The Weekend

The weekend went by fast. Faster than most. I think this one felt so quick because we didn't have a huge conundrum to deal with. Speaking of, Ava's leg is healing up nicely and she can play around for the most part. This is a huge relief from the previous week where I felt I was going to lose my mind trying to keep her still.

Dave and I finally sat TOGETHER in the hot tub Friday night and had a little date night. That was long over due and much needed after all the illnesses and hospital stuff we've had to deal with over the last few months. Actually spending time together was like that, 'Hey, I remember you...' moment you have one morning a few months after you give birth. AHHH!

Saturday Dave was in kid mode. He saw, he conquered, he fed, and they played. He took them through their favorite buffet a.k.a. Costco, then to an arts and crafts thing at the toy store. I, lucky me, went shopping ALONE and it felt GREAT. Not once did I have to bend over and pick up something that had been pulled off the clothing rack or dumped off a shelf. It was great knowing I was having a good time and the kids were out too having a good time with their Daddy and not sitting at home waiting for me to return.

Then in the evening we all regrouped and took the girls to church, Olivia's new favorite thing. She's been going when she's with my parents and has loved it. We had always said if they ever want to go we'd take them and she asked a few weeks ago so we've been going. There's been a lot of shuttling to and from the restroom but otherwise things are okay so far. I think Olivia just likes it because it is the one place that she can sing really loud and no one cares.

Sunday we went to an Egg Hunt at one of the nearby schools. The girls filled their baskets and snarfed down a lot of candy. We saw their little twin friends there and they played for a moment. Then we came home and signed up for ballet and swimming for April and May so they can do the Hip Hop class at the end of May and fit everything in. We will not be sitting in this house any longer. I feel like we have all been suffering from house arrest due to the LEG. Not any longer! Then we BBQ'd with some friends and relaxed the rest of the day. The weekend was just plain fun.

FUN.

Like every weekend should be except we have so much crap to do all the time that sometimes it feels like we don't have enough time for fun.

On a side note:

I need to add in the kids height and weigh measurements because I haven't done that lately.

Olivia is 43 1/2 inches tall and 38 1/2 pounds. (14.3 BMI or 20 percentile)

Ava is 39 1/2 inches tall and 40 pounds. (18.1 BMI or 94 percentile) Yes, we will be shedding some of these pounds as soon as she can officially run around again.

The Squeeze

We squeezed in Six Flags Sunday. Well, we were there practically the entire day so I don't really know if it qualifies as being squeezed into our plans but we had fun. We walked the entire park and back again so Ava could get some exercise before she has to lay around for a week.

We began with the whale and tiger shows. Then we rode some basic rides like the trains or the other easy ones for kids Ava's size. Then we rode some other family rides like Thrilla Gorilla. This ride doesn't have a height requirement oddly enough since it goes really fast. Ava loved it at first but about two thirds of the way through she was done. It lasts a little too long in my opinion but Olivia loved it of course. The higher, faster, bumpier, spinnier they are the more she loves the ride. We then rode the waterfall raft ride and a roller coaster and then moved on.

Then we went to pet the elephant, touch the butterflies, view the shark tank which Olivia could not have cared less for...strange since she normally loves fish, sharks, or any other aquatic life. Ava wanted to pet the string rays so we went there for awhile and then headed home. It was a long day of walking. The girls enjoyed themselves and it was a fun family outing.

Yesterday we squeezed in a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. We had a few tokens left from the last time we were there so we brought those along. The girls played a few games, found some extra tickets, crawled around in that tube thing, probably got infected with a bunch of germs, and then spent the tickets to buy Olivia a pair of earrings and Ava a pink lizard. Then back home we went to eat lunch and take a nap.

Today the girls are playing in the tent that is set up in the livingroom while we are waiting for the hospital to call since they called this morning and said they would be calling after 11 A.M. today with Ava's appointment time. Then afterwards we are going out to ride the bikes and play outside for awhile.

Tomorrow we have Ava's shindig and St. Patrick's Day. I will be making corned beef in the crockpot in the morning before we leave so it will cook all day while we are at the hospital so no one has to come home and think about, "what's for dinner?" Tammy is watching Olivia tomorrow and since today is Tammy's birthday I set out a cake mix and frosting so together they can bake her a cake while we are gone. Olivia loves being in the kitchen and helping and this will be nice for her to have time without Ava trying to stand on the chair next to her.

Friday Olivia and Dave are headed to a class field trip to the Jelly Belly Factory. Ava and I will be sitting around watching movies all day, playing our games, and reading our books. Doesn't sound too exciting I'm sure but having a day with one kid all day and the ability to sit on my ass in the process- priceless.

Hopefully we are done squeezing in going anywhere else in for this week. The weekend is already full from Olivia's eye appointment on Saturday, we have to go back to the accountant as well to get our tax results, send my mom a birthday card, and attend to anything extraneous that may pop up. I think I need a vacation day without kids but to be able to be home alone to "just be". That would be nice. I bet Dave wishes for the same thing...

Painting

Between caring for the double ear infections (Ava), shuttling to and from the hospital, taking Liv to and from school and dance, administering the inhaler every few hours, Dave staying late at work the past few days, trying to maintain somewhat of my sanity, and painting the entire bathroom for the last 2 full days while the girls are playing at my feet- I AM SPENT. DONE. Cross me off the list and consider me done for.

I liked the color Ava picked for my bathroom though. We went to store and I gave her the choice of blue or green and she choose green. I pointed her in the direction of the green cards and she randomly picked a card and said, "I like dis one mommy." Okay. It's pretty and tropical and makes me feel like I woke up inside a travel magazine of the Bahamas. So I'd say Ava did good. I'd even take a picture or movie with my fancy new camera but I am so friggin' exhausted that I just don't want to. Sigh. On top of everything, Olivia is bouncing off the walls like she was shot in the ass with hyper juice and she won't leave Ava alone. Every few seconds she makes her cry which made me have to get off the ladder, discipline her, go back up the ladder, begin again and then --- wait-- there it is--- the scream from Ava that Olivia has just struck again.

All I want to know is where is my damn nanny??? I'm starting to loath her.

Today being Saturday I was hoping to finish the ceiling of the outer bathroom and finish my project so that I could do some other stuff on my list but alas, Dave brought work home with him. Oh goodie. It feels like a weekday.

I still have my entire bedroom yet to paint and the slider door frame in the kitchen from when my dad did the remodel. It's not going to be pretty around here trying to work with the girls asking me twenty questions and picking at each other but I will get finished at some point I guess.

Feeling Better

This week Olivia went to school and dance and loved them both like usual. Ava and I got to spend some quality time together on Monday and Wednesday since Livy slept until 10 AM each morning. Ava and I snuggled in bed telling stories. We watched HLN for some worldly news. And on Monday we made pancakes together, until finally sleeping beauty woke up to join the fun.

A few hours later a friend came over to visit us so the girls painted at the table while we hung out and talked. Nap time came and went for Liv who played quietly in her room and Ava slept peacefully in her room for a few hours. It was a nice break in the day to have a normal conversation with someone older than 4.

Wednesday we had planned to go to story time at B&N but sleeping beauty slept in so Ava and I read our magazines in bed and then cut out the pictures and did the projects while we waited. Once Liv was up and had eaten breakfast we walked to the store since it was such a nice sunny day and picked out Ava's birthday cake mix. This has been a great week so far.

Today Dave stayed home from work and took Livy to school, and Ava on errands so that I could go to the doctor. I had been having some strange girly issues but everything is OK and I am feeling a lot better. It always makes me worry when I go to the doctor that I'll go in just fine and come out with bad news. But not today so Dave's off to work and we are playing until nap time.

This weekend we are invited to one more birthday party on Saturday and then Sunday we are off to go sledding, snow tubing, and cruising on the zip lines. OK so I am just a little bit scared. But I will suck it up and be brave for my kids who have no problem flying down the hills on inner tubes. They get that from Dave. Why couldn't just one of these girls be a chicken like me?

Home Depot

Gotta love the kid workshops at HD. We attend every month. Today the girls built a wagon and had a great time wheeling it all over our house.

Look at that brave man. His daughter is ready to swing the hammer and he isn't moving his thumb!

This is before Ava wacked herself in the cheek with the hammer... See we are building!

The finished products.

After all the fun at HD we went across the street and made a craft project at Michael's. The girls were in heaven.

For The Record

I haven't yet done a post about Halloween night. I kinda feel like we did so much Halloween stuff before the actual event that there's nothing left to add but just for the record when the girls read this later they will know we did go out, we did trick or treat, and we did come home with a lot of loot.

Actually Friday night we went to the Y for their free dinner and games. The girls had fun. They got to color, paint a pumpkin, spin the wheel for prizes, and show off their costumes. Saturday one of the neighboring cities was having a safe trick or treat for all the stores so we hit that one and went out to lunch. Then later that night we hooked up with the neighbors and went for the real deal. I was literally done with Halloween by this point. The girls were cranky from not napping, and me and my man were tired. We were both like, "Is it over? Can we go to bed now?" But we sucked it up and headed outside and after a few minutes we were all in the swing of things and had a fantastic outing. I didn't take any pictures of the event being that it was outside and dark but I think the previous pictures will suffice.

Early Halloween

This weekend the city put on a Harvest Festival complete with petting zoo, bouncy slide, and an arts and crafts table. The girls made some pretty cute leaf magnets for our refrigerator, fished out rubber duckies from a pool of water for a treat, and ate some cotton candy. Everything was free so it was fantastic.

Later that night, the city put on a safe trick or treat for the local businesses to advertise and the kids to get clean candy. We actually got there early with one of our neighbors and the streets were already filled. The girls fluttered from booth to booth in their fairy costumes and acquired quite a lot of loot. They even were given free ice cream coupons so when we finished we headed to the ice cream shop with the neighbors and ate our hearts out.

Yesterday, I set out the BBQ to cook some chicken while the kids were napping. I told Dave we would eat later but I wanted to get the cooking over with. Well, once the BBQ was hot and I had just put the chicken on, Olivia comes outside to announce her awakening. So much for cooking while she slept. A few minutes later one of the neighbor boys and his mom ran over to play with Liv. We got out some lawn chairs and within minutes our whole family, their whole family, and the family next to them were sitting in lawn chairs, kids playing on the lawn, and the grill was overflowing with chicken, tri-tip, and ribs. We had corn, asparagus, BBQ beans, hot dogs and drinks for the kids. So what set out to be a 15 minute job for me ended up being a 4 hour party with the neighbors and it was great. The kids had fun running and playing basketball. We had fun because the kids were having fun and since dinner was cooked on the grill there wasn't anything to clean up. Once darkness fell we went inside and bathed the girls, put on their jammies, and we all watched a movie together. It was a fun family weekend and it cost us nothing. Why can't everything be free?

The Weekend's Over... Bummer

We were off to a pretty good start too. Saturday morning we ran all of our errands and still had a few minutes to play at the park. Once we decided to leave Ava mentioned she wanted to jog a lap on the track so she and I went for a run. That's where we found Asilly, the praying mantis. Of course we had to bring her home to live in our garden.
And we all had to touch her since she is such a huge bug. Ava braved having it run up her arm.
Then after nap the girls mingled with their friends and watched some basketball.
Here's all the silly kids.

And then they decided to play a little B-Ball themselves.
Ok so maybe they do a lot of rolling around, but occasionally a ball does make it onto the basket.
Like here... Olivia's action shot.
Sunday the girls took a spin in their jeep. Ava's feet finally reach the pedals and she now gets to drive. Awesome.

Like Sisters in a car, these two are typically bickering... Who is watching the road?

Olivia let "B" take her for a spin until the battery finally wore out. She's trying to put her arm around his neck and he won't let her. So cute. Now the weekend is over and we are back to the regular routine..

Where To Begin???

Saturday we used the last of our freebie zoo tickets and spent the day relaxing with the animals. Ava rode the roller coaster this time since Livy got to ride it last time. They both drove the airplanes and went on the merry-go-round. Everyone was satisfied, the weather was breezy, and the day was totally free. That in and of itself was the best part of the day.

After visiting the animals we drove over to Alameda to check out this toy store we used to shop at to see if it was still there. It was and it had some great stuff. We have a $40 credit so we got some ideas on what the girls would want so that Dave can go back and pick it up later. Then we bought a couple of sundaes and headed to the beach. Olivia was so excited to build sand castles she could have cared less about her ice cream. Ava was carefully guarding hers and asked if she could eat Ava's too. We told her she couldn't and she was ok with it since she was going to get to run in the waves.

After a few minutes of playing in the waves the girls were soaked and sandy but totally happy. It was worth all the effort of having to rinse them off and wipe off the sand before getting in the truck to go home. They enjoyed every minute of it and were so worn out they slept most of the way home.

Sunday we got up and Olivia wanted to ride bikes so we got out our helmets and geared up for a ride to the park. Olivia is awesome on her bike. She can turn well, brake well, and has now mastered the ability to stop on slopes and control her speed so she can stop before going off the side of the curb. Grammie's buying her a new big girl bike for her birthday so she's using the smaller bike for the last few rides before it gets handed over to Ava. She's very thrilled about this and asks quite often if it is her birthday today. Not until November I tell her. It must seem like a lifetime for her.

Once we all arrived at the park I took each of the girls separately for a lap around the track. Dave pushed Ava on the swing while Olivia jogged and while Ava jogged Dave chased Olivia on the bike. At was at this time I noticed Olivia was starting to get a runny nose... Can you see where this is headed?

This morning both girls woke up with puffy eyes, runny noses, bad attitudes, and the inability to breathe. As the day has progressed Olivia now has developed a cough. Of course this happens the week before they can get the flu shots. Yea, how lucky am I? I was hoping to get the flu shot and Olivia's 4 year checkup done together but now I don't think it is wise to wait a month to get the shot. Wonderful. And on top of the stinking flu, Ava has her appointment on Thursday with the Nutritionist. I'm sure she will love that I brought my germ filled daughter to infect her. And if Livy is too sick to attend preschool, Thursday I get to take 2 sick kids with me. WooHoo. The best part is Dave is also having a friend over tomorrow for dinner before he leaves for 2 months to the Philippines. We will probably infect him too and send our germs with him to the Philippines. I feel so special.

On a totally different topic Dave and I have been struggling with whether or not to walk away from our house since it is worth less than half of what we paid for it in 2006. We have read absolutely everything out there on the pros and cons of foreclosure and short sales but we still don't know what to do. If we leave we could re-buy in a few years at a considerably lower price but our credit would be trashed. We'd also end up being renters and paying someones else's mortgage in the mean time but we would not have to pay property tax and would save $1500 a month. In a few months we could pay off all of our bills. It's a big fat conundrum that I never thought I would even write about here. But it has been weighing on our minds since the beginning of the summer when we sent all the info we needed to the bank for the supposed mortgage reduction plan and still have not had anyone call us back. Apparently our stuff is at the underwriter but if that were true wouldn't they want to speak to us? So for the last 6 months while the bank has screwed around we've still been paying at 6% & 7%'s on our loans. We thought about not paying for a few months so that they have to speak to us and we could put that money directly to other things that we need to pay off but I feel like that is shady and I'm not quite ready to be like the rest of the jerks that are driving the housing market into the toilet. So basically in 30 years when we pay this shindig off we may merely break even. This means we can never move for any reason. Oh I mean- we can't move for 30 years... Yeah that sounds much better. My stomach doesn't hurt at all.

And top it all off the cat has been projectile vomiting all day all over the house. The first time she hit the rug we just cleaned. Gee thanks for that. The other times she managed to hit the girls dress up attire, another rug, what seemed like the entire floor... I have used almost half of a roll of paper towels. She better get better soon or she's sleeping outside.

The Weekend Rollercoaster

has finally ended I believe. Ugh. Where to even begin.

Saturday afternoon while we waited for Grandma B to arrive, Dave posted the car online for sale with pictures. Blue Book value was $1690 so we were asking for $1800. We wouldn't be needing the car anymore since Grandma B was driving us out the Honda CRV to buy since Grandpa B passed away and she didn't need two vehicles. Eventually Grandma B and Aunt D arrived around 7PM night.

Things were good with their drive, the girls were happy to see them, we were starving from waiting for them to arrive... you know- the usual. That night we stayed up chatting after the girls went to sleep. It was nice and relaxing.

Sunday morning we woke up and ate breakfast. Grandma B mentioned she wanted to go to the Pier in SF so we packed a few snacks for the girls and jumped in the truck. We had to take BART in since the bridge was closed for the holiday weekend so we packed extremely lightly with our one big double stroller. Once we arrived Dave saw that there was a spin the wheel for a prize thing right at the beginning of the Pier. He spun along with everyone else. We all got half off or free tickets to the aquarium. Cool. We always wanted to go but it is so expensive we never did. Good job Dave.

So after playing in the aquarium we went to lunch where the girls danced with the waitresses.
Olivia ate garlic mussels with Grandma B.

Then we took the girls through the Rainforest Cafe, went to the big chocolate store, bought treats, headed back to the pier to see the seals, bought more goodies and headed back towards BART. We were out all day. As soon as we started our walk back to the BART Ava was asleep. Olivia claimed she was gonna have the throw ups (wonderful I know) so she wanted to be carried. After a few feet Dave said she had to sit in the stroller too. He was never gonna make it. Olivia sullen complained the whole way to the BART about not wanting to be in the stroller like a baby. Sitting in a stroller = baby. Whining the entire way- let's not say priceless ok. So I make the promise that when we get through the gate at the BART she can get out. What I didn't know was when she got out and we had to pile on BART everyone and their mother was also piling on BART.

In essence we survived. We made it a few stops and most of the people poured out of the doors like cattle and then we all had seats for our long journey home. Once home Dave asked me if anyone called about the car. No they didn't. "What about email.?." He asked.

"Haven't checked... will do tomorrow when I print out your mom's boarding passes."

We all ate dinner, sat around watching the dogs play, got really sleepy and went to bed at like 9PM. Yea... come to our house- we are a barrel of laughs and totally entertaining.

Got up Monday morning and decided since Grandma B and Aunt D were flying out to Denver later in the evening we would go have a picnic lunch at the park. We packed a very lovey lunch, a blanket, the works. We get to the park and there is hardly anyone there.



This was great since the rides were empty the girls didn't have to wait and they could ride as often as they wanted. What a great day right? A perfect end to to a nice family visit? WRONG. If you had that thought at all you are completely WRONG.
This are the last smiles before the chaos began...

After our nice picnic lunch, Dave and the gang headed to the train for a ride while I went to put the blanket and other non-essentials back in the truck. As we are starting to separate we hear over the speaker that a window has been smashed out of a WHITE suburban. Phew. They said white. So we went our separate ways. Except I knew that people are idiots and would confuse white with SILVER and it was my truck that was smashed to blitherines. And then my thoughts were validated when I made it to the exit and a man comes running up to tell the announcer it was not a white but silver suburban... of course it was.

My first thought was to pray the vandals were not inside trying to steal the whole damn truck, then upon finding it empty I was just thankful that I still had the truck minus what used to be a very useful window.


I looked inside, glass was everywhere but nothing seemed to be out of place. The glove box wasn't opened, Cd's were still in the holder, the Kleenex box was still sitting where I last slid it the last time I used a tissue. Stupid kids breaking windows for fun. Thanks Assclowns.

So this woman from the park runs out and looks horrified telling me she will help me clean it up. She asked if I want the police to come but the insurance deductible is about the same as the price for a new window so I declined. I told her I just needed to get this cleaned up as much as possible before my kids came out as well as my family. I didn't need it to look any worse than it already was. I was trying to maintain a nice pleasant composure as I swore inside, I really can't afford to replace a stupid window. I was also hoping that maybe I could get all the glass cleaned up before anyone noticed I was gone so it didn't seem as big of a deal as it felt inside my body. But you know- apparently when I think things can't get any worse it gets dramatically worse.

From the train, Dave apparently spies me at the truck with all the doors open. He questions what the heck I'm doing. Then he sees a woman running towards me with a broom. He makes the connection that it was OUR SUBURBAN and he grabs everyone and they coming running out. Little did I know Grandma B had left her purse under the seat behind the tissue box. I see them coming, screaming "my purse" and I look at Dave and he asked me if his mom's purse is still under the seat.

"I didn't know it was left there and the Kleenex hadn't been moved from what I saw. I was trying to remove the glass."

No purse. More screaming. "This is an emergency, who do we call? We need the police. Mom, your DL is in your purse- how are we going to get on the plane.?." Aunt D screeched. Dave runs off to go find the purse hopefully tossed in a trash can, the kids are left sitting there sandwiched between two frantic women, and I'm standing in a pool of glass and some of my blood. I can't clean up the glass and watch the kids. I ask Dave to focus and get the girls some water, take them to the potty, and get them out of the situation, back into the park and away from the incident. I do not feel kids should ever witness crime or the end result of it. To me, the kids were the most important thing over a purse. They need to be safe and feel safe. Being frantic doesn't give them security. Honestly, it bothered me that everyone pushed the girls aside but it is what it is and it is over now. So Dave and the girls played at the park, G & D cancelled credit cards and spoke with the police, I cleaned the glass up and filed my police report and we headed home. So much for a nice day out.

When we got back Dave and I discussed him driving the car we were trying to sell until I could get the side window fixed in the suburban and I would drive just to preschool on Tuesday for Olivia's class picture and first school photo (which turned out really cute BTW) in the Honda since it also needed a new windshield and we didn't want him to get a fix it ticket on the way to work. How can you have 3 vehicles and only one with all the windows you ask? I know it's impressive.

After a few minutes I went upstairs, I turned on the computer to print the plane tickets and I wanted to check the email. Someone actually responded to our ad for the car and they wanted to know what model it was. I sent back LX and a minute later the phone rang. They wanted to come look at the car. Typically this would be good news selling a car a day after you post it except we now needed the car and Dave had to drop his family off at the airport. I told the guy he could come by after the airport run and we cleaned everything out of the car. The guy offered us $1500. We said $1600 and S.O.L.D. Yesterday, Dave drove it to get smogged, the guy returned with the cash, we transferred over the pink slip, and C'est la vie the car is gone. Thankfully the mobile glass replacement guy came in the mean time and gave us our pretty new windows so we are back in action and driving again. All in the same day too. Can you believe it?Later my parents stopped by to drop off some more stuff for the hot tub, a fire pit, and some veggies from their garden. We went to dinner and they left for their hotel to fly to Maui the next morning. We ran and threw the kids in bed and made a mad dash for the hot tub and went to bed. We needed to get off of this stinkin' ride sometime.

As for Dave's mom she had no trouble getting on her plane. The crooks had charged up 4 of her credit cards, one at the gas station, one at the Wendy's next to the gas station, once for $12 down the road from the park, and $500 at Macy's before they were cut off. Everything will be removed from her cards, but she lost her keys and her cell phone and all of her medical cards, SS cards, that kind of stuff that takes awhile to get back. But the bottom line is that no one was physically hurt and "stuff" can be replaced.

Today has been mundane. I swore we were going to sit around in our underpants doing nothing and that was pretty much what we did besides a few puzzles and board games.

Memories. The foundation of a lifetime.

What Took You So Long?

I asked my husband when he finally arrived back home with the girls. I had sent them to buy a bag of puppy food from the pet store (and a fish if the girls were good) and a sprinkler head from HD. The two stores are fairly close to one another so I assumed they would only be out for a half an hour. Wrong. Never assume when it comes to Dave.

Let me say first that they did come back with the puppy food and 4 fish. What happened to 1 fish? And- they were all smiling when they walked through the door obviously very proud of their mischievous selves. So again I asked, "what happened to you guys that took so long?" And then Dave gave me the best explanation of all. He told me about how they arrived at HD just in time to partake in the building of a bean bag toss.

Apparently both girls were given hammers and they nailed together this ramp like thing with a hole in it. Once it's built it sits on the ground and you try to toss the bean bags into the hole. The girls were given aprons, stickers, awards for achievement, and HD pins to pin to their aprons. They were very excited and proud of themselves and couldn't wait to show me their work. I was really happy that they had a great time with their dad. Dave told me later he knows who the builder is in the family... apparently when given a hammer Olivia hit the nails very delicately and Ava just started swinging. Sounds about right.

So on a different note:

We are waiting the arrival of Grandma B and Aunt D. They should be here in an hour. The girls are excited. They know more Fancy Nancy books are on the way. How posh! And I'm waiting for the dark to fall to go sit outside in the new hot tub. I have to admit I have become quite addict to it. I think about getting in all day long and right at 8:01 PM my toes hit the bubbles.

Weekend Recap

Friday was Dave's last Oakland day. He only had to work a half day to pack up his office. Since he was getting off work at noon the girls and I went to Fairyland. We picked Dave up on the way and once there we had a picnic lunch. The girls had a fabulous time riding the rides, using their storybook key, seeing the critters and other animals, and of course soaking in their daddy-time. I think I could have went home and they could have cared less but hey they see me everyday all day so it's fine I'm not sad at all... ok maybe slightly.

The girls watching puppet theater

Saturday morning Dave went to get the new battery for the car but it died at the gas station before he could get it replaced. Since he didn't bring his cellphone he had to walk a few blocks home. It was already 90 degrees at 10AM. He was so sweaty. But on his way home he had found a diamond tennis bracelet on the ground. Yea me!!! It was really fancy and nice. Sucks to be the one that lost it.

Saturday evening Grammie and Papa came to bring the hot tub and the new clothes for Olivia. It was a scorcher of a day but we set up the tub anyway and ordered a pizza and drank some beer. Since my parents arrived late in the day the girls were in bed before we knew it and we had a quiet house to ourselves. It's nice to be able to have a grown-up conversation with my mom occasionally without Olivia jumping right next to us. My dad went to sleep on the floor like usual and Dave did some work for the home business to get it finished without kid distraction.

Sunday my parents took Olivia to church and then we all went out to lunch. The girls were both very good while eating with a fork and sitting like ladies in their chairs. Both of them ate the fried calamari which was a little surprising. I thought Ava would spit it out. Liv loves lemons so she squeezed lemon on her bread, calamari, and mac-n-cheese. She even ordered lemonade which was also weird since we always order them milk and no one told her it was on the menu... Maybe she can read and we are too slow to figure it out. Who knows.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Grammie and Papa and Livy just broke down and sobbed. She didn't want Grammie to go. She wanted to go to her house. It was sad. Just plain sad. We needed to exchange a shirt Dave had bought on Saturday so went we to the store and what do you know... a few bracelets later Olivia was all smiles again. She picked out a necklace for her and Ava and a few bracelets. Both of the girls were giggly as is any girl with jewels.

Beyond that things were pretty routine as usual. I've been keeping Ava's food journal everyday for her nutritionist and she woke up both Saturday and Sunday mornings in dry pull-ups. I think next week we will start her in the night time panties. This week Dave started teaching again, moved to the SF office, his mom and sister are coming, then my parents are coming back for their flight to Maui. I think I have enough to deal with without adding possible peepee sheets to the list.

Saturday BBQ

Baby "A" came to play with the girls and we had a barbecue. She's getting so big now she can really enjoy the girls and vice versa.

It's the dads' time to watch the kids. Don't they look confused?

Guess who's toes these are...Ava's!!! We painted our toes to look pretty for our friends.

We had a wonderful night, kickin' back hangin' out with our friends. It was sort of the last big hurrah before everyone starts teaching, working, or going back to school. Summer's over this week. I'm sad. I've really enjoyed it this year. Now it's back to me being alone with the girls from basically Sunday night to Friday evening and having to do all the housework, cooking three meals a day, cleaning and vacuuming, bill paying, grocery shopping, shuttling Olivia to and from preschool, dog poop picking up, nap giving, teeth brushing, story reading, puzzle building, you name it I do it every day all day all by myself. It's exhausting. Dave will be home two week nights after 6PM when he isn't teaching until 11PM but really by that time dinner has been given, eaten, and cleaned up. The girls are already in their jammies, and basically are just waiting to go to bed. So the cycle begins again. I wish I had a nanny to help out occasionally but that isn't going to ever happen so I'll just have to deal with each day as it comes. Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall... Try not to kick my ass ok!

Friday Night A's Game

Bobble head night had appeared again on the calender. This was the last bobble head of the season and most likely the only game the four of us would attend this year. Dave and Olivia had gone to pick up the other bobble head earlier in the season but they didn't stay for that game. Knowing this would be a lot of work I can admit I wasn't exactly thrilled to be going but Dave really wanted us to go so I sucked it up and packed the bags with warm clothes, dinner, and snacks for everyone. It sounds like it should be a simple few tasks but when you're home alone with two kids running and screaming it is a little difficult to concentrate and make sure you remember to pack everything for everyone. Dave was still at work and going to be meeting us on the BART.

Once I gathered all the necessities and packed them into backpacks for each of us to carry we were on the road. The drive to the station was decent. Getting out of the truck, packing the stroller and stuffing Ava into it, and walking to the building with Liv pushing the stroller went smoothly. It was hotter than ever and I was sweating like a fat pig but that's really irrelevant. I was starting to feel like I could do this, I'm a strong independent woman, I don't need anyone to hold my hand and help me with my kids. We are alone together everyday 5 days a week. I cart them around everywhere. Why this journey seemed different I don't know. Most likely because I wouldn't have my vehicle to come back to for supplies if needed. Instead I was having to bring everything with me that we could possibly need for the next 5 hours.

So we walked up to the building sweating and what do we see... a freaking out of order sign on the elevator. How am I going to get Ava in a stroller up stairs? After some deliberation of how I really hate Dave at this point, I remove Ava from the stroller, make the girls hold hands and walk up the stairs while I carried the stroller. I was worried they would get to the top step and let go of each other and start running in different directions but they listened and stayed together. Phew. We made it. We also managed to figure out how to fit 2 people and a stroller through the ticket thing that opens and closes really fast. I was feeling really good about myself at this point. Then I noticed that the other elevator that takes you down to the trains is also out of order. Holy God. Could this really be happening? Dave hate-meter steadily on the rise. Why again are we going through all of this?

And then Dave appeared... with good timing I might add. He carried the stroller down the huge flight of stairs while I walked with the girls down and the train arrived one minute later. The ride out there was fun. The girls both love the train. We met Dave's friend at the Coliseum station and headed to the game.

As we all entered the ticket gates the attendant stopped Dave and said he needed a ticket for Ava. So Roman, Olivia, and I headed in, retrieved our bobble heads, and waited for Dave. Dave was given a ticket at work so he had only bought ones for Olivia and I. While we waited one of the attendants started talking to me about the A's and the promotions and then he asked me why we were standing there waiting. I explained how my husband needed a ticket for our 2 year old and he was back in line. The man, a retired sheriff of 30 years, asked what he looked like and what his name was because he had free tickets for him. A few seconds later there was the rest of my family with huge smiles on their faces toting their precious little bobble heads.

Here we are sitting in the field level seats. See the smiles on our faces.
That's because our seats are somewhere up in the nose bleed section.
But they don't know that. We found these seats in a prime location.

Then the attendant of that section walked over behind our seats and asked who had the tickets. I thought to myself- if I have to pack these kids back up, climb all those stairs, I think this will be the last day I ever come here again. But instead I pointed to Dave as the ticket holder even though they were blatantly sticking out of my pocket. The man asked Dave if these were his seats, Dave responded with a quick...I believe so... and we had arrived. Finally.

The A's ended up losing of course but the girls got to see Swiper and we all had our pictures taken and posted on the A's fan site. It was a do-able outing but I'm sure next year will be easier when the girls are a little older.

Everyday Madness

Let's start with the fact that we did not make it to the baseball game Thursday night. Dave came home and was rushed to get the girls' dinner and get out of the house on time. Whenever they are rushed they seem to hit super slow drive and refuse to do whatever we'd like them to do. So as Dave frantically rushed to eat and get stuff ready the girls picked at their dinner, Ava had 3 or 4 meltdowns, and Olivia just didn't care that the timer was set or that it was going to be going off and she wouldn't be able to go. Ava ended up choosing to do timeout in her room and then decided she'd rather be there then come downstairs. She was also NOT going to wear her panties. So the game ended up being a bust. Everyone was pissy, and no one wanted to cooperate.

Friday we hung around the house, played in the pool, had lunch outside in the yard, and just relaxed. It was pretty much a free for all for whatever the girls wanted to play with. When they wanted their markers, they colored. When they wanted play dough, the created sharks, cows, and of course snakes. Olivia played on her computer for awhile in between completing her book of mazes. Ava chased the dogs around. The dogs chased the cat around. You see where I'm going with this... Basically a pretty calm laid back day.

Saturday we got up and divided some chores up. Dave and his mantra of women went to the front yard and washed the vehicles. I and the animals went to the backyard and began pulling all the weeds in our retaining wall area. I started really early in the morning to avoid the heatwave that came around noon. Dave finished first so he brought the girls in and fed them lunch and put them to bed. Then he came and helped finish the last of the weeds in the rock area. I then took a shower, went to get my haircut, and hit the few stores I needed to go to. I picked up 2 Dora backpacks for the girls since they both wanted to carry the backpack all over the zoo. If I only bought one there would have been a fight over who gets Dora so now that's out of the way. The girls were pleased when they saw the backpacks pop out of the bag. The rest of the day we just did our regular stuff and took it easy. Dave ended up with a terrible sunburn and wasn't feeling too good so it was nice that the girls were decent.

Sunday we walked Lady, played in the pool, and watched TV. We mesured the girls again on the wall. They both have grown an inch in the last 2 months. I don't know how tall they actually are but they are 3 and a half inches apart. Ava's still cutting her top 2 molars as well. So anyway, we didn't do anything exciting or really worth writing about but we did spend the day as a family and that's the most important thing. My neighbors came over for a few hours and we hung out talking about wedding stuff. All in all this was the first weekend in a long time where we just sat around without any plans or shopping or just stuff to do. It was enjoyable.

The Kids...

We went to visit The Boy and his new Sister again this weekend. She is much bigger than last time so Olivia was able to hold her. It was love at first sight. Liv couldn't keep her hands off the baby...

Ava, on the other hand, found a cool dude to chill out with way up high in his club house. The Boy was showing her his trucks before they pushed them all down the slide. These two had a great time running around in the backyard chasing each other. It made for a nice Sunday play date. We need more of these... hint...hint...

Saturday Fun

We drove to Berkeley to visit Habitot's 11th birthday celebration. The girls were excited to be celebrating yet another birthday and with the hopes of eating cake the smiles were just beaming off their faces. Of course when we arrived the first thing the girls wanted to do was paint.

After adding a little bit of color to her hair, Ava moved on to the arts and crafts table. She was super excited to be using the ink dot pens.

Olivia was in charge of her own project. She was gluing, drawing, and sticking, everything in sight. Her creativity juices were flowing and her projects were coming out splendidly.

I supposed the smelling of glue starts at an early age...right?

Ava said it was stinky... ewww.

This is the ginormous birthday cake that the kids get to help decorate. Ava wanted to eat the frosting (paint) and was told no several times. Doesn't hurt to try again anyway. I mean after you glue your lips together with the glue stick why not eat a little paint?

Now, it's baby washing time and boy are these babies dirty and slippery.

Olivia likes to suds them up. She also poured a bucket of very cold water on Ava twice and served a very unfortunate time-out. Ooops.

After playing in the water, we all ate our lunches and watched the clowns perform. Then the girls trotted on over to the farm area where they played in the barn, collected eggs, and rode the horse.

But the best was yet to come... the clowns brought bubbles.

It was a very fun Saturday morning- afternoon. We drove back home and brought out the grill. The girls ran in the sprinklers with the other kids and we barbequed and lounged around for the rest of the weekend as a family.