Memorial Day 2017

Last year, our friends invited us to their home for dinner and water balloons on Memorial Day. As we approached the holiday, The Lime asked if we were going to their house again but I told him they hadn't invited us. A few days before Monday, they ended up inviting us to their new place for dinner, water balloons, and fishing!

They moved about 20 minutes away (boo hoo!!!!) and landed themselves a lovely home on five acres! And it has its own pond in the backyard that kept everyone entertained for a good chunk of time.

There are these tiny frogs EVERYWHERE and the kids (mostly theirs) had a field day catching them.

We had to keep our eyes out for snakes and thankfully didn't see any.

LaVor did catch a fish after dinner, which everyone was excited about. Unfortunately, the hook got stuck in her mouth (she was pregnant) and when he went to get it out with plyers, she swallowed and it became impossible to retrieve. He had to throw her back and warned our friends they might see her floating in a day or two. They never did so I'm hoping she managed to survive, although I doubt it :(

While the tri-tip was cooking, our friends blew up a ton of water balloons and the kids went to town.

Dinner was ready and everyone was starving so we wasted no time to start eating!

The boys had worn themselves out and we had school/work the next day so we called it a night. We were thrilled we could explore their new place and make another year of memories on Memorial Day with them!

Halloween...oooohhhh!

I know most people can't wait for Halloween to be over with all of the trunk-or-treats, fall festivals, and class parties. But we missed our trunk-or-treat this year and The Lime's school is anti-Halloween, so I soaked in every second that I could!

I decorated the first weekend of October, we got The Lime's costume a few weeks ago, and we were itching for the 31st to arrive (mainly so The Lime could wear his costume...it sat in his closet this whole time because I'm a mean mom and insisted it stayed there until Halloween).

Doodlebug and I attended a potluck with some friends from church. He refused to wear his bandana and eyepatch, which was crucial for his costume because without it, he just looked like he was wearing regular clothes. When we arrived at the party, they had a huge inflatable cat in their yard and I made a deal with him that if he wore the accessories, I'd let him pet the cat. It worked and he wore the stuff the rest of the day.

The Lime got out of school early, we put Doodlebug down for his nap and attempted quiet time with The Lime, our neighbor invited us to take some of their pumpkins which was a blessing because we only had one little one, our friends dropped off some sugar cookies, and then we headed to the mall for our first round of trick-or-treating. It was a zoo so we only made a loop around the lower level before heading home where LaVor was waiting for us. Between our own trick-or-treaters and trying to eat dinner, we finished in record time to make the rounds throughout our neighborhood.

He enjoyed the Sees lollipop

The boys were on a roll and it didn't take long for Doodlebug to get the hang of it. As soon as he'd get candy, he'd start screaming, "More! More!" We saw neighbors, and friends from school, and Doodlebug had to pet every dog that he saw. In fact, he was more interested in the dogs than receiving candy. Poor kid is deprived.

It sprinkled a little in the beginning and sporadically throughout our walk. But we were down the street and it started coming down. We made two more stops at some of our favorite neighbors and then we called it a night and began the candy gorging.

Both boys got lots of compliments on their costumes. One lady walked up to her screen door saying, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" and continued saying it until we left. It was hilarious.

The day/night was a total success and now we're reaping the rewards for the next few weeks. Happy Halloween!

Father's Day

Poor LaVor wasn't feeling too hot this morning so he opted to stay home while the boys and I attended church (three hours of quiet sounds like the perfect gift, eh?).

The Primary gifted the fathers a cupcake with a decoration that said "Dad, You take the cake!" Everything turned out super cute and there were enough leftover cupcakes for us to enjoy at home (in addition to the one The Lime gave LaVor). Doodlebug's cute teacher made a candy wrapper for a package of Reese's Pieces that said "Dad, I love you to pieces!" Doodlebug wanted to open them for himself the second he got them but was excited to give them to LaVor once we got home.

If LaVor were to pick spaghetti or homemade macaroni and cheese for Father's Day dinner, I'd be on top of it. Unfortunately, he wanted steak and so instead of butchering (ah ah ah!) the meal, he made it. I did, though, make the best batch of mashed potatoes to accompany the steaks.

The boys made a game for LaVor called "Pop Your Present!" I wrote down a gift on five pieces of paper and we stuffed the paper into a balloon. LaVor then popped each balloon to find out what he got.

One of the gifts was a hug.

Another one was a couple new t-shirts.

I think the reaction LaVor gets when he comes home every night is a good indication of how much we love and appreciate him. The Lime's note on the bottom of the game said it best:

The people on the left are all of us with our arms around each other

"You're the best daddy in the world!"

Halloween!

I just love Halloween and was excited it fell on a Saturday this year.

Earlier in the week, I read that our city's jail was no longer in use so the police department was going to have a special Trick-or-Treat event.  Since The Lime was a SWAT guy, I thought he'd really get a kick out of trick-or-treating in the jail.

I've learned my lesson and don't tell him about surprises until right before they're about to happen (otherwise he bugs me 24/7).  As we drove to the station, he thought we knew where we were going (the church) but when he saw the parking lot was empty, he didn't know what to think.  Then we pulled into the parking lot of the station as he got excited.  "I hope Mason's here!" he exclaimed.  Sure enough, Mason (his friend from church) was there but they were leaving as we were arriving.  Mason's mom warned us that the line to get in was long but worth it.

Thankfully, they had some squad cars out for the kids to sit in to help pass the time.

Once we got in the station, we waited a little bit longer and then turned the corner and TAA DAA, it was the jail.

I have a small infatuation with jails/prisons and have passed on that weird trait to The Lime. He's been dying to go to Alcatraz for years but said this little trip would do for now.

He got to go inside of one of the cells and see firsthand how crummy jail is. The cement beds are reason enough for me to not want to ever step foot in one.

We then got to have our mugshot taken. The Lime's turned out way cuter than our group one (why didn't anyone tell me I looked ridiculous with my robber mask on?).

The event ended at 6:00 and I think we got out of there at 6:15. We raced to Sonic for dinner (50 cent hot dogs!) and then raced home to head out into our neighborhood for trick-or-treating.

LaVor took both boys out this year while I stayed home and handed out the candy. We only had about 10 groups of people stop by which means we have way too much candy leftover. When LaVor got home, he said a majority of our street had their lights off. Stinkers! Thankfully, the rest of the neighborhood was pretty festive and the boys made out like bandits.

The candy rationing has begun and all of the decorations are packed away (I had to do it right away or else I'd put it off until it was time to put up Christmas decorations).

I'd say Halloween is officially over.

Spoiled

Notice anything different between this picture and the one I posted last week?

Let me give you a different angle.

Thanks to my observant husband and his two trusty sidekicks, I woke up Sunday morning to this wonderful surprise, and I didn't have to wait until Christmas! It absolutely completes my desk makeover and adds just the right touch that was missing. Plus it's much more ergonomic (and cuter, let's be honest) than the folding chair I was using.

The chair isn't the only special thing I received. Look at those tulips!

Whenever I get tulips, I'm always reminded of the many bouquets LaVor bought me from the sweetest florist, Ben, every time we'd visit Berkeley. Tulips always bring a smile to my face.

And if I wasn't spoiled enough, I had to go ahead and whip up my favorite dessert.

If I had to choose my very last meal, crème brûlée would be involved. When we went on our cruise a few years ago, I ate my weight in crème brûlée. The richness, creaminess, and crunchiness all combined into one delectable dessert are enough to make my taste buds and stomach burst with excitement.

It feels good to be spoiled every once in a while.

Mother's Day

Fairly often, I catch myself thinking "how did my mom raise 5 kids?!" I can barely handle my 2, and they're 4 years apart. She had 5 kids in a little over 9 years.

After my oldest brother was born (second child), my mom stayed home with both kids while my dad took their only car to work and school. Another moment in her raising us that I think "how did she do it?!"

When I was in elementary school, my mom got sick. I'm just now finding out the extent of her illness and I'm amazed that she was still able to mother 5 kids under the circumstances she was given.

She was always driving us to soccer practice, or play practice. She took us to all of our appointments and kept everything organized. She was home every day when we got home from school. She was our biggest supporter and defender.

I find myself saying or doing things, with my boys, that she did with us. Without her example, I would not be the mom I am today. Because of her, I can do hard things and always come out on top.

Including taking family pictures without losing my mind.

Love the Zoo

I got a screaming deal on four zoo passes + six passes for the train/carousel on Living Social several months ago.  I plum forgot about them until I got an email reminding me to use them.

LaVor's mom came for a visit last weekend (Valentine's Day) and we thought that would be the perfect opportunity to use the passes.

We grabbed some lunch and then headed over to the zoo.  When we pulled up, we saw an outrageous line to get in.  The weather was amazing so who could blame all these people for wanting to spend the day outside?  LaVor dropped me off while he and everyone else went to look for a parking space. While waiting in line, the couple in front of me (older gentleman and young Asian woman) were communicating through Google translate.  Made me appreciate speaking the same language as my significant other.

Anyway, the rest of the group joined me in line,  we waited maybe 5 minutes before an employee came through the line, asking if there were any members, Groupons, or Living Social deals.  Ding ding ding!  He yanked us out of the line and we got to go straight to the gate.  Awesome!

Our first stop was the reptile house, one exhibit The Lime and I didn't see when we first visited the zoo almost two years ago.

Can you spot the alligator-like creature?

Doodlebug was way overdue for a nap but insisted on being held and wanted to look at everything. I put my foot down and placed him back in the stroller, where he zonked out in no time. Outings are so much more pleasant when you aren't dealing with a crabby baby.

The wallabies were lounging like they were watching TV (per The Lime), the giraffes were being fed by people who paid to do so, the zebras were hanging out, and the lemurs were being awfully cute. One, in particular, was sitting in this tub as if it was a hot tub, with its arms stretched out to the sides. Hilarious!

The tiger was sitting with its back right against a window, which drew a huge crowd. I attempted to capture a shot through the bamboo but my camera wouldn't focus correctly.

We were a little bummed that there were no elephants but the zoo isn't very big. We did see some lion cubs, which were so stinkin' cute! But again, a huge crowd gathered round to see them and I couldn't get a good picture. Trust me, though, they were darling.

Before we headed back home, the boys got to enjoy a ride on the carousel (Doodlebug's first time!). He wasn't so sure of it at first but ended up relaxing enough to enjoy the two minute ride.

That was quite possibly the best $29 bucks I ever spent. Well worth it for such a fun time.