Vacation All I Ever Wanted, Vacation Happy to Get Away

So here we are in Seattle...on our big summer vacation. We are going on a cruise to Alaska with some of my family this Friday. I brought the kids up last Friday so we can spend time with my brother Dave, Liz and their 4 girls; Sally, Jane, Mary and Laura first. It's been SUPER fun so far.... David was sick on Friday for 2 days (including the trip down to the airport and plane ride) with fever and vomiting....then Rose got it Saturday evening and is still vomiting.... fortunately Joey had it last week before we left (no vomiting) so hopefully we will be done with it all sometime today. Last time we were here (Dec. 2008) I took all 7 kids to the Children's Museum where Joey caught some nasty bug right at the end of our stay and proceeded to take down about 10 others when it was all said and done. I'm hoping to contain this to Stitzers only, and that we get rid of it by the time we go on the cruise. So far we have been confined to the house, for the most part. We are going attempt to venture out today. I hear Rose in the other room playing the Wii.... so perhaps the day will turn out alright after all.

And BTW, the girls are all well and fabulous. They all continue to grow into beautiful, funny, intelligent girls. They love their cousins so it's good for me here. I have 4 very willing helpers. It hasn't been all bad.....we went to a pizza party the first night we got here with all the neighbors I have met on numerous trips here. They are all a very fun group. There were a million kids there, so once there I didn't see my kids again till it was time to go. Liz and I stayed up far too late after the party chatting which is always fun, but makes for an unproductive following day. Sally's best friend Rache ((Ra-shay) spent the night Saturday and she is a ton of fun. The kids loved her. Mom came up yesterday as she too is going on the cruise. Last night we bbq-ed salmon and had a great dinner. Liz is a great cook and has passed it on to Jane. I love hanging out with this family. I just wish they lived in Poway!

More later....and sorry for no photos.... I didn't bring the cord for the camera, plus I haven't been taking any. I'm sure I will remedy that today.

Happy 5th Birthday David!

I can't believe David is 5! He has been counting down the days for a while now, even though he is getting jipped and not really having a big party like we usually do. The reason for that is we are going to Seattle tomorrow for a week then on an Alaskan cruise the following week. We could tell him that we are going on the cruise for his birthday, but he won't care, that's not a party. Andy WILL celebrate his birthday on the cruise. I believe we get to Juneau that day. Anyway... I am having the neighbor kids over as well as Owen and Madeline and his best friend Emily, so we will make the most of it. I went and bought a new Slip-n-Slide.... Woo Hoo! So we'll have a "pool" party and hope he's happy about it. I felt so bad the other day when he asked "Mom, can I have a Batman Lego party?" I hadn't even thought about throwing a party at all..... Poor middle child. (I'm such a great Mom.)

David is a beautiful soul. He is loving, caring, and incredibly sensitive, not to mention quite smart. He came up to me the other day, looked at me (I had pulled my hair up into a clip, which he has never seen me do) and said "Mom, I like your hair!" Today he told me how pretty I am. He is always saying insightful things like, isn't it a beautiful day? or after walking into the room yesterday where Rose and I are going back and forth about whatever it was he says "Oh, this is turning into an argument" and left the room. Andy bought him a chess set for his birthday and gave it to him last night so they could play. We have one they have used a few times before, but this one is his very own, and he was quite excited about it. I have no doubt he will master the strategy of the game in no time. Anyway... I could go on and on. Here are a few from birthdays past and a few from today.

Update: it ended up being a fun day. We busted out the new Slip-n-Slide and pool and the kids were having a great time. Then the sky clouded over and we got some rain! Hoo HA! They loved it! The day was capped off when cousin Daniel showed up with his new-used go kart. He is SO cool!

I love you David Louis! Happy Birthday!

Mini Vacation

This past weekend we spent the weekend in Palm Desert with our good friends Jon, Chantal, Vaughn and Nolan. This is the 3rd year we have joined them at their FABULOUS time share. There are pools galore including one with a water slide and now that Rose is an official swimmer, this is her dream vacation. Basically most of time we are in the pools. The kids LOVE it, we love it and we love, Love...LOVE that each year they include us. They are always so good to us and the kids. When we got there, we were in the door for maybe 3 minutes when Jon asked, "WHO WANTS PRESENTS?" Rose got 2 Barbies.... her current fave, David got a Lightning McQueen racetrack and Joey got a Toy Story 3 Buzz Lightyear belt with gun and binoculars. That's just 1 of the things (they always do) that makes them so great. THANK YOU! We had a blast!

Everyone Knows It's Windy.....

I love the drive to Palm Springs. The 60 freeway looks like you are driving on the moon, then you get on the 10 heading east and soon you see them..... the windmills! They FASCINATE me! I went for a girls weekend there a few years back and was so busy looking at the windmills that I realized I had missed my exit several miles back. Anyway, when I saw them this time I was very excited and went on and on, and on and on about them to the kids.

Rose had 2 things to say.

1. You are a weird Mommy.

2. Are you supposed to be taking pictures while you drive? (No Rose, no you are not.)

Perhaps I will come back as a windmill engineer in my next life. Oh, and I don't know how these things don't cause accidents on the freeway..... or do I? See comment 2.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Used to be these guys were out in the middle of nowhere. You would see them off the freeway and wonder why in the world they were there. Who knows, who cares.....they are just FABULOUS! (I actually do know, I Googled them when I got home) Now they are hidden behind a Burger King and some other restaurants and you really have to look to find them. I had never stopped to see them before. On our way home from Palm Desert I decided that the kids and I need to do some good old fashioned road trip stuff. This rates right up there with the world's largest ball of twine, which I will see someday.... Andy was in his car, which is good because he wouldn't have wanted to stop. Not his thing. Anyway, the boys were SUPER excited, Rose not so much. We went into Dinny, the Brontosaurus, who happens to have a gift shop in his stomach. I didn't have my wallet with me, and the kids were MAD! We didn't go into Rex, because you had to pay...plus the kids didn't even realize you could. I got my pictures and can now mark that off my list of things to do. I didn't a fridge magnet, so maybe we have to stop again next time....and this time bring the wallet. And if you were wondering and didn't know, Pee-wee stopped at the dinos while on his quest to find his stolen bike in his movie. He and (I think it was) Dottie sat in the mouth of Rex in one scene. One year I gave Karen a Pee-wee Herman doll complete with white patent leather shoes and pull string on the back to hear all his catch-phrases for Christmas one year..... she got rid of it. Man......


You are a weird Mommy.

That FACE!

He can sure drive me CRAZY.... but he is SO worth it. And yes, that is OREO cookie all over his face. I will never win Mother of the Year.

77 Sunset Strip

July 1st was my Dad's 77th birthday. My Dad has always been the coolest. When we were kids, if we were out with him, he wouldn't hesitate to sing, act goofy or make jokes. Karen and I were mortified....but now can appreciate how cool, or perhaps that should be geeky he was. We spent his birthday poolside as seems to be the tradition as of late. Rose had her friend Allison with us and Owen and Madeline had their friend Alexa, so along with our kids and a visit from cousin Kendahl and sister Vanessa (my step sister's daughters).....it was a loud, crowded, kid filled place. We baked Gramps some cupcakes (which happened to match his shirt perfectly) and threw him a BBQ and called it a day. It was a nice way to spend his birthday. Dad and Jann keep threatening to sell the house and move to the coast, or Vegas in a condo.....all I have to say is they better have a pool! Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!