34hour Getaway! Turning 35 in style!!

We're busy people... Like stupid busy.  We're also limited on our babysitting options.  Our 4 kids have only ever spent the night with my mother and the two oldest girls have spent the night at a family friends house once.  I have trust issues.  Anyway, we try not to take advantage of poor Grammie too often.  This on the other hand was not one of those times.  We dumped our 4 kiddos off at Grammies house at 10am on Saturday morning and picked them up at 8pm on Sunday evening... Here's all the things we managed to squeeze into just 30 straight hours:

First Stop: CASA DE FRUTA

I regret not taking photos of this stop.  If you've ever been you may love or hate this out stop... We happen to LOVE it.  We stretch our legs, purchase snacks like fresh and dried fruits, chocolates, blended coffees, delicious deli items and so much more.  Todays goodies included dried apricots for Grandma Betty, a Belgian waffle mix and pecan syrup for Grammie, a TON of chocolate treats for me (chocolate covered peanuts, a giant peanut butter cut & assorted chocolates), Sonoma garlic Jack Cheese with beagle style crackers, and a blended white mocha with a pump of hazelnut.  Josh also ordered a delicious sandwich from the deli.  We stretched, ate, visited the facilities and got back on the road to....


Second stop: WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE
I grew up in the San Francisco South Bay Area; however, my moms side of the family was living in the Central San Joaquin Valley - this meant countless trips through Pacheco Pass.  Somewhere between the Garlic smelling Gilroy & Casa de Fruta you'd find a gorgeously detailed sign marketing Winchester Mystery House.  As a child I waited anxiously to reach this sign - trying to stay awake usuall, but never had my family been.  Josh too had remembered this monument and was excited to check it out.  What a treat - nothing like either of us expected...  I don't want to give away too much, but it really was fascinating.  We took the 65min. mansion tour.  We actually wanted the 2+ hours Explore More Tour, but the time slots were going to cut into the rest of our evening plans so we settled for the regular Mansion Tour and I was content with that as was Josh.   Here are a few photos (photos inside are not permitted). 

Selfie!

Cool little Evolution of the Winchester Gun museum

Despite the crowds we did not have luck asking someone to take our photo.

Something about holding a firearm makes me feel like a bad ass

We arrived a little less than an hour before our scheduled tour, but we were able to walk the grounds, view the gardens, visit the gift shop, the gun museum, and the café before sitting under a beautiful Japanese Maple tree - all prior to our tour! The tour, guided by an adorable Midwest college student, was filled with fun facts of the mysterious rooms & hallways.  I get the feeling we really only saw a tiny portion of the house.  At the end we watched the trailer for the upcoming movie based on the house and its mysterious owner Sarah Winchester.  We're looking forward to seeing The House That Ghosts Built in February. NOTE:  I purchased our tour tickets at the discounted rate via Groupon.  It was super simple - did it while in line! Another note - if you're super claustrophobic this might not be for you.  They do a great job moving quickly through the tight spots, but there were a few areas Josh had a hard time moving through.  He's a big guy!  Anyway - it was lots of fun.  Afterwards we were ready for....

Third Stop: Checking into our Hotel Room at the Marriott in Santa Clara

Nothing special about this basic hotel.  We simply picked it to be close to Levi Stadium for Sundays 49ers Game against the Seahawks!  Bad thing was it wasn't as close as we thought.  The Hilton we stayed at last year for the game was MUCH closer!

Here's the view from our balcony... Way farther than we thought! Website was misleading.  Took us 30min to walk to the stadium! and 30min to get back after the game!

Fourth Stop: Dinner with a view of the bay at Kincaid's in Burlingame, CA

So our original plan was to have dinner in Half Moon Bay on the water at Sunset, but we got a little behind and didn't want to rush so we tried Kincaid's - a beautiful little restaurant on the bay in Burlingame.  I'm so glad  we did.  The service was on point, the cocktails hit the spot and the food was awesome.  Josh had a long Island and medium rare steak while I ordered a 3 Berry Cosmo, a cup of clam chowder and the salmon. DELISH!!! 

We laso had a celebrity sighting!  A table full of Denver Broncos were sat just behind us.  I didn't want to bother them during their dinner so I secretly snapped these terrible shots.  We didn't know who they were so we sent the pics to my brother-in-law, Kyle, who immediately recognized them! So exciting seeing them!

Aqib Talib in the white

Von Miller in the Black

Look at this (blurry) stud!  I thought that was Ellen behind Josh!! Celebrities all over!! lol



I can't remember what this Salmon was called but it was SO GOOD! Pomegranates, yummy rice, perfectly cooked!

Another selfie with the bay behind us!

Fifth stop:  Couples Massages at Massage Envy

So this is what I was really looking forward to!  We haven't had a couples massage since before kids.  We went to the Madonna Inn in San Luis in like 2007!  10 years was too long to wait! 

Josh was nervous!

He was NOT as excited about this as I was!

No turning back now!!!

Josh didn't enjoy his massage as much as I did (that's an entire different post)! But afterwards we headed back to our room where Josh surprised me with a bottle of Champaign he secretly picked up in Case de Fruta!  We had a wonderful evening...


The next morning - Last stop: San Francisco 49er Game!!!

Here's a few pics to explain themselves.  We had a blast.

Great seats!!!

$10 each!! Ouch

Wind in hair don't care!

A much needed getaway with my best friend in the world!!

After the game we rocked out to 90's music all the way home.  Walking through Grammies door to 4 screaming little ones was a great feeling.  I'm truly looking forward to my 35th year of life.  It really was a fantastic (early) birthday weekend!!!

Bragging Baby Maker!

Now that my baby making days are done I'd like to officially record these amazing little humans I brought into this wild world...  I'll add surro baby Elliot shortly!

Tysie Nicole
11/20/2008 @ 5:15pm
7lbs 12oz. 20in.

Kenzlie Jean
01/21/2010 @ 9:56am
8lbs. 10oz. 21in.

 

Axten James
06/16/2013 @ 4:15pm
8lbs. 6oz. 21in.



Brynlie Rae
10/25/2014 @ 2:39am
6lbs. 8oz. 18.5in.

Holiday Photo Time! 

It's time for our annual Holiday Family Photos.  Now this is such a stressful endeavor... Picking outfits, finding time to schedule the day, bribe the kids to act like normal humans, etc.  But this finished product is always awesome and I'm so glad I can look back at these pictures.  I love seeing the kids change and grow.  This year it hit me that the kids are getting older and things are much less stressful.  We're in a good zone... They still let me pick out their outfits, they're old enough to understand how much it means to me for them to smile nicely, and they're still sweet enough to listen to Jill, our photographer. Harlow Grace Photography can be found here:  https://www.facebook.com/harlowgrace Check her out if your local to me!  She's very talented, so relaxed and easy to work with.  Note: She did not take the 2011 photo.  That was our digital camera with the timer on. lol.  The rest are Jill's doing!  Love her. 

2011



2013

2014

2016
 

2017



2017

Axten - First one up, last one down

Let me just start by taking back all the bragging I did back when all my babies slept through the night early on.  Most of you know I read On Becoming Baby Wise when Tysie was about 4 months old.  It changed our lives.  Now I have to add a disclaimer, I've never been a rule follower and I remember thinking, "oh hell no" for a few of the recommendations, but I will say what I took and used with all 4 of my early sleepers was the scheduling.  And it worked FOR US.  I get that not every baby or family is the same and I hope you know I read the book once at a point of exhaustion and confusion.  I can't guarantee it will work for you, but it did for us. 

Now - fast forward to today.  Tysie and Kenzlie sleep fine.  Tysie talks in her sleep and occasionally sleep walks through the house.  I have to carefully guide her to the restroom and back to bed, but that's few and far between.  Kenzlie can sleep through an 7.0 earthquake on the Richter Scale!  She can also put herself to sleep accidently while waiting for me and Josh to make our nightly rounds after the bedtime routine.  Breaks my heart when she falls asleep before I get to her.  Brynlie is pretty easy, she's a musical beds type of girl meaning she rotates from room to room sleeping with different sibblings.  Mostly she sleeps in Axten's Jeep bed with him.  We're currently waiting for the bunk beds to arrive since they prefer to all sleep in the same room!  Operation bunk room details for a future post. 
Now that leaves child #3... Axten James.  Our only son.  Perhaps it's a boy thing, but this child is near impossible to put to bed.  As a baby and up until 2 1/2 - 3 Axten loved the nighttime routine: dinner, quiet play, bath, books, bed.  We'd turn off the lights and rock for a few then I'd lay him in his crib, kiss his head, tuck him in and leave his room.  No problem. Then we moved Brynlie to the crib when Axten was ready for his big boy bed (the Jeep).  Ever since that night he's been impossible to put to bed!  Like 4 books, sound machine, essential oils, back rubbing for hours, etc.  The only thing that works is laying with him until her falls asleep the creeping out of the room like your life depends on it. Army crawl and all!  Lastly, no matter how late we get him to sleep his cute little ass is up and at it at 5am.  EVERY DAY!!! He also still naps at preschool and most weekends at home, but it's down to like an hour these days.  I can not understand how this kid has so much energy.  Pops up like wide awake right away! Oh man.  Is it a boy thing?

What's your bedtime routine consist of?  We're pretty strict and it works for everyone EXCEPT Axten!!  Help!!!  How do you get youe little boys to sleep? 

Weekend in review...

So another weekend has passed - here's what it looked like according to my iPhone!

Tysie had a total of 11 hours of chorography between Friday, Saturday & Sunday.  She's in 7 competitive dance routines this season: 4 jazz, 3 lyrical - 3 of them are small groups and 3 of them are junior routines which she was SO excited about. She even has 3 in a higher level and the rest intermediate level!  We love this time of year at dance because the routines are taking shape and she anxiously awaits chorography.  She loves when she gets little featured parts of a dance like a lift, a turn, or a trick.  It's amazing to me how she can remember so many routines.  Even now in the car a song comes on and she'll bust out a routine from 3 seasons ago.  Crazy.  Anyway, the routines this year so far are just awesome! Our studio is seriously the best and has amazing teachers.  Can't wait for costumes and seeing the final outcome in the early spring.




Here's Tysie and the Edge Mini Large Jazz group! Cuties!!

Kenzlie's social calendar was pretty full Saturday.  She had a Birthday Party and an End of the AYSO Season Soccer party to attend!
 
First up was the birthday party and it was ADORABLE! Birthday girl chose the Clay Café in Visalia!  We held Tysie's birthday party there a few years back so Kenzlie was looking forward to returning and adding to her ceramic collection. 


Here are a few of the party guests!

Everything was themed with Unicorns! Check out the cupcake toppers!

NINJA MERMAIDS SOCCER TEAM!

Look at these adorable hoodies made by my dear friend Sara at CCB Designs
She can seriously make ANYTHING and such great work at a great price! Thanks Sara!!

Kenzlie had the BEST Coach this season.  She and her entire family were so good! This isn't a great picture, but Kenzlie is holding her piece of the team banner.  They made these Ninja Mermaids from felt and other craft supplies!  Perfect traditional soccer banner! Team sponsored by Taxes by David

DATE NIGHT!
So at the last second our babysitter mentioned she was free Saturday night so after the soccer party Josh and I decided to go do SOMETHING.  We like the traditional dinner and a movie, but then discussed bowling... Then I remembered I'd heard there was a Comedy show showing at the Fox Theater Downtown Visalia were Josh and I were married!  So we headed down town not even knowing what the show was.  We saw the name in the lights and quickly googled  GIs of Comedy. I have a brother who is a Marine so we thought, why not!?!  They were great!!! We purchased tickets for somewhere in the middle of the theater at the door.  When we entered the usher asked if we'd like to sit in the front... "Sure".  After we grabbed a couple beers we found out seats.  The music was playing as everyone found their seats.  We were surrounded by a pretty eclectic group.  Lots of military, a few groups of women clearly enjoying a girls night out and lots of groups of couples.  Just before the show began I told Josh, "I think comedians like to pick on the people who sit near the front."  This was our first time attending a comedy show.
Sure enough not once but twice two different comedians called out Josh.  Luckily they were talking about had buff he was!  We laughed our asses off all night.  The comedians were great.  Just what we needed.  I recommend looking them up and seeing them live in Sothern California when you can.  Good show. 

See how close we were!?!?  It was cool being right back where we were married too!  We love any chance to go to the Fox!

Sunday Fun Day!

Lastly Sunday was pretty mellow!  We had a Tuff Shed built over the weekend so Josh and I (mostly Josh) will be slowly moving stuff there from the garage.  Our goal is to make out garage not look like an episode of hoarders and to stop repurchasing things we have, but just can't find!! It's a process - I'll keep you posted!!

I'll try to take more photos!  The kids played with the neighbors, they jumped in the trampoline, played with Brynlie's new Playdough kit for hours, and even went to church!!  It was a great weekend!!!

Photo Frenzy Fridays!

Here's what this last couple weeks looks like according to my iPhone!

This was a super fun Friday night: pumpkin carving, s'mores, skinny dipping, trampoline time, and dancing.  Only one temper tantrum too! 



Soccer Party for Axten!!!

Saturdays are CRAZY for us and on the last day of the season we had a total of 4 soccer games (plus volleyball).  My kids are troopers because we also managed to go to the library to trade books and enjoy Taylor's Hotdogs for lunch!


Axten & The Dino-Mites Coach Gustavo, AYSO 2017

Pink Panthers! What these girls lacked in skill they made up for in heart! Great season girls!!

Tysie, BellaJon & Kenzlie between Volleyball games




I can't forget to mention Zoo Boo! An evening carnival at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.  We met up with friends and family too!  The animals were mostly sleeping, the booths were more sales people, it was slightly overpriced and pretty crowded... We probably won't do it again, but the kids made the best of it with this friends!
 

My little monsters with their stud muffin dad!
 



Our kids with my bestie Maggie's adorable girls!

Our dance studio celebrated Halloween all week long.  I had dozens of treats organized for each class and somehow I only took two pictures!



 

MORE TO COME SOON!!!

I’m baaaaaack!  So I recently stumbled upon an old friend’s new blog her teenage sons encouraged her to start.  I clicked through it, enjoying her whit, her beautiful photos (she seriously a super model) & fun stories and immediately remembered how therapeutic it feels to share and to put good out into the world.  Once I’m comfortable on here I’ll post a link to her blog - with her permission obviously… SO I googled my old blog from 2011 (Google is seriously a way of life). Low and behold it’s still here!  Took me a few attempts at remembering the log in details, but I got back in.  Here I am. Hi.  It’s me!  Taking up more of your free time. So here’s what’s up with me and mine:

Tysie is missing from this pic! She was at another birthday party! 

Josh and I are still navigating this life together (thank God he’s stuck around this long – at least once a day I worry he’s going to dump me).  Our children are now 8, 7, 4 & 3!  We are seriously in the trenches of parenting little people right now.  It’s no joke.  Like when we just had 2 toddlers we thought it was hard. Pffff.  Cake walk compared to the shit storm we face daily.  Our kids really are amazing, but good God, every day I drop F bombs like a sailor and wonder how bad I’m screwing them up.  On top of both Josh and I working full-time each kid has at least one activity.  Dance, Volleyball, Soccer, etc.  Last weekend we had 5 soccer games, a volleyball game, 2 birthday parties, and a harvest carnival!  We even managed to carve pumpkins and have our own little backyard fun complete with s’mores, skinny-dipping (in late October!), and trampoline time.  That’s pretty much a normal weekend at this point in our lives and I LOVE IT!  I thrive in crazy busy.  

So my goal is to post once a week… I might get creative and follow a theme and a routine, but knowing my Sagittarius style I’ll probably be treating this like a diary. ; ) Join me, share with me in the comments!!