Summer is Almost Over

And I just can't believe it. Every year I start the Summer saying we're going to do this, we're going to go there and somehow it never pans out. Of course, the kids were totally content playing on the Slip n' Slide and in the pool but I really wanted to take them places this Summer. BUT I do have plans over the next few months. This weekend is Muir Heritage weekend so we are taking the kids to the John Muir House in Martinez. And if all goes well Jim and Vinnie will be going to Six Flags this weekend. No roller coasters for me so I'll stay home with the kiddies and do fun stuff in the backyard. Also planning an outing to the zoo sometime in September. The kids haven't been in a couple of years but now with them being older I think they'll appreciate it more. So we have a few things lined up. I think I'm more bugged about not doing much than the kids are. That's those old insecurities about being a good mom creeping up on me. But look at those faces up there. Aren't they the sweetest? And do you think they care that we didn't go to the zoo? They are honestly the best kids. I know, I'm prejudiced but they are so patient when I walk out that door every Saturday night to go crop. And they try so hard to sit still while mom takes the 1,089,492 picture of them.
ANYWAY, enough about my kids!! I actually did a really cool project this week. I made a planner for my sister and it came out great.
















I'll be shipping it to her this week. I hope she likes it. Pregnancy is progressing pretty well. No morning sickness so far! We go for the sonogram next week to see if it's twins. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is but as long as they're healthy that'll be a blessing.
OK Kids have registration for school today. Can I just say how convenient it is that they scheduled Vinnie and Jamie's at the SAME freakin' time?? So I have to go to Vinnie's school, get him set up and then fly to Jamie's school to get him set up before they close. Oh joy! But thankfully their school schedules worked out perfect so it won't be too crazy. I can't believe Vinnie is going to be in 8th grade already. Next year, high school! Where does the time go??

Sluggish

I have been dragging my butt allllll week. But today I am determined to accomplish some stuff that I have to get done. SO this is my first task. Been bad about updating this thing but life has been a whirlwind of activity starting with my trip to LA.
The trip was FANTASTIC and made even better by the fact that I had my wonderful Nancie with me. She was an awesome field trip companion and we had so much fun driving, being the total tourists and just relaxing when we had the time. We stayed at the Bel Age in West Hollywood and get this, the hotel was PINK! How perfect is that? The room was beautiful and the roof had a swimming pool & jacuzzi with palm trees all around it and the most beautiful view of Los Angeles. We were lucky enough to have lunch up there on a chaise lounge in the sun and we felt like royalty.


Anytime I've gone to LA it was strictly to go to Disneyland and nothing else. This time, I actually went sight seeing. Well, if looking for scrapbook stores qualifies as sight seeing. Of course, along the way we got to see some sights of interest. We drove through Beverly Hills and guess what? They have homeless people sleeping on the park benches too. Guess even the rich aren't immune to poverty. So the first store we went to was Scrap Session. Interesting little store. And when I say little, I mean little. This was the tiniest scrapbook store I've ever been too but this girl maximized her space. That store was PACKED with stuff. 2 little rooms with tons of stuff, wall to wall embellishments, paper, stickers. She also had the Cricut which Nancie and I have decided we HAVE to have. Waiting for that 50% Michael's coupon for that though.
The next store was AMAZING. The best most awesome beautiful scrapbook store I've ever been to. It was called Sweetpeas and Snapshots-A Paperie.
Now this was no ordinary scrapbook store. They not only had scrapbook supplies but also vintage baby clothes, furniture and toys. It was truly amazing. They had a lot of unique stuff that we had never seen before including some of the new Chatterbox which was lovely. We actually had to tear ourselves away from the store and decided we need to make a trip specifially to spend more time there.
OK So my real reason for going to LA was for the transfer. Which was incredible. It never ceases to amaze me the advances in medicine we have made over the years. I was both anxious and excited at the prospect of what I was doing. These people were entrusting me to carry their children. What an amazing thing. OK I know I keep saying beautiful, amazing, incredible but I just can't get over everything that we did that weekend. F & J were amazing hosts. They were there for the transfer and we even got to see the embryos before they did the transfer. If all goes well, I'll be having twins in May of next year.
F & J were super sweet and I am really glad I had the opportunity to spend more time with them. They took us to dinner at a beautiful Italian restaurant in a shopping area called The Grove. We sat on the balcony and the weather was perfect. Down below they had a man made pond with a water show that shot water up in the air to the beat of the music. There was a live band that played in the center of the Grove and the food was divine.

Then they took us to Man's Chinese Theatre and we got to check out the handprints and signatures in the cement. Got to see some of the stars on the walk of fame, the El Capitan Theatre and then they took us for ice cream and this Disney store that had an ice cream parlor inside. So as we're walking inside I peek in and who's sitting there having ice cream? None other than Leonard Maltin. I know, who the heck is Leonard Maltin. So to refresh your memory:

That's the man. Does the movie reviews on Entertainment Tonight. It figures the one celebrity we see is someone who no one knows unless they see his picture. Couldn't have run into Patrick Dempsey or maybe even Matthew McConnaughey could we? But nonetheless, we saw a celebrity.
After our wonderful little sight seeing trip with the guys we went back to the hotel to 'sleep' but we were restless. So we went back to the roof and stuck our feet in the hot tub under the cool starless LA sky.

Got up bright & early the next morning and Nancie finally got to have that fancy French toast she was eyeing on the room service menu. Let me just say, everyone and everything there was beautiful. Even the stinkin' food. Not like here where they pretty much smack it on a plate and you eat it figuring it's gonna get mixed up in your stomach anyway. It was P R E T T Y food.

See what I mean? Even the lunch we had a California Adventure was pretty. All arranged nicely. SOOOO enough about the food (but you know that's what we love) after a lovely leisurely breakfast the guys picked us up and took us to California Adventure. It was an hour's drive so we got to chat a lot more and really learned a lot about them. They have traveled and experienced so much and it made me realize how much I HAVEN'T done. Yes, I'm a mom, that's my job and I love it. But that doesn't mean I can't travel with them. So that's my new goal. After this pregnancy I am going to make it my goal to take these kids more places, experience more things. Believe it or not, these kids have never been to the beach. That's me being paranoid. I have this fear of open water and the thought of losing one of my kids out there terrifies me. But why should they miss out on the sight of the beautiful open sea because their mom is a big chicken?

Anyway, California Adventure was great. Since F works for Disney they go there pretty frequently so they knew all the neat little facts and small details that we never would have noticed had they not been with us. I'm your typical amusement park hound: hit as many rides as you can before the park closes. But this time we walked around and took in everything. We went to some shows and we had so much fun listening to the stories of how certain things came to be and the work that went into different attractions. It was a wonderful day.

Alas, we had to leave but it was a wonderful weekend . So my 10 favorite things about this trip:

1. The opportunity to give someone something they want and the amazement that I can do that

2. Listening to Nancie sing Don McClean's 'American Pie' as we drove over the Grapevine

3. Spending time getting to know F & J. What great and interesting guys!

4. Having lunch by the pool with Nance and both of us marveling at how special we felt

5. Sweetpeas & Snapshots and getting to go with my best bud

6. Seeing the amazing sights of Los Angeles. Who knew there were places besides Disneyland to see????

7. The hotel. Amazing, beautiful and more than a small town girl like me expected.

8. California Adventure. Also, Disney's California Grand Hotel. If you haven't been inside, go. It's is beautiful.

9. Just relaxing and dipping our tootsies in the hot tub.

10. The Grove. I want to go again and walk around, take more pictures and shop, shop, shop!!

Oh, and one last thing (that makes it 11)

We got to meet Woody!!!! Whew! This was a long one but I think we're caught up!