A Weekend For The Bride

This weekend it was time to celebrate Corie getting married. Friday afternoon, Corie, Monique, Sherry and I were off to Paso Robles for a weekend of wine tasting. Elaine was kind enough to come and stay with the girls until Kevin could get home.

So we were off for our fun weekend. First stop Tobin James!

Next we were off to a Girls Night Out event at Meridian winery. We had a fun time just hanging out. There was mexican food and salsa lessons and air brush tatoos. It was a fun night of just hanging out and drinking wine.


The next day we were off for our full day of going winery hopping! First stop Castoro Cellars.
After a full range of wines and good pours from Jan, we were starting to feel good. Kevin and I are members here so I got us the good stuff and for a good price. Now it was off to Rabbit Ridge, another winery we belong to. SO, more free tastings!


Next stop Thunderbolt for some more yummy wine. By then we decide to take a break and get some food in our bodies. After getting some food in we all felt better and ready to move on to the next winery. Off to Pennman we went. Beth and Rosie are some of our favorite people to visit when we go.
This is Cuteness, the pennman winery dog
We felt the need to put our boas on any winery animal we came across.
So we hit a couple more wineries and then went back to the hotel for a wine nap. After that we hit Big Bubba's bbq. A fun place to go. We got sat in the jail booth. Kinda appropriate.

After a full day of wine tasting and a full dinner, we were all ready for bed at 10:00. A weekend away from the kids and I should live it up, right? Well I did ALL day and was then ready to just sleep it off. My kinda get away.
The next morning we were all moving a little bit slower, but we got up and rallied. We were going to make the best of the last day. We headed downtown to do those wineries. I had to go to one to pick up wine and so we might as well taste while we're there too.
We then decided we did not want to go home. We had a flyer from the hotel for free tastings all along the 46, so we drank our way down the 46 to the 5. It made the way home much better. haha
We had a great time. Corie had fun on her last fling weekend before marriage. Now we can't wait for the party in a little less than 3 weeks. YEAH!!

In my family we seem to make our birthdays last for as long as possibly. Well, Mary is making sure that happens this year. Today we celebrated one last time with Aunt JoAnn and Uncle Glenn. Yes, her birthday was back on July 2nd.
Anyway, we met at Chuck E Cheese for some pizza and games. I have not exposed the kids to Chuck E Cheese, for many reasons. BUT we were there today. It actually took a while for Mary to get it. She was a little overwhelmed at first. Then she got into it and was having fun. Some games were a little bit old for her, but the ones she did get, she loved. She even played air hockey twice. She was pretty good at it too. Kicked some Uncle Glenn butt! Teresa wasn't too sure about it all. She wanted to ride on the little rides, but once you put the token in and it started to move she wanted off. So, she just sat there and played.
With all the tickets she earned she was able to get a Tootsie Roll and a couple other silly things. They both gobbled down the pizza. So, I think she'll be wanted to go back again. I think this will be a good reward to work towards.

a little catch up

So I've been a little behind on blogging. Life has been a little crazy this month, and does not seem to stop.
The first weekend of the month we went down to Escondido to visit with Kevin's best friend, Sal, and his wife Stephanie. We had a fun time. My parents watched the girls so we could enjoy the weekend without kids. Well, we enjoyed it. First we started with some Rock Band. Sal and Kevin played guitar. They tried to get me to sing, but Stephy was WAAAYY better than me. So, I opt'd to just watch and laugh. Fun times!




Last weekend I put on a bridal shower for my best friend, Corie. She will be getting married on September 11th. It was a lot of fun. I forgot my camera for that. So no pictures just yet, until I get some from my mom.
My sister made these yummy chocolate covered pretzels. Teresa sure enjoyed them we I brought some home.

Potty Training 101

Ok, so a little potty training fun, or not. Friday Teresa would not put anything on her bum. Mary was in the hall waiting for a friend to come over. Teresa went over to where she was an stood on the carpet runner. Teresa said something to Mary meaning she had to potty. So Mary told her to go ahead. I turn towards them and see Teresa bending her knees a little and looking down at her who-who. All of a sudden out comes a kernel, then two, then three, then a BIG clump. As you can imagine, I was shocked. I clean it up and tell her not to do that and to go to the potty. Ok, accident one over with. THEN in about 5 minutes she goes back to the same spot and pees. NOW I have a mess. Ok, clean that up. I decide that she is now going to wear a diaper for the day no matter how much she fusses.
I'm NOT ready for potty training yet!

Kitty Update

Well the kitty Mary decided to be her favorite was very sick when we got it. She carried that thing all over and it didn't get any better. It would not eat or drink anything. Well, Monday morning after the gym, we came home to a dead cat. It was a very dramatic experience, for 20 minutes. Then she decided Syrah, the black one, was her favorite. Life was good again. Funny how quickly kids can change their minds and forget things. Kevin came home and he dug a hole and buried the cat. It was a quick thing. Mary is totally happy with Syrah and does not mention the other one. It was a sad first family pet experience. But I know there will be more to come.

Mary's First Big Girl Trip

Last Sunday Mary was off to Lake Havasu with Nana and Papa. No mommy and daddy or Teresa to go with her. She was all excited to have some fun on Papa's boat. It was a long long drive and she was bored. She started to miss mommy on the way. Once they got to the house and put the boat in the water, she was ALLLLLL GOOD! She had a super time and was a super good girl. She liked going fast in Papa's boat and feeding the ducks. The house they stayed at is actually the house of Mary, who my Mary is named after. She had fun playing with all the dolls in the house.
One night they had dinner with some friends, Marv and Carol That was the first full day of boating. Mary was so pooped she fell asleep there before getting back to the house.
It was a nice break to have Mary spend some time away from us. We did miss her so though. Teresa missed her sister too. But Mary had fun and was a good girl.

New Addition To The Family

Today we have two kitties in our family. We have been wanting to find a kitten for Mary for a while. Corie sent me an email from her work saying someone was getting rid of two cats, so I called and got them. I picked them up today and brought them home. I got home about 9:30 and Mary has been outside with them since then. She has not left them alone, well the tan one in particular. She LOVES that one the most. She cannot leave it alone for more than one minute at a time. The poor thing is so good about it. Isabella, as she named it, let's Mary pick her up, drag her by an arm, hold it upside down, and you name it. AND it still stays by her. What a trooper. The black one, we named Syrah, stays to itself and just roams around. They were indoor cats. We cannot have animals inside due to allergies, so they are outside and adjusting. Syrah sits at the slider and cries to come inside or tries to come in whenever we open the door. They will adjust.
We have this playhouse, which was mine and my sisters when we grew up. My parents saved it all these years so their grand kids could use it. We used to keep our cats and many kttens in it as we grew up. Now, Mary is using it for her cats. Well, she wants to keep her cats in there with her. Well, the cats do NOT want to. So, she keeps the door closed and climbs in with the cat and plays. Then it will escape and she climbs out to go get it and bring it back. She will tell the cat that it needs to stay in the house wit her. I tried to tell her it was not going to understand and to let it do what it wants. Well, don't try to tell Mary what to do.

The poor cat is in there and looks up at me with it's sad eyes like "HELP ME, PLEASE!!!"
Teresa loves the kitties too. She was so excited to see them. She kept screaming with joy when they arrived and loves to chase and pet them. Both cats are really good with the girls.

About 2:00 Mary was laying on the grass and Isabella was laying next to her. Isabella was sleeping and Mary was about to, but was NOT going to.

2:30 Mary comes in the house and passes out on the couch. What an exciting morning it has been.

Ok, so while Mary is napping Kevin goes out to check on the cats. UH OH, only can find Syrah. Well, we shall see what happens. Mary finally wakes up and we do not say a word. We go out and BOTH are gone. OH SHIT!! Kevin starts calling out 'kitty kitty', then Mary does. Once Mary called out the name Isabella came out of the ivy under the tree. Kinda cute how he would not come out until he heard Mary's voice. SO, all is well again. Both kitties are around and the kids are happy.