4th of July

I have been totally slacking on my blog... We have been sick with yet another bout of the stomach flu. We are over it but it seems like everyone in church has it. Hopefully that will be it for the summer!
We celebrated the 4th at Brian's Dad's house where he had a barbecue. The weather totally sucked for swimming but Brian and the girls went in anyway. At least the pool was heated. It was nice just relaxing and hanging out.
The night was hampered a bit because Brian's Grandma who has dementia decided to roam the city streets. Brian and his Dad had to go look for her and they finally found her after a half hour of searching. Brian and his family helped her move into a home on Saturday because they have security.
Other than that the day went really good. Alyssa and I made a 4th of July flag cake that I got from the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. Alyssa is now a pro at the Kitchen Aid. She wanted to help me decorate the cake but I was to anal about letting her help, lol. Everyone was very impressed because the cake look and tasted great. They were especially impressed because 5 years ago I would burn water.

Here are pictures of our 4th of July:

Alyssa mastering the Kitchen Aid:

Alyssa and our masterpiece:

Brian holding our friend Cristina's baby Alexander, Gabby was a little jealous:

Daddy and Gabby:

It was a long night...

Speaking of Camp Rock.

I really need a life because I keep singing this song.



I admittedly have watched Camp Rock five times... willingly. I need to get out more and do some kid free things. While I am admitting these things... I guess I can also say that when High School Musical comes out in theaters this December we will be first in line. Help me!!! I AM SENDING OUT AN SOS to my adult friends... the kids are sucking the life out of me.

Mean Mommy = Guilty Mommy

And I didn't even DO anything. Last night Alyssa got sick and vomited and went to the bathroom in her pants in her sleep. She said she didn't get up because she thought I would be mad at her! I don't think she knew what to do so she just went back to sleep. She is feeling better today but I felt bad. Am I really that mean? She did get in trouble for peeing in her pants when she waits to long to go to the bathroom. Maybe she remembered that. I was telling my best friend Lety that usually Alyssa is really good. She does not like being in trouble at all. I was the same way when I was younger. Gabby well... we will see with her. She is more like Brian.
Alyssa is feeling better today but her telling us that she thought I was going to get mad at her made me feel guilty. So we went to Target for fabric softener. She ended up with new Disney Polly Pockets, a new tank top and a Camp Rock t-shirt. She also got a french pedicure with the new Sally Hansen do it yourself pedicure kit that I bought. She is stylin' right now while playing Polly Pockets. So I get home and Brian says... What did you get Gabby?? AAAHHHH!!! The guilt never ends!!

Stop... Potty Time!!

Oh My is it really that time already?? Gabby is showing interest in going to the bathroom in the potty! She will go down to the guest bathroom and want to sit down on the Dora toilet seat and she will stay there for awhile. My step mom thinks she is ready to train because Gabby stays dry during naps... so she will start training her during the day. I have also noticed that she is dry when she wakes up from bed time.

This will be so much different than Alyssa who HATED the potty. She was 3 1/2 years old by the time she potty trained. I must say that Alyssa did train fast and only took a few days to transition to not wearing a diaper at night. We will see how it goes this time around! I am so ready for the diaper days to be over with!

Half Moon Bay... without KIDS!!

Brian planned a trip this weekend all by himself for us to go to Half Moon Bay overnight. He even set up babysitting without me!! The kids stayed overnight with my step mom, dad and my sisters.
I have never been to Half Moon Bay before and it is only right over the San Mateo bridge a half our drive from our house. Brian went there on Thanksgiving day early to go golfing at the Ritz with his friends and his boss who is also our Pastor. While he was out there he told me he knew he had to take me there. So he did on Friday for my birthday! Brian wanted to keep it a secret but I pulled it out of him. He also told me that we were going to go horseback riding!!
So we drop off the kids and it was in the 90's when we left. My poor kids... I knew they would be in a house without AC and I couldn't help to feel a little guilty!! But it was a perfect time to go to Half Moon Bay since that would be the coolest spot in the Bay Area. We stopped in San Mateo at Old Navy because I needed a few things and Brian needed flip flops. I did a *little* bit more damage than just a few things. Brian said I was dangerous given only 15 minutes in the store.
When we were done shopping we head over to Half Moon Bay to the Seascape Ranch to ride horses. Brian rode a horse when he was younger and I slightly remember riding a horse when I was 11 in Sqaw Valley while I was on vacation with a friend and her family. I got a horse named Fiesta and boy was she feisty!! She liked to stay in front of the pack so she would start galloping ahead of everyone! I was so scared!! We did a trail ride and then went out to the beach where Fiesta decided to gallop on the beach and not listen to me and ignore me pulling on the reins. That horse was a stubborn one! Brian got a good horse that did whatever he wanted of course!! It was fun though although I am so sore from horse back riding that it hurts to walk. We did buy pictures on a CD but the CD is blank!! I have to call the guy in the morning. I will post them when I get them.. believe me they are hilarious. You can see the look of fear on my face!!
After we rode horses we went to the beach for awhile and the water was FREEZING!! We just walked along the beach looking for shells for the kids. We didn't find anything. While we were sitting on the beach Brian spotted two dolphins swimming together. That was pretty cool. Then we went to eat at Spanishtown a Mexican restaurant which was soooo good!! We went back to the beach after that and watched the sun go down. It was amazing watching the sun hit the water. We went to Baskin Robins when we were done at the beach since Jamba Juice (our favorite) was closed. I told Brian it was nice eating ice cream all to myself. If I eat ice cream at home I have to either serve three other people ice cream or I have someone by me with their mouth open, lol!
Today we slept in until 9:30, which is sleeping in for me Gabby wakes up early. We got sandwiches at the San Benito deli and went to eat our lunch on the beach. We walked along the beach for a little bit and then decided to head back home because the beaches were getting crowded since it was so hot. Note to self: Never go to HMB on a hot weekend... the traffic was horrendous looking on the other side of the freeway with people trying to go to the beach. We stopped off at a fruit stand before we headed out of town and got some yummy cherries, nectarines and plums. They are sooo good. The cherries are gone already.
We picked up the girls after that. Alyssa was happy to see us... Gabby not so much. She was maa-aad that she left and had a cow when she saw us. Then we came back to our hot house. I thought I was going to melt earlier. I just took Alyssa to Jamba Juice and now we feel better at least there is some sort of breeze today.
We need to do this vacation thing more often. It was very relaxing and something I needed really badly!! I will have to start thinking of something for our anniversary in September. Well you know my blog would not be complete without pictures so here you go!!

Our feet in the sand:

Awww look what Brian made for me:

Dang ocean!!!

Me and Brian at the beach: Sunset at Half Moon Bay:

My birthday in the City by the Bay.

Yesterday we celebrated my 31st birthday in San Francisco. I realized as we were crossing over the Bay Bridge that Alyssa had only been to the city twice in her life. Once when she was a month old and we had a Christmas dinner to go to. We didn't have a sitter but Brian's boss told us to bring her anyways. So we did and she pooped in the restaurant. The restaurant didn't have any changing tables so I had to change her in a booth... ghetto! The next time we went to the city with her was when we accidentally missed our exit going home from my Mom's house and we went over the Golden Gate bridge and had to drive through the city to get home. We also didn't have the five dollars cash to cross into San Francisco so the toll taker had to take our picture of our licence and we got a bill in the mail. I don't think that time counted though because Alyssa was sleeping the entire ride home.
So yesterday while we were entering into the city Alyssa was impressed. It's sad that we only live 25 minutes away but never go there unless we have to for a dinner or an event. Probably because Brian works there too and anything you can do in SF you can do in Oakland as well. We went to the Giants vs. Tigers baseball game at AT&T park. They had a kids section of the park where you can slide down the Coke bottle. Alyssa loved that part! They also had a section where you could play baseball with other kids. Alyssa hit the ball her first try! Brian was so proud and he thinks she will be good in baseball.
It was so stinking hot yesterday. It usually is cold in the city but yesterday it was 80. We were not prepared for that and were wearing jeans and t-shirts. So while we were sitting in the stands I saw Alyssa getting red and we went and bought her a hat. She picked out sparkly pink Giants hat... go figure!! While the Giants began to get their butts whooped we decided to walk around the park. We ended up at the big Giants store and Alyssa ended up getting a mitt and a T-shirt to match her hat. You would have thought it was HER birthday!!
Well the Giants were getting whipped so badly that we decided to head to Pier 39 to just walk around for an hour. We walked around and saw the typical sea lions, magic shows, Alcatraz, tourists and homeless people. One day I swear I will go to Alcatraz and do the tourist thing.
When we got home I opened the door and there were flowers sitting on my couch. I thought they were from Brian but they were from my Step Mother in Law Tammi who has keys to our house... I was very surprised and embarrassed because our house was in shambles and it stunk like cheese. It was cheese too because I found that Gabby had stuck cheese into the vents in our water cooler. Then the UPS guy came by and dropped off a gift from my Mom a food processor that I so desperately wanted. Today I found the cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld Deceptively Delicious in my back patio... my UPS guy is so lazy!! Thanks Mom for the gifts!! My family rocks though. Even though I could care less about my birthday my family always makes me feel special.

Here are pictures from yesterday:


The city! Or half of it anyway.
Alyssa and Brian coming down from the big slide. Look at Brian's face!! Hee Hee.. He is going to kill me for putting this picture up.
Alyssa coming out of the small spiral slide:

Alyssa smacked the ball good the FIRST TRY!!

That boy tagged Alyssa out but she still ran the bases... the wrong way! She ran from home , to third, to second, to first, then BACK to home. Silly girl:

The Coke bottle that Alyssa slid down:

Me and Alyssa being silly. The lady behind us was really nice and funny. She kept yelling at everyone to sit down and that they were in her way. Her and her friend were really into the game. She let us use her sunscreen and gave Alyssa licorice:

Brian, Alyssa and the Bay Bridge:

Alyssa learned something in SF... how to panhandle!! We were waiting for Brian to get change from a store to put in our meter and I caught Alyssa pretending to panhandle:

I told her if she wanted to panhandle right she had to sit down... so she did. I told you she was obsessed with homeless people!!

Alyssa watching the stinky sea lions:
Brian and Alyssa and Alcatraz:
Spoiled girl with all her new Giants gear:

ZzzzzZZZzzzz...

Reason #6597 of why we are not having another kid.

Sleepless nights.

Last night Gabby would not go to sleep. She was screaming and crying. I am thinking she is getting a molar. So I got her out of her crib and rocked her to sleep. Then I put her between Brian and I. She kept tossing and turning. Then at 4 am she woke up and started crying... for an hour. I look like death today and almost fell asleep on my way to work. At least I am on vacation for the rest of the week.