Whew! We Made It!

Made it through Christmas!

Greg's parents came out for about 10 days or so and boy did we keep busy! We went to go see the Dancing with the Stars Tour down in San Jose. Even Greg was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. One of the high lights was that we actually can now say that we have seen Wayne Newton live! HAHA. (He was singing and not dancing) However, poor Greg didn't get to see Julianne Hough. Her cute brother was there instead. :-) We went out to the wine country and his dad was kind enough to buy me a couple of yummy bottles! We hit San Fran one day and hopped on a boat tour of the bay and saw the old fort that is build under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Christmas itself went off without a hitch! I think Santa was MORE than generous this year considering we took off for an unexpected trip to Disney World in November! The kids had "the best Christmas EVER"! Pogo Sticks all around. Wii games, including the Dance Revolution that I am hooked on. Some good books. A bike ramp. New roller blades. An i-pod for Mom and weights for Dad. Oh. And did I mention the parrot?

Only downfall to Christmas here is no snow. Sure doesn't feel like Christmas no matter how many lights I put on the house. Or in the house. The green grass and blooming plants just throws me off. Oh well. The neighbors were feeling guilty because they have grown kids and don't always do lights outside anymore. But they said that house looked nice with all the lights up.

I still need to see about getting pictures off of Greg's computer and then I can post them. Check back later!

My Little Blondie

In case you are wondering. When you are playing Uno you are "playing on your own team, single file."

Christmas is Coming

And I actually have all my shopping done!

Now...if I could just get on those cards.....

That Sinking Feeling You Get

You know, there is this funny little feeling you get when you go out in search of your son, turning the corner and seeing police lights flashing and your boy standing there looking up into the face of an officer.

The boys were out today working on thier bike ramps. We have this section in our neighborhood that is just dirt and trees and stuff. So all the kids in the area have been digging holes and creating these ramps to jump. The city came in and leveled the ramps kids had built over the summer down near the creek, so...they thought they'd do a little construction themselves. Harmless really, but you know how it goes. One grouchy neighbor can ruin it all. Turned them in.

Anyway, as it happens it wasn't the cops, but the state park rangers. Apparently the boys had been digging on park land that connects to Mt. Diablo. The rangers were great, talked to the boys about leaving nature at it is, you know, leave no trace. Educated them on what type of rocks they were uncovering (Serpentine is the state rock of California), gave them the history of the bear that is on the California flag (now extinct), and enlisted the boys to become junior rangers. And while they thought it was fantastic that the boys were out digging and riding bikes instead of playing computer games they did ask that they not dig anymore.

Ironically, Austin was the one who ran for the hills when he saw the truck with the lights. The others were ready to stand up and take it. He did come back though...couple of points there I guess.

Mmmm his first run in with the law. And he's only 10. It's going to be a long road isn't it?

Halloween

So I'm behind again. Halloween in our neighborhood is fun! I don't think I've ever seen so many kids Trick Or Treating in my life! The other half of our neighborhood does a huge block party and our side does traditional trick or treating.
I have to say, I decorated so well this year that we had a visitor on Halloween night. We had a bat come and take up residence above our front door. Guess that's what happens when you make your front yard look like a graveyard! LOL

Huh...

I've been informed that I am 3 decades older than Melissa.

Boys Night Out

Greg and Austin decided to do a little backbacking and camping this past weekend. Greg got a new tent and backpack for his birthday and they needed to try it out. They went up to Black Diamond Mines over in Antioch. Had to hike about 3 miles up to the campsite. Greg said Austin did great, didn't complain the whole way and carried quite a bit of weight himself. While they were doing this, we girls were at the mall. Imagine my surprise to get a text message asking if I packed the lighter. Well, no. I didn't. Poor guys were up there by themselves, and no way to start their campstove. Cold pop-tarts for them. Then I get another text. You could almost feel Greg cringing with this one: We forgot the blanket. Now, Austin's 10, but has never ever slept without his blanket. I fully expected to see them back at the house that night. But I didn't. They had a fantastic time together! They played all kinds of card games and Austin created his very own horseshoe game. He "shoved a stick into an animal hole and then gathered up a bunch of other sticks that looked like horseshoes" and away they played. They were serenaded that night by an entire pack of coyotes and hoot owls. Greg didn't get much sleep. They came home about 10 the next morning and Austin was all smiles. When I asked him what his favorite part was he said "I got to spend time with dad".