Staycation

We were going to try to use our timeshare for the 3 day weekend, but nothing was available, so we decided to have a vacation at home!
We started a yard project Friday night and had it finished Saturday morning and everyone is very excited about our new space.  So much friendlier and usable!  It was a surprisingly quick and easy project.  Reggie was pushing us to start and helping us all along the way.  He put together the lawn furniture and when we were picking up Ainsley from gymnastics, he moved it all and somehow got the firepit in place as well.  He really likes to create things and every chance he had, he was out enjoying the space this weekend (it is too hot now).  We are doing the other side of the yard in a couple weeks and that will be a bit more challenging.

We started out the day at the pool at our gym.  Ryan taught the kids how to do a suicide...Khalif was the only one who really figured it out as you can see from the video below.

Then we had movie night, roasted marshmallows and had s'mores and the kids had a camp out on the new turf.  Khalif was so excited....it was his first time camping!  I should feel bad about that, but, honestly, we are not campers.  So, if the kids want to camp, the yard is a great place for all parties involved.  Especially since Ainsley came in around 10:30 and Reggie and Khalif around 2:30 (Khalif would have made it through the night, but Reggie didn't want to leave him out there alone, so he woke him up).

 We also had a little water spraying action on the trampoline.  We haven't been able to do that for a couple years because of the drought, so they were very excited :o).

Rugged Maniac

We signed up for it again this year and it was an interesting race.  The temperature was much cooler than last year and one of our first obstacles was a water pit, so it took awhile to warm up, but we had a pretty good pace going until the rings (the bottom video below).  Ryan's shoulder came out of the socket and he was in a lot of pain.  I told him to stop, but he kept going and had to use his shoulder on several more obstacles.  It has been a week and a half and it is still bothering him, so he has an appointment with an orthopedic next week.  Reggie came with us this year and was our photographer and did a great job capturing videos and pictures!  We are going to try to find one for the kids to do since they think it would be fun (except for Khalif who didn't think it would be fun!)

Braces off!

This is one happy girl!

Mexican cruise!

We did a 4 night Carnival cruise that left out of Long Beach, stopped at Catalina Island and Ensenada.  It has been a very long time (almost 4 years) since we did a family trip, other than to Washington and everyone was excited!  We stayed at the Worldmark Anaheim the night before and the kids had a blast swimming in the pool.  We were very happy to be staying there since they have a washer and dryer and on the trip down, Reggie and Khalif were doing Pokemon cards and Khalif gave us a 10 second notice that he was going to throw up.  Needless to say, the barf bag didn't make it back to him in time.  We were in Ryan's work car, so he was not prepared for these types of problems and there was nothing but a few napkins to clean it up.  But, God provided and old dirty rag on the side of the road that helped get most of the puke out.  He also provided cleaner when we got to our room.  For some reason, they forgot their commercial cleaner spray bottle and Ryan took full advantage by cleaning his car with it.  The car is as good as new!
Diving for quarters at the hotel....he has become quite the swimmer.

The next day we set out to get on the boat.  The kids were really surprised at how big it was.  They thought our teeny, tiny room was the coolest thing ever, especially when the beds were down.  Reggie could've stayed in the room the whole time!  But, there was lots to eat and do, so we ventured out. The Williams were in the next room, so it was even more fun for the kids.   They spent a lot of time going down the big water slide the first couple days (while it was still warm).  It was REALLY fast on your back and Reggie was hooked.  The little ones and girls just loved to sit in the hot tub.  Really, it was a warm tub, meant for kids.  I don't know how much ice cream, french fries and chocolate chip cookies we all ingested, but it was a lot and the kids were happy!  We got off in Catalina to explore and rented a golf cart to tour the island.  We didn't have much time, so we were moving fast (as fast as a golf cart can go) and I think the kids were a little frightened, especially when Ryan told them we had no brakes!  The road was windy and went very high with no guard rails in many spots.

We played mini golf, corn hole, "checkers", visited the game room and played all kinds of board games and Ainsley and Daniella crafted a bit.  We went to a "fabulous" magic show that everyone said you just couldn't miss and we couldn't stop laughing, not because of the magician, but because we met a 14 year old girl who was a riot with the dynamics of our group.  The magic show was a bust which made it even more funny.  We laughed a lot at the comic show we stumbled across and I don't think Reggie and Ainsley got all of it, but they sure thought he was funny!  We checked the kids into kids club one day and they weren't big fans, so it was good it was a short time, but we kinda wanted to try a little of everything.  Even the formal dinner.  They had a kids menu, so it was o.k. for them, but we were all less than impressed.  The buffets seemed to be just as good and I was happy as a clam with my Mongolian :o).
Going down the little water slide:

 Look at that form and Laura rooting him on....too bad they lost to me and Reggie!

 You can have all kinds of fun with towels!

I almost forgot our stop in Ensenada.  Thankfully, the little ones chose to stay on the boat in the kids club, so we had 2 less to keep track of.  Laura had a little talk with the kids about staying close, so they didn't get taken and sold, so my kids were a little freaked out to start.  It didn't help when everyone was in our faces trying to sell stuff and the little, dirty children trying to sell us chicklets. Once store owner was even commenting on all of our eye color (which was part of Laura's talk) and I don't think Ainsley could get out of their fast enough. Even though they didn't like Mexico, I think it was good for them to experience!  The kids got some souvenirs and learned about bartering :o).

 Interesting cow hoof water bottle.  We tried to get Ainsley to get it for gymnastics, but she wouldn't, hmmm.

Everyone did pretty good with the motion, but Ainsley and Kayla had to take a little medicine. Overall, it was a great trip and a very good value (1500 for all 5 of us!).

Gymnastics update

Ainsley has been nagged with little injuries here and there, mostly her ankle, but she seems to be finally done with that after a week of crutches and some time in a boot.  We've been doing exercises to strengthen her ankles and wrists (since she complains of them too) and trying to continue stretching to avoid other injuries.  She is still so tight! 
Since her season ended, she has been picking up skills like crazy!  She had a long list to make level 7 and we got her report card a little bit ago and there were only 2 skills she was still working on.  She is doing her backhandspring on high beam, cartwheel backtuck off the beam, giants on bars (to fly away), cast handstands on the high bar, Tsukahara's on vault, layouts on floor, front tuck/front tuck on floor and last week she did a double back into the pit!  Here's some video of a few of her new skills.

Mom and Dad visit

While we were in Maui, grandma and grandpa had so much fun filling in for us and running the kids all over for their activities.  I think they want us to go for longer next time!  These are the things that keep grandparents young :o).  They did a great job...the kids made it where they needed to be, were well fed and no one got sick....that is truly a success!

St. Patrick's Day parade:

 Reggie's friend David came to the parade with his mom who was a great help to mom:

Mom and dad also spend A LOT of time working in the yard, weeding, planting, etc.  Dad repaired the driveway again and found a paving project to do as well!  The weather was absolutely terrible when we were gone, but the last few days the sun came out and mom and dad took full advantage!
My new satsuma tree!

We also celebrated my birthday and had the best flank steak we've ever had.  Ryan was out of town and there were only a couple pieces as leftover...the kids kept asking for more!
Here's Grandma and Ainsley playing Happy Birthday....

Reggie is dangerous with a selfie stick!

Reggie and grandpa also played a lot of checkers.  Reggie is getting much better, but still can't beat grandpa...

I drug mom on a hike up the back-side of Del Valle and it was such a clear, beautiful day and the lake was the fullest I have ever seen it.  That was from all the rain while we were gone!  The cows were out and very close, but unusually friendly, so that was good we didn't get charged!

 This was a very long, steep hill!

Our school hosted a multi-cultural night and that was lots of fun.  The kids tasted food from other places and we saw some amazing dancers from other cultures.

Reggie's favorite place when grandma and grandpa are here.....he visits them every morning at 7 (we had to put a time on it or he would be out there at 5:30!)

There was one small mishap during there visit and that was that some person with very poor judgement decided it would be fun to bash their car window :o(.

Maui

What a great break from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives!  Mom and Dad came to relieve us for an entire week and we fully enjoyed it.  A very big thank you to them :o).
I had one request from Ryan that he not take a work call.  I didn't care if he did e-mail but that seemed reasonable for someone on vacation.  Well, he took a call at the airport before we left and then about 60 seconds after we landed and my blood was boiling.  I reminded him oh so kindly that I had a problem with him working on our vacation.  So, we (I) decided he should leave his phone at the condo during the day to avoid the temptation to work and it was great (not sure if it was great for him, but I think it was a healthy thing to do).  Of course, the rental car place was late to pick us up at the airport and was calling from a California number and he wouldn't answer it (because he didn't want to take a work call) until they called 4 times in a row...what are the odds that someone in Hawaii would have a California number?  I am glad it all worked out and finally went on our merry way.
We did our usual grocery shopping on the way to the condo and then sat by the pool.  We managed to find lots of goodies at the store....things we never eat and it was such a treat.  But, now we are both trying to work off the extra weight we gained!
We had a couple little smell issues with our room (smelled like mold) and our car that smelled like pot.  We got a new room and car and then it was smooth sailing.  We spent several days at the beach, just doing nothing.  Well, we did body surf when we got too hot, but I did a lot of sleeping and reading and Ryan read the 3rd book in the Maze Runner series.  There were a few new things we did that we hadn't done before....we hiked the lava flow trail, tried surfing and went to Molokini with our friends, Mark and Jen, from Livermore (they just happened to be there at the same time).

Surfing was great!  I was a bit worried it was like paddle boarding...Ryan can't seem to figure out how to balance on those, but with the force from the wave and stability of the board, it was pretty easy for both of us.  We went back later that day to try by ourselves, but the wind picked up and it was really tricky.  I bought one of those cases for my phone and we got a couple of videos, but for some reason I can't seem to upload them on this site right now.  Maybe I will try later.

Molokini was freezing!  Our tour was at 7:30 in the morning and the water was cold.  The concentration of fish was not like Hanauma Bay, which I was expecting, so it seemed a little boring, but we did see an eel and finished the trip off at the Turtle cleaning station which made it all worth it!  It was amazing to swim with the turtles....there were several of them in this particular spot and my phone did pretty darn good under water!

Oh and I almost forgot, we were at Little Beach on Sunday in the late afternoon when they have a big party and it was starting to get really busy and a lot crazy, so we didn't stay for long.  The path to get there was quite treacherous because the sand had washed away.  The beach was pretty quiet all week until Sunday!

Rental

Our new property closed toward the middle of January and we had an open house on January 23rd that was very well attended.  There were probably 10-15 families who filled out the application to rent it, but we found there to be a very different population of renters than we were used to.  Lots of pets/low income, so it was easy to narrow it down to 2 families.  One took another place that they were offered, so it left us with one (which seems to always happen!).  They are a great family and started moving in on the 1st of February which was really nice for us, but a little stressful since Ryan was traveling the last 2 weeks of January and we had to do a few things to get the place ready.  He flew home on a Friday and we went up there all day Saturday and worked (the kids enjoyed this so very much) and then he flew out on Sunday.  It was such a crazy couple months and that is part of the reason I got so far behind, but I will catch up, right?!

Replacing carpet with tile.....

 I think he did a pretty good job!  Thank you utube