Sacramento Pictures

First stop in Napa



Patty, Kathleen and Michele taking pictures



All of us at an olive oil shop

Rockport pictures

Sean took his fishing very seriously


I love this close-up of Connor. Wish I had his eyelashes!


Mommy has absolutely no idea what the hand signals mean


Look a real picture with Mommy in it--from very very far away....


Sean loved digging on the beach


Connor's Creation


All the Beach Boys

Catch Up Time

Wow I can't believe the summer is over. Sean is almost done with his first week and Connor starts 2 days of MDO week after next. I think that's a little late but I guess it's because Labor Day is so late this year.

The coast trip was awful. The cottage that looked so nice online, while clean on the surface, was infested with very large roaches and at least one large spider. I finally ended up sitting in the middle of the bed I was sharing with Connor with the bathroom light reading all night. I could hear things moving around under the bed and Mike was in the living room/kitchen area chasing several roaches all night. The kids slept through it all. It was pretty close to being trapped in a horror movie for me with my bug phobia. The next day we moved to a nice newer condo on the other side of Rockport. It was very clean and would have been great except the air conditioner which was in the bedroom dripped/ran all night. It was worse than a drip but not consistent enough to be running so just really annoying. Needless to say by the last morning I was a zombie. The kids loved the beach though so we'll probably go back just not to the first place!

My trip to CA on the other hand was lovely. It was so fun to spend time with family. Going to Pat and Jim's house is like going to a bed and breakfast. The house was beautiful, there were mints in the bedrooms, the food was wonderful, wine flowed freely :) and the company was excellent. I really enjoyed the "Washington girls" as well. I haven't seen Rebecca and Patty since I was 15 so it was kind of like meeting new people. I'm lobbying for a TX Reunion next year so we can include more people. Only, they seem to be under the impression I can lead them on a Hill Country tour of our family homesites, etc like Aunt Muriel did. Oops, maybe I can read her book and map something out.

As far as my thyroid I'm having it all taken out on October 1. The ENT felt there was just too much chance of missing cancer cells due to the large size of the 2 nodules biopsied. Not to mention the many other smaller nodules. I'm hoping once the med's are all adjusted I'll actually be a little less tired, however, since there is an adjustment phase I'm going to try and lose a little weight before to avoid ended up worse than I am now before it's over. I surprisingly feel pretty okay about having surgery even though he gave me every worst case scenario including some that have never happened!

And Away We GO!

We leave in the morning for our beach trip. I really hope the cabins look like the photos but I'm thinking of taking my own linens just in case. Is that too weird? You'd think I had OCD or something and believe me, one look at my house would prove I don't. In fact I'd love a dose or two to get me in gear!

I've decided we're going to buy the type food we used to take when we went somewhere. Think soft sandwich bread, lunchmeat, potato chips, soda, paper plates, cups AND (if I can find it) those sticky rolls that come in the little tin. Not only will we save money but the boys can have the closest thing to a camping experience I plan to take part in (I hate tents!)

Now if we can just get it all done by morning we're off! We've got the last baseball game in a few minutes, the ice cream party after, another trip to the store to search for pails and shovels, ironing, packing....

Vacation on the Horizon and other Changes in the Air

Wow, what a busy week it's been as far as changing our lives! Yesterday I finally made a decision on where to stay at Rockport and got the LAST cottage. It's a little smaller than I'd like but it will work. I came up with an idea last night to have Connor and myself sleep in the bedroom and have Mike on the futon with Sean in a sleeping bag. Mike likes to fish late into the night so he and Sean can have their adventure while Connor has privacy in the bedroom (hopefully to keep him asleep). I'm hoping, as other's have experienced, that the sea air will make him sleep like a log! Maybe Mommy can have some Mommy time with a book in the living room once Connor is asleep and the other "kids" are fishing. We'll see...

The other news is we are finally getting a boost in income with Mike starting a new job in 2 weeks. His current employer has cut salaries, cut the car allowance, and raised sales goals so few of the division managers can reach commission level. The new job pays more and includes a vehicle. We may end up trading his truck and my MKX on another leased MKX. This leaves me in a vehicle I'm not crazy about for another 3 years but may be the fastest way to get him out of the truck payment. My vehicle is pretty and luxurious but it's not getting the gas milage and I could really use a little more backseat and cargo room. What I WANT to do is get a nice inexpensive SUV that's about 4-5 years old (per Dave Ramsey) but considering how fast the value of our van we traded last year fell leasing was our best option. We'll see...

Connor is finally doing better on the potty thing. Yesterday we had a few bad accidents but none today so I'm hoping he can go to VBS next week. That will give me extra time to get ready for my trip that weekend. I still need to get my hair done and I haven't even made an appointment yet! Also, I need to lose 20 pounds before our trip this weekend, LOL! Okay, maybe I can go on a fruit diet and lose some water weight...