Quick Trip to Avila

Last weekend Jon and some of his friends went to a concert/music festival in Santa Margarita on Saturday. It had been planned for a long time, he was so excited to see one of his favorite bands, the Descendents, and spend some quality time with his friends. He was going to be on the Central Coast so I had thought about riding with him and then hanging at the beach with the boys but the shared car ride wasn't really going to work so I figured I'd just stay put. Then the other two wives decided they were going to drive over on Sunday morning for a day at the beach. Since my kids are older (read - a bit more manageable solo) and Kieran gets horribly car sick unless we drive during nap or bedtime when he'll sleep, I decided to drive over Saturday afternoon with the kids. I figured we could get a few more hours of beach time in, plus some good quality Mom and Sons vacation time. I was a little nervous about the whole thing but they did amazing and we had a great time!!! We left right after lunch on Saturday, got checked into the hotel around 3:00, and were to the beach 15 minutes later. When we got to the hotel Reed declared they had a surfboard in the closet (it was an ironing board) and K jumped into bed. I ordered pizza to be delivered to our hotel room from the beach and we stayed out playing until around 5:30. I was able to get them bathed and dressed before the pizza arrived and after dinner we decided to explore the hotel a bit more. We played on their 3 hole miniature golf course and their outdoor checkers game then went back in, to get ready for bed. The boys struggled to get to sleep in the same room so finally I put Kieran in the living area on the pull out couch and Reed and I each got our own queen bed. The kids slept great all night and even slept in the next morning!!!

On Sunday we scavenged the free breakfast room and found some fruit and oatmeal Reed could have and the boys also had some of the Canadian bacon from their leftover pizza. We were down to the beach as soon as breakfast was over. A little bit later Dad and his friends found us and I helped the boys build a sand castle while the guys played spike ball. We visited our favorite smoothie place for a mid-morning snack and then the other ladies and kiddos arrived. The guys fit in a couple more games of spikeball and then took a break to play on the swing set with the kids. I went back to the room and made lunches for the car, packed up our stuff, we took the boys to pick out a souvenir (they chose to make pressed pennies), finished burying Vince in the sand, said our goodbyes to the rest of the crew, and got on the road. Jon was able to join us for the ride home, which I wasn't expecting, so it was a nice surprise to have some family time all together. All in all I would say my first (semi) solo overnight trip was an absolute success!!!

Reed's Actual Birthday

Even though we had already done a bunch of celebrating since it was Reed's actual Birthday last Tuesday, we had to celebrate just a bit more!!! Birthday pancakes have become our tradition so I made Reed a stack of five when he woke up and of course stuck a candle in it, which he loved. Then at school he was Birthday VIP which meant he got to have Mom and Dad come to visit, got to bring a toy for sharing, lead the class in their morning rug time, have everyone sing Happy Birthday to him, and have popsicles with his classmates. Finally, since we hadn't celebrated Reed and Jon's Inbetween Birthday (a doctors appointment and soccer practice had gotten in the way) I convinced Reed that we should have the Inbetween celebration on his actual Birthday instead. I made pizza for everyone, decorated the kitchen with a soccer/Arsenal theme, Reed and Jon both received Arsenal gifts from me and Kieran, and Reed got to open his Birthday cards that had arrived in the mail. Coincidentally part of his gift from Uncle Kyle and family arrived in the middle of our party and it was a soccer mug (he later got Arsenal pajamas from them too) - so perfect!!! Finally we gave Reed his Birthday gift - a bike helmet and told him we were going to pick out a new Big Kid bike to go with it. This year seemed extra hectic with Reed's Birthday, but we definitely got to celebrate the Monkey and his five year milestone!!!

Birthdays with the Family

After our BBQ on Saturday and Maisie's party on Sunday you would think we'd be partied out but nope, we headed to Nonna and Pepe's that evening for a family celebration for Jon and Reed. With so much going on I had asked Pepe and Nonna if they would mind hosting and they happily obliged. The food was, of course, delicious and included some of Reed and Jon's favorites. I brought along some of the train decorations, Pepe made a cute sign, and C, Tio, Lyla, Zach, Grandma, Grandpa, Gran, Papa, Great Papa Dean, and Great Grandma Didi were all able to join us. Reed opened some presents before dinner, then we had our meal, and Jon and Reed finished opening gifts. Of course we had dessert too. Reed requested a two layer chocolate cake, which I made, and tried to decorate with a train on some tracks and then I got a cheesecake for Jon. It was a fun night and the kids were all pretty entertaining. As we were saying goodbye Kieran asked if he could hold Zach so both boys took turns holding Zach for the first time. He had the hiccups and K was enthralled by his little body jumping every time he hiccupped, it was absolutely adorable!!!