Box Seats

One of the great things about Citi is Neil is occasionally invited to attend a Giants game in the Box Seats.  And most often than not, I get to attend too.  What fun!

Of course this time around was a little awkward.  I knew the forecast in SF was supposed to be pretty chilly.  Meanwhile in Clovis, I was dying of heat stroke at our 97 degrees.  So as much as I wanted to put on a hoodie and jeans and boots, I couldnt make myself do it.  I did pull on jeans but wore sandals and a holy sweater.  Needless to say, I was pretty freezing.  Thankfully we did get some blankets and once we closed the door it helped with the cool air breeze through.

It was fun.  Always nice to hang out in the suite and eat yummy food and talk with interesting people.  And the Giants won.  A nice plus :)

Beat the Heat

Thats what the kids and I decided to do yesterday.  It just gets so tiring when the temps are so high for so long.  Not to mention the lows being in the 70s.  Ugh!

The great thing about California is relief is just a few hours away.  So I loaded the kids up and headed to Gilroy, where the high was only 85 and the lows were in the mid 50s.  Whew!

We spent the day at Gilroy Gardens.  We did some of the rides that we didnt get a chance to do last time and also rode some of our favorites.  The best part was that it wasnt very busy so we even got to ride multiple times with out getting off.

The carousel was the first ride.  We rode twice.

J was happy, I promise ;)

Last time we rode the 50s style car, this time we did the 20s style.

I cant believe they wanted to play on the play structure, but they did.

Gotta end the day with a treat :)

109 degrees ALL week???

Ye p - that has been our forecast.  Soooo, what do you do when it is this hot??

Spend the day at the Water Park

 And end it with a slush :)

While the Parents were here....

We were super busy!!!  Our time with them is always so jammed packed and we certainly do not want to miss one second with them!

Friday -We got to pick them up at the airport and my kids were so excited to be there and watch them come through the doors.  We took them to my sisters because that is where they stay.  We all hung out (Neil had even taken off work) and just were so glad to be together.

Saturday - I dont recall just what we did, but Im sure swimming was involved and lots of family time.  Oh and a movie that night with my mom and Kaleigh - Snow White and the Huntsmen.

Sunday - We went to church.  I had to go to work that day so I missed out on some special time.  But it had to be done.

Monday - My dad took J to go visit a friend and my mom took all the girls to get their toes done.  That night we had dinner at Ruths Chris.  Yummmy!!  Our good family friends joined us as well.  Fun times!!

Tuesday - My dad took J and Ali golfing while my mom, sis, Kaleigh, Haven and I went shopping.

 Wednesday - 4th of July!  Enough said :)

 Thursday - We all got to go out on my sisters boat.  Fun stuff.  This was the kids first time out on a boat and in a lake.  They loved it and were not afraid one bit.  Perfect!  That night we had dinner at Lunas.  Another yummy spot!

 Friday - We had breakfast at Sandys.  Then Neil, my dad, bro in law and bro in laws dad went golfing.  The kids and I swam at Katies with the rest of the gang.  That night was time to say goodbye.  It always goes too fast!!  But they headed out early in the morning....

July 4th, 2012

Always love July 4th.  So great nostalgia that comes along with it.  Late summer nights, homemade ice cream, swimming, fireworks and of course a GREAT reason to celebrate!

This year was fabulous.  The older the kids get the easier late nights are :)  My parents are in town and we all celebrated at my sisters house.

Cute kids!

But before the late night, we had an early morning.  We headed over to Gigi and Papas where they have a parade.  Papa is in it every year, so we watched him and cheered!  The kids loved it!!  They got candy and balloons and everything was so fun :)  After a relaxing time there we headed home to gear up for the late night.

Getting ready to see Papa

Here comes the parade

Hey Papa!

Balloons!

Candy!

 The kids swam most of the day.  Then we all ate BBQ and waited for it to get dark.

With Grammy

 Then the fireworks.  We got some of our own but also what is great is from Katies house we can see Buchanans fireworks.  Fun times with family, food and fireworks!

Watching the home fireworks

Thanks to Gigi, my kids had fun light-up spinney-things!

Ooooh, aaaaahhh!

us :)

Buchanans fireworks

VBS take 1

This past week the kids attended a VBS that was at night.  I have to say, it was great having date nights with Neil, but not so great having bed times for the kids at 9:30.  But overall it was great.

The kids really enjoyed it and we were able to have lots of great discussions.  This morning we talked about needs versus wants.  That God provides our needs, but we may not always get what we want, and that is ok.

Haven also got to go up on the big stage and say her memory verse into the microphone.  Her teachers and Neil and I were very proud as well.  Haven was super excited and did a great job.

Another Mark for J

The day Neil took Justus out for his Man time, was also the day that Justus Tae Kwon Do belt ceremony was going to be.  So that night we took our White belt to the Dojang and we brought him back a Yellow belt.  Talk about a great accomplishment!  We are all so proud of Justus hard work!!

Here he is at home with all 7 tips on his white belt which means he is ready to be promoted.

 As part of the ceremony each student has to tell what they appreciate and why.  Then they are given a rose to give to someone special.

 Justus gave it to Gigi.  I was so not surprised :)

Each student also has to show their skills by breaking a board with either a kick or a hit.  It varies by belt level what options they have.  Justus gave a straight punch hit.  He broke the board on his first try :)

 And he is awarded his yellow belt.

 They had to close their eyes and envision moving on to the next level.

 Here are all the students that were promoted.

Great job!!