Just Beachy

While in Carlsbad last week we were able to spend two glorious afternoons relaxing and playing on the beach and the really fabulous part was that it was warm enough for the kids to be in their swimsuits and playing in the water. In February! I think the first day we went to the beach it was sunnier and warmer than when we were there last June. Which is why with the sun setting behind the water, all my pictures came out shadowy and dark.

But never fear because with a little cloud cover and better positioning on my part, I got tons of pictures the second day. In fact, I can't remember the last time it was this easy to get so many pictures of the kids with such natural looking smiles and obvious joyous grins. Made it hard to choose which ones to post.

Jadyn, ever so dramatic claimed to be afraid to go check out the water by herself so her ever so dutiful big brother held her hand as they approached the shore:

Continuing the dramatics, Jadyn then proclaimed to be cold, so the ever dutiful big brother tried to keep her warm:

They then both turned to get reassurance from me, which made for a pretty opportune time to take a picture:

Jadyn's reaction to the first rush of water to spill over her feet. The pacific ocean water is cold pretty much year round but does she looks like she minds?:

Jake's reaction to his first encounter with the water:

But as you can see, it certainly didn't slow them down any:

After they had got their fill of hole digging, sandcastle building and shore running, we dried off and went climbing along the rock jetty where we found no less than 15 squirrels running, chirping, playing and hiding amongst the rocks. The kids loved it!

One of the few squirrels that wasn't camera shy:

And so we left the beach, albeit a little sandier but proclaiming our little mini va-cay an overwhelming success.

ETA: Some of these pictures look way better than what blogger is displaying. I may just have to go back and edit this post so they are on here via Flickr but no time right now!

Surprise!

I have so much to catch up on from our time in Carlsbad last week. Suffice to say it was a welcomed break and we had a really nice time.

As everyone knows, Saturday was my birthday. However after a week of of eating out, relaxing and getting to do fun things like go to the beach and Legoland, I felt I had done my fair share of celebrating with the family. Not to mention the mountain of laundry and work files that greeted me on my return. So my only plan for Saturday was to go out to dinner with my good friend Solinda.

Here are the kids and I before I headed out to dinner:



When Solinda and I arrived at Applebee's for dinner, I was kind of confused as she walked us straight past the hostess without asking for a table. But as we approached the main dining area, I was greeted by a table of my closest friends - Ali, Heather, Rose and Lyndsey (Maria came later). Solinda had planned a surprise birthday dinner!

I was truly shocked and very touched. No one has ever thrown me a surprise party and frankly, I don't think Joe could ever even hope to pull one off because I am such a control freak.

Of course, thinking I was just going to enjoy a nice dinner with Solinda, I didn't have my camera. But always thinking and knowing how much I like to photograph everything, Solinda had her camera and took pictures, which I will post later once I get them. We had a wonderful dinner, great conversation, a cute little pink and purple cake and some very thoughtful gifts including some new books to read, a Barnes and Noble gift certificate for even more books, a meal planning kit, Bath and Body Works set, a candle and the ingredients for a great family movie night. It was more than I could ever ask for.

Add to that the fact that Joe surprised me with a new phone - a Palm Pre Plus, which I am LOVING! Joe truly spoils me as he had already gotten me a 3 day pass to the Coachella Music Festival for April so I really wasn't expecting anything else.

All in all, it was a great birthday, especially considering I wasn't even looking forward to becoming another year older. No matter how you try to label it 50-14, 29+7, 40-4 or just plain saying 36 - I might be getting older but it also seems like life couldn't get much better so this old lady is not going to complain.

Be Mine

Valentine's Day came a little early for the kids when both of them had class parties on Thursday the 12th. Unfortunately, I cannot be in two places at once so I held to my tradition of volunteering at Jadyn's preschool party, as I had done for Jake the past two years. Of course Tuesday I volunteered in Jake's class and in addition to working on the science fair project with the kids, I got to help them sponge paint their Valentine bags for their exchange at the party.

Here is Jadyn posing with one of her besties at school, Autumn. Apparently they share a love for a certain beautiful birthday cake that resides in the preschool's play kitchen:

And here is Jadyn with Hayden, who she has known for awhile now since his brother was Jake's best friend in preschool. If I had my way, this would be her valentine:

Passing out goodies to all her friends:

Back at home, I had to get Jake in on the action - especially with his super cool rock star red shirt and sporting a new haircut:

And here I am with my two little Valentines:

Hope everyone was able to celebrate Valentine's Day with those they love.

Tumbling

So as I mentioned awhile back, the kids were taking a tumbling class. It was more for Jadyn but I had Jake do it as well to help her ease into it. Actually, it ended up working out perfectly because even though Jake really seemed to like it, after the first month he stopped showing interest in going and since he has t-ball starting within the next month, I didn't really want him overloaded with activities.

Jadyn absolutely LOVES the class. I think after this she will also be ready to start dance but the curious thing about Jadyn is that even though she loves all things girly, I could totally see her playing soccer next fall too. I guess only time will tell.

The day I took these pictures, I had curled Jadyn's hair that morning for her class pictures at school and a little of it had still held. This picture just breaks my heart because I look at it and wonder, "Where did my baby girl go?" She looks so grown up!

You might also notice by her necklace that she has been raiding my jewelry armoirre and begging to wear various bracelets and necklaces of mine.

Unfortunately I have yet to get a good picture of her doing a somersault or jumping on the trampoline (the look on her face is sheer joy) but I did get a couple cute shots of her on the balance beam and preparing to do a back roll. She looked so cute in her little outfit. Sometimes I think she wants to take dance just for the girly leotards and tutus.

And that's a wrap. Ta-Da!

I did it.

I still remember the day in January 2006 when Joe had just completed running his first marathon. I was several months pregnant with Jadyn and didn't feel fit to walk across the street, let alone any real distances. I told him you know, I doubt I would ever be able to run it and I doubt I would be able to do a full marathon but it would be nice if maybe someday I could train to walk a half marathon. Well that day has come and gone and I feel so accomplished that I can cross this one off my bucket list.

Here we are at mile 13, shortly before crossing the finish line. I was waving back at Jake who acting as my own personal cheerleading squad, was sitting in the grass and clapping for me:

Right after the race, Solinda and I posing with our finisher metals. I have to say I am so thankful that Solinda decided to do this with me because I am positive I wouldn't have been able to do all that training without someone to talk to and push me along the way. I have undoubtedly made a lifelong friend in her:

And nothing better than to have my favorite Valentines (along with the guy behind the camera of course) to congratulate me at the finish line:

Next up: I have decided to try and give this whole running thing a try. My goal is to be able to run a 5K by April 10th. But before I take on that endeavor, I am going to enjoy our time in San Diego and take a well-deserved break. And I would be remiss not to thank everyone for all their much appreciated support.

Magoomba #27

A lot going on over at the Funny Nose household so before my lack of blogging gets too out of hand, here is a quick update on a few things that are going on:

1) Joe has been a traveling machine lately. Three days in Bridgeport California, a week in Stafford Virginia (where he almost got stuck because of all the snow) and now he is preparing to go to Pendleton for the week.

2) And to that end, since the kids were already going to have a short school week due to the President's Day holiday, we decided that the family is going to join Joe at Pendleton. Therefore we will be in Carlsbad (North San Diego county) for 3 days next week. We just didn't get enough on our short trip to visit Laura and I am pretty sure we are going back to Legoland as well as spending some time relaxing on the beach.

3) Then on Friday the 19th we are going to the Speedway in Fontana for our now annual trip to watch the drivers qualify for the Auto Club 500. I am super pumped and Jake has been saving his allowance to buy some new NASCAR diecasts.

4) I don't know anything special about the following day, February 20th. I *think* someone might be having a birthday, which she would just as soon forget because well 36 just sounds so OLD.

5) Instead I would like to focus on this weekend - because while Sunday may be the holiday of chocolate hearts and roses, it is also the day of the half marathon. The forecast for Palm Springs is a high of 80 so the weather is cooperating and it appears that I have been able to stay both virus and injury free, although in this last couple of weeks I have definitely been weary that after all this training I would end up either sick or hurt. Now I just have to face the idea of waking up at 4:30 a.m (SO NOT an early morning person) to drive down to Palm Springs and prepare for the 7 a.m. start time. Wish me luck!

6) The house is currently in upheaval as Joe is repainting the master bedroom and bathroom. As he likes to point out, it all started with one of my "ideas". The idea was that our dry clean only comforter, which had been spending more time at the dry cleaners than on our bed, needed to be replaced with something machine washable. That of course led to a color scheme change necessitating new paint. So last night we all slept on our king mattress in the middle of the living room. Of course the kids got a kick out of that.

7) Planning has begun for a May 06 Blogging Mommy trip to Vegas in the fall. I am so very excited about this, especially after meeting my first blog friend in person. Now I am going to get the chance to spend a fun-filled weekend with several friends at the same time. It will be legendary for sure. If you are interesting in joining us, please leave me your email address as a comment.

8) I have several blog posts with photos in the works and hope to get them written and scheduled for next week while I am gone. Included is Jadyn at tumbling class, both kids on the day of their Valentine parties at school and the updated master bed/bath.

Hope everyone has a nice President's Day weekend and if you did or will be getting snow, believe it or I am a little jealous. Just think of me as I am walking 13.1 miles around the famous Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs (including Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley's hideaway homes) in 70+ degree weather.

Fairies and Silver Stars

In the craziness that was our lightning quick but action packed adventure to San Diego, I didn't have a chance to mention that the kids went to the dentist for their yearly check-up.

The good news is that Jadyn was cooperative this year and let the hygienist clean her teeth as well as having the dentist give her a thorough exam. The bad news is that at only 3 years old, Jadyn has TWO cavities. I couldn't believe it. And I am super nervous about how she will do when she goes the first week in March to get the first one filled but luckily we are dealing with a pediatric dentistry office and I am trying to to put my faith in the notion that they know how to best tackle the task. The other good news is that Jake's teeth are fine.

So how, might you ask, did that happen? You have two kids with similar genetics, food choices and brushing habits and Jake is going on 6 years old and has no problems and Jadyn, who is two years younger is already getting cavities. Well I asked the dentist the same question and his answer was simple: Children who snack more frequently tend to end up with more cavities. It is a healthy way to eat as far as our metabolism goes but not so much for our teeth. The only solution would be to get into the habit of brushing every time you eat something. Not really likely. Oh and also, gummy fruit snacks are evil but I already knew that and any that remained in our house were promptly thrown out after we got home from the dentist.

So how are they going to fill Jadyn's cavities? Well, they don't recommend gas, although I know some dentist office do utilize this method. Instead they are going to tell her that little fairies are going to go in and give her a little pinch and make her mouth all tingling and numb and then the dentist is going to put a silver star on the tooth that is sick so that it can get better.

I am sure Jadyn will love the story. I am not all that convinced it is going to be that simple but again, I am trying to have faith that they know what they are talking about when they say most children, even apprehensive 3-year olds like Jadyn do just fine. I just hope they are right.

To be continued the first Monday in March...........

Balboa Park

So as I mentioned, on Sunday we met up with Laura and her family again before we headed back to the desert. I love, love, love Balboa Park. For a more in-depth post about what it is and the sentimental value it holds, you can read my post from our last visit here.

We have kind of settled into a routine at Balboa Park where we visit the same attractions - the fountain, the miniature train ride, the carousel and the model railroad train museum and this trip was no exception. The only exception was that since the kids were so occupied with everything that instead of taking the usual million plus pictures, I took the opportunity to chat more with Laura. However I did get this picture of the kids on the carousel. They decided to ride the cats instead of the usual horses:

And I don't know what it is about this picture that I love so much. It's not the best photo technically. It's not even the greatest shot of either kid. But for me, it is a perfect illustration of how wonderfully Jake and Jadyn get along 95% of the time - how much fun they have together and how much they love each other. I really am quite fortunate that they enjoy each other so much. Here they share their excitement during our train ride:

So for those family and friends that do not regularly visit Laura's blog, I would urge you to check out her post about our meet-up. For one, she had to go and show me up when I said it was near impossible to get a good shot of all four kids together. She "miraculously" succeeded on that front. Plus, since I made my personality such a front and center subject with my recent blog post last week, you can get another person's view on who I really am, one that I must say is much more flattering than the one I had for myself.

Disneyland for Lego Lovers

It was way overdue considering how often we are in North County San Diego but when we were deciding where to meet-up on Laura's recent visit, we were given the perfect opportunity to finally check out Legoland. As a family of Lego lovers who are not so into Mickey Mouse, this was an amusement park that was right up our alley.

There was tons of age-appropriate and fun rides, activities and attractions all involving the Legos theme. Jadyn is a little thrill-seeker so her favorite part were the rides. Jake prefers to be more "hands on" so his favorite part were the build and test, multi-level play structure and foam ball cannon attraction. Joe and I both agreed that our favorite part was definitely Miniland USA, which had miniature replicas of iconic places throughout the US, made entirely from Legos.

First ride was the Jr. Volvo Driving School where Jake took great pride in his passing skills:

And Jadyn didn't do too bad herself:

Then Jadyn and I took a ride in this helicopter and pretended to rescue Snoopy:

Caught these super cute grins as the kids passed by on the plane ride:

Giant slide - comes with the price of admission and little wait. Perfect for my little princess:

A few highlights from Miniland included The Marine Corps War Memorial:

A glimpse of L.A that included Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory (just ignore the San Fransisco skyline in the background, LOL!)

Excaliber hotel/casino in Vegas:


And a personal favorite of Jake's, Daytona International Speedway:


Jake concentrating on building the perfect Lego race car:

Getting ready to race it against the competition:


Posing:

The only downside in all of this was that we ran out of time; what with all the fun attractions to choose from, meeting Laura and her family for the first time AND the fact that their was a decent crowd since it was a mild-weathered Saturday. The park was closing before we knew it. The upside is that we since Joe does get sent to the area frequently for work, we will most certainly be going back. We may just break down and buy season passes but for now, we will just have to settle for our growing collection of Legos right here in our very own home.

Meeting a Friend for the First Time

It sounds kind of odd doesn't it? To already be friends with someone, even though you have never met. And I don't consider everyone I talk to on the internet to be my friend but there is a select group who through the last 4 years of chatting via forums and blogging together, I would definitely consider a friend. And LauraC. is one of them. So I was very excited when the opportunity came up for us to meet in person during her recent trip to San Diego and even more excited when it worked out that we would also be able to get our kids and hubbys together as well. The bonus in all of this is that since I'm already back and she is still gone, I get to blog about our meet-up first. (Insert evil conniving laugh here).

And what can I say? We had a wonderful time. She was everything I expected and more. We had tons to talk about in between looking out for the kids while they ran around Legoland Saturday and Balboa Park Sunday. The time went by too fast and I can't wait for the next time we have the chance to get together in person. And the kids are already asking when they get to play with their new friends again.

Here are Laura and I on Saturday.

I honestly don't even remember what was so funny, but does it look like we are getting along okay?


Then on Sunday, while we waiting for the train ride to start at Balboa Park, Jake and Jadyn were more then amused at Alex as he repeatedly greeted the Panda companion for his journey.

After the ride, we attempted to get a good group shot of the 4 of them but unfortunately the fallen palm fronds were just too intriguing to the trio of three year olds, even with a bribe of M&Ms.


When I blog about our trip to Legoland look for some Easter eggs of Nate and Alex in some of the photos. Until then, I officially declare my first blogfriend meetup to be a success.