California Day 6

This morning we head out to the beach at our hotel and find the movie set Damn Love. I ask a few questions and find out Denise Richards is in the film and she'll be on set today. This was kind of cool. Chris (Mr. Paparazzi) scored a great picture of her. She smiled and said Hi as she walked from the hotel to the set. We were a little star struck. Actually, I thought she was a lot taller and wasn't sure it was her. She was dressed as a bride so it didn't look like her from a distance. We watched for a bit but it's a slow process which involved a lot of waiting. The sun wasn't shining so they were hanging out a lot.
We headed to my Aunt Cathie and Uncle Steve's house and ate at a place called Train Wreck. Who names a restaurant that? A couple of my cousins joined us for dinner. It's always so much fun when we're together.

Uncle Steve pulled the old - look at my fish in the pool trick and then tossed the boys in. They were absolutely dumbfounded that a grown man threw them in the pool. Their faces were priceless.

California Day 5

We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway today. This was beautiful but so long and a little freaky (at one point I'm certain boards were reinforcing the side of the mountain which leads to the ocean...) so I think I checked it off life's list and it won't be repeated.

We also visited The Mystery Spot which is kind of cool. It's a spot where gravity doesn't quite work the same or magnetic forces seem to pull people in a different direction. Don't get me wrong - we weren't flying around or across the room but there were spots where you feel like you are standing up straight and actually leaning quite a bit to maintain balance. Kind of bizarre.

California Day 4

Chris thinks we're trying to kill him. Today we biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. Now that doesn't sound too hard until you consider the bridge is 4 miles from the bike shop. Then add the 2 mile bridge and 2-3 more to Sausalito and don't forget the hills. Oh yes - consider we are on tandem bikes so if rider #2 decides he's tired, rider #1 is biking an extra 45-75 pounds depending on the child. Then - oh you thought it was over - no stand in line for 1 1/2 hours to get a ferry across the bay and ride yet another 2 miles - All of that was into the wind! This leaves us asking What were we thinking??? And - check that off life's list - we never need to do that again. Since I'm too tired and sore to think, I'll leave you with the pictures. I have not decided if scoring the pictures was worth the pain we are already feeling!

California Day 3

Our legs are starting to scream at us. I can’t imagine how many miles we walked yesterday but we walked at least that many today and today we added a lot of hills. We are definitely seeing all SF has.

We took a taxi today and I’m fairly certain we got air at some points. The boys loved it.

We rented 2 person scooter cars and rode by the Golden Gate Bridge, through the city, up to Lombard (crooked street) and even rode down the crooked street. People were looking at our little cars and snapping pictures left and right. I kept telling Mark to smile and wave for their cameras. It was a lot of fun. Matt said he was so happy we did this. He loved it. Mark went from slow down Mom to open it up full speed Mom. We had step-by-step maps and the boys were our navigators reading the instructions. Mark is an ok reader so trying to figure out the street name was interesting for me.

Lombard (Crooked Street)
Coming down Lombard
We ate clam chowder (red and white) and itty-bitty donuts that I have been wanting since I first smelled them. All was great. Chris and Matt weren’t crazy about the donuts so I took care of those for us. Can’t let something that good go to waste.

One of the many birds here pooped on Mark’s head. He was not pleased. Once he showered, he pepped back up.
The night tour of Alcatraz was everything I always imagined. I have always loved watching the Escape from Alcatraz movie. How is it that these people are criminals in a federal penitentiary and yet, we find ourselves feeling sorry for them and cheering their escape. I don’t get it. I guess it’s because the movie doesn’t discuss their offenses. Hollywood is good. Seeing it in person, I didn’t feel sorry for them. We all enjoyed the tour. Matt and Mark would not walk into the cells without us but I don’t think the tour scared them.
Regular Cell - 5 feet wide X 9 feet deep
Solitary Confinement

Did I mention how cold it is? No? Well, we’re just trying not to think about it but by the end of the day, we are just frozen. You know how there’s a warm 60 – well that’s not here. It’s a cold 60. The wind is brutal but the sun did peek out through the clouds. The view as we left Alcatraz was great.

California Day 2

What a day. Have we been here a week because it feels like it. What to do first – we walked down to Pier 39 which has a ton of great food and shops, then walked along the Bay toward Bay Bridge (which is a long story I won’t share – not that the rest is short) then through China Town.

Lunch - We stopped at McDonalds for Mark (of course) and then ate at Hang Ah Tea Room. We ordered egg rolls, sticky rice rolls, BBQ pork, Kung Bow Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken. I think it was fairly authentic or at least more authentic than we are used to. Didn’t care for mine – I’m certain it was not chicken. The appetizers were great though. Matt loved his BBQ pork, which looked so bad I didn’t even taste it. I’m so like Mark, who ate one grain of rice with sweet and sour sauce on it. He sucked the sauce off and spit the one grain of rice out. He also tried a minute bit of fortune cookie which he did swallow. This is huge. He never even considers trying it.


We headed over to Ghirardelli Square to check it out. We ate sundaes while listening to a street performer strum his guitar and sing for money. He was hilarious. Hey bro I’m so po can you give me some dough. I’m Marvin and I’m starvin. He told Mark Thanks for the dough now go get some mo. It wasn’t what he said so much – after he said it – he would laugh this contagious Uncle Steve laugh and he made everyone around him smile and laugh. It was extremely entertaining to sit and watch him do this in at least 5 different languages.

Matt wanted to go shopping so we walked back to Pier 39 and hit some more stores. He bought some Alcatraz handcuffs. Mark bought a mo-hawk rubber hat. I finally broke down and bought the warmest softest sweatshirt on the planet. It is fabulous! I thought of Marc and Susan as it’s Yellow and Blue and was so very thankful WVU’s color are Gold and Blue so they can’t tease me.
Krazy Hat Store - Praying for no lice!

The Pirates! Mark and Chris jumped into the front row seats for the Pirate street show. Mark was picked to help out. It was really cute and funny. I videoed. I love my camera being able to video at the drop of a hat. I’ll see if I can get it on You Tube later. He robbed me but I was videoing so Chris anteed up. Then he made a scarf disappear and reappear from inside the rolled up money. When he brought Mark back to me, the pirate thanked Chris and dragged him (kicking and screaming) up on stage. He had a sword fight with the pirate a bit and helped in the act of putting swords and poles through a basket with a girl inside. I will put that on You Tube later too.

It was an incredible day.

California Day 1

We flew out of Indianapolis because only a rich man is flying out of The Ville these days. Wasn’t bad at all – took about 2 ½ hours to drive, parked at an economy lot, shuttle to the airport, and get through baggage and security. We had PLENTY of time to kill. But wouldn’t you know it – all the stores closed about 10 minutes after we got through security so we barely got dinner. The plane was interesting – I had to look at the ticket to make sure I wasn’t flying internationally because so many different languages and customs were surrounding us. I like that, of course, so I was entertained. I have never looked at a person’s laptop on a flight. I hate it when people do that. But there I was, completely mesmerized by the India wedding pictures. It was amazing and so beautiful. I felt a little guilty but I guess I got over it because I kept looking. J There was chanting and rocking going on behind Chris which he said got old. The lady next to me took off her shoes and so did another guy (the one who wore his PJs on the plane). WHAT is that all about? Keep your shoes on people. Toes gross me out and as I sat with that big toe peering out of her jeans as she tucked her leg under her other leg, I said a prayer that it would NOT touch me. I would have felt like I needed to keep it together a bit but I would have been screaming on the inside! The plane was about 30 minutes late but the taxi driver made up the time as he sent text messages on the interstate while changing lanes. Welcome to California freeways. It only takes a minute to get used to it. We arrived at 3:15 Ville time so it was just past midnight in San Francisco.

Unpack & Pack - Missing 2 Teeth

Mario - you are not going!

I can see that you fit but you still can't go!
Seriously - Don't give me the look!

Matt came home from camp today. His clothes may never smell good again... They are on the 3rd wash and I'm crossing my fingers that this does it because I'm tired and I have to put them back in a suitcase to leave for California tomorrow. Now don't misunderstand me - smelly clothes do not mean he showered or changed them. It means he threw all the very very wet clothes and towels on top of the clean stuff rather than in the plastic bags I sent. Oh, it stinks!

I sent 8 wash cloths and 7 came home folded perfectly.

I sent 7 pairs of underwear and 6 came home folded perfectly.

It does appear that he brushed his teeth once but the first thing he told me was I can't wait to go home and brush my teeth. We never had enough time to do that. OH MY!!!

I should mention he had a blast and several things were "beastly" but the food was terrible and he missed us immensely so he's "never going back".

Speaking of teeth - Mark insisted I pull his tooth while we were in the lobby of Central Bank. So now he's missing both bottom teeth. He also informed me he ate a hotdog at camp (day camp not overnight) and he really didn't like McDonalds chicken nuggets anymore. Now eating a hotdog is a huge deal for this kid. He only eats a handful of things and previously we paid for a hotdog and he ate only the bun.

Busy Weekend

We survived our family reunion. Fortunately for us, it was in town this year which means we could sleep at home. Otherwise, this family stays up half the night talking, playing games, etc. which is not good for kids and it's really not good for adults who have to deal with tired kids.

The kids had a blast. Painted hand prints, t-shirts, water balloon toss, meeting extended cousins, playing hide-n-seek (which I can't stand - blows the entire premise of I want to know where you are at all times right out of the water), Hill-billy golf, Karaoke, etc.

Mark sang Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". It's much funnier at Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen where Matt and Mark have zero problem putting on a show but get in front of 100 or so people and he just sings into the mic.

Cousins - Sam, Brooks, Matt, Mark and Lucy - this is the best of 5 picture - so hard to get a good one!

Matt went away to camp this week - Here he is lugging his bag to the bus.
Mark went to Day Camp this week and has been sun-kissed and tired everyday.

Oh yeah - Mark lost his first tooth Saturday - came out while eating an Oreo!

Starbucks List

My Starbucks is not on the list. WOOHOO!! Hip Hip Hooray! YEAH FOR ME!

While I'm so sad there are going to be 600 fewer stores, I'm thrilled that I can still drive 2 miles to my Starbucks drive-thru, half awake, in yesterday's clothes and get home before Chris leaves for work! Yes, I realize that sounds pathetic but I tell you, I'm the only - I mean the only - Wife/Mom on the block who actually gets up like Mrs. Cleaver, gets her hubby coffee and sees him off to work everyday. All the other women on the block sleep until at least 9:00.

Not me - I'm up at 7:00, out the door at 7:05, back by 7:15, kissing Ward good-bye at 7:17 and working by 7:20 and I love it and I can keep doing it!

So while Starbucks is my Fourbucks addiction, I'm good with that.

Here's the latest list I could find:

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/USStoreClosureInfo.pdf

California Tour - What to do

Well, if anyone has toured California and wants to give me suggestions, I'll take them. Our last family vacation before we head to Thailand is California (unless another free one comes along - hint hint Mom and Dad). We are specifically looking for good public beaches - you know clean with waves but the kind that don't knock you down every 2 seconds. We are hitting San Francisco, driving down the coast to LA (avoiding wildfires along the way) and hitting the Inland Empire (Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, Palm Springs area). Hotels are covered so I'm just looking to fill an itinerary. This is what's on the list - let me know if I missed something fun. Will not be doing wine tours as the kids will be with us. Although, I think that would be fun if there is a kid-friendly winery. We have one in our area and the kids love it.

San Francisco -

• Night tour at Alcatraz - Very excited about this - bought tickets early as it was nearly sold out
• Pier 39 - Fisherman's Wharf - lots of cool things there
• Lombard Street
• China Town - YUM
• Muir Woods
• Salsalito

Drive Down - I'm sure there's more to do on this drive but I need to get a book

• Mystery Spot - this looks very cool
• Hearst Castle - is it worth the tour? Can't decide.
• Elephant Seals
• Solvang - Emu and Ostrich farm and ableskive (which is like a pancake ball with powdered sugar and jam) MMM - sounds pretty good and probably worth the stop

LA - been there done that so many times - Santa Monica, Hollywood, Bev Hills gaulking, DisLand looking for something less known or new to do. But we'll take the boys to our favorite spots.

Inland Empire - I hear there's great shopping. By this point, we'll probably just want Starbucks and a pool and we'll have both. I love the little shops in Palm Springs but it's quite a drive from where we're staying. Don't know what we'll do if we'll do anything.

I Don't Shop at Wal-Mart

This has nothing to do with a ban against large corporations taking over the world or anything. I am a small business owner and try to support such BUT I just like Target better. We have one nice Wal-Mart in my area -several Wal-Mart stores, they are just dirty, unorganized and in general a mess - so if I need a Wal-Mart, I go to the nice one. I will say Wal-Mart is better for schools supplies. So I forced my children to help me with their supply list today. OK - I know it is July 15th so we still have a month. But we have this week, next week is camp (so they can't help) and then vacation so I wanted to get it out of the way. And - I think I will go this time every year bc I found every item I needed in one store even found good pencils which were already sharpened. Last year we had to sharpen about 100 pencils so this is a big deal to me. I've tried to order supplies online to avoid all this but they are still young enough to need very specific things which I can't find online.

What else did I find?

• A kid riding a bike with a live bird on his shoulder - what is that about?
• A non-english speaking lady sending money to another country - she clearly didn't understand anything that was being said or going on. I hope her money got there. I feel like that will be us in Thailand unless we get moving on some Thai conversation lessons. I'm still on Lesson 1.
• A lady attempting unsuccessfully to talk sense to her 7 year old - oh wait - that was me - I finally realized he was grumpy due to hunger setting in, cracked open a box of peanut butter crackers and he was fine - although he thought I would be arrested for eating before buying.
• Way too many employees - seriously - what are they all doing? They weren't helping me find the 13 section accordion organizer in a boy's color. Are they getting paid to make sure I don't pocket the 11 cent glue sticks? Open a register already, work weekends or go clean the other Wal-Marts in this city.
• A very very slippery floor - I'll only wear tennis shoes from now on to my once a year trip to Wal-Mart. Apparently, the employees buff and wax the floor when they aren't stalking glue stick thieves. I don't think I broke anything.
• A lot of angry moms giving me the evil eye for buying all the note cards on 3 rings in stock. Ok - they were thinking, "Why is she buying all that stuff already? It just causes them to put it out earlier every year." Perhaps, but I'm thankful I don't have to shop for it on vacation.

I have learned that while my kids hate it when I force them to do things like this, they are so much nicer to me after I make them "work" a little. They are good kids and it's times like these I am reminded. Matt declined the colored note cards saying, "I think people just buy them to show off bc kids ooh and aah over them Mom." Mark, who was in a great mood after eating, gave me a hug and thanked me for getting all his stuff.

5 Months Since We Pushed the Button

I find it hard to believe it's been 5 months since we applied to adopt. Although Matt just said, "It's only been 5 months?" So I guess in ways, life flies by and in other ways, it seems like we've been talking about Little M forever. No doubt, she's always on our mind.

Other thoughts flying through my mind?

• Cannot believe our referral moved up 4 months
• Will it move up again or back after the next set of referrals
• Can't believe how fast Mark learned to ride his bike and how good he is already
• How big Matt smiled after seeing Mark ride - He was so proud of Mark
• Can't understand why Mark won't just pull the tooth hanging from a thread
• Really need to finish the laundry
• Wish Lori and I lived in the same city - here or Cali (although I think we'd both pick Cali) - we have too much fun and too much in common to only see each other twice a year!
• How old Nick is getting
• Have a huge list of things to do so I better type fast
• What color should I paint Matt's room
• What color should I paint Mark's room
• What color should I paint Little M's room
• Should I paint or just wait
• Why did the boys move all the toys around and mess up their closets and rooms
• Should I list all this stuff on Craigs List or donate it
• How excited I am for all the people who are traveling to Thailand, getting referrals, coming home, etc.
• I really want to wing-it on vacation and that's really driving me crazy. I'm not sure if I can just chill out with no plan
• Have I always had OCD and just recently accepted it

I better get moving! After spending a lot of time with Lori this week, it's time to buckle down and take care of administrative stuff around this house.

List is Moving FAST!

OMG - We need to get ready for a little girl!

6 referrals were issued in June so we are now around #21 on the list and were told to expect a referral in 14 months rather than 18 months. SOOOOO - if that happens, we could have a Thai Christmas! Whether that be spending Christmas in Thailand or actually getting home with our completed family before Christmas!

This is what we hoped for! Can't believe it. Going fast!

4th of July - What a Day!

Today was an eventful, fun day!

Happy Birthday Mario! He turned 2 today! He is not a fan of the fireworks, but he's very curious why we are and is ok once they are over.

Mario is ready for bed!
Dan came in town for the weekend which is always a big hit with the kids, young and old alike! The cookout at B and Chip's was a blast.

Dan is cleaning the floor with Matt!
All the Ladies - Lisa, Terri, Stephanie, Beth and Lori

Chris is having a blast - too bad we're never photographed together
I love the picture behind me!
Our annual fireworks show was a lot of fun. The kids really love our small display. Each year, I think it gets better. Here's their sparkler fun. Mark is singing and dancing with his!

Matt is loving the sparklers!
Here's the smile we don't see often enough!