Whew!!

It feels like forever since I've posted but in reality it's only been 2 weeks. I can't believe that summer is already under way (and going fast). Here's what we've been up to the last couple of weeks:

After Father's day weekend with my family in the desert, the days flew by until I had a special weekend with my mom and sister in Las Vegas. My mom took Sara and me for our birthdays (mine was an early gift). We saw Phantom of the Opera and had some fun girl time shopping.

We ate lunch at the Treasure Island Buffet one day and I have to say they have one of the best dessert bars I've seen. They had everything from cotton candy, to fresh doughnuts and homemade malted milk balls I had to post this picture for my friends who went on the cruise with us last fall..

Jeff had some father-daughter bonding time with the girls as he took them bowling and they saw Kung-Foo Panda. It was nice to be missed I was happy to return to their sweet little faces.

I finished my crazy, 6-week, 5-hour-per-class AutoCad course. I have to say that after the initial brain shock I really enjoyed the class and I think I'll take advanced AutoCad just for fun-yes I know my sense of fun has become very warped lately. But next time, I think I'll take it over the normal semester so I can have more time to digest the material.

No sooner was my class finished, it was on to another project. My friend Allison has me redesigning her bedroom. We were feeling adventurous so we laid the hardwood floors ourselves. I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with the results. (I'll post a picture when I get one--we were too tired after that day to think about a picture).

This week has been a big catch up around the house...whew!! I can't believe it's already July!

R.I.P. Marsha

We just returned home for a quick visit with my family for Father's Day. I went to feed the fish and I see our newest addition at the bottom of the tank. Not a huge surprise since we never saw her eat when the other ones did.

So my dilemma is, do I spare Cara the sadness of her loss by secretly replacing it, or do we do the whole "circle of life" thing? I lean towards the secret replacement plan since it's just a dumb fish and not a cat or something warm and fuzzy.

Weekend O'Fun

Jeff's brother Ryan and his cute wife are expecting their first baby next month and the shower was this weekend down in San Diego. Since we don't get to see them as often as we would like, Jeff and I decided to make a fun weekend out of it.

On Saturday we took the girls to the the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was a lot of fun as the girls got to see many different forms of life that can be found in our ocean.

We got to touch some fun creatures like urchins and sea stars.

Natalie was very interested in touching some of the larger creatures, like the rays and sharks (she kept trying to grab them as they swam by). She was ready to jump in the water to get her hands on this Ray. You can't see by the picture, but her hair was wet from getting so close.

We loved the lorikeet forest where you have to duck as these birds go flying right past your head...and always be on the lookout from above. Natie bribed a lorikeet to sit on her arm and eat. Cara was not too interested in touching the animals, but liked watching them from a distance. But probably our favorite group of animals were the sea lions.

They had so much personality and we found that if you hold something up to the window, they will come right up and inspect it. The girls would hold their pennies and move them around on the glass and this little guy would follow it. It reminded me of how a cat will chase string. They were so cute and playful.

Then it was down to San Diego for the night. The girls love staying in hotels so this was highly anticipated. On Sunday morning before the shower, we got up and went for a swim before checking out. I won't go into my thoughts about the pool experience because this is my happy post...I may save that rant for another one.

After check out, it was off to the baby shower. Though I didn't really know anyone other than Kelly and her family it was so nice to spend some time with her. It's fun watching them get ready for their little girl. They are going to be such great parents.

Good luck Ryan and Kelly. We are so happy for you!

Marsha

Ok, so I'm a pushover--and a sucker. After I explained that goldfish wouldn't do well with our angelfish, Cara explained how she needed another fish. She reasoned that she had another at one point, but Dylan the fish went to heaven one weekend and was never replaced. Being a fan of even numbers anyhow, I conceded and we went to the fish store and picked out Marsha. Hopefully Sparkle, Zoe and Marshmallow will be kind to her :)

Loser Mom

I know this could be the title of my entire blog, but this post will suffice (until my next screw up). Earlier this week, Cara brought home a permission slip to bring home one of the classroom fish. They have been raising goldfish and had a few that have survived who needed a home since summer is rapidly approaching. We already have a fish tank that houses our three angelfish (thanks Uncle Michael for those) and I didn't think goldfish would do well with angelfish.

I explained to Cara that we would not be bringing a fish home. My thinking was that since there were only 3 or 4 fish left, why not have them go to a home where they could be have a good tank by to themselves or with other goldfish.

When I pick up Cara today she is visibly upset. I ask her what is wrong and she tells me (as the tears start to flow) that she was one of the only kids who didn't get a fish. She tells me that she was sad because she felt like she missed out. What the crap?! There were only like 3 fish when I was in the classroom this morning and there are 17 kids in her class? I know they don't reproduce that fast.

So in my questioning, I find out that there was such a response from the kids that the kind room mom went and bought enough fish for everyone who had wanted one. So here I am with a 7 year old, crying over a dumb goldfish. If I had known that 13 other children were getting one, I would have let her bring one home to put in a bowl until it died a few weeks later. I know I could go to the store and spend the 20 cents to buy her one, but I don't think that was the point. I think she just felt bad because she was 1 of the 4 kids in class who did not get a stinking goldfish. Ugh!

My New Favorite Store

I just got back from my new fav grocery store--and I usually hate grocery shopping. It's one of my least favorite chores. Have any of you been to that store Fresh & Easy? This was my second time going and to be honest, I kind of liked it the first time, but this time I decided that I really like them. Maybe it was because I didn't have my kids with me. All errands seems more enjoyable without having drag around 2 kids. But here's what I like about it:

1) They have reserved parking spaces for parents with small children--if Vons can reserve spaces for their Starbucks customers then why not those who have to haul around kids.

2) Good deals!! At first glance I thought their prices were kind of high, but going the day after my regular grocery store, I notice that they are pretty good and I don't need a dumb card to get the better price. Plus, I had a $5 of $20 coupon and they gave me another one when I checked out. In addition to that, they had lots of stuff that was marked 1/2 off. I don't get that at the regular grocery store when their eggplants are close to expiration.

3) Their produce-they have it all pre-packaged with the price right there..none of this "$1 a pound". I can look at a package of pears and see that it $1.50 for 4. with the packaging, they include a sell by date. Plus they have a good selection of organic stuff that doesn't cost an arm and leg.

4) Free Samples: who doesn't love free food and I don't have to go to the $100 store to get it. I got a yummy recipe for this yogurt granola thing that I went home and had for lunch. They always have the samples, but since it was morning, they had an assortment of different breakfast pastries and other good stuff. mmmm...

5) Friendly Workers: This can be a deal breaker for me. I hate unhelpful or crabby employees and I refuse to shop at a couple of stores for this reason. Everyone seemed happy to be working there and acted like they actually wanted me to shop at their store. What a concept!!

Overall, it kind of reminds me of Trader Joes, but they also carry national brands as well as their own brand. It's smaller than Vons or Ralphs, but they seemed to have a lot of the kids of stuff I buy. So I encourage you all to go by if you haven't yet. The only downside is that it's on the other side of Simi at Alamo and Tapo, but it was worth the drive for me.

Lost it!

For those of you who were forced to sit by us on Sunday in church. I thought I'd share that Cara finally lost her tooth. For those of you fortunate not to be near us, Cara was showing anyone who would watch, how the tooth was hanging on by a thread--and some of you were lucky enough to have a bloody finger shoved in your face when the tooth would bleed. Sorry about that Cosbys, Ohs and Oberenders....

And by the way, that stupid toothfairy came by a day late!