Asparagus Festival

The one thing that the Central Valley knows how to do is party it up Asparagus style. Every year they transform the waterfront in Stockton to an asparagus wonderland. I took the kids after school last week with some friends to enjoy the fun.

Our first stop had to be at one of the many asparagus booths to get the yearly treat of deep fried asparagus. I think I actually gained weight while waiting in line, but man is it yummy!

Dani was my little rug rat as usual and had fun eating all the food and running around dancing to the Beach Boys cover band.

Chris was in awe of the golfers teeing off into the Port! I think he could have stood here for days just watching the golf balls land in the water.
Kyle, Logan and Chris had fun looking at the cars they had as well as some of the fun CHP cruisers they had out there.

Dani was in heaven with the purple snow cone.
Then it was time for the rides. The kids had a blast and it was nice because there was not much of a crowd on Friday. That is one thing I have learned over the years.....go on Friday, the crowds are a lot better.

She loved her little pink plane.

Tracy Trash Day

Like most of you know Tracy Trash Day is something that Bryan and I look forward to. We have been on quite the cleaning binge lately so this came at the perfect time. A few weeks ago we had our garage sale and ever since then we had been accumulating a pike in the garage of all the things that would get swept to the curb come time.

I the week leading up to this there would be various items starting to appear on the curb, this is the sign that the day is near. So last Thursday night Bryan and I went through the house getting all the garbage and random items that were no goodwill worthy. Everything was brought to the curb that we were ready to get rid of.

All night long we heard cars and trucks drive up and down the streets looking at piles, picking out items and finding treasures. Even while Bryan and I were taking things to the curb there were cars drive by to look at what we had out there. One lady parked down the street and waited for us to close the garage to go through our greatest possessions.

The next morning while I was a the gym Bryan heard some noise outside. Our pile was still there and there were still a few good items there. Bryan watched as two women got out of their pick up, inspected the pile and decided it was time to dig. They found a garbage bag, dumped it out and started filling it with the times that they liked. I was so proud of my husband because he ran to grab the camera so he could document it. I have trained him well.

This is all just another perk of living in Tracy!

I thought this shot was classic!

More to come I promise

I have been slacking in the blog area, I know.

I have a stock pile of pictures and posts I need to put up. Since the last post we have had baseball games, the Asparagus Festival, Tracy Trash Day (and man did Bryan get some good pics), fun with the dogs and more.

Also I have to say that unfortunately there was no April Race..... but I told myself I will do 2 in May to make up for it. I was going to run the Great Spear It run at the Asparagus Festival last weekend but instead I had to fly to Chicago for work for the weekend. I was bummed because this really is a great run. I already have 2 in May on the books so I hope that counts.

I will try and update in the next day or so.

We'll see......right!

Here's a picture to hold you over until then. The three most precious people in my life.

Another year.....

Yesterday marked year number 32 for me.......or older if you lose track! (mom)

No big hoopla, just a nice day all around with family and friends. I wanted to start the day right. I got up a little early and beat the rain with a morning run, 3.2 miles in honor of my 32nd year. Then all the daily activities of a mom continued: showers, breakfast, dressing the kids, packing snacks and off to school and daycare and onto work.

This was the first year the kids are truly understanding birthdays. Chris was so excited to wake up and tell me Happy Birthday, it made my day. Then there is Dani girl who insisted to all the ladies at the gym the night before that" Mommy turning 4 1/2 tomorrow" LOVE HER! When I got to work there was a note on my laptop from Bryan that said "open me". Inside was the cutest little handmade card from Chris and a card from Bryan.

The day continued on with Bryan scoring more points for sending flowers to work and getting some nice treats from my friends at work. In typical fashion of being married to a police officer I got a call around lunch time saying plans were changing. Bryan got called into work because they needed a dog for a search warrant that the SRU team was serving on a meth lab. Of course why won't they, it was my birthday. No biggie though because I was just planning on heading home after work and hanging with the family. Little did I know Bryan had made plans for the night.

A few hours later Bryan called to let me know it was going to take a little longer but I needed to be home by 5. He had arranged for a sitter to come and watch the kids so we could go out that night, shop for my present and then get dinner. I told him I would still have the sitter come and just pray that they got done sooner then later and we could still get a late dinner. Thankfully by the time I got home and got the kids settled with the sitter Bryan was finishing up. We met up at the jail (how romantic, right?) and were able to still enjoy a nice night out.

So like I said, no big hoopla, just a nice day. But still birthday 32 left me feeling loved by my family & friends and ready for a great year ahead.

Dani girl

I love this sweet girl. This was taken at our friends house last weekend during a birthday party.

This picture makes me smile. Thanks for taking it Julie!

Loss, saddness, and a harsh reality......

This weekend was hard, it was full of loss and the reality of the world we live in.

It was a time when I realized just how blessed our family is every time Bryan walks in the door from work. Yesterday afternoon the Oakland Police Department lost 4 officers in a senseless shooting in the heart of East Oakland. It was a somber time for all the law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area, for the many officers that were on scene, and the men and women that knew and worked with the officers that lost their lives. These men had dedicated their lives to protecting and serving a city of Oakland and the people in it. These men had families who will never get to experience the joy of them walking in the door after a long day of work.

It is a reality that everyone in law enforcement has to face and accept. Not a fun reality but a very real one. I was reminded last night that I need to thank God every morning when Bryan walks in the door.......even if he is late, or in a bad mood. I need to be thankful.

I think what a lot of people who do not know someone in law enforcement don't realize is really how hard this job is. They go to work everyday knowing that 90% of the people that they are going to have to deal with will NOT be nice to them, will yell & curse at them, try to harm them or make threats at them. Yet every one of these men and women are 100% committed to their jobs and love every minute of it. Kind of backwards!

So I urge you tonight to pray for the families of the four officers killed yesterday and for the whole department. Also if you have family in law enforcement, let them know how thankful you are for the job they do day in and day out. It is not everyday that cops get a 'thank you'.

Here is a link to the what happened in Oakland if you had not seen it:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Two-Officers-Shot-in-Oakland.html

I think we have a Spidermonkey!

Bryan had the kids at baseball practice yesterday and I got this picture emailed to me. I had to laugh because this girl is such a little climber. Bryan said too that she was on her way down at this point.

Yes, we are the proud parents of a little Spidermonkey!

March Race: Shamrock 5K Fun Run

This month we made it a family......after watching me run last month Bryan decided he would run with me at this race. Which was a lot considering he worked a 12 hour shift, got home at 6:45am and then we were on the road at 7am to head to the race Needless to say he is sound asleep upstairs right now. Two other deputies were running the race with us so their teenagers were nice enough to take the kids over to the park and play with them while we were all running.

It was a bit on the chilly side and there was a mist in the air, but right when the race started the weather was perfect. The course was a nice flat route through Dublin with just one little hill, so it made for a good race. There were a little over 1500 runners, Bryan finished 175 overall and was right behind him at 202. I was happy with my time since I shaved 2 minutes off my last 5K. No pictures this time.....I need to be better about getting the camera out.

Not sure what the race for April will be yet, there are a few different options that we have.

The Ramp

A few weeks ago Chris asked if we could build him a ramp for his bike. Chris had been on one at a friends house and had been talking about it since then. I figured we would wait until Papa & Nana were here and he could ask Papa to help him build one.

On Tuesday after school Bryan, Papa and Chris headed to Home Depot to get the supplies. Little did I know what kind of ramp they would be building. When I came home I saw this nearing completion.....

They built an adjustable ramp that starts at 8 inches and can expand up to 2 feet. Just what we need; as if our kids were not accident prone enough without the help of a bike ramp to catapult them through the air. I have to admit though the ramp is pretty cool. Bryan was even able to go off it on his bike so we know the thing is secure.

Heading up the ramp is serious business

Look at him go.... he is in heaven with this ramp now and we are enjoying watching the joy it brings to him and all the kids in the neighborhood.

So thank you Papa for a really cool ramp.

Trip to the Zoo

We took full advantage of the beautiful weather on Monday and Bryan's parents being in town from Florida and went to the zoo. I forgot how much I loved the Oakland Zoo and the kids had a blast running around looking at the animals and being with Papa & Nana. Dani was very proud of the fact that she went pee twice at the zoo......quite an accomplishment for her. Good thing too becuase I was a total space cadet that morning getting out of the house and totally forgot extra Pull-Ups.

Mr. Turtle was enjoying all the green grass

Dani would have scaled every fence to get a closer look at the animals if we let her.

I think this was the first time Chris asked to get his picture taken.....EVER

Dani was wondering if the elephants would enjoy her rainbow colored goldfish.

The boys in the tree!

I have never laughed so hard as I did watching this giraffe try and reach the water.

Me and my girl.....gee you think we look a like :)

Tigers will always be my favorite.

Something about seeing Daddy with his little girl makes my heart melt!