ER on a Tuesday

When your week includes a trip to the ER on a Tuesday night....Friday just seems a little sweeter.

Having dinner with two BF's from college is very rare. It was Erin's birthday and she was visiting her brother's family for the week. Bubba set up a surprise dinner for Erin and our 11 kids. Yes that's correct.... between Erin, Alison, Bubba and I we have ELEVEN kids total. The picture below looks calm solely because Jack is being restrained.

After dinner the kids needed to burn some energy. Jack took it upon himself to start a game of chase. Needless to say it didn't end well for his brother. Nate tripped while running full speed and landed head first into a cement bench.

Since his face went pale and he looked like he would throw up, I made the decision to take him to the ER. Doug was working late, so luckily I had the best friends in the world with me. Alison got the ice, while Erin's husband, Trey, drove my car to the ER, and I iced Nate's head in the back seat. Erin followed behind in the car with her brother.

Doug met us at the hospital, just as we got there, so timing couldn't have been better.

It's times like this in life when you are so thankful to have best friends nearby. The outcome: No factured skull, no concussion....and rest needed for mommy over the weekend!

The Grizwolds on Vacation!

It's Wednesday...the day we've been waiting for all week.

It's the first day of our camping adventure/vacation.

It's 9AM, we're only two hours behind schedule and the car is packed....to the brim.

I was feeling pretty good about my packing job; thinking I must take after my Dad. He always managed to pack the car in a very organized fashion. It's the engineer in him.

This is what the car looked like when I was thinking, "Oh this isn't so bad!" "We've got this, no problem."

And this is what I found upstairs.

So I started thinking..."Do we really need clothes?"

Then I came back to reality....sort of....and decided to strap the bag to the roof rack.
We've never used our roof rack, but no time like the present. It's either the roof rack experiment, or no clothes.

If the Grizwolds can do it, so can we.

If you happen to be driving down 101 between noon and 4 today and you see a large black duffle in the middle of the road, please return to sender.

Puttin on the Ritz

My friend Jenny and I met in Kindergarten, and have been friends ever since. Ironically we now live less than a mile apart in Menlo Park. Jenny's little boy Tommy turned one yesterday, and she invited us to their secret hangout to celebrate.

As far a secret hangouts go, it's top notch.

About 10 years ago a Ritz Carlton was built in Half Moon Bay. The only time we've been was for an Easter brunch when it was first built. We still talk about the $50 hamburgers we ate. Little did we know there were other cheaper ammentities we could enjoy.

There is a public beach attached to the Ritz. Jenny and Tom showed us how to get there, and it was truly a slice of heaven. We spent the entire afternoon enjoying perfect weather, catching up, building sand castles, and chasing Jack off the rocks.

After a long week away for work, it was just what the Dr. ordered. When you see these pictures, you'll understand what I mean.

We ended the day with terrific Mexican food, cooking smore's in the Ritz's firepit, and listening to Bagpipes play while enjoying the breathtaking views of the ocean. It was a $2000 vacation for under $20 bucks.

I felt like we stepped into an episode of "$40 a day". It's a show on the Food Network, where Rachel Ray asks the locals how to enjoy paradise without breaking the bank. In our case, our "locals" were Jenny and Tom.

Tommy might not remember his first birthday, but we will for sure!

View of the Ritz, and the path to the firepits.

This actually makes me want to take up Golf.

Jenny and her birthday boy.

Doug enjoying the view

$.99 cent balloon that kept Jack entertained for hours and his favorite rocks behind him.

Path down to paradise!

Move over Thanksgiving

I used to rank my holidays.

Top 3
1. Thanksgiving
2. 4th of July
3. Halloween

Frankly though it was always a tie between #1 and #2, but this year I've decided it's time for change. Move over mashed potatoes and turkey....the hotdogs are now on top!

Since Summer is my favorite season, it only makes sense to put 4th of July on top. Thanksgiving is just one day, but 4th of July is an entire weekend of summer time fun. The beach, barbeques, fireworks, parades, family, friends, swimming. Really???? How can Thankgiving even compare. It's so obvious to me. I feel the need to apologize.

4th of July please accept my apology. I've kept you at #2 for too long! And to Thanksgiving, I'm sorry I've lead you along for all these years.

When I was a kid, my sister and I would decorate our bikes and ride in a parade around my grandparents neighborhood. Afterward we head to their pool to bbq and swim. At night we would head home just in time to light our own fireworks, (the days when they were still legal).
Which by the way on a side note, I think I'm happy they may be illegal now that I have kids. It's amazing how perspectives can change when you learn more about burn units.

We celebrated this year by picking my parents up at the airport on Saturday morning, decorating the kid's bikes for the Menlo Park parade, and then heading to the beach for dinner.
When we moved to Menlo Park I heard there was a community parade, with a party at the park afterward. I knew we picked the perfect city. Watching Nate and Jack ride in the parade with just as much excitement as Julie and I did, is a perfect way to celebrate the holiday.
The tradition took 30 years off, but it's back in the swing now. It was a perfect summer weekend, and it's not even over yet. We have one more day of pure summer happiness.

Tale of Two Soccer Balls

In 1986, I was 12 years old and in sixth grade.

The World Cup was played in Mexico City.

My Dad brought me home the prettiest soccer ball I had ever seen, a World Cup Ball. I LOVED it so much, that I never actually used it. We purchased a special net so that it could hang from my bedroom ceiling. (It's still encased in the net.) It had all the countries who qualified, and it was nothing like I had ever seen before. I vividly remember believing it was the coolest thing in my room.

In 2010, I'm 36 years old, with two sons, nearly 5yrs and 2yrs.

The World Cup is in South Africa.

We wake each morning at 6AM, and turn on the TV. It doesn't matter who's playing, because each game is exciting in and of itself. My favorite part is when the teams walk through the tunnel, and  pass over the official soccer ball with their flags.

From the moment I first saw it, I had the same feeling about the 2010 ball as I did in 1986. I knew I had to have one. Today, Nate and I bought the last one in stock at Big Five Sporting Goods. I brought it home, and took it out of it's box. Jack instantly grabbed it and threw it in the street. (Gasp....)  It's way too pretty to be kicked. I rushed over to rescue it and buff out any scuff marks.  It has a perfect sheen with a very colorful design with the official World Cup logo. I know it's going to be hard to keep this ball safe...I mean clean.

I wonder what Doug would think if I hung it in our bedroom?

Longest Day of the Year

Thankfully yesterday was the longest day of the year....and I needed every last second.

Recovering from a fabulous, but too short, weekend in O.C. with my family, we started our Monday a little tired. We arrived home the night before at 11:00pm. The kids were exhausted, to the point where I made sure they were breathing.  They typically wake at 6:00AM on the dot....every SINGLE day. Obviously they were still in vacation mode. Jack woke at 7:30AM and Nate at 8:30AM. (Oh how I wish that was a Saturday morning.)

After two fun filled days in the jacuzzi with numerous bbq's, I had to rip the band-aid off...back to reality! My day started with two meetings back to back, and then a road trip to downtown San Jose. I crammed all that in before noon, in order to make it back to pick up Jack for his 2 yr old check-up. That's really when the fun started.

It's important for me to set the stage, so that you can fully understand the "length" of my day. It was 85 degrees outside, and the Dr.'s office didn't have A/C. Our visit started with a weigh in, and a height check. (Simple...you would think.)  Jack wasn't a fan of the scale. He jumped off after a brief second. He melted into a puddle when they tried to measure his height...so he was 3 inches shorter than he should have been.

When Dr. Nikki arrived.....the weight and height didn't measure up, big surprise! We needed a re-do...so she called in BACK-UP. It took three adults to hold Jack firmly to the table. By this point, Jack was chanting....I go....I go....I go.....(Or maybe that was my inner voice.) Next was our second weigh in. I held Jack on the scale and then passed him off to Dr. Nikki while they weighed me. Meanwhile Jack screamed "Mommy" while the poor Dr. tried to console him. The nurse subtracted the two weights to get Jack's.

Weighing in at a whopping 35lbs, and reaching new heights at 36 3/4 inches....we are officially raising a giant. The best part is that Dr. Nikki believes he will be experiencing a growth spurt soon. Growth spurt??? Did I hear that correctly?

I won't go into the details of how we checked his ears and gave him a shot. ...it takes too much energy. All I will say was that I was sweating....and Jack wasn't happy!

The highlight of the visit, was a grape lollypop. When we got in the car, he looked at me and said, "Lollypop good. Thank you! That's the moment I forgot the past 30 minutes of pain and sweat.

We ended our day at the park, where Jack fell and hit his head on our nature hike. We had to leave to get ice, but first we needed to get our soccer ball. We left it at the playground a few minutes before, but unfortunately it was gone by the time we got back.

We finally made it home for bathtime, and bed...for EVERYBODY!

It really did feel like the longest day of the year!

"Best of"

Every year the local newspaper creates a "Best Of" list for the community business owners.

There are numerous categories, everything from "Best Pizza" to "Best Places for a Kid's Birthday Party". In sticking with the theme, I decided to add one, "Best Summer Carnival".

Anybody who truly knows me, will testify that I LOVE summer...and everything about it. The warm weather, family bbq's, summer nights, beach days, and now Summer Carnival.  

Every year in the middle of June, a local school Nativity, tranforms their grounds into a 3 day carnival.  When Doug I were first married, our house was only 3 blocks from the school. Even though we didn't have kids, we would still walk over to the carnival.  Back then it was just a fun place to hang out, eat some food, play some games, and catch up with family and friends. I remember in those "prekid" years thinking how much fun it would be to attend when we had kids.

And I have to say....IT IS!

The carnival is so much better when you experience it with Nate and Jack. The churros taste better, the rides are a little more exhilirating, and the prizes mean so much more.

Yesterday we took Nate and Jack to this yearly tradition. Here are some pictures from our day!

Independence

On Tuesday June 8th, Nathan offically declared he is no longer my little boy, and there are four reasons why.

1. He can get dressed on his own. (Today's pick actually matched.)

2. He can get his own juice in the morning.

3. He can buckle his own seatbelt.

4. He can get his own cereal.

I know one day, I'll say, "When did you get taller than me?" and I'll cry when he graduates from Jr. High,  High School, and College, but today I'm feeling very thankful.

I'm thankful that he CAN do all these things. I'm thankful he's maturing at a normal pace, (some days faster than others.) and most importantly I'm thankful that he's a growing up to be a kind little (I mean big) boy.

We've both been sick with the flu for the past week. Nate's stomach flu lasted until last Friday , and mine is just wrapping up. I witnessed first hand that he does indeed have empathy. Every so often he would come into my room and check on me. He moved my water glass to make room for new gatorade, and delivered some crackers, each time asking, "Are you doing any better Mommy?"

Last night before going to bed he said, "Mom I want to buy you a gift to cheer you up."

How sweet, what are you going to buy me?"

He replied, "Make-up."

Oh great. Thanks! (I'm sure it was the thought that counts, right?)

With only 2 days left of Preschool, and the fact that he'll be turning 5 in August, my little boy is feeling his age and independence. I'm happy for him....and for us!

Frankly I'm sick of pouring Apple Juice!

Flip Flop Season

Growing up in Southern California we spent the Summer's at the beach, and if we weren't at the beach we were walking around in our bathing suits and flip flops. When June 21st hits..or the weather is 79.5...I swear I can smell Coppertone in the air. The beach was about 10-15 minutes from our home so it was easy to throw a towel, lunch and sunscreen into the car and plan to spend the next 8 hours sitting on the sand.

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a beach snob. We were pretty spoiled being so close to so many beautiful beaches. So when people ask, "Why don't you just go to Half Moon Bay?" It's hard to politely say, "It's just not the same", without sounding like I stepped out of the "The OC". (Which don't get me started on that one.) I know some people won't understand my reasoning, but I have a feeling they are the same ones who spend their time at the pool in Hawaii. Not that there's something wrong with pools, it's just that I LOVE the sand.

So I've been worried these past few years. For some reason our oldest child is flip flop challenged. I've tried every type of flip flop out there. He can't figure out the skills of curling his toes to keep the flip flops on, and apparently it's not a skill you can teach. Believe me, I've tried.  I used to buy him the flip flops with the straps around the ankles, and he still walked around like his legs were broken.
I just can't bring myself to the realization that Nate will be wearing tennis shoes and socks to the beach. The only "water friendly" shoes Nate has been able to wear are Tivas. If you are reading this and you're from So. Cal. you understand why Tivas just won't work!

So I continue to try and brought home a cool new pair for Nate, hoping his 4 1/2 years has brought him flip flop wisdom. Umm.. no such luck. Same stiff legs, flip flops flopping off, walking around like he's been put in two casts. Uggh. No hope.

But then..... it happened! My little light!

This morning I put Jack into sandals because I know he does a lot of running around at the park. He poo pooed my choice of shoes. He walked over to the monster shoe pile near our front door and brought back......you guessed it FLIP FLOPS!!!!!

He insisted I take the other silly sandals off and put on the very COOL flip flops!

Sure enough...his toes curled under.... my blood must run deep!

Meet your new Carny

Nate's preschool is hosting a Surprise Penny Carnival next week for the kid's last week of school. The sign up sheet had a variety of choices, but since I've already hosted the bowling pin game, and brought lemonade, I wanted to do something a little more creative.

My choice....the rock painting booth.Well, I've renamed it to "Paint your Pet Rock." This is where the competitive side comes out, and I want my booth to be well visited. Nothing worse than seeing a Carny at the fair with no customers.
I have one main obstacle to overcome before the big day.

#1 - Where do I buy 30 rocks?

I know that seems silly, but I've never had to buy rocks before, and since it's a surprise I can't send Nate to go find 30 around town.

If you have some good ideas for making this booth as good as the "Golfish Booth" at the county fair, feel free to share. I'm all ears.

Should have gone to Vegas

Today was my lucky day!

Nate woke up in the middle of the night vomiting. There might be nothing worse than trying to open your eyes from a dead sleep to clean up puke on the carpet, find new pjs, dress your 4 year old and change sheets. Not to mention administer medicine. I had to check the bottle 3 times just to make sure I read the dosage right. Fevers never strike at noon when you've had caffeine and your eyes can focus on more than two letters at a time.  After a few bed and pj changes things settled down around 5AM, and then my next shift started.

Jack heard the early bird gets the worm, and has taken it literally. Our official day started at 5:45AM.  Mari showed up at 7:30AM just in time for me to jump on a few conference calls at 8:00AM. Thank God for Mari.

I called the Dr. to make sure Nate had the latest version of whatever virus was going around.  I like to think my kids stay on top of the "New Releases". Sure enough they never disappoint. The Dr. prescribed some anti nausea medine and Tylenol. I rushed off to Safeway to get his medicine only to find out they didn't have the prescription, and the place was packed. (You would have thought it was flu season in mid February.)   I left my cell phone at home so I had to run back to call the Dr. and make sure they did indeed fax in the order.  I figured while I was home I would give Nate some Tylenol because his fever was now close to 102. I remembered that there was a big recall of Tylenol a few weeks ago, so I better check that out.

Here was the sign that I should have dropped what I was doing and booked a trip to Vegas.

To find out if your Tylenol bottle is part of the recall, simply go to their website and type in your code. If you're "lucky" you can throw your bottle away!  Sure enough...the eight digits with two dashes matched exactly. I should have yelled Bingo, or Plinko or something Vegas like.  Even though I had to toss my new bottle of Tylenol, I felt a little like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory...minus the gold wrapper. 

While back at Safeway, I managed to find one last bottle of generic Tylenol. (This is where my luck took a turn for the better.)

Queue the Rocky music....with generic Tylenol and anti nausea medicine in hand I rushed home to care for my patient.

It's not a completely happy ending. He's still down for the count but the fever is gone, and he's watching the premiere of Wipeout!

If you're reading this and it's after 9PM, say a little prayer that I'm not mopping the floor or scrubbing the carpet. I did take my sister's tip and built a "special fort/bed" near the bathroom. Thanks Julie!

Social Media Agent

I have a new title...and I'm feeling very Generation Y with it. I'm a Social Media Agent. What is that exactly?
Well...I'm sort of in the apprentice stage right now, but according to Wikipedia (All sources of truth), it's the person who helps manage a company's social media marketing. It's a person who blogs, tweets, and chats in forums in order to generate online conversations within social networks to help drive business.

Q:Well who's business am I helping to drive?
http://www.foryourdisney.com/

The other half to my mommy blog movie review assignment is to act as a social media agent. I've been tweeting, chatting with total strangers, researching blogs, and learning everything there is to know about Disney. I may have two young kids but I'm feeling very "instyle" with my new gig. (I need a better word for gig....that's too Gen X.)

When you get out there into the "real" world and see who is posting on forums, you realize that there is an entire world of, let's just say, people with free time.
Because I checked my free time at the door about 5 years ago, I didn't realize how many conversations I was missing. The irony though is that I barely have time to talk with my best friends, but now I'm making time to tweet with complete strangers.

Maybe my friends and I can work out a mutual agreement that for 10 hours a week we can commit to online chatting with each other. No money has to change hands, but we may need to send in a few status reports if the contract is broken. That's how it works in the "Social Media World".

Well free time is up. Back to reality....spilled Apple juice, and wheel barrel filled with dirt just made it through the back door. I have other special agent responsibilities to tend to.

Birthday Eve

What's on your wish list????

Mr. Potato Head?
Wheelbarrel?
Broom?
Giant Shovel?
Gardening Apron?
Superhero Cape?

I can hardly wait for the soon to be 2 year old to wake up. He was born at 1:34AM, so if he can just hold out until 6AM we'll be in much better shape than we were 2 years ago!

Off to finish frosting the rest of the cupcakes...and then find a spot to hide them. (Not from the obvious children.)