August 4, 2010

• Last week was pretty busy - in a good way, although mornings and evenings were harder with James in Oregon for a 3 day business trip. On Monday, my friend Sandy, who was on vacation from her busy pediatrician schedule, set up a lunch with a few of her girlfriends at Bidwell Street Bistro. It was a nice break in the day! Tuesday, I had a soccer meeting ... Zachary is on a soccer team (Warriors) this year for the first time, and I signed up to be the team parent. Since James was out of town, I had Zachary's after school teacher over to babysit. Wednesday, I took my extended team (18 people) out to Fats for a team builder lunch. And after work, Melissa and Sam invited me and the kids over for a dinner playdate. I had a delicious rueben sandwich and homemade berry dessert! Talk about indulgences!

  

  Thursday, my weight loss group at work went to SkyHigh for an airobics class. It was pretty fun - and a great workout. Definitely on my list for future girls night outs, as they are open pretty late. Friday after work, I took Zachary to his classmate Alex C's birthday party at the Aquatic Center. Happy 6th Birthday Alex!

   

  

  Saturday, James went hiking (Mt. Tallac) with some friends followed by a bachelor's party, so I had the kids for the day. Fortunately, we had some fun plans. In the morning, we went to Folsom Lake for jetskiing and a potluck lunch. Larry invites a group of ex-HP employees every year, and it's always a lot of fun. Thanks Larry! The kids enjoyed playing in the sand, and I even took both kids out for a ride.

  

  

  After lunch, I took the kids to the state fair. It was SO hot and crowded. The first 1.5 hours were frustrating. We were parked so away from the entrance, I forgot my cooler of snacks at home, and I generally dislike crowded hot places. The restroom stop was the worst, with me and 2 kids plus a stroller in one stall - I swear it took 10 minutes, and I was sweating from maneuvering both kids, trying to prevent them from touching anything. Then we stood in line for 20 minutes for a disappointing dinosaur exhibit. I was ready to call it quits and probably would have left had I not planned to meet up with Bhavana and Karen. And boy was I glad - we met at the reptile exhibit, which was in the shade with water misters. The kids liked the snakes and turtles almost as much as Karen did.

  

  We then headed to the farm animal area, and the boys fed a horse. Then it was off to see fish, followed by a food exhibit, where we ate fresh fruit - we were supposed to 'play' with it, but it felt too wasteful. After letting the kids run around and a few more exhibits, we had fair food for dinner while enjoying live music. Yummy fried cheese curds!

  

  Of course, there were the rides. The boys loved the rides! Poor Calie wasn't tall enough for any ride except the monorail. She had a minor fit because she wanted to go on a ride with Zachary. In fact, the next morning I heard her crying again and telling James,"Guh-guh ride..." It's tough to be a little sister! Anyway, we had so much fun, the kids were behaving, and the temperature was reasonable, that we did not get home until 10:30pm! (Parenting at it's best, eh?)

  

  Sunday was Calie's birthday. We decided on a low key family day, with no gifts. After swim lessons, we had dimsum at one of Calie's favorite restaurants (Asian Pearl) for lunch. Then it was off to Artbeast, Calie's favorite place (with air conditioning) to play, where we met up with Tabitha and her family.

  

  

  Since we didn't buy gifts, Zachary made her some necklaces there. For dinner, we went to BJ's ... I love their wedge salad and they give free Pazookies on birthdays. Calie's eyes lit up, and she knew exactly what to do when the cookie ice cream dessert came out with a lit candle on top. It took her a few tries to blow out the candle, and she was so happy and proud of herself when she finally did it. She loves being the center of attention!

   

  Happy 2nd birthday to Calie! It's kind of crazy to think at one point, I only wanted one child. Calie completes our family. At 2, she is talking in sentences, in the middle of potty training, and enjoys dancing. She's excellent at pretend play and loves babies. She is a lot more particular about what she wears - and she always notices when I change necklaces or earrings. As for spatial and problem solving skills, she's not even close to where Zachary was (I think she's just now completing puzzles Zachary finished before a year old.) She's not as stubborn or persistent in trying to figure things out, but prefers to get Zachary to do it for her ... that's what big brothers are for, right?  

  Speaking of the big brother, I can't believe he starts 1st grade next week - wow, the summer has flown by this year! Today, we found out who his teacher will be (Ms. Schafer - hurrah!) and that he would be in the same class as Alex U (double hurrah!)

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