This is for all of the grandparents. The video won't work through the email though, so make sure you actually go to the website to watch it.
www.jtflannery.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Chagrinned
So one of our CD's came due this last weekend which means shopping spree right?
Just kidding, but we did need a few things. About a week ago I noticed that I was having a hard time getting Alisabeth's size 6 shoes on her feet, so I needed that, plus with winter coming I needed some long-sleeved shirts (because I have none that still fit her).
So I headed off to Walmart and Payless Shoes.
Walmart went swimmingly.
I got into the kids section and Alisabeth was running happily back and forth between the "giant" mini-mouse dolls and the other stuffed animals so I took the opportunity to call my mom and see if she wanted to get in on the shopping spree and buy some of Alisa's birthday and Christmas presents. As we talked I noticed that Alisabeth wasn't running around anymore so I start walking toward her last known location and hear "Where's your mom?" I hurry my steps and find a woman hurridly trying to untie some baloons. She tells me that my daughter had climbed on top of the clothing rack to reach the baloons and since she didn't know where I was she thought it safer to get them for her. I thanked her politely and tried to show that I wasn't one of "those" moms.
So we head off and continue getting a new coat for daddy and thermals for mommy and chalk, a new learning toy, new clothes, thermals, tights and a halloween basket for Alisabeth. Then we headed to payless.
I looked at the size sevens but I just had this nagging feeling that I should actually measure her feet before buying new shoes. (plus they had a buy one get one half-off sale). So I find a scale, put her foot down and think "No, I must be seeing this wrong"
The sales lady confirmed it. Alisabeth's feet are now officially a toddler size 8!! AHHHH!
I put the new tenni shoes on her feet and stood her up. You should have seen this kid happy as a lark "Bitsy's shoes, Bitsy's shoes" It was cool. I felt horrible and then we went home, trailing our baloons after us.
My other great event this week was again a shopping incident.
I actually printed off coupons, planned my budget and looked at the adds. Albertson's had some great deals so I headed their way. I bought a junk load of stuff.
As the lady was finishing up with me, they usually tell you how much money you saved . . . she said "You saved se. . . " then she stopped and double checked shook her head a little, raised her eyebrows and finished, "You saved $70.17." I was way excited. I'm getting better at shopping so that we're saving money and so that I'm aware of the price fluctuations. . . Hopefully one of these days we'll spend less than $250 a month :)
Jason also had a good week. He's been learning some great stuff in his parenting class and right now they're putting together case studies of "disfunctional families" that another group can analyze and see if they can determine the best way to fix it.
Jason's group is working on a family where the father is working about 60 hours a week so that they can living in a large house. The oldest son is beginning to look toward other sources of male models and so the first thing their group is going to talk about is the need to get the father figure back in the home. Whether that means they need to downsize on house size or on other spending so that he can work less and be available more. It sounds like a pretty interesting project and class.
Alisabeth is doing really well. She counted from 5 to 10 the other day with absolutely no prompting. I was overly proud of her. She is also using possessives and 3-4 word sentances. We're still working on using words instead of whining or grunting, but she's amazing. She recognizes over 100 different animals and objects (based on books and blocks and driving down the road) it's just so cool to watch her go.
Now if only the potty training were going as smoothly.
Just kidding, but we did need a few things. About a week ago I noticed that I was having a hard time getting Alisabeth's size 6 shoes on her feet, so I needed that, plus with winter coming I needed some long-sleeved shirts (because I have none that still fit her).
So I headed off to Walmart and Payless Shoes.
Walmart went swimmingly.
I got into the kids section and Alisabeth was running happily back and forth between the "giant" mini-mouse dolls and the other stuffed animals so I took the opportunity to call my mom and see if she wanted to get in on the shopping spree and buy some of Alisa's birthday and Christmas presents. As we talked I noticed that Alisabeth wasn't running around anymore so I start walking toward her last known location and hear "Where's your mom?" I hurry my steps and find a woman hurridly trying to untie some baloons. She tells me that my daughter had climbed on top of the clothing rack to reach the baloons and since she didn't know where I was she thought it safer to get them for her. I thanked her politely and tried to show that I wasn't one of "those" moms.
So we head off and continue getting a new coat for daddy and thermals for mommy and chalk, a new learning toy, new clothes, thermals, tights and a halloween basket for Alisabeth. Then we headed to payless.
I looked at the size sevens but I just had this nagging feeling that I should actually measure her feet before buying new shoes. (plus they had a buy one get one half-off sale). So I find a scale, put her foot down and think "No, I must be seeing this wrong"
The sales lady confirmed it. Alisabeth's feet are now officially a toddler size 8!! AHHHH!
I put the new tenni shoes on her feet and stood her up. You should have seen this kid happy as a lark "Bitsy's shoes, Bitsy's shoes" It was cool. I felt horrible and then we went home, trailing our baloons after us.
My other great event this week was again a shopping incident.
I actually printed off coupons, planned my budget and looked at the adds. Albertson's had some great deals so I headed their way. I bought a junk load of stuff.
As the lady was finishing up with me, they usually tell you how much money you saved . . . she said "You saved se. . . " then she stopped and double checked shook her head a little, raised her eyebrows and finished, "You saved $70.17." I was way excited. I'm getting better at shopping so that we're saving money and so that I'm aware of the price fluctuations. . . Hopefully one of these days we'll spend less than $250 a month :)
Jason also had a good week. He's been learning some great stuff in his parenting class and right now they're putting together case studies of "disfunctional families" that another group can analyze and see if they can determine the best way to fix it.
Jason's group is working on a family where the father is working about 60 hours a week so that they can living in a large house. The oldest son is beginning to look toward other sources of male models and so the first thing their group is going to talk about is the need to get the father figure back in the home. Whether that means they need to downsize on house size or on other spending so that he can work less and be available more. It sounds like a pretty interesting project and class.
Alisabeth is doing really well. She counted from 5 to 10 the other day with absolutely no prompting. I was overly proud of her. She is also using possessives and 3-4 word sentances. We're still working on using words instead of whining or grunting, but she's amazing. She recognizes over 100 different animals and objects (based on books and blocks and driving down the road) it's just so cool to watch her go.
Now if only the potty training were going as smoothly.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Winter cometh. . .
I woke up this morning at 6 so that I could go baby-sit for a friend of mine (the wife was out of town for the weekend and the husband had class this morning). I happily open the door to go and set up Alisabeth's stroller before I wake her up and there's an inch of snow on the ground. . . Ewww!!
Granted I was expecting it sometime soon because it's been strangely cold the last few days, but still. . . it's one thing to know doom is coming and another to see it before your face.
So new things this week? Alisabeth can parrot quite a bit. In fact she's gotten good enough to parrot a prayer over lunch and dinner. It's really neat. We say "Dear" and she says "Heavenly Father" and then repeats the prayer, but when we get to "Jesus Christ" she doesn't say Christ she says Amen. . .we're still working on that part.
Jason got ahead on homework and has been working on the same project all week. I guess no matter what they've tried the water pump is still leaking. (It might not be a water pump) They've replaced all of the seals a couple of times and tried everything he can think of and the problem persists so today the teacher said he was going to work with him to try something different. I hope it works out. . .
As for me, I worked on Halloween costumes all week. Alisabeth's is mostly put together. I still need to figure out the hair part, but everything else is done. It looks pretty cute.
Jason's cloak is done except for the detail work. I have to put edging on and the hood. It looks pretty good. After that I'll need to fit it to his height and then deal with the bottom detailing.
I also finished the inner part of my dress. I just need the elastic for the empire waist. It looks pretty good. I need to get the right material for the top part now.
That's our excitement. We watched General Conference this weekend which is where the prophet and other leaders of our church get up and share messages and important ideas. It happens every six months and gives me a good idea of what I need to work on for the next half of a year. As I listen I feel that little nagging voice telling me how the messages apply to me. It's such a cool experience every six months! This year the focus of all the speakers seemed to be around service, love and not only finding out the Will of God, but also doing it. I appreciated that.
Granted I was expecting it sometime soon because it's been strangely cold the last few days, but still. . . it's one thing to know doom is coming and another to see it before your face.
So new things this week? Alisabeth can parrot quite a bit. In fact she's gotten good enough to parrot a prayer over lunch and dinner. It's really neat. We say "Dear" and she says "Heavenly Father" and then repeats the prayer, but when we get to "Jesus Christ" she doesn't say Christ she says Amen. . .we're still working on that part.
Jason got ahead on homework and has been working on the same project all week. I guess no matter what they've tried the water pump is still leaking. (It might not be a water pump) They've replaced all of the seals a couple of times and tried everything he can think of and the problem persists so today the teacher said he was going to work with him to try something different. I hope it works out. . .
As for me, I worked on Halloween costumes all week. Alisabeth's is mostly put together. I still need to figure out the hair part, but everything else is done. It looks pretty cute.
Jason's cloak is done except for the detail work. I have to put edging on and the hood. It looks pretty good. After that I'll need to fit it to his height and then deal with the bottom detailing.
I also finished the inner part of my dress. I just need the elastic for the empire waist. It looks pretty good. I need to get the right material for the top part now.
That's our excitement. We watched General Conference this weekend which is where the prophet and other leaders of our church get up and share messages and important ideas. It happens every six months and gives me a good idea of what I need to work on for the next half of a year. As I listen I feel that little nagging voice telling me how the messages apply to me. It's such a cool experience every six months! This year the focus of all the speakers seemed to be around service, love and not only finding out the Will of God, but also doing it. I appreciated that.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Success
For those of you who wanted an update, here's my finger as of a few seconds ago. It's much better but you can still see the welling around the nail, and there's a lot of discoloration that the camera just couldn't get. Also you can't really see the gaping hole. :) The nail and the flesh separated because of the swelling and it is still actually two separate pieces although the dried goop usually keeps it closed up :)
Next on the list of cool things is that I was able to kill Jason off this last D&D game. Thus the name of this week's entry. . .
Now, before you judge me too harshly just imagine a dwarf who doesn't care about money. Instead said dwarf has become a sorcerer. Secondly because he's still a dwarf he has a strange desire to run into battle, but because he's a sorcerer he has no ability to take a hit, therefore, the little squishy was near death too many times to count.
Now in Jason's defense he was learning to do quite well at staying out of battle and letting the fighters do it all, but when I tell you how he died you'll understand why death was necessary.
We get to a little town, the miners are all drinking in the pub. . . in the middle of the day. We ask what's up and they say they were happily digging away in the salt mine when suddenly something came out and anyone he touched got very dehydrated and sick.
We go to investigate and find 3 salt mummies trying to dig something out of the rocks. After dispatching them we open up the door that they were trying to uncover and find a burial chamber. There are runes written on all of the statues and junk so I say "We need to read them. Jason you know how to read that go for it."
Without thinking about it he just runs straight in the room, passes by three or four statues and heads straight for the sarcophagus to read what's written on it. Needless to say the magic mummy that was off to the side didn't give him any warning and suddenly he was struck with continuous lightening for a minute or so. Thus he brought his death upon himself. . . with my egging.
But, in my defense I also had a spell ready. I reincarnated him into another body.
this is my hubby now:
Considering the fact that I'm an elf I think it's a good change :) Plus he is now half-dragon which means he'll be able to fight and fly and cast spells all over the place. Go my hubby!!!
That was our D&D fun this week :)
Lastly I have started a new project: Halloween costumes
Here's mine:
Remember I'm going to become my character from D&D
Thus here is the dress but the material will be darker and closer to the brown's of nature.
This is the ribbon I've chosen for the belt.
And here is Jason, who will now be a Niomus instead of a dwarf. . . much easier I might add.
We'll have to bulk up the back just a little bit to make it look like he's hiding wings under there, but that shouldn't be too hard.
Wish me luck. Alisabeth's is mostly done. I just need to get finishing touches. We'll take pictures of the various parts as soon as we get them done. . . you have to pretend you think they look awesome for my confidences sake :)
Next on the list of cool things is that I was able to kill Jason off this last D&D game. Thus the name of this week's entry. . .
Now, before you judge me too harshly just imagine a dwarf who doesn't care about money. Instead said dwarf has become a sorcerer. Secondly because he's still a dwarf he has a strange desire to run into battle, but because he's a sorcerer he has no ability to take a hit, therefore, the little squishy was near death too many times to count.
Now in Jason's defense he was learning to do quite well at staying out of battle and letting the fighters do it all, but when I tell you how he died you'll understand why death was necessary.
We get to a little town, the miners are all drinking in the pub. . . in the middle of the day. We ask what's up and they say they were happily digging away in the salt mine when suddenly something came out and anyone he touched got very dehydrated and sick.
We go to investigate and find 3 salt mummies trying to dig something out of the rocks. After dispatching them we open up the door that they were trying to uncover and find a burial chamber. There are runes written on all of the statues and junk so I say "We need to read them. Jason you know how to read that go for it."
Without thinking about it he just runs straight in the room, passes by three or four statues and heads straight for the sarcophagus to read what's written on it. Needless to say the magic mummy that was off to the side didn't give him any warning and suddenly he was struck with continuous lightening for a minute or so. Thus he brought his death upon himself. . . with my egging.
But, in my defense I also had a spell ready. I reincarnated him into another body.
this is my hubby now:
Considering the fact that I'm an elf I think it's a good change :) Plus he is now half-dragon which means he'll be able to fight and fly and cast spells all over the place. Go my hubby!!!
That was our D&D fun this week :)
Lastly I have started a new project: Halloween costumes
Here's mine:
Remember I'm going to become my character from D&D
Thus here is the dress but the material will be darker and closer to the brown's of nature.
This is the ribbon I've chosen for the belt.
And here is Jason, who will now be a Niomus instead of a dwarf. . . much easier I might add.
We'll have to bulk up the back just a little bit to make it look like he's hiding wings under there, but that shouldn't be too hard.
Wish me luck. Alisabeth's is mostly done. I just need to get finishing touches. We'll take pictures of the various parts as soon as we get them done. . . you have to pretend you think they look awesome for my confidences sake :)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Updated!!
I've been trying to load a video for several weeks. . . let's see if we have success this time.
Nope, that means you get pictures instead. See the tomato plant. Poor thing is trying so hard to grow it's tomatoes before it dies.
The corn came out fairly well. We actually ate it mixed with other stuff so I can't tell you if it was awesome, but it didn't taste bad :)
There are still more ears to go. . .I'll let you know.
So our garden was hit with the first frost of the year and then the second. The first didn't seem to have any effect, but the second got the tomatoes and the squash plants. . . We'll have to see what today's frost did when we go visit tomorrow.
On a D&D level our DM has been trying to kill us off with incredibly hard enemies and lots of them. This last group was about 20 zombies of various sizes and two gigantic stone golems which basically trampled through us. I have 69 hit points and he did 36 damage on the first pass, just to give you an idea of their abilities.
Luckily I have leveled up hugely in the last few games (because a side effect of trying to kill us is that he's sending higher level characters and when we beat them we gain a lot of experience and ability). So I was able to summon two gi-hugic earth elementals which suddenly pounded the two things into the ground like they were toy dolls :)
As for the 20 zombies. . . I turned the floor into mud and then once they had sunk down about chest deep I turned it back into stone :) Thus they were completely taken care of with no issues at all. Jason had also greased the stairwell so that they couldn't get at us.
We also went up against a guy who had magical cards that could cause random types of damage, but I was putting Alisabeth to bed during that so apparently I encased him in wood so that he couldn't throw any more cards and Jason levitated the mass and bumped him into the ceiling a couple of times to knock him out.
The other bad-guy for the night, as if all that wasn't enough was a creature under illusion which cast magic to paralyze us. Luckily only one person in our group was not suceptible and was able to free all of us every time. If it hadn't been for his ability to roll high on the save throw we would have all died a couple of times.
School also started a week and a half ago. It's good.
Alisabeth is speaking more clearly now. She's got a couple of sentences and a demanding personality! The one thing we're working on is whining. We can't quite figure out why she does it because we won't respond to it and instead make her tell us in words, but maybe it's just a never ending phase.
I think this is the cutest picture. She sat her little doll down next to her and comenced to have a conversation and play with her. She got very upset when her baby would not "baby sit!"
Jason is doing well. He is enjoying his parenting classes and his automotive classes.
Last summer he tried to fix a car and ended up breaking it beyond repair when he messed up the timing chain. So guess what his first assignment was in his automotive class? (I guess the first five students that came in had timing chain issues) so he'll be perfecting his abilities :)
He learned more about the roles and influence of mother and father this week too. I'm enjoying hearing about what he's learning.
My week was fun, I decided to give myself some sort of blood poisoning or serious infection in my finger so it is currently swollen to about twice the size of a normal index finger. It makes life a bit hard.
I've been taking meds and soaking it in Epsom salt a couple times a day but so far there have been no result. Basically, this means that Tuesday they're going to slice my finger open and get all the "crud" out of there.
I wanted to include this shot. This is my practice time with the french horn. . . they play very well. :)
Nope, that means you get pictures instead. See the tomato plant. Poor thing is trying so hard to grow it's tomatoes before it dies.
The corn came out fairly well. We actually ate it mixed with other stuff so I can't tell you if it was awesome, but it didn't taste bad :)
There are still more ears to go. . .I'll let you know.
So our garden was hit with the first frost of the year and then the second. The first didn't seem to have any effect, but the second got the tomatoes and the squash plants. . . We'll have to see what today's frost did when we go visit tomorrow.
On a D&D level our DM has been trying to kill us off with incredibly hard enemies and lots of them. This last group was about 20 zombies of various sizes and two gigantic stone golems which basically trampled through us. I have 69 hit points and he did 36 damage on the first pass, just to give you an idea of their abilities.
Luckily I have leveled up hugely in the last few games (because a side effect of trying to kill us is that he's sending higher level characters and when we beat them we gain a lot of experience and ability). So I was able to summon two gi-hugic earth elementals which suddenly pounded the two things into the ground like they were toy dolls :)
As for the 20 zombies. . . I turned the floor into mud and then once they had sunk down about chest deep I turned it back into stone :) Thus they were completely taken care of with no issues at all. Jason had also greased the stairwell so that they couldn't get at us.
We also went up against a guy who had magical cards that could cause random types of damage, but I was putting Alisabeth to bed during that so apparently I encased him in wood so that he couldn't throw any more cards and Jason levitated the mass and bumped him into the ceiling a couple of times to knock him out.
The other bad-guy for the night, as if all that wasn't enough was a creature under illusion which cast magic to paralyze us. Luckily only one person in our group was not suceptible and was able to free all of us every time. If it hadn't been for his ability to roll high on the save throw we would have all died a couple of times.
School also started a week and a half ago. It's good.
Alisabeth is speaking more clearly now. She's got a couple of sentences and a demanding personality! The one thing we're working on is whining. We can't quite figure out why she does it because we won't respond to it and instead make her tell us in words, but maybe it's just a never ending phase.
I think this is the cutest picture. She sat her little doll down next to her and comenced to have a conversation and play with her. She got very upset when her baby would not "baby sit!"
Jason is doing well. He is enjoying his parenting classes and his automotive classes.
Last summer he tried to fix a car and ended up breaking it beyond repair when he messed up the timing chain. So guess what his first assignment was in his automotive class? (I guess the first five students that came in had timing chain issues) so he'll be perfecting his abilities :)
He learned more about the roles and influence of mother and father this week too. I'm enjoying hearing about what he's learning.
My week was fun, I decided to give myself some sort of blood poisoning or serious infection in my finger so it is currently swollen to about twice the size of a normal index finger. It makes life a bit hard.
I've been taking meds and soaking it in Epsom salt a couple times a day but so far there have been no result. Basically, this means that Tuesday they're going to slice my finger open and get all the "crud" out of there.
I wanted to include this shot. This is my practice time with the french horn. . . they play very well. :)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
It's been a while for some reason, so I'll just post everything I haven't covered yet :)
We had a barbeque and invited everyone we talked to. Some people didn't hear about it, but as usual we cooked way too much food so we invited anyone still outside that afternoon :)
The next one is the self-styled artistry of our daughter. She learned how to use the camera last week and took about 20 shots of the ceiling and about 10 of herself, all similar to this. She got one or two of me or Jason and another couple of the floor. All in all it was a pretty good photo shoot and we're pretty sure the client will find something to their liking.
Alisabeth practiced her artistry in another way this week. She did this, and then after I took it all down she came back through and did it again. . . I love her.
Isn't she cute. We have about three more of similar shots.
She also found my sandals this week and began the process of learning to walk in high heels.
Look mom!! I finished it!!
We had a barbeque and invited everyone we talked to. Some people didn't hear about it, but as usual we cooked way too much food so we invited anyone still outside that afternoon :)
The next one is the self-styled artistry of our daughter. She learned how to use the camera last week and took about 20 shots of the ceiling and about 10 of herself, all similar to this. She got one or two of me or Jason and another couple of the floor. All in all it was a pretty good photo shoot and we're pretty sure the client will find something to their liking.
Alisabeth practiced her artistry in another way this week. She did this, and then after I took it all down she came back through and did it again. . . I love her.
Isn't she cute. We have about three more of similar shots.
She also found my sandals this week and began the process of learning to walk in high heels.
Look mom!! I finished it!!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Completion.
This is the picture I hadn't taken yet from Tucson:
Then we left Tucson for San Diego. We stopped to unload most of our stuff at the Jimenez house where it would remain for the week so that we wouldn't have to worry about it while we were on the boat.
The ones with the pooh bear are a special shout out for Alena.
Then we headed for the shelter of a great hotel near the beaches to wait out the weekend:
This is the view from the loft area where Jason and I slept. My mom and Al had a private room below us. Alisabeth spent the first night on a makeshift bed and the next one in a crib. She didn't enjoy that part :) The best part about the hotel was that it had a full kitchen, barely visible in the above picture. So Sunday we were able to cook a frozen lasagna and ate a great homemade meal while we were over 1000 miles from home :)
San Diego also boasted quite a few nice beaches. They were Alisabeth's first experience with the ocean. She loved it. She was apprehensive at first, but after about five minutes she was all about the incoming waves. We built a little fort to "protect" us from the water and had a blast. . . Notice I'm wearing a new shirt. . . why? . . . I have no idea.
We decided to enjoy the trip. We spent a little too much, but we just couldn't pass up the cartride across the street from the parking to the ship, or the $15 coconut cup.
I tried to get a complete shot of the ship so you could see it all, but I messed up a bit. You should be able to put it all together at least.
The ship was gorgeous. We had a private balcony, a wonderful woman who would make sure that our room was straightened three times a day, and all of the comforts of a luxury hotel plus a lot more. Everyone loved Alisabeth. We were known as "with Alisabeth" whenever we went anywhere. (Like being seated in the dining room).
The first stop was Catalina Island where Alisabeth again got to play on the beaches and we got to walk around the tourist trap and admire the price tags. We got there by boat. . . from our boat. . .
If you wonder why she's wearing a lifevest it's not because we were near deep water. . . it's because Jason felt we should. . . since we had taken the time to bring it along. . . wierdo.
The next stop was Ensenada. It was a very cute town. We were again led to the tourist trap and were again left to admire the price tags, however thsi time we were caught a few times and walked away with a silver bracelet, a couple of bead necklaces for Alisa and a shirt for Jason.
Jason enjoyed his first authentic Mexican tacos in a little cafe. They were good. I asked for Carne and the man said "Cual tipo de carne?" I looked confused so he opened five different containers each containing a different form of beef and again asked which type I wanted. It was great.
The tourist trap horseback ride was nice too. The owner accompanied our group and told us a little about herself and the area. We basically travelled the highest mountains closest to Ensenada all the way around a circuit which showed off the city and the landscape. It was beautiful. I didn't take many pictures because it was mighty rocky and I was a little worried about my big black's footing. He kept slipping on me. Nothing deadly, just a little unsettling.
After that it was smooth sailing home. Jason and Alisabeth spent a lot of time outdoors and I was able to enjoy myself inside watching way to many movies for a four day trip. I think the total was something around 10. They were all free, and only one was seen completely through from beginning to end the first time. ;)
All in all the vacation was amazing. We had a blast. Unlike last time I didn't feel burned out at all when we got home. I was very glad to be with family and friends. I am excited to go back to Arizona in about 6 months!!!!!!
Then we left Tucson for San Diego. We stopped to unload most of our stuff at the Jimenez house where it would remain for the week so that we wouldn't have to worry about it while we were on the boat.
The ones with the pooh bear are a special shout out for Alena.
Then we headed for the shelter of a great hotel near the beaches to wait out the weekend:
This is the view from the loft area where Jason and I slept. My mom and Al had a private room below us. Alisabeth spent the first night on a makeshift bed and the next one in a crib. She didn't enjoy that part :) The best part about the hotel was that it had a full kitchen, barely visible in the above picture. So Sunday we were able to cook a frozen lasagna and ate a great homemade meal while we were over 1000 miles from home :)
San Diego also boasted quite a few nice beaches. They were Alisabeth's first experience with the ocean. She loved it. She was apprehensive at first, but after about five minutes she was all about the incoming waves. We built a little fort to "protect" us from the water and had a blast. . . Notice I'm wearing a new shirt. . . why? . . . I have no idea.
We decided to enjoy the trip. We spent a little too much, but we just couldn't pass up the cartride across the street from the parking to the ship, or the $15 coconut cup.
I tried to get a complete shot of the ship so you could see it all, but I messed up a bit. You should be able to put it all together at least.
The ship was gorgeous. We had a private balcony, a wonderful woman who would make sure that our room was straightened three times a day, and all of the comforts of a luxury hotel plus a lot more. Everyone loved Alisabeth. We were known as "with Alisabeth" whenever we went anywhere. (Like being seated in the dining room).
The first stop was Catalina Island where Alisabeth again got to play on the beaches and we got to walk around the tourist trap and admire the price tags. We got there by boat. . . from our boat. . .
If you wonder why she's wearing a lifevest it's not because we were near deep water. . . it's because Jason felt we should. . . since we had taken the time to bring it along. . . wierdo.
The next stop was Ensenada. It was a very cute town. We were again led to the tourist trap and were again left to admire the price tags, however thsi time we were caught a few times and walked away with a silver bracelet, a couple of bead necklaces for Alisa and a shirt for Jason.
Jason enjoyed his first authentic Mexican tacos in a little cafe. They were good. I asked for Carne and the man said "Cual tipo de carne?" I looked confused so he opened five different containers each containing a different form of beef and again asked which type I wanted. It was great.
The tourist trap horseback ride was nice too. The owner accompanied our group and told us a little about herself and the area. We basically travelled the highest mountains closest to Ensenada all the way around a circuit which showed off the city and the landscape. It was beautiful. I didn't take many pictures because it was mighty rocky and I was a little worried about my big black's footing. He kept slipping on me. Nothing deadly, just a little unsettling.
After that it was smooth sailing home. Jason and Alisabeth spent a lot of time outdoors and I was able to enjoy myself inside watching way to many movies for a four day trip. I think the total was something around 10. They were all free, and only one was seen completely through from beginning to end the first time. ;)
All in all the vacation was amazing. We had a blast. Unlike last time I didn't feel burned out at all when we got home. I was very glad to be with family and friends. I am excited to go back to Arizona in about 6 months!!!!!!
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