San Diego [ Day 1: Legoland ]

We arrived in California at 10:30am... a short and uneventful six hour drive from Tempe. Before we headed out to Legoland, we made a quick stop at Subway. We were famished. So we ate.

Here is a VERY sneak peek of some of the fun we had while at Legoland. It was cool (very low 70s), so we never did make it to the water park. We decided to spend 7 hours walking the park instead. We found out Nic LOVES! roller coasters. Loves them. In fact, we all do! There was one ride that we went on 3 times. And waited in line for 30 minutes, each time.

Crazy, huh?

There was one ride that was very disappointing - and the 75 minutes we wasted in line was so not worth it.

When I get home to my picture editing software, I will be sure to add more pictures, but these will do for now!

I thought this mirror in the Women's restroom was cool. It was a lego frame!

And this is how we ended the night.

With fireworks.

It was the 4th of July, after all!

They were LOUD and FUN!

Day one was a SUCCESS! We had a blast! And yes, Nic, Legoland DOES exist (and it isn't Golfland on Country Club and the 60 as you've questioned so many times).

We are up and getting ready to go for Day 2. It's still expected to be gloomy and cooler today, so I think we are going to put off the beach. Instead... Did you know that there is a Natural History Museum in San Diego? We didn't. We do now, though. Guess where we are going today?  Yep!

But first, breakfast.  We love the Broken Yolk - and that's what's on the menu! 

Wish I had Time...

I have some great pics to post, but I haven't had a chance to edit them yet.
We are in CLEANING mode... We leave for California tomorrow morning at 3am.
Crazy husband for suggesting that departure time.
Crazy me for agreeing to it.

We are taking the laptop, so I will be posting here and there.
I will not have my photo editing software (unless I can convince my husband to let me download it the laptop), so the bulk of the pictures will be posted when I get back.

I have been looking forward to this vacation for a long while.

So has Nic.

Nic asked me this morning..."Do they have toilets in Legoland?"

He can't stop thinking about Legoland.
I hope he loves it as much as he thinks he's going to love it!

Isabel the Great

In order to avoid discussing the question Nic just asked me (trust me, you do not want to know!) - I am going to talk some about our middle child - our only daughter - Isabel.

Here are 11 interesting things about Isabel.

1) She has quite a few nicknames; her first, Chooch, came from when my sister-in-law would call her chula,which translates to beautiful or pretty. Chula became chula maria, a take from her middle name of Marie. Chula Maria was subsequently shortened to Chooch. We still call her this, some 11 years later.

2) In the picture above - those are not REAL freckles. I am just a good make-up artist like that. (Ha!) But that is a real birthmark. We've always told her it was from an angel kissing her goodbye before she was brought to us. An Angel Kiss. I secretly think it's the cough medicine I accidentally took when I was four months pregnant with her. Hey, in my defense, everyone in the house was sick; I spooning medicine into everyone's mouth (including my own) - I didn't think twice about it. For 10 minutes. Then I realized what I had done and immediately called Poison Control. The very nice lady took my info and let me explain the situation. When I was done, she calmly said that I did not ingest enough to cause any harm. She then went on to say how we are all worry-warts. That if anything small or silly happened when the baby (Isabel) was born, I would probably try to blame it on this incident. Well... look at it?! It looks like a brown stain... Remind you of anything? Cough syrup, maybe?

You would think that birth mark would be the last of mean jokes handed her way. Nope, why stop there? Isabel also has vitiligo.  Thankfully, for now, it's only on one of her legs. I do see some spots popping up on her other leg. The beautiful thing? Isabel has accepted herself and her condition. Now, for sure she has her off days - the ones where she begs me to not make her wear shorts (it's over 100* in the summer here; jeans are not an option)... but really, for the most part, she is strong and confident. Which is a far cry from when she was 6 or 7. She's come a long way! I am proud of her! Isabel is BEAUTIFUL - and we wouldn't change one thing about her. Well, maybe #6 below.



3) As I type, Isabel is giving Nic a bath. He's dirty. She didn't want to. I bribed her. And now, as I sit here, working/blogging, I hear her bribing him!

4) Isa's best friends with a sweet girl named Hannah. They live super close (as in pretty much next door). They are the same age and really love the same things. Isabel has spent the night over at Hannah's house at least a dozen times in the past 6 months.

5) Isabel is FUNNY. She is always cracking jokes and is always ready with a come-back of some sort. Isabel's mom is ALSO very funny. That must be where Isabel gets it from. I'm just sayin'.

6) Isabel has a small (heck - let's keep it real) gigantic attitude problem. But we are working on it. She is not very patient... She doesn't like it when she doesn't get her way. She thinks things aren't fair. She doesn't like being asked to do her chores. She slams doors. She stomps her feet. She gets annoyed with her brothers. She likes to scowl. I have NO idea where she gets all of this attitude from. No idea. None. At all. Nope.

7) Isabel says she wants to be a veterinarian. Isabel also says she is deathly afraid of bugs and spiders. So much for loving all animals & stuff.

8) Isa loves the Disney & Nickelodeon channels - the "tween" stuff of course.

9) I think Isabel has Bieber Fever. I am actively looking for an antidote.

10) Isabel plays softball. Only during the spring now, but we hope to get her involved in a club where she can play more often. I think she is a great ball player.

11) Isabel cannot wait for Middle School. I have a feeling she is going to keep me busy! I think she is going to be really involved in school activities! She likes to try any and everything. Bring it on, Chooch, bring it on!

Who else thinks it's crazy that Isabel literally matched the ship? I promise we did not do that on purpose!

There you have it... Isabel in a nut shell.

Well, not really a nut shell.

That would be awkward.

=)

T Minus 5 Days...

... and counting until our vacation!

The husband and I are both off of work starting this Thursday, but we won't be leaving for California until Sunday, July 4th. We've never missed a 4th of July here in Arizona; this will be our first.

Our family decided to move our 4th of July BBQ and Swimming Party to the 3rd of July - so in actuality, we won't be missing much.

On the flip side - guess what we are doing and where we're going to spend the afternoon and evening in honor of Independence Day?

Here is a clue:

Well, I guess it was more like a dead give-away!  But never-the-less, we are very excited.  We have 5 fun-filled days planned to plan for in sunny San Diego. 

We have a lot to do to get ready, but we are so very much looking forward to getting away, spending some time at the beach, and making Nic's dream of going to Legoland come true. 

The kid has had a continuous death grip on a few Legoland magnets he found one day - they were from when the husband took Alex, when he, too, was just 3 years old. 

Remind me to hide the rest of the magnets I've collected over the years; especially the one of the Eiffel Tower.  I don't think I could afford (time, energy, or money) a trip like that anytime soon!

Oh, any of YOU out there have any ideas of fun/cheap things to do in the San Diego area? I would love to hear them! I might even dub you my official event planner!

P.S. Picture courtesy of  Legoland. A little Photoshopping courtesy of me.

The Good, the Okay, and the Ugly!

Not necessarily in that order... :)

Isabel, Nic and I made a trip to Michael's today while Alex and the husband were out admiring their biggest catch:

Don't laugh. I already did - enough for both of us.

Back to my story... We wanted to pick up some art supplies; we decided on an art project similar to the ones here and here.  After some time, this is what we ended up with:

They don't look like dinosaurs much, do they? Maybe I should have named this project Make Believe Animal (Maybe?) Art...

Yeah, that's it!

Guess what the husband brought me home from Costco - besides two rotisserie chickens?
These:

It's been a very happy Sunday in and around our house!  I think I am ready for the week to begin!

It's never a good thing...

...when your husband sends you an email with the following subject:

In case we get lost; here's a picture of us...

What?!  The husband and son woke up super early this morning to head out to Prescott (Goldwater Lake), to get some fishing time in. This is the first time they have ever gone fishing alone. I am so thankful that they are starting to do things like this - it only took 14 years!  We are certainly in a different place in life - we are able to do more and enjoy more.

Oh... here's that picture:

Up and At 'Em

It's graduation day for me. And it's only 6:40 in the morning. I hate to wake the kids up so darn early, but my graduation is being held all the way across town.

By completing my MBA and walking during the graduation ceremony, I hope my children (at least the older two) understand how important education is in our family. 10 years ago, I never thought I would have a Bachelors degree, let alone a Masters.

Up and at 'em! Let's get the show on the road!