Welcome home mom

Nothing like coming home to a great welcome......

That would have been nice, but no. Now granted my great hubby picked me up at the airport but was a little late. This was because he got a flat pulling out of the driveway. He quickly got in the other car and came to get me. Since he needed to work that night I let him go to bed and said I would deal with the car. Fun for me.

I head down to the tire store to have them replace the tire that had completely blown out. They looked a the other front one and it was worn pretty bad so it needed replacing as well. Fine! Then he got to the back tires, 1 was good and 1 had a giant nail in it in the area that is not fixable. Seriously!!! So $400 later I was waiting to get 3 new tires. Did I mention that the day before Bryan had to replace the car battery for another $100. Wonderful!

So as I waited for my car I figured I would walk to the bank and then get a coffee. After all I think I at least deserved that. Bank was uneventful and I was on my way to get coffee only when I go to pay I realize I did not have my ATM card. Yikes I left it in the ATM. So I ran back over to the bank and thankfully someone had turned it in. But at this point I was bitter and did not want to walk back to get coffee.

Nice day huh....well it continued Friday. After getting home from the gym and having lunch the kids were paying in Chris's room. All of a sudden I hear that cry that you know is not just a whine or "she took my toy" cry. I ran up there to see Chris holding his head bleeding. He had jumped over a chair in his room and hit his head on the window ledge. After going back and forth about what to do with him I called the doctor about an hour later. They had me come in to take a look at it. Mean while he let me put a band aid on it and ice for a little. When we got to the doctor about 2 hours later he said I had two choices as to how I could treat it. Option 1 was to take him to the ER and get stitched up, Option 2 was to clean it really good there and put a bunch of Steri Strips on. I figured for once we would stay out of the ER and go with Steri Strips.

So that was my nice welcome home after a few days in the Carolinas for a conference and visiting a friend. I guess that is why I love my family so much....we always seem to keep each other on our toes.

The art of a phone call

I think he is learning.
This morning was proof.

I have to give Bryan credit, I think he is getting better and late night/early morning phone calls from the hospital. I think this is something that all law enforcement need to master for the sake of their loved ones sanity.

I will take you back to January when I received the first call. It was about 11 at night and I was already in bed when he called. The first words out of his mouth were, " Hey babe, I am at the hospital but I am okay"

Lesson 1: Never start a conversation with "I am at the hospital"

The next part of that opening sentence was not any better. Okay is way to subjective of the word. So the conversation proceeded with me asking a series of questions to find out what exactly okay meant. Okay I am alive, okay I can still walk, okay nothing major. Get my point. After a few minutes I realized that he was taken there more on a precautionary measure after some lady side swiped him and sent is patrol car into a house. He was pretty sore but yes he was okay!

Lesson 2: If you say your okay....please clarify

Fast forward to this morning. My phone rang a little after 5am, at this point in the morning I really had no clue what was going on. I answered and Bryan said hello. He then told me that he was going to be late coming home (he learned from Lesson 1). Of course I asked him why he was going to be late. That is then when he let me know that he was at the hospital. At this point of course I had to ask, WHY? "Well I got in a fight and I need to get my hand stitched up" See he improved.

This conversation that much better. He did not freak me out in the opening and then he immediately told me the reason for his little jaunt to the hospital. This is necessary since it only takes your brain a split second to think of the 800 things that okay could mean. So I applaud Bryan for his lessons learned in the art of a phone call.

For those wondering Bryan is okay, but the hand did not fair so well. He had to get 5 stitches on his hand and has a splint on his finger. He will most likely be out for a week or two (nice since this was his first week back at work after 6 weeks off) since he needs full mobikity of his hand. This was on his right hand better known as his shooting hand. Kind of necessary in his job.

We are glad he is okay and impressed in the improvment in phone call skills.

Little Change

I figured since the weather was actually pretending like it might be fall soon, I would get the blog that way too. I am looking forward to breaking out the fall and winter clothes and not having to run the AC 24 hours a day.

We have a fun weekend ahead of us. Tomorrow my mom is taking me, Bryan and Chris to "Under the Big Top" (Ringling Bros. Circus). This will be Chris's and Bryan's first trip tot he circus. I think I may be more excited then both of them. I LOVED going to the circus when I was little and can not wait for Chris to experience it.

Bryan is back to work :( It is nice having him and Rex home. Rex is getting use to life here at the house. I think he was a little spoiled getting to live in a hotel room with Bryan for 6 weeks, now he has to sleep outside. I think he liked the hotel better.

More pics to come after this weekend.

Am I ready to be a Soccer Mom?

It has begun.....soccer season is upon us.

Chris's team banner, the "Shark Boys"

The little soccer stud.....the sum was in his eyes, my bad

Team getting ready for their first game, Chris is # 17

The boys thought it was great when the ref asked them to pound their shins to make sure they were all wearing shin guards.

Chris has really taken to soccer. He has a great coach and the boys on his team are all so fun. I just don't know if I am taking to soccer as much as he is. Am I ready to have the elaborate lawn chair that I haul to all the games, cut the perfect smile oranges for half time snacks, ready to wear the team colors and the button with pride......not there quite yet. I will go and root for my little man but I refuse to get sucked in. Although I think I am rubbing off on him. At practice last night Chris was out on the field yelling " Come on Shark Boys, let's hustle on the field"

The Dry Bean Festival

Only in Tracy can there be a Dry Bean festival that has been going on for 22 years now. Hey it was local, free and fun for the kids. I had not been in the past two years mainly because it always super hot. It was no different this year, but the kids needed to have some fun......and they did. Chris and Dani enjoying their shaved ices in the shade

Dani LOVED the corn on a cob.....too bad that was moms lunch!

Beach Trip and our new doggie!

The kids and loaded up the car and headed down to Riverside to spend the three day weekend with Bryan. I will spare you the details of the drive but let's just say that with 2 hours to go the DVD player died and the Benadryl wore off....NO FUN! But we made it and the kids were so excited to see Bryan. I don't think Dani let Bryan out of her site that first few hours we were there.

We got to spend a lot of time at the pool where the kids got to show off there swimming skills to Daddy. Dani has become quite the little fish. She had no problem just jumping on in with the her water wings on and then swimming to the edge of pool. All while saying, "Look at me, all by myself". Sunday we headed down to Santa Monica for the day and the kids were in heaven. They have not spent too much time at the beach, but i think we will need to go more now. Chris was fearless in the ocean jumping over the waves and diving right on it. Dani loved ever minute of the water. Granted mommy forgot to pack her suit so she totally look like a beach bum running around topless in her board shorts. Good thing is that she did not care and is still at the age where it is cute. We had a great day at the beach and a fun time with Daddy.

Bryan and Chris heading back in from the ocean

Chris and Dani had a blast just digging holes and getting dirty in the sand

Dani figured out that she could bury her feet in the sand.....

She was so proud of her accomplishment

Daddy taking Dani in to see the waves

It is hard to tell in this picture but she LOVED the ocean and all the waves. She would only fuss when Bryan brought her back out to the beach.

Snack time at the beach

When Bryan got down to school 4 weeks ago he got yet another new dog....don't ask, but this one is a keeper. This is Rex, he is a Belgian Malinois and is from Holland. He and Bryan have been working together in school for the past 4 weeks and he is doing great. He is also a very social dog. The kids loved spending time with him this weekend. Dani has formed quite the bond with him and loves being around him. She always walks right up to the kennel and waits for Rex to lick her face. I think she is actually more comfortable around him then I am. We are anxious to have Rex and Bryan come home on Sept 12th.

Bryan and Rex

How to survive a roadtrip....

Call me a bad mom if you must..... but to me this might be the only way I will survive the road trip down to Riverside with the kids tomorrow to see Bryan (& his new K9 Rex)

Survival of the fittest people.

Sometimes you just don't have a choice. I am sorry but I am about to get in a small car (trips like this I MISS my Expedition) with two small children to travel 6 hours in 100+ degree heat.

Granted it will be worth it to see how happy they will be after not seeing Daddy for 3 weeks!!!

Half way mark and a little soccer

First we will start with a few pictures from the new soccer season.....

This was at his first practice with Coach GonzalesChris attempting to figure out how to do jumping jacksLearning the importance of stretching

Chris was really excited to start his new soccer team. He loves going to the practices and will be in top shape by the end of the season. The coach has a rule that if they are talking when they are not suppose to they have to run a lap around the field. With a team of ten 5/6 year old boys.....they do a lot of running. WE had our first "soccer" experience at picture day this past weekend. It was basically organized chaos with a ton of children, over involved parents and not enough coffee. I really do not know if I am ready to be a soccer mom yet. I was asked to buy the soccer sticker that all the moms have on their car for a second time, I had to deny. I just don;t think I am there yet. Needless to say Chris is having a blast and loves all the boys on his team. His first game is next week so we will see how that goes.

We are half way through Bryan's 6 weeks away at training. All I can say is that I am still alive and so are the kids, at least as of tonight. It has been an interesting 3 weeks and we have been trying to keep busy. The kids really miss their daddy and are looking forward to seeing him this weekend (me too!!!) I am going to drive down to LA this weekend with the kids to see him for the holiday weekend. We are going to spend some time at the pool, the beach and maybe a theme park. The nice thing is that when we get home we will have only 2 more weeks until we get home. I am lucky to have some great friends that keep checking in on me, calling and inviting me and the kids over for play dates. They have made all the difference in making the time go by faster.

Stay tuned for pictures from our roadtrip down south (thank goodness for DVD players and Benadryl.) Until then...

Weekend in Newport Beach

This weekend I flew down and meet up with Bryan for a weekend without the kids. We had some great meals, saw a movie and just enjoyed some fun times times with friends. On Saturday we met up with some of our great friends and went to Darren and Kristen's wedding in Newport Beach. These were all my guy friends from college that made my expierience in the CM department at Cal Poly so much fun. It was a beautiful day and the wedding was great......fun times had by all. It was so fun to be with everyone again and celebrate with Darren as he married his beautiful bride Kristen.

Bryan and I at the Lido Isle Yacht club (where the reception was)

Darren and Kristen made their grand entrance to the reception in style cruising through the Newport Harbor.Nothing like a blue martini that matched the colors of the weddingOh the memories with these guys.....Greg, me, Darren, Dave and Jill
Bryan and IGreg and his girlfriend Deanna.....she fit in just fine. Jill and DaveOh this was a fun table to be at, I think we now know why we are always all put in the corner at weddings. But man do we have fun.

Marine World with the kiddos

When Bryan's family was here we went up to Marine World for the day. The kids had a blast. Since Chris was taller this time there were a ton of rides that he was able to go on. I think Tony Hawk's ride was his favorite, he laughed his way through the whole thing. Dani of course was not thrilled that she had to sit out but she had a blast.

Dani loved running around seeing the animals, riding the rides and dancing to all the music. After a good 6 hours there the kids were beat though and we headed home.

Dani had a nice dance party with the dolphin

Bryan and Chris at the whale show

Dani was mesmerized by the whales

Shouka the Whale

Dani got to go on the airplanes all by her self.....such a big girl

Chris ready for the rideUp, up and away!!!

Auntie Brooke and Dani touching the sting rays

Dani was in love with the helicopters

Family ride in Harold the Helicopter

Auntie Brooke & Dani enjoyed their lemon treat!