Logan's 8th Birthday Party - Gladiator Style!

Logan is known for his wild and crazy birthday parties. It's not a "Logan Party" unless there are 30 kids running crazy in the backyard through obstacles half naked in their swim suits. This year he chose an American Gladiators theme. Jeremy and I had fun coming up with games and an ultimate obstacle course. Here's how the fun-filled evening went down:

We began with a delicious dinner, Logan style, of bbq hot dogs, chips, SODA, and watermelon. Then we moved on to our first event - The Gauntlet.

THE GAUNTLET: We had the adults stand in a tunnel formation holding some super power squirt guns. The kids ran down the tunnel trying not to get wet! Yeah, they ALL got wet. One of the adults may have been holding the hose...

After the gauntlet was our POWER BALL game: This game was patterned after the game on the show. There are buckets of balls at each end of the arena (yard) in the center is an empty bucket. The object of the game is to get as many balls into the center bucket without being taken down by the gladiator. We only lost a couple of balls over the back fence and the kids had fun with this game because there was no water involved = no threat of getting wet.

The CANON BLAST was next. I filled about 100 water balloons for this event. Jeremy constructed 2 waterballoon launchers out of surgical tubing and your basic kitchen funnel. We were both surprised at how great they actually worked! The kids each took a turn launching a balloon across the pool at the opposing team. They earned points for hitting the other players. In the end no one was actually hit, but we did get close several times!

The JOUST followed the waterballoon launching. This event was the most anticipated of the evening. Jeremy stacked to two 2x6x16 boards and layed them across the deep end of the pool. The kids got to "fight" other players with a pool noodle with the object of pushing the other into the water. They thought it was great mostly because they had permission to hit, and push and shove the other kids. Amazingly, no one was hurt and everyone had fun that participated.

The last activity of the evening was THE ELIMINATOR. That's the name of the ultimate obstacle course at the end of every American Gladiators show. The kids had to make their way through the backyard and finish in the pool. We didn't time them or try to see who performed fastest - they were all in it for the fun. Here were their obstacles for this event:
1. squash a waterballoon with their buns
2. crawl through 2 collapsible tunnels
3. climb up the rock wall on the backyard swing set/play structure
4. slide down the slide
5. do a trick on the trampoline and watch out for the gladiator waiting there!
6. scooter around one loop of the backyard
7. swim across the pool and try to avoid the gladiator waiting there
8. climb out at the end of the pool and FINISH!

Check out a slideshow of all that fun! Logan is holding a Chicken Patty Birthday Cake at the end of the slideshow. If you know Logan, then you also know that he doesn't eat sweets. He LOVED the triple-stacked patties!

At the end of the festivities Jeremy had set up the projector to watch video footage of the evening's events. The kids thought it was great to watch themselves projected up on the big screen. All the kids had a great time - that's quite a feat considering their ages ranged from 3 to 15. Special thanks to our GLADIATORS. They did a great job and had fun participating as well. We really should have come up with names for those girls... oh wait! They already have names - Barracuda and Chainsaw - you know who you are!

The party guests got to take home several little party favors to remember this fun night. 1. Their team bandana, 2. a group picture of the RED team vs. BLUE team, and 3. a gold medal for being a winner!

Disneyland withOUT kids

Here are some fun pictures from our trip to Disneyland. And when I say "our" I mean just Jeremy and me. The children stayed home with the Grandmas and Grandpas so we could go all by our lonesomes.

It was the perfect weekend. The weather was overcast and cool and the crowds were not so crazy. We were excited to be there, but we were not as excited as others... there was this guy, just before the park opened. He kept yelling at the top of his lungs, "DISNEYLAND! WOOOOO!" Now mind you, there were tons of people standing around him. He was not ashamed of his excitement. He belted it out for all to hear. No one started cheering along with him, but it did bring a wave of extra anticipation through the crowd and a smile to all of our faces. Who said Disneyland is magical just for children?

And, speaking of children... there were so few kids at the park! How long have all you adults kept this little secret to yourselves? How did YOU ALL know that Disneyland could be so much fun even without the kids? We had a great time being all by ourselves, riding any ride we wanted, only a couple of bathroom breaks, no fighting the crowds with strollers, snacks and bags. We were so carefree - like a couple of newlyweds whispering and laughing with each other. Only those who have a house full of monkeys can know that feeling of freedom that comes with a getaway like this one. It was fabulous.

Having said all those things about spending time alone... would we wish to always vacation this way? No.

Will we bring our kids with us to Disneyland next time? Yes.

Is Disneyland really better without kids? No.

[Can you call me a "question talker"? Yes. But only for a moment.]

If you have never experienced Disneyland with children then you have not really experienced the magic. (And they were all sorely disappointed that they were not invited on this trip. So we will not do that to them again for a VERY LONG TIME.)

For now, we can all enjoy some pictures of Jeremy and Jennifer acting like a couple of kids at Disneyland and CA Adventure. (And watch out for that Monte Cristo sandwich - it WILL make you salivate!)

Greetings from...

...the "Big D"! We're in Anaheim for Jeremy's work. His school received the California Distinguished School Award and this weekend is the big awards ceremony and banquet at the Disneyland Hotel. Our parents were both available to watch our kids so we got to come down just the two of us. Parents rock!

We had lunch today at the infamous restaurant you see when riding Pirates of the Caribbean - The Blue Bayou. That Monte Cristo sandwich was a meal to remember... the raspberry dipping sauce, the Cajun potatoes, and the egg-battered/fried sandwich are now fond memories.

More pictures and updates will follow over the next few days. For now, we are enjoying our time in "the happiest place on earth".

Yosemite Trip May 2009

It's Great to be EIGHT!!

Breakfast of Champions! German pancakes (minus the syrup or sugar for our non sweet eater boy) and SAUSAGE! Mmmmmm.....

THE GIFTS

THE MESS

Happy Birthday, Dear Logan. It will be a day of many celebrations. We love you. You are such a happy good boy and you always make such good choices. Enjoy your special day!

spock + kirk = loads of fun

So I suppose you can call us "trekkies", but not "trekkers". From what I've been reading "trekkies WATCH Star Trek" and "trekkers LIVE Star Trek" (as in...they have Star Trek themed weddings, go to Star Trek conventions dressed in costume, and name their children and pets after characters). We are not die hard trekkies either. Jeremy watched the original Star Trek with Captain Kirk when he was younger. And I watched Star Trek the Next Generation with Captain Picard when I was growing up - my whole family did. We loved that show! Basically, the point of this whole history is, we both have a general knowledge of Star Trek and it's characters.

The reviews came out about this movie and they all ranted and raved about how awesomely wonderful fantastic it was and we decided that we needed to see it too. Last weekend we went out for date night with our Costco movie tickets and saw this new Star Trek movie.

It was great from the start. Actually it was great even before the start - those previews were so much fun! We can't wait for Transformers 2! Beware of that first opening scene. I was almost bawling in my seat - I was so drawn in even in those first few moments! We both enjoyed the whole thing. The back story on all the characters was so enjoyable to watch unfold. They dynamics between all those characters were interesting and comical. I especially enjoyed watching Kirk and Spock interact at their first few meetings - you'll like it too - I know it! The special effects and computer generated images were all fabulous as well...blah blah blah on all that technical stuff - we just like the action, comedy and entertainment factor.

My favorite character was Spock. Maybe it's because we've watched that guy (what's his name?) on the TV shows Heroes and then 24. He did an excellent job in this role. Leonard Nimoy made his appearance in the movie also - I wasn't expecting that, so hopefully I didn't just spoil that surprise for you. It was neat to see him side by side with the new Spock (his name is Zachary Quinto - just looked it up). Although there was no sign of William Shatner anywhere. I read in some magazine that he didn't even get an invite to appear in this movie. That seemed strange. But no matter, that's neither here nor there. There also seemed to be several actors from the TV show Felicity that showed up in this movie (sorry no Keri Russell for you Keri Russell fans out there...). That's probably due to the fact that the director of Star Trek, J.J. Abrams, also directed Felicity. Anyway, enough of those ramblings...

We recommend this movie to trekkies, trekkers, and those that enjoy a little sci-fi adventure. I don't think we'd take our 7 and 9 year old kids though, still too old for them. It is PG-13 after all.

All in all we give it 5 drops of red matter out of 5.

What did you think? Was it as good as they said it would be?

Trevor does Track

Trevor started his first season of track a few weeks ago and Friday was his first meet! He was excited to compete in two events - the 800 meter run and shot put.

He did the shot put first. Here he is with his shot put team mates. They look cool under pressure, but you could definitely feel their tension as they stood here waiting their turn in line.

Here's a play by play sequence of his shot put.

Trevor looks like the kind of kid that could chuck the weight really far, but this sweet and gentle boy does not have a lot of aggression yet. He finished shot put at the middle of the pack which we were thrilled with.

Here's a picture of the peanut gallery that followed me around the track for 3 hours. They look like a fun crowd, right?

We brought our picnic lunch, plenty of water, umbrella and picnic blanket. They had fun playing with all the other little kids that got dragged to their siblings' track meet. So it really worked out well for all of us.

Here are some pictures of friends and cousins that also participated in the track meet. (Our team is the one in green) Emma ran the 800 and Jake ran the 100 - check it out, his feet are both totally off the ground!



And here's Trevor at the start of his 800 meter race. He tries so hard to do his best and we are so proud of him for that. (He's the one in green on the far right.)

Go Trevor Go! He ran the entire way. 2 full laps around the track = 1/2 mile. That's a long way man! Hopefully he'll get to run a shorter distance at the next meet. Trevor was much more calm and collected at this meet compared to his first few cross country races. Now he's more confident and comfortable in the sporting atmosphere. We are so proud of him for choosing a sport and sticking with it.

These are Trevor's good buddies: Jacob, Jake, Spencer (he goes to another school, but was also at the meet), Emma and Trevor. It was so nice to be surrounded and supported by good friends that cheered each other on.
Trevor, keep up the good work! You are our first track star!

Jackson the Gymnast

Jackson started gymnastics last week. I was lucky to find out that there was a class for his age group that meets at the same time as Lizzie's. So now they both get to go to gymnastics during the same hour each week!

Jackson's teacher is a patient patient woman. I don't know if she has any kids herself, but she knows how to work these 3-year-olds and MAKE THEM do what they are supposed to do. Jackson has been overly excited his first 2 sessions and she has to remind him at least 25 times during the 45 minute class to "sit down Jackson" or "it's not your turn Jackson" or "come back here Jackson". His line is, "Jackson's turn" repeated over and over and over until his teacher acknowledges him and tells him he has to wait until the other kids are done.

Here he is with his cute teacher. And the other picture is of him sitting on his butterfly mat, not so patiently waiting for "Jackson's turn!"



The first video is 59 seconds long and the second video is only 6 seconds. (I think his teacher likes being able to throw him around a little.) They do a miniature version of the vault in this class. It's so cute!


He loves having his own activity and his own teacher. So, who knows how long we'll stick with this gymnastics plan for ol' Jackson, but for the meantime it works for all of us.

Mother's Day Goodies

In years past, Jeremy has gone completely overboard with his Mother's Day Breakfast creations. Click here to see my "plate" from last year. While his intentions are great, (he just wants to spoil me and give me love through food - which I totally get - we are food people) I simply could never eat ALL THAT FOOD! I requested one entree for breakfast this year - STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. For breakfast. I was shocked at his self restraint. He made only strawberry shortcake and cinnamon rolls. It was the best Mother's Day breakfast ever (besides the video taping the whole thing - there wasn't an ounce of make-up on my face and my hair was soaked from my shower 2 minutes before). Check it out - it was on a real plate this time! Fresh strawberries, chocolate syrup and chocolate shavings for garnish. What a guy to remember the presentation. And there were 2 beautiful roses to boot. Gorgeous!

The kids presented their homemade cards and there were more roses waiting downstairs. My toes were beautified the day before at my Mother's Day pedicure. Aren't they so lovely?

Lizzie was proud of her Mother's Day gifts we made at Joy School a few days before. We made homemade freezer jam from Robb's home grown Green Gage Plums. Yes, GREEN JAM. It is quite tasty and all the moms and grammas loved getting a homemade treat from Lizzie.


Thanks to my family and sweet husband for a fabulous Mother's Day. I felt so loved and special.

I'm "hooked" on you!

So I found these most authentic old schoolhouse coat hanging hooks on ebay. 10 hooks for 5 bucks or something like that. I couldn't pass them up because I am a sucker for new ways to organize the house. The first 5 got used up here.

The other 5 I reserved for a special backpack hanging rack that I've been wanting to make since the first time I drooled over them on my computer screen. I finally figured out the best spot for the rack and set to work after our last painting project.

The wall on the right of this picture (the one that heads down the short hall toward the blue bathroom) is right in front of the garage door entrance to the house. I had a lonely mirror hanging there before and figured it could use some company.

So I took an old piece of wood (here's a bonus - the piece of wood was already the right size - no cutting involved!). Sprayed it black. Sanded it up slightly for an aged/distressed look that I hope NEVER goes out of style. Is it already out? Please don't tell me! It works so well for our rough and tumble crowd. (And just you wait for my next artistic adventure - more distressing to come...) So after the sanding I screwed all the hooks just where I wanted them. Screwed the board into the studs in the wall. And rehung the mirror over it. Perfection!

Here's a close up of one of the hooks. That is some authentic rust on that bad boy. I love it!


The kids were thrilled with their new backpack station too. They walk in through the garage door, hang up their packs like perfect children do, then kick off their shoes, leave them wherever and toss their socks over their shoulders as they run out the back door.

Next we'll need a solution for the shoes. Any ideas?