Wordless Wednesday

Nor Cal Renaissance Faire

Okay okay, I'll try to do better with my updating of this blog. I'm making no promises though.

At the beginning of the month we took a little trip to Hollister and went to the Northern California Renaissance Faire. Quentin loves the jousting and of course anything having to do with swords and other weaponry. He's such a boy.

The first thing we did was see the Moonie comedy show. It was hilarious! The guy does his introduction and then informs the audience that the show is a non-speaking show, so he'll no longer be talking. Well, that lasts until someone in the audience, or a show participant, does something he doesn't agree with. Then, he laughs at himself and has to put back on his "quiet" face. :-)

Austin rented the Robin Hood costume for the day, but Quentin wasn't interested. He opted to wear his new fedora all day and received many compliments on it.

We watched the jousting, saw the queen, Austin participated in a story telling skit, and Quentin tried his hand at the bow and arrow.

He did pretty well. There were some that got away from him, but he got a bulls-eye too.

I think he was inspired by his instructor.  He decided he needed to try it again later in the afternoon and was able to get a picture with her.

It was a very long, but fun day...well, except for the throw-up on the way there and the throwing of a royal fit on the way home. But, really, it was a great day! ;-)

September

September is flying by! We've had two birthday parties for Quentin, taken him to a few doctor appointments, gone to the circus, started the soccer season, made lots of new friends and are looking forward to spending time with old friends too!

Andrew took the boys and I to Ringling Brothers earlier this month. I love the circus! I think I enjoy it more than the boys do.  Well, maybe not more than Austin. He's such a cutie!  Quentin is less willing to participate. Gotta' love the tween attitude. He did end up really enjoying himself, but he tried hard not to. :-)

Quentin really likes his new soccer team. He is making friends and they are playing well as a team. Here are some pics from the game last weekend.

1st Day of 6th Grade

Quentin started 6th Grade yesterday. His official report was that his new teacher seems nice, but that she sometimes speaks to them like they're 2nd Graders. (She taught 2nd Grade previously.) He said that the After School Program seems okay, so far. He's not committing to liking anything yet. He's the kind of kid that likes to keep his complaint options open. :-)

I bought him a bunch of new school clothes while he was gone. Not smart. He grew so much that I had to take back about 90% of what I bought! He put on over 10 pounds, his shoe size went up a size, and he grew almost two inches.

Summer = Busy

Okay, I figured I better do an update before I go on vacation because when I come back from vacation I’ll have to do an update about my vacation. You see the logic, right?

It’s been a busy couple of months. Quentin has been a traveling man. He has spent a lot of time at Grandma’s house, which by the way, is over the river and through the woods! :-) I’m very happy to have him home. He’s definitely in the pre-teen stage, but I still love him and like to have him around.

When he comes home we our season passes to go to the water park. Our friend Megan bought a season pass too, but I don’t know if we’ll take her with us anymore since she almost got in a fight with a very large woman in a yellow bikini last time we were there. That’s another story though.

Grandma Nihla turned 75 years old this summer and Mom hosted a party for her. Lots of family and friends came to celebrate with her from as far away as Yuma. Wanda and Juanita did the decorating and the guys were responsible for the BB-Q. It was a delicious Mexican Fiesta! Mmm…carne asada, pollo asada, home made salsa, etc…

Andrew and I celebrated one year together by him meeting the family and him actually agreeing to have his picture taken without half of his face covered or his tongue sticking out. I think that means he likes me. Maybe? Or, it could have been because Chandel told him to do it and Chandel (a.k.a. Dizzle) can be very intimidating. Or so she thinks. :-)

I took Quentin to see The Fray in concert. It was a great show! We froze though. I didn’t think it would get into the 50s in June! I should have known better.

4th of July weekend was really fun! We saw fireworks, BB-Q’d twice, went to the water park and went swimming at my cousin’s, at the apartments, and at Sun Splash. I thought the boys were going to morph into fish by the end of the weekend.

One of our more recent adventures was a trip up the pass. Mom and I took Quentin and Lily so they could swim in the river. Well, that part didn’t work out because the river was the highest I’ve ever seen it. It was flowing way too fast for adults to be in, much less little children. So, instead we had a picnic and witnessed the results of two motorcycle accidents. Not cool. Here’s a hint people…drinking and driving do not mix. Drinking and driving something with two wheels instead of four is even worse!

And my last bit of information…my kid broke my brother’s kid. :-( It was an accident, but my Little Man feels awful. He is Lily’s “protector” and he is devastated that he broke her.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I love sports! I can’t play them worth a damn, but I love being a spectator. Attending an event is even more exciting than watching it on TV of course. My favorite is football, but baseball is a close second, followed by boxing, tennis, hockey, NASCAR, basketball, etc.

Sunday morning Andrew surprised me and invited Quentin and I to go to the Ports baseball game with him and Austin. He got us excellent seats in the first row, right behind the home team dugout.

In between innings there are silly competitions that the fans can participate in. Andrew and Austin got picked to participate in one at a game last season. I would have liked to have seen that! The announcer kept walking by our seats and Andrew got his attention once and told him that it was my first Ports game and that if they were going to do the dance competition I should be picked to participate. I couldn’t believe my ears! I know my eyes were as big as golf balls behind my sunglasses. I kept shaking my head no and waving my hands so the guy would know that I was not at all interested in dancing in front of a stadium full of people. Okay, it’s a small stadium, but that matters not. I DO NOT dance in public…unless there has been a liberal amount of alcohol consumed beforehand. And I mean consumed by everyone, not just me. Luckily, the announcer was on my side and we happened to take the kids to walk around the park during the time that they did the dance competition. The participants ended up being a father and son and they both did break dancing. As for my dear Andrew’s consequences for even suggesting the idea, I haven’t decided as of yet. But, it will be good.

It was a really good game. Unfortunately, Stockton lost to Visalia by one run. We all thought they were going to make a comeback in the last inning. The tying run was on base with no outs. After a couple fly balls to the outfield and the runner getting caught between bases, it was all over. Three outs and no tying run. :0(

We paid for the boys to join the Kid’s Club, so they got a t-shirt and they got to run the bases after the game. Quentin had to be a show-off and run as fast as he could, which ended up upsetting his stomach because of all of the Nerds he ate during the last inning.

A great time was had by all!

Jean-NAY

Jean-NAY,
It's your Berf-DAY!
It's your Berf-DAY!
I hope it's great!

The Past Few Weeks

The highlights...

1. I have remembered to wear my make-up everday!

2. I turned 35 years old. Quentin heard these lyrics in a Kid Rock song (or something close to it)..."It seems I was just 16 and now I'm staring at 36." To which Quentin replied, "Wow, Kid Rock is 36? He's older than you Mom!" Here is a picture of the giant cupcake they gave me at work. It's from one of those "As Seen on TV" commercials.  It was really good and there was enough for everyone!

3. Easter came and went. Chandel and I had a good time coloring eggs with Quentin and Lily. I dropped the same egg several times because the paint Chandel bought was very slippery! She thought I was just a dork until the same thing happened to everyone else. Yes, I realize that this could indicate that we are all dorks.  Here is an egg that Lily painted. I think it looks like the Joker from Batman.

4.  It has been storming off and on for weeks. I love stormy weather. I wish there were more thunder and lightening in the storms we get. Generally, it's just rain and wind.  Here is a shot I took on Highway 4 this past Sunday.

5.  At the end of last week I realized that Quentin is out of school for the summer in two months! That is just plain ridiculous to me. It was just January the other day...wasn't it? Maybe, I am getting senile in my old age. Anyway, I've got to figure out some affordable entertainment for my Little Man for the summer. I thought being in the Big City would give me more options and really it does. The problem is that the options are astronomically priced. We're in a recession people! Does summer day camp really need to cost $1,330? I think not.

What the Hell...

What the hell is wrong with me?!? 

You're probably wondering why my post is so hostile towards myself.  Well, for those of you that know me fairly well you know that I do not leave the house without being presentable. That includes, clean hair, clean clothes, and most definitely I have my make-up on. I cannot believe I am about to admit this, but the fact of the matter is I left the house this morning without make-up on. Not only did I leave the house, but I CAME TO WORK!

I did not do it on purpose. It was not a test to see if people would notice. I was not trying to push the boundaries of "Casual Friday".  I was not just being lazy and decided not to do it. I completely forgot to do it! I did not even notice until I had been at work for about 20 minutes! What the hell? I think I need a vacation.

I am ashamed.

And no, there won't be any photos to accompany this post. :-(

Photography Class

This week has had it's share of ups and downs. I'm not going to talk about the downs because I'm tired of worrying about them. So, one of the ups...

Today I went to my first photography class. I found it in the community education classes booklet that I got in the mail. The class is designed for "Active Adults".  To be honest, I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to keep up with them. But, there is a big array of skill level and personality among the students.  For example, there is the lady who looks like she's between 55 and 60 years old, but she dresses like a 28 year old.  She constantly raised her hand.  And, she accused two other ladies of being the teacher's pet. Yea, they gave her some dirty looks. It was kinda' funny and really surprising all at the same time. Then, there's the lady whom I thought was going to beat up the little old ladies that she felt were asking stupid questions. And, I ended up sitting next to the sweetest lady that used to be a government employee, just like me!

The lessons today covered Aperture, Shutter Speed and Exposure.  Here's a picture that I took after class.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: My Dad

The Trail

Quentin and I went for a walk down the American River Trail yesterday with my friend Megan.  It was a really nice day outside because the rain had stopped and the sun was shining.  Q entertained Megan and I the whole way. He is quite the talker. Megan and I hardly got a word in. He can give Auntie Aub a strong run for her money in talking department these days. 

We walked for about an hour. Along the way we walked over a bridge that I wasn't aware was for foot traffic. We found a different way home, so we didn't have to hike out of the canyon.  We saw pigeons, ducks, geese, rude bicyclists, and chickens. 

It was really fun...until we got home and realized Q had lost his house key. He informed me that it was no reason to be mad, because it was an accident. I love his logic.

The Internet

I now have internet access at home!

For a long time I was lucky enough to have neighbors that weren't security enabling their wireless network. And then all of the sudden they decided to up and move and take their wireless network with them. So, I now have to actually PAY for internet access. It's a bummer to dole out the money every month, but it's such a convenience to be able to "surf" from the comfort of my couch, bed, table, chair, etc... The possibilities are endless when you've got a laptop and a wireless connection.

I've been doing a lot of my internet searches from my iPhone, but you can really only do so much on a "phone". I couldn't download and save the tutorials on Two Peas in Bucket. I couldn't enter the Lego Atlantis contest. I couldn't print my Barnes and Noble coupons. I couldn't update my blog. These are all things that are very important. :-)

As noted above, I haven't been able to post in a while so here's a quick update.

Quentin spent last week with his Dad. He said they had a good time at CA Adventure and Santa Monica.  They were supposed to go to Venice Beach (I wasn't too happy about it, but I let Rob make the final decision).  Unfortunately, they couldn't find parking, so Quentin said they went to Santa Monica instead (I was much happier with that decision).  I stayed home and worked and watched chick flicks. I also went to Sonora and visited my friends, which was great!

The weekend before last was Valentine's Day.  Andrew surprised me with beautiful roses and very delicious chocolates. Uh...here's a picture of the roses, but I ate the chocolates before I thought to take a picture. :-)

Quentin asked me to take him to Build a Bear so that he could make me something special.  Here is my perfect pet. It requires no feeding, watering, going outside. I love it! And she's adorable. Quentin named her Spotted Love.

Well, I've got to go and do some surfing!

The Globetrotters

What a great show! It should be a goal for everyone to see the Harlem Globetrotters at least once. When I was in school the Globetrotters came to our rinky dink school and did a demonstration. I was in awe of them and have wanted to go see their show ever since. Now, here it is just a few years later and I finally got to go see them! Okay, so it's been more than a few years, but you weren't supposed to focus on that part of the story. The fact that two of them (Big Easy and Flight Time) were a team on the TV show The Amazing Race this past season made it even more fun.

Quentin and I met Andrew and Austin at A&W/KFC for lunch before the game.  Quentin declared that A&W's Rootbeer is "INSANE"...in a good way, and Austin decided that his new favorite food is KFC Popcorn Chicken. Luckily, Quentin ordered a large and was willing to share. :-) After making fun of the rodeo cowboys for driving away in a minivan we headed to the game.

The show was hilarious and there's tons of crowd participation.  Austin danced along with the crowd to YMCA, but Quentin and Andrew decided they would pass. A few kids got to go onto the court and participate in the show and they each received an autographed jersey. It was really cute.

After the game the players signed autographs. We waited in line to get Big Easy's autograph and then we were able to get one of the other players also. I think it was Titan, but I'm not positive.

Quentin is so excited that he met and got the autograph of a "famous movie star"!

We finished up the day with a trip to the Spaghetti Factory, because the boys hadn't eaten enough already!

We all had a great time and I'm so thankful that I get to check it off of my "To Do" list. Now, that just leaves the trip to Italy, Skydiving, Win the Lottery, etc...