Tahoe Trip – Part 1

These next few posts will be terribly out of order, but at least they’re going to get done. Eventually.  Much love to Mr. Tony for taking pictures with his snazzy camera as my cruddy little point-and-shoot came out a blurry mess.  Clearly, I had anticipated more from my camera than it was designed for and left my higher quality camera back at the cabin.  Lesson learned.

So in our two weeks off between the end of the school year and summer school, we rented a cabin for a week with the Gartins and the Fazzios for some good ol’ Tahoe fun.  As the boys are very active and Todd had to come to Reno to pick me up from the airport (another story, another post) everyone decided to head out to Reno for the day.  In Reno is one of those trampoline places and we thought the boys would love it.  The parents loved it because the Fazzios had a hook up and we didn’t have to pay. Sweet.

Did the boys love it? Uh . . . YES.  Did both my boys love it? You betcha. 

Was I jealous? Yes. Lame.

Luke’s favorite part? Jumping into the foam pit.

Daddy’s favorite part? Jumping into the foam pit.

Todd:

Mini- Todd:

Todd:

Mini-Todd: (barely missing getting run over by Shannon!)

Todd: (think he enjoys trampolines?)

The kids having fun altogether.  Being reminded repeatedly to get out of “traffic” on the trampolines. (ie: 15 year old boys being crazy.)

“Tony. Seriously. You’re not really going to take my picture in such an unflattering pose. Right? You know that this is a terrible angle. Right? Right?” Crap.  FYI: I had just flown in from SJ and was super tired/cranky/irritated. Oh and hugely pregnant. Bleh.

Drowning in a sea of foam.  While Mommy just watches.

So we discovered that we need to find more of these places in our area because there are so few activities that actually tire our boys out.  I mean, seriously. It is no surprise that there are going to be 4.5 years between my kids.  Luke is exhausting.  I am far more tired than he is by the end of the day.  That being said, I totally won on the husband front:  Todd can at least keep up with him.  Todd is awesome for that.  Especially now more than ever as I cannot physically do half of what Luke wants to do.

Good Reno times for the afternoon and then back to Tahoe for relaxation.  Which is what I was really ready for!

I love quotes.  I love it when someone can concisely say what I wish I could say.  I admire brevity and cleverness.  Every day, I get a Quote of the Day from my favorite magazine, "Real Simple." Sometimes the quotes come at serendipitous times and sometimes they're just interesting.  

Today's Quote o' the Day is one that I readily use and attempt to apply to my life.  It is one of the reasons that I love sunflowers.  I love that it's all about attitude and finding the positives in life.  It's one of the reasons that I have sunflowers as part of my tattoo. It is an idea that I want to instill in my children.  

What I didn't know? It is a Helen Keller quote.  You see, in my crazy mixed-up mind, I feel a special connection to Helen Keller. Weird, right?  Well, I decided on this "special connection" years ago when I did a report on her and found that we have the same birthday (June 27th) exactly 100 years apart (1880 vs. 1980).  And that while she lost her senses of vision and hearing, I have no sense of smell.  Weak connection, at best, but I was like, 12 years old and held onto my "beliefs."

All that out of the way, this year has been a challenge.  I have had my most difficult year at work, feeling incompetent and overwhelmed the majority of the year.  I tried to remind myself of this quote and told others about it, in weak attempts to bolster myself up.  Most of the time, I faked it.  At work, I smacked a smile on my face and tried my best to keep turning toward the sunshine.

The long and the short of it . . . it's all about attitude.  I can't control anyone or anything but myself, and I'll make the decision to face the sun.

And my grades are FINALLY done. Woo hoo!

Welcome to the Zoo!

For Luke’s Spring Program, the theme was animal songs and was called “Welcome to the Zoo!”  I do not think that is a coincidental name. Luke actually did a great job, though it was very clear that there were songs that he preferred and songs he could care less about it.

The teachers made all the kids’ shirts for them, using iron-ons of lions they had drawn, which is an awesome keepsake for all the mushy, sentimental moms.  Luke’s lion looks disappointed in the whole thing.

 

Home, Home on the range . . .

Where the deer and the antelope play . . .

So proud of you, Luke!

Luke’s Preschool class!

Mother’s Day Surprise!

The Friday before Mother’s Day was a tough one.  It wasn’t good on any front – tough in my class: the Spring Program Dress Rehearsal was NOT good. Not. Not. Not.  Luke had a tough day at school.  I was not feeling successful on any front: work, home, family, bleh bleh bleh.

So imagine my surprise when a beautiful bouquet was delivered on Friday after getting home from work.  I have never had flowers delivered to me before and I was so excited (and hormonal) and immediately after reading the card from Todd and Luke, I completely burst into tears. Yikes.  Poor Luke.  Daddy wasn’t home yet and Luke didn’t know what to do with a crying mommy that should be happy since she got a present.

Oh, my Luke . . . the road to understanding women is long and convoluted.   I’m just trying to prepare you.  So I was sent a beautiful bouquet of lilies – none of them had opened yet.  The next week, Luke was so excited to announce when the individual flowers would be blooming. 

Todd also sent along a little teddy bear and a box of chocolates.  Luke absconded with the bear pretty quickly and well, the chocolates didn’t last long. The “Greatest Mom” decoration is actually a magnet to use after the bouquet is done.

The good news? The flowers are still blooming well over a week after delivery.  Impressive.

Matching!

One of my classroom parents thought it was pretty funny yesterday when I "matched" my classroom sign. I think I look gigantic, but I do match, and it is pretty entertaining. She sent me the picture . . . I figured I had better post a pic of me pregnant. I don't take too many of these. I'm sure that one day I'll regret it, but mostly, I don't want to see how big I'm getting and how quickly it's happening!

Easter Morning

I have said this before, and I’ll say it again: best. MIL. ever. She was so on top of things and ready for Easter. I was not even close. I blame it on pregnancy and crappy work for the last two months. Granted, she’s had crappy work for the last two months, so I guess all I’ve got I pregnancy.

So my darling MIL not only put together an Easter basket for Luke-pie, but a Mommy basket and a Daddy basket, too. Luke was put on the hunt for all three baskets.

Getting ready for the hunt – so excited!!

He found mine first and it was a fabulous caffeine free basket of glory: all my Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf favorites: Swedish Berries loose leaf tea, Decaf Viennese coffee, a sweet butterfly tea ball and a mother mug. And a big giant flower! All in a sweet little basket that will definitely find its way into the nursery.

Luke is just as excited as me. :)

Going to find Daddy’s basket next:

The Easter Bunny left a San Diego Craft Beer Basket for Todd. The Easter Bunny is one smart guy!

“But where is mine!?!?”

In the tub, of course.

“Oh! A bunny!” (Yes, I am a terrible mother: it was from last year’s basket and I reused it. He forgot about it last year.)

“Oh. MOM. This is such a CUTE SHIRT.”

Angry Birds. Oh, how we love the Angry Birds.

And trains. We still love trains.

Such a fun Easter basket morning. The Egg Hunt just made it even better!

This is it.

Literally.  Between the pie and these pictures, this is all I have for February.  And it is questionable if these pictures are from February.  Cupid flew right on past our house for Valentine’s Day and poor Luke was subjected to a Mommy who had to work too much.  Mom was home “early” if it was 5:30. Bleh.

To celebrate Luke becoming a big brother, we decided to take him to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Scramblz, where they have a VW bus in the middle of the restaurant.  The bus is always booked up, but we made a reservation for a special treat.  It was so much fun!

After breakfast, we really surprised Luke by taking the light rail to downtown SJ and hitting up the Children’s Discovery Museum. (Mommy wanted to go to the main library, but I was outvoted).  Maybe it was a different day. He’s wearing a different shirt. Honestly, February and March are a complete blur. Don’t judge.

It was Luke’s first light rail trip and he loved it! Always a fan of trains :)

They had a new exhibit on mammoths there, which is pretty cool as mammoth fossils had been found in the Guadalupe Park area nearby.

Excavation:

Assembly:

Full Size skeleton – way cool!

 

And always, can’t pass up a ride on the fire truck!

My happy boys!