Lonesome George and the Bleep Bleep Kid....

Hello again All.


I must admit I am a little melancholy as I return to the land of blogging after taking a week off to play with my friend Jen. It was so amazing to have Jen and her mom, Wanda, here for seven whole days. I don't know how the time flew by so fast, but they are now safely home. I am now free to wish away the next three weeks until my folks arrive for Thanksgiving. These are the times when I most miss living near our beloved friends and family. Of course, that would now be impossible as you are all spread all over the globe.


Jen and I managed to prove that at thirty plus quite a few.... we have finally grown up, a little anyway. We did not get into any trouble and probably for the first time ever don't have to edit the tales of our week. We, alright I, had one minor "polite discussion of the finer points of customer service" with a manager (allegedly) at our Marshall's store. Suffice to say, the customer apparently is NOT always right and customer service is officially dead! But I am not bitter, just temporarily on strike from shopping at Marshall's. Where is TJ Maxx when you need one?

We hit all of the tourist highlights, Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row, Asilomar, Pacific Grove, Big Sur Highway, Carmel by the Sea and last but certainly not least, the Ghirardelli chocolate store. There was one minor negative to our week. How can I put this nicely so as not to discourage future guests? Apparently Fall is conducive to an increase in different types of Kelp making their way to our beaches. This unfortunately brings with it a not so lovely aroma of rotting sea life. OK, so there is no way to sugarcoat it. The beach just stinks right now, literally. It makes the drive to Big Sur all the more beautiful because driving along the cliffs you can see the beautiful shoreline, but don't have to smell it. Jen and Wanda were real troopers. Smelly or not it is still the ocean, and for the three of us nothing in the world tops a beach!

So, with our immense love of all things water we planned a girls' day whale watching. This is where we met Lonesome George and the Bleep Bleep Kid. We chose a four hour morning trip out of Moss Landing. My hope was departing out of Moss Landing (where we had observed the whales on our first trip) earlier in the day would avoid some of the horrendous swells we experienced on L's infamous vomit cruise a few weeks earlier. That captain had assured us that although our trip was uncharacteristically rough, that morning cruises were always much smoother. Thanks so much for delaying that information to the parents of two small landlubbers. Happily, when we made it to the harbor, the water was flat like a pond. This would continue for the whole day. We never had the first swell or spray cross our bough. What's not to love? A parade of Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, and Sea Otters escorted us through the Marina out toward the Bay and we were already content and thrilled with our choice.

This would be a decent shot if you were looking for a seagull, unfortunately I was trying to snap the otter underneath him....




These two sea lions on the pier were cussing each other up a storm. Lover's quarrel perhaps?




Before we even left the harbor, we had our first very rare siting for this area, we got two good looks at a Minke Whale before he took a dive and disappeared completely. Even Captain Noel was quite impressed! We rode through thousands of considerably impressive jellies. One more reason not to swim in our waters, as if Great Whites, Orcas, and arctic-like temperatures were not enough inspiration to stay dry.

Here is a decent example...



We ventured further out into the bay looking for other large mammals when the Captain got a radio transmission that a regular Fall visitor had made his annual appearance. Off we raced to get a glimpse of Lonesome George, a single male Orca, who had been spotted by another vessel. Apparently old George doesn't play well with others and has been ostracized from his pod. Every fall he returns here to fish and put on a show for the boaters. We were really quite lucky to get to see this majestic creature. His dorsal fin is estimated at six foot tall. Yes, you read that right. He made Shamu look like a porpoise. We stayed with George for about 20 minutes before our Captain decided a couple of other boats were stressing him and we moved on to search for humpbacks. I would show you some incredible pics if my battery had not died..... Shoot me now!





Before we go further, I will explain briefly and with as much PC as possible about the Bleep Bleep Kid. Our lone deckhand was a very nice and well-informed woman who happened to bring her son along on this trip. I think she is probably better with sea life than with humans....
Bleep Bleep is not my oh so affectionate nickname for this lovely child, although I could insert several colorful adjectives. This was the song/mantra he sang as he danced around the deck every few minutes stomping on my toe. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids and of course all of your kids... It's just that kids I am not emotionally attached to do not hold much charm for me. I admit it. Kindergarten teacher would be the last job in the world I would ever consider, EVER!
I would rather shovel manure, thank you. Now mind you, I don't think this child had any actual illness that a little discipline wouldn't cure. He could have been a poster child though, for whatever syndrome is in fashion this week. Pick your acronym, he fit. Charming little guy. So, although I intend to take my Dad on this same cruise during his visit, I will schedule it during the week hoping that the Bleep Bleep kid occasionally goes to school.





As we moved on from George we headed further south and were very quickly greeted by several sets of Humpback Whales. We actually had a hard time deciding which whales to follow. We ultimately settled on a HUGE pair who decided to play with our boat. They would dive down to about 50 feet on the depth finder and then come back up directly under the boat and surface just a few feet off our bough. They did this several times until they tired of us and moved on. Oh and by the way, you do learn something new everyday. Humpback whales have horrendous breath. How do I know this? When they clear their blowholes just feet from you, it becomes very apparent. Don't say you weren't warned! On our way back in we saw two other fairly uncommon mammals for our waters. We were glared at by a very large and not so pretty elephant seal who apparently was not so happy about sharing his ocean with us. We also got to see a Stellar Sea Lion not to be confused with our California Sea Lions. How do I know? Because Captain Noel told us. How can you tell them apart? No earthly idea. Maybe I am the one with attention deficit disorder....

All in all it was a fantastic week with some of our favorite people. Come and see us and we'll show you around too!

Pause for a Commercial Break...

Just a quick note to inform those of you still with me on this blogging journey, that I will continue to be MIA (missing in action....) for most of the next week. My BFF Jen and her Mom are here from Atlanta. We have much to do and not enough time to do it. I am sure history will hold true that a week with Jen will provide ample opportunities for future blog posts. Most likely a few of them will involve one or both of us embarrassing ourselves... I would hope that with five kids between us now, we have left our crazier days behind us, but you just never know what kind of trouble we could get into.

So, please don't abandon me completely, as I do love to tell my stories to a captive audience. I will be back with a vengeance next week. I am sure there will be pictures from our planned whale watching trip as this time I will not have a toddler vomiting on me during all of the prime photo ops.

California Country Style....

Yesterday we discovered the happy surprise that California does have some down-home country. For us born and bred Southerners, as much as we love to travel and see new places, there is always something extremely comforting and even exciting about finding similarities in new places to our beloved KY home. We took a 40 minute drive into "the country" to visit Swank Farms. They host an annual pumpkin patch, corn maze, and Halloween extravaganza. Although, we didn't try it, they had a "corn cannon" that reminded me greatly of a homemade KY potato gun, same theory, different vegetable. The drive through many working farms growing mostly lettuces, strawberries, garlic, and some various fruit trees gives such a different perspective of California than the expected vineyards and highbrow stuff. I have to laugh every time we drive through the agricultural districts at the labor situation. Obviously, living in a place that grows the largest portion of the country's vegetables there are a LOT of migrant workers. Now, I remember seeing the tobacco fields in KY and the cotton fields in OK with row after row of trucks and vans packed to the gills with workers. Oh no, CA doesn't fool with all that. They have official Migrant Worker school buses (painted white and labeled as such, I am not making assumptions). It seems to be a very effective way to get all the labor from field to field quickly and efficiently. The reason I bring it up is that they also have a very efficient way of bringing their facilities with them. Yep, you guessed it. Attached to each school bus is a flatbed trailer hauling no less than 3 port-o-potties. You heard it right folks. No need to worry about who's hiding behind a lettuce head... This does however bring up a good point made by my friend K yesterday. Her beloved hubby E told us last night that her only comment regarding this whole system.."You know, it's really a shame we don't wash our vegetables...." Are you rolling on the floor laughing? Because if you are not, it's because Einstein here can't tell a story properly. If I had been drinking milk when he told me that it would have shot out my nose. However, I was having a Maker's Mark cocktail, and we all know that KY folks do not waste good bourbon. Back to the premise of her statement though, how true is that? So consider this my public service announcement for today's blog. Wash your veggies, and then wash them again, and don't cuss me for making you thinking about it the next time you have a nice big green leafy salad!

Back to the farm, I really was intending to talk about pleasant things like toe-licking goats. Yes, again my friend K, found the only goat in CA with a foot fetish. There is a hilarious pic to prove it, but sadly I don't have a copy. Suffice to say if things were ever to go astray for K and E, there's a goat in Hollister CA ready to step up.

I had to laugh several times at my little city girls. Most of you know that I spent my whole life living in a suburb. However, I have always felt like a country girl at heart due to every weekend of my childhood having been spent on my grandparents' farm. It was a small family farm with no hired labor, just one well-fed, overworked son-in-law (right Dad?) To me growing up, though, it was a huge spread. We had cows, pigs, chickens, guineas, geese an odd assortments of cats and dogs, and even for two summers a male peacock... Don't ask, because I do not know how a farm in Southern IN has a peacock! With the exception of my whole adversity to, oh okay, phobia of snakes (inherited directly from my little farmer Granny) I was truly in heaven on the farm. What's not to love about fishing in the pond, hiking in the woods, climbing in the trees and hog troughs, and on tractors? I never did the whole climbing on the hay bales thing, because you know there are a lot of snakes in barns, something to do with a lot of rats in barns because of a lot of cow feed in barns. You get the drift. Anyway, there was never a dull day on the farm. I loved the dirt and the burrs and the smells and all things rural, except the snakes, I believe you are aware. Now, my girls, oh how funny are they? The goats at this farm, well they were typical goats. If it's standing still they are going to try and taste it. My girls were enthralled, but not quite sure about the whole "getting licked versus getting bit" thing. It's just like M with a bee. If she sees a bee within 30 feet of her location she is convinced that particular bee is on a mission to sting her. Apparently this theory translates to goats as well. She couldn't understand how to hold a hand full of feed to give a goat, and not be actually touched in any way by the goat. This farm had a great solution to this problem. "Fishing for Goats" That's right, you pick up an individual sweet corn stalk and hold it over a fence, and voila immediately you've got a keeper on the line. Until they yank your whole stalk out of your hand and you have to get a new pole! It was very entertaining to say the least.

L liked it best from Dad's taller vantage point....

M got the hang of it pretty quickly...

Eventually goats WILL get out of any pen, and eventually M will warm up to them and jump right in...

The corn maze was also fun for the girls. One minor problem though, corn fields are muddy. Who would have thought? My girls, L especially, are not big fans of muddy. One minor spill, two feet into the maze and the rest of the trip was a chorus of "I'm dirty Mama. Change me Mama." How do you convince a headstrong toddler that the beginning of a muddy corn maze is not the best place to plop down and change because you don't like to be dirty?

Here is our G-rated version of Children of the Corn....

The girls were greatly impressed with a wonderful gadget they had to shuck feed corn. They had two sandboxes full of corn to play in. I could have played all day myself, but darn it someone has to be Mama.

L was also very fond of the chalk house. It was a playhouse with chalkboard walls all waiting to be filled with toddler masterpieces. I am mildly concerned though that developmentally we are currently at a place where introducing her to the theory of murals may not have been prudent. Just yesterday morning, I was cleaning pink marker off my bathroom wall, and this was prior to our trip to the chalk house.... Heaven help me.

Last, but not least, were the bunnies. It's nice to see that some things never change. Before she was even one, L was the one to hold the live bunny in the girls Easter pics because M was having no part of that thing crawling up her arm. L just put a death grip on Thumper and the pics turned out great. I was very concerned the rabbit might be permanently scarred but the photographer assured me she had seen much worse... I am not sure that is really comforting, but you know we must have the good shot. Yesterday's exchange, not so much different. M gently poked one tiny finger at a bunny and she was done. L, well let's just say she tried to lock them all in their refuge (dog carrier) and was going in after them had I not intervened. I may have my own Croc Hunter in the making.

Note the big kid on the OUTSIDE of the bunny pen....

Lastly, this is what you get when a really um, not good, photographer with a really small camera tries to get two toddlers and two kindergartners to "smile pretty for the camera!"

It's good to have friends...

So, I have decided one of the toughest parts of being technically "unemployed" is battling cabin fever. You know, that feeling that the rooms are getting smaller around you and one more episode of Hi5 or one more game of Candy Land will be the one to push you over the edge... I am just not a sitter, or an organizer, or a cleaner, or a knitter. I am a GOer, LOL, that's a word, right? Luckily for me, my girls have inherited this gene. L starts the day with "get me dressed Mama..." and M's first words after "where's my juice?" are always "where are we going today?" We three, are always up for an adventure, no matter how daunting the logistics might seem.

Yesterday, during L's gymnastic class, we learned our new bigger, better Super Target had opened over the weekend. Since we had my friend K and her two girls riding with us, I asked if they were up for some shopping and a McD's Playland lunch? How happy were we to be given the green light? One would think we had been offered a trip to Hawaii. So, off we go, six girls on a mission to check out the newest addition to our vast array of shopping choices. Remember, for the last two years we had to drive to the next state for a Target. We are in heaven. If you could only see us with four small girls, two blonds, two brunettes, all crammed in one of those carts with the diagonal bench seats for two. Those kids are like monkeys or to quote my friend K, "they are freaking Houdinis..." Only twice in 4o minutes did we have to do the "stop and drop." You know it Moms... You can hear 'em, but you cannot quite see 'em and only the view from your belly on the floor will give away the current rack within which they are hiding, and giggling uncontrollably. K, incidentally, would win the gold if the "stop and drop" were an Olympic event. That girl is lightning fast!

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A whole lot of stuff we could not possibly live without later... We were off to McD's. Upon first entering the joint, it looked as if we were in for some drama as the kids were all very excited to be going to lunch, because at McD's you get to have Sprite. For some reason, the chance to drink something carbonated always equates to Christmas-like glee. The fountain machine was not functioning when we arrived and I thought there might be a mutiny. Thankfully, the miracle man got it up and running and the trip was not a loss. Lunch was barely touched, Sprites were drunk, and slides were slid, no tears or blood were shed. All in all, a totally successful meal for two toddlers and two kindergartners.

Today we took it up a notch and went 45 miles to Chuck E. Cheese. Yes, we have one closer, but we like to expand our horizons, and the one closer doesn't have some of my favorite games. I confess, I am a CEC addict. So, off we go, three Moms, five kids and two strollers, all in my new Armada. Have I mentioned how much I love that thing? Once again we had a wonderful time playing, eating, drinking, (Sprite two days in a row, my kids are really living it up) and .... shopping. Did I neglect to mention that this CEC just happens to be in the same shopping center as Old Navy? You can't go all that way and not make a quick shopping expedition. You haven't really lived until you have let loose five kids, age 5 and under, hopped up on Sprite and ice cream in a retail establishment. I am not sure what makes the workers happier, the amount of clearance items we can buy in 30 minutes, or seeing our mass exodus when even we have had enough. Today, my bag beeped the security sensors when we left. They didn't even hesitate to wave me on out. I cannot imagine why they didn't want me to come back in and check for contraband....

Can you see the determination on her face? Can't imagine who that kid belongs to?

This one could spend the whole day with Barney, if only the other kids didn't want to ride....

All jokes aside, as I labeled this entry, it is not only good, but great to have friends. I am very grateful that everywhere we go, we continue to find like-minded folks who are willing to risk the wrath of sales people and risk managers alike, to venture out with us and explore the world, one Chuck E. Cheese and Target at a time.

Wii Mania

So, I know on more than one occasion I have extolled the virtues of our Wii. I really should be getting paid for all of the commercial endorsement. While Granny and Gramps were here, we got them into the act and I do believe we have made some more fans. We boxed and bowled and a great time was had by all.

Last night we were invited to our friends' house for dinner and a Wii-nement. We had wonderful fajitas and a few margaritas, apparently one two many for me, as this morning reminded me that my "partying" days were over long ago for a good reason. We had some great competition and even picked up a few pointers. My friend K has a mean bowling stance... She also has a killer left hook. I was KO'd in the 2nd round. I also was reminded yet again that tennis, in any form, is not my game. So, in spite of being skunked in every game except bowling, and even in that we won't discuss my last game, we had a great evening. The girls had a blast playing until 10pm with their buddies E and K. We left their house a mess and their kitchen empty and we hope we have not been banned from future tourneys... L even brought home one of K's shoes. My family really knows how to show off our social graces...

Today was spent mostly watching our "home" teams. We are very excited that UK knocked off LSU. But, more importantly our CARDS were able to upset Cincinnati... WOOHOOOOO!!!

As a funny side note, L is now the most crazed CARDS fan in our house. Granny and Gramps brought us all new CARDS shirts, pajama pants and new vanity plates for the new car. L insisted on wearing her "birdy shirt" three days in a row and was flat out mad when I insisted it must be washed before wearing it again. That's my girl!

Only one pic to share tonight, M is currently obsessed with all things poodle. Animal fanatic that I am, poodles would probably rank the lowest on my list of desired canines. I actually don't like them at all. My beloved firstborn thinks they are the best thing since chocolate. Go Figure...

For Halloween M will be a Barbie Sock hop girl because it's pink, it's Barbie, and it has a poodle skirt... To quote Seinfeld.... "Serenity now..."

Gosh it's hard....

The hardest part of this wonderful roving life we have chosen is spending such little time with those we love the most. C's parents have come and gone, and it all went by in a flash. It was SO great to see them and SO hard to say goodbye so quickly.

Of course, as always holds true with our clan, we had to have a little drama to prepare for their visit. Apparently C and I are getting a little more insightful and adept at this parenting thing. We are such quick learners, it only took us a few years.... On Saturday afternoon we were in agreement that L was getting a little snotty (high class word for congested). We decided we better take a family trip to the PX to get a new humidifier as the last in a line of about 10 had sprung a leak all over M's carpet. Finally, we have carpet again so you know we had to start spilling things. Anyway, Murphy's Law was of course in full effect now as evidenced by the fact that one of our kids was getting sick less than 12 hours before Granny and Gramps were due to arrive. He (Mr. Murphy) continued to keep his grip when the oh so huge (not ) PX here had two choices of humidifiers. Choice #1 was 14.98 and would likely have lasted us three uses, not to mention it needed an additional $30 of filters and cleaning chemicals... Choice #2 was $59 and could orbit in space, maybe a bit more than we needed for a 9x6 room? SO, off we head to WalMart, C's favorite spot in the universe....I am certain that by now you all get the sarcasm in my tone. Well, a nice middle of the road $30 later, we head home fully confident that with humidity, Vics salve, and Dimetapp we are totally prepared for a rough night of coughing and fussing. All parents of toddlers know that sniffles and snot mean sleeplessness for everyone in the house. No meds or steam or propped up pillows will stop the inevitable. It just makes us feel like we are doing something. A few short hours later we are all tucked in and quiet.

Then the clock read 9:30 and the fun began. In an instant it sounded as if a very large harbor seal (I can identify these like an expert now, because you know, I'm a local...) had occupied my tiny girl's room. The bark she was letting out shook her poor little body like a seizure. She couldn't stop crying, which of course made the coughing a hundred times worse. Her breathing was so bad that her heart was pounding a mile a minute. Of course, all our confidence hours earlier that we had a grip on this thing flew out the window in a cloud of mist (this new machine makes her room look like a rock concert). So, off L and I head to the emergency room. I was confident she was having some sort of asthma attack, 'cause you know I am such a medical expert. By 1:00am we were headed home after a breathing treatment and some steroids to treat ...

CROUP?

Who knew?

Apparently, anyone but us... The good news is that it is viral, will go away, and may not ever return, and M is probably too old to catch it. The bad news is it is viral, can be caught again, and odds are M, because she is my child, will buck the age limit for this thing and catch it anyway.

SO, probably needless to say, we were starting off G and G's visit with a real bang. Happily, they don't care what shape we are in or if we ever leave the house. Our first night's effort to show off all of Monterey's wonderful cuisine? Papa Murphy's pizza, of course. We know how to show folks a good time and paint the town red. Luckily, the daylight hours for L were fine and dandy and we were able to hit a few of the tourist's hot spots in their all too short visit. We showed them how the other less than 1% live on 17 Mile Drive. They also got several good views of our seals and otters. The beach was a bit chilly, but it was sunny in Carmel and it's never too cold for M and L to do some quick digging in the sand.

My in laws are SO great, they even kept M and L on Monday night so C and I could go to dinner by ourselves... Funny side story, we chose Sapporo because we both love Japanese Hibachi places. The only other folks at our grill table you ask? A family of four with 2 girls the exact same ages as ours... They apologized and we laughed. Who really cares when it's someone else's kids? Incidentally, these kids, I think were droids, polite, too cute, quiet, ate with chopsticks, ate zucchini and broccoli and shrimp... Need I go on? C asked the older one where she lived? Her answer "Pebble Beach, CA." There really are no low rent districts in that specific area.... SO, I am choosing to believe that there are a team of nannies and etiquette coaches who prepped these two for this meal out. It couldn't possibly be that I have misstepped somewhere in my parenting. I thought all kindergartners and toddlers thrived on chicken nuggets and cheerios, oh yes, and don't forget celery because L cannot function without it and we all know how many nutrients it adds to the diet.

In a nutshell, LOL (when have I ever been brief) we had a wonderful visit and L is recovering nicely. I always have a couple of days of melancholy after our family leaves. It usually takes me about 48 hours to remember that we LOVE our life of moving around and meeting other great people who feel the same way. This life we chose constantly requires that we take a leap of faith to build a new support system in each new hometown. The fact that we have such a wonderful bond with our "real" families is what makes it possible for us to go out and enjoy making new friendships all over the globe.

Don't they look great?

We are so excited!

Granny and Gramps (my absolutely wonderful in laws) get here today. Well technically, they land an hour up the coast very late tonight. We won't see them until tomorrow morning, but at least it will be very soon. As long as I can remember I have always been unable to contain myself with enthusiasm for upcoming trips, visits, vacations, holidays, parties, meals (had to sneak that one in to see if you were paying attention), you name it. If it is something to look forward to, I will nearly exhaust myself with anticipation. Christmas has always been so exciting for me that literally I have often made myself physically ill by the time the day arrives. My Mom and Dad will vouch for the number of years I spent Dec 25 on the couch, even into adulthood. My kids have definitely fallen into my pattern of uncontainable enthusiasm for the good things to come... M can ask me "hundreds" of times a day, "now, how long until they get here?" They are so thrilled that there beloved Grandparents are coming to see us. One small glitch, L totally does not get that the two sets of grandparents are not one entity. She is totally convinced that they all go together and that Grandma and Papa are on their way too. Lucky for us we get them for a week at Thanksgiving, something else to anticipate with glee...

Some other things we are really excited about right now.

My dear SIL and BIL, B and A, are expecting a new addition to their family in May. We are all very excited to welcome a new cousin/niece (I hope) or nephew.

My BFF Jen and her Mom will be here in a couple more weeks to spend an entire week with us! Woo Hoo!

This next tidbit should fall under the "truth is stranger than fiction" heading. Now, those of you who know me well, know that I love a challenge and am no stranger to hard work. However, an overly clean house has just never really been my thing. That's so an understatement that I laugh out loud as I type it. By the way, you all should know that my typing skills fall even lower on my skill set list than house cleaning... So, this little blog venture REALLY is a labor of love to keep you all so actively posted on our foibles and follies. Now, don't get me wrong, we do not live in filth, and I must have organization. Beyond that though, I can overlook dust with the best of them. I do not collect things, largely because I don't want to take care of them. I like minimal, it soothes me. If there is too much furniture or too many decorations in a room, I get restless. I like to see some open space and yes, even bare walls. Oh the horror... Anyway, sometime ago I did have a point. I think it was that I would not expect my girls to grow up to be neat freaks, unless it skips a generation. I can honestly say I never made my bed until C and I bought our first home.

Here's why I rambled into all of this...

Each week M's class compiles a "Kinder Cronicle" (no, I do not know why it is spelled that way, and honestly I am afraid to ask...) This is a great little newsletter of tidbits from the week. This week their reading stories were about families. Mrs. S always includes a couple of quotes from the kids. They feel like rock stars to be in print and we get one more thing to shove in a box for that baby book I am going to compile one day....

Here is M's exact quote about our family...

"Sometimes my family works. We clean up and put things where they go."

Now doesn't that just warm your heart. I am SO not sure how to take this. I am torn between wondering if people think she mentioned it because it's a total novelty for us, or whether they think, now that's a family who really knows how to live it up!

It did make me laugh. I guess I am a little crazy about the picking up part. The smaller our homes get, the harder it is to keep that little bit of open space I mentioned needing. So, we do have an ongoing family pitch in time to keep Mama sane, but really is that so bad? And seriously folks, my obsession is only surface deep. If it can be shoved in a box, basket or bin, I am all good... If you choose to open my closet doors or inspect said bins, do so at your own risk, because definitely for me, out of sight is out of mind.

Some other odd news from this week, Karma is out to get me. I mentioned to C that my Mom liked the pic of L "digging for gold" that I posted the other day. He thought maybe it was over the top and a mom should not ridicule her children... what else are they for if we can't use a few random things to pay them back occasionally. Anyway, he said, funny you should mention that because she came to me saying Dad I have something in my mouth (spitting at him, of course). Needless to say, what he fished out could have come from the aforementioned pic. We are so proud.

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I thought I should leave you with a better visual, so here are the girls playing with their new friends this week....

Everyone have a great week and please forgive me if the entries are scarce while we have fun with family!

Lunchtime Fun

I have a lifelong BAD habit of fast eating, not to mention rapid talking, walking, etc. My Mom is convinced that this vice originated with the minimal amount of time we were allowed for lunch in my elementary school. Often, by the time you had your lunch and were seated, there would be less than 10 minutes left before you had to line up for recess. Never one to skip a meal, I would gobble and go. In recent years (since M's birth) this habit has proved all the more detrimental as mean old Mother Nature (and Father Time...) played some very dirty tricks on my metabolism and shape. So, when M entered school, I was seriously hoping this would not start a pattern for her. Now, in all honesty, M's pace at everything is not exactly what you would call speedy. I like to tell myself she is a methodical thinker like C. Otherwise, the snail's pace would drive me a wee bit mad...

Today, I had a light bulb moment about those rapid school lunches. Wednesday is my day to be the class lunch helper. Wednesday is also "Pizza Day", as such there are a substantial number of hot lunch versus sack lunch kids. My job includes escorting the class from the classroom to the cafeteria and anything else they need until I escort them to the playground for recess. Piece of cake, right? After six weeks of doing this, I just figured out that 20+ kindergartners can finish all the eating they are going to do in about 10 minutes flat. Obviously my thought process is not always so quick either. Sadly that never slows down my speech, but that's another blog that will be titled "Open Mouth, Insert Foot." So, anytime beyond the aforementioned 10 minutes is just used for touching, poking, tickling, standing on the benches and yelling at your sister's best friend as she enters the cafeteria. Oh, and don't forget the sudden onset of multiple bathroom emergencies. Now don't get me wrong, these kids are actually a fantastically well-behaved and respectful group. It's just that beyond that 10 minutes all they can think about is recess. You remember they only get 3 such recesses a day, so their social time is severely cramped...

So, I think my point is that I can finally let my dear old catholic elementary school off the hook. It appears that even if I had my full 20 minutes to eat, I would only have wolfed it all down in 10. Heaven knows I had a very busy social schedule to adhere to. Just ask Sister A who spent a whole year telling my parents I was a gifted student who just talked WAY too much. GO FIGURE!

Now, on a totally unrelated thought, I just got back from M's ballet lesson. I fear those of you that peruse the pages of Glamour may see me in an issue soon. You remember that section in the back with the black bars over the faces of real people on the street caught sporting a fashion "don't", apparently I now fit the bill. I decided that the best way to spend my hour each week in Carmel was to push L up and down all the hilly streets in her jogging stroller. It's really a nice cardio workout... However, I am afraid my UofL t-shirt from my actual college days (remember those were quite a few years ago...) and my black jogging shorts do not pass the required dress code. You know that feeling when someone turns to look at you and you're quite sure it's not because they are wishing to ask for your stylist's name? I could have actually counted those looks today. I must admit rather than dampening my spirits, it made me more determined to come up with a similarly fab getup for next week. Sometimes I crack myself up. It seems usually these are the times no one else gets the joke, except for all of you of course. It's good to know I am among friends here in cyberspace. Otherwise, I might have to go shopping.

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Finally, some more older unrelated shots, just because....

Can't you see why we are so proud?

She may not be fast, but she gave her all in soccer....

They just sit like this nicely, all the time....NOT!

Can you blame me for taking so many pictures? Look how sweet my family is...

Have a great night!

Just a quick note...

It seems we are getting back to our regular routine of too much to do and too little time. So, if the blogs are a little less frequent please forgive me... still plenty to tell, just less time to type.



Saturday C had a golf outing with some of the other new students here in his program. It wasn't Pebble Beach, but they had a good time in Salinas and got to see a free air show to boot. The girls and I had a fun morning of shoe shopping and a field trip to Petsmart... On Saturdays they have the obedience classes and the girls love seeing all the rambunctious puppies.



I was eyeing the bird section... No, I do not want another body to feed and care for. I overheard M's teacher this week speaking with another parent about the possibility of adding a snake to her classroom zoo. As you all know, snakes and me, not so much. Absolutely not, and oh he** NO! She did say she was concerned about finding something that doesn't have to be fed it's dinner live.... Can you say really yuck? Besides, poor Mimi, the classroom mouse, would be living in constant fear, as if daily handling by 22 kindergartners is not cause for fear enough. SO, my master plan is just a tiny bit duplicitous. I figure I can offer a bribe of providing the class with a bird and all of its necessities in lieu of said slithery creature. Here's hoping...

If this plan doesn't work, I will survive. I am actually thrilled that thanks to Ms. S, M is now requesting that I help her catch bugs... She has broadened our horizons tremendously in an amazingly short time. What more could you ask from a teacher? So, if they get a legless reptile and M wants to handle it, I will cheer (from a great distance)! However, the first time "Slimy" (I know already, they're not really) gets out, and you know with 22 kindergartners handling him, he will... I will no longer be volunteering in the classroom until he is located and put back in captivity. I do have my limits, and fishing a snake out of a cubby is WAY outside them.



Well, I am off to Bunko... don't even remember how to play... but it's adults only so I'll wing it.



Here are a couple of pics...

These first two shots show off our Halloween spirit... There's still about two more feet of unadorned space, so we may not be done yet...

This was the girls on our way to Petsmart on Saturday. A couple of keepers for sure.

Ever since M could first run we have had a family game call the "PINYA". This involves a small child running and throwing themselves at you at a full speed (and full contact...) tackle as you sit on the floor. Often this comes with no warning. You eventually develop a heightened sense of awareness anytime you choose the floor as your chair of choice! Well, M is obviously not so little anymore, and she has recruited L into the act so,

Voila...

Hope everyone has a great day!