Spring Break

This year we decided to vacation during spring break. (I'm feeling a little old now, it seems not that long ago I was in school and having spring break and now my kids are. Where has the time gone?!)

Our neighbors told us about this condo they rent every summer in Oceanside (thanks Greg & Julie). It was so great, cheaper than a hotel in San Diego and we were right on the beach. The kids had a great time! The weather was beautiful, but a little cold for the beach - I thought. My kids could have cared less. They put on their swimsuits and went right in that ocean, while we sat on the beach in our sweatshirts. I think I'm getting a little whoosy in my old age! But they had a great time and Ries absolutely loved the sand and being outdoors. We were halfway between the pier and the harbor so there was a lot to see and do.

We did end up spending one day at the Wild Animal Park, which was really cool! Except Ries lost his beloved binky. You know the ugly green one you get at the hospital. It was so worn and torn in spots, he had been loving on it for 10 months now. Needless to say that was not a fun night without it. I did go to the store and buy a few others and with a little effort he now takes those too! :)



But we had a wonderful time and it gave Jimmy lots of opportunities to take plenty of pictures!

The New Piano

Last week my grandmother passed away. Which was a blessing! She missed her husband so much, who passed away almost exactly one year before. I went to California for the funeral with my sister, Holly and all but one my brothers and sisters were there too. We had such a great time being together as siblings without spouses or children. My little brother, Marky, and I shared my grandma's room and stayed up all night talking and laughing. It was great!  So as we were going through things my aunt asked me if I wanted the piano.

My grandma bought it when my mom was young and then my aunt had it at her house until she bought one. So of course I jumped at it. Poor TJ has been taking lessons for two years and has had to practice on a keyboard. So we brought it home and are enjoying it immensely! It needs to be tuned and a little maintenance done.  Even Ries loves to play it and he sings (jabbers) along.





Just a few days and it's already brought so much joy in our home! Thank you Aunt Tami!!

Swimming At Last!

The temperature today was 82 - Pool temperature was 65! Way too cold for me to try to swim. But since we've had our pool for about four months now, they have been dying to go swimming. So today I let them jump in. I wish I would have brought my camera out at the beginning to capture their expressions. Josie is usually my dare devil, but she was a little reluctant to get in all the way. T.J. jumped right in and almost right out. The expression on his face was hilarious! But it didn't take long before they were swimming and having a blast! Nikki came over with her girls and had a great time!

Terese Has Taken Over

So since most of the traffic on our blog seems to be my friends, I have taken over.  Jim has decided to create a new blog on his website and given me this one.  So I'm trying to figure this all out and hopefully I'll be posting more regularly.  Everyone's blogs are so stinkin' cute, I haven't quite figured out how to design this better, so any tips would be helpful!

CES 2008

I just returned from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It was so much fun to see the latest and greatest in technology. The show is always so much fun every year. I think this is the 9th year in a row we've attended it. The Vegas strip is always full of photo opportunities too. I've posted a bunch here from our fabulous 3 days in LV.

Christmas party

We enjoyed the Wright Family Christmas Party last week. Fun was had by all. Their was a nice program and santa even stopped by to visit the kids. Josie had a hard time finding the sleigh and reindeer that he came in on. She searched the grounds outside pretty intently.

The finished product

Well, our pool is built and looking good. Too bad the water is so darn cold. It sure looks inviting though. We are all looking forward to those spring/summer days when we can jump in to cool down. The builder we used was Aquazona http://www.aquazonapools.com/ We are very happy with their quality and service, so if you're looking for a pool builder, I highly recommend them. We now have to install our landscaping.

Shotcrete Stage

It was amazing to see this stage of construction. These guys came and blew in the shotcrete and formed the pool in under 3 hours!

Halloween

The freaks come out at night!

Camping

We went on an overnight camping trip to Camp Lo-Mia this weekend. We had a great time enjoying the great outdoors and the views were beautiful with all of the leaves changing colors.