…to all the working moms out there.  I only work 20 hours.  And yet I failed to get dinner on the table once this past week.  Or stay on top of the laundry. Fortunately the house remained somewhat tidy (ok, ok, my cleaning lady did come on Wednesday, but still).

I will recap.  We had a great week.  Emma loves first grade and she loves her teacher.  Her teacher is awesome, very accommodating and super with communication!  Yay!  By far her favorite part of first grade is getting to play at the big playground.  It’s a big deal, you know.

Mason had a great first week as well.  He has the same teachers as last year since he’s still in the pre-K program.  This is a good thing because they’re awesome!  He’s making new friends, and he’s kept some friends from last year.  I told him that he’s one of the “older” kids in the classroom so he has to be a good example to the younger children.  And that he is!

I had a great first week!  Okay, I won’t lie.  We have some challenging kids.  ”Diamonds in the rough” if you will.  A handful of my new friends are a big rough around the edges.  But it’s only the first week.  Think of how they’ll be in the spring!  I can’t wait!  In fact, I asked the teacher (we’ll call her C, who is my college roommate) how long it takes before we are not constantly reminding and redirecting.  She said 2 months.  Eek.  K (the other teacher in our room (they job share)) (can I use that many parentheses?) said 4-5 months.  Double eek.  However, I am enjoying this new position and having fun with it.  I think it’s the perfect job for me!

Finding time to balance my workouts (okay, okay, what workouts?) and feeding my family at dinner has been the hardest challenge.  I am going to be whipping out that dusty crock pot for my dinners.  And as for working out?  I do see my trainer once a week after work.  But for those other days, I need to force myself out of bed around 5:00 or so.  I can totally do it.  I just need to.  Even if it’s 2 miles in the morning, it’s something that’s important to me!  Oh, and that notorious food journal that is a blessing and a curse? Starting it back up today.  I’ll be honest…summer screwed up my whole routine.

Anyway, this is my plan for the next few weeks.  To get those routines back under my belt.  Oh yeah, and blogging on top of all this?  It may not be 5 days a week, but I’ll still be here!  I hope you stop by for a visit!

What are your goals once the kids get back to school?

Part of the reason we went back to California a second time was to get in some beach time that June Gloom took away from us when we were there last time (in July, mind you).  Was that a run on sentence? Anyhoo. Oh, the fact that it was like 109 here helped push us westerly too!

So on the last afternoon that we were there, the sun finally came out and we decided to ditch the zoo (which was fabulous and quickly became one of my favorite zoos) and head to Coronado Island for some beach time.  Here are some pictures from that afternoon!

We’re on our way to California.  Yes, again.  Why?  Because it’s miserable here and I have precious few days to escape before school starts again.  2 weeks from today, to be exact.  Can you believe it?  This time, it’s just me and the kids.  And it will be more low-key.  I plan on the beach a lot.  Our Uncle will take us pier fishing, too!  I can’t wait for that…Emma is SO excited!  (Note to self: bring extra hand sanitizer and baby wipes)  We will go to the San Diego zoo also.  That’s it for the outings though!

Right now the plan is to come on Friday very early in the morning so we can meet up with Emma’s (old) kindegarten class for a mini-reunion at the movies!  I really want her to see everyone and get “reacquainted” before school starts back up.  She’ll be so excited!

Pelican hanging out on the pier

Any last minute plans before your kids start back to school?

To Oma and Opa’s cabin we go!  We’re headed to Flagstaff for the weekend to get into some cooler weather.  I’m so excited…monsoon season is in FULL swing up there.  That means lazy afternoons playing games and watching movies while the storms take over the city!  I hope to bring back some fun pictures.  Until then, I’ll leave you with some pictures of our time in Big Bear, California.  When I was there, it very much reminded me of Flagstaff.  Except, you know, Flagstaff doesn’t have a giant lake in the middle.  But you get the point, right?

A little info on our trip: we stayed with friends of my mother-in-law.  They have a house right on the lake that you will see.  And they have a boat that we went out on at least once a day.  My kids had never been on a boat.  They’re hooked now! We also took the ski lift to the top of (one of) the mountains.  It was beautiful!

Emma waving in between Mr. Ken and Grandma

The best one we could get!

Pinwheel

View from the top

house on lake

What mountain locale to you and your family like to visit?

Okay, I know this is a common issue with parents…they have a hard time getting their kids to sleep!  And many parents have a hard time getting their kids to sleep even in their own house!  I can’t imagine what those parents do when they’re on vacation.  Fortunately for me and Brett, our kids are WONDERFUL sleepers.  I don’t know how it happened.  I honestly don’t!  We didn’t co-sleep when the kids were infants.  We always knew that just wouldn’t be us.  I’m an extremely light sleeper and I knew I’d never sleep well knowing my baby was right next to me. I was always paranoid I’d roll over on him or her.

When we’re at home, we have our routine, as most households do, where we potty, wash hands, brush teeth, brush Emma’s hair, and story time.  Story time is in Emma’s bed because she’s got a double.  Then Mason goes into his room and it’s lights out for both!  Well, almost lights out.  We have a dimmer on their fan light so we leave it on the dimmest setting so they can read if they want to.  Within 5 minutes they’re usually both out.  Seriously.  And on vacation it’s the same thing.  Seriously.  How did I get so lucky?  Trust me, I know it’s not the norm!  Even on vacation when they’re not in their own beds, they still have no problem.  In San Diego, they both slept on inflatable mattresses without any issues.  Of course I would wake up in the middle of the night because I was worried they’d slide off or something.

Emma sleeps like me.  A little lighter and a little earlier.  And that goes for night time and morning.  She’ll go to bed earlier but she’ll wake up earlier, too.  We’ve tried too many things to change that.  It’s just who she is!  Mason, on the other hand, sleeps like my husband.  Heavy and LONG!  He can stay up later, but he’ll also wake up around 10:00 if we give him the chance.  Yes, he is 4 years old!  So crazy to me!  Oh, and Mason, much like Brett, and sleep in many places, as witnessed below.

How do your kids sleep?

I think I would like to make my kids love Disneyland as much as me.  I’ve been able to hook Emma in.  She’s a sucker for fast rollercoasters!  For Mason’s birthday, I surprised him with a day at Disneyland, just him and me.  I caught his reaction on video when I told him.  Not what I expected!  His eyes welled up with tears and he didn’t want to go.  As we started driving (let’s face it: we weren’t not going), we talked about the rides, listened to music (is it pathetic that I have a CD of all of the ride music??), and talked about everything at Disneyland.  At least the tears stopped and the frown turned upside down!  This is the kind of day we had:

I’ve won him over.  Now the only problem is winning their Daddy over.  And…sidenote, is it bad that an Arizona resident wants to get a Disneyland annual pass?

What’s your favorite ride at Disneyland?

(Ok, 3 words)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MASON!!!

…Disneyland!!!!

I have told him for awhile that I will take Mason to Disneyland when he is tall enough to go on the “big kid rides”.  Last year when we went for Emma’s birthday, he was only tall enough for the Matterhorn.  Which, yes, is a big kid ride.  But I’m a Disneyland fanatic and I’m not about to be stuck in Fantasyland and Toon Town all day.  Anyway, so Mason is now tall enough (40 inches, if you’re wondering, for most rides with the exception of Indiana Jones and California Screamin’ and a few others (yes, I know the height requirements, it’s a gift).  So this morning we will drive from North County to Anaheim and spend all day at the Magic Kingdom.  I want to tell him so bad, but I will refrain.  And try to keep it to myself.  In fact, I haven’t told many people I’m taking him.  It’s more fun as a surprise!

We will last as long as he lasts.  And hopefully that’s a long time!  I would like to stay for the new World Of Color show, but we will see.

Did I mention I. Can’t. Wait.  !!!

Mason on the Dumbo ride at age 2 1/2

What’s your favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom?

Is he finally overcoming his fear of the water? I’d say so!

We had such a busy weekend! Not only did Emma debut in her first ballet performance on Saturday morning, but we celebrated the birthdays of Mason, GG (Great Grandma), and Oma (my mom) on Saturday afternoon.  It was a crazy day, but so much fun to hang out with all of the family!  Mason had a great time at his party.  It was a pool party and bbq, and plenty of presents and sugar to top it all off!  I mentioned briefly in another post about his obsession with all things Mercedes.  Well, we fueled it this weekend, that’s for sure!  I will spare you the 9 minute video my husband took of him opening his Mercedes gifts (you’re welcome), but instead share with you some pictures from this very fun afternoon!

Enjoy!!

The first gift…the Mercedes hat!

And then the Mercedes shirt!

Last but not least, the coveted Mercedes key fob!

One happy boy!

Cake time!