Fearless

Elia is fearless. She has learned to swim so well this summer (almost as well as G!) and it is because she has absolutely zero fear of the water. Gianna can swim very well but she gets nervous when she knows the water is over her head and clings to me. Elia fights me to get out of my arms and laughs when I frantically pull her out and she has swallowed a ton of water.

We went to the pool Saturday morning and G was practicing her "humpback whale", which is just falling flat on your back in the water. She is really good at it. Elia wants to be just like G so she tried it too. She was only taking a step back in the water and so on her second try, her face came too close to the edge of the pool and she scraped and bruised her nose. I think it could have been way worse (like hitting her head on the way down or hitting her chin really hard) but it is still really sad to look at.

The weekend was great otherwise. Uncle Patrick stayed with us for a little while en route to UD and they made some corn-hole boxes for his Old Mill apt. We got to go on a little date- to finally see Transfomers 3. Oh! And I made this, this, this, this and this. Pinterest gave me all my ideas, and now I have a freezer full of meals for a few weeks that will help me get through the hustle and bustle of the new job.

My First Day Back!

Yesterday around 4 I got the message that the teacher I am subbing for is going on bedrest. So today was my first day of work!! It is basically like I am starting the year out with them since this is the first week of school for the students. Gianna was really excited because she got to bring her lunchbox to daycare. Here they are this morning before we left.

Its been a hectic 24 hours but it was a great start for the year! More details later...

Rapunzel, let down your haaaiiiiiirrrr

We are a little bit obsessed with Tangled around here. We watched it quite a few times in Cali during airplane rides and car trips and then again this weekend on the road. From the playroom this morning, I hear Gianna singing the Rapunzel song,

Make the clock reverse, turn back what once was mine.....

It really should be the opposite- since Elia's hair is so much longer. I am sooooo stinking tempted to cut it everyday because she screams everytime I try to do anything to it!!

Houston Family Vacation: Giant's Baseball

Saturday night the Giant's lost to the Astros. It was sort of disappointing. This game (and Sunday's) I found myself paying way more attention than usual. I think it has something to do with the fact that the stadium is air conditioned. The Rangers seriously need to look into putting in a roof and some air conditioning.

Sunday's game was way better, and the Giants won! Yay for Chris. We got there early for this game in hopes of getting an autograph or 2. No such luck.

Elia slept on my lap for a good 2 hours and then she hopped off and G took a 15 minute snoozer on my lap. I either had the touch, or they were pretty tired from not really napping well in the car or sleeping well on the hotel bed!

We got home around 10pm last night, all exhausted. We had such a fun time!!!

Houston Family Vacation: The Hotel

The Giant's played in Houston this weekend, so we decided to do a little family getaway there. We got a hotel room and it was a huge hit with the girls. The minute we got there they had to explore everything- open all the drawers and doors, play in the closet, use the phone, etc.

We went to the pool twice and I wish I had taken pictures of Gianna swimming. She can swim across the whole pool! She can do it at our public pool at home, but there the water level doesn't go over her head. Its quite impressive, actually!

Eating Cheetos in bed. Doesn't get more vacation-y than that!!!

Check out time. They thought it was so fun to ride on the luggage cart!!!

School Days...

So I don't usually write about drama on the ole blog, but it just had to be done.

I had 4 interviews in a span of 3 weeks and nothing came of it. And by nothing, I mean no job. I could go into all the gory details, but it just makes me more frustrated every time I talk about it. Why couldn't I, from those 4 interviews with 3 different schools, get hired? What was wrong with me? Do I interview poorly? Were more experienced people picked over me? I'll never know. At least I had the November sub job lined up.

Then this morning, the principal from the school I am subbing for called me and asked me if I could do 2 sub jobs this year. The first one starts at the end of September and goes until January and the second one starts right after that and goes until end of April. I will be teaching 2nd grade first and then 3rd grade after that.

So essentially, I will be teaching almost a full school year. Its going to be a wild ride!!!

Birthday Party

Gianna's bff in the whole wide world turns 4 tomorrow! So to celebrate, her mama threw a great little party at the splash park in Irving. (side note, this splash park is about 2 blocks from the house we lived in our first year of marriage. We took many a walk at this park and little did we know that a few years later they would put a splash pad in! Why did we ever move? Oh yeah, because the house we used to live in was literally held up with Elmers glue and Popsicle sticks. And I love our house now. But it was fun to drive past the house and think about the good ole days.)

For her b-day gift, the girls and I whipped up some edible play dough. Thanks to pinterest, I will always have amazing ideas for presents. It was cheap too!

So we went to this wonderful splash pad and had a great time!

Happy Birthday S!!

Typical Saturday Night...

Saturday Gianna and Elia thought they would put on a little fake wrestling show. Got dressed up and everything for it...

They pretty much just danced around instead of wrestling. Still cute though!

Reunion and Softball Game

The last hurrah of the reunion weekend was a softball game with everyone. Chris' Mohawk got a new nickname- Moe's Hawk. Loved the nickname, didn't necessarily love the look. He shaved it before we left Napa.

Wine Tasting and Poker

Saturday morning, Chris and I went wine tasting with some family that was in town. Uncle Eric is still close with the people who work at Artessa, so we naturally went there. Employee discount on fabulous wine? Yes please!

Beautiful!

Later that night we played poker as usual during big family get togethers. I won the first hand, which they say is bad luck. But not that night! I ended up playing till the end and winning $70. I think this is my first victory, and it was so sweet, especially beating Tim who tried to weasel himself into a win.

Jack London State Park

For Chris' birthday, most of the family went out to Jack London State Park. It is just outside of Sonoma, so again, the drive was very pretty. Jack London bought lots of land in the early 1900s and it has since been converted to a state park. There are lots of ruins there of the different buildings he had constructed, the main one being the "Wolf House", London's dream home. It was a huge house with 26 rooms and 9 fire places. A month before London and his wife were to move in, the house burned down, leaving the Wolf House Ruin. He died before he could rebuild. So sad his dream wasn't realized!

Walking the Trail

In front of his dream house.

Beautiful Scenery for some family photos!

Blackberry Picking and Compadres

Chris and his brothers know all the great spots for picking blackberries, so we got all ready for a hike and went out to Timber Hill. The blackberries grow wild and so it is free to anyone who is willing to brave the scratchy thorns. I think we came home with almost 3 gallons! We are going to make cobbler, bars and pies. Yum yum.
Then that night all the adults went out to Compadres for dinner and margaritas with none other than the Aunt Jeri.