An update for the past 2 weeks …

We visited the Sacramento Children’s Museum (free tickets from work) and met up with Calista’s friends Aubrey and Courtney.

For Mother’s Day, we went out for brunch on the Delta King, a river boat restaurant. I noticed quite a few people ask for a river view. Since we cruise somewhat frequently (and dine with an ocean view), we were okay with an interior table if it meant we could get seated faster. Happy Mother’s Day! Being a mom is the best role ever; I definitely feel very lucky!

During the week, we went to see Zachary’s school play “Life Cycles.”

That work week was basically a nightmare for someone trying to drop a few pounds (but has poor willpower and is basically a glutton.) Three straight days of catered lunches and dinner out. Barbecue, pizza, tri-tip sandwiches … The problem with working with mostly men, is that I get the same heaping plate of food. But I’m not 6′. On the positive side, technical conferences are the only places I’ve been where the line (what line?) for the women’s restroom is much shorter. I did get in 2 classes of yoga (at 5:45am!) and weekend jogs, but nothing came close to touching the calories I consumed! Egads!

Last weekend, I ran a 10k trail run. Just to be clear, I’m not completely wimpy (just a little bit). I ran a half marathon earlier this year, and I’ve been logging 10k jogs over the weekend. But the trails and hills were brutal. I had to walk a few times – first time ever walking during a race. I almost rolled my ankle, and Er-jia fell and cut his hand. It was also mentally challenging due to the number of switchbacks; the route seemed to just go on and on and on. BIG difference between road vs. trail. I was sore for 3-4 days after. On the positive side, Zachary won 2nd in the under-12 division with a time of 55:29, placing #45 overall. He received a medal and 2 gift certificates (free car wash and free large Round Table pizza). He missed 1st place (won by another 9-year-old) by only 15 seconds! I finished in 1 hour 17 min, placing #250 overall. I’m starting to lose confidence that I will catch up to him in this lifetime.

I got my yearly haircut (4″ chopped ) and went on a quadruple date to Sienna! It wasn’t spectacular but still good, and a terrific value. The Chef’s Tasting menu included appetizer, salad, main entrée, and dessert. All for only $39, and they took gift cards from Costco, which amounts to 20% off. Afterwards, we could not decide on a movie, so we went back to Sam/Melissa’s house for games.

Also the same weekend, we had a lunch playdate with Calista’s friend Cassie, and then went to see Rumpelstiltskin at our local theater. The girls loved it! And 1 hour was the perfect duration for 4-5 year olds. 

Only one more week left of school, the kids are taking home portfolios for me to filter … I throw away most, take pictures of some, and save a few pieces every year:

Random pictures from the last two weeks!

We drove down to the Bay Area Friday-Saturday to visit my family, especially my dad who was flying back to Maryland the following Tuesday. James and my kids got to meet Dylan for the first time. It was great seeing how well my sister recovered from such a rough delivery. One-week old Dylan slept most of the time we were there, so we’ll have to make another visit when he’s a bit older!

We drove back Saturday night, with a stop for Mexican food to break up the drive. Sunday, it was back to our regular routine. Zach and I ran while Calista had swim lessons. Then I took Calista to Cassie’s birthday party, and James took Zachary to Farhat’s laser tag party. Happy 5th Birthday Cassie and Happy 9th Birthday Farhat! As we didn’t have plans late in the afternoon, I took Calista to the library. We’ve been going more regularly lately, as I’m getting burned out from repeating the same books we have at home. Her class is doing reading logs to encourage kids to read (or be read to) … we filled the log and added 3 additional pages! I think more creative (and patient) parents do pretend play, but that’s not really our thing … we read! All. The. Time.

We kicked off last weekend with a pirate themed Mother-Son Bingo event at Zach’s school. No one we knew won anything. Well, maybe I did win because we didn’t take home plastic knick-knacks, and took home a platter of leftover sandwiches instead! It was perfect because James’ hadn’t had dinner yet when we returned home.

Saturday … dance, run, yoga… then we took the kids to the mini Carnival at work. Sad to say Zach has outgrown it. He complained about going and ended up bringing a book to read in the shade. Calie, on the other hand, loved it … pony rides, petting zoo, slushies, carnival games, train rides, and bounce houses! Zach and James went to the library to catch a free showing of Wreck-It-Ralph, while Calie and I stayed at the carnival until it shut down.

(Yes, I realize her slushy is mostly ice … I grew with my dad constantly warning the family about artificial colors and flavors.)

Saturday night we joined our friends for a Quatro de Mayo party at Dana and Dave’s house. Kids had fun playing in the backyard, and the piñata was a hit. (Get it?)  Dinner was good too – fruit (best drizzle sauce ever!), taco bar, salad, and chips with a multitude of dip options! Thanks Dana and Dave for hosting!

Sunday, after Calie’s dance lessons and my/Zach’s 10k jog with my coworkers, we had a lunch playdate with Calista’s friend Rachel. Keeping with the Cinco de Mayo theme, I made crockpot tortilla soup … with fresh tomatoes since I’m paranoid about BPA. After lunch, we went to see Hansel and Gretel at a local theatre. Calista loves live theatre, especially meeting the characters after the show!

For dinner, we had Melissa’s family over. I wandered the aisles of Trader Joe’s literally an hour before they arrived. I can’t even remember what I served … I think it was a salad, pasta, and baked chicken. I probably need to kick it up a notch, but it’s also good to have friends over for an impromptu get-together without the overhead of pre-planned activities and entrees. I think Zach said it best with “I like downtime. Having Alex and Nicole over is like having downtime.” It’s nice to have people you’re comfortable with like that. Kind of like hanging out with family.

On a low point, Calista has 2 cavities between her back teeth (and 3 watches!). Yes, I know flossing is more important than brushing. Yes, we floss Zach every night and he is cavity-free minus the fused tooth (nothing we could have done about that.) But Calista’s teeth are spaced so widely apart, it didn’t feel necessary. Which is obviously incorrect, especially since Calista eats a lot more fruit, yogurt, and juice (sugar!). So now we’re adding flossing to her daily routine. Oh well – I guess it’s good we learned this lesson on baby teeth!