Strawberry Stampede 10K

Today my friends Phyllis, Aster, Erika, Eleanor and Olivia and I ran in the Strawberry Stampede 10K in Arroyo Grande. I didn't do as well as I would have liked and got my butt kicked by my older friends but we had a blast. I am very sad I am not doing the Miracle Miles run with them next week and really wish I was going to be here for the rest of the summer to race with them. I will miss all of them greatly.

Our last trip to Avila Beach

Checking out the water.
Swimming without the water.

Running back to safety.

Nick starting a new castle after his brother destroyed his other one.

Aidan trying to build without his shovel.

Swinging all by himself.

Wanting to go higher.

Trying to run away from the cold water.

The boys and I headed to Avila Beach on Sunday. Jeremy was stuck at work for a military exercise. It wasn't as warm as I would have liked to be going in the freezing cold ocean but the boys didn't seem to care. We packed a picnic lunch and all the sand toys and found a spot and didn't really move much for hours. It was very peaceful. The boys built all kinds of things in the sand and had a really great time. Avila has always been one of our favorite beaches and we will miss it alot! Nicholas asked if there will be an ocean in Alabama to go to and I said no but there is the Gulf of Mexico which is even better because the water is warm and he said he is never going to want to go home from the beach then.

T-Ball End of the Year Pizza Party

Today Nick had a baseball game and then after the game the whole team went to Mi Amore(think Chuck E Cheese) for lunch after the game to celebrate the season. The boys had a great time eating pizza and playing games. They still have one more game next weekend. The whole team has improved so much over just a few short months. It has been really fun to watch them all learn to play ball.

Dining Out

Just wanted to show you the back of my hair.

We went to the 614th AOC (Jeremy's work) Dining Out last night. Basically, it is a black tie dinner where they make fun of each other while eating dinner and torture each other by sending each other to a grog bowl to drink as punishment. We had a great time. We danced and chatted with all our friends and stayed out way too late. It was one of the better Dining outs that we have attended they really went all out from the programs to flowers for the women to little things that just really made the night special. Jeremy and I both said it has been years since we danced together. Jeremy's old boss, General Weinstein was the guest speaker and he gave a very good, charistmatic speech. All in all, it was a very fun kid-free evening.

Our Disneyland Vacation

The whole family in front of the castle.

Relaxing in the hot tub.

Swimming with Daddy.

Sleeping in after a busy day.

Aidan trying to kick his brother out of bed.

My cool little Dude!

Tossing pennies in the wishing well.

Hanging out by the wishing well.

2 monkeys!

Hanging out in Downtown Disney with our their new Mickey ears.

Mom, Aidan and Minnie Mouse.

Hanging with California Adventure Mickey.

Aidan trying to hide from Pluto.

Standing in the 'O' in California outside California Adventure.

Aidan driving Mickey Mouse's car outside his house in ToonTown.

Aidan zonked in the stroller after 3 busy long days.

Riding in Dumbo with the boys.

Waiting for Dumbo to start.

Aidan on his favorite ride the Choo-Choo.

The boys hanging out on the Toon Town Tram.

Riding the big train that goes around the whole park.

Riding the horses on the carousel.

Look at me Mom!

Daddy and Aidan in Fantasyland.

Nick's favorite character Goofy!

The boys with Daddy's favorite Mickey.

Nick and Mickey.

Mom and Aidan and Mickey.

Jeremy finally was able to take a few days off and we decided to take advantage and get away for a few days. We took the boys to Disneyland for 3 days and it was by far the best family vacation we have ever had. We used the 3 day hopper military deal they had going on where Jeremy got in free and Nick and I were half price. Aidan was free still because he is under 3. We also used our free nights with our Hilton points and stayed at the Hilton Anaheim one block away. It was an amazing hotel. The pool was great and the room was way too nice for 2 kids who just messed it up. We had an amazing view from our hotel room of Disneyland and California Adventure. The boys loved Disneyland. I wasn't really sure how much fun it would be to take 2 very impatient boys to a place that involves a lot of waiting but they were so good. It was a completely different experience then Nick's first Disney experience where he only got to ride one ride because it was so busy. It wasn't that busy at all the first day we were there so he rode like 20 rides the first day. He rode everything from rollercoasters to Dumbo. Aidan rode most of the kiddie rides and was especially fond of the Mickey Mouse Choo-Choo. That is all he has talked about for days. We rode that train over and over again. Nick's favorite ride was the Matterhorn rollercoaster which he rode a ton of times with both Mommy and Daddy. He also loved Splash Mountain too. We went to California Adventure one morning but other then getting to see the characters without lines like at Disney the boys weren't too impressed and we completely traumatized Nick by taking him on the Tower of Terror. I don't think it was the drop that did him in but the darkness factor although Jeremy took him in the Haunted House the previous day and he didn't seem to be frightened in there at all. So he may never ride that ride again in his life. So most of the rest of our time was spent in Disneyland. We spent one evening in our hotel pool as the weather was just gorgeous the entire time we were there. It was in the 80's during the day and 60's in the evening. We were blessed to be able to hang out with our friends Sean & Ginger from Minot who were vacationing there. We were able to have lunch with them one day at the Rainforest Cafe. Both boys were so in awe of that restaurant. Jeremy and I both commented that it was the quietest meal we have ever enjoyed. It was nice to be able to see their two children since they only had one the last time we saw them in Colorado. Since we didn't have to spend money on tickets or hotel we were able to splurge on some fun things like Mickey ears and treats in the park each day and a few good meals in Downtown Disney. We also ate at The ESPN Zone and the boys played games upstairs after we ate. We were all exhausted after 3 days at Disney and it was a rough ride home as we spent over 2 hours in LA traffic and then ran into more issues with wildfires in Santa Barbara and Nick vomited all over the backseat because he got car sick. So we are happy to be home but our so thankful we spent this time together as a family. It was so needed and we all had a blast. We are looking forward to our next vacation in Minnesota.