Weekend with the McIntyres!

Adam and Jess rolled into town with the girls on Saturday and got to stay for a couple of nights. We had so much fun catching up and hanging out. Within hours of coming together we negotiated a boys night out for Trav and Adam and then a girls day out for me and Jess! My time with Jess downtown was a highlight, we combed the shops of Pacific Avenue for three hours, it was heaven! I had completely forgotten what a leisurely afternoon with a good friend sans children felt like. I was completely refreshed by our time together! When we got back to the house I gave Jess a moldy piece of toast with peanut butter and Adam quickly offered to take us out to dinner instead of me cooking:). Patti Ri I am not! I'll be sure to check my bread next time, but hey I got out of cooking right?

How cute is this sweet girl? I loved getting to know little Gwyneth. She has so much personality wrapped up in this petite little body. It was fun to have a baby in the house again.

Payton and Aggie were inseparable, and I mean that literally! Of course that meant having a sleep over together. Any other arrangement would have been clearly unacceptable for them.

Aggie is the little sister Payton never had. It was a crack up watching them together. They are both completely strong, want to direct, type A's, creative and yet they led and followed each other the entire weekend without incident. It was a joy to see them together and parting was such sweet sorrow. Miss you guys!

The Varied Faces of Me

This is what I look like trying to get the camera away from my giggling seven year old.

This is what I look like asking her to hand it over while she's cracking me up. It's all about the angle baby! We just had the best visit from the McIntyre's this weekend and I can't wait to post on it, but it's late, and I pretty much look like the first picture. I'll wait for happy, energetic Annette to write about our time together. Peace

Scary First for Me

There is nothing more sobering for me than watching my baby climb onto a roller coaster without me for the first time! Payton went on her first solo grown up roller coaster ride this week with one of her friends and I was totally unsure how I felt about this. I was totally trying to play it cool while I watched her get locked in then taken up the track and whipped around at top speed, but inside I was totally stressed. I'm not ready for Payton to run around an amusement park and go on all these rides without me safely by her side! This is new territory for me that I'm going to have to figure out...

I married a red neck

Trav got an AMAZING t-shirt sunburn a few days ago skateboarding. Two days later he burned his face surfing, luckily the rest of him was covered up with a wetsuit. Those of you who know me, know that I am a sunblock FANATIC. It drives me crazy when he burns himself, I have to work really hard to contain my reactions to his flaming red skin. He knows it and just chuckles at me.
Today he went to play beach volleyball and when I hugged him when he came home he smelled of sunblock. There is no greater aphrodisiac!(sp?)
And yes, this week Trav skateboarded one day, went surfing two days, and played beach volleyball today. I think his new surroundings suit him well!

Happy Hollow

Today my sister Vicki and I took Jonah to one of our childhood haunts Happy Hollow in San Jose. It's this great park and zoo that has all of the fairytale inspired play places. The best thing is that it has NOT been updated at all from when we were kids, maybe just a fresh coat of paint on stuff. So it was very old school and perfect for revisiting old memories there.

It's hard to resist a great merry go round ride. This one was like a big metal bowl that you sit in and someone else spins you. My stomach and neck will never be the same! I must've looked like a fool rolling around in that thing at top speed.

Jonah loved it and giggled like a mad man. It was SO fun to spin out of control with him and crack up at his deep laugh! Very sweet memory.

We took turns making each other sick. Watching grown women climbing out of this thing is hilarious.

They had these great old fashioned kiddie rides that played kids songs from the 60's and 70's over the loud speakers. It was perfect.

Date Night

Jonah has been planning our date night for three weeks. When I asked him what he and I should do together he took no less than three seconds to come up with, "Dinner at Woodstock's pizza and bowling". He has been counting down the days on the calendar till we get to go to our "special places". That's what he kept calling them. Last night was finally the night!

We chose Woodstock's, not for the pizza, but for his favorite video game that they have there. If I was going to be a good date, I knew I had to come stocked with quarters or face the possibility of no second date.

Then it was on to Boardwalk Bowl. Jonah loved giving me pointers. He moved around that alley as if he owned the place. He's gone on several occasions with Trav and my parents. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had high fived some of the workers and shot the breeze with them. This was my first visit there. I'm not what you would call a very "strong bowler".

We had matching bowling shoes!

Jonah had this crazy side twist throw and drop the ball technique that could not have possibly been good for his back. We had a combined score of 99, and yes, I did beat him, by one point. I tried to go easy on him:) We had such a good time together. When you have three kids, it's really special to get to spend one on one time with them. He was a good date!

Amazing

1:00pm in the afternoon on a Thursday

This boy is asleep.

This boy is asleep.

Mom has a quiet house to herself mid day! The last time this happened was at least two years ago. It's like a lunar eclipse, blink and you might miss it for another 50 years.