Drowning your sorrows

Some people resort to drugs, alchohol or self mutilation in order to numb themselves from pain they may be feeling.

I resort to...

Peanut Butter Cup pie from Bakers Square.

Boy could I go for a slice right about now.

Victory over the...world champions?

The A's swept the floor with the Boston Red Sox Friday night, beat em' again on Saturday night and finished them off Sunday afternoon.

We were able to go to the game on Saturday night with Jared, John and his friends that were visiting from out of town.

Even though I love love love going to games with LaVor, it was fun to have a bigger crowd with us.

We ate plenty of peanuts (still don't know how people can pay $5 for a tiny bag when I pay $2 for 2 lbs. @ the grocery store!) but unfortunately there was no partaking of the traditional ice cream sandwich. Although, LaVor did get his malt this time!

Next planned game: June 21st with the Sathre's/McMurray's/Jackson's/Steenblik's!

(I'm feeling a little guilty about the picture. I took a picture of a picture that the "Fan Photographer" took of us at the game. I'm too impatient...I wanted it now! Didn't want to wait for it to arrive in the mail.)
(Also, I didn't dye my hair red...not quite sure what's going on there.)

Not Just a Day Off

When I was younger, every Memorial Day morning was spent at our church building, eating pancakes at the annual Memorial Day Breakfast. We were invited to ride our bikes to the church and a majority of us did. We would put the flag up at our house, get our bikes ready and make the trip under the freeway, down the trail, to the church.

As I've grown up, Memorial Day has become more than just pancakes and bike rides to me.

When I was 5, my Grandpa passed away. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about him except that he would feed us walnuts in his lazyboy. I remember the bag of nuts and the nutcracker that had a permanent spot on the side table.

Shortly after his death, my dad got in touch with several of his "WWII buddies". He then started holding reunions for these gentlemen and it turned into another annual event.

Year after year, I got to know several of the men and their spouses. Since I didn't know my Grandpa too well, I felt that by spending time with these great men, I was also able to spend some time with my Grandpa.

I'm not sure how many of these men are still alive but every Memorial Day, I think of those that I got the chance to meet and hear their stories and those that didn't make it home.

How grateful I am for my Grandfathers, Pop and my brother-in-law for sacrificing their time and lives to join the Armed Forces and serve our country. (I know this isn't Veteran's Day, but I just needed to throw that in.)

So although I did appreciate sleeping in today, I appreciate even more the free country in which I live and the men and women that gave their lives for me to enjoy this freedom.

(The flag that waves outside of my parents home)

I could walk to work if I wanted

It's roughly 19 miles from my house to work, one way.

Today we walked 18 miles. Wow! Almost all of us had our new shoes on and I'm pleased to say they worked great! No blisters, slight soreness but overall superb.

Next week...20!

You just know

I saw this @ Pottery Barn Kids on Thursday and I can't stop thinking about it!

I'm a firm believer that if you can't get something off your mind, you're supposed to have it. Therefore, I'm supposed to have this quilt.

I forgot something!

In our computer room, I have some blank greeting cards that were leftover from the invitations for my sisters bridal shower

After we got home from the beach on Saturday, we all took showers right away. When I was leaving my bedroom, I found this underneath my door.



How cute is she! I've been blessed to baby-sit this sweet little girl ever since she was a wee baby. I often look back at pictures that I've taken over the years and shed tears of joy (and sadness...she'll never be that little again!) because of the happiness she brings me.

I'm pretty sure that "thing" between us is a palm tree that symbolizes our trip to the beach. Although there were no palm trees in Santa Cruz :o)

Lemonade + Laughter

This weekend, LaVor and I had sneak peek of what it'll be like to be parents. We watched my sisters two kids while she and her husband spent the weekend in Seattle.

Our fun-filled weekend started on Friday night. I picked the kiddos up and we headed out to Livermore. Amazingly, there was hardly any traffic...hallelujah! We had scrambled eggs and toast for dinner and then headed to Downtown to cool off.

We started from our house and headed down L Street, passing the Blue Door Antique Shop.

We then crossed the railroad tracks (a challenge when you have a stroller, let me tell ya!) and made a left onto First Street. We then made it to our destination...the fountains! I wasn't planning on Claire getting completely drenched, but she did.

After a fun time in the fountains we decided to head back home. In the time it took us to walk home, Claire had completely dried...that's how hot it was outside.

It was then bath time and bedtime. It had only been a couple hours that I had had them and I was already pooped. But it was only the beginning!

We woke up just before 7:30 Saturday morning and ate our cereal. We then got ready for our trip to the beach! I lathered the kids up with suntan lotion, got their swimsuits on, got ready, packed the car and we were off.

A little after 10, we arrived in Santa Cruz and decided to go to the boardwalk first, before it got crazy. It didn't open until 11:00 so that gave us time to walk around and decide what rides we wanted to go on.

Claire went on the Nascars, we all went on the Merry-Go-Round, the Ghost Blaster and the Cave Train and LaVor & Claire went on the bumper cars. LaVor won "Cruz" for Claire, by throwing baseballs.

We were all ready for lunch so we headed to Betty's and got some hamburgers. We saw Marlis Grow's sister, Tanya. Small world.

We then walked down the street to Seabright beach where Amy had her graduation party. We picked a nice spot to lay our blankets and could hardly wait to jump in the water. A wee bit cold for me and Will but LaVor and Claire stayed a while to play.

While Will and I were sitting on the blanket, he apparently got thirsty and decided to help himself to the "Amonade" (lemonade). He would do his butt-up salute and take a sip through the straw.

I then noticed Claire down on the ground and LaVor quickly picked her up. Despite him warning her to stay still when the waves came, she apparently wanted to run and it knocked her off her feet. That was it for her...she wanted to come back on the beach. Since she didn't want to be completely buried in the sand, LaVor made her into a mermaid.

We spent a little while just sitting on the beach, enjoying the sun. My back enjoyed it a little too much and I have a gnarly sunburn. It hurts like a mutha.

Soon enough, it was time to head back home. We tried to rinse the sand off the kiddos as best we could but it was impossible to get every little grain.

Before we could even leave the Santa Cruz city limits, both kids had fallen asleep.

When we got home, we rinsed off the remaining sand by running through the sprinklers. Earlier that morning, we were watching the news about East Bay MUD wanting people to conserve. Whoops!

I then put the kids in the bath and made sure they were 100% sand free. We ate dinner and played Scene It!, the Disney version.

Will was getting restless so I put him to bed while Claire and I shared some ice cream.

It was then bedtime for her and the second day was over.

We woke up Sunday, got ready for church, the kids were great, we ate lunch and took naps. It was then time to go back to their house and get back to "real life".

I was done listening to the whining but the lemonade and laughter made up for it.