Holidays & Celebrations

I think it was a couple of years ago that Matthew really complained about this time of year. To him, it seemed like there was one thing after another that we had to "commemorate". He was complaining, I think, because he didn't really grow up making a big deal about these "days". It's not like they were super monumental in my family, but they were days that were just a little different than the rest...needed to be acknowledged in some way. It all starts off with Mother's Day. Then there's a little break, and then it's Father's Day, which QUICKLY rolls into our Anniversary. There's another two or three week break, and then it's my birthday and then we end the "season of celebrations" with Matthew's birthday. It was all a little much the first year we were parents (see, it all comes back to the KIDS! Funny, isn't it?!). I think without Mother's Day and Father's Day, it wouldn't have seemed like anything. But these days, Matthew's really starting to figure it out.

For Mother's and Father's Days, I think we both got just about exactly what we could have wanted. Some time for ourselves and some good quality family time, and a little bit of relaxation in between (we don't know what we'll do when the kids stop napping!). Matthew treated me to a Giants game for Mother's Day and Matthew got Star Wars I, II, & III (he and Wyatt have a "thing" about Star Wars). More than anything, we appreciate having each other as the 'other' parent.

Our Anniversary was last Friday. FIVE big years. It's pretty crazy how fast time flies. We packed up the kids and headed to Tahoe on Thursday night. Friday, Matthew had some work to do, so I took the kids down to Donner Lake where Matthew met us later. We played in the water, hung out on the beach, ate lunch, etc. Headed back to the cabin for nap time. Duplicate this for two more days and you can see how our weekend was. It was sooooooo great. The kids had so much fun playing at the beach or the pool. We got to play a LOT, relax a LOT and spend a great weekend all together with no "Have To Do's". A great way to celebrate five years, I think! Of course, I forgot my camera, so I bought a disposable. I think I can get the pictures on a disc, so if and when that happens, I'll add them to this post!

We have a three week breather, now, before the next celebration! Next week, we're headed to Washington for our annual Fourth of July visit. No, it won't be for 17 days like last year...but we'll be there for a week. The kids are excited...my parents are beside themselves!!!

We wrapped a mini-vacation around the San Diego Rock and Roll marathon that Matthew decided to run. My mom and dad flew down from Washington, to enjoy the fun - well, let's be honest, they came down to spend time with the kids in a "vacation" environment!!!

The weather was really mild the whole weekend. On Saturday, while Matthew went to the runner's Expo, the rest of us went to Sea World. It almost looked like it was going to rain, but it didn't. It was a little warm and humid. The kids had a great time. We sat in the "Soak Zone" at the Shamu show, only to not get soaked! Wyatt was determined to ride the Atlantis water ride, so he and my dad went for it. There, they got soaked! Wyatt had water to pour out of his shoes, and they were literally wet from head to toe. The smiles on their faces were priceless

Look at those smiles!
Yep, she made a hat out of her Shamu lunch box! Then, she proceeded to call herself Princess Leia, and the topper: "Like water polo!" That girl, she keeps us laughing!

Sunday was the marathon and the kids were really excited to see their Papa running. My mom got them "geared up" in purple and gold to really fuel their cheering and to hopefully give Matthew that extra little pump you need after running the first 12 miles! We were able to see him at mile 12 and then at the finish line. He was hoping to go 3:15 or less, but as fate would have it, hurt his back about a week before the race, which made him cramp up around mile 15. He came in at 3:38, which is exceptional in my book. I am so proud of him, and had to hold back the tears a few different times. Matthew's disappointed about not meeting his goal, but running 26.2 miles is a major feat, and not something just anybody can do.

Annabelle trying to do some yoga stretches like this lady!

On Monday, before we left, we headed down to the ships. The kids really liked the "pirate ship", the old submarine and the other boats.

The major highlights of the trip were Sea World and the marathon, but there was one other, too. I look at it as a highlight now, because I can laugh about it, but while it happened (two times!) it was and wasn't funny at the same time! Annabelle had a night terror on Friday night in the hotel. This hotel wasn't bad, but it did have PAPER THIN WALLS, so everybody could hear her freaking out! This was the first time she'd ever had one, and Wyatt never had any, so it was new to us. She was screaming an inconsoleable for about 45 minutes. After 15 minutes, I took to the car and drove around. She finally calmed down, and we went back to the hotel room for a very fitful night of sleep. The second thing she did was have a MAJOR meltdown in the most crowded terminal at the San Diego Airport. She basically screamed at the top of her lungs for about 20 minutes, while I held her and watched people look at me with a WIDE range of looks....from sympathy, to what did you do to her, to What the F? At one point, the person at the podium got on the loudspeaker and said something to the effect of "Please note that in the Southwest Terminal, screaming is not allowed!" This drew a decent chuckle, and at that point I was laughing, too. She eventually stopped and was fine on the flight. Exhausted, but fine.

Wyatt is the instant-adjust-to-vacation-mode kind of kid...maybe Annabelle is not?! We'll see how this continues to play out in the future!!! To her defense, she was coming off of being VERY sick, so I'm going to use that as a convenient excuse this time!