[May 12] A Nutritious Snack From Dad

[May 11] Afternoon at the Zoo

Climbing on a cement hippo equals hours of fun.

[May 5] Morning Play

Let me tell you a little story about this workbench/tool chest. Choobie got this for Christmas last year. It was his BIG present. I found this website that listed all the black friday sales weeks before the day after thanksgiving. I reasearched dozens of stores and found this one at Toys R Us to be the best price. Dan and I went to Toys R Us three days before the sale and planned out the route I would take when me and 5 million other shoppers raced into the store at 6 am that morning.

I arrived to the Toys R Us line at 4am thinking I would be the first in line and would for sure get the tool set. Boy was I wrong. I was like the 150th person in line. Two hours later when they opened up the doors, there were no shopping carts left by the time I got through. I raced through the store like a crazy woman, throwing elbows and plowing people down without stopping to say sorry, grabbed the beast of a tool set and then waited in the checkout line for another 30 minutes to purchase said tool set for a whopping 30 bucks, all the while dreaming of the excitement on my little boys face when he saw the tool set and all it's glory on Christmas morning. Boy the things you'll do when you're living on a tight budget.

It is now seven months after that glorious Christmas morn and he still hasn't touched the dang thing. He prefers to dump all the tools out and sit in THE BASKET I got to hold the tools from the 99cent store! ANYWAY...the moral of the story is this: This year, I am going Christmas shopping at a reasonable hour at the 99cent store.

[July 19] Ralphs Update

Been there 4 weeks, got the news that I am getting promoted to the bakery and will be attending "cashier school" on the side. My plan to own Ralph's is right on schedule. Farewell service deli with all your meat slicing and dish washing and raw chicken skewering and grease trap cleaning. I will not miss you one bit. I will however be putting on a minimum of 20 pounds working in my new field. One frosting flower for you...two frosting flowers for me.

[June 29] Playing Hookey

Eag, Ian and Addi girl came down and we all played hookey from church and went to Sea World. A perfect sabbath day activity right? Choob was excited because dad could go on the rides with him. Here's the boys and Addi on the rocking eel ride. Please look at how cute Addi is in her sunglasses.

We got to meet cookie monster

Now prepare to die from the ultimate cuteness. Addi and Choob do this on their own:

They love each other. I love that they love each other. They were watching Shamu and then all of a sudden they just started chasing each other and screaming and hugging and then doing it all over again. And over again. And again. Eag & I were just sitting on the benches laughing at them and snapping a million photos of our little lovebirds.

Then, completely unprompted they give each other the biggest hugs ever. SO CUTE my heart was exploding!

We went home shortly after the spray area since pretty much everyone was soaked. Great friends, great place, great day!

[June 28] The Higley Konold Wedding

Ty and Alex got hitched! It was so much fun being a part of their wedding, not just because it was Teh and the Leige, but because they were wed at Mt. Woodson where almost 5 years ago Dan and I had our ring ceremony and reception. It was total DejaVu. I was the matron (how old do I sound?) of honor and Dan was one of the groomsmen. Choob was not in the wedding but I got him the tie and tuxedo pants in hopes of getting a great family photo of us all dressed up for the prom. The picture above was the best we got. I forgot how BUSY wedding days are.

Sidenote about choobs shirt: I could only find a size 4T long sleeve white shirt so I took matters into my own hands and altered it ALL by MYSELF (with a little advice from Eag on the phone). Martha Stewart watch out. We only took a few pictures so I can't WAIT to see the ones the professionals got. Like this one below:

I have never wanted to KILL Alex so much in my life! Please look what the photogs made her do. Um, just caress that wall okay, I promise it'll turn out good. What?

Yes, we are a stunning couple. Yes, I lost 12 lbs on the south beach diet so I could fit into that darn dress. Yes, we were the two sweatiest humans there. Yes, this is the only picture I have of just dan & I. We even got to walk down the aisle together so if anyone has pics of that GIVE THEM TO ME!!! That means you Ashley and Liz and Shelly. The ceremony was beautyfull, and special, and perfect. Alex was simply stunning. Thanks to my mom and dad for watching Luke while we participated. He was soooo good.

The only picture I got of Ty & Al. Cutting the cake that was by the way the MOST delicious. Both the chocolate and Vanilla. Yes I had two pieces. Gimme a break, I had just been on the south beach for 2 weeks!

Another not so awesome family picture.

GAWr is moving to boston in a week. We will miss him. Choob kept saying, "Gwah...Gwah...where's Gwah"

I had to give a big ol formal toast and i was SOOO nervous. I had Dan help me write my speech because Quinner was the best man and no one is funnier than Quinner so I practied for like 2 weeks and had seven thousand heart attacks during the wedding. It went well, some poeple even laughed, Alex knew how special she was to me and that was all that mattered. After the toast, I was ready to eat and party and we enjoyed the long night ahead. Congratulations Ty & Al!

[June 27] Nighttime Zoo Members Only Preview

This year we went to the Nighttime Zoo Members Only Preview. It was a fun something to do with the fam and most importantly, we ALL got reusable grocery bags full of coupons and goodies and with the zoo and WAP printed on them! I took everyone's home and Dan wasn't sure if we needed "all those bags." Sadly he was mistaken. Now all of them are stuffed between the side of my fridge and the wall at my house waiting for me to use them for "all kinds of stuff."

There she is: Joan Embry. Who is Joan Embry? Why only the most recognizable female wildlife expert not only here in San Diego but nationwide. She gave a special presentation before the new nighttime show was unveiled. I remember watching Joan Embry bring her animals on KUSI when I was a little girl. She's like 60 something now and still as awesome as ever.

Yup, family picture with Joan Embry.

All night long there were these special animal ambassadors cruising around. Choob flipped out when this guy started walking around a "snapper...snapper momma" so we had to get out of our seats and give him a closer look.

Go to the nighttime Zoo. It's the best and the animals are all really active especially the big cats in cat canyon. Probably the only place you'll see two snow leopards up close.

Luke's Fattle

What is a fattle you ask? Let me tell you: About a month ago Choob was naming his body parts as I pointed to them. You know, I'd point to his shoulder and he'd say, "shoulder" I'd point to his ear and he'd say "ear" get the picutre? So I point to his tummy and he starts patting it and saying "fattle, fattle, fattle" over and over again. At first I didn't understand but then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Whenever his shirt is off, Dan & I are always saying, "Look at your fat 'ol tummer/tummy" and then we pat it with our hands and chase him around. So now my child thinks his stomach is properly called a "fattle." There is no telling him otherwise. He just screams fattle louder and louder until you say, "okay it's not your tummy it's your fattle." Then he says, "yeah." And then all is well. It's pretty funny. What isn't so funny is when he tells other people that they have a big fattle. Especially when they are in their swimming suits and when they are your husband.

[June 23] Choob's first ever ride at Sea World

And I did NOT go on it with him. That's what uncle Jeff is for. I got nauseous just watching him go round and round a million times. While we were waiting in line, Choobie kept saying he wanted the "pink pig one...want pink pig one" so he was pumped when he got it!

He was so little, all I could see was his hand waving furiously at what I thought was me. When Jeff got him off the ride I was all, "oh he was waving to me the whole time, how cute." To which Jeff responded, "no he was waving and screaming 'Dad' the whole time. I don't even think he knew you were down there." Um, don't worry, Dan wasn't even with us, he was at work. Serious Dada's boy I tell you. Luke was less than thrilled with the whole experience. That's makes me ecstatic because now when we go to sea world, I won't have to go on the ride with him and barf my guts out after.

He is much more entertained running through these weird fish sort of tunnel arch-like things. Go figure.

[June 22] The HOTTEST Day Disneyland has Ever Known

Our Passes are blocked out for the next month and a half so we thought we'd cram in one last afternoon of fun. As a result of the raging inferno of heat and crowds of sweaty, smelly, tourists, this was the only picture we took at Disneyland. Do you see how sweaty these boys are? Let's just say that there is a reason I am not in the picture. Times their sweat by 10 and you have me: ULTRA sweaty mcgee!

[June 21] Sleeping Beauty

Dan took this picture of him during his nap. Don't worry, he is sleeping in his crib not a toy box. He just needs a few animals, binkys, and blankets to get some decent shut eye. I love it when he holds Puppy like this. They are the best of friends.

[June 16] Bay of Play Re-Visited

Not so lame after all.

Go NOW!

Children's place is having their monster sale right now. go HERE and find the best deals ever. I also got a 15% Off total order for any of my friends to use in the mail. The webcode is G28I7RJXT78. Not sure how many people it'll work for so the first to use it gets it. Enjoy!

[June 14] KILL ME NOW!

You are looking at the Ralph's Service Deli newest employee. Why have I chosen to pursue a career in meat slicing when I graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor's in Biology? Because I am an idiot. Just look at me. Idiot. Yeah, I used help run a company with hundreds of employees and now I am a meat slicer. With my name spelled wrong on my uniform. The only uniform I ever wore was my wild animal park uniform. This one is much uglier. Not to mention I HATE the color red. Awesome luck for me. Ralph's is just down the street and will let me work the night shift (5-11pm) so Dan can watch the choob when he gets home. After seeing the work ethic of my fellow meat slicers, my plan is to be the best damn meat slicer Ralph's has ever seen and be promoted to checker (which I think me and all my OCD-ness would enjoy) and then to the eventual owner of Ralph's in about 3 months. That's the plan. Wish me luck.

[June 9] We Finally Won Something!

Before Disneyland opens a new ride, they let annual passholders in for a sneak preview. They have a lottery to determine who gets to attend and we won! We headed up to Disneyland to fight the heat and the crowds and be one of the first to ride the Toy Story Mania in California Adventure Park. Surprise! She turned out to be a 4D ride and you had to wear these glasses and the Choob kept his on the ENTIRE time and Dan & I were having the most fun just laughing at how ridiculous he looked in them. Overall the ride was pretty cool but it made me seasick. Please look at Dans Shirt. He loves it. I hate it! He calls it "Guitar Hero". I call it UGLY shirt from Walmart that I have seen at least 5 twelve year old boys wearing. I have to pick my battles though because he has another shirt named "Guitar Hero 2" (think guitars and barbed wire and random paint splashes) that puts this one to shame. Where are the fashion police when you need them?

This time we let Lukey boy shoot the gun all by himself on the Buzz Lightyear ride and he did GREAT! He earned all 6,100 points on his own. Dan hit the jackpot because the ride broke down right infront of a target and he just kept shooting it over and over again thus explaining his astronomical score.

Choob LOVES the Pixar Parade so we set up camp an hour early at a table right in front so we could get prime seats for the parade. I don't know what it is about parents and getting spots for the parade but it is seriously a brutal happening. You have to be cutthroat to keep your spot. So many people tried to edge us out. I may or may not have gently nudged some sneaky mom with our stroller to get her out of our spot. Um also, please look at fluorescent monochromatic asian cowboy behind Dan and Luke in the above picture. Seriously what? Even with all my territory staking tactics we got edged out by a swarm of peeps as the parade music started. If you guys haven't seen this parade it's a MUST! It's all the pixar characters and the floats squirt water and bubbles and happiness for all.

This is Luke's favorite place at Disneyland. No matter what, we have to stop at the "indy jones...indy jones" store so choob can play with these wind chimes for-ev-er. I think he likes this better than most of the rides.

His favorite place on the California Adventure side is the area right out infront of Monsters Inc. He LOVES that movie and loves to see boo's door and mike and sully.

He loves to play in the car they have sitting out front too. Usually I wait in line while Dan & Luke play on the stuff out front and then they cut in at the last minute. I know, totally annoying that we are "those people" huh?

[June 6] Obsessed Much?

When Choobie gets hurt, or sad, or tired he requires the following items:
Binky, Puppy, big light sabers, tiny light sabre, and of course his blankets. If he doesn't recieve these items in a timely manner, he will ask and ask and ask until he gets them saying, "mamma I need it" "mamma I neeeeeeed it" in increasingly sad tones, with more and more tears. We are such suckers.

[June 5] Padres and a South Beach Boycott

Dan got Padre tickets for his birthday so we got to go to the game by ourselves and for free! It was fun to go early and walk around the stadium and watch batting practice and most importantly...EAT. I started the South Beach diet on June 1 (so I could fit into the matron of honor dress I had to wear to Ty & Alex's wedding) but that went right out the window when the sweet smell of nachos and ice cream filled the air. Oh well, I guess "diet starts monday" is in order. A perfect night. I think the padres even won.

[June 2] The Bay of Play is OPEN

After being closed for what seemed like an eternity, the bay of play at seaworld re-opened! We took Jeff with us because it was rumored that there would be 3 new disneyland type rides for choob to go on. When we arrived, awestruck by the fresh new paint and large crowds, we noticed the height requirements....on EVERYTHING...even the curly slide! Choob was too short for everything except the baby play pit. At least Jeff made it fun by building towers and knocking Luke down into them. New Bay of Play overall rating = LAME.

Weeks later I found out that if an adult goes on the rides with the child, the height restriction doesn't apply. Bay of Play is less lame now.