Oops, forgot the sunscreen!

There are very few instances where I forget something as important as sunscreen. And to be totally fair, I didn't exactly forget, I just applied too hastely. In fact, I was rather disappointed in one of the spray sunscreens because it didn't spray-it squirted! Like in a stream! So of course in one of the photos you will see the results of my self squirt application!

Ok, so yesterday we decided to meet Kaleigh's 3rd grade teacher at the beach. She had sent a note saying they would be there on certain days and would love to see the children in her class and their families. So we decided to go. Now usually if I know we are going to be at the beach the whole day or most of the day I put the sunscreen on at home. That way the kids aren't itching to get away to play in the sand. Well, first of all, this was a beach we weren't all that familiar with so I wasn't thinking an all day deal. I guess I thought we would go for a couple of hours and then head home. Well, that didn't happen, the waves were really small and manageable so the kids tried a little boogie boarding and we were all having such a good time, well you know what they say! Time flew! So no problem, we are on our way home, thinking of what we are going to do for dinner, when I look down and notice my chest is a little red. So we get home, all take showers and well you know when you step into a nice white shower? You become a lot darker! And redder if you got burned! Well, the photos will explain. Just so you know the photos don't do the burn justice! It is worse than it looks! Kaleigh's isn't too bad, it doesn't bother her anyway. Mine bothers me. A lot! And no smart comments about the photos! And yes the bathing suit was new and goes a bit lower than my other ones!

Oh and one other tidbit! While we are at the beach, we are all just sitting there watching our kids and Carl (of course) says something quietly to me about some foreigners that are just about 4 yards away from us a little to the right. Apparently they are not aware that americans don't change willy nilly on the beach! So they are changing from street clothes to bathing suits then putting on a wetsuit and going in the ocean. Then instead of just leaving on the bathing suits, they change back into street clothes, until they are ready to go in the water again! We couldn't quite figure it out until we noticed that all the women (5) were sharing 2-3 bathing suits. Yuck!

Now, we had about 4 shows all together, and few little girls that noticed were pretty disgusted and went down to the water to escape it. Of course the frenchies ranged from about 25 years of age to about 70. All of them changed right out in the open. The only one that was a bit discreet was grandpa frenchy who took of his undies with is button down shirt still on and changed into his speedo under the cover of that shirt! Good thing the breeze hadn't picked up yet!

A Funny TV show called Wipeout!
We don't get many channels, we don't have cable or satellite or dish or anything else so we just have the basic channels and those don't always come in clear. One of the newer shows that is pretty funny is Wipeout. It is probably as close to one of those Japanese game shows as we westerners can get. Funny thing, Carl and I are watching and there was a sneak preview for the next episode and there was a girl, with a cat hat, white not orange, doing the dance! You know the one! Her name is Erin Merry something and she was going to do one of the obstacle courses. Of course she gets pretty much bounced and beaten around, stuff my mom used to call Schadenfreude! Carl loves stuff like that!
Anywhoo, both my sis and bro weren't on to chat with so I thought I would put it here in case they checked on it. The show is Wipeout, but I don't know what channel it would be up there, or when it is on. Check your listings! Even if you don't care about the girl, the show is funny!

Room Makeover...kind of
Ok, so for those of you who have never seen our back room or living room, this might be a little boring....ok, maybe a lot boring, but I had to put this in. We worked hard on it so it warrants a photo and some words.
While Kaleigh and I were in Canada on vacation at Omi's house, we watched a lot of Interior decorating shows. We both enjoyed the changes that the designers made, and since we don't have cable at home we were in awe of the shows that are available. The favorite of course were the super duper changeovers, but since those cost a lot we paid more attention to the low budget makeovers that are basically refreshers for a room. So, we decided when we got home to do over our family/livingroom. The photos are after shots...I forgot to take the before shots, but believe me this looks a lot better. Part of the problem was that we had a lot of unwanted clutter, which was partly my fault and partly the kids junk, spilling over from their rooms. So, first we had to clean (the worst part in my opinion) that was mostly the kids putting their stuff away. Then came the deep cleaning, which is also pretty yucky if you haven't moved things in a while.
The couches weren't too bad, but behind the entertainment system it was an inch thick with dust and just stuff that had fallen back there, icky. So we vacuumed and mopped the tile under everything that was moved, then we pretty much moved all the furniture in a counter clockwise move. So the black couch that was under the wolf photos (where the entertainment section is) was moved to the middle of the room, the love seat couch was moved up against the wall where the entertainment system used to be (was where the black couch was), and the entertainment system was moved from below the window to under the wolf photos. The big chair was moved from under the kitchen window to under the back window. The coffee table was moved with the black couch and a lot of stuff was gotten rid of or put out of sight. There is also an automan that matches the big chair and the loveseat that never really had a set spot but now it works for both the loveseat and the big chair in the present location. So all in all I think it looks pretty good. As long as we can keep the room uncluttered (which is of course the hardest part). I was going to get some accent pillows in a stronger color but Carl says we have too many pillows as it is...I kind of agree. Maybe when these pillows wear out or something!

Vacation Summer '08

Ok, I know I did this the wrong way but there was no way (that I know) to keep my photos of the trip organized without seeming out of order. So ignore the postings normal order and start from up here! From there go down and you will understand it a little better. Our trip started with Carl's brother and family, then we went up to Canada, then to Tina, then lastly back to Carl's brother's place. In a nutshell...that is it, so read on... Hopefully you will read this first! Heehee

Visiting Carl's bro and family
We had a great time with Carl's brother Craig and his wife Lisa, and their son Will. This was the first time we visited them at their new home! It was very nice and well put together I might add! Kudos to you, Lisa! They were wonderful and had great and yummy stuff to eat! They showed us around town, we got to go on a train (see below), Kaleigh and Cole got to play with their younger cousin Will, who really enjoyed that part! And we all got to just relax and have a nice visit! Thanks, Craig and Lisa, see you on the way back down!!

A ride on a train...wHOOT!

This was a really neat little train in the area where Craig and Lisa live.

Very cool, inexpensive and through some beautiful forest areas! We so enjoyed it, we may have to come back to it again! Of course the kids really enjoyed it too! I think they would have liked to have gone a second time!

Our first find! Geocaching for dummies!

Ok, so we weren't the first in our family to find this one, but we didn't get any hints from them so it was a legitimate find! It was a little bit harder to find then I thought, but Carl was the one who looked the hardest and was

able to spot where it was hidden under some pine needles. The walk in the park was nice and unfortunately, also where I was bitten by something that made a nice bump on the back of my neck that lasted about a week! Don't really want to know what it was!

Remembering my Dad....

While we were up in Canada with my Mom, Carl and I were able to have a nice dinner with Connie and my Mom at the Tapas Grille. It was a wonderful time and we enjoyed it very much. The other part of the evening was a little more somber...we went to scatter my dad's ashes where we could see a beautiful view of the lake that he loved so much. The sky at that time of the day was gorgeous and everything seemed to be in place at that moment. We all had some quiet time to reflect and in that moment Carl and I took some photos of the beauty around us.

Friends/Cousins at play
Kaleigh and Cole had a really good time with Aaron this time! They had so much fun on the grass at Omi's, doing cartwheels, playing soldier, and just being goofy! They wore themselves out!

Evening at the beach with Connie and kids and roasting marshmallows...

Usually when we go up and visit, Connie is working and we rarely get to see her during the day, so we try to plan at least one thing together, usually an evening at the beach. This beach is pretty close and the sun doesn't go down that early so we have a few hours after most people leave to enjoy the water and the sunset. Kaleigh loves playing in the sand and the boys always go in the water! We got to see a bunch of "Kite surfers" as well! As you can see I have some "super" kids! After we got home from the beach the kids really wanted to roast marshmallows so Carl lit up the fire pit and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores too! Yummy!

Atlantis Water Park - A definite hit with the kids!!!

This was a great starter water park for the kids. They had sooo much fun here! Lee and Tin

a recommended it and we decided to try it out! We started off slow and then it went crazy from there. They tried them all! Kaleigh found a little friend named Justine to hang out with and Cole just ran off on his own. Now you can't do that at a normal waterpark, they are too big, but this park is small, about maybe 12 slides in all and they all end at the same place! So you can sit and watch them run up the path, stand at the top and come down! Carl and I went down some in the beginning but I think Carl got a little chilled since the weather was a bit cool for a water park, I mean here it would be about 90 degrees. There it didn't get higher than 70! It was still fun though!

Leaving Canada...
We had a really nice visit with my Mom and Connie and the kids. We had to leave really early since we were driving all the way to Tina's which is about 12 hours if Tina is driving, 14 hours if Carl is driving. (he drives slow to save gas on the Excursion) It was a really nice drive and I was pleasantly surprised that the kids did sooo well! Not one complaint! I was impressed! Thank you Kaleigh and Cole for the awesome behavior in the car!

Swimming with Connor
The kids had a great time in the pool with Connor. Tina had to work in the morning and so Lee brought Connor over for a swim. They all had so much fun! As you can see in the photo, they all "tried" to jump in at the same time. Cole went a little early, Kaleigh is in midair and I think Connor was waiting for them to go first, so he is right at the almost jump stage. Fun, fun, fun!

Geocache and Hike with Tina and Connor...

This was a neat hike. We decided to do a little hike, something Kaleigh and Cole would be able to do without complaint. So we did a nice hike that ended in a waterfall. There was also a pretty easy geocache on the hike as well, so it made it doubly fun! The waterfall was fantastic and the kids each found something to take from the geocache. Tina left something and so did Kaleigh, so Cole was able to take a bouncy ball since Tina took nothing. It was shady enough that it wasn't too hot, although by the end there I was getting a bit sticky.

A Visit to the Harry and David Factory - Yum!

This was fun! We went to Medford to see and tour the Harry and David factory and Tina had found a Geocache right nearby so we decided to try it. It was pretty easy to find

but there was a problem, after we found the cache we were near our car trying to find some things to leave in it (we took some items out), and a man came up to the truck parked right next to us and since his truck was already there, we kind of hid the cache, thinking he would get something or get in and drive off. Well, he didn't. He sat in his truck and started eating lunch!

So we are sitting there thinking, "great, this guy works near here and will be here for the next half hour!" So we decided to get gas and come back. Well, he stayed there until the hour and that is what we figured so Carl quickly replaced the cache and we headed to the factory. It was very interesting and we got treats!!! Yay! Plus the store was there so we bought some of our favorite things too!

Graffiti Weekend...we just did Saturday...

This was pretty fun! The day this happened, we got up, ate breakfast at the hotel and then walked downtown. Now it wasn't too hot at this point but we were a bit warm by the time we got there. The cars were all lined up and we walked from one to another just looking. At one point we lost Carl, because he looks a lot closer than we do. But he caught up later. Kaleigh was admiring an old blue Model T and the owner actually let her and Cole in it to sit and take a photo! Apparently not many do that! Then they liked the fire truck and the guy let them on that one too! There were a lot of other kids there, but I didn't see too many allowed on the cars!

So they felt pretty special! The same day we went and saw WallE at the movie theater. Cute. Then after dinner we went to the downtown cruise where they cruise around the downtown area and you can hear the engines and stuff. There were quite a few more at the cruise then were there in the morning. The other thing the kids and I did was a little shopping earlier. We found at the Hallmark store that the Christmas ornaments had premiered that day, so we took a look. I usually let the kids pick out one ornament a year and they chose their favorite from the ones that were newly out. I also picked one that went with where we were! There was an ornament of an old fire truck, almost identical to the one they got to sit on! Pretty cool!

Back to Start!
We came back on the last part of our journey to Craig, Lisa and Will. Will was ecstatic as were Kaleigh and Cole. We had a wonderful time at the pool again and then ate a delicious dinner! I also had my first really good nights sleep in a long while! Thanks Craig and Lisa! You too Will!