Chillin in the SLO

We decided to take a last minute getaway last weekend to enjoy the last bit of summer we have. We headed up north just a little bit and spent time in Pismo Beach/San Luis Obispo. Its a really manageable drive with the little ones and it's become one of our favorite spots. It never hurts that they have the best pizza place in Cali. We left Friday morning and were back home Saturday night, but we did quite a bit of fun stuff and saw a lot that we've missed in our previous trips.

This was on a scenic driving tour from Pismo to SLO. Obviously, beautiful. There are apple farms all along the road that open in the fall and sell fresh apple cider. I think we might have to make another trip! (Yes, Cal thinks he's flashing a gang sign. Where does he get this crap? Not to mention, he's got a paralyzing fear of anyone he thinks might be a real "gangsta.")
This is Tessa in her natural state. She still enjoys snuggling and I'll take it while I can get it. Soon she'll be talking like Owen. While we were swimming at the hotel Owen wanted to swim by himself, even though he can't swim and would've drowned. He wanted me to let go (again) so bad. He finally said,"Mom, you buggin me!" Are you kidding? I thought they weren't supposed to be embarrassed by us until they were at least 10?
Check out the wall behind Cal. Can you tell what that is? Yep, chewed up bubble gum. I don't think the pictures even do this justice. SLO is a big college town, which somehow makes this more acceptable in my mind. There is an entire alley downtown where both walls are covered in gum.
Owen was fascinated to say the least. He almost touched some of it and I almost freaked out. The boys were disappointed that we didn't have any gum to leave on the wall, but Cal has left his mark there a few times before.
This is Morrow Rock in Morrow Bay. Kirt and Cal made the little hike to this spot while I stayed in the car with sleeping little ones. This pic is courtesy of Cal's photography skills. He's been practicing this week with his stuffed animals too. When Kirt got home the other night Cal had to tell him all about the cute shots he got of "Snowflake" the seal.
We did hit Avila Beach up north, but these pics are from Malibu the week before. We broke out the boogie board for the first time in a few years and both boys loved it.
I didn't get a good shot of Cal actually on the board, but he was pretty determined. I have come to a disappointing realizaion: My kids love the beach. I, on the other hand, am not the biggest fan. The sand seriously makes my skin crawl, but seeing how much fun they have does make it worth it. I think my compromise will be to at least keep the snacks to a minimum. Sand in food just throws me over the edge. I am up for any other helpful suggestions!

Score!

Earlier in the week, Anneli and I decided to take the kids to a rare day game at Dodger Stadium. As the days went by, our husband's decided they could afford to take some time off and enjoy the game with us. (Well, Kirt took time off, and Ferris Beuller was "meeting with clients.") Anneli went early and took Cal so they could see batting practice and score some free parking, neither of which turned out. But our luck was about to turn. I ran to get some lunch and on my way back, some girls started staring at me at whispering amongst themselves. Finally, they said that they had 2 extra tickets to the Dugout Club and wondered if I would want them. Want them? Uh yeah, I think I could find somebody to fill those seats. Being the awesome wives we are, we let the boys go down. They also took Cal to see if they could all get in, even though there were only 2 tickets. I'm not sure how all three made it in, but apparently the woman taking their tickets was easily confused by 2 big shot LA lawyers.
They enjoyed the remainder of the game 6 rows behind home plate. If only we had gotten them down there sooner, they would have been just feet from Snoop Dogg. (He threw out the first pitch. Cal said it was weak - because he smokes.) The seats include access to all-you-can-eat goodies. Cal had an ice cream sandwich, fudgesicle, and some cracker jacks for lunch. Nice. Cal talked about every detail for 2 hours after the game. He couldn't believe how big the players were - he's only used to seeing them from the cheap seats!
Part of the reason we wanted to go today was because it was "Kids Run the Bases Day." All the kids got to run the bases after the game. It was also "Camp Day" and a ton of summer camps were invited to the game so there were TONS of kids, but with the fancy seats, the ushers took Cal to the front of the line and let him run. He caught up to the girl in front of him pretty quick. Later he told me,"I wasn't sure if I should pass her, so I just tried to be cool."
During our journeys through the stadium, we came upon this Dodger golf cart. I didn't know if we'd ever get Owen out of it. What an awesome day. I hope Cal remembers it forever, because there's no way we're ever paying the $650 per ticket to sit there again!

(As I'm typing, they're watching the replay of the game and are so excited that they can see themselves on TV! I love it!)

A little confession.

So, we've had a little fun teasing a certain friend about her social calendar. She uses her calendar in the usual way, to remind of upcoming events, but the funny part (we thought) was that she goes back and writes in things that have already happened. I realized recently that I have a similar habit. Nearly every weekday I make myself a "to-do" list. I do it for several reasons: 1. To remind myself - my memory is lacking, to say the least. 2. I like to cross things off my list and feel accomplished. 3. I like looking back at the end of the day to see that my time was not all wasted.
Here's my similarity: If I cleaned the toilet, but it wasn't on my list, I go ahead and add it so that I can cross it off. I know it's ridiculous, especially because nobody ever sees my list. It is usually in the trash by dinnertime. At least my friend can say that she's keeping a record of something, my wasted paper and ink serves no other purpose beyond the day of its use. So there you have it. My guilt is floating away as I type. I'm sorry for not standing up for you when what I do is far more lame. (I have withheld names (or name) to protect the innocent.)

Here we go...

Are you ready for a marathon post? Here goes: We have been busy, hence the lack of posts. We made our summer trip to Utah which also included a little trip to Jackson Hole, WY. Kirt's brother Jake has his own river raft, and took us on a couple of runs down the Snake River, which was awesome. Thanks again Jake! We also did some good ole sight seeing and hit the Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon.
Owen came home with this coon-skin cap, but we left the cap gun at the store. He is ob-sessed with guns and shooting. Los Angeles parents do not take kindly to even pretend shooting at the park, so we're trying to curb that a little.
Cal's favorite part of the trip was the Alpine Slide and the river rafting. He also had fun planning revenge against Taft for smashing his face into his chocolate chip pancakes.
This buffalo was outside the shops on Main Street. It is actually on a platform with wheels. Apparently they move it around town? Owen thought it was awesome. He told me, "Look Mom! The animal is on a skateboard!"

Now, I expect to have at least a week of peace regarding the blog. And for those of you who don't even have a blog - you are not allowed to harass me about my blogosphere absence. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! (Many posts to follow - so keep reading!)

The Goon

(Owie on the Carousel. He's showing me what the purple cat does in his favorite book.)
Didn't everyone call Lagoon "The Goon" when you were growing up? Whatever you call it, it's been a solid favorite on our last few summer trips to Utah. Most of the pictures are of Owen because he's at the age where he doesn't mind having his pic taken on the rides. Cal would have been so embarrassed to have his mommy taking pictures as he was about to take off on WICKED. (Which he LOVED!)
Owen and Tessa at the boats. I'm sure Owen was imparting some of his Lagoon wisdom and telling her that these would be a favorite next year.
Jon, Kirt, Taft and Judd on the go-karts. Judd was redeemed when he finally passed everyone. Who knew the bright pink car would be the winner?
Dare devil Owen again with uncle Taft. There is one lucky kid waiting to come to Taft and Lesha's family. He's a pretty decent uncle and will be a great dad.

Redd's blessing

Judd and Katie made special arrangements to have Redd's blessing while we were in town. It was such a special day and we're so glad that we got to be a part of it. They are such a special family and we love this little guy. BTW- happy b-day to Judd today!
Mr. Photogenic himself. This was at the park after the blessing. We had lunch at a park with some water fountains. Needless to say, this pic was before the kids stripped down and got drenched. (I wish I had a picture of Cal in his boxers as we made a stop at the cemetery on the way home.)

Family Pictures

As long as we were getting the family together, we decided to get some family pictures taken. We hadn't done them since before Owen was born and the family has grown quite a bit since then.
This is everyone. My mom is such a rock to all of us and we love her guts. This was also her birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!
Let's be honest. This is what it looks like most of the time during family pictures. Who knows, this may even end up on the living room wall.

A few pics

Cal's current obsession is learning all the words to Weezer's "Pork and Beans." It's a total crack-up to hear him singing it. He's also taken up "rapping" - next time you see him, see if he'll drop some of his rhymes for you.
Owen loved rocking out with Logan's guitar. He was later sporting a pink sweat-band, which was hilarious, but this face was too classic not to post.
And sweet little Tess. Will she survive these crazy brothers? Absolutely. Attitude is her new middle name. Watch out Cal and Owen.

Ready to be spoiled

My kids grandparents are responsible for this. Our parents will stop at nothing to entertain our kids. While we were visiting, this is what Grandma Peterson brought home. A giant inflatable slide with built-in sprinklers. The kids had a blast. It's no wonder our kids love to spend time with their grandparents. Once when my mom and Kirt's mom came to visit, they got in the car and Cal said, "I'm ready to be spoiled!"
For some more water fun, we went to Taft and Lesha's to swim. Cal and Logan loved tormenting each other and Owen was super-bossy telling Taft to "back back" when he was jumping in the pool. Our kids aunts and uncles are also super-spoilers.

I've had a birthday, shout "Hooray!"

I swore I would not post about my birthday. I just didn't feel like advertising it this year. However, with a birthday week like I had, there are some "shout-outs" coming. On my actual birthday, I was totally spoiled. Started out with lunch and shopping. My girls were actually camped out on the dressing room floor to help me pick the perfect pair of jeans. Those are good friends. Kirt and Cal had decided to get me a new cell phone and were so excited about their big surprise. Several months ago Owen stuck my cell in the toaster and actually toasted it. Somehow the dumb thing still worked, so I taped on the battery and have continued to use it despite the fact that the ring was so muffled I could never hear it. Anyway, I ended up with a great new phone with so many features that I'm sure it's technology is wasted on me, but I love it anyway.Topped it all off with a little family dinner and a cake that Kirt and Cal whipped up. Little did I know that the celebration had just begun.

(Photo: the girls at the party - minus Mariah, she had just left. Thanks Hil for getting Tess in the pic. She was in bed about 3 minutes after the picture was taken.)

Somehow, Kirt and some sneaky friends found a way to throw a surprise party at my own house. We had a baptism to attend on Saturday afternoon. Apparently as soon as we left, the party planning committee convened at our house and got to work. By the time we got back at 7, there were tables, chairs, full Stonefire dinner, balloons, gifts (allegedly), games and some of our favorite people. I still don't know how they pulled it all off but the details were totally heart-warming. Salt-water taffy had been flown in for the occasion and a hilarious game that gave everyone way more info than they ever wanted about me. I even got a personal "Happy Birthday" serenade from my favorite American Idol. I was glad she was only on the phone so she couldn't see me cry. (BTW- the aforementioned game asked who my favorite singer was and Dave(Mr Brooke White) got it wrong. Dork!)
Okay, so there you have it. I wasn't going to post about my bday and now it's a novel. Thank you to everyone for the cards, calls, and all the festivities. Thanks to some of you for the gifts, and the others, thanks for the gift receipts! haha! Thank you to Anneli, Gabrielle, Laura, and especially Kirt for pulling this off. It was awesome. I am so blessed, seriously!