No Gravity Sucks For Hair

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Conversation With Elizabeth

My niece Elizabeth is so adorable. Today, I got to have a one on one conversation with her. Half way through, I started typing:

Part A:

Aunt Shi (thats what my name is): So what's your favorite ride at Disneyland
Elizabeth: Toon Town roller coaster. It goes so fast
Elizabeth: I want to go on Splash Mountain
Aunt Shi: Have you gone on it?
Elizabeth: I am too little, I can't go but the Toon Town roller coaster is my size
Elizabeth: Another one that is my size is Toy Story, but you need to shoot guns, it has turns too, and you shoot over again, you need to go with me. You have to shoot something, you turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn and shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Thats what you have to do Aunt Shi.
Aunt Shi: Do you like Dumbo?
Elizabeth: Yes, because you can push it up and down, up and down, and up and down. But if the line is long you don't want to go on it, if there are alot of people then we need to go somewhere else and have so much on another ride
Aunt Shi: Where else can we go?
Elizabeth: Well we could go to Mickey and Minnie's house, thats not too bad. There is a mailbox over there and you can look in it!!!! Pluto stands by it alot of times.
Aunt Shi: Do you like seeing Pluto?
Elizabeth: We have a book and all the characters color in it but we need a new book because the red book is full and now we are working on the green one.
Elizabeth: I like going to Disneyland all day long.
Aunt Shi: What rides can Abigail go on?
Elizabeth: She can go on dumbo, if the line is not too long. She can't go on the Toon Town roller coaster because that is not her age.

Part B:

Elizabeth: Aunt Shi, a couple of days ago I had a dream that the lions at the zoo were tooting at me. I think they toot at night time

Urban Life

Happy Birthday, Pasadena!

Love this town

The Weekly Catch-Up (2011, Week 22)

Home: So we started off week 22 by finishing our Memorial Day weekend in Phoenix. During the day we hung out by the pool and then mom and James left in the afternoon to head home. We went back to Scottsdale Fashion Square so David could check out the Microsoft Store and I could return a very small portion of the loot I had acquired at Gymboree the day before. After our mall trip we met the BFF and husband back at the hotel and then we went to dinner at Grimaldi's and had some super fantastic pizza. After dinner we walked across the street to the Sugar Bowl and had some ice cream, all and all spending time with the BFF on the 22nd week of the year just felt perfect.

Monday morning we got up early and headed out of Phoenix, we landed at Becca's house about 2:30PM and participated in a great barbecue. Becca made some fantastic sliders and Sheila brought some great chicken-super good food. On our way home from Becca's Sydney was devastated that we werent going back to the hotel.

On Thursday, Becca, Joshua, Elizabeth, Mom, Sydney and Brooke took off for San Diego, I drove separately after work. Sydney was thrilled to be staying at another hotel, this time it was the Embassy Suites across from Seaport Village. We went to dinner at The Pier Cafe and the took the kids on the carousel. After swimming at the hotel the kids watched Toy Story 3 and had popcorn. Friday, we headed to the San Diego Zoo where everybody had a great time. On our way home Friday afternoon we stopped by Aunt Rachel's house and spent a couple hours playing with Nathan. It was really fun-makes me wish they were 30 minutes closer to Pasadena.

Saturday we hung around the house and the contractor put in the fixed cabinets. (There will be another blog on kitchen updates). Saturday night we went to the Kitchen, in celebration of James and Andrew's birthdays. It was the first time we had gone on the Metro with Joshua and Elizabeth and Sydney had fun. After we got back we went up to Carmela's ice cream in Pasadena and it was super good.

Work: I headed up to San Francisco on Tuesday and met with the folks at St Mary's and the folks at corporate on Wednesday. Tuesday night was great, I went to McCormick and Kuleto's in San Francisco with my friend Sue. It was great seeing her!

Celebrating The Birthday's of Two Cool Uncles

Last night we took an impromtu trip down to "The Kitchen" to celebrate Andrew's birthday. (Sort of James too) We all hopped on the Metro at Madre and then walked on over after getting off at the Memorial Park exit.

The food was good, kids had a good time and company was great.

Quick Overnight To San Diego

Thursday night we (Me, Sydney, Brooke, Mom, Becca, Elizabeth and Joshua) took a quick trip to San Diego. In about 18 hours we packed in a trip to Seaport Village (including dinner and carousel), a swim in the hotel pool (Sydney was thrilled to be checking into another hotel), a visit to the San Diego Zoo and a mid-day play date with Nathan. It was a great day and a half!!!

How To Terrify A 3 Year Old

Take her on a carousel and let her discover the dead horseys

Elevator Conversation

Here's the elevator conversation between me and a co-worker I don't know very well:

Me: Please hold the elevator.....I forgot my badge
Coworker: No problem, we're are heading to the same floor.
Me: Thanks
Coworker: So, I hear you have a new boss
Me: Joe? He has been here since the end of November
Coworker: I don't know him, thats not who I meant
Me: Doug? Well Doug has been here over two years
Coworker: No, I mean the big boss
Me: (Thinking Michael Dell) Well, thats been since 2009
Coworker: I thought it was more recent than that
Me: (Now thinking Steve S) Oh you mean, Steve? Yes, thats been new since about February
Coworker: Oh, I thought it was a woman
Me: Oh that big boss, yes she has been here about three weeks.

Yes, we have lots of bosses......

Get Out Of The Street!

The Weekly Catch-Up (2011, Week 21)

When I first started doing the weekly catch-up (10 Weeks ago) I didn't have any trouble remembering details of the week before but the last couple of weeks I have struggled to remember the prior weekend. So here goes:

Last Sunday we got a call around 10:00 am that we could go preview "The Little Mermaid" attraction at California Adventure so we high tailed it down to Anaheim for a quick trip-we all liked it. Sydney became scared at the last minute and didn't want to ride it so as soon as she protested I picked her up, threw her in the clamshell (thats what you ride in) and pointed to Scully. She recovered quickly and yelled "Let's do it again" as soon as we were exiting. We got home just in time for me to fly up to Sacramento that afternoon.

I arrived home Monday night, we had a quick dinner at Daphnee's and then David took off for the Central Coast. Wednesday we had someone come over and look at the damage in the kitchen and they will not only be replacing our water-damaged cabinets but they will be installing the muntin bars that I have been wanting in the cabinets on the north wall.

Thursday afternoon we took off for a Memorial Day weekend/James birthday trip to Phoenix. Brooke screamed like a banchee the whole way and Sydney was honestly the most pleasant girl ever (Yeah, she has never been so good). We stayed at the Hilton Pointe at Squaw Peak (this is something we did when I was in High School) and we all had a good time. Sydney would stay in the water forever if I let her, she has so much fun being in a pool. Friday morning we got up, David went to work, the girls and I headed to Laura's (she made great waffles) and the kids played together. When we got back, we all went in the lazy river and then had lunch by the pool, dinner was at The Hole In the Wall. After dinner, I took Sydney to see Yogi Bear at the dive in movie (it was her first) and she loved watching the movie while swimming. We heard about it the rest of the weekend.

Saturday there was a mega trip to Gymboree at the Scottsdale Fashion Square. Dinner for James birthday was at the Kabuki's at the Tempe Marketplace. The kids enjoyed playing in the fountains and then David and I went back and watched Unknown on the pay per view in the room.

Work: Kevin and I started the week out in Redding. We drove up to Redding on Sunday and ate dinner on the way at the Riverside Bar and Grill in Redbluff, while it's only rated a 3 on Yelp, I thought it was pretty good. Monday we completed some interviews in Redding and then took the team for lunch at Logan's Roadhouse. After lunch we headed back to Sacramento making a stop in to visit the team in Woodland.

Tuesday, I was in an almost all day meeting regarding site visits and was pleased with the overall outcome. More time in the field is always a good thing! I spent all day Wednesday doing interviews and Thursday was a catch-up day with lots of emails and few meetings.

Bonded By Diapers

She Had Her Quota Of Fun

As depicted in our Memorial Day Weekend post, Sydney had lots of fun of this weekend and she definitely doesnt want it to end. When we were leaving Becca and Jason's today I made the mistake of saying we were going home. Immediately, Sydney began her first meltdown in days and screamed/cried the entire way home stating over and over "I want to go back to the hotel" and then "I don't want to go home".

This was the photo I took when we pulled in the driveway at home. Clearly, she doesn't think she has had her quota of fun.

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

A full weekend recap will be available in the "Weekly Catch-Up" for weeks 21 and 22 but here are the pictures! The pictures are not in any particular order but include James Birthday, hanging out at the Pointe, a trip to Laura's, Fun in Scottsdale, Tempe Marketplace, and a barbecue at Becca's. Great weekend and lots of fun!!!!

How To Entertain A 3 Year Old (Tip #22)

Hand them a camera and make funny faces.....

Guest Blog By Sydney

Every once in awhile when its late and you haven't blogged you think "I gotta just get something up there" usually thats when a blog posts with a cute kid picture. Tonight was one of those times and I didn't know which picture to use so I asked Sydney. She came up with these three

Tempe Marketplace-A Year Later

Last year, Sydney went to Tempe Market Place for this for time and played with Camdyn. Today when we arrived back she stated "This is where I played with Camdyn"....and this year she plays with Brooke.