Cali trip part 3

We spent our day Sunday (10-25) in Santa Cruz at the beach. William had a blast playing in the water. That is definately not something that you would be able to do in Oregon at this time of year. It was a lot of fun. And well all the playing led to a nice little nap in the car.

We spent our last evening at a corn maze. Since William and I had never been through one before it sounded like fun. We went through 2 of the 3 mazes and it totaled over 5 miles of walking. It sure didn't seem like that long. Poor William his allergies kicked in and made him have a harder time with his nose.


Soon it was time to head home. It was hard to leave, vacation wasn't long enough, and William didn't wanna leave his new found friends. He was teary eyed in the airport. The flight home went well outside of some turbulance and coming home to lots of rain and cold weather.

California Trip part 2....

We spent Saturday (10-24) in San Francisco. Most of the day was spent at the Steinhart Aquarium and a few of the exhibits at the California Academy of Science at Golden Gate Park. It was amazing and William really enjoyed it. We started out by seeing the T-Rex fossils and some of the animals in the area around the Rainforest exhibit. Then we made our way inside the 4 level rainforest that took on the climate of 4 different rainforests from around the world (Borneo, Costa Rica, Madagascar, and the Amazon), not only was it beautiful, but it was hot and humid.. The kids loved seeing the different animals and all the butterflies.After that we went into the Aquarium part of the building and went through several different sections. They had many different types of fish/aqauatic life from all over the world. William loved watching the octopus climb the glass and seeing the electric eels was pretty awesome to him. The one animal that took everyone by surprise as the white Alligator they had. After the aquarium we checked out the rest of the building seeing penguins and then exhibits showing animals in Africa. The kids were starting to get worn out and definately getting hungry. So we decided we'd head off for lunch to the one place William had been talking about for a couple days.
We ended up down at the piers and had lunch at The Rainforest Cafe. William had been talking about going to that place for a while. The place is amazing and the kids loved it. The animals (all robotic) were all over and some had been dressed up. Every so often the animals would start moving and it would start raining. William enjoyed some tasty mac and cheese for lunch. It's definately a place we'll go back to. After lunch we walked the pier for a while and made our way to Ghirardeli square. We made one more stop before we left San Francisco and drove down Lombard street.. Great view... packed street... and there is no way I could live in that city, the driving alone is horrible.

California Trip part one..

William has been looking forward to this trip for weeks and the last few days before we left was particularly hard for him. He just wanted to go NOW! He was even more excited for his first time on an airplane. The early wake up call wasn't exactly welcomed well, but once we were there it was time for fun. The first day (10-22) was spent visiting the Jelly Belly factory and playing at home. He even got to meet Cam and Jaz and they quickly became new friends.
On Friday (10-22) we went in to San Jose to the Children's Discovery Museum to play. The kids were so excited and had so much fun. There was so much to do. William wanted to play in the water tables, Jaz wanted to make a corn husk doll, and Cam was down for just about anything. They got to play in a firetruck, with bubbles, water, and numerous other exhibits. The water tables were a big hit and when we left we had one soaked little boy. We tried finding a name on the tile walls outside of the building with no luck. But after no luck there we decided to head to the park. It was loads of fun! Even with Jaz falling off of the merry go round. Poor girl just slipped. Soon after it was time to head home to have dinner, play a little Wii and get ready for bed. The kids were definately worn out, but looking forward to the big day ahead.

first day of school

Today was William's first day of school. This is his second year of preschool. There were a lot of new kids in his class. This year is gong to be fun and full of new experiences. First off is going to be learning about the child in the wheelchair, Christopher, and this is a good experience I feel. He has never been around a child like that. What a great learning experience about helping and compassion that can be. Next is just making new friends. The first one he met was Hayden, who also had a Bumblebee backpack and Optimus Prime tennis shoes, and they managed to show off their stuff to one another. Mrs. Owens is his assigned teacher this year although he also has Mrs. Beiser again. They are in a combined class with both teachers in there. It's a good experience. I can't wait to see some of the projects they make, songs or stories they learn, field trips they go on, and friends made. It's going to go fast and with William turning 5 in just a few months, Kindergarten is right around the corner. Oh they grow so fast!

Fair and sunburns..

Ahhh today was the day of the fair. The day that William has been looking forward to for a few days now.. It was awesome. We started out the morning meeting up with Melinda, Justin, and Baby Allie. Allie was in the cutest baby contest and won in a few categories! I'm so happy for the proud parents because that little girl is absolutely beautiful!


The boys weren't interested at all over the baby contest and soon it was off to ride some rides. We started off with The Spider. I love that ride. William, however, doesn't and mentioned as the ride started going that he felt like he was gonna throw up. Luckily he held it all together and made it through the ride, however, I will never be able to get him back on it. We rode several rides and the boys had a blast. Too bad the tickets just didn't go far enough. The rides were very expensive.

We had a good time looking through some of the booths. The boys got their faces painted like Spiderman and they both looked super cute. When it comes down to the food we enjoyed some traditional and not so traditional fair food. We enjoyed Hawaiian ice and sno-cones, almost had a hot dog (it ended up on the ground), funnel cakes (yummy), and pan fried noodles with chicken and teriyaki sauce. All of the food was good and even though William wasn't happy about the hot dog falling on the ground he did end up eating about 1/2 of the funnel cake.
After we were all outta tickets Julie, Marcus, William, and I were getting ready to have our picture taken to have it put into a large button (kinda cheesy, but hey we wanted them) and all of a sudden we hear Anna scream. For the second time in 3 days she was stung by a bee. The first time was on her back.. this time was on her finger. After calming down enough to only have tears streaming down her face and us having finished the picture taking part of the process we told her to go get her hawaiian ice and go to the car where we'd meet her. She went and we got out buttons. However, she didn't get far, we ended up catching up to her and just left the fair at that point. We all had a great day and we've all come away with some pain either self inflicted or bee inflicted.

Which leads me to the second part of the title.. Sunburns.. As a mom I should know better. If you are going to be out in the sun remember to put sunscreen on, especially if you know you burn or are more prone to burning. Today I didn't think about it and I have to say that I probably got the worst of it. William is ok, Marcus just fine and Anna too outside of her bee sting. Julie is a little darker and has a slight sunburn, but me... Well lets just say I've learned my lesson.. At least for now I have.

Thank You's to God...

There are times where William just melts my heart.. Tonight was definately one of those times. After reading him a bedtime story twice and tucking him into bed, he gave me hugs and kisses and said that before he fell asleep he needed to say his 'Thank you's" to God. I said it was fine to say those while he was laying down and he soon started in with those "Thank You's". As I stood there listening to my son it was clear that he knew exactly what he was thankful for today. The one line that melted my heart the most was "Thank you God for bringing me home where I belong". To hear a 4 1/2 year old say something like that is just amazing in a sense. It's something that can melt a heart, he definately melted mine tonight, and made me feel so blessed and happy to have him as my son. He's asked from time to time why God gave him to me and I have to say that on nights like this I can truly say it's because He knew I needed William. He was just right for me. :)

I'm thankful for my sweet little guy, even when he's not so sweet, and I can't imagine life without him. After him being gone for 4 days I am glad to have him home.. I just wish he didn't sound so grown up each time he comes back.

countdown begins for school days again

And the countdown begings again for the first day of school. William can't wait and is definately looking forward to going back. Me, on the other hand, am getting irritated at the lack of certain school supplies being available. I never knew trying to find 8 oz bottles of Elmer's school glue and Avery brand Glue sticks, plus Crayola watercolor paint sets would be so hard. Everyone is either out or doesn't carry them at all. :(

This year is the first time I've had to go out and buy things other than supplies and well socks. I actually am having to due some clothes shopping. And what breaks my heart is that hes no longer in the toddler section for some clothes.. Pants being the biggest thing. And well, hes' also gone up another size... My little guy who isn't even five is wearing a size 5 from the big boys section, however it's just for the length, but it's still a size five.

This summer has just flown by and the next few weeks are sure to do the same. But before school starts we are going to cram in as much fun as we can. I'm so glad he's going back to some good friends and a classroom with teachers he loves. They are awesome and I'm just so blessed to have a happy boy who loves his school. I'm sure this school year is gonna fly by just as fast as this last one, I just hope that this time he doesn't catch everything going around and that they don't have an extra week off due to weather. I'm looking forward to seeing some more growth in William as the school year progresses. I'm looking forward to meeting new friends, seeing new projects, taking more pics, and lots more field trips. I think I'm just as excited as he is. :)