I'm BAAACCCKKKK from SAN DIEGO!

And I loved every minute of my trip!! EVERY MINUTE!:) It was pure bliss- and WE WILL BE MOVING THERE SOON! Here is a recap of my trip- I forgot my camera because sometimes I'm dumb like that- so I've had to steal pictures from other people who went with my dad's company.

Feel free to live vicariously through me as you read about my wonderful trip!

July 29 (Tuesday): My dad and Emily picked me up from my house to go to the airport around
8 AM. Our flight left at about 10:45 and we got into San Diego at 11:45 because of the 2 hour time difference. Flying without kids is a vacation in itself! It was soooo nice!:)

We got to our beautiful hotel, The Manchester Hyatt in the heart of downtown about 12:30 or so.
Both of those big building were the Hyatt and the pool was in the middle of both buildings. Once we get there, we check in and get settled. We were in a very nice suite- and we all had our own bed!! It was heaven to sleep by myself- I LOVE me some space!:) After getting settle my dad and I hit the hotel gym, because not much is better then taking the elevator downstairs and walking into what seems like your own mini private gym. I ran while over looking the marina.

After working out- I got a massage! OH YEAH!!! Pure heaven! It was so nice-- and it was for an hour at a RIDICULOUS price- but worth it. My dad got a massage to and Emily got a facial. They Hyatt has 2 pools. One is for all hotel guests and the other one is exclusive for anyone who used the spa that day. So, after our massages we headed out to the pool and hottubbed and then had dinner served to us by the pool (which was also overlooking the marina) The weather there is soooo perfect! And my 17 dollar burger was totally worth every penny! It was sooo good!

After we wrapped up dinner we went back to our rooms to change and to get ready for a night on the town. We had to get dessert and where else but the famous:


It was sooo delicious! I had their famous ice-cream hot fudge sundae. Do they have one of these in Houston?? Ghirardelli is located in the Gas Lamp District which was right across the street from our hotel. It was really cool- but Emily and I only counted 2 gas lamps-- so either we are blind, or they are short on gas lamps. While we ate our ice-cream we kept walking through the district and ended up walking to Horton Plaza which is a great outdoor mall! I LOVE outdoor malls and I wish we had the weather down here for one! We ended up going to see Batman at the theater at the mall. My Dad and I hadn't seen it yet. It was soooo good! Really lived up to the hype. Then we went back to the hotel and crashed(about 12:30- so 2:30 AM Houston time)!! Longer days are so easy to handle when you aren't running around after kids:)

July 30 (Wed.): We got up early to head out to La Jolla because it would be the only day we had to stray away from the convention.
La Jolla is BEAUTIFUL!!! We drove around for a bit before actually getting out to the beach. We drove down to the San Diego Temple and walked around.

Then we drove over to Fashion Valley Mall which is another AMAZING outdoor mall and it is more high end like the Galleria.
Then we drove through La Jolla and back down to San Diego- but not without stopping at (what I thought was the Mission boardwalk) but ended up being Belmont Park on the beach. Which is a really cute little amusement park right off the beach. So, you could go swim, then come ride a ride, then go swim again, etc...
Emily and I got day passes, because otherwise each ride was like 6 bucks! And a day pass was 22 bucks. We had SOOO much fun! The back of roller coasters is always the best (in case you haven't figured that out yet!) We had a blast!!

After our day of fun at the park and the beach, we headed back to the hotel because it was opening night of the conference... and GUESS WHO I GOT TO SEE???



BRIAN REGAN!! And to say he is funny is an UNDERSTATEMENT! He is HILARIOUS. My dad and I were in TEARS!! Emily didn't get to go because it was for 21 and up only, because they had an open bar. YOU should have seen the lines for free drinks! CRAZY! (another reason I'm glad I don't drink:)) I got to walk right up to the water table-- NO WAIT! LOL! Anyways, I highly recommend Brian Regan. If he is performing in your town or even NEAR you- GO!! He is completely clean and hilarious! Go watch some of his stuff on youtube-- his facial expressions are a crack up! We also had 3rd row, front and center -- NOT BAD!!

After Brian Regan we went to bed because it was going to be a long day the next day at the trade show... and an early day.

July 31 (Thursday): We had to get up at 7:00 for breakfast, and we walked over to the convention center a few blocks away from the hotel. For anyone who doesn't know-- my Dad owns an office supply company, Liberty Office Products (kind of like Dunder Mifflin from The Office) It was sooo much fun! Emily and I were going crazy!

First off, you get all these cool office supplies, that may seem geeky- but we LOVE it (maybe it is in our blood?!) From highlighters and free sharpies, and free mini staplers with color staples, and free color calculators, and all the newest latest and greatest gadgets coming out in the office supply world! We also entered like 50 different drawings from big screen TVs to trips to Hawaii and Costa Rica, to big fat Harley's. We didn't win ANY!!! I was sooo mad:( Our odds weren't that bad- there were only about 3,000 people at the trade show. Maybe next year!

Here is one of the drawings we were hoping to win.... THE MONEY VAULT!!! They did 3 different drawings for the money vault and while our names were not called out--- TWO of my Dad's employees were. The guy above in the picture is actually one of my Dad's employee's and he walked away with 4 grand! Me and Emily wanted to jump him, but he is like 6'6" so it wouldn't have worked too well.

Despite not winning we did have A LOT of fun! In the pictures below we are both doing virtual racing. It was sooo cool! If you ended up being the fastest time for the day, then you won 3 laps around the track with a pro NASCAR driver. We didn't win that either-- but we sure did try like 50 times a piece! Hey it was FREE!:)


Emily fitting the goggles over her eyes.
Me learning how to drive, and adjusting the seat to be closer to the pedals (and there weren't even pedals!) the pedals were levers you pushed with your hands. I felt dumb when I asked the guy how to adjust the seat and then he was like you don't really need to and I was like- YES I DO!! And then me doing it- and him then being like- actually there aren't any pedals. I felt totally cool!
Me in action! I look HAWT with those goggle on!

It was such a fun trade show and I came home with lots and lots of goodies:)

After the trade show we went back to the hotel to change and get ready for dinner, dancing and fireworks on the Inspirational Hornblower!
We ate and then went sailing all around the bay, through a beautiful sunset and then fireworks to top it off! It was a lot of fun! I wish Chet could have been there:) But Emily and I did bang out a pretty nice Cha-Cha slide!!

After we got back, we called it a night and went to bed! ( I did not watch TV once on the trip!... we were so wiped out after each day, I would read a page and be out)

August 1 (Friday): Friday was shopping day! My Dad had seminars to attend all day so Emily and I took advantage and went shopping. We went over to the Gas Lamp district again and went into some boutiques.
There were lots of cute shops but our favorite by far was:

PINK ZONE!! Awesome clothes! I got my new favorite pair of jeans there--

They are Miss Me Jeans. I had never heard of them before- but I LOVE them!! So, if you are ever in San Diego or La Jolla- check out the Pink Zone!

After shopping we headed back over to the hotel to do some relaxing by the pool. It was PACKED! But- we still got 2 chairs and were able to layout and enjoy some sun.


After the pool we went to the San Diego Zoo and talk about AMAZING! I can't wait to take my kids back there- and they have escalators IN the ZOO to take you up to see the Gorillas and monkey, etc... SOO FUN!


Here is one of the Pandas. They even had a little baby panda, who just turned 1, but he was high up in a tree hammock. This is the other smaller panda! Look how cute!This gorilla was amazing!! Just amazing to watch him -- he was HUGE!!!! I guess they have like 8 gorillas, but the rest were already in bed.

There were so many cool animals there and they even have like a sky train that takes you from one end of the park to the other. We even got our own personal unofficial zoo guide. He was hanging out around the gorillas just watching them, and I was asking my dad some questions about the gorilla's and this guy would answer them... and turns out he is there every Friday because he loves the zoo so much and has been there every Friday(give or take a few) for the last 5 years. So, my dad invited him to be our tour guide -- and take us to the coolest animals and then bought him dinner afterwards. The zoo was a lot of fun- and with the cool weather made it that much sweeter!

After the zoo we went back home, because my dad and I had to be back up early again to go to a session where they were giving away cash prizes -- and you had to be present to win. I wasn't going to let them call my name out for the 10,000 dollar or 15,000 dollar cash price- and me NOT be there. They actually called out 2 or 3 people who decided to sleep in-- and I feel for them.

August 2nd (Saturday): So, like I stated before- I had to get up early for breakfast and the prize session with 3 or 4 different speakers who were all really good. I DIDN'T WIN and went out screaming! :) But the biggest event of the day was


Emily and I both got a copy and instead of spending a day inside reading (because who would do that in San Diego??) My dad rented a sailboat and took us sailing around the marina for 3 hours while Emily and I read.... except for the interruptions of my dad yelling "Hard-a-Lee" and it's time to "Come about" and Emily and I would have to either tighten or release the lines (depending on which side of the boat we were on) and then cleat. So- we would both get a couple pages in and really into it.. and then we would hear a command. It was a lot of fun though:) There is nothing like sailing on a perfect day in the bay, reading and relaxing! After sailing we went back to the hotel to shower and my Dad and I were off to have dinner on the USS Midway for the last night of the conference. It was a lot of fun. Another open bar... so Emily couldn't go:( This boat was MASSIVE!!!

I mean LOOK at it! It is HUGE! My dad and I did a flight simulator game, where we actually sat in one of the "real" planes and then my dad was the pilot whilee I tried to shoot down the people next to us (who were also doing the flight simulator). It was a lot of fun- but my missiles didn't really make it to the other planes-- even if they had the red target dot right on them. (mainly becuase their plane kept going down on it's own) But it was still fun!

My dad and I eating dinner on the USS MIDWAY... they had like 15 different buffet lines all with different kinds of food and yes- I'm talking in the middle of the picture in case you couldn't tell. And the green shirt was a company shirt we all wore that night (same with the blue one at the trade show) We had to represent!

August 3: (Sunday): All in all it was an excellent trip! We sure did cram a lot in while we were there and we also had just enough relaxation time to keep us up and running before we had to leave.

Thanks to Chet, my mom and sisters for watching my kids! (They(my kids) didn't even want me to come home they were having so much fun!)

A fun fact-- I got into San Diego right after the Earthquake had hit L.A. and we didn't feel it, but we got calls from everyone and there dog- asking us if we had-- and then we get home Sunday and driving home we see signs on the freeway telling us to fill up our gas tanks because Tropical Storm Eduard is coming in the next couple of days. Talk about out of the loop:)

I hope you enjoyed living vicariously through me and my trip! When we move to La Jolla- ALL of you are welcome to come and visit ANYTIME!!:)

Ps: Breaking Dawn was amazing!!! I'm sad it is over:(

Chet's B-day continued!!

YES! We have been celebrating Chet's b-day for the last 3 weeks!:) Just kidding- but I am just now getting around to posting about his birthday celebration, which we celebrated the day after his actual b-day.

The day of course started off with Sonic Happy Hour for all drinks 1/2 off between 2-4! At one point while we were waiting for our food to come, Chet asked me to get Ethan's gum off the side of the window- which he had just dropped. I get out of the car to start scraping, and I smell Ethan's breath- and I'm like- where did you get the cinnamon gum?? I usually don't buy cinnamon flavored... Ethan points, I turn my head- and CAN'T believe he just took the gum off of the side of the Sonic menu that someone so conveniently put there. (the gum is pictured below next to "Java Chillers") NIIIICCCCEEEE!


After that we headed over to NASA to use our beloved Season Passes- which were given to us by Grandma and Grandpa Ranger (Chet's parents) - and have been such a GREAT gift! They had a thing going on there called "Dare Devil Island" The kids LOVED it!!


Here is Dante on the trapeze. Erin was too chicken and Ethan was too little to go on it. Dante had fun- he got on it and then fell off immediatle instead of hanging on! It reminded me of the time, as a life guard greasing the zip line with tanning oil, and just watching people fall right off and do a backflop! (funniest thing ever) Dante def. pulled one of those on the trapeze!!

Here he is exiting and Erin is waiting anxiously to get on with the rest of Dare Devil Island.

Bungee Jumping on the tramp was next! Erin and I waited in a pretty long line while Ethan and Dante just ran around. They preferred to do the maze over and over and over AND OVER again-- I'll get to that in a minute:)
Dante decided he thought he would join us right when we got to the front. No one got mad so I guess that is ok. Ethan missed out though- but Erin and Dante had a blast jumping and going REALLY high!
Now we come to the AMAZING MAZE that entertained them til' the place closed practically! In the above picture you can see Dante from the back and he is stamping his "time card" for when you enter the maze and then when you exit you stamp it again and see how well you did.

Here are Erin, Ethan and Dante all that the lookout in the maze.

Ethan cheating?? NO!! Not my Ethan?? YEP! He spent more time on the ground then on his feet.
Chet had to get in on the action and played tag with the kids - here you can see him in the left hand corner and Erin running for her life because she knows dad is coming.

Chet FINISHED the maze- but did he beat the kids time??

When all was said and done and the maze was completed 100 times per kid- here is what the stamp desk looked like! Yes- all the cards outside of the clear box are my kids time stamp cards. Apparently they don't know what a trash can is- and they don't know how to conserve. Am I to blame?? :)
After NASA we headed over to one of Chet's co-workers houses because he has like a zoo of exotic animals. It is crazy! You can see Dante above trying to be like Brittany Spears. Not too shabby.
Here is Chet with the adorable little monkey! Can't you see Chet walking around town with one of those little red musical boxes that he turns a handle to play with a cute little monkey sitting on his shoulder with a little red hat?? I CAN!!
Ethan was a little unsure of the whole snake thing and Erin wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with ANY of the animals except the dog.

They also had a couple of foxes and small cheetah like cats. Since then he has also gotten a wallaby that we will have to go back and check out- the kids will go WILD!! :)

It was such a fun day!! Families are the best:)

Well- I'm off to the lovely city of San Diego for about a week- and I'll have a lot to blog about when I get home. Until then- ENJOY LIFE!!

While I'm waiting, let's play a game

I was going to blog about our day out at NASA last Monday, today- but Chet has the pictures on his laptop, and I thought that while I was waiting to get the pics sent to me- we could all play this fun game! Many other people are already playing it, and I think it is a lot of fun! So- 1-2-3 GO!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot...anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :)

ps - I've had to change my background from my beloved punch buggy's because if I pulled up my blog while ANY of my kids were in the room - it turned into a PUNCH fest of "punch buggy" "punch buggy" "punch buggy" !

No better beach than GALVESTON, TX

Last Saturday we headed off to the beach to be with good ol' Aunt Christie! My kids can't go too long without seeing her- or else they start to flip out! The beach trip started out with piles of sunscreen-- because there is nothing worse then a burnt child. Apparently I'm turning into my dad and I put WAY too much sunscreen on my face - and don't realize what I look like til' my sisters decide to point it out! I thought they were just taking a funny picture of me- they didn't let me know I looked like a ghost! What else are sisters for?!


Here is Erin- she was happy she got all rubbed in!

Now we are at the beach- and I'm so happy to have beach bums for kids! Here is Dante showing you a sea-shell. It was the most perfect beach day- EVER!!

Here we have a soon to be pro- boogie boarders chilaxin' in the sun. Aunt Christie is in the back on the green floatie.

Erin is all into taking pictures now! After wards she will let you know if she thinks it was a good picture or a bad one. According to her- the above one of her and below one of her and REALLY good pictures!

Here is our amateur surfer dude! He has the lingo down and everything from cowabunga to surf's up and Hang Loose! Auntie Elizabeth is training him well! Next time I'll get a shot of him on Elizabeths real surf board.
Here is Dante again- showing you another pretty shell he found in the ocean. He said he would only take pictures if he had a shell to show. He was VERY adamant about it! Too bad there weren't any hermit crabs for him to show you.
The weather was perfect- and even more perfect for smooth sailing! Next time hopefully we can bribe my dad into bringing down his catamaran. There is nothing like getting on the harness and "flying" especially when the waves are HUGE and sailing on the side of the boat! Yes sometimes we tip- but that is FUN!



Katie- I probably should make an apology to you and ruining sailing for you, when we went out about 12 years ago and you were already pretty freaked, and right before a huge wave came and knocked the boat right over, and you were hanging on for dear life- I decided to point and yell, shark or jelly fish, right before you fell into the water- and I'm sorry if that scarred you for life.

I didn't really think you would believe me. But if it makes you feel any better I got a HUGE scolding from my dad afterwards- and how I shouldn't do that- and that sailing isn't scary to me because I've been doing it forever- but it might be to others. Oh- and I also walk side-ways and that is kind of awkward sometimes. Do you forgive me? You should bring Rex down- he would LOVE IT!!

Children's Museum!

Here are some fun pictures from our wonderful afternoon at the Children's museum!:)

1st stop the "self-coloring" station. Aren't they cute? It is Erin and Missy and Lala (who are Brett and Amy's nieces)



This is one of the plants in the back- and I actually planted one last summer because it is one of the best to grow in Texas- once it gets started - the less water and the more humidity it gets- the better conditions for growing-- well- I guess mine didn't get nurtured enough to even get it started so - I don't know what happened to it- but it disappeared?! But it would look like this now if I still had it!! Just in case you were trying to picture my backyard.


Here is Dante and Jessica in the "red hot" car!! Dante likes the older women:)

This was a fun building station- they were kind of like tinker toys, but rubber. The kids had lots of fun making different creations.


Minnie and Amy! Minnie is wearing her favorite scowl! It really is a cute little scowl:)



Erin and Missy playing grocery store clerks-- they are giving people fish, chicken, lobster, and what ever else was back there.
Ethan waiting for the eggs to hatch. Waiting and waiting and waiting- and of course giving his signature thumbs up!

Aunt Emily and Ethan at I don't know where?

Here is Minnie with her little boyfriend in the special toddler section. And this is my favorite picture of the day! As we were leaving, Dante REALLY wanted 2 hot dogs from the little cafe there- and when I said no- maybe next time- he ran and cowered under a table and when he saw I was going to take a picture of him crying and whining- he tried to cover himself with a chair- which didn't work too well-- I LOVE it when my 7 year old does things like this! This picture is mainly for Melynda's enjoyment!

The trip was really fun and the kids loved every minute of it!

Tomorrow pictures from our recent beach trip!

Happy Birthday to my ONE AND ONLY!!!

C-STAR!!!
This one's for YOU!!


You are the best husband, father, friend, brother and yes even sister anyone could ask for! You always know how to make me and everyone else laugh- especially when you are constantly making faces like these - I mean- WHO WOULDN'T LOVE YOU!!!
You are such a hard working man for our family- and you still make time for us, when you are tired from working a 17 hour day! I hope your birthday was a nice little break from the "norm"! You are AMAZING!! And we LOVE YOU!! Here are some fun memories from your b-day to always remember:)


You and Me Together FOR-EVER! Waiting for the steaks to finish.

More silly faces- I'm sorry I make fun of them all the time- but you always have one on your face and they make me laugh:)
Your cake FINALLY finished being lit after 3 different fire starters.


Your cake all blown out- and he does it in ONE puff- not like a really long blow- but like a "puff"! It is the craziest thing you have EVER seen- and ALL the candles go out at the same time! Seriously- so bizarre and I can't even get ONE candle out doing it that way- I've been practicing-- and he beats me every time! You'll have to ask to see him do it sometime.:)

Then what is a fun family birthday night without Guitar Hero, Boggle and Crazy Rook???

Happy birthday sweetie pie! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did:) I love you with all my heart and the kids think you are pretty sweet too!

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!!

This is one of my favorite songs from Oklahoma! When I was little I would watch it over and over again- especially with my sisters and the Hopkins - (remember Katie, Lauren and Mogie?) That was way back when they also used to have "intermission" during the actual movie! Why is it that when they sing in movies now- it seems more cheesy then real? Like the Buffy musical episode??? I never watched Buffy- but I made sure to catch that one- and I don't think I have ever laughed harder! LOL!

Enjoy! And have a beautiful morning-- I'm going to try to jump on my horse and ride around every morning singing this song! Maybe I'll take a picture of it someday- until then- this handsome guy will have to do!



ps- children museum pics to come- I left my camera in my sister's purse and now I'm leaving to go down to the beach for the day. So, you'll get a whole mess of fun pics coming up next! Stay tuned!