July 4th Party and Attempted Robbery, No Kidding...

So Mama, Mac, Emmett, Silas and I went to San Marcos for the 4th of July fireworks party we have been going to for many years. Lauren, Eduardo, Pablo, Aida, Rachel and Miles joined us there. We had some food, lots of laughs, the kids ran around and we had a great time. Silas hid under a blanket during the show but was okay because he could see the show, filtered by the blanket. We know this because a bunch of us got under and watched the show with him.


The crazy part of the day was on the way home, across the street from Lauren's house we witnessed a robbery in progress when we saw a bicycle hurled into the middle of the street and two guys attacking a girl on the sidewalk. Annie, the super hero super mom, started yelling out the window for the robbers to , "Stop It!" Then she tried to get out of the car, soccer ball in hand (no kidding, she really tried to get out of a moving minivan with a soccer ball in hand and break up the robbery).

I yelled at her to get back in the 'effin car (the kids were making fun of me later for dropping the F bomb) and I got out. The robbers, two juveniles most likely, had run off. The victim was a 27 year old lady bring some beer over to her friends house. She said that while she was getting robbed, she saw the silver van go by and a woman yelled and the robbers ran off. Go Annie!
Lauren and Eduardo pulled up, got some ice for the victim, she was okay, Lauren drove Annie and the kids home while I waited for the cops and helped the girl make the report. What a day!

The Ball Game!

Emmett and I went to the Ball Game Today! The San Diego Padres vs the Houston Astros!. We sat in the first row on the third base line. The best seats I have ever had for a ball game in my life. We ate huge amounts of junk food, got sun burn and had a really great time. The game had a delay in the top of ninth, a swarm of bees formed in left field and landed in the ball girls jacket right in front of us, we had to evacuate the section. No worries though, the Padres were losing 6-1, so we packed it in and went home.

PS I know we had a really great time because Emmett just woke up and threw up blue raspberry icee/slushees all over the living room floor at 2:30 in the morning. America's past time, bees and some barf, a perfect day. One of the best days of my life.

Papa

noble faired long-haired sleeping gnome in our garden green

moments before the stingray attack...

..turned my back to the shore, all the buildings and the cars and faced the ocean...

This may just be my favorite mama picture yet. Erica said it perfectly,
"she definitely has the mama stance goin on: kickstand legs spread apart
for balance, hip popped out to hold up babe, arms clutched tightly together."
Bad for the posture, but powerful stuff.

Lauren, thanks for the shot.
I have been "awww-ing" over the Miles pictures too. Tell Rachel I have
to meet him!

mosquito fish giveaways...

...if you have a water saver barrel, the city gives free fish away to eat the mosquitos.
We got two at the City Farmer...little tiny guys that will hopefully live and grow and not die and stink and come out the hose when I water the spinach.
The kids named them "Chelax" and "Cracken"...the funniest names I have ever heard....they are hoping they will have babies....the planned names are "imp" "ump" and "amp".
hahahahahah.

Dream Garden

growth and expansion and secret places...

...so, on my birthday Mac, Emmett and I were driving in the alley behind the library and found 2 colorful chairs we decided to scoop up (NYC dumpster days?) and use on our side pathway to make a secret hideout place. We also found some wooden chairs, a glass and iron sun, an old painting of a girl, a redpainted dollhouse and a dollbed (I think we will grow shamrocks on it!) from Pat's junk store and grabbed a bunch of other stuff from the garage to make a really cool "house". We especially love the shutter over a hole in the door of the gate to peek out. Add Emmetts succulents, some radishes and beans and a few nasturtium seeds and its just so cool!






















Silas of course added his two cents by requesting a hammock.









The best part of all this is that for my birthday my mom got our lawn guys to cut out about 1/3 of our lawn (THANK YOU, THANK YOU MAMA!) and we used landscape bricks to make a retaining wall ...so now we have 3 new sections for garden...bigger than our whole kitchen garden! WAHOO! (go hog wild!)

This part of the garden leads up and into the gate where our secret (now not so secret!) hideout lives so it really feels hidden and wild when you're in it.

Roses, veggies, herbs and teepee's are in the plan. Mostly seeds at this point! Very exciting. I will update with pics...of course....because it's all I think about right now! (And I am humming new songs all the while.)

MAC STUNG BY STINGRAY

Be careful of what's lurking in the water!



It could be a Round StingRay!



Mac got stung today at Coronado Beach by a Round StingRay. She felt it brush her leg, tried to get out of the water but got stung anyway. I carried her, bleeding and screaming, to the lifeguards and then we rushed her home to a big bucket of almost scalding hot water (the only relief for the pain). I haven't heard Mac scream this much since I took 4 year old Mac home from Elsa's Barbie Party without giving her the five minute warning. She was screaming "make it stop make it stop", I cried later in private at home. We were all a little traumatized. She is fine now, talking with her friends on the phone about her experience....

Matt

I just can't make myself go to bed.

...there's a kitty on my lap and I keep thinking that the words "squash blossom" would make a great song...or store...or name for a band...or name for a kid, well maybe not...and I'd like to be the kind of person who successfully sauteed squash blossoms with something yummy inside but I am not, yet.

AND I have a quiet moment which is rare in summer with the lovelies around ALL DAY which is great but exhausting, draining and zombifying at times.

...and if I go to bed it will be tomorrow faster and there's just so much stuff to do always...except for now I can just sit here and mess around on a disappearing blog...

hmm, which image to pair with this completely nothing facebookish post????
ah yes, a cartoon of my dream to do list.

I Do NOT Heart Sea World

That place is just one big commercial theme park nightmare with gross music and fake, sappy
faux-environmental staged crap everywhere...every single show was BIG and OOOH and AAAH and they forgot to mention anything real about the animals really at all. And it was all projected on the big screen anyway so we had to keep reminding Silas that the actual animal was down there, not on the big TV.

I haven't been there in a long time... when they only just started the whole water park business and they had one ride I think. Since then they have added an entire ride section for kids. And carnival games. On top of the two water rides. (line 45 minutes). This is not how I wanted to spend the day. If I wanted this I would have gone to the Del Mar Fair instead. At least you know what you are in for and can prepare. And I actually like a good fair with the kooky carnies...But I honestly thought we would spend some time today at Sea World checking out sea life, seeing a few animal shows.

I will admit to a few moments of goodness...We did like the manatees and area where the beluga whales are...because they were completely empty...no one goes to sea world to see animals...I didn't know that.

SeaWorld is no longer what it used to be at all...a little sea town animal rescue place with
some dolphin trainer shows and cool ponds to touch manta rays. I guess it hasn't been that in a long time.

It really sucks.

I did a terrible job of hiding it so now the kids think I am the Grinch of all things FUN...like rides, and dyed teal water and sea lion shows where the theme is ANIMAL AMERICAN IDOL where the sea lions are dancing around like Brittany Spears and High School Musical. Gross.

And I love hearing over and over how Anhauser Busch (sp??) loves our Mother Earth.
Gag me with a funnel cake.

Now I am sure they do some good...somewhere....for profit, BIG PROFIT....but compared to
the Zoo or the Wild Animal Park this place is a nightmare for people like me. It is Legoland without the coolness of Legos...its Disneyland with out the retro camp of DISNEYLAND...

To quote the hag lady in Princess Bride, my review of Sea World 2009 is...
"Boo rubbish, filth, slime, muck...boo...boo...boo!"

emmett's poem

camping 2009

highlights:
1)the food was ridiculously good and plentiful and all I did was eat. this is definitely the perk of the multi-family camp-out...I only cooked twice and did dishes 3 times and it was a breeze.
2)the kids were so happy the whole time. so very nature happy.
3)the swing that shawn rigged with the extra long rope was awesome
4) singing with Matt is one of the most fun things in the whole wide world for me...shawn and emil made it even better!
5)we brought the ladybug constellation nightlight that nana got for Silas and it made our tent glow. this is a highly recommended camping item whether or not you have kids!
6)I just really like everyone, had fun talking and hanging out and watching all
these kids play hard.
7)at one point there were 48 people! but never more than 38 over night and it never felt too crazy...phew!
8)going home and taking a hot shower...ahhhh!

Here are the kids on the ride home. exhausted. Also, notice the wiggly, wonky tooth on Emmett. ! First Big Front Tooth Loosened Considerably by Large Wooden Swing to the Face, Camping Trip 2009.

(that tooth is no longer there thanks to Nana who mercifully had the
chutzbah to pull it out before the pizza came...)

Happy Father's Day!!

We love you papa. Soooooooooo much.

Annie's Birthday

I took Annie out to dinner and bought some stylin' shades! I posted some pictures, which are really hard to get because Annie usually hides from the camera......




Happy Birthday Annie/Mama! We love you!

Hammocks.