove around our building two or three times and I finally found a parking spot that wasn't miniature sized!! As I pulled into the parking spot my headlights hit a man sleeping on top of about 4 garbage bags... GREAT! Just what I wanted! So, I pulled back out of the parking spot and drove over to the lobby. I explained that #1, I cannot find a place to park because the spots are made for mini's and #2 the one parking spot I found had a homeless person sleeping in it. They agreed to move us to a different room (more in the middle of the hotel) and said we could park in a handicap space. So, new keys in hand we drove to the new spot. I found a parking spot street side which I wasn't thrilled about but I parked there anyway. By now it's about 12:15 and the kids are exhausted so all I want to do is get into our room, eat our food and go to sleep! We get into the room, I sit the kids down to eat (the food was terrible by the way and I couldn't even choke down my salad and soup!) I tell the kids I'm going to walk down the hall to get some ice. I walk down the hall to the ice machine, which is broken (yes, that only flared up my anger!), I walk to the truck to get Harmony's shamu out and sliding under my truck to sleep is ANOTHER HOMELESS PERSON!!! I go back up to the room, call the lobby and tell them. They send security over to get rid of the person and the security guard tells me "don't worry, he's just trying to get some sleep so he can get a job at home depot in the morning".. oh, well then, by all means.. don't let ME BOTHER YOU! I then hop on the phone to bookit.com to have my reservation changed to another hotel but I wait on the phone for 40 minutes or so and hang up. at 1:10 we leave the Wyndham and head to the Dana on Mission. SO MUCH BETTER!! In the morning I call bookit.com and get into a heated argument with the lady because according to her only the hotel can refund me, but according to the hotel only bookit can refund me.. long story short, a lot of yelling and a fired up me = a refund!

On Thursday morning we head to legoland. Although the kids and I are TOAST because we went to bed so late, we did have a good time. We left at about 4 (HUGE MISTAKE!!) hit traffic but finally got back to the hotel and went directly to the pool to relax! That night the kids were hysterical. I laughed so hard!! By 9:30 we were all crashed out.

On Friday we woke up completely refreshed and ready to hit legoland again. We mapped out the things the kids wanted to do and we were prepared this time!! We had a great day. We stopped mid day to have the kids play legos and sit in the air conditioned room :) We headed back to the hotel at about 5, stopped at TGI Fridays for dinner and then of course, back to the hotel for a night swim! When we got into our room I sat for a couple of hours listening to Noah and Harmony play. I love how even at almost 11 years old, Noah still plays with his 7 year old sister. I think that they know that they can be completely themselves around each other. They don't have to try to be tough or cool. Noah knows that Harmony thinks he's awesome and it's enough for him to just be him. They had a whole lego vs. Shamu game going on!! It was very sweet.

On Saturday morning we got up and hopped in the pool at 8am. The plan was to swim and then head home but we decided to hit sea world for our last hoorah. In the morning we visited some touch tanks. When we were watching the penguins Noah asked how many eggs can a penguin lay at a time? I said "umm.. I don't know, how many do you think?" he said "umm.. maybe the same as chickens?" I said "which is??" and he said "I'm gonna guess 12 since that's how many are in a pack" I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. Yes Noah, they sell eggs by the dozen because that's the way chicken's lay them :) Anyway, we watched the sea lion show and did a few other things and then headed out for our trip home.

ALL THE WAY HOME the kids played the farting orca orchestra, completely annoying but I tried to ignore them since they thought it was hilarious and they weren't fighting!! It then went to the farting legos, the pooping sharks.. .. you get the idea. Yep, 7 hours of fart noises and pooping sounds. awesome...

I'm so glad that I got to take this trip with them. Sometimes I forget how much of me they have to share, and what toll it takes on them. They are great kids and I'm so lucky to have them. I enjoyed all the little things they did. All of the thank you's and how appreciative they were of every moment. So, cheers to the trip of the summer!!

Jerry Dunne

When I was in High School and going through confirmation through the church I met a man named Jerry Dunne. He was one of those older gentlemen who you couldn't help but enjoy. He was always happy, cheerful, and full of life. Even when it was obvious that his body was failiing him. He was aging but he was spirited. We shared the same birthday. Through the confirmation process I shared a lot of things about my life with him. Things I hadn't shared in detail with anyone else, things that I wasn't comfortable telling anyone else. I shared with him because I felt safe with him. I got used to seeing him at church on Sundays. I got used to knowing that when he looked at me, he knew me. I got used to the fact that I KNEW I could tell him ANYTHING and he would listen. He told me a lot of things that I can never forget, "you'll be a great impact in peoples lives one day", "strength comes in numbers, lean on people, trust people", "orange is your color, it's vibrant and full of life, and that is you".. at random times in my life these things stand out so clearly in my mind. Today I am thinking of him. He is that prickle on the back of my neck just now, he is that lump in my throat. He is the tear.. Though reasons quite unknown, HE is the one I remember. Love you Jerry, thanks for listening..

Thanksgiving and giving thanks

I'd like to start my entry by saying that you'll have to excuse me as I'm working off of 3 hours of sleep after a crazy Black Friday (Thursday really) event so my grammer, spelling or structure may be very poorly executed!

So, yesterday was Thanksgiving. I got up and put the turkey in at about 9 and Harmony helped me prep just about everything for the day. It was such a heartwarming thing to watch her help me peel potatoes. She even asked "did your dad show you how to do this when you had thanksgiving with him" I said "why do you think my dad would have shown me" and she replied "because peeling potatoes is a hard job, I think dad's can probably teach kids better". I"m still not sure if this was a blow to my potato peeling ability or if she was just making an innocent observation, but I thought it was sweet either way! Noah and Kevin did the stereotypical "men watch football" day. Kev likes to stick to making hotdogs, corndogs, macaronni and other such things that can safely be heated either in the oven, microwave or a bowl of water!

As the day progressed we had visitors straggling in and out. Kevin's friend from Junior high who he hasn't seen in 10+ years stopped by with his wife and four kids. They stayed for a short time and then went to have dinner with their family. Then The Reed crew and Megan and Addy and Georgia came over to eat with us. Little Miss P was cracking me up while she was hoisting one of our guinea pigs over her shoulder. She carried that thing around like a ragdoll "I got you, I got you" she kept saying.

After dinner was over Bill and his wife Sandra came back over for some wine and visiting without the interuption of all the kiddos. I asked Bill how Kev was when he was younger, to which he replied "the same". He said that Kev was always the guy that you could go to and talk to. He was the one you knew was always there. Trusty Kevin.

We were laying in bed and I turned to Kevin and thought about how he is still that, trusty Kevin. Reliable, trustworthy, honest, caring, genuine. Our lives have become so intertwined with each other that sometimes we forget to stop and appreciate what we are to and for each other. It was no accident how or when we met. I love that man beyond anything I could ever explain in words and I know (because I know) that he feels the same for me. This love, this life, this family that we have is not something that everyone gets to experience in their life. We are the lucky ones who have found each other, somehow..

We are thankful to be so blessed.

secrets

11/12/10
Tonight I was driving to the outlet mall with Noah to pick out shirts for him and Kev to wear for our family photos tomorrow. Out of the blue he turned to me and said "mommy, do you have any secrets?" I asked him what he meant and he said "you know, do you have things in your head that nobody knows about". I got a little concerned that he might want to talk to me about something so I told him "yes, I think everyone has secrets Noah. It's not necessarily a bad thing as long as they aren't hurting anyone. Sometimes people just keep things to themselves because they are too personal to share". I asked him if he had any secrets and his response was "not right now, but I wonder if I will when I get older". He said he doesn't think he can have secrets from me because I'm his mom. I (of course) loved that answer. Then he got really quiet and said "I love you". It completely melted me. We talked about how he is getting older and he may feel like it will be hard to talk to me about things. I told him how I hope that we can always be close like we are now, and how I hope that he can always talk to me. He said he thinks he will because I "try to understand things". I think there must be a moment in your parenthood where you TRULY know you are doing a good job. For me, having that conversation did it. My son is ten, which means he has spent over half the time that he likely will living with me... which means I only likely have half of the time left. The weight of that truth is difficult, but I know, beyond a doubt, that we are raising an amazing child.

Lompoc Aquatic Center

In celebration of Noah's 10th birthday we went to the Aquatic Center in Lompoc. I have to say I was completely impressed. We were able to rent the entire place and have it all to ourselves :)

The drive there was thrilling! With five boys and Harmony in the vehicle with Kev and I, you can only imagine the potty talk! I'm pretty sure that any time one of the boys said "butt" or "weiner" the entire car broke out in belly laughts and screams. Not to self, next time bring ear plugs!

I think everyone had an awesome time and we will definitely be going back again!!!


Here's NOah pulling the ropes to make the water come out of the spout Kevin just coming out of the water slide

Noah, Jake and Caden trying to figure out how it all works

All the boys getting ready to go down the slide. Noah, Caden, Jude, Jake and Ryan

Harmony's first time down the blue slide.

November 4th

Today I am thankful for the TV repair man. (soooo lame I know, but I paid a lot of money for this TV and it hasn't been working right since we got it!!)

Thankful for..

Someone on Facebook posted that they are going to post something they are thankful for every day in November. I thought this would be good for me! I'm missing the first two days but better late than never!

Today I am Thankful that my children will eat cereal for dinner.