Missing Frankie

Frankie is in Napa again and I'm all alone. Well, the kids are here of course. This is Frankie's 3rd year going on the trip. At his work the top three wine sellers get to go on an all expense paid trip to Napa. The past two years he was 1st place, and this year he came in 2nd. He looks so forward to this, and by now has it in his head that he is going from early on in the year. They get to stay in a very exclusive place, I think on a vineyard, in a cottage. You can't even make reservations, you have to be invited. They are treated with lots of wine tasting, tours of different vineyards, and gourmet meals. I love that he gets to experience this. But I hate that I have to be alone at night! There's something about sleeping in bed alone that just doesn't feel right. Maybe I'll have Brad sleep in my bed.

Frankie left really early this morning and last night Bradley made him the cutest card and told me to sneak it into his suitcase (which was really hard because Frankie wouldn't leave the room for one second! I tried everything!). I did eventually get it in there though. And then Frankie wanted me to sneak a note into Brad's lunchbox. It was so funny! They both had the same idea! Then I found a note in my diaper bag from Frankie. I guess we're just cheesy like that!

I can't wait until he's home.

New Park!!!

I was so excited when I got the flyer in the mail saying the 3rd phase of Centennial Hills Park was opening. Sometimes I wonder if I get more excited over parks than my kids. You have to admit they make some rad parks for kids now. So we had to go check it out. It is such a cool park! We showed up wanting to go in the water, but the sign said they were doing maintenance on it, so we explored the new playground. (It was working a couple of days before, but I guess they have to work out some kinks??) Landon just kissed the turtle, but I missed it by a second.

Here's the water park. It looks like fun! I hope they get it fixed so we can try it out before they shut it off until next summer.

There's a little trail that you can take and go up higher. Then the path leads to a gazebo where there's a 360 degree view of the whole park and then some. It's beautiful up there!

This is the view from the gazebo to the (a.k.a. the flower park) of Centennial Hills Park.

Here's the amphitheater. I can't wait to see what they'll have going on there.

Here's a view of the park from the gazebo. There's a walkway behind the equipment that branches off to each level of the park. I guess I forgot to get a picture of the park from the ground.

That's the water park again. I think I was enjoying the view too much and not really thinking of what I was taking pictures of.

Leah you're going to have to bring the kids. We'll hit up Cafe Rio and then head to the park! I'm trying to entice you, did it work?!?

So if you're a park lover like myself you'll have to check it out. We can't wait until the weather is nice so we can spend many hours there burning off all that little boy energy!

School's In Session!

Yesterday was Bradley's first day of 2nd grade. He would ask me during summer how much longer until school started, and then complain about not wanting to go back because "School's stupid." Then I'd try to explain how redundant that statement is. He really does like school, but after having fun all summer he didn't want to go back. As it got closer and closer to the first day he got more and more excited, thank goodness. And especially after last weeks Meet n Greet where he saw all his friends, he was definitely ready to go back. He laid out his outfit the night before. The next morning he woke me up and was all dressed and ready to go! It was so cute. I used to love the first day of school when I was a kid so I knew how excited he was.
Here he is all ready to go. I can't believe how big my Bradley is!

He has been SO excited to show off his new Yankee backpack! But he is not happy (and neither am I) that the Yankee lunchbox I ordered (in mid July- don't get me started) is on back order, so he had to use his lunchbox from last year. But no lunchbox on back order was going to ruin his 1st day!

He's growing up too fast!

Landon LOVES Bradley so much. He's going to be missing his best buddy!

Here he is about to walk in with his class.

He survived the first day of 2nd grade! He really likes his teacher and his class. He already has a crush on a girl! But ssshhhhh! Don't tell him I told you so or I'm in major trouble!

Flashback to...

Bradley's first day of 1st grade!

And his first day of kindergarten!!! It's crazy how time flies! He seems so grown up to me.

CREEPY!!!

Yesterday while Landon was napping I took advantage of it and polished my toes. While I was doing so, Bradley ran into my bathroom and said,"Mom you've got to get downstairs and kill this spider in the bathroom!" He went on and on about how big it was and I told him to chill out. We've never really had a bug problem. The occasional earwig or a dead cockroach (totally gross). That's pretty much it. I majorly hate bugs, but I really thought he was being dramatic and it was probably a daddy long leg or something. So I take my time. I finish polishing my toes, let them dry and go down to check it out. This is what I walked in to see. Holy freakin' mother!!! I wish I could've seen my own face! I told Brad to get dad FAST! There was no way I was getting close to that bad boy! Frankie wouldn't come. He thought we were exaggerating. Finally, I convinced him to come check it out. He was like,"What in the.....?!" We didn't want to squish it- imagine all the funk that would squish out of it!

So we grabbed a plastic cup and Frankie scooped it and flushed it. Then I thought, is it going to climb back out of the toilet, like some super spider?? So I flushed some more. Thinking back I should've caught it in the cup and killed it with some rubbing alcohol so I can show the bug guy when he comes. I guess I'll just show him the picture. You know I was on the phone with them ASAP.

So seriously click on that close up and tell me you're not creeped out! I'm driving myself crazy because every tickle, every little black toy on the ground, is creeping me out! I think everything is a spider now.

My brother Tyler was over tonight and said it might be a brown recluse which is not a good thing. So now I'm even more freaked out! I have to convince Bradley (who's still creeped out) that every thing's fine, don't worry about it, while I'm still worried about it!

Hopefully that's the first and last spider we'll find in our house!!!

18 Months Old!

My little Landon will be 18 months old tomorrow!!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. He is such a big boy now. There is no shortage of personality here! He makes so many faces and says the funniest things everyday. Today I was holding him and I started coughing and he leans in real close to my face and says real concerned, "K?..Mom, K?" SO CUTE! He just wanted to make sure I was okay. He definitely keeps me on my toes though. He is into EVERYTHING!!! My house is so childproofed it's kind of ridiculous, but with this monkey around it's a must. Just yesterday he climbed up the changing table in his room and laid down on top and I could tell what he was thinking, "Yeah, I just did that. What about it??"
Here are some recent pics of my little guy.

He thinks he's real cool when he sits on the drum stool (trying not to fall off the whole time) and gets crazy with the drums! We got the shirt he has on in San Clemente in one of the shops. It says Little Bruiser with a pair of brass knuckles. That's Landon in a nutshell- our Little Bruiser. We're training him for the octagon. haha.

He loves his cousin Scotty. He calls him "Cotty". We went up to Mt. Charleston and they were so busy in the dirt. I couldn't get either of them to stop and look at the camera. Scotty had a good system down scooping the dirt with his spoon then putting it in the bucket. Landon thought he had a good system down but the dirt would fall off his spoon before he could get it in the bucket. But bless his heart, he kept on scooping.

This is Landon dancing at Grandma Farina's with his new shoes on that he thinks are so cool. When I put them on him for the first time I asked him if he liked them and he said very enthusiastically "I like it!" And then danced around staring at his new kicks.

Checking out some pics and them trying to be slick getting into the drawer finding the stash of remotes that were hidden from him. Can't fool him. Doesn't he have a cute squat??

Cafe Rio just opened down the street from my house (Yummy!) so we went there to celebrate Tyler's birthday. Landon's trying to hook up Kiersten with some salad, but she wasn't going to miss out on this photo op. Check out those pig tails. So cute! Dustin, no one can top the gift you gave Ty! HAHAHA!

This is from today. We went to Brad's Meet 'n' Greet at his school so we could meet his teacher. He's got a bunch of friends in his class so he's excited. And I think his teacher is going to be great so I'm excited. Afterwards we went to McDonald's for an end of summer celebration(?) haha. I told Landon to make his mean face and of course Brad wouldn't miss out, and that's what I got! Funny boys!

We love our Landon. He makes us laugh everyday!

Let's Go Yankee's

Last Friday we made a quick trip down to Anaheim for the Yankee/Angel game. We swapped Landon for my nephew Andrew and headed out in the late morning. We haven't taken the Altima on a trip yet, so instead of spending tons of money on gas for the Tahoe, we took the Altima and saved $$ big time on gas! It's the little things... Anyway we stopped by my Grandparents and had a good visit before heading off to meet my cousins for dinner before the game. Bradley with Grandma and Grandpa Darrington.

We're ready to go!

When we were all walking into the restaurant a fire truck was sitting out front and when Frankie, Andrew, and Bradley walked in front of it (I was behind them) the firefighter honked his (very loud) horn and showed us his Angels hat with a big grin on his face. They all jumped so bad! Then Frankie pointed to his NY tattoo. It was so funny!

Then to see us all sitting at one table half Yankee fans, half Angels fans was quite a site! Bradley made sure to make a crazy face in the pic.

My cousin Amanda and I at the game.

Andrew, Frankie, and Bradley looking so cute in their jerseys. I think there were more Yankee fans there, than Angel fans. Frankie started up the chant, "Let's go Yankee's!!!" And it got SO loud with our fellow fans joining in!!! Then an Angel fan tried the same thing and one other person chanted along with him! haha!

We had great seats. They were in right/center field and close to the wall.

That's my boyfriend (one of many on the team) Melky Cabrerra in center field. I was waving to him and I swear he was looking right at me. Ask Amanda she'll tell you! If you try to tell me otherwise, I just won't listen! haha!

From left to right- Juan (Amanda's boyfriend), my cousin Bryan, his wife Allyson, and Amanda.

The Yanks lost, but we still had so much fun! The weather was great and the company was FABULOUS! After the game we stood in the parking lot and chatted it up until all the cars were gone. What a fun group to go to the game with! We decided this would be a new tradition. Not the Angels winning part, just going to the game together!

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. Bradley is wearing an Angels hat and holding an Angel bat. Poor kid looks confused with the Yankee's shirt on with that stuff. The red just doesn't look right on him. Since I am from Anaheim the Angels are my 2nd favorite team and I let him get that stuff more as souvenirs, than something he'll actually wear.

After staying the night at my Grandparents we headed out the next morning to come home. The boys were still exhausted.

We couldn't wait to see Landon! We missed him so much. He was so glad to see Bradley.

****Yankee haters need not comment!****

Smells Like Walmart

Everyone that knows me, knows that I LOVE Target. I'm there at least once a week, but usually more than that. My Target is always clean, orderly, and the employees are always nice and knowledgeable. On rare (and I mean RARE) occasion I need to go to Walmart. Yes Walmart. Ugh. Just the thought makes me cringe.
I've been looking for a metal closet bracket (you know, the circle thingys that you screw into the wall that holds the pole up across your closet ) everywhere. I went to Home Depot- no luck. I tried Target- nothing. I had to go to Costco and right across the street is Walmart so I decided I'd try and see if they had the brackets. As we're getting out of the car Bradley says, "Walmart? I hate Walmart. They have toxic toys made with lead from China." (You know the commercial.) I explained that we weren't getting toys and it would be a quick trip. Just looking at the people walking around in Walmart with their Nascar jackets on or the mom beating her kids is enough to make you get back in your car and leave. (Okay, I didn't actually see anyone with a Nascar jacket or a mom beating her child, but you know what I'm sayin'.) Where do these people come from?? Not my neighborhood! Walmart is a magnet for freaks! The second we get in there you get a wiff of what smelled like trash cans. And it stunk throughout the entire store. This store is still relatively new- it isn't even a year old yet!!! I still don't know what the stench was. Anyway, you would think it would be a quick trip, I just need one thing, but you have to remember the staff at Walmart. The have got to be the stupidest people on the planet. I had to ask 4 different people where I could find the bracket. One guy wouldn't even help me, he said it wasn't his department! After explaining what I was looking for the 2nd time the lady took me to the curtains- she obviously didn't hear the word closet- I don't know who has curtains in their closet, but it can't be that many! So after making bizarre suggestions I just said I'd ask someone else. The last guy was the best. He totally was annoyed that I asked him for help and didn't hide it. Then he took his sweet time showing me rods and acting like he was looking. I could tell I wasn't getting anywhere so I politely said Thanks and practically ran out of there! My last resort was Lowe's. The guy took me right to them and I thought I was going to kiss him, I was so happy to finally have found what I was looking for!!! (If you're wondering why I didn't go to Lowe's sooner, it's out of the way and not near any other place I had to go to.)
So moral of the story- don't ask employees at Walmart for help finding something because it's like talking to wall. Oh yeah, and Walmart SUCKS!!!