Early June
So June. Well, the first week of June. I'm almost caught up!
There were several new things that happened around this time. The first being I bought two pairs of new shoes in two days! Might have been late May, but for me that's pretty extraordinary. I've only bought a handful of shoes since we got married, and I think they were all for work. When you love your Chacos, there's not much need for new shoes during the summer :) (yes, Doug, you'd love them too if you could be okay dropping the cash!). But I needed some real shoes for hiking, especially carrying weight. Of course, they were on sale. Yea!
One day we took a walk down to a nearby strip mall and walked by an American Red Cross facility. We've never given blood, though Jason donated platelets in his college days (for some cash). Since he has a good blood type, he decided to stay and donate. I figured I ought to as well, but we can't really do that at the same time. So a week later I went down and gave blood. Made me feel good. Well, mentally. Physically, it hurt! I tanked up on drinks and ate some granola and banana before I donated, then a heap more of drinking, granola and a cereal bar after I was done. Since I was a first timer, they took a little more care and brought me drinks. I think they were also concerned because I'm just a shade heavier than their weight cut off. Probably thought I was going to pass out or something. I had to do some serious deep breathing, though, because I don't like needles. One chick working on someone else asked if I was okay - I must not have looked very happy :). But aside from being a little weak (expected), I did just fine. Though it took me like a week to heal. I would end up moving my arm and it was pretty painful. But don't let that stop you - I'm a super slow healer. Everybody should give blood, if they can (just drink LOTS of water the day before). I'm counting down the days until I can go back. It's just something little that we can do to help others. When I told Luke we had given blood, he asked if that's how we were making money now. Pretty funny, even if we can't :).
I don't think I've mentioned previously, but since living with Paul and Maggie we've come across some super yummy recipes. Maggie gets Cuisine at Home, which I got for a year. I had only tried a few recipes because they just looked funky and called for weird stuff. But it's been great, because she's tried lots and I can get the cream of the crop. It's been fun sharing recipes. I've thought about just having a blog with all the recipes I use (though not taking credit for them! *Cindy McCain* *cough* :)), so maybe when I get up the gumption I'll do that. I love food!
June also brought us into a new phase with our phones. Jason's fell apart into pieces (literally, though if you connected everything it would still work), so we went to the dreaded cell phone store. Yikes! It's been the one splurge since we moved, but a necessary evil. Jason couldn't take job calls on that old busted thing! And since with our company you can't get a great deal on a phone unless you renew your contract, we had to think ahead about what we'd be needing for the next two years (we were just a few months away from a new contract, so we got these phones at a deal). So we got Blackberrys. It's intense, I know. They're pretty neat, though, as they have a little roller ball to control the mouse. And Jason's currently has internet and a form of gps, which he just loves. For now we'll keep that. We're just waiting for the rebate check!
One day we walked down to the little park at the bottom of the hill (and across the 4 lane, 45 mph road without a crosswalk) and played at the little playground thing they have. They had a steering wheel, and as Z loves those lately, he mostly just wanted to drive. He likes slides, too, but they aren't nearly as cool as the wheel. I didn't have the camera with me - only my phone. They take better pictures than our old phones, but they're still not as good as the camera, I think. And it turned out pretty dark, though it didn't look like that on my phone :(.
Jason had a test for a job about 4 hours away, and since it was bright and early in the morning he did an overnighter. He took the scenic route down the coast and happened upon this scene. It's so pretty!
While Jason's gone, we eat tuna fish sandwiches! Jason doesn't like them, so Z and I will share a can. Little bit of chopped walnuts, chopped apples, cheddar cheese and mustard and they are pretty tasty. Even better on freshly baked bread. And of course Z likes to hold the sandwich. Though he really likes to pick out the pieces of apples and cheese.
I thought this was pretty cute - Z likes to drive his trains under things, and this comes with some holes to do that.
We hit the zoo again and were hoping to find the baby giraffe in the exhibit, and it was! On a previous visit we had been able to see it behind the wooden fence, but of course not very well. It was nice to see the little guy, and Z thought it was pretty neat.
Zach and I just love the giraffes - probably my favorite, and one of his.
We also took a trip to the Happy Hollow Zoo near San Jose. It's a reciprocal zoo and it's free for us. Just have to drive down there. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like, but it was pretty neat! I really want to go again sometime soon. Half of the park was the "zoo," while the other half was just a park for kids. But the architecture and landscaping they used is really cool - pretty fantasy-esk. I've never been to Disneyland, but I imagine it as being Happy Hollow Zoo on a much larger scale. They had lots of stuff for kids to climb, and even the bathroom building looked like it should have had dwarves in it.
There was also a fire nearby. We kept seeing (and hearing) helicopters flying really close overhead. Jason looked it up online and it said the address was the zoo - must have been either really close so they just listed that address, or the place is way huge and it actually was on their property. The whole time we were wondering if we should leave or if they were going to evacuate. Though we didn't have a lot of smoke.
Anyway, while the zoo part was pretty small, they had some funky animals there. Not just your run of the mill. These are Capybaras - literally ROUS's! Just without tails. They are the largest rodent in the world. While we were there they took a little swim to stay cool.
Here's a little muntjac, I think. Basically just a deer. But the extent of the fence is shown in the picture - if it was allowed we could have just reached down and touched it.
Big ol' fatty turtle.
They also had a bird exhibit, and I got poo'd on! They had some macaws and parrots that were in an open exhibit, but it was a wild bird that was the culprit. Serves me right for trying to be nice and pick up the Cheerios Z had spilled! They also had several lemur exhibits. Man, those things are loud! Z usually loves monkeys, but I'm not sure he knew what to think. Scared, intrigued, I'm not sure.
And just like every other zoo, they have a little goat/petting zoo thing. I stayed and took pictures while Z and J went in. Z wasn't actually that scared, I don't think. And I'm pretty sure he remembered petting the goat after Memorial Day, so he wasn't super shy. They also had random horses and other animals to pet and feed.
They must be going through a renovation, because a lot of the stuff had a sign on it saying it was going up for auction. This boat had one, though we have no idea how they'd move it - it's filled with concrete!
And we had Zachary's first experience on a merry-go-round! I had always wanted to take him on the one in Louisville, but thought it would be best to have another person there. Just in case he spazzed out or something. And I guess I wouldn't have any pictures if we'd done it ourselves. But all the rides here were included in the admission (which for us was nothing!), so I made Z go on. I'll have a little better planning next time - he was excited, but once we got on and I strapped him down we had to wait for several minutes for other people to get on. We also had to wait for the dude to walk around and make sure no one was going to die (going .01 mph :)). At that point Z started saying all done, but I made him stay on. Then it lurched forward when it started moving and he wasn't holding on. I really thought he was going to have a breakdown, but then he relaxed a bit and enjoyed it. Jason took several pictures and a video when it was actually moving, but this still one turned out much better. Z wanted to go again, but we were ready to head home. So we just stood and watched it spin for a while. And of course we got on the turtle :).
So another piece of planning all parents should know. When taking your child on a carnival ride, especially for the first time, give it some time before you get in the car and drive away. Unfortunately we hit some stop and go traffic, and Z just wouldn't settle down. After only a few minutes in the car he started asking for up from me and saying he was all done with the car. Which is pretty unusual, because he does really well in the car. I thought he might be hungry because it was getting pretty close to dinner time, so I gave him some Cheerios. Another mistake. Shortly after that he started gagging and threw up. While we're driving, mind you. So I had to reach around and try to help him, though I couldn't find any napkins. Finally I just grabbed my sweater and wiped him up. One of the car seat latches still sticks a bit :). But we felt pretty bad - he had been telling us he was sick, we just didn't understand. Poor little guy. So next time you want to take your kid on a ride, don't put them in the car and feed them :).
Another funny little story...sometimes Z will do something that's not necessarily wrong, just not really a great thing to do. Sometimes we'll reprimand him quickly because of the situation, sometimes we'll just tell him he shouldn't really be doing what he's doing. And he'll get all teary-eyed like we just told him we were leaving him forever. It's so cute/pathetic. He always has his water cup (he knows he needs to stay hydrated), and one day I walked over to find him giving his stuffed turtle a drink. Of course, water was going everywhere. I told him that his turtle doesn't need water and then he started to cry. You can just see how his face changes and contorts to reflect the thought process. Really reminds me of the "not crushing their spirit" thing in the Bible. So I had to tell him it was actually a pretty good idea, just that since his turtle was pretend it didn't need any water. Recently we were outside and Z was playing with some dirt and the cups that plants come in - Maggie had gotten some new ones. He started to pretend to take a drink and we quickly told him to stop, at which point he got all sad. I don't think he was actually going to try to drink the dirt, but who knows. It's interesting, because he only gets sad like that every now and then, and usually on the stuff that's not straight-up wrong. It's interesting. So we try to be super nice to him and explain things. But he really is a very good little boy.
There were several new things that happened around this time. The first being I bought two pairs of new shoes in two days! Might have been late May, but for me that's pretty extraordinary. I've only bought a handful of shoes since we got married, and I think they were all for work. When you love your Chacos, there's not much need for new shoes during the summer :) (yes, Doug, you'd love them too if you could be okay dropping the cash!). But I needed some real shoes for hiking, especially carrying weight. Of course, they were on sale. Yea!
One day we took a walk down to a nearby strip mall and walked by an American Red Cross facility. We've never given blood, though Jason donated platelets in his college days (for some cash). Since he has a good blood type, he decided to stay and donate. I figured I ought to as well, but we can't really do that at the same time. So a week later I went down and gave blood. Made me feel good. Well, mentally. Physically, it hurt! I tanked up on drinks and ate some granola and banana before I donated, then a heap more of drinking, granola and a cereal bar after I was done. Since I was a first timer, they took a little more care and brought me drinks. I think they were also concerned because I'm just a shade heavier than their weight cut off. Probably thought I was going to pass out or something. I had to do some serious deep breathing, though, because I don't like needles. One chick working on someone else asked if I was okay - I must not have looked very happy :). But aside from being a little weak (expected), I did just fine. Though it took me like a week to heal. I would end up moving my arm and it was pretty painful. But don't let that stop you - I'm a super slow healer. Everybody should give blood, if they can (just drink LOTS of water the day before). I'm counting down the days until I can go back. It's just something little that we can do to help others. When I told Luke we had given blood, he asked if that's how we were making money now. Pretty funny, even if we can't :).
I don't think I've mentioned previously, but since living with Paul and Maggie we've come across some super yummy recipes. Maggie gets Cuisine at Home, which I got for a year. I had only tried a few recipes because they just looked funky and called for weird stuff. But it's been great, because she's tried lots and I can get the cream of the crop. It's been fun sharing recipes. I've thought about just having a blog with all the recipes I use (though not taking credit for them! *Cindy McCain* *cough* :)), so maybe when I get up the gumption I'll do that. I love food!
June also brought us into a new phase with our phones. Jason's fell apart into pieces (literally, though if you connected everything it would still work), so we went to the dreaded cell phone store. Yikes! It's been the one splurge since we moved, but a necessary evil. Jason couldn't take job calls on that old busted thing! And since with our company you can't get a great deal on a phone unless you renew your contract, we had to think ahead about what we'd be needing for the next two years (we were just a few months away from a new contract, so we got these phones at a deal). So we got Blackberrys. It's intense, I know. They're pretty neat, though, as they have a little roller ball to control the mouse. And Jason's currently has internet and a form of gps, which he just loves. For now we'll keep that. We're just waiting for the rebate check!
One day we walked down to the little park at the bottom of the hill (and across the 4 lane, 45 mph road without a crosswalk) and played at the little playground thing they have. They had a steering wheel, and as Z loves those lately, he mostly just wanted to drive. He likes slides, too, but they aren't nearly as cool as the wheel. I didn't have the camera with me - only my phone. They take better pictures than our old phones, but they're still not as good as the camera, I think. And it turned out pretty dark, though it didn't look like that on my phone :(.
Jason had a test for a job about 4 hours away, and since it was bright and early in the morning he did an overnighter. He took the scenic route down the coast and happened upon this scene. It's so pretty!
While Jason's gone, we eat tuna fish sandwiches! Jason doesn't like them, so Z and I will share a can. Little bit of chopped walnuts, chopped apples, cheddar cheese and mustard and they are pretty tasty. Even better on freshly baked bread. And of course Z likes to hold the sandwich. Though he really likes to pick out the pieces of apples and cheese.
I thought this was pretty cute - Z likes to drive his trains under things, and this comes with some holes to do that.
We hit the zoo again and were hoping to find the baby giraffe in the exhibit, and it was! On a previous visit we had been able to see it behind the wooden fence, but of course not very well. It was nice to see the little guy, and Z thought it was pretty neat.
Zach and I just love the giraffes - probably my favorite, and one of his.
We also took a trip to the Happy Hollow Zoo near San Jose. It's a reciprocal zoo and it's free for us. Just have to drive down there. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like, but it was pretty neat! I really want to go again sometime soon. Half of the park was the "zoo," while the other half was just a park for kids. But the architecture and landscaping they used is really cool - pretty fantasy-esk. I've never been to Disneyland, but I imagine it as being Happy Hollow Zoo on a much larger scale. They had lots of stuff for kids to climb, and even the bathroom building looked like it should have had dwarves in it.
There was also a fire nearby. We kept seeing (and hearing) helicopters flying really close overhead. Jason looked it up online and it said the address was the zoo - must have been either really close so they just listed that address, or the place is way huge and it actually was on their property. The whole time we were wondering if we should leave or if they were going to evacuate. Though we didn't have a lot of smoke.
Anyway, while the zoo part was pretty small, they had some funky animals there. Not just your run of the mill. These are Capybaras - literally ROUS's! Just without tails. They are the largest rodent in the world. While we were there they took a little swim to stay cool.
Here's a little muntjac, I think. Basically just a deer. But the extent of the fence is shown in the picture - if it was allowed we could have just reached down and touched it.
Big ol' fatty turtle.
They also had a bird exhibit, and I got poo'd on! They had some macaws and parrots that were in an open exhibit, but it was a wild bird that was the culprit. Serves me right for trying to be nice and pick up the Cheerios Z had spilled! They also had several lemur exhibits. Man, those things are loud! Z usually loves monkeys, but I'm not sure he knew what to think. Scared, intrigued, I'm not sure.
And just like every other zoo, they have a little goat/petting zoo thing. I stayed and took pictures while Z and J went in. Z wasn't actually that scared, I don't think. And I'm pretty sure he remembered petting the goat after Memorial Day, so he wasn't super shy. They also had random horses and other animals to pet and feed.
They must be going through a renovation, because a lot of the stuff had a sign on it saying it was going up for auction. This boat had one, though we have no idea how they'd move it - it's filled with concrete!
And we had Zachary's first experience on a merry-go-round! I had always wanted to take him on the one in Louisville, but thought it would be best to have another person there. Just in case he spazzed out or something. And I guess I wouldn't have any pictures if we'd done it ourselves. But all the rides here were included in the admission (which for us was nothing!), so I made Z go on. I'll have a little better planning next time - he was excited, but once we got on and I strapped him down we had to wait for several minutes for other people to get on. We also had to wait for the dude to walk around and make sure no one was going to die (going .01 mph :)). At that point Z started saying all done, but I made him stay on. Then it lurched forward when it started moving and he wasn't holding on. I really thought he was going to have a breakdown, but then he relaxed a bit and enjoyed it. Jason took several pictures and a video when it was actually moving, but this still one turned out much better. Z wanted to go again, but we were ready to head home. So we just stood and watched it spin for a while. And of course we got on the turtle :).
So another piece of planning all parents should know. When taking your child on a carnival ride, especially for the first time, give it some time before you get in the car and drive away. Unfortunately we hit some stop and go traffic, and Z just wouldn't settle down. After only a few minutes in the car he started asking for up from me and saying he was all done with the car. Which is pretty unusual, because he does really well in the car. I thought he might be hungry because it was getting pretty close to dinner time, so I gave him some Cheerios. Another mistake. Shortly after that he started gagging and threw up. While we're driving, mind you. So I had to reach around and try to help him, though I couldn't find any napkins. Finally I just grabbed my sweater and wiped him up. One of the car seat latches still sticks a bit :). But we felt pretty bad - he had been telling us he was sick, we just didn't understand. Poor little guy. So next time you want to take your kid on a ride, don't put them in the car and feed them :).
Another funny little story...sometimes Z will do something that's not necessarily wrong, just not really a great thing to do. Sometimes we'll reprimand him quickly because of the situation, sometimes we'll just tell him he shouldn't really be doing what he's doing. And he'll get all teary-eyed like we just told him we were leaving him forever. It's so cute/pathetic. He always has his water cup (he knows he needs to stay hydrated), and one day I walked over to find him giving his stuffed turtle a drink. Of course, water was going everywhere. I told him that his turtle doesn't need water and then he started to cry. You can just see how his face changes and contorts to reflect the thought process. Really reminds me of the "not crushing their spirit" thing in the Bible. So I had to tell him it was actually a pretty good idea, just that since his turtle was pretend it didn't need any water. Recently we were outside and Z was playing with some dirt and the cups that plants come in - Maggie had gotten some new ones. He started to pretend to take a drink and we quickly told him to stop, at which point he got all sad. I don't think he was actually going to try to drink the dirt, but who knows. It's interesting, because he only gets sad like that every now and then, and usually on the stuff that's not straight-up wrong. It's interesting. So we try to be super nice to him and explain things. But he really is a very good little boy.
posted by Jason and Jodee at 11:31 AM
1 Comments:
Oh my WOOOOORRRRRD....I had a TON of catching up to do! :-P Just the other day, Matt and I were wondering how you all were doing. I mentioned you had quit posting a while ago. Unfaithful blog checker am I!
Good to see things are going well! ::tries not to be jealous of those who got to move back to California::
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