{I remember when....}

We have been cleaning out nooks and crannies......
 selling off our unused/unwanted items on KSL Classifieds.
Seems that everything we sold, had some emotional attached memories that made it hard to separate with.

~The glider-rocker that I rocked my babies in....

~The boys' big rubber toy box that held all of Rivers trains.....

~The elliptical in the basement....oh no...wait!!!  no attachment to that! you have to actually use something to be attached!

~The boys' "friend sleepover" bunk beds that had our sweet neighbor girls name stuck all over the bottom of the mattress board from 7 years ago.

~AND these bar stools (pictured). 

I brought the stools upstairs from the basement storage.  I gave Jax a rag, and asked him to shine them up for me before the buyer came.
A few minutes went by and I walked in to find Jax sitting......thinking......crying.
He had memories of  sitting on Grandpa Jack's lap in these chairs. 
He remembered specific moments.
He begged me not to sell the stools......
 afraid that his memories and experiences would be forever ingrained in the wood and given to a new owner.

I understood.
Hell.....why do you think I've kept the rocker this long?!?!?
I mean, it's only been 8 years since that rocker has rocked one of my babes!!!!
But without it in view, I forget the little details of long nights I comforted, fed and bonded with my boys.

I sometimes concern myself with little bits of hording.
Now I realize that what I'm really doing is trying to preserve memory.
And I consider that part of my life's scrapbook.
So there will always be things that I will never be able to part with......

And this is the point where I apologize to my kids, Randy and closest peeps.......
because when I move on to the beer, dancing, laughing, loving heaven in the sky,
You all will be stuck with my "saved memory" crap.
Again....so sorry.

{the incredible edible egg)




I love a good omelette.
Full of protein, vitamins and great under a pile of cottage cheese and homemade salsa!!!

I found this microwave omelet cooker, and because I'm kitchen gadget have to have freak,
 I JUST HAD TO TRY IT!!!
(I found it on clearance at TJ MAXX for $7.
You can get at other stores for around $12-$16)

3 egg whites
a pile of spinach
a pile of mushrooms
pinch of black pepper
dash of red pepper
micro for 2.5 mins

voila!!!!

A divine eggfast!!!!
The mushrooms and spinach were perfectly steamed and wrapped through the fully cooked eggs.

This little white pot could possibly be my new kitchen BFF.

{EPL review from the DDB* critic}

*DDB=Deaf Dumb Blonde

Eat Pray Love....

Eat Pray Love..........

Eat Pray Love.................

Have you ever realized that there can be so much joy and fulfillment in each one of these words????

I read the book along with a few other friends

(Chelise, Paula, Lisa),

and I/we loved it!!!!

I think there were points in the book, that we all felt like we dreamed to be swept away into this freedom of the writer's experience.

It truly put the joys and pains of life into perspective.

THIS book definitely helped me to grow as a woman/human being.

Friday night Lisa and I went out for a DE-lish salad and beer, and caught the 7:00 movie.

This lovely actress,  Toni Collette was who I imagined playing the lead character.  I almost didn't want to see the movie just because it had Julia Gulia Roberts in it.  I'm not a big fan of hers.

I was surprised that I didn't want to gag or roll my eyes during her performance.  She was ok, BUT totally too old for the part.  I'm thinking Toni is possibly the same age, but she just seems more fitting and earthy youthful. 

AND James Franco

You know this guy....

Anyway, he played one of her loves.....

SOOOOO totally bad acting!!!

WRONG for the part!

But other that those gripes, I really enjoyed the movie.  I don't know how I would have felt about it if I hadn't read the book tho.  All of the pieces that they had to leave out of the movie for time consideration, were semi-important details that I knew to fill in from memory.

In conclusion:  Every woman NEEDS to see this movie.  It is powerful and has such great teachings.

I hope it makes you evaluate your own happiness and that it is ultimately in YOUR hands to change the path that makes

 life drain you of living.

Quite the oxymoron eh?

Eat Pray Love movie: 4 Michelob ultras out of a six pack

{I will never have that time back!}

The last three books that I have read, have been, to say the least, a waste of my life! 

I am disappointed........

So :) if you have nothing to do for a few hours a day, and you do not care that time reading these will be valuable time in your life that you will never get back......

then go a head...pick one up.

Otherwise......STEER CLEAR!!!!

A mother get's hooked on meth and when you think it can't get worse,

IT DOES!

The family's MASS problems get tiring and ridiculous. 

 I couldn't even finish the last parts because I was disgusted.

 

Spirits that live a drawer? 

 Fascinations with a cemetery!

  Sick relationships with siblings. 

 Flying to heaven on the wings of a crow?!?!?!?!?

ARGH!!!!!!

This one was especially frustrating to me because it heavily hooked me in on the first half......and went tragically speeding downhill after that.

Narrated by a young girl......giving her thoughts and experiences of living in a small town.

Sounds good right?!?!

The gossips, the affairs, the simplicity, the confusion, the twisted minds that have nothing to do but worry about their neighbors business.

Witty, funny, and relatable.

Again.....hooked me in until the middle of the book....

started seeing it go in a direction that made me sick to my stomach.

Older men relations with young girls. 

Had to finish it....had to follow it through..

cuz it just might make a turn and have a reason for the unjust.

Boy! was I wrong!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is this happening to you too???? 

 What am I doing to  be attracted to certain stories that get dark and ugly in the end??? 

And another thing!!!

Each one of these books seem as if the last halves were thrown together with endings that are all of a sudden pulled out of no-where and shmooshed in a ball of shit to meet a deadline.

What happened to good, happy, meaningful endings????

I want material that moves me....and the time spent reading was food for my body.

Are people not writing like that anymore?

Any good books that you can refer that doesn't involved creepy spirits, drugged mothers, or rape?????

(Eat, Pray, Love is a good one...I've read it!! 

 Just saw the movie last night!!!   Giving my review soon)

{Just take a pill}

While walking and shopping at the mall, Jax spurts out of nowhere
"There's got to be a magic pill".

He said it as if he was thinking to himself out loud.

I looked at him strangely and said,

"Whatchu talkin' about Willis?!?!?" 

Because when kids start talking about "magic pills", it kinda raises a red flag. 

REALLY!?

YA THINK????

Anyway, he explains that life would be great if you only had to take one magic pill a day and it would:

1~ Make you very smart

2~ Instantly clean your teeth and make them really, really white.  Then he smiles a large toothy smile and says" TINK"

3~ Make your head never itchy and never have dandruff

4~ Make zits go away for ever

5~ Make you smell like you have smell-good stuff on all the time

After hearing those 5 simple requests of a "magic pill",  I lowered the red flag, and realized that the boy has severe interest in body upkeep and hygiene!!!!.....and I'll tell ya what!!!  If I could take a "magic pill" for all of those same issues, I surely would! 

Alice would be #1 on my speed dial!

Isn't it funny how our kids can say something that make us crazy with worry.....because we jump to the worst conclusion.  With more talking and explanation, you realize that they still have innocence and child-like thoughts.

What a relief!

{You will get the chicks}

River had his second guitar lesson.

His teacher/mentor's name is Randy....
and he's one pretty cool dude!
Ya know, one of those dudes that's like 50 and still acts 12 because he reminisces about old times and wants to go back and live there forever????
Riv and Randy-cool dude are mentally on the same page!

He loves to tell River stories of when he was Riv's age...... the first time he started playing, and how he would spend hours just getting to know the sounds his guitar made...within months he was in a band even though he only knew 3 chords.  BUT his skill didn't matter....The fact that he was in a band is what mattered!!!!

He's proud to prove that a man in the band will always get's the chicks!

After listening to Randy-cool dude's experiences,
Riv understood the power this guitar holds in his life!

River said that if he ever got a studio of his own, he would enlarge a picture of Randy-cool dude and hang it for everyone to see.......A thank you of sorts for his inspiration and belief in River :)

(I just loved that!!!)

My little man has already made some of his own tunes....maybe a bit out of tune, but he's really dedicated and with practice and instruction from Randy-cool dude, he will be great one day.

There really is something about a man that can play guitar....
makes a girl weak in the knees!!!
hubba hubba!
Isn't that why every guys secret dream is to be a rock star?

{Starving and Exhausted}

Yesterday was the big day.

I don't know if it was bigger for River or for his mommy :)

The first day of 7th grade was kind of a practice day for the newbies.  They started at 7:30 and were out at noon.  In the parking lot, I waited for Riv and the gals I carpool. 

 I was so excited to find out EVERYTHING!!!!

They came dragging their feet to the car, flopped in their seats and had droopy eyelids with a dazed look on their faces.

"OMG!!!!  HOW WAS IT??  HOW WAS YOUR FIRST DAY OF JR. HIGH????!!??  CONGRATULATIONS!!!  ARE YOU FREAKING OUT?  CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE YOU ARE A 7TH GRADER???  TELL ME!!! TELL ME NOOOOOWWWW!!"

I ask in the most annoying high pitched, over anxious, crazy mom voice.

River looks at me and says....."It was great mom.....I need a nap."

Mikayla says......"It was way cool but I am starving to death and I need to lay down."

Jaime says......"It was crazy.  I'm gonna have to get used to getting up early"....then a yawn.

Oh....poor babes.

Once River had his belly full and energy started filtering through his veins, he gave me the daily "run-down". 

He had a totally awesome day!

yay!yay!yay!yay!

He was given a daily planner from the school.  As he is reading through it, he gets a huge smile on his face...."MOM this has a periodic table in it!!!  OMG!  all of the elements are listed.

wah- wah wah wah -wah wah

blah, blah, wah, blah, wah

Is all I really heard because he lost me at periodic table.

What kind of kid wears a shirt on the first day of school that says,

WHAT PART OF AN INVERT TANGENT APPROACHING AN ASYMPTOTE DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

(from the Big Bang theory)

AND, what kind of kid gets ecstatic about a table of elements????

Well actually,

(what River is famous for saying)

Probably only my kid!

No! You can't have him!

He's my smart geek-nerd :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Beginnings for Jax

Most of you know that I have decided to home school Jax this year.

We are feeling positive and excited about our learning experiences together.

We started yesterday @ 8 am.

It was a good 1st day :)

Jax is doing online schooling along with textbooks and written papers.

This is his school desk.

I'd say he's got a pretty good set-up!

I only make him call  me Mrs. D. while we are in school.....

after that it's back to mom :)

(((I'm posting this and teaching at the same time.....

see what a great multi tasker I am!!! 

I have to do something while the kid is practicing his cursive.

I'm looking for a substitute when we get to the subject "you and your body" for health class.

Any volunteers????)))

{Head, shoulders, balls and toes,
 balls and toes}

Tracy has been getting grandma in prestine physical shape for Parker and Sam's wedding.
Grandma has been pumping weights, leg press, stretches, and this particular ball exercise featured in the pictures.
A Dora the Explorer ball between your legs seems a bit creepish at first, but when you see what grandma can do with that ball!!!!!
OH NELLY!
Would you be proud!!!!
(Now I know where all of us gal offspring get our moves from!)
{{ wink, wink}}
yippee kiyay!!

Her core is strong and she has some great biceps to prove her hours of commitment.
This ball exercise takes some balance and muscle as you lift one leg at a time moving the ball up and down.
Grandma was still "ball rollin" even after I had to quit because I was cramping in the hip area.....and the thigh area....and maybe a little in the buttocks.

She's a strong ol' brod, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her swinging from chandeliers again real soon!

I'm not kidding people, when I say that we got our wild and crazy streaks from Grandma!!!!
Don't EVEN let that wheel chair fool ya!

I can hear Randy yelling.......
"don't forget the stubborn streaks and opinionated streaks too"

{WAHOOO!  this is fun!}




Randy about pee'd his pants when he found this bute on his friend's car lot.
It was exactly like the one his dad had 30 years ago.
The sentimental nostalgia made him whip out the cash right then and there!

The '72 Dodge Power Wagon has a white removeable hard top......

but Randy thoroughly enjoys going topless in the warm weather.

Makes him feel........a bit Rrrrrrandy i suppose :0

Randy says this is the best kind of truck to teach the boys the basics......oil changes, brakes, carb stuff, radiator stuff, rust stuff.......I don't know, just all kinds of man stuff!

River has staked his claim on the big-ol'-green-machine Power Wagon as his own.  He says that he will pay his dad for it and thanks his dad every time they make an improvement on it.

"Thanks for doing that for me and the truck dad!  I really appreciate it!"  River will say.

Randy says that River is welcome and moves on.

Everything is cool.....

until a while later when Randy remembers that it's his own truck, and he should be thanking himself! 

Kids have a way of doing the bait and switch on ya without you even realizing they've moved in on your possessions!

And of course,  Miss Kitty and I love the honky, trailer-hood feel that we get as the wind blows our hair a stray.

"Keep on truckin" I want to yell with my arms flailing and some kind of Hank Williams tunes in the back ground.
Something about this big tank and the smell of 38 year old green naugahyde, that makes a person feel free, irresponsible in a beer-bonfire-canyon sort of way, and yes.......
a bit RRRRRRandy :)

Take a guess what his license plates say......

{my best friend hates me}

This is Miss Kitty after a run in the neighborhood.
She let me know her first bitch about it  when she came to a dead stop....in front of me....in the middle of the road.....
to take a pooh.
Yah, very lady like Miss Kitty!!!!

We would run....she would let me know when her poor little hind area was hurting, and we would slow to a walk.  After a short cool down, she would start picking up pace into a run again.
The old gal still has it in her.....

But by the time we got home, she gave me this look with her ears tucked back, tail down to the floor and panting fast and hard.

I knew that look.....I've seen it before.
She hates me.
She was ready to collapse and it was all my fault!!!

I was guilty of animal AND elderly cruelty!!!!
OH THE HORROR!!!!!

After a long drink, and a flop on the floor by the air conditioning, and a nappie...
she came nudging her nose to my hand
and we made up.

Awe.......My B.F.F  Miss kitty

OK!! OK!! I know this is a stupid post....and I know I sound stupid talking about my dog...she's just a dog to you all...but seriously to me, she is my B.F.F and
 I've been so scared of losing her lately. 
She was whimpering in her sleep last night like she was in pain :( 
I'm a big boob!

{Don't you fear! Jax is here!}

Jax has always had a fascination with super hero's.  Specifically Spiderman.  Remember, he was Spiderman for like 3 years in a row for Halloween!  He used to wear his old Halloween costumes throughout the entire year playing, using his imagination, being something SUPER human!!!

We have ran short of old costumes that fit Jax anymore.

(do they make Spiderman in mens sizes???)

He decided to take matters into his own hands!

He took an old shirt- cut pieces off for the mask- and took a needle and thread and hand sewed the shirt back together!!!!!

THE DUDE HAND SEWED THE SHIRT!!!!!!!
(yes Paula! You would be proud)

As we were walking into the store, I see a peek of the costume from the bottom of Jax's sleeve.
I asked him if he had it on under his real clothes.
He said, "SHHHHH mom! A super hero is very private and quiet.  You don't want the bad guys to know that I'm in the store protecting everyone!!!!!!  I have to catch them off guard!"

And he was genuinely SERIOUS!

p.s. He also has a paper clip that is unfolded in one direction.  That unfolded part holds poison in the tip  ;)
His secret weapon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

dddttddt.....dddttddt....dddttdt.........

Just in........
COSTUME UPDATE:
Apparently, his sewing skills aren't "ALL THAT"
(ok, maybe Paula isn't so proud)
He now has a vest and a couple  of China Town swords to protect all of mankind.
The life of a superhero changes daily!

{She was a cheap tramp}

7 years ago we bought this trampoline for $150 at WallyWorld.
Yesterday, she just couldn't take the pressure any more.
Ping! Pink! Booooiiiiinnnnggg! Pink! Blam!
Springs and connectors and material went flying all directions......
And River went from a 4' jump in the air to a dead stop on the ground!


Poor Cheap Tramp!!!!
She's been a good ride.
R.I.P.

{I left my heart in .......}

Leaving SLC at 9:00 am, Saturday morning with the Big Red Dodge and our travel trailer full, WE WERE READY for a weeks worth of living.......

Our first stop:

RENO NEVADA BABY!!!!!!!

We were hoping to get there in enough time to experience the

"Hot August Nights" car show.

If you've never heard of it.....well, it's a big deal with classic car enthusiasts around the world.

We just happened to pull into town at the exact time and place to watch the street drag.

I mostly watched these people who were perched on their apartment balcony.

I'm pretty sure I witnessed a drug deal.

Regardless, the dude with the mullet was straight out of the 80's and the chick with the white glasses, had a visor with Winnie the Pooh on the brim.

Tweeky Tweeky!

This patriotic traffic controller took his job VERY seriously!!!

To the point that Randy and I would watch, hoping to see drivers go the wrong way.......this would get  "Uncle Sam's" flagpants a jumpin with anxiety!

We left the drags with an exhaust headache and wondering how we could bring the old Green Dodge Power-wagon to show off next year!

We lucked out to find a fabulous RV resort at the Grand Sierra Hotel and Casino.  We dropped the trailer and made our way into the heart of Reno and gave the kids a night of fun at Circus Circus.

4 hours, 29 games, a bag of stuffed animals and $100 later....

we called it a night.

Sunday, we took a day trip in to see Lake Tahoe

The boys immediately ran to the water and started making sand tunnels

River and Randy found that fishing for huge ass crawdads with hot dogs was super fun.

Jax found that fishing for girls was even more fun :)

The scenery is breath taking and more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

Monday was what I was personally looking forward to.

San Francisco!!!!

The bay area

Frisco

San Fran

The Sco'

The Fog City

The city by the bay

San Franpsycho

The Golden Gate City

What ever you call it.....

This place truly holds my heart until my next return.

That was the agreement between me and my friend Frisco :)

The 3 pics above are taken as we were coming into the city from the freeway.

The San Francisco RV resort was very expensive @ $85/night.

I don't know if it was costly because it was California, or because we were right near the water.

I would have paid an extra $300 to get me some dry warm weather!!!!

The temps were on average, 52 degrees.

But with the mist from the ocean and wind gusts, I was shaking with goose eggs on my skin most of the time.

We stayed Monday and Tuesday night.  Our camping neighbors were friendly, liked to drink beer and had some great Canadian stories.

(They were freaking out by the cost of a case of Bud Light in the U.S. $18........Canada $45.

Let's just say they stocked up!)

We also walked for coffee and bagels each morning and in the evening we had fresh hand-dipped fish-n-chips and Newcastle beer from a small shop/shack around the corner.

Made me feel like a local :)

BTW:  This weather was only outside of the city....I think all of the skyscrapers block the winds to the inner streets.

The very helpful RV front office man recommended that we take the BART (subway) into the city.

Most parking garages in the city are $20+/day and the vehicle has to be 6'7" or under.

Big Red Dodge was NOT going to fit in SanFran!

Their public transportation system is smooth, cheap, and easy to figure out.

I can understand why most people don't even own a car!

The subway wasn't scary or stinky.....

I was pretty relaxed and enjoying the experience.

THAT IS UNTIL............

Randy had to hold up the front page of this paper for me to read!!!!!

Ok.....I started looking for my mace!

The BART let us off downtown in the heart of the City.

I was overwhelmed with palpitations and happy hands.

My eyes couldn't focus fast enough for all of the sights and information I was expecting them to take in.

These art-hearts were throughout the city....all decorated differently.

They are the appropriate symbol to describe what takes over your soul.

San Francisco truly is the city of love, acceptance, diversity, humanity and individuality.

If I could create a city from my own mind, soul, and hands......

This is what it would look like.

We took a coffee break and people watched for a bit.

The boys felt so grown up and sophisticated.....

just look at Jax's posed crossed legs! LOL!!!

China Town

We walked the ENTIRE length!

Up and down!

I needed about another 2 days just in C.T.

Loved the shops

Loved the people

Riv needed a picture with his genetic ancestors.

I see so much resemblance.

AHHHHHHH SOOOOOOOO!!!!

I think they called this the POO POO PLATTER!!

No really, it's some kind of mutant mushroom.

Bluhck!!!

When do you ever see these?!?!?!?!

Just so nostalgic cool!

These are recycle trucks.

California is BIG TIME into recycling

YO YO YO

((pumping fists))

Good for them!!!  We all should be!

The ironically awesome part, is that the trucks are recycled U-Haul trucks!!!!

 They ALL have graffiti on the sides as if the art was of purpose for the city.

Beautiful!!!!!

The famous Lombard Street.

Loooooong and narrow and very winding.

We made it to the Fisherman's Wharf.

Starting on pier 39.

That is Alcatraz that you see behind us.

The tickets to get on the tour of Alcatraz was 3 weeks booked out.

FYI: Plan that one wayyyyyy in advance!

Jax was amuzed throughout the entire wharf-walk by feeding the birds pieces of cracker and bread.

I'm pretty sure we had a trail of pigeons and seagulls that followed us all the way back to the BART!!!

We were able to watch the bakers make the famous sour dough bread.

Clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl is a popular treat for $5.

The street performers were the best I've seen.

The boys were drawn to the "Indiana Jones" character.

River's trip would NOT have been complete without a stop at the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

We bought the combo pass which also got us into the mirror maze.

I Highly recommend the mirror maze for children.

Highly NOT recommended for adults or anyone who gets motion sickness, or claustrophobic, or fear of being lost forever.

We finally found Randy's long lost Aunt Lipper....originally from Holland, now residing on the wharf near the ducks.

hee hee!

This unknown creature was in the museum under 

"LOUDEST MOUTH BREATHER SLEEPER SNORER"

And this Ripley's mold was probably my favorite piece.....

I can't put my finger on why it was my fav, but i'm pretty sure this guy has big hands and feet too ;)

Randy so badly wanted to buy me one of these shirts.

I said no.

Then I found this one and said yes :)

Wednesday morning we had a couple of hours before we needed to get the trailer out of the resort, so we drove to the Golden Gate Bridge.

#2 on my "best part of vacation" list

(BTW: San Francisco...the City, #1)

A-MAZ-ING!!!!!!!

Yes, it was as cold as it looked!!!

We walked about 80% of it.

Driving it wouldn't have been as majestic or memorable.

We watched dolphins jump, sea lions dive and a dumb ass on a jet ski ride in shark infested freezing water.

There is something very eerie/weird/non real about seeing these signs throughout the bridge's beams.

Then you see this sign next to it......

Isn't life so beautifully twisted???

Bye, bye my Frisco love.....

I will be back to fetch my heart.

We had heard great things about Napa from friends and the "Sex and the City" episodes.

We pulled in to the quaint small town.

Had a good lunch, walked the entire town, and found that this wasn't a place for us to plant our hitch for the night.

Not kid friendly and really unless you are a major wine connoisseur, there isn't much here.

I was disappointed.......

I did enjoy seeing the beautiful vineyards for miles....

and they had great advertising!

Picture was in a jewelery store window.

It says:

Because every woman deserves studs.

We drove into Vacaville and stayed at a nice RV camp Wednesday eve.  This is where we realized that the sea salt air in San Fran had rusted all of the metal on our trailer and all of the bolts and chains on our beaten* bikes.

*Our poor bikes rode the entire way on the back of the trailer sitting on a bike rack.  The movements and bouncing from driving made the straps rub paint off and scarred up the metal :(

On Thursday, our morning adventure was planned for the Jelly Belly Factory located in Fairfield which is about 15 miles from Vacaville.

The kids were bouncing in the truck with excitement.

You would have thought they had already swallowed hand fulls of sugar and were going to see some kind of national treasure.

I guess to a kid......this factory is a treasure!

The 40 minute tour had a "wait" line of 3 hours!!!!

Who knew that this was so popular???!?

We opted NOT to do the tour, but to let the boys roam as they pleased through the mass store and get what ever kind of jelly belly's they wanted.

I was relieved that they didn't pick the flavors:

booger

canned dog food

grass

pencil shavings

barf

skunk spray

YUCK!!!!!!

We had been given a brochure about the "Old Town" of Sacramento.

Between the nostalgic feel and the train museum, we knew this was a stopping place.

The drawbridge was different....

It didn't split and open freely to the water in the middle.

It raised up and down according to the height of the boat passing under.

We had the best lunch near the water at a place called the Rio Diner........I was already falling for Sacramento!

The town was historic and pioneer like with wood planked walks, old time creameries, and bulk candy stores.

Our last stop through the town was to the Railroad Museum.

This holds all of the history regarding the Trans-Continental Railway.

This was extremely fun and educational.  They had a variety of  trains that you could walk through and see the inner workings.  My favorite was the dining car.  It had all of the railway china used from every decade along with the menus and prices.

That night (Thursday) we headed back to stay at our favorite  RV Resort in Reno.

(River 6 months old) 

AND....

Since my baby's 12th birthday was on that Friday the 13th,

 We let him decide what the events of that day would be.

He chose to spend his birthday at the beach!!!!!

The fantastically fun swim pool at the resort.

They have cabanas and sand and volleyball courts and a tiki hut full of refreshing drinks!!! YUM!

Jax spent his own money to buy Riv this dolphin to play with.

They tortured this sad porpoise for hours!

Using him as a tornado bullet launching through the sky....

trying to ride him double.....

trying to sink him to the bottom....

and many other wild and crazy things boys can think of in the name of destruction!

For lunch, we ordered in a pizza.

Riv went to the Tiki Hut to get a pitcher of water and ended up making friends with the employees...next thing I know, there are Tiki workers all over walking around wishing him a Happy Birthday!!!!

He's so damn cute like that!

And of course, who can say no to these overpriced HUGE snow cones when you've got faces like this staring at you????

I had to experience the dolphin for myself......

somethin' about riding dolphins in my flippy floppy's that sends chills up my spine!!!!!

Yee haw my little bottle nose!!!!

The waitress for Riv's birthday dinner was an Asian Spit-fire!!!!

Her first words were, "Hey babies, what can I get ya?" with a wink to close the question.

Once we told her it was Riv's birthday, she did a squeal and had a gittyup in her step.

After dinner she came out with this piece of "to-die-for" carrot cake with the candle lit.

She brought the restaurant to attention by yelling,

"Hey everyone!!!  It's this young man's birthday today.  You all ARE going to wish him a Happy Birthday by singing with us!"

Everyone laughed and cheered......

and then we sang.......

I sang with a frog in my throat and tears streaming down the corner of my eyes.

Feeling so much love for my family...

Feeling so much love from strangers.

We ended the evening with many buckets of balls being whacked to mini islands in a man made pond.

Riv said he couldn't have asked for anything more.

~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday morning we started our ride back home.  It was a long day and we made it home around 9:30 pm.

Isn't always nice to be back in your bed, shower in your shower, have the familiar surroundings?

That's what I have thought prior to this trip.

I could have gone another week without a homesick bone in my body.......it was THAT good!

It helped that I didn't feel the need to put a tire iron through Jax's head :)

And that my young menz are still child like enough to want a balloon from the chick in a bear costume at the breakfast place!!!!!

I just want to wrap them, this trip, and these moments in cocoon and

secretly revisit the feeling frequently.

I hope you too have a summer that you can say that about.

Life is short......Live it Large

xoxo