CaLiFoRniA

Geoff was one of two ground crew for a NASCAR fly-by last Sunday so the boys and I loaded up the van and drove down to meet him in California. I was jealous of the hour-long flight it takes in an F-15 versus the 5-hour car but what can you do? We checked out some DVDs at the library and I just kept putting them in for the boys to watch since it was just me in the car with them. The cutest movie by far? "Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin". I have never seen the boys smile and laugh so much watching a movie. I am talking peels of laughter from the back seat. I wish I had the video camera to capture all the cute laughter...but will settle for a couple of over-the-shoulder pictures:

Here is W skimming through all the touristy brochures:

We toured the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean factory first. I had no idea how much went into making their jelly beans. The tour guide gave me the "belly flop" bean during one of the samples due to my ample belly (thanks a lot--are you saying my belly is flopping?)..and kind enough to give me two bags of free jelly beans at the end of the tour. My favorite flavor was red apple. I would have never noticed that the bean is red on the outside and white on the inside just like apples.

Wearing our hip hats for the tour:

The boys pretty much ate everything out of the sample bag...every once in awhile one of them would have that face showing they were eating something they did not like. And once W spit out a mouthful of jelly beans.

We went to the California State Railroad Museum on Saturday in Old Sacramento.

It is known as the best train museum in the country. I have to say it was amazing. Even if you are not a big train lover...it is very impressive.

This model train display would even turn to a nightime display.

Playing in the toy train area:

We figured we should go before the boys completely grow out of their train phase. The boys are still loving their toy trains...but I am sensing it is nearing the end. It makes me sad.

We rode on a real steam engine. And we sat in the car directly behind the steam engine...so at times it got pretty loud:

The area around the museum is great too...it all looks like the Old West and is full of fun restaurants and shops. We ate at a cute coffee cafe called "Steamers" for lunch and then shot the rifles at the shooting gallery.

W's turn:

J's turn:

We went swimming...well not really swimming...but hung out in the hot tub. It wasn't that warm in Suisun City:


The next day we drove out to Sonoma to see the fly-by and walk around NASCAR. After battling traffic three hours before the race (NASCAR fans don't mess around I guess) the boys were kind of done by the time we got there. Lots of sensory overload. Lots of people, lots of helicopters circling overhead, lots of noise and craziness...just like we were in the midst of "Cars" the movie. And there was a fun set-up to promote "Cars 2":


The stars of "Cars":


Posing in front of Finn McMissile:

It was like a huge college tail-gate party. But where else can you buy a seatbelt bag?

J getting his VIP bracelet on for the VIP tent.

Watching an airplane show before the race:


The boys perked up when they saw the large motorized shopping cart zooming around the track.

Then Wes and Alaric flew the F-15s over the track (always cool to see) and the boys and I headed out. I was very grateful that someone took pity on me (thank you baby belly) and offered to take us back to our car in a golf cart. That might have been J and W's favorite part of NASCAR. Really. I think they need a couple of more years to really enjoy the race.

Perspective

I just realized the other day that we have lived here for a year and a half! If we were on our past moving trend, we would be preparing to move or moving right now. Our last three assignments looked like this: we lived in Idaho for 18 months, Nevada for three months (Geoff for six), Panama City for exactly two years and Fort Walton Beach for exactly two years.

And we are just now getting around to doing some house projects. Knowing we will be here for longer than a few years really slowed us down and changed our perspective for sure. We would have had all of the pictures up on the wall within a few weeks of moving in and we would be starting to take stuff down at this point. Geoff just hung another picture this morning in the boys room.

I changed J and W's bedding (it is a little brighter and I love it!) and put some more frames up. We know the art work is not going to stop anytime soon.

View from their room:

And we finally committed to some window treatments in our great room. They aren't the most stylish things ever but very functional. We are happy we can now block the sun when we eat...and I know we will notice a difference this winter in our heating bill!

As for our large, empty deck...we bought a table, order Sunbrella cushions for it, added some planters, and are researching grills, outdoor fireplaces/firepits right now.

Stay tuned.

Mystery Solved

A few weeks ago the boys randomly got sick to their stomachs at different times. First it was J...and J didn't have the stomach flu that W and I had a couple of weeks prior so I thought it was his turn. But then he got sick again. Then he was running around playing and feeling fine. In fact, I didn't take him to school that day because I wasn't sure.

Fast forward a couple of days later and W had some bread, threw up, wanted cereal, then threw up and told me he was hungry. If the boys get the flu, they can't stay awake between getting sick...but he kept popping back up and wanting to eat again. He got sick once more than slept...then was perfectly fine.

Their reaction was so similar to what happens if they have egg but they only had known foods those days to include a local bakery's cinnamon bread. They have had that bread for over a year without any problem. I did notice that they changed the bread from white to wheat a month ago but nothing changed on their ingredient label. I still wouldn't let them eat anymore of the cinnamon bread.

Yesterday we went to the bakery and the boys wanted cinnamon bread. It had been a few weeks and since I never confirmed what made them sick we just bought it. We got into the car and I let them choose between a roll or a piece of cinnamon bread. W had the cinnamon bread and J (thank goodness) had the roll. Off we went to the library. Then W started getting a little grumpy.

And he was asleep about a minute after getting back into the van. So we ran a few more errands until we got to the grocery store and I woke him up so we could all go in. W immediately wanted to ride in the cart and put his head down and said his belly hurt. I asked "like you need a bag-kind-of-belly hurt?" He nodded.

We went home and he fell asleep again for another hour. Then woke up moaning and groaning and pointing to his belly and then he finally threw up and felt better.

I called the bakery and asked the owner is they changed anything with the cinnamon bread and reminded them of the egg allergy. She said that they did change the recipe to a higher wheat content and she believed the baker was adding egg wash before sprinkling the streusel on because the bread was collapsing in the center. So I knew right away and she knew right away. She said she would see if they were going to continue with the new recipe and if so immediately update the ingredients on the label.

Goodness. It is tough finding "safe" foods when we are out...and when we do, we become habitual about it. I am just glad we found this out now!

Seattle

We were able to spend a full week in Seattle at the beginning of the month...for some work, yoga, and some sight-seeing. Grammy and Grandpa were able to fly in for a few days to meet us and watch the boys for us so that was wonderful. The boys were pretty excited to see them. Here is W looking like a vagabond with his overflowing back pack ready to leave:

And they hit the ground running. First thing the next morning we dropped the boys and Mark and Jan off at the train station so they could head downtown. The boys went up in the Space Needle, went to a Children's Museum, saw the fish market, and visited the aquarium all on the first day.

There were lots of modes of transportation on this trip...but the favorite: riding on daddy and Grandpa's shoulders of course.


Giant Pacific octopus at the aquarium. I love how W has his hand on J's shoulder.



Geoff and I got to join up with them for part of the Children's Museum, fish market, lunch and the aquarium. I loved the aquarium.

The next day the weather was so much nicer. We dropped the "crew" off at the train station again while Geoff and I went to the Seattle auto auction for a tour. Then we met up at another bigger science center that the boys really enjoyed. They even saw their first 3D IMAX movie about space that morning. Mark and Jan said they were reaching out in front of them and kicking at the objects in the movie for parts. We returned back downtown for lunch and to enjoy the SUN. The boys being funny flipping their baseball hats to turn them into pirate hats:


The original Starbucks:


We ate at Robin Hood one night where J surprised us and wanted a hamburger. And he actually ate it. I wish I had a video of it because he was just eating it up, eating the fries in between, and then he stopped...thought about it...looked uncomfortable and announced "I'm full."

The weather was wonderful the rest of the trip. While I headed off to an all-day yoga training, Geoff, the boys and Mark and Jan went off for a harbor cruise. They really enjoyed seeing the sea lions.


And the next day Mark and Jan had to leave and Geoff and the boys continued seeing Seattle while I finished two more days of yoga training. They went to another 3D IMAX film about chimpanzees and elephants, drove to the Seattle Woodlands zoo, and took a train to Snoqualmie Falls.
Here are W and J snuggling with a dinosaur at the dinosaur exhibit at the zoo:

All is calm and quiet~

~until the dinosaur comes to life! RUN!

Looking awfully sweet on the train ride to the waterfall...

We moved on to Portland the next night to do some tax-free shopping in a big city (and eat PF Changs) before heading home. We ate great food, saw some fun things, and relaxed a little. It is so fun to get away from the day-to-day routine sometimes! Fun trip!

Some Preschool Projects

Aside from drawings and paintings, here are some of the recent projects the boys' did in preschool this year. Their class made a robot out of recycleable materials and won a little prize at the local college:

Some tie-dyed butterflies:

Pots they painted for....

...their bean plants (I forgot the official name). W's blossomed early (I asked him if he got a hold of some Miracle Grow but J's is catching up now:

Stain-glass fish made with tissue paper and wax paper (I love these):

Easter eggs made with rice:

Their basket weave-bags for Easter egg hunting:

They each grew wheat grass in an egg (do you see half the egg shell?) Funny, I didn't see that until the wind blew one over and it fell out and broke-hence only one wheat grass left for the picture:

Their milk carton houses...they had to learn their address to bring their carton home. The drawing below is W's family portrait...the big scribble toward the bottom is me with the baby in my belly:

J's quaint house:


J's tie-dyed shirt (I didn't even get a pic of W's yet)...before I washed them incorrectly and now they are PINK! Too bad their teacher's dryer was out because she normally finishes them for the class. But I must not have rinsed them long enough before I washed them: