Wordless Wednesday...Summer Time Naps

California - No Doubt About It...was AWESOME!

Thanks to an awesome Christmas gift from Blake and Sara, and two wonderful sets of grandparents, Chad and I were able to take a trip to California this summer.  It was a much needed and enjoyed get-away! 
We told the kids about our vacation in advance and said they should wave at any airplane they saw in the sky and we'd wave back at them!  We woke up that morning to this:

Look at his right eye!

 Luke walked down the stairs with a shiner!  He says he fell out of bed, but we think he hit it on the bed post.  Who knows?  We ruled out a bug bite and quickly went on with our day.  We packed our stuff and spent the morning with the kids before we flew out.  

We flew out to Orange County to visit with my cousins for one day/night.  They have a beautiful set up and the weather was perfect.  We went whale watching...

 On the catamaran before we took off - we posed for a few shots.  We were all a little skeptical at first...

 But, we saw them!  The whales were huge - almost as long as a football field.

 It was awesome!

I know Jayci had a good time, the excitement was clearly shown on her face!  And, Chad talked about it for days!  What a great first day in California.  We left a parting/thank you gift at their house and have been told they went back to the ocean to have a proper burial at sea...

We thought this beautiful arrangement from Grandma B's decor was perfect.  Wonder why they wanted to throw it in the ocean???

We then flew into San Francisco.  We were up and at them early the next morning.  We jumped on our tour bus to see some sights.  Our first stop was a vendor for our first souvenir -

A sweatshirt for this macho man!  Apparently when your body is accustomed to 100 degree weather and humidity to boot, the air in San Fransisco, a windy, warm cold 68 degree day is a shock to the ole system.
We continued on our tour, saw Lombard St,

the Full House houses,

and all the big sights to take in around the city.

We ate at the wharf.  Delicious seafood - we were both in heaven.  Saw the sea lions,

And, Danielle Steele's house too!  (the very top house)

We saw these on our way to Ghiradelli Square:

After Ghiradelli Square, we decided we'd done enough in one day and were ready to board this to take us back to our hotel.

 

The next day we were ready to see more sights, specifically this:

The Golden Gate Bridge

 

So...being our smart selves after just hearing there are 40+ hills in San Francisco, we decided to rent bikes to cross the bridge.  One mile into the 8 mile ride that is advertised as being so simple a beginning rider can do it, we were talking about riding the ferry back!  We continued on and made it across the bridge.  It was an awesome experience and looking back, I'm so glad we did it.  The next day was painful on the derriere, but that's what makes memories!

Making our way up to the bridge...

We made it across!

The ferry ride back was full of 100+ bikes, we weren't the only ones who had this idea!

After running for two days:

ha..couldn't resist, Forest Gump!

We decided to tour Sonoma.  We had fun, but learned that the wine is much drier than the wine back home.  We enjoyed our last day together in California and have lots to look back on and smile about!  

The kids didn't miss us at all, they were so busy.  But, I'm sure they think we're crazy...they think we stayed at the airport the entire time!

Fixed!

Zach had his little procedure done in early August.  He was such a trooper!  It was a mommy and Zach day and we made the most of it. 

He did great in the waiting room and was happy to have his gown and slippers on.  They gave him some happy medicine and before we knew it, he was off to the O.R. 

I had the newspaper to read, a magazine, and my ipad - all to keep myself from being bored.  No need to haul the unnecessary things when the procedure lasted less than 10 minutes.  The doc came in and said all went well and it really wasn't as in depth as they thought - so healing should be quick!

After he was released, we headed home.  The drive home wasn't as fun - apparently coming out of the anesthesia is hard for youngsters.  We made a stop at a gas station, I filled up the tank and Zach filled up his belly with some chocolate milk.  We stopped at Nana's work, and then when the crying continued into the last leg of the trip, we made a quick detour into the nearest Mickey D's.  He filled up more on a cheeseburger and fries - poor guy was starving! 

Going to the bathroom was tough for the first day.  We were told it would sting so we had warm water ready to pour over and divert his attention from the pain.  The best part was when he was able to pee straight down and he looked up and said..."It's fixed!" 

With the stream being shot in the appropriate direction, we are so glad for a safe, happy ending on his part and a semi-clean bathroom on my part!

A Break in the Temps!

The week before school started was beautiful - meaning very little humidity and temps in the 80s. This is very unusual for August in this area, but after so many weeks of heat indices over 100, it was a welcome change. We took the opportunity to hit up a playground. It was fun for all and a little sad to see another summer coming to a close.

Shadow even enjoyed the cooler temperatures!

First Day of School 2011

The trips are not attending pre-school this year.  So this is just another "1st day of daycare" picture.

Unfortunately between the cost of day care and the cost of pre-school, it just wasn't possible to do both this year.  So...we (the kids) are under the impression that triplets have to be 4 before they can attend preschool.  We've justified this in our heads many times.  "They have a great curriculum at daycare, they've only been in the daycare setting for one year, they'll have so many more years of schooling ahead, and a little bit of denial that they are actually old enough to be going to school."  STOP GROWING UP - Please?!?