Casting & Riding

They really mean it when they say teach a man to fish and he can feed himself.

Last weekend we took the girls to the marina so Olivia could try to ride her big bike without the training wheels. It took one try and she was cruising the parking lot. Smiling from ear to ear, that little girl was racing.

When I had first mentioned to Dave that it was time to remove the training wheels he was very hesitant. I kept saying she is now tall enough to almost touch the ground. I think she has a 16in bike or a 20in.. Whatever it is it is tall. Liv too felt she was ready. What was the worst that can happen I had told her.. You decided you want the wheels back on and we put them on. No biggie.

Ha. She didn't need them. Nor did she need to be over protected.

So after the riding we took the kids fishing. Ava sat next to me and Liv sat next to Dave and we fished off of opposite sides of the Pier. With Ava I casted out her pole and walked away. She told me she needed to reel it and and cast it out herself. Okay with me... it was her pole... I told her how to hold the button and when to throw it out. So she casted that pole right out there and wham. Her bobber hit the water right next to mine. After that she practiced the rest of the day. Ava can now fish for herself.

And then there's camp David. Olivia wasn't so lucky. She was micromanaged from every angle and angry she didn't get to cast her pole out herself. After listening to those two go at it I said to Dave that it was HER pole and maybe she should do what she wants with it. Go figure after a few short tries she was casting her fishing pole by herself and then taught some boys who came by too.

A Month at a Glance

So maybe in September I may have forgotten to scan the girl's school photos. I guess it is never to late to finish the job the following year right? In that case I might as well add gymnastics, our vacation, X-mas, and a few other trinkets.

School photos:

Photo above by: Insight photography.

Here's my beautiful Olivia sitting so pretty for her second year of preschool.

Photo above by: Insight Photography.

And my wonderful Ava just beaming that it is finally her turn to be in school. She absolutely loves it and can't wait to jump out of the truck every day.

Gymnastics:

The final days of gymnastics. Ava struts her stuff.
Climbing thru the tube.
Olivia and her famous hand stands.
That's Olivia over there rolling backwards down the cheese.

Santa's visit to school:

Ava with Miss Karen making reindeer food. (They gobbled it off the lawn X-mas eve.)
Ava with her best friend and Olivia while they waited for Santa.
When Santa asked who wanted to be first to sit on his lap- Ava jumped up shouting, "ME!!" Nothing shy about her. She told Santa she wanted a big princess bike for X-mas.
Olivia whispered to Santa what she wanted so I guess the mystery will forever remain between the two of them.
The love for Santa.

Our two week vacation:

The artists at work. Unfortunately Dave had to work a trial and was only able to drive up for 2 and a half days but at least they were the best days- X-mas eve and X-mas.
Olivia kickin' bootie on her skates she got for her birthday. She wanted to skate fast, faster, and then she'd hit the ground but she got up laughing and started again.
Ava can do whatever Olivia can do and she'll prove it to you.
The bikers went on a long bike ride every day it didn't rain.
And of course there was snow and sleds. Look at that cutie pie face.
Dave and Olivia flying down the hill on their sled.
Ava speeding away.
Snowball fight.
Me and my silly girls.

Christmas:

Yes, there were presents just in case one X-mas from now the girls tell me they never got anything for x-mas. Here's the proof.
And Santa prefers chocolate and hot cocoa to cookies and milk. The deer were fed earlier in the evening.
The ripping and unveiling has begun.
All of Ava's pictures are a blur because she never stopped moving until she found the Barbi and horse. Then all unwrapping ceased for an hour so she could play. Her exact words were "I'm done. No more." Ok then, Santa will pack a lighter load next year.
A lot of dresses and toys.
This is their new soccer goal. Dave's favorite gift besides their guitars.
Who are those people?
My Queen.
My Queen and her coveted Barbi.
The curlers. Olivia loves these things and was very upset Daddy didn't know she was supposed to sleep in them. Next time my dear.
The gang headed out to skate.

School artwork:

Before I clear the board for some new creations of the new year I though I had better capture some of the girl's art work.

When Makeup Attacks:
They did each others makeup. Ava's going to need a little more practice unless Olivia is the newest member of KISS.
They seemed to like it. Good enough for me. These two are enjoying the abundance of nail polish they received too. Glitter and Glam. That's what the world has turned into.

Ava's Quote:

Keeping in mind she wears a pull-up at my parents house just as a precaution that we actually call her "precautions"... she woke up one morning and had not taken it off yet when I asked, "Ava did you pee in your precaution?" and she said, "yes, my crotch told me too." Enough said. That was our month.

The Highlife

With the sun in her face and the wind to her back Miss Olivia rode the dirt trail on her bike. She was so proud of herself. She tore down the first hill and raced up the next hill. Awesome!

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.

School And The Rest Of The Day

Today was the letter "E" and the beginning of kids learning about sea-life for two weeks. Olivia was pretty proud of this fish that she created. She wanted to make sure her daddy saw it so we stuck it on the fridge. It was the first thing he saw when he walked in through the door because she wasn't going to let him pass through the house until he looked at it.
Here's Olivia writing her name.

And there's the "E" collage.

Tonight I didn't feel like cooking and Dave was getting home early since he had to go register the CRV so the girls and I took a vote and we decided to try this new Mexican restaurant. It was yummy and a good choice. Ava ate a whole kid size burrito which she has never done before. She likes tortilla but typically on the side not filled with beans. Olivia ordered nachos and when they came with melted cheese she refused to eat them and ate Dave's rice, beans, and lettuce. So now we now we know two burritos only.

Afterwards we crossed the street to check out the kids bikes at a nearby store. I had been checking craigslist for a cheap one for Olivia since her 12in is too small but there were only 2 bikes that were 16 inches in the nearby vicinity and one was already sold and the other never responded. So anyway we found the perfect bike for $50. Olivia jumped right on and rode it around the store. Ava got on it too and she could ride it but she is better suited for the little bike we have at home. Although Ava does need a helmet which created a bit of a riot when we tried one on for size at the store and she refused adamantly to take it off... Olivia and I pretended we didn't know Ava and Dave and slowly moved away.

Then we picked up some elastic to restring the bracelet that Ava had been wearing earlier but had broken. The girls are so into jewelry, nail polish, bows, and all the fancy crap I was never into. It's funny that they are so girlie. Must have been genes that skipped a generation. We also bought a friendship bracelet kit so I can make the girls a few bracelets without beads. Should be interesting. This was also something I never did as a kid. I guess stuff like that always comes back full circle.

The Amazing Olivia

Olivia rode her 2 wheel bike with training wheels yesterday all the way to the park. She rode with super fast lightning speed and the grace of an angel. Ok some of that statement might be a wee bit extreme. Liv did ride her bike exceptionally well and fast, but as far as graceful... not so much. She was looking all over the place and basically zig zagged her way to the park. When she got there she made a lap around the playground before jumping off to play on the slide. She was super proud of herself and we were too. It had been awhile since she had been on her big girl bike. When we left the park, she put her helmet on and rode home in a straight line. It was amazing. She just got on and took off. I freaked out that she was going too fast and thought she might eject herself over the handlebars so I caught up to her and slowed her down. I guess she has inherited the speed demon traits of her father. All the way home Livy chanted, "Mommy I go fast..." Yes Olivia you sure did!

On another note, Ava wore her panties to the park and came back dry. Good job big girl! AND....before we left for the park Ava told us she had to go potty so Dave put her on the BIG potty and she made a GIANT poop. Everyone screamed and clapped for her. You would have thought she had just won the lottery.