Virginia Sempervirens: August 1, 2010

August 1, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

M and I are so happy to finally be back under the same roof. The week started with us still apart. I can’t remember much from the week. Monday we had FHE, etc.

Tuesday and Wednesday were a bit of a blur. I can’t remember what we did those days. There was lots of playing with cousins and having fun. B-man loves having so many people around to play with. We did go to some free museums in Balboa Park on Tuesday. We went to an Automotive Museum, and the Air and Space Museum. The kids all loved the interesting cars and airplanes that they got to see. I think one of the favorite things was a helicopter that had its rotors just barely spinning. It was very cool.

Thursday we got up and got going. We were all ready and practically out the door to go to a Padres game, when we discovered that they were sold out of the tickets that we wanted. We made a last minute change of plans and decided to go the next evening instead. Because the afternoon was then freed up I went up with B-man, J, and my mom to San Clemente to see my nephew test in Tae Kwon Do for his next level. It was fun to see how seriously he took the testing. He even broke a board with his head! Once we left we got a call letting us know that my father had some church responsibilities at the house. We had forgotten that was the case, but were sure that by the time we got home the guests would be gone. Once we were home we parked and quickly realized that my dad was still involved with his church stuff and we needed to be SILENT going into the house and upstairs to bed. My mom got B-man in safely, but I had J and he is a bit louder. My brother Skate was outside and suggested I give him something to eat. He was so smart. I gave J a Skittle and then while he was busy sucking on his treat we tip-toed upstairs and avoided detection. I then put J to bed, and got B-man all cleaned up. Once my dad had finished I fed B-man and then got him in bed too. It was a funny way to end the night.

Friday morning we were all excited because M was finally coming! We spent the morning working on various things. Cleaning the room, washing the car, running some errands. At one point in the morning B-man brought me a lizard that he had caught by the tail. He carried it all through the house by the tail, and I screamed when I saw it. Thankfully Scott was there to appreciate it and help teach him. The tail did break off, and the lizard escaped for a few minutes but Scott helped him catch it again and then taught him all about “Blue Belly” lizards. I was SO happy that he was there. The lizard was safely returned to his home too. I can remember catching lizards as a child, but I would not be brave enough anymore. I could barely look at the lizard! Eventually it was finally time to go get M. I drove to the airport with the boys and picked him up. B-man was very excited to see him, and to get his prize that he knows he will always get from M after a trip. J didn’t really know what to make of M. He wasn’t scared but he just looked at him with a fairly blank expression on his face. We had planned on going to the Padres game, that evening and it didn’t really make sense to go all the way home, and then drive back to downtown, so instead we headed over to Cabrillo National Monument. It is out on Point Loma and I hadn’t been in years. We didn’t have a ton of time before it closed, but we first went to some tide pools. It was the perfect thing to do. The weather was slightly chilly (it has been a very cold summer in San Diego) but the boys still had fun throwing rocks and walking on the cliffs. Once we left the tide pools we then drove to Visitor’s Center. We walked around the monument of Cabrillo and enjoyed the view of the bay and ocean. It was fun to watch a large ship come into the bay. We then checked out the gift shop and found some great post cards before it closed and we had to leave. It was the perfect way to spend a few hours. We then drove to Costco for gas and snacks before heading downtown to meet my dad and the rest of the family. We ended up parking at my dad’s office on the street and then going up to meet him in his office. Sadly we had a bunch of trouble with the elevators. I felt so unsophisticated because we had a lot of trouble getting to my dad. Finally we figured out that since it was part a certain time he had to come down and sign us in before we could use them. We went back to his office and were there a few minutes before heading back down to the street. We rode the trolley to the stadium from his office. I had never ridden the trolley before and both boys seemed to enjoy it. This was also my first time at the new stadium that the Padres have been using. It was a beautiful stadium, and I was so happy that our seats were slightly protected from the cool ocean air. Eventually all of the family made it to the game. We had sixteen people at the game. It was such a fun night. All the kids were so happy despite the late hour. Even J was a trooper. I had expected a meltdown and that we would leave early, but he was never sad at all! I loved having M around too. We stayed the whole game, and were sad that the Padres lost. Luckily it wasn’t too hard to get back on the trolley and back home quickly. B-man got to ride home in Grandpa’s car and he was so excited. He talked about it for a LONG time afterwards.

Saturday morning I went to some garage sales with my mom and sisters. I found a few fun things. Later that afternoon we ran some errands and then headed over to the beach. J and B-man both love the beach. It was so fun for M to see how brave J is about the sand and waves. M swam 500 meters to see how the ocean swim was going to be for the upcoming sprint-triathlon. We had a big crew there with cousins and all. After the beach we came home and had a barbecue of delicious hamburgers before the kids all went to bed for the night.

Sunday morning M and I woke up early so that we could take Q to the airport and pick up our rental car that we would be driving for the week. Everything went very smoothly dropping her off and getting the car. Once we got home we started getting ready for church. We finally made it to church early enough so that we didn’t have to sit in the noisy back in the gym. I was so happy. It was able to go to all of my meetings and didn’t have to wander the halls at all with J since M was there to help out. It was great! After church I quickly fed B-man and worked on dinner a little before we had to clear out so that my dad could work on church responsibilities. B-man went on a walk and a car ride with his cousins, and M helped my mom with some computer things. After a few hours we headed back downstairs for dinner. We made sure that before we went to bed that night we were all packed and ready to go because we were heading out very early to Yosemite in the morning.