Date Weekend

Josh and I cashed in all our past and future favors with a very dear friend to watch the girls for a weekend. We dropped them off on Friday after work and met them at church on Sunday morning. So we had about 36 hours to do whatever we wanted on OUR schedule. Grocery shop alone. Eat a quiet and leisurely dinner. Sleep without fear of being woken in 2 hours. Sleep IN. Just imagine the possibilities.

Saturday morning we slept in and then went to brunch. We enjoyed mimosas and high fatty food.


Then we hopped on BART and went into the city to just explore. We got off BART and just went down a street that looked interesting. We went to Union Square to see all the best shopping. Wandered around Williams-Sonoma, went into a friend's favorite store Lululemon. I'd never been there and hear such great things about them that I had to check them out.


We saw China Town so we wandered in that direction. Then ended up in Little Italy where we had a Cannolo (yes - cannolo - cannoli is plural and cannolo is singular). Then saw the signs to get to Coit Tower, so we went up that way. Then back down to Little Italy we saw Lombard street (the world's crooked-est street). We walked up Lombard street and then found ourselves in Russian Hill. Found a cute little "mini-park" that literally was a slab of cement, some flowers and a couple benches on an old house lot. We wandered around some more, found the Cable Car Museum and looked in there.

Then meandered and ended up at Fisherman's Wharf. We took a tour of the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, a Liberty Ship from WWII. Then headed over to Pier 39 for some dinner. We both saw some things we'd never seen before and ended up walking about 10 miles - up and down the big hills. It was a lot of fun, and something we'd love to do again, but in a different part of the city.

I just took my small point-and-shoot camera. There were times I wish I had my SLR so I could get a better view or adjust my exposure or really be artistic with my composition, but for the most part I'm glad all I had was my P&S. Made it a lot easier to carry it around.

Here are a few photos of our day (if you click on any of the photos, they should take you to my flickr page where you can view all of them).

Mimosas with breakfast

The only chinese looking building we saw in Chinatown.  I think it was a medical clinic.

Church in Little Italy.

View of the Bay Bridge from Coit Tower

Top of Lombard Street looking down

Sneaking a kiss while I'm trying to snap a photo in Russian Hill's Mini Park

A time I wished I had my SLR.  The texture of these buildings was neat.  And the colors and brickwork and chipped paint.  They were really cool looking and this photo doesn't do them justice.

The pullies in the cable car museum.

Another time my SLR would've been nice.  Again ... lots of texture and neat colors in the museum.

The stairs into the USS Jeremiah O'Brien

Through a porthole looking out

One piston of the engine.  Video footage of this ship's pistons was used in James Cameron's The Titanic.

Just for fun

The Anchor

Are you sick yet?

Thought this was pretty cool

Random

It's been far too long since I've posted.  I just don't have much time for blog posts.  Most of my spare computer time is used editing photos.

I spent 5 days earlier this month at my BFF's Wild West Themed wedding.  It was such a great time.  

We've been battling the heat.

The girls have been healthy for 6 weeks now.  Shocker!

Annie is sleeping much better at night, even night weaned and almost all the way through.  We're working on getting Audrey up easier in the morning so she can stay up a little later at night.

Andrew leaves for boot camp in 5 weeks.  

Kymi has band camp in a week.

Josh and I are continuing to run.  He's training for a marathon and I'm training for another half marathon to do with my neighbor.  

Late June my grandmother passed away.  I wrote the following memories in an email to my mom/sister and another one to Josh.

 I’ve spent the last 15 minutes reminiscing about all our summers at the cottage.  Washing off with the hose outside.  Running up and down the sand dunes.  Walking to the playground with Joel and Rachel.  Joel and I teaching the younger cousins how to play poker.  Grampa sorting endless baseball cards and giving the damaged cards to Chad. The old rusty swingset under the oak tree.  And speaking of the oak tree, those darn acorns.  Man those hurt when you stepped on them barefoot. Wandering the woods across the street, avoiding the poison ivy. Going to the Willoughbee’s (sp?) for some candy and visiting. Those bunk beds too close to the ceiling.  Hit my head almost every morning when I woke up. The carpet walkway to the beach that wasn’t ever long enough so we still had to endure the hot sand.  The sand all over the carpet, defeating the purpose of the carpet.  Gramma ALWAYS baking or cleaning or cooking in the kitchen.  She NEVER stopped. Doing puzzles at the kitchen table. Building card houses in the living room.  Gramma hanging our underwear on the clothes line.  I never understood why we couldn’t just use the dryer. 

There was a park about ½ mile from the cottage that we walked to a lot when we couldn’t go swimming.  And there were sand dunes.  We’d run up them as fast as we could and always run out of steam halfway up.  And then run down and fall and end up just sliding or rolling down the hill.  And come home covered in sand in our clothes.  In our pockes and undies.  There was a hose on the side of the house with a shower head type attachment and we’d all have to clean our feet (and the rest of ourselves) there.  All the little kids would get totally naked and wash off.  It was embarrassing when you reached a certain age.  Then we go inside.  The bathroom had a direct door to the outside so we would just go inside and shower without tracking water or sand throughout the cottage. One year in early July, I was marching in and out of the house.  I had found a small American Flag and was carrying it.  I think I was even wearing my blue shorts and red shirt, I don’t remember for sure.  Anyway, I was marching all over the place.  Grampa got so upset.  “Quit slamming the door.  In or out.”  Gramma said, “What are you doing Chris?”  “I’m marching in the 4^th of July parade Gramma.”  And she had a brilliant idea.  She decided that Nicole and Megan and I would get all decked out in our best patriotic clothes and grab flags and march in the parade that week.  As the parade came by our cottage (we were pretty early on the street I think) she just found a hole and shoved us in.  I think it was Megan who freaked out and refused to go in, so Nicole and I marched alone.  Or maybe they both did.  I don’t remember very well.  But I marched in the 4^th of July parade for the cottage.  My first ever parade. 

Mommy and Me Monday

Last week the girls were up way too early for Josh's taste following a late night gig.  So I got up with them and let him sleep.  To entertain them (and help myself) we did some yoga all together.  Then Annie and I played some drums a bit.


Meanwhile, Josh decided he was awake and came out and saw us.  He snapped a couple photos of us in the process.

Triagle Pose - Annie wasn't so much into it. 

Playing drums with Annie

Daddy Daughter Play Time

Josh has been so busy with his bands this summer that he's been missing his girls. So on our day off, after our hike, we decided to hit the park for a picnic and some daddy-daughter play time.   

the pretty girl on top of the car

Climbing high

WEeeeeeee........ 

Wave at Mommy

Morning Hike

We had no plans for the morning of the 4th.  We were excited at the prospect of having the entire morning to do something fun for us and no one else.  So we packed a picnic and went to a close regional park and went for a hike.  Hiking with a 3 y/o and a 19 month old takes a lot of patience.  We'd never spent any real time in this park, so we didn't really know what to expect.  It's near a reservoir, and some of the trail heads go that way.  It's also adjacent to some houses.  


We encountered quite a few runners (a goal of mine is to do some trail running) and lots of dog walkers and our share of cyclists.  We heard a horse, but never encountered one.


Knowing that the girls would give up pretty quickly on the hiking part of the morning, we took both the jogging stroller and baby carrier.


We started out with Annie in the stroller and Audrey walking.  We ran, narrowly escaping the monsters, stayed ahead of daddy looked at the flowers and trees, listened to the birds chirping and bugs buzzing.  We tried to keep Audrey interested in what we were doing.  Let her set the pace.  We found a cool stick for her to draw in the dirt.  


At one point Annie wanted to get out and stretch her legs.  So she got out and Audrey took the seat in the stroller.  That didn't last long, so Annie then found her way on my shoulders, and then into the baby carrier.  


We estimate that we hiked about 6 miles round trip.  There were some super steep hills that we had to go up.  We got a thorough workout pushing a stroller and wearing a baby.

Helping daddy push the stroller

Look at daddy way up there and we're down here!

 

Family photo!!!

The baby carrier is AWESOME!!!

Eventually both girls fell asleep.  A little early for their nap, but we wore them out early.

These were all taken with my point and shoot.  I sure do miss my Nikon when I use my p&s.

Happy Graduation Day Andrew

Today is my step-son's last day of high school.  Tonight he becomes a high school graduate.


It has been a long and grueling education for him.  I've only been around since he was in 6th grade.  But he started having difficulty in 5th grade.  He's a super smart kid who just didn't want to apply himself.  So year after year, semester after semester, there were report cards and progress reports and notes from the teacher that did not make a parent proud.  We all knew he was capable of doing the work if he wanted to.  And he proved that in the classes he enjoyed.  And on his standardized tests every year.


His senior year of high school was a great year for him.  His best since elementary school.


This year marked another change in him.  Last fall he signed his life away (literally) and agreed to join the US Marine Corps.  So every Tuesday night and once a month he got together with a bunch of other kids who did the same thing and did PT.  Not only was he getting physically prepared for boot camp and the Marines, but he was getting mentally prepared.  There has also been a drastic change in his attitude toward life.


It has been a real pleasure and treat to watch this young man grow and develop and mature.  From an awkward 12 year-old who's voice is changing and is growing faster than the weeds in our back yard to a mature man who is ready to conquer the world.


Congratulations Andrew!  I love you.  I'm proud of you.  And I will always be in your cheering section.

Another Annie Update

She's officially 18 months old.  And she is learning a new word almost daily it seems.  I'm pleased to watch it happen.  When Audrey was learning to talk, I remember hearing about the language explosion around 18 months.  Audrey was an early talker and communicator.  She picked up new words as early as 13 months and was talking in full sentences well before 18 months, so when she hit the 18 month language explosion, there wasn't much to see.  She went from sentences to paragraphs and was able to sing songs and similar skills.  


Watching Annie develop has been different.  Borderline stressful.  She's refused to learn a lot of signs, she just does a lot of throwing, pointing and grunting.  At times Josh and I tossed around the thought that maybe she was autistic or had some other sensory disorder (her low vocabulary coupled with her sudden and almost uncatalyzed tantrums).  


But in the last couple weeks she has really picked up her communication and has surprised us.  It's been really fun to watch her figure it out and suddenly say a new word.  Even Audrey is amazed at Annie's development.


Since the last list, she has picked up the following words:

• Audrey (Au'jee)
• Gayl (Dale - with a really soft l sound)
• Dora (Rora)
• hat
• hot
• pizza (tee-zta)
• shoe
• dog (ghog)
• woof
• you
• ball
• cookie
• poo-poo (or maybe it's boo-boo or boobie - I can't tell)

She's really grasped the concept of please and thank you.  So when she asks for something now, if she doesn't know the word, she points and says please, instead of points and grunts.  That's a refreshing development.

I'd really like her to learn how to say/sign help.  That's high on my list.

I'm really pleased with these developments.  Excited even.  It's so fun to watch her grow up.  She has held onto her infant-ness well past her infant days, but these developments really make her seem more like a toddler and less like a baby.

Divas Half Marathon

About a month ago I ran my first half marathon.  One year ago, heck, 6 months ago, I never thought I'd be saying that I ran 13.1 miles.  I'm so glad I did.  yep ... I'm sore.  Yes, I was tired yesterday (getting up at 4:50 on a SUNDAY following a week of taking care of a sick baby and then running 13.1 miles is a recipe for exhaustion).


But once the idea of running a half marathon was planted in my brain I couldn't let it go.  So I found a training plan and got cracking.  I didn't stick to the plan 100%.  It was mostly a guide.  I modified it, skipped a couple runs, did what I could to train amid our busy schedule.


Then the day arrived.  Waking up was the easy part.  I didn't sleep much the night before.  Both because of a sick baby and nerves.  I was excited and nervous.  But it was just another long run.  That's all.  The part I was most nervous about was logistics in getting to the starting line.  Getting to the parking lot early enough to get a spot and get on a shuttle.


After getting to the park and finding my way to the starting line, I said good-bye to my family.  My very supportive and loving family.  


I did some stretching.  Not nearly enough.  I spent too much time waiting in line to use the bathroom, so I lost stretching time.  I chatted with a few women around me.  There were about 3500 women running the half marathon.  That's a lot of estrogen!


I decided not to wear my Garmin.  I like the freedom of running without knowing how fast and how far and how long I've been running.  Just running.  I did track it on my phone, tucked away in a pocket on my hydration belt.  


The first 3 miles seemed really long.  I felt good, but they just seemed to take awhile. Finally we broke out into a residential neighborhood and time seemed to go a little faster.  I just kept on trucking.  Around mile 4 1/2 we saw women running the other way; having already reached the turnaround and going back toward the finish line.  We cheered them on, and they in turn cheered us on.  


Mile 6 appeared pretty quickly after that.  I was ecstatic to be just about halfway done.  I checked my phone and I was only an hour into it.  Pretty good pace for me.


Then something happened.  About mile 7 my big toe started to go numb.  I tried to run through it.  It happens from time to time and it can go away on its own.  But it didn't.  Around mile 9 I stopped to adjust my shoe.  I really wanted to feel my toe.  That 30 second pause to adjust my shoe did me in.  I lost all my momentum.  I had to walk short stretches from there to the end.  Never longer than about 100 yards, but it was just enough of a stop to screw me up.


Mile 10 felt great.  Every step after that was my longest run.  Even if I was walking, it was still further than I'd ever run/walked before.  


At the water stop near mile 11, there was a volunteer with a hose spraying water at the runners.  That was heavenly.  It wasn't too hot outside, maybe high 60s, but there was absolutely no breeze.  And the fresh, cool water was just awesome.  That gave me the oomph I needed to keep going.


Mile 12 came and I was so happy.  I picked up the pace.  Maybe a little too much, though, because I needed to walk even more than before.  I was really upset that I had to walk, but I'd rather walk than collapse.  I made it to the final stretch, I saw all the fans and supporters and family members and pushed it as hard as I could.  Josh and Audrey and Annie were waiting for me near the tiara station.  Audrey saw me coming and ran out into the path and gave me a big hug.  I wish I could've stayed there and hugged her longer, or carried her to the finish line.  But I couldn't.  I grabbed my tiara and my hot pink boa and sprinted as hard as I could to the finish line. I grabbed a photo of myself crossing the finish line, but it wasn't good.  It was kinda pathetic, actually.


Audrey, Annie and Josh met me on the other side.  I was so happy to have my family there waiting for me and supporting me.  I have the best cheering section ever!!!!!!


My official time was 2 hours, 29 minutes and 7 seconds.  My initial goal was under 2 1/2 hours.  I would've like to be closer to 2 hours 15 minutes (about a 10:30 pace), but I'm OK with what I did.


It took me about 2 weeks to fully recover.  I wish I'd taken my last month of training more seriously and got at least 1 more 10 mile run in.  I wish I had stretched better before hand.  And I wish I had a better breakfast.  But these are now things that I know for my next time out there.


I will do another half marathon.  In fact, I'd love to do a full marathon someday.  Big Sur is calling my name.  Not sure I'll be ready in 2013, but definitely by 2014.

Happy Birthday Audrey Grace

Three. Three. Three. 


Three years ago my life changed.  I became a mommy.  


Audrey Grace, my first-born daughter.  My beautiful little girl.


In the last year I've seen your vocabulary explode.  You speak not just in full sentences and paragraphs, but you tell stories.  You have a great imagination.  Your logic and reasoning skills are amazing to me.


You've told me that we can't call you by your nick-names anymore.  As sad as that makes me, I will do my best to call you Audrey, as you request.


Your hair has grown so long and the curls are really starting to take shape.  I have been told many times to cut off the long hair in the back, but I just can't bear to see it go.


I forget that you are only three.  Sometimes you act like a 5 year-old, sometimes you act like a 13 y/o.  I am amazed at how big you seem.


Being a big sister suits you well.  You are so kind to your baby sister.  You have great compassion when she gets hurt.  And you love to do things with her and play with her.  I love to see you grow and mature and turn from a toddler to a little girl.


Happy Birthday Audrey Grace!!!!

Mommy and Me - Mount Diablo

We took a day trip to Mount Diablo the other day.  I managed to get in one picture with Audrey.  Annie was busy hanging with Aunt Becky while we climbed on the rocks.

More Mount Diablo photos can be seen over on my flickr page. --> http://www.flickr.com/photos/biochemtine/sets/72157629941179562/


For more Mommy and Me Monday Photos, go check out Krystyn's page.



Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?