August 19, 2013

Oh man, we were really going stir crazy today.  We didn't have a lot on the schedule and the boys were bouncing off the walls.  Summer vacation is starting to feel really long.  We rode bikes to the Woodbridge Community Park because it has a huge open field, and then I launched off these crazy balloons for the boys to chase.  We usually do these at home and they make a whistling noise and just circle around the living room.  And then Cracker barks and chases them and tries to bite them.  It was fun to set them off at the park because they can really go up pretty high.  Isaac loved it and could have done this for hours, but Luke got tired of it after the first couple of balloons.  Anyway, it was a fun way to burn off some energy and then we took the long way home on our bikes and got Super Mex take out for dinner.  Five days down, three more to go.  

August 18, 2013

Sandy & Chris took pity on me and my loneliness and invited us over for dinner tonight.  I honestly don't mind it that much when Charlie travels for work, except for on the weekends.  The days feel really long since we don't have our regular scheduled activities and there are no friends to hang out with since they are doing things with their own families.  And Sundays, since we can't go too many places, feel especially long.  Anyway, it was nice to visit and have dinner and let the kids play.  (They don't normally eat off of a card table, but are waiting on a new table right now.)

Katie was showing off some of her gymnastics skills and Luke thought she was super cool.  He mastered doing somersaults on his own and had me help him do some cartwheels too.  He also found these plastic yellow glasses that he wanted to wear the rest of the night.  Ryan introduced Isaac to Lego Star Wars on the X-Box, and you better believe that was a huge hit.  We are thankful for cousins!

August 17, 2013

What could be more fun than spending a Saturday morning at the urgent care?  After the gym I packed up some bags of snacks, toys, and a few little surprises for the boys so that we would prepared for any amount of waiting that we'd have to do.  Luke has had a swollen red spot on his bottom eyelid for a few weeks.  I didn't think much of it at first (a scratch maybe?) but it has not gone away and then on Thursday he started rubbing at it more and telling me that his eye hurt.  I googled it and figured it was probably a stye, which I guess typically go away on their own in a week or so.  Well this thing has not budged and after trying warm compresses for the past two days (with not much luck getting him to hold still) I figured we should have it looked it.  And we couldn't get an appointment with our regular doctor during the week.  

So we waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  I was complimented several times by nurses and doctors on how well prepared we were.  Ha!  I know my boys too well.  This was the only way we could have survived.  The doctor finally came and flipped down Luke's eyelid to reveal this yucky white lump.  She prescribed some antibiotic ointment and directed me to keep putting hot compresses on his eye for 10 minutes five times a day.  Our previous compresses have not lasted much longer than 10 seconds, so this will require some creative thinking on my part.  I also had to have my ear looked at since it was still bothering me after my previous visit a couple of weeks ago.  Anyway, after about two hours we were finally out of there!

We stopped at Sonic on the way home to grab some lunch.  

And then later in the afternoon we headed to the pool.  Is it gross to bring bath toys to the pool?  Well we did.  Luke is still in love with his ducks and their "floaties" so we brought them along today.  The boys always have more fun at the pool when Charlie is there, but since he is in NYC the ducks will have to do for now.  

August 16, 2013

Sandy & her kids were supposed to come over this afternoon to go to the pool and the bike park.  Sandy got caught up doing other things so they showed up about six hours later than planned, but Chris came too (Charlie is out of town).  We skipped the pool and just had dinner and then headed over to the bike park for awhile.  As they were getting ready to leave we were talking about Isaac being almost as tall as Ryan and asked them to stand next to each other.  The other kids hurried and lined up too.  They looked like little stair steps.

Here is Luke at the bike park riding Hailey's Tinkerbell scooter.  He was SO determined to ride it and got it moving pretty good but had a hard time keeping it on the path.  I should probably get him one of his own - one that doesn't have fairies on it.

August 15, 2013

A few months ago there was a table set up at our gym with sign-ups for an organic produce delivery service.  It's something we've considered doing in the past so I went ahead and signed up.  It is pretty fun to find a box of freshly picked produce sitting on my doorstep in the morning.  But that being said I'll probably cancel after this month because $31 just seems like a lot for what we get - especially since all of the same stuff is at Sprouts for better prices.  I have a feeling they source their organic produce from all of the same farms because it seems that whatever is in our box is also on sale at Sprouts the same week.

August 14, 2013

Today we got together with some friends that we haven't seen in sooo long.  Jodie & I met at ICEC when Lincoln and Isaac were in a program together.  Lincoln was also in Isaac's karate class for awhile, but they stopped going a few months before we did and I don't think we had seen them since then.  We met up at a park this morning and let the kids run and play while Jodie and I chatted and caught up on life.  

Then later this afternoon we met up with more friends at the lagoon.  Isaac went to Hudson's birthday party last week but before that it had been months since we'd gotten together with these guys.  When Isaac was ready to dry off I wrapped him up and directed him towards a chair but he didn't make it that far.  He opted instead to lay in the warm sand and stayed all rolled up in a ball for quite awhile.  In fact he sat so still that a bird came and landed on his back.  He thought that was hilarious so he called Hudson over to join him.  They decided that they were turtles and tried to hold really still waiting for more birds to come.

Meanwhile, Luke was having fun scooping up buckets of sandy water and watching it pour onto his lap.  Then he would exclaim "dirwy!" and scoop up some more water to wash himself off with.

August 13, 2013

Today Luke started a program at ICEC.  This is the same center that Isaac attended when he was little.  Luke had been doing so well in his home based program and we felt it was time for him to move on.  It's been just about three years since Isaac graduated from ICEC (on his 3rd birthday), but going back there today felt almost like we had never left.  It was nice to walk in and be greeted with smiles and hugs from so many familiar faces.  Everyone was thrilled to see Isaac and were astonished at how well he is talking (since he still only had one word when he left there).  Because this program involves the parents there is also a sibling program for older kids there.  Isaac will only go with us until school starts next month, but he loved it today.  And Luke had a great time too.  Actually Luke did so well that it made me wonder if we really need to be there... but I do think it will be beneficial for him in a lot of ways so we will stick with it for now.  We told him it was "school" and he was so excited to go and to carry a lunch bag with his snack just like Isaac.  I love this picture of both of them.  I know I am biased but they are both so handsome and adorable!

Later at Trader Joe's when they each took a turn ramming a cart into the back of my ankles I didn't think they were so adorable anymore.  Except really they are.

August 12, 2013

When Charlie and I were first dating he invited me over to his place one night and he made us dinner and we watched a movie.  I think it was Entrapment with Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery.  He made California rolls and I remember being so impressed that he could make sushi!  So California rolls have been a regular on the dinner rotation since we've been married and now I'm the one making them.  Except recently we started thinking about that imitation crab meat that we put in there and decided that it's really gross.  I mean, what is really in that stuff anyway?  So tonight I made the rolls with fresh crab meat.  It was a little tough to pry all the meat out of those shells, but the taste and texture was so much better.  I am sold!  No more pulverized, processed, food colored fish sticks for us.  We ate our rolls with chicken pot stickers and edamame.  Isaac won't touch the sushi but he loves the "slimy tacos" and the edamame.  Luke will eat a little of everything.  

August 11, 2013

We have been trying for months to convince Isaac to take the training wheels off of his bike.  He always insisted that he needed to keep them on and was not ready yet.  Last week when Charlie bought his new bike he told Isaac that he needed to learn to ride without the training wheels so that we can buy him a new bike too.  He really is getting too big for this one.  So last week Charlie took off one training wheel.  Today we rode over to the elementary school and took off the other.  Isaac did great!  He needs help to get going and is a little unsteady with turns, but he was doing really well riding.  I am so proud of him!  He is not the most motivated child and getting him to try new (hard) things is always a challenge.  Way to go Isaac!

Also, Charlie bought a bike seat for Luke yesterday and installed it on his new bike last night.  He's a little disappointed that his cool new beach cruiser is now a "nerdy dad bike" as he calls it.  But since that was the whole point of him buying the bike - to take the boys on bike rides - I think it works out well.  And Luke absolutely loves it!

August 10, 2013

As soon as we were all up this morning we hurried and got going to Laguna Beach.  During the summer it gets so crowded there that if you are not at the beach early you will never find a parking spot and will also get stuck in tons of traffic going through Laguna Canyon.  We arrived at Crescent Bay just after 8:00 and were immediately greeted by volunteers from the local Marine Animal rescue center letting us know that they were planning to release two baby sea lions back into the ocean that morning. It was fun to watch the little guys waddle down to the water and swim away.  One disappeared quickly but the other stayed and played in the surf for awhile.  Charlie is convince they will die or be eaten by sharks but I am a little more optimistic for these little fellows.

It was cool and cloudy for the first few hours but we had fun walking up and down the beach and exploring in the rock caves.  Luke was all to eager to run into the water and Charlie & I had to be careful not to let him get too wet so that he wouldn't be freezing cold while waiting for the sun to come out.

Isaac and I built a little city of sand pyramids.

And we can't ever come to this beach without visiting the tide pools.  Charlie helped Isaac harvest muscles from the wet rocks down by the water.  Then they smashed open their shells with a rock and lured the crabs out of their hiding spots with the muscle meat.

Last time we were here Luke got really upset about his water shoes getting wet after a wave splashed him.  This time I made sure to explain to him that the water shoes were supposed to get wet!  And after that he was simply delighted to walk through the shallow water with his water shoes.  "Water shoes!!" he exclaimed over and over as he splashed through every puddle he could find.

By mid morning the sun had finally come out and we all got warmed up.  Charlie of course dove into the ocean, but the water was still way too cold for my liking.  We packed up and headed home right around lunch time.  It was a perfect easy and relaxing beach trip.

Tonight was my cousin Dallin's wedding reception.  He married this cute girl named Angela whom I had never met until tonight.  My aunt Janet & uncle Wayne and their family live in Huntington Beach but we usually only end up seeing them a couple of times a year.  We need to be better about that!  Anyway, it was fun to get together tonight and celebrate the happy couple.

My aunt Kay and my cousins Lyndie & Jandie were in town from Utah for the wedding, so we snapped this picture with all of the girl cousins together.  We were missing my sister Lisa and my cousins Becky & Betsy, but this is still a pretty good group of us.  We should have gotten Angela in the picture but I think she was dancing with her dad at the time.