Sea World Field Trip

Most of the time I am rather scared of high schoolers, but I decided that it would be fun to chaperone the TAG club's field trip to Sea World along with Rick.

Rick and I were smart and decided NOT to ride the school bus and it was a good thing we did. Half an hour down the freeway, Rick noticed that one of the tires had gone flat. We called Erin to have her let her teacher know, and the next thing we knew, we were pulled over on the freeway. The bus driver called someone who said that we were lucky to be close to a company that's authorized to work on school buses. So we pulled into a restaurant parking lot and waited for the repair. After a delay of about an hour, we were back on the road and finally made it to Sea World.



I had this vision of going all over Sea World with Rick and a big group of kids, but much to my dismay, I found out that I would have my own group of kids and Erin wasn't in it. So I thought, no problem, we'll just combine our two groups, but it didn't work out that way, either. Even though we were separated most of the time, I think that we all had a great time! I sure didn't get to do field trips like these growing up in Illinois!!

Rick and his group - I think the boys were excited to have a male chaperone!
They stopped selling dolphin food before we got there, but the dolphins still came to the side so that the kids could pet them.
We go to Sea World to see animals that we wouldn't normally see, but it's amazing how excited the kids get when they see a local bird.
I was smart in staying off of this ride. Everyone got soaking wet, but not me!!!The shark exhibit is one of my favorites. I'm glad there's thick glass between me and the sharks!

Parker's minimum days

Each year Parker always does something at school for Mother's Day. This year he had to write a descriptive paragraph about me. His paragraph goes like this:

My mom rocks! I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Here's one reason why. She always tidies up my messes all the time; unless it looks like a trailor park after a tornado. If she does pick up my mess, I go outside to play most of the time. If I don't than obviously, I play video games. Anyway, let's get back to my mom. Another reason that she's spectacular is that every minimum day she takes me to my favorite place, McDonald's with my friend, Emmett. My mom's completely-etly-etly fabulous.

I love the time that I'm able to spend making memories with Parker every other Wednesday. Well, this past week it was raging hot so we decided for our minimum day activity, that it would be better to hit the pool instead of McDonalds (but Parker did talk me into going through the drive-through and bringing it to the pool).
Parker and Emmett taking a short break from the water.
This is Parker's "own creation". He came up with this move all on his own - it's definately one-of-a-kind, right??!
The boys thought they could make bigger splashes by holding hands and jumping in at the same time. Pretty soon there's no way they'll be holding hands!
Flips into the pool freaks me out! I'm one of those paranoid moms that's sure my child is going to smack his head on the side of the pool. Just look at how close he comes! I would like to ban this move completely, but I'm not willing to be that restricting. Look! A picture of Parker without a goofy face! Definately a rare occasion.

More baseball.........

I always wanted to have a boy so that I could be a "little league mom" and anyone who knows me, knows that that is definately what I am. I love the whole season and am always sad when it's over. There are moments of excitement when your child has an awesome game, and moments of frustration when they struggle, but all the moments wrap up into one exciting ride!

So yesterday was packed with excitement. The boys had games at the same time, so I arranged to have other people scorekeep both games so that I could go back and forth. Parker was the starting pitcher and did a great job. It is so great to see him pitch every week and start to become more serious about the game. Parker finished pitching in time for me to see Bryant pitch for the first time in 2 years. He used to pitch a lot in AA and AAA, but never in the Major division. The game was tied when the coach put him in (no pressure though, right???) and he proceeded to strike out the other teams' #1 slugger who had hit a home run the last time we'd played them. Then he got the next player to ground out followed by an infield pop fly. It was such an impressive performance that I'm sure the coach is wondering why he hadn't pitched Bryant sooner! Check out the bottom of this post for the video of him striking out Rasband - this is my first video attempt, next time I'll at least center the clip.

**Notice that this kid is 2 heads taller than Bryant - he's huge!
**and just ignore the overly excited, screaming mom in the background.

Rick's oh-so-hard trip to Sacramento

Each year in May, Rick goes to Sacramento with Mike Crouch and Chris Thomas to play a double-echo "Taps" for the California Peace Officer Memorial. Since it is the only trip they go on for work, they make sure to make the trip as memorable as possible.

Day 1 goes something like this: flying from Ontario to Sacramento, then driving to the capital where they do their own rehearsal lasting about an hour (everyone else has to go through the whole long, boring rehearsal), getting some lunch, taking a nap (this year Rick actually used this time to exercise), then going to the banquet for the victims' families, returning to the hotel to sit in the bar for the evening cocktails (which is when Rick leaves early while the rest get a bit tipsy), and getting to bed around 11:00pm.

Day 2: Waking up and meeting at the breakfast buffet (one of Rick's favorite meals of the trip), going back to their rooms to change into their uniforms, heading to the capital around 10:00, waiting and warming up in one of the most beautiful courtrooms I have ever seen at the state Supreme Court building, coming out onto the steps of the courthouse just in time to play "Taps"(all this is before 1:00pm), now for the good stuff: they return to their hotel to change and head out to a fabulous restaurant, Chops, where they sit around eating, drinking and "schmoozing" with the "higher-ups" for an enormously long amount of time. Once lunch is over it's time to head back to the hotel to change and get ready for dinner. Around 7:00 they head out to Chevy's on the river (the most amazing setting of any Chevy's I've ever been to) where they eat and drink some more. After dinner it's time to return to the hotel and do a little more "schmoozing" in the cocktail lounge before heading up to bed - since we aren't drinkers, I never cease to be amazed at how much money people throw away on drinks.

Day 3: Meeting once again, for the breakfast buffet, returning to the room to pack up, then leaving for home where they arrive around 1:00pm (and getting a full day's pay, too).

As you can see, it's about 4 or 5 hours of real work while much more time is spent in restaurants. Not a bad few days of "work" if you ask me. I have gone with Rick twice and really enjoyed the first time, but I don't get into spending HOURS at the same restaurant watching people go from stone-cold sober to plastered. Rick doesn't have a choice, but I was able to opt out this year. Warming up in the courthouseThe 21 gun salute plays as soon a "Taps" ends
Rick on the steps of the courthouse playing "Taps"
Rick, Mike, and Chris

The guys were excited to trade up from a minivan to a hummer - a much more macho ride!
Rick, the designated driver
Rick with Mike and Mary Jean Crouch outside at Chevy's

The joys of childhood

Do you remember when you were a child and all you had to worry about was what game you were going to play or what treat you wanted to eat or making sure to be inside when the street lights came on? Life was so easy and carefree that I sometimes wish for those good ol' days. Then we become parents and want to create those same memories for our children - thus adding to our worries with all the extra activities.

If there's one thing my children shouldn't complain about, it's not having enough fun things to do. There's always something on the agenda for me to get in the "taxi" and deliver them to. I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of Parker's many activities over the past week.
The Wolf cub scouts went to Lowe's to make this sailboat/cart. Lowe's really rolled out the red carpet for them. Each boy got their own safety googles and work aprons. Parker was so excited that he could keep them!
Every boy loves to get a hold of a hammer - and I'm glad I didn't have to be the one to supervise this project. The nails were tiny and I'm sure that I would have crushed a finger or two.


You can find me at the Ronald Reagan Sports Park on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I love watching my boys play baseball - especially when they are doing well, which they are this season! Parker has been pitching this year and is one of the best on the team. He got the game ball a few games ago for coming in and striking 3 out in a row and then going up to bat and hitting an in-the-park home run - GO PARKER!!!

Oh, to be 8 years old again..................

Notice for going private

I'm just letting everyone know that I'm planning to go private with my blog. This isn't to keep out people who know me, just the weirdos that may be lurking out there. So if you want to be able to view my blog, just let me know and I'll add you to the list. This way I can be more personal with my blogs without worry. I'll probably go private in about a week.