Weekend Away-Clear Lake, CA

Ryan gets a few more Holidays off with his new company and we decided to take advantage of MLK day and have some good family time! It isn’t often that we get to stay in a hotel and we were all looking forward to it.
We started out early Sat. morning to get to the Petrified Forest by 11 for the walking tour. It was a bit close, but we made it and we are so very glad we had a guide to give us all kinds of information that we wouldn’t have otherwise known. At first glance, you would have thought the trees were regular trees, but upon closer inspection, they were rocks! She explained how it happened with the ash, water and perfect climate, but I still can’t quite comprehend how a tree can turn into rock, with such detail (you could see the bark and knots from where branches grew). These trees just happened to be 3.5 million years old. They were very cold and heavy and the kids were pretty amazed. We took a path up to the meadow where we saw an ash mound and the kids found ash rock and petrified wood. Of course Reggie wanted to keep it and is getting a bit more confident and went right to the guide to ask if he could keep it and reluctantly she agreed. Those are the kind of things that make Reggie REALLY happy.

From there we headed to California’s Old Faithful Geyser. None of us had ever seen a Geyser before and it was quite spectacular. Again, seems like the environment needs to be perfect for this type of natural phenomenon. It went off about every 15 minutes, so we got to see it a few times. They also had a little Bamboo trail and Reggie found a Bamboo lightsaber and couldn’t have been happier.
After that, it was time to go to the hotel. We punched in the address and followed the GPS instructions. Sometimes, I think it is a good idea to have an idea of where you are going or to have a back-up map. It told us to turn onto a very narrow, windy road, so narrow it wasn’t meant for 2 cars. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, going nowhere, but 4 super long miles later we saw the highway and I was so happy! When we pulled onto the highway, the GPS picture was just too funny not to take a picture. I have never seen a road look more windy and we were all cracking up (not to mention I high centered the car trying to get off that crazy road). Thankfully, we made it to the hotel without anyone getting sick.

We checked out the place and the kids wanted to go for a swim. Ryan went with them….I put my feet in the hot tub. The weather warmed up to about 65 during our adventures, but Clear Lake was not quite so warm (in the upper 40’s). The next morning we woke up and went for another swim. The water was actually very nice and we went back and forth from the pool to the hot tub. Ainsley took her training vest off and swam the width of the pool!!! She has to work on her stamina a bit, but it is nice to know that both the kids can swim. Once she has her mind set on something, she is quite determined to perfect it. They had a kiddie pool that was one foot deep that was a little warmer than the big pool and she would practice and practice swimming (the tops of her feet were red from smacking the bottom). The kids were a bit grumpy after our swim, Reggie hungry and Ainsley tired. She fell asleep on the way to our nature walk destination. It was cold, but nice to get out and see the lake and some nature. The next morning, we swam again and then made the 3 hour trek home. Ainsley slept at least 2 ½ hours!

Ryan playing in the pool... Clear Lake is the biggest fresh water lake in California, with over 100 miles of shoreline. Feeding the ducks from our room!

Enjoying the hot tub.

Christmas break

Santa pic courtesy of Southwest Airlines! How great that we got our pictures at the airport for free :o). The kids were counting down the days and were so very excited for our trip. They had some fun classroom parties on Friday and we pulled Reggie out of school a bit early to go to the airport. Ainsley had been complaining of a sore throat the day before, but seemed to be o.k. until we got to the airport, complaining of a stomach ache and her throat. Ryan bought some Ibuprofin (since it was all packed) and she seemed to be o.k. There was a bit of turbulence on the plane and both the kids were complaining of their ears hurting, which has never happened. As soon as we landed we rushed to grab our bags and meet Aunt Pam. Ainsley had to go to the bathroom and they were in there forever. When they came out, Ryan said she tried to throw up! GREAT! So, I called Aunt Pam to see if she had a barf bag in her car and she said she’d work on that. Ryan headed out to the car, while I got the bags. Just as they could see the car, Ainsley said she had to throw up. She held it back and as Ryan was telling Aunt Pam to get the bag, she turned around with it and Ainsley threw up. I’m sure she was so happy to see us! She wasn’t feeling all that well either and I’m sure that didn’t help. We got loaded up and headed to the lake, Ainsley throwing up most of the way. She was also starting to get warm and her fever was at least 103 in the middle of the night. I called her doctor and she said strep was going around, so we took her in and sure enough she was VERY positive. Unfortunately, the earliest appt. was at 4, so she was miserable all day, but thankfully, it was strep and not the flu because she was better the next day! She did miss cookie day and the Children’s Museum (Grandpa and Wade took the kids while we were busy in the kitchen). We baked and baked….ginger snaps, butter cookies, shortbread, almond cookies, etc. It was a long day of baking and tasting. I’m glad we only do it once a year because I would have problems fitting into my clothes!

Monday, we went to get Santa pictures and eat at the Spaghetti Factory. We have to hit our favorites when we visit :o). Ryan worked the first week, so we hung out with grandma, grandpa and the Rinehardt’s and didn’t do too much. The medication was bothering Ainsley’s stomach, so she wasn’t her usual self. We did visit the Warm Beach Christmas Lights. Lots and lots of lights, decorations, festivities and fresh, warm donuts. It was fun, but cold. Spencer was absolutely fascinated by the train and the girls got up on stage and sang and dance in a little show.

The next day, we had a sleepover at Liha and Wade’s, although I’m not sure that anyone slept much. Seemed like someone was up all the time. It would have been fun to have one of those delayed cameras to see all the foot traffic and who went where in the middle of the night. The next day they went to a jump place, while I met up with Ryan to drop his rental car and check on the Kirkland house. They had a lot of outside play time in the yard and it was freezing. I guess when you are having fun, you don’t notice.
The second day that Ryan had the car my dad noticed that there was a dent along the entire front driver side door, along with a big black stripe. Someone had hit the car while it was parked at the Lynwood mall during the Christmas shopping craziness. How could someone hit and run and not even leave a note?? So Ryan filed an online police report, called his boss to let him know what had happened and dreaded explaining this to the rental car company and his own company as he declined all of the coverages when he rented the car. He returned the car and explained what had happened and it seemed everything would be taken care of. A half an hour after he left he received a call from the rental company explaining that the car had already been damaged prior to him renting it and not to worry as they weren’t going to report anything as it didn’t happen under his watch. Relieved, although frustrated that he had to worry about it all week, everything worked out. It’s a good lesson learned to always walk around the rental car before you drive off the lot.
Christmas Eve came quick and we went over to Kim and Shane’s for an awesome dinner and good company. It was good to see everyone and get caught up. The kids were with grandma all night and were happy to have Lemon Lush and then a second desert of ice cream, thanks to Aunt Kim! Ainsley got her DS from grandma and was very excited about that (now she can be just like her big brother!). I guess that’s what the holidays are all about :o).

Reggie hates his hair spiked and we bribed him to let us take a picture.

Christmas morning was early, as usual. The kids crawled in bed with grandma and grandpa every morning between 5:30 and 6:30, but I think deep down they enjoyed it. I’m sure they had some sleep to catch up on when we left. Ryan and I were very well rested-thank you!!! The kids opened their presents and then we just chilled for a bit until the Rinehart’s came. Then, we had round two of presents. Had a little more chill time until all the relatives arrived. Ryan and Ainsley had fun trying out Just Dance For Kids on the Wii. It was busy and loud, with lots of kids, but wine always helps keep the adults happy :o). All the girls were hanging out together and it was pretty cute, until Maggie said there was something on the bathroom floor. Cadia had thrown up all over and had caught the stomach flu that Aunt Jana and Charlie had. This cut the party short for them and it was a bummer they had to go. My cousin Mike flew in from Florida and missed all the fun, but we got to hang out and it was fun to finally meet Daffney and their son Shawn.

You know you're a mom when you cry over a new washer/dryer! Enjoy them...

Cute picture, but terrible shirts!

So fun cleaning up puke!

We did all kinds of rainy day activities, due to the fact that it rained 8 inches the last week we were there….we could actually see the lake water rising! We decorated and ate cookies, built foam Christmas houses, Wii dancing and Reggie and grandma built a cardboard castle and an erector bicycle (this was a few hour project with Ryan and Grandma-not exactly for an 8 year old, even though that is what the box said).

Ryan went skiing with Anthony and Eric (a California friend who was also visiting family) and got rained on all day. It did not sounds like much fun. The kids spent a good part of the day with grandma Peggy. They went to Chuck E. Cheese, McDonald’s and then played at the Big Lake gym. They had a blast-Grandma Peggy needs to get a camera so we can see all the fun they had! While they were having all their fun, I was returning and shopping with dad.

It was another great trip with lots of fun memories, so thanks to my family for putting up with us!

Opening our goodies at home:

Reggie was very excited about his pop-up book.

Enjoying her hula hoop from Reggie.

Interesting Arrival...

We arrived at the airport to head back to California fairly early because we didn’t know what Friday traffic would be like through downtown Seattle. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8:20PM and we got to the airport around 6. When we were checking our bags, the attendant told us our flight was 2 hours delayed. My mind was going to a very ugly place….10 o’clock flight, arrival at midnight and home after 12:30 with 2 kids who don’t sleep in regardless of when they go to bed, 6:30 wake up at the latest. She recommended we fly standby on the 6:50 flight (it was 6:20 at this point), but she wasn’t sure our bags would make it. We raced out of there to get through security and Ryan was lagging behind, so I told him we would meet him at the gate. Just as I was rounding the corner, I heard, stand-by party of 4, WADE, so I ran to the counter, but Ryan had the tickets (it is 6:40) she needed. So, I went out and was flagging him down and he was just walking as slow as could be, not paying any attention. He finally got there and we walked right on. He was so confused, asking me why we were boarding so early…it was only 5:40. A nice gentleman corrected him, letting him know it was 6:40! We got the last 2 sets of seats together and had a nice surprise when we arrived in Oakland…I have never been so happy to see our bags :o). Only God could have pulled that together for us!!!
The next morning Ainsley woke us up bright and early at 4 a.m. (she is going through something right now and we are very tired and unsure how to fix her fear) and I smelled burning paper. Ryan explored, but we assumed it was coming from outside. When we got up that morning, it was pretty cold, the thermostat said 63 and the heat had been on for hours. The furnace was toast and it was a holiday weekend. Someone finally made it out on Sunday, but couldn’t fix it without parts. The kids didn’t seem to notice, but we were freezing. The house was down to 58 on Monday and we went over to the Wiliams to get warm. I’m glad it was pretty warm outside, otherwise, it would have been really painful.
Our sleep situation didn’t get better for me because on Sat. night I heard a critter under our bed. Ainsley and Ryan were snoring, so it was hard for me to tell if I was hearing things, but once you’ve heard a little mouse, it is pretty unmistakable. Ryan had just cleaned Panda’s cage, so I was hoping he got out somehow. When I got out of bed and looked, his cage door was open and he was nowhere to be found. I shut all the doors in our bedroom and put some food in a bowl to entice him. I laid patiently and finally, after about 15 minutes, he knocked over the bowl. I jumped out of bed, but could tell he was heading back under, so I grabbed Ryan’s leg and told him not to move or talk and proceeded to tell him that Panda was right next to the bed and to reach down and grab him. It was too late, he got away. It wasn’t too much longer before he came out again and Ryan snatched him up. An hour and a half later, I was finally back to sleep.
Monday night was great, we had heat, Ainsley was dead tired from gymnastics, so slept the full night in her own bed and we were back in our routine. The kids have been happy to be back in school and see their friends and I have enjoyed catching up with friends. Tomorrow Khalif comes for a visit, so that will be lots of fun for sure :o).

Lights of San Francisco
Last Sunday we headed to San Francisco to tour the city and see some Christmas lights on a cable car. This was highly recommended by some friends, so we met the Williams and headed to San Fran. We were going to have an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, but it was really busy and the wait was 2 hours! Seemed strange since it wasn’t even dinner time (3:30). It was crazy busy in the city, people and cars everywhere and we were quickly reminded why we don’t live in the city and hardy ever make the trip! I guess it is fun once in awhile. We managed to get a quick bite at a burger place and barely made it to the bus on time. It was a cold evening and much of the seating was outside, so it was good we bundled up and brought blankets. The girls were screaming every time we went down a hill and were really enjoying themselves. They were playing Christmas music and there were lots of lights for the first 10 minutes. Then, our driver must have gotten lost because it became a tour of San Francisco without any lights to see and it wasn’t even a very interesting tour, especially for children. Reggie kept asking where the lights were and after about the first 25 minutes the kids were bored. Thankfully, about an hour in, we got to stop at the Fairmont Hotel to see the biggest Gingerbread house in the US. We walked right through it and Laura didn’t even realize it. So much for that! The tour was about an hour and a half and we were ready to go find some hot chocolate. It was 7:30 and Starbucks was packed. We had a nice view of the ice rink and lights and the kids enjoyed their cookies and cocoa.

Poor Reggie....surrounded by girls. Someday, he'll love it!

Christmas Performance
Ainsley had her Christmas performance tonight and what a difference a year makes!!! No more Agnes face link!!! She actually sung the songs, did the sign language and was really enjoying herself and it was so fun to watch.

Last year...Agnes:

This year:

We found out a couple days ago that Ainsley was invited to pre-team. She is very excited about it and loves learning new stuff. She had only 1 other child in her class today and the teacher did all kinds of new things with them and she had the biggest grin on her face. Here she is practicing her round off (that she taught herself) and split jump. Click link to see video: http://arrtwade.blogspot.com/.

Everyone is very excited to head to Washington....only 2 days left....the kids have been counting down for a couple weeks! We will see many of you very soon....

Gymnastics Program

Last Sat. was Ainsley’s gymnastics performance. They have been practicing a routine for several weeks and she did awesome. Ryan got so caught up in watching that he forgot to record…oh well. I’m sure she will want to be in a performance again. For as quiet and reserved as she is, she absolutely loves it! They gave her a medal and she is telling everyone that she won :o). They had a surprise guest, Carly Patterson, the 2004 Olympic all-around champion. She was promoting the Olympic trials next year in San Jose, which we are planning on going to!!!

Ainsley tried out for pre-team last Wed. and skill wise, she is right on target. Her attention span and listening skills might need to mature a bit as she was watching the older girls and had to be prompted at least once to do what she needed. We’ll find out next week if she made it and what the commitment is.

New car
I’ve been thinking about upgrading for quite some time….my car was getting up there in miles and I’ve been wanting an 8 seater. When you start looking, you are bound to find something! Ryan drove a 2005 Odyssey with 5500 miles and loved it. He said it was basically brand new, but the price was too high. He walked, but they called us back a few days later and we came to an agreement! He was right…it is so nice. We’ve never spent that much on a car, but it was worth it! This morning Ryan had his men’s breakfast at church and I heard my car start….he was stealing my minivan!!! It is fun to drive :o).
Poor guy isn’t enjoying his Prius at all. After the first of the year, we’ll work on that. He has driven several cars and it looks like he’s settled on a Nissan Altima Hybrid.
We sold my car on Craigslist in a couple days. The guy picked it up the same day ours got delivered :o). People are super interested in low mileage (which it had for its age), which is a good confirmation for the car we just bought. It was a bit stressful with Ryan working and me having to do the paperwork and go to the bank and juggle the kids. Thank God for friends!

Birthday Party
Reggie’s party was on Sat. and it went really well. Glad we had the new Honda because we had 6 kids! We went to see Arthur Christmas and then out for ice cream. The movie was really cute and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was the most low stress party we’ve ever had. 5 boys was a little much, but thankfully, they were pretty well-behaved, just a little loud!
Reggie and Colin:

Ainsley enjoying all the boys! We're gonna be in trouble...... Reggie and Tyler

8!!!

Our little Reggie is not so little anymore. 8 years old….sounds weird to say we have an eight year old. Wasn’t he 4 just the other day??? He had a very happy birthday week. The presents started the week of Thanksgiving when the Wade’s were here and will continue into next week at his Birthday party. We went to his favorite birthday place, Red Robin where he opened his Nintendo DS and games. Let’s just say, we haven’t seen the whites of his eyes in awhile. To our surprise, little Ainsley wants a DS and has been causing quite the stink. Life lessons of a 5 year old.

Reggie lives for toys and has been thinking about them in class, at night and up at 5 a.m. to play with his new Beyblades and DS. His best friend, Colin, is the exact same way…they just chatter back and forth about this toy and that toy. I wonder at what age that will change. For now, I guess it is good he still wants to be a kid.

The actual morning of his Birthday, Ryan gave him a treasure hunt. This has become a yearly tradition and Reggie remembered from last year and asked for it again. So, he went through my stash of presents and found some small gifts and then Ryan stayed home from work that morning to make him some pancakes. Lots of gifts, good food, and early mornings last week during Reggie's B-day week.

The Things we Love about Reggie:

His loving and caring heart

His Love for his Grandparents

His smile with that one tooth

His persistency

His calm Spirit

His creative mind

His playful heart and soul

His love for his Mommy, Daddy, and Sister

His love for life

Favorite toy: Nintendo DS

Favorite food: Mac n' cheese and ice cream

Favorite movie: Star Wars

Favorite place to visit: Grandma and Grandpa's house

Favorite animal: Blue Whale

Favorite subject in school: Science

Favorite sport: Swimming!

Favorite friend: Colin

Favorite car: Camaro (because of Bumblebee)

Reggie's stats: Height-53 inches (size 8-10 clothes) Weight-64 lbs (solid muscle!) Shoe size-2 (small feet for his size).

*Something we learned about Reggie this year is that he is severly color blind.

Visit from the Wade's and Thanksgiving!

Wow what a flash and what a great time we had with my family. For the first time, both Dustin and Anthony came down with my Mom to visit us. And what better time than Thanksgiving. The trip started with me picking them up at the airport Wednesday night at midnight (who in the world booked that flight – oh wait it was me – Shoot)! It was great to see them. After hugs and a quick update we all hit the sack only to wake up early Thursday morning to put on the coffee and prep the bird for the oven. The kids we’re so excited to see Grandma and their Uncles. Although Ainsley was a little hesitant, she tends to get that way when new faces come around that she hasn’t seen in a while. She loved all the attention and finally came around and warmed up. Anyway, we got everything lined up and before I knew it Grandma Peggy had already given out gifts to the children that she had brought with her. Good thing is that they were books.
After getting organized in the kitchen, we moved onto the next project, THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! It has become a tradition (starting last year) to have my brothers come down during Thanksgiving and during their visit hang my Christmas lights. I get the lights out and act as a general contractor showing them where to hang them. All kidding aside it’s a big help to me and they do a great job! Thanks to my Bros… After we finished hanging the Xmas lights (only one trip to Wal-Mart as we had some burn outs) we headed into the house to get warm and to prime the stomach pump to prepare ourselves for a great meal.

Trina, Ainsley, and my Mom decided to make their own run to Wal-Mart to pick up some loose ends while we patiently waited by the turkey basting it every 45 minutes. Well of course they ran long and I was scrambling in the kitchen trying to get everything else ready like the mash potatoes, and vegetables. Thank God for Dustin. My man helped me pull the bird out of the oven drain the juices into the pot for the gravy, and started to carve that bad boy while I whipped up the potatoes, got the green beans ready and put the croissants in the oven along with the apple crisp. Of course, Trina and mom walk in just as everything is ready to go other than the gravy (mom whipped that up in minutes) and we sat down and KILLED IT!!! We all got our fill, hung out and watched some football. Later that night, Trina, Anthony and mom went to Black Friday at Walmart. They left at 9 and came home at 10:30 with nothing. A few years ago Trina went at 4 in the morning and didn’t get anything on the list, so I wasn’t too surprised. They were telling us all about how crazy it was with wall to wall people and finally spilled the beans that they got everything on the list! Losers!
Friday came fast and we planned a trip to Six Flags. What a beautiful setting and the weather although a little chilly was great. They had the park all decked out in Xmas stuff and they were singing Christmas carols when we arrived. At Six Flags we (Trina and I), along with my brothers, went on the Medusa (crazy ass rollercoaster with serious GForce and cork screws upside down turns). Needless to say my stomach was doing hoolahoops around my ass for a while there after, but I came around. We saw the Bengal tiger show along with the dolphin show, and last but surely not least, the sea lion show (which was very fun and festive). We ended up staying until 7PM which was pushing the kids’ bed time, so we had to scram as we had an hour drive ahead of us to get back home. One of the funniest moments as we were leaving the park was when we tried to get a family picture taken of all of us from a local worker. Trina kept asking the guy to take different angles, close shots to get the perfect picture and you could tell the guy was starting to get a little irritated. My brother flew off the handle and ran away with Ainsley as he couldn’t take it anymore. We all thought it was kind of funny. The kids had a ball riding on one ride with my brothers and it was just great to hang out with them.

We started out Saturday by celebrating Reggie’s early birthday and let him open his gifts so that he would be able to play with them throughout the day. The erector set was a hit as was the Ninjago, and Bionicles.

After that, I had planned a golf day with my brothers, so we headed to Dublin Ranch. But, before we could go we had to stop by my friend Eric’s house to borrow his clubs for Dustin to use. Well, after getting there, we decided to hit some balls prior to tee off. It only took 3 swings for Dustin to turn to me a say the driver that we borrowed was toast. Big man blew up my friends stick and he felt terrible. Needless to say, we still had a great time and golfed with a stranger named Chuck (old guy from Long Island). It was the first time that I can remember having an outing with just with my bros all alone and it was great! I enjoyed hanging out with them and heckling them on the course. The great thing was that I tied my brother Anthony with an 84 which is a big deal as Anthony is close to being a golf pro. Dustin wasn’t too far behind with an 89. Everyone shot the ball pretty well, but the greens we’re enormous and hilly. Trina, my mom and the kids hit a movie (Muppets) while we were gone and enjoyed their popcorn. After we got back we went to Sweet Tomatoes to celebrate Reggie’s birthday and my mom made him one of his favorite deserts (Lemon Lush). We closed the night watching my Cougs get killed by those bastard huskies (we fired our coach today so I’m happy) and called it a night. I had to drive my family to the airport Sunday morning to catch a 6:30AM flight. It was all good until I dropped them with 1 and a half hours until their flight and saw the security line out the door and down the side of the building. I didn’t think they were going to make it but they did just in the nick of time as they were boarding the plane when they got to the gate. All in all it was a fun action pack time that went fast. Funny story…. when my mom got back to SEATAC she forgot my advice that I gave her in writing down the parking location of her car, so they had to search from floors 4-8 before finally finding it and had some laughs during that time as mom almost peed her pants.
Word of the week “HE MURDERED THAT” (this references someone that has a black car that puts black rims on it which is called murdered).

This and That

Feller’s Cake Bake
Cub scouts does a cake bake every year to raise a little money and get the guys cookin’. Mom’s are not allowed to help (although I think there were a few rule breakers!). Ryan and I were brainstorming different ideas and landed on a cake egg. As he was making the cake I was trying to figure out what to put it on and saw the griddle. He was going to do one big egg, but decided to do 2 smaller ones. I think it turned out pretty good! They won the prize for funniest cake:

Shortly after my parents left, we had K over for a visit and that was lots of fun. The kids had a blast and he got to play with his buddy Fia (Sophia). He has adjusted to life with his Aunt and is doing really well. After we dropped him off, I surprised the kids and took them to the pet store. They have been working hard to earn a Hamster and although they weren’t quite there, I decided it was time. When we got there, I stuck my finger up to the cage and the Hamster bit me and drew blood. The kids were a little freaked out, but I told them we weren’t going to get that one! Ainsley had the most points, so she got to pick out the Hamster and name him. Panda has been a great Hamster, hasn’t bitten anyone yet. He escaped the second day because Ainsley forgot to lock the cage. Thankfully, Ryan rounded the corner as he was making his escape. He’s managed to get out of the ball a few times, but doesn’t run away, so we’ve been lucky and now are very careful about locking the ball. He is very low maintenance and I actually enjoy the little guy :o).

We’ve all been battling a cold the last week and a half. Ainsley woke up with it the morning of her princess tea with Kayla, Dani and Sophia. She crashed that afternoon and we were stuck home the next few days which was good because we didn’t have school anyway. Ryan has a hard time with that, so he pulled out the Christmas tree on Sunday and the kids went to town. She was feeling better by Tues. and since we didn’t have school, we went to the Jelly Belly Factory on Wed. That place was crazy busy, but fun as usual.