Weekend Update: Progress & The Capital Air Show

We’re making progress! On the office that is. The baseboards were painted Friday night and Saturday morning. Cameron even moved his desk into the new office Saturday night! And during the day on Saturday the doors were painted and are almost complete. They should be finished by the end of the week. And with all this progress, the moving part has begun! 

What’s even nicer is that Cameron is going through each and every item being transferred from the old office to the new office so it will be put away or disposed of properly. The majority of the boxes in his old office have actually been packed up since we moved from Fremont 4 years ago! That’s two moves ago!

Both rooms are looking so much better. I may even be able to access the window in the old office/London’s new room tonight to clean the window, the window seal, the blinds and prep it for painting! Then all I have to do is clean the fan and baseboards and prep the room for painting. Cameron will hopefully have the majority of items left in London’s room out of there by the end of the week. Spaz will be staying in the closet until the weekend. 

Saturday Matt & Lynde are having a BBQ for us to celebrate Sydney. It is my hope we can talk some of the men into coming over to move Spaz, and maybe the printer, down stairs and the boxes full of London’s new bed pieces upstairs. That would help clear up a lot of space in the garage for the painting of the dresser. 

But all in all, when I went to bed last night, I really felt like some true progress has finally been made. Yay!

And even with all this progress, on Sunday, Cameron was able to attend the Capital Air Show just down the road at Mather Field. Matt was actually a part of the show, skydiving in on both days. While at the show, Cameron took some great photos of the action. Throughout this post are some of my faves.

London and I watched a little of the show from the house, as it wasn’t hard to know when a jet was about to fly by. London wasn’t too fond of the sound, that’s for sure, so I’m glad Cameron ended up going with Matt versus trying to make it a whole family outing. While the mornings are cool, it still warms up to the 90s by the afternoon, and I can’t take much of it, especially when I am not in the shade.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: Labor Day Weekend

This weekend brought us up to Biggs and Chico for the majority of Saturday and Sunday thanks to the Dove Season Opener. Dove season only lasts 10 days and the best days to go out are the first. Plus, Cameron and Tulley were chomping at the bit to get out there. Since I had plans to meet up with my old high school friend Devon, her husband Randy and daughter Zoey on Sunday, it just made sense for London and I to head up there on Saturday with Cameron and Tulley.


Too bad Cameron realized he forgot his hunting license on the counter when we were already in Gridley. He literally dropped London and I off at his mom’s and headed back to pick it up. We wouldn’t see him until dinnertime that night. London and I had a nice afternoon with Vicki and Joe, which included a nap for both London and I. That nap included the first time she has ever slept in a bed with me without getting too excited.

Sunday we got up and headed to Chico to meet Devon and crew at Caper Acres. I remember going to this park when I was little, which included a giant, metal slide that you could only use in the morning or risk burning your backside. My freshman year of high school, the park was severely damaged by falling trees during a winter storm, a storm that felled trees on Chico State’s campus and cancelled school and my high school band’s winter performance.

I hadn’t been to the park in years, probably since before the damage occurred and I was quite interested to see what was still there and what wasn’t. All the slides have been replaced with plastic, but the tunnels, Swiss cheese climbing block and humpty dumpty sand pit were still there. Even the crooked house was still there, with new slides. As soon as London saw the slides, she was off. And while I did notice the age suggestion signs for different activities, that didn’t stop London from going down the Ages 5-12 slides. Zoey quickly joined her as soon as Devon and Randy arrived.

Note the sign that says Ages 5-12

Cameron went down with her the first time to see if she'd be flying off the end - they didn't.

So while the girls played and the dads supervised, Devon and I got to catch up. Devon is also pregnant with her second child, and she too already has her c-section scheduled. We had fun going over pregnancy ups and downs as well as how nice it is to just have the delivery scheduled so we won’t go through what we each went through last time.


Swing Time!

Eventually it was a little too warm out for us and my tummy was rumbling, so we headed over to Burger Hut for lunch. Of course, we forgot how busy Chico would be, given it was Labor Day weekend and all the college students were out in force filling up their inner tubes and heading for the river. In some ways, Chico hasn’t changed at all and that was one of those ways, except for the buses that ferried the students back and forth from the river. A much safer way of getting there and back than when Cameron and I were in school.

London crashed in the car on our way back to Biggs after lunch.

When we got back to Vicki’s, Cameron packed Tulley up again and headed out for another Dove hunt, while I took a nap and London played with her cousin Connor.

Cameron wouldn’t get back until 8 PM, which meant we didn’t leave for home until 9. Overall, he did alright for the two days of hunting, bringing in 10 birds total. Of course, 10 is the daily limit so he shot half his limit each day.

Cameron’s report on Tulley was that she was a champ, following directions, using her nose and prancing around with a dove in her mouth so proud of herself.

Unfortunately, Tulley’s feet took a beating, and she had several blisters. Before we could go to bed Sunday night, we made sure to bath her and despite her blistered feet she still jumped on the bed with us to pass out. The poor girl was definitely hobbling around Monday, though I don’t think she minded so much, given all the love and attention we were all showering on her. We even moved Melody’s old bed downstairs so she had a cushy place to sleep near all of us. And she was doing much better this morning, not missing a beat to get breakfast from me.

Monday was a usual weekend/Sunday-type of day for us, getting chores done around the house and such. This included Cameron getting the baseboards cut and nailed in the new office. He just needs to seal and paint them and we can start moving him in! At least we are one step closer than we were when the weekend started. And I continue to work on small projects for London’s room. This week I hope to start getting all the old clothes and newborn gear out so I can get organized for Sydney’s arrival.

I’m feeling bigger and more uncomfortable with each day that passes by so anything I can get done the sooner the better. I just don’t know what kind of energy I will have by the time Sydney is due to be here.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: August 25-26

It was another productive weekend for me, finishing London’s pillows and getting a lot of shopping done for other things we need for her room. I even started on Sydney’s stocking Saturday night!

Unfortunately, Cameron came down with a nasty head cold Wednesday night so he was pretty much on the couch all weekend except for Sunday afternoon for his Fantasy Football league’s draft day. By the time he got home from that, he was in even worse shape.

Luckily, we got him in to see our doctor yesterday afternoon, who put him on antibiotics so hopefully Cameron feels better soon. A side effect of the head cold has been an ear infection which has interfered with Cameron’s sleep which he needs for a speedy recovery.

And we need him back in good health as we are at a standstill with the office until the baseboards get in. He worked on it a little last week, adjusting the door frame to better accommodate molding and baseboards, but the poor guy just has no energy; he reminds me of me throughout the month of July. He even tried to find some energy last night, driving London and me to Home Depot and Lowe’s in search of a battery-operated nail gun. Unfortunately, they were either too expensive or were powered by an air compressor. Hopefully he finds what he needs online and at a reasonable price.

On Sunday, while Cameron and Matt were at their Draft, Lynde, London and I headed to the Sacramento Children’s Museum. We lasted about an hour. I can’t say I was too impressed. While it is supposed to be child-led, that makes it a bit more of a big play center than a learning center. There weren’t any signs explaining what each exhibit was or what a child was supposed to get from the experience.

And some kids were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Their parents just planted themselves on the chairs or benches nearby and played Words with Friends on their iPhones. There were one little guy running around with a cart full of fake food, which was amazingly heavy, and as he was running, he had his head down, so he couldn’t see where he was going. He ran into a few people and spilled the cart several times all while his dad just sat there watching him and smiling.

At least the parents of a little girl doing the same thing stopped her real quickly and even put her in time-out! The little boy almost took London out a couple of times which led me to end our time there.

We had more fun at Target any ways, purchasing the sheets, lamp and mattress pads for London’s room. Well, that was until we checked out. My experience at check out warrants its own post, which is coming, and resulted in my sending Target a very unhappy email yesterday. I would be even more upset about the experience when I got home and discovered that the checker had forgotten to give me the bag with my fresh mozzarella, which I paid for!

And still on Sunday, London and I made it to Home Depot to grab paint for her dresser and side table, along with little rollers to help Cameron with the painting of the office doors and frame.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: It was a Crafty, Productive One!

PAINT!

Looking back on this weekend, I have to say it was a successful and productive weekend.

Saturday morning London and I headed up to Chico. Vicki would be watching her while I got my hair colored. My hair appointment went well as always, and was productive because Martin is going to be able to get me in at the end of September when my parents are here so I can get my hair done one more time before Sydney arrives! My parents wanted to go up to Chico one day while they are here anyhow, so now we have a date they can work with.

I had also asked Vicki if it was alright for me to steal away a little more time and stop in at Joanns so I could grab a bit of supplies I needed for a few projects. Not only was she fine with this, but she handed me a 20% off total purchase coupon for me to use. Between that and a coupon I had, I saved over $32! The biggest purchase there involved trim for the curtains and pelmet box for London’s new room and a bunch of little things I needed for some other projects, like scrapbook paper for the silhouette art project I was able to complete on Sunday.

Back at home, Cameron had the day to paint, completing the first coat of paint inside the office. Monday night I looked over the first coat and pointed out where touch up was necessary. He then completed the touch ups on Wednesday! Now I can get some cleaning done (lots of dusting involved with the blinds and the ceiling fan) and Cameron can focus on the baseboard!
Saturday night I completed a small craft project for our family room which I will go into more detail in a future post. It has to do with the clock I ordered for under the TV.

Sunday started early, with London waking up at 6:45 AM! While tired, I tried to be productive and completed all the dishes and laundry by naptime at 11:30 AM. Unfortunately for me, while I was tired, I couldn’t find sleep so I worked on the silhouette art project while Cameron and London napped. You can read about that here.
After my sleepy heads woke up, we headed over to Fry’s as Cameron was wanting to do some pricing research on parts for a new computer. After 8 or 9 years, his personal computer is in need of a refresh. He quickly determined it was going to be much cheaper to order the parts he wanted online!

On the way home we stopped in at Safeway to pick up dinner fixings for the week. By this time I was hitting a wall, so sleepy that I was not making much sense to Cameron at all and was also suffering from some back pain as a result of Sydney’s position at the time. As soon as we got home I hit the pillows for a solid hour-long nap.

We capped the weekend off by having dinner with Matt & Lynde. The plan was to go to our usual Mexican restaurant. It kind of slipped our minds that this restaurant is closed Sundays. We headed to Chevy’s after we pulled into the parking lot of Salsa Fresca and saw the closed sign.

Score of the weekend? Cameron and I now know where to go for good carnitas. I happened to order the tostada salad with carnitas. After the first bite I thought the meat was quite delicious, but didn’t say anything as I know Cameron is quite particular about carnitas and figured he wouldn’t be as blown away as I was. Good thing he stole a bite half way through the meal. He told me anything I couldn’t finish, he would be happy to take care of. I saved him a nice, large piece which he quite enjoyed.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: A Trip to the Zoo & Joe’s Crab Shack

By Saturday my antibiotics had kicked in and I was feeling much better. Good thing too, as we had plans with Vicki and Joe to go to the Sac Zoo and Joe’s Crab Shack to celebrate our anniversary.

We all met up at the Zoo around 10 AM and in the shade I was quite comfortable, given the unusually cool day. While I may not swell like I did with London in the summer heat, this time around I swear my average body temperature is higher and so when I have been outside in the summer heat I can hardly tolerate it. Of course, temperatures are supposed to be in the triple digits the rest of the week.

And given we have a membership to the zoo, we feel fine spending just a few hours there versus the whole day. Not having to wait in line to get in is an added bonus even though it was a short line and a light day at the zoo any how.

We headed for the big cats first, given we usually head for the reptile room, which we didn’t visit at all this time around. The tiger was fairly boring, not really moving at all, and the lions started off that way. Soon they were up and at them wandering their pen before settling back down onto their “Pride Rock”. The snow leopard was a bit unnerving. It was just laying there when we walked up. Then it saw London and suddenly headed for the cage wall nearest us. While the cage looks pretty secure, we didn’t stay too long and headed for the safer giraffes. That’s when we discovered that tortoises live underneath the giraffe watching/feeding deck. I think London got a bigger kick out of them than the giraffes.

With our membership we got 20 free passes to ride either the carousel or train. We did both before we left for Old Town. Vicki, London and I went on the carousel. The only problem was, London has a new fear of heights – Cameron and I both swear she must have fallen from something at day care. She clings to us whenever we put her up on the counter in the bathroom to comb her hair in the morning, and she did the same on the carousel. Luckily, once the ride started to move, London got over the fear for the moment and enjoyed the ride, waving at Cameron and Joe each round we made. All of us piled into two cars of the miniature train.

It was London’s nap time when we headed for Old Town. We managed to drive around for a good 20 minutes to give her a quick snooze, but she woke up as soon as we parked. Too bad too, as she could have gotten another 45 minutes in while we waited for a table at Joe’s Crab Shack. It was packed! Turns out the 1st Annual Color 5K Fun run took place that morning and there were a lot of colorful people waiting, entering or exiting the restaurant.

We ended up walking around Old Town while we waited and it was good to see how busy it was. We’re thinking of going back to Old Town over labor day weekend for Gold Rush Days and either take a 40-minute train ride or a horse and buggy ride. London, during this visit, was quite interested in the horses.

Lunch was great and delicious though Joe’s Crab Shack has a lively atmosphere. This worked well given the grumpy girl on our hands but not so well for conversation. By the time we made it home around 3 PM, all 3 of us went down for a solid nap!

Sunday was a quiet day spent at home working on projects. More to come on that in other posts.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: I HATE ALLERGIES (from July 28 & 29)

NOTE: Sorry for this delayed post – what I thought was allergies turned out to be a cold that antibiotics cleared up quickly. More to come later


At least I think its allergies. I’ve always been susceptible to smoke. And on Thursday night, while driving over the Sac river on my way home, there was smoke, less than a quarter of a mile away on the bank of the river. It went right up into my AC and into the car. By the time I got home, my throat was already scratchy. I took a Claritin to try and ward off any more symptoms. No luck. By Friday morning I was miserable. And because of that, I told Cameron I would not be up for a trip to Reno/Carson City/Tahoe on Saturday. I knew the altitude change would just make things worse. I did go into work. It was one day, I could get through I - with a bit of help from Tylenol. Since I wasn’t going to make the trek up the mountains, Cameron took off before London and I got home. And because he wasn’t going to be home, London and I headed to the craft store to find some fabric I was after for her new room’s curtains. We struck out, but I did manage to waste some time before London’s bed time.

Back at home it was a quick dinner before we watched Finding Nemo in bed. Both of us were out by 9 PM. And while London slept in Saturday morning, it definitely wasn’t enough for me. We spent the rest of the day watching movies in bed or downstairs, with me laid out on the couch. I do have to give it to her though, she was on her best behavior. That didn’t stop me from texting Cameron that afternoon confirming he would be home that night. Cameron told me later that when he saw this text message he knew a visit to see his grandparents was out of the question. He made it home in time to put London to bed and both of us turned in early ourselves. Poor Cameron had been going through an insomnia phase over the last week, and was now experiencing all the altitude changes in his sinuses.

Sunday wasn’t very exciting either. Cameron let me sleep in and the rest of the day we all lounged around the house, trying to feel better. Because, while Cameron wasn’t suffering like I was, his sinuses were acting up from the change in altitude over the course of the last 24 hours.

So no, we did not meet our office remodel deadline of the end of July. We didn’t even get the texturing started.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: A Summer Storm

Not much to report from this week. Cameron continued to slowly move forward on completing the inside of the new office, though I am not sure he is going to meet my end of July deadline. And who knows when the outside will be complete. Stay tuned for a fill office remodel update as I know it has been a long time coming.

Other than that, I worked on picking up the house, which is quite normal these days as I don’t have any energy throughout the week to do so, along with Laundry. I did tackle one craft project and started another. I finally managed to get things together and pull together a Disneyland Memory Box commemorating London’s first trip and set of ears. What do you think?

I also started another memory frame commemorating our trip to Cancun last year, which I finished last night. Now I feel like I can focus on Sydney’s stocking and London's new room.

That’s about it. We did run a few errands on Saturday & Sunday, partially thanks to London’s nighttime shenanigans mentioned in my Toddler Tuesday post this week as well as looking for a mantel clock to put under our TV in the family room. And we did find one, online, after we went to two stores. Once it arrives, I’ll take a picture and explain why it was needed.

Sunday night (more like the wee hours of Monday morning) we did have some excitement. Some monsoonal moisture blew in, starting around midnight which had us waking up to Thunder and Lightning. Given we have a dry, primed for combustion, field behind our house, Cameron and I didn’t sleep well, anticipating the need to jump out of bed and evacuate at any moment should the lightning spark a fire. We even slept with the blinds open because of the storm which just added to keeping us up as we could see the lightning through our closed eyelids.  

Luckily, no fire was sparked. Enough moisture came with this unforeseen storm (not one local weatherman saw it coming!) to keep the strikes from sparking too much. I heard of one fire that it sparked Monday morning on my way to work, which didn’t become anything and it was plenty far away from us.

Cameron and I weren’t the only ones kept up by the storm. Tulley was on look out at the end of the bed, staring out the window. And while I never heard London, she was pretty cranky and sleepy Monday morning as well. Next time I’ll get the baby monitor and turn it on to see how affected she is by a storm – it’s not like I get much sleep any way.

The storm also brought some strong winds, albeit brief, which resulted in London’s outdoor toys being scattered across the backyard. Luckily, when I did inventory Monday morning, all were there. And because of the storm, I went to bed with London Monday night at 7:30 PM! Tulley was right beside me. Unfortunately, Cameron has been swamped with work this week and going through one of his insomnia phases, so he just got a 45 minute nap before he went back to work. He didn’t make it back until midnight that night. Hopefully he catches up on some sleep soon, though I’m not sure when that will be.

Hope you all have a wonderful & restful rest of the week and weekend ahead of yourselves.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update and The 4th of July

We slipped in a little walk on the 4th as well. London decided she wanted ride her new trike!

We had a quiet weekend planned at home the weekend before the 4th of July. Cameron did some work on the office remodel, which I will go into more detail later, while London played and I worked on finishing her Stocking and creating some black-out curtains for her/soon-to-be Sydney’s room. I ended up completing both on the 4th.

We tried to host a BBQ for the 4th but it seems all our friends had the same idea of staying close to home, which didn’t bother us at all. We had some fireworks left over from last year that we planned to light that evening in the street out front versus battling the crowds to take in our city’s professional display.

It all worked out well. We barbequed and Lynde joined us. When it came time to do fireworks, we discovered many of our neighbors were out front getting set up for fireworks as well, so we walked a few doors down to join the crowd and we all pulled our fireworks together for a long display. I think we had at least 5 houses from our street represented by the number of neighbors and their friends lined up along the sidewalks. Most of the men handled the entertainment. And we all just sat and chatted while we watched the colors and flames, making fun of the short, sad displays and saying our ooohs and aaahhs for the good ones. At one point, a ladder did catch fire, but nothing we weren’t prepared for. We joked that our neighbor should save the ladder for next year for the sole purpose of helping us display our fireworks again!

Unfortunately, London didn’t do so well with the fireworks this year. The first one she saw and heard pretty much scared her stiff – she didn’t know which way or who to run too until she found me. Cameron and I both tried to calm her down but it was useless. She was exhausted from the day, not taking a long nap like we had hoped. I put her to bed after the first few fireworks. Luckily for me, her baby monitor reached Lauren and Woodrow’s driveway where some of us were gathered, so I was able to watch the fun without worrying about London.

Tulley and her puppy Molly, on the other hand, did fantastic. Tulley wanted to be next to Cameron all night long as she kept thinking the fireworks were gunfire and she desperately wanted to be told to go get a bird! Molly was not fazed by the noise at all, just running around playing with Tulley and saying hello to everyone.

After all the fireworks had exploded, many of us stayed out front catching up more. It was a reminder to Cameron and me about how lucky we are to be on our street surrounded by such wonderful, friendly neighbors.

~ Sarah

Weekend Wrap-up: A Reunion Unlike Any Other

The weekend after Father’s Day found us back in Chico. And what a difference a week made. When we went up for my hair appointment Father’s Day weekend it was hovering around 105 degrees. That weekend? 75! It was a beautiful weekend to be in Chico. The reason for our visit was for Cameron’s fraternity’s reunion. And by the time the weekend rolled around every one who was attending was eagerly anticipating it while those that could not must have been thoroughly bummed. It wasn’t just our core group of friends meeting up in Chico. It was any one who had been in the fraternity since it started in Chico back in 1983!


Luckily, Vicki was able to watch London for us, so I could attend the festivities up in Chico with Cameron and act as a Designated Driver for him and for our friend Miller, whose wife was unable to attend.

We started our day in Chico at the brewery and before long Fraternity members and their significant others had filled up the entire bar section of the back porch – both sitting and standing room. We got to meet several members of the original pledge class as well as one of their fathers, a father who was responsible for getting the Chico chapter established – he was a member of the Fraternity through the ASU chapter! It was pretty awesome to learn some of the history and see what a bond all these people still had after all these years. We spent most of the afternoon on the back patio of Sierra Nevada before heading over to Joe’s.

Good old Joes. It’s been remodeled since Cameron and I were last there yet it hasn’t changed all that much. There’s still saw dust on the floor. Instead of peanuts, they serve chips and salsa and instead of one TV there are several. The only other noticeable difference was the hall to the back patio, the updated bathrooms and the front of the building being extended maybe 5 feet. Most of our core group of friends met at Joes to take care of some fantasy football business, which was settled in 10 minutes, tops. Then it was all about catching up and reminiscing; nothing unusual for us. And just after 5 we headed over to the Bear for the main festivities.

An older alum of the fraternity had rented out the top floor of the Bear for the actual reunion. The bar was open and the drinks began flowing. After grabbing a quick Bear burger downstairs, we headed up. Before the reunion was over, a group photo was taken. I’d say there were 40-50 fraternity members crowded on the dance floor for that moment where they lingered to celebrate their fraternity. In was quite a sight for all the wives and significant others watching from above on the steps.

And people still lingered after 9 PM, when upstairs was opened up to everyone. Of course, at that time the music was turned up even more and college-aged kids started to swarm. A group of us made it outside to the back patio to cool off. There, we took in the current college crowd. In some ways we felt really old and in other ways we were all glad we weren’t in that phase of our lives any more. The girls and I mainly wondered if we’d ever really cared what we looked like when we went to the bars nightly. Some of these girls were dressed to every last trendy detail. I used to go out in summer wearing tank tops, shorts, flip flops and my hair in two braids. These girls were sporting the current trend of ankle boots and messy up-dos. And some of them were not pulling it off at all!

At some point people were getting hungry again and we split into even smaller groups as we made our ways to different late night eateries. Cameron and I found ourselves at Woodstock’s Pizza. Someone had made the mistake of mentioning it earlier in the day and I could not get it out of my mind. It reminded me of when my roommate Heather and I would order a pizza for delivery on our way home from the bars. We always walked home from there and arrived just in time for our pizza to arrive nice and hot.

We made it back to Vicki’s by 1:30 PM. Cameron and I were joking that last call was going on back in town. But good thing we made it to bed by 2 AM. I think Cameron was up by 5 AM with the sun that came streaming in, right on his face. I was up by 7 AM as the room was heating up – it had been cool when we went to bed so we didn’t turn the fan on and Cameron had actually turned the heated mattress pad on. I was roasting by the time I woke up. And soon London would wake up too.

We made it home just in time for lunch and naps. Unfortunately, London had fallen asleep in the car so she took a short nap. I would get up with her and then go back down for a longer nap once Cameron woke up. To sum up Sunday, it was a lazy day of lounging or napping. I did somehow get 3 loads of laundry done and our room picked up, which was more than I expected to accomplish so I was pleased all the same.

It did remind me why as parents we don’t go to the bars and party very often. It was a lot easier to live that lifestyle when you could be lazy and sleep all day the day after! Still, it was fun to relive our younger days a little, even if I couldn’t partake in all the activities of the day.

~ Sarah

Weekend Wrap-up: Father’s Day! And Wicked! And Office Remodel Update – Carpet!

Father's Day weekend was fairly mellow, even though we were hardly home. Saturday was spent in Chico so I could get my hair done.

Then we headed back down to Biggs for a visit with Vicki and Joe, as well as Dhawn and Amanda who had just arrived from Phoenix. We caught up over dinner and made it home just as it was getting dark and put London straight to bed.
That Sunday, of course, was Father’s Day. Cameron received his gift on Wednesday when it arrived – a Shutterfly photo book containing only images of Melody. We recently read an article that suggested creating a photo album of a pet after the loss of it, so I did. While it does make us sad to look through it, it also reminds me of how happy Melody appeared to be with us and confirms for me that we provided her with a good life. As odd as it sounds, we’ve been keeping the book in our bathroom and I think we both flip through it whenever we are in there.

London woke up pretty early on Father’s Day so I got up with her to let Cameron sleep in. Not that he slept in long, as he had some things he wanted to complete before it we dropped London off at Lauren’s for the afternoon. I also made him a Dutch Baby for breakfast as he had recently requested one. We slather ours with butter, powdered sugar and lemon juice. The lemon juice what had sparked Cameron's craving for it.

And the reason we needed to have London watched by Lauren that afternoon? We had tickets to the musical Wicked! The Thursday prior, one of my co-workers was walking around looking to unload 4 tickets as he and his family could no longer attend the performance. And he didn’t want anything for them! They were fantastic tickets – Row U in the Orchestra section, smack dab in the middle of the seating and priced at $83 each. Matt & Lynde were the lucky friends that spoke up first saying they could go when we started asking people to fill the last two tickets.

When we arrived at the theatre we learned that the show was ending that very day. It had only been performing in Sacramento since May 23. And it was fantastic, though the sound guy failed a few times here and there – they literally forgot to turn a mic on during a key line! The woman playing Elphaba also wasn’t as good as the one Cameron and I saw in London, but then again, the performer was the stand-by and not the usual performer. The biggest difference Cameron and I noticed was in the crowd. Apparently Sacramento is a bit rowdier than London, even San Francisco, clapping at the end of almost every song and erupting after a key scene at the end.

After the performance, the four of us grabbed some dinner in downtown before heading home. Of course, London had a grand time with Lauren and Woodrow. In the end, we had a fairly low key Father's Day weekend, which we were due for.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: London’s 2nd Birthday Party!

Ok, so I am waaay behind on my posts between Weekend Wrap-ups, the office remodel and Baby Bump Wednesdays, so I am going to try and do my best to get us caught up. Let's start with the weekend before London's birthday, June 2 - the weekend we held London's birthday party!

Of course, we didn't just celebrate London's birthday as the three of us at the aquarium. We did throw London quite the birthday bash the week before she turned two.
My dad had spent the majority of May up in Chico covering for a pediatrician friend and it made more sense to have my mom fly in, celebrate and have the two of them drive home just as my dad was finishing up work, versus having them stay an extra week so they could be here to celebrate or have them miss the party altogether (which would never fly!).
The party came just in time, too. We really needed something good to focus on with Melody and the daycare drama that happened the two days leading up to the event.
The theme was bubbles. London loves bubbles, though this love has waned recently. And, we got lucky that it wasn’t a scorcher of a day. It was warm, but a there was also a strong breeze coming through. This allowed most of the kids to be outside and made for some easy blowing of bubbles for the toddlers. All they had to do was pull the wand out of the solution and bunches of bubbles would go flying away.
Unfortunately, it was too windy for the giant bubbles I had planned on doing. I couldn’t get the yarn-covered hanger out of the bubble solution with the solution fully intact before the wind would pop it. Oh well. All the kids seemed to have a grand time.
In all, we had 37 people in attendance throughout the afternoon, but by 7 PM it was just my parents, Cameron, London and I. And London was definitely ready for bed early. The best surprise of the day was the arrival of Emily and little 2-month-old Elijah from San Francisco. I know it was a long drive for Emily, but it was so awesome to see her and meet Eli.
This year I focused only on the decorations, having fun decorating the family room and kitchen for the party. Here's what it looked like:

While the streamers have come down, the balls still hang in both the family room and kitchen. This is partly because we've been busy or I've been lazy and partly because, they don't look that bad.
For a long while the bubbles also drove Jake nuts, which is a form of entertainment for him, and us, right?

I’m also considering spray painting the balls in my holiday décor colors and hanging them in a similar fashion for the holidays. I’m sure Sydney will enjoy looking up at them!  Maybe I will even paint and hang a few over her crib as well.
London received many wonderful gifts – boy is she loved! Some of the highlights included a new table, just her size. It came in handy to seat the kids at for cupcake time.

Then there is her new tricycle that includes a handle that we can use to push London in for walks until she really can turn the pedals on her own.

Another favorite is her new baby doll and a stroller that London can push her in, as well as a singing cake with candles. She barely grasped the concept of blowing out the candles after we sang to her at the party, but by the next day, after playing with the cake for a good hour, the girl has it down!
And then there is the little piano. London goes over and plays it a couple times a week.

~ Sarah

Pony Ride

Memorial Day weekend wasn't completely dedicated to the office remodel. We also had a birthday party to attend - on Cameron's Birthday! And the sad part is Cameron got me out of bed on his birthday with French Toast! Yes, I made him get up with London on his birthday so I could sleep in. He chose to make French Toast for breakfast, although I think it was a ploy to get me out of bed.

Anywho, Saturday afternoon we had Rylie's birthday who is like a cousin to London in a very round about way. There were tons of kids there running around sliding down the water slide/bounce house. I hadn't brought along London's swimsuit as it was actually cooler at our house and a storm was going to be passing over later that afternoon/evening.

Cameron took her into the bounce house but it was a bit too slippery for London from the other kids. I'm sure she was a bit disappointed in not getting to swim but my guess is she would have found the water too cold - many of the kids were shivering after only an hour after we arrived.

But there were tons of other things to do, including a tricycle:

And Jill's pony was out providing pony rides. London finally decided to take a turn after she found the candy!

We all had a good time, especially London, who loves the large yard Gary and Jill have as she can wander to her heart's delight all over. London particularly enjoyed the little table and chairs, so on our way home we stopped in at IKEA and my dad purchased London her own table and chairs as a birthday gift from my mom and him. We'll have it set up in time for her big party this weekend!

And an update on the Office Remodel - after a few hours of frustration, Cameron brought in an electrician today to complete the job. It doesn't help when the electrician even says that work was done sloppy. Man, our builder's electricians were lazy people. For how long it took to build our house, you'd think they'd have done a perfect job.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: Napa!

Saturday was our group of friends’ 6th Annual Wine trip. Due to some technical difficulties and scheduling conflicts, only 4 couples were able to go. Definitely on the smaller side for this yearly festivity, but fun all the same. This year’s destination was our first return to Napa since the first ever trip for Cameron and Pat’s 30th!

Cameron, Amy & Jason

Of course, this trip also meant no sleeping in for London, Cameron and I. By 8 AM we were dropping London off in her PJs at Lauren’s for a day of spoiling and on the road to American Canyon where we were meeting the Stephens (Matt & Lynde), Johnsons (Kenny & Amy), Millers (Jason & Jess) and the limo.

Lynde & Kenny - they were goofing around too much to notice the camera

I apologize now for the lack of pictures. You would think the sober, pregnant lady of the group could remember to take pictures, but I failed. The only pics we took were in the limo between stops one and two.

Jess, Me & Matt (who was also unaware of the camera)

Over the years we have learned that 3 stops is our limit. Four just ends in disaster. The Millers planned this year’s outing, and the first stop was at Beaulieu Vineyards, better known as BV. We were served in the beautiful club room and everyone sampled 4 reds. First up was the Reserve Pinot Noir, followed by the Reserve Tapestry. The Tapestry was a big hit – enough so that Cameron let me have a sip. Our agreement was that I could have A sip of anything he deemed worthy. And it was – a spicey, full bodied red that would taste delicious on a cool winter’s night (I prefer red in the cold, winter months). That was followed up by a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and its 1998 counterpart. I did sample the 1998, but I liked the Tapestry best of the two I sampled.

The cool thing about BV was that when Lynde asked about white wines and a possible white wine-only wine club offering, our server was more than happy to bring her a sample of the 3 whites he could offer her and then created a special wine club to suit her likes only. Both Lynde and Jess walked away as new club members, which resulted in all of our tastings being compted and for hose of us who purchased a bottle, receiving 30 percent off the retail price. All in all, we had a lovely time at BV and the service was fantastic.

Before we knew it we had to head off to our next stop, which was at Trefethen. Had it not been for the slow service I might have better things to say about this stop, but unfortunately, that was not the case. On top of it, at the beginning I had said I was pregnant and therefore not tasting, even though there was a glass sitting in front of me – we definitely didn’t pay to have me taste so this was a mistake on their part all around.

My being pregnant did not stop the server from pouring wine in said glass, which was a bit of tease for me, considering I didn’t have much morning sickness this time around to curb my desire for wine and beer. Oh how I miss a glass of wine at the end of the day.

I ended up taking A small sip and hand the rest off to Cameron or Lynde – well, except for the Harmony Chardonnay, which was a very delicious chardonnay. I did have a few more sips off of that one with Cameron’s permission. We would have considered buying a bottle had the service not taken us the entire time we had at the winery – we almost left without tasting the last of the 5 wines we were there to taste – and that was after the server had tried to skip over one! The one he tried to skip over actually got the best reviews from the table – Dragon’s Tooth.

But, we had a 2:30 appointment at Bouchaine, where a fraternity brother of Cameron, Kenny and Jason’s is tasting manager. Troy was waiting to greet us upon our arrival and had one of the picnic benches out in the beautiful garden waiting for our tasting. Troy basically asked each of us which wines we were interested in trying and would pour us a glass. And he brought out some chilled water for me! Cameron (and I with my few sips) stuck with the whites, trying the Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. I think all of us walked away wine club members, Cameron and I selecting the whites-only option. We figured we could stock up a little before I can start enjoying wine again on a more regular basis. Plus my mom will be visiting at the end of the month, so I’m sure she’ll like a cold glass of wine or bottle of beer after her flight in.

Since we had to get back to the hotel before our time with the limo was up, Troy volunteered to bring our first delivery from the wine club to us at the hotel and would then join the crew for dinner. Back at the hotel, everyone checked in and got settled into their rooms, before congregating in Kenny & Amy’s.

Cameron and I weren’t staying the night so we had just gone to hang out with them until Troy delivered our wine and we could head home. As all wine trips do, it got a little crazy, and being the pregnant, sober lady that I am these days I was beat from the day and ready to go home when Troy arrived with our wine. I felt bad that we had to leave so quickly after he and his girlfriend had arrived but we’d told Lauren we’d be home between 7 and 8 PM. As it was, we were going to be lucky if we made it back by 8. We were on her doorstep at about 8:10 PM – but that did include a stop to buy Lauren a gift certificate to a nail salon for a pedicure as a thank you for watching London all day.

As soon as we walked through our own door, Cameron put London down, while I put myself down. I was out by 9 PM I think. London wouldn’t wake up until 9 AM Sunday morning, which was a bonus! 12 hours of sleep was blissful.

We spent Sunday at home, working on cleaning the house more, me doing laundry and Cameron started on the framing of the office. Basically, we successfully got the framing that connects to the ceiling up, after Cameron came up with a bracing solution on the side that didn’t have built in studs. We should have almost the whole frame up soon, at least by the end of next weekend when we are home for 3 days.

~ Sarah

Motherhood Mondays & Weekend Update: My Mother's Day WEEKEND

Happy belated Mother’s Day! I hope all you Mother’s had a wonderful day doing exactly what you wanted to be doing. My Mother’s Day was more of a Mother’s Weekend, which in some ways started Thursday night.

On Wednesday I had worked an open house for my company down in Modesto. On the way home, I’d picked up some fresh strawberries to make a fresh strawberry pie that I was craving. The problem was the open house and being on my feet all day, not to mention the heat in Modesto, left me tired Thursday. And while I normally love to bake, I wasn’t looking forward to it Thursday night as all I wanted to do was sit. Lucky for me, Cameron took control and had made the pies for me. The house smelled so yummy when London and I got home.

Friday I got home early thanks to a work open house in West Sacramento – I made it home just in time for a migraine to hit and took a 3 hour nap which alleviated the situation. When I picked London up from day care, a cute flower card and photo flip book was waiting for me, London’s Mother’s day gift to me : ). Cameron and I had discussed earlier in the week that this was likely the only way I’d receive a card or gift from London.

Saturday began early for all three of us as we headed to Cal Expo to participate in the Komen Race for the Cure. This had been my request for the weekend – to participate in the walk with my family. The best part – I still fit in the small T-shirt I had registered for before I knew I was pregnant! Cameron and I had fun talking and people watching as we power-walked our way through the crowds. While attendance was down for the event thanks to the Planned Parenthood issues from January, there were still 18,000-20,000 people out there. London was happy once we set out on the walk – waiting is definitely not her forte.

Back at home, Cameron made me homemade waffles which I topped with melted butter, light cool whip and strawberry pie filling. Yummy! This is also when I discovered Cameron though Saturday was Mother’s Day. Worked for me. We all were worn out by London’s nap time, so we all took a nap until my dad arrived for the weekend. He was stopping in on his way to Chico where he will be working for the next couple of weeks. He got to get London up from her nap when she awoke. London was quite excited to have her Grandpa come to her rescue.

We were still tuckered from our walk and Dad was tired from driving so life in our house was pretty bland that evening outside the Chili Verde Cameron made for dinner. And Mother’s Day itself was pretty low key as well. We skyped with my mom in the morning to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day and tell her we wished she was there with us as well. My dad also took London for a long walk while Cameron and I set to complete the demolition in the front room. This would be a slow, all day process and at one point, Cameron looked more like a ghost than a person, he was so covered in a fine white dust after sawing out some drywall in the ceiling!

We completed the day barbequing with Matt & Lynde. We also pulled out London’s water table after she began playing in the dog water bowl outside – which led to her going between her water table and the dog bowl! She was soaked and needed a warm bath before dinner was ready. We all dined on some delicious steaks, bbq’d corn on the cob, mexican salad and garlic bread. And I spend the rest of the evening working on London’s stocking, instead of worrying about the dishes. Of course I have those waiting for me tonight! At least I can say I am a mere few hours from completing her stocking! About time, considering I have another one to start and this will be London’s 3rd Christmas!

All in all, it was just what I wanted and needed for the weekend after several busy and upcoming busy weekends. The only rough part was saying by to my dad this morning. The second London saw him this morning she ran in to get a hug. She will be a bit disappointed to discover Grandpa is gone when we get home this evening.


~ Sarah

Weekend Update Continued…My Birthday!

Monday was my birthday (I know not really a “weekend day” but in a way, it felt like one – you’ll see!). The day started off with me getting to sleep in little! That’s because we had a prenatal appoint at 9 AM. This also meant that London got to sleep in which made for a happy toddler the morning of my birthday. It’s also always fun when Cameron and I both get to take her into day care.



Not much to report with Baby– all is well and going according to nature’s plan. You have the rest of the update in today’s Baby Bump Update any way.


After the appointment I headed into work as planned only to learn that someone had stolen a length of copper pipe in Rio Linda that had brought down almost all our operations, including internet! My only option to get anything done was to head back home, which I did. I did what I could from home, but without access to email, it made it a bit difficult. My boss and I laughed that this was her birthday present to me.


Since I now didn’t need to leave work late and battle traffic (considering I was already home), Cameron and I decided to take Lynde up on her offer to watch London so Cameron and I could go out to dinner. I was craving sushi and wanted to try a new sushi restaurant up in Folsom, so that is exactly where Cameron and I headed.


Before arriving at the restaurant, we walked through a new home décor store in the Palladio shopping center, Kirkland’s. There was a ton of things I could have spent money on and most fit with our décor theme at home. Cameron and I expected the place to be pretty pricey and we were quite surprised that it wasn’t. We saw several paintings we are now considering for the entrance wall across from where the French doors to Cameron’s new office will be. We were good though and refrained from spending any money there.

From there we walked hand in hand to the sushi restaurant, Blue Nami. We both commented on how weird it was to be holding each other’s hands since we normally have London in between us, holding on to one of our fingers!

Blue Nami was hopping for a Monday night, but we were seated quickly and attended to just as quickly for beverages. We quickly learned that it was Happy Hour and a full page in the menu of Sushi was 50 percent off! We ended up ordering two $4 appetizers (Gyoza for me and Calamari rings for Cameron) and 6 rolls of sushi. All of it was delicious, minus one roll. That roll had garlic, basil, avocado, cream cheese and cashews – a mixture I thought I would love, but found the basil overwhelming. Oh well.


Cameron and I both agreed it’s our new sushi restaurant, especially during Happy Hour. Of course, we couldn’t get too adventurous with the roll selections given that raw fish is a bit of a no-no when pregnant. Stupid potential mercury and parasite issues. I stuck to my favorite Avocado/Cucumber rolls (which I was craving) and a sesame chicken/cream cheese roll (very yummy), though I did convince Cameron to split a spicy tuna/cucumber roll with me so I did get a little taste of the good stuff. What was nice is the avocado/cucumber roll looked to be the size of two rolls so I definitely filled up. And it was all very well priced given Happy Hour – which ended at 8 PM, the time we were leaving.


We will definitely be going back – especially as we eyed all the delicious, fish filled creations the people at the next table ordered. So much to explore in one restaurant! And finally a sushi place we really liked near home! The last place Cameron liked this well as while visiting my parents in Tucson.

But I have to say the best part of the night was coming home to discover Lynde had picked up all of London’s toys in the family room! It was so nice to sit down with a sushi-stuffed belly in a clean room!


After Lynde headed home, Cameron and I settled in to watch a movie of my choice using our free movie pass via AT&T U-Verse (Cameron got it for complaining about something, which was set right and they gave us the pass as a thank you for understanding).


I chose “The Descendents” with George Clooney. It was a more serious movie than I had thought it was, though I didn’t exactly know the story line. Let’s just say it centered around death and infidelity. But the movie did a good job of throwing in a sense of humor when it was getting too serious, and Cameron and I laughed out loud several times. The movie also sparked a good conversation between the two of us about how we’d react if either of us cheated on the other.


In the end, I’d say the movie and discussion it created brought us closer together. We don’t watch new movies very often (we just don’t have the time or desire to spend money on what we see as a gamble of whether it will be good or not) and we watch even less movies that spark conversation like this one did between us. It may sound strange to say, but it topped off an already great birthday. Well, that and the snuggles I got from Tulley toward the end of the movie when she was trying to tell us it was bed time.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: Birthdays and Demolition

Friday night we celebrated Cinco de Mayo a little early by heading to our favorite Mexican restaurant with Matt & Lynde for dinner. And we discovered we may be closer to potty training with London than we thought. She’s beginning to say “dirty” before she has soiled her diaper! Yippee is all I can say – it would be awesome to have her out of diapers by the time baby arrives.



The poor girl also likes to do her business in private, which was not possible at the dinner table while strapped into the high chair. We could not help but laugh as London covered her eyes with her hands for the privacy she required as she worked through her business. The best/worst part was when she let out a little sigh of relief! Poor girl and Cameron – I was still mid-meal so he had the pleasure of taking London to the car to take care of her and the diaper.

Saturday was our busy weekend day. It started with London’s last Swim Lesson. I made sure to take some more photos and video before the camera battery died. Hopefully, my posts will include more photos again soon. Cameron called HP about our laptop on Friday and we are now awaiting the arrival of a new hard drive, which is suspected as being the root cause to our computer issues.

After swim lessons, we headed home for a quick refresher before heading up to Biggs to celebrate Cameron’s stepdad, Joe’s birthday with most of the family. Unfortunately, it was also a very windy day and given I was/am still recovering from my allergy attack from Reno the previous weekend, I refused to go outside.

The wind did not stop the kids though. Vicki had rented a bounce house for the afternoon, so the kids bounced between that and the trampoline all day. Even London bounced to her heart’s content most of the day (under adult supervision of course).

On our way home, we made an impromptu stop to the see Moes again. This time we were able to stay longer than 10 minutes, which was much better. Eventually, London decided it was time to go – she kept grabbing our hands and walking us to the door while saying “bye bye” to Moe and Nicole. She did impress us with her big sister skills though – she was quite attentive to Moe & Nicole’s 5-week-old, Conner’s needs, trying to bring him all his pacifiers. Nicole even let London place one in Conner’s mouth – she was quite gentle. She’s going to make such a good big sister!

We were spent by Saturday night and crashed early.

Sunday was a day at home, but not a quiet one. I spent much of the morning/day picking up the house up while Cameron tended to the yard. Mid-morning we all headed to Lowe’s to buy the supplies we need to build the walls for Cameron’s new office. This trip required two cars as once the truck was loaded up with all the drywall and wood, there was no room for London or I. I wish I’d gotten a picture of the truck all loaded it up - it was quite a sight and required some slow, careful driving. Good thing Lowe’s isn’t too far away from home.

And, that evening Cameron began the demolition! The wall under the stairs is now currently missing its drywall and tonight I believe he plans to remove the drywall in the ceiling and window walls where he needs to construct the door wall. Pretty exciting! Now if we could just keep the cats out from under the stairs! We’ll need to be careful when we drywall this wall back up that no cat is under there!

This post is getting long so stay tuned for what we did for my Birthday on Monday!


~ Sarah