Power Goes Out-Mall Evacuated

Sunday, as some of you know, was 104 here! Since C was working, and our air conditioning doesn't work, I thought I would take the girls to the mall. I could run a few errands and then we could see a movie. Good plan...right? So I thought.

O fell asleep, before we even got to the mall. I put her in the stroller and figured by the time we were ready to see the movie she would be awake. C called us and said he was in the mall working. We headed for the store he was in. It was nice to see him. We walked through the mall with him, but he had to go and finish his work.

We walked around, looking for a place to just sit until O woke up. We had finished our errands and just wanted to rest. There was absolutely no place to sit. The mall was so packed. It was worse than Christmas. Everyone was there to be inside were it was air conditioned and they were there for the day. Every bench and chair was taken. I told CK we could go and see if there was a place to sit in the family rest room. As we were headed over there I noticed some of the stores were closing because their power went out. I didn't think anything of it. That had happened a few times in the past as I was shopping and when I worked in retail. As we got closer to the food court everyone was looking at something. I thought maybe there was a fight. People were getting pretty crabby with all the heat. Then I noticed the lights flickering.....then the smoke/fire alarm went off. I immediately turned around. I told CK we need to leave. We're not going to be able to see the movie today. CK was upset, I was too.

People were running out of the mall. There was some kind of recorded greeting from the loud speakers in the mall, but you could not understand it. I'm sure it was saying to evacuate. As we walked calmly out of the mall. CK was getting nervous. She asked if we needed to hurry. I told her no, it was never a good idea to run or hurry in an emergency. We just needed to calmly get out of the mall. O was still asleep. I have no idea how she could sleep with the alarm going off and all the people rushing out, but she did.

We got outside and headed for the parking lot where we were parked. Unfortunately the only parking I could find was on the FOURTH floor....in the sun! I wasn't sure how we were going to get up there. The elevator was shut down because of the power outage and I had a sleeping child in a stroller. At least CK was awake. I called C to tell him. He said, a transformer blew and I should evacuate. (nice to have the inside info.) I headed for the stairs. By the time I got there O was starting to wake up. I asked her if she could walk up the stairs for mommy. She nodded and said yes. Great!

The girls walked as I pulled the stroller behind me. I told them to stay at the landing and wait for me. All of a sudden on the second set of stairs, the stroller got lighter. I looked and a lady was helping me. I thanked her and she said she was parked on the third flour. Great. I got help for most of the way. I thanked her and we made it easily to the fourth floor. Thank goodness some people are still nice.

Getting up to four was the easy part. Now I had to get out of the garage. All those hundreds of people trying to get out at once. What a mess! I got the girls in the car and headed for the exit. We could hear the Fire Trucks rushing to the mall as we were headed to the car. Then...we sat....and sat. CK was getting worried. I could feel myself getting stressed and panicked. I kept talking to CK, telling her it was going to take a while, but we would get out. It would be okay. The entire time praying and telling myself to stay calm. It was going to be okay. We would get out. O didn't seem worried. I told the girls, and myself, we were in the air conditioned car. It could be worse. I must have made CK feel better, because before I knew it she was asleep.

Then O started..."I want to go home. I want a cookie." Great. The only thing I had was raisins and water. She had raisins already and didn't want more. I put some kids music on. Thank goodness I carry coloring books and crayons with me. That kept her occupied for the HOUR we were sitting in the car...on the FOURTH floor of the parking garage....not moving.

We finally started to move. Then it went pretty fast. We were out of the garage in less than 10 minutes. No one must have been letting us out that entire time. PEOPLE!

As I drove out of the mall parking lot and onto the main street C called to check on me. I told him I was fine now that I was out of the garage. That's when I started to cry. We were out. We weren't going to be stuck up there for as many hours as I had envisioned. I headed for home. What a relief.

CK woke up - I told her we were finally out of the parking garage and we were going to find some place to have dinner. We ended up at good old McDonald's. Electricity, air conditioning...sounded like a perfect place to me.

Mommy attends Stanford!

I have to brag....I have the BEST husband in the world.

This past week he sent me to a Digital Photography and Photoshop class at Stanford. It was one of those intense classes (M-F 8:30am-5pm). Every day, I came home exhausted, but excited. The commute was the worse part, but SO worth it. I learned so much from the professional photographer who taught the class. I took so many pictures. Stanford is such a beautiful campus. To have the opportunity to not only photograph it, but photograph it at all times of the day and night was great.

We had one night shoot. I have never done photography at night before. I'm not sure why, just haven't. It was a blast! I can't wait to do more.

Hopefully I'll be able to take Digital Photography and Photoshop II next summer.

While I was at Stanford all week the girls were with my sister-in-law, playing with their cousins, Daddy and Nonna. They were so good. I am so proud of them. CK got upset one morning and told me "Mommy, can you stay home and play with me today." Poor thing. It was very hard on both girls...and Daddy, but they all did great. Thanks again C for sending me to this wonderful class!

Here are just five photographs of the several hundred I took during the week. I hope you enjoy them. I was in heaven taking them.

Family Day at Great America

We had a family day at Great America. We went on the perfect day....July 5th. The 4th crowds were gone. There was a nice breeze, so it wasn't too hot.

C hadn't been in years, so the girls and I had fun showing Daddy all around the park. The favorite ride was the kiddy roller coaster. The girls loved it. CK said it was scary, but wanted to go on it again. O, of course, LOVED it. Daddy taught her the proper way a dare devil rides a roller coaster - arms UP. She did it with a smile on her face. That's Daddy's girl. (don't forget, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them. The look on both girls faces on the roller coaster is the best!)

I am excited to say, we are now ready for Disneyland. O stood for a picture with Dora and Sponge Bob. We have NEVER watched Sponge Bob on TV. The girls only know who he is by seeing "stuff" at the store. O saw him and ran towards him saying "Sponge Bob, Sponge Bob." So, I now have a picture of O with Sponge Bob. Maybe next year we'll be able to go to Disneyland. I'll start saving.

Plant a Garden...Watch it grow

The girls and I have been busy the last two days planting our garden.

Yesterday we went to OSH and picked out fruit & vegetable plants, flowers, & a few shade plants. When we got home the girls went across the street to play with their friend. : ) I stayed at home and planted flowers in a container on the front porch and got the back yard ready to plant our fruit and vegetable garden. I LOVE having a friend for the girls across the street. They had so much fun they didn't want to come home.

This morning we were outside for about 3 hours planting. We had a wonderful time.

In our fruit and vegetable garden we have the following plants (so far): Watermelon, Tomato, Snow Peas, Japanese Cucumber, Pumpkins, Corn, & Basil (I already have Sage, Rosemary & Thyme).

I need to buy another bag of dirt. I have one more container I want to put carrots and radishes in. I also need to plant some sunflowers. The gardner came and we got kicked out of the yard...sort of.

I'll keep you all posted on how our garden does. I'm hoping we have enough pumpkins in the fall to have a pumpkin picking party. We'll see.

Girls First Baseball Game!

Spring is FINALLY here and we went out with some friends to see our minor league baseball team win a great game. What fun. There is just something about going to a baseball game. So American. The girls loved it. We all ate so much "baseball" food. We came home with full stomachs and very happy. It was a beautiful afternoon. We had to move spots because it was just too sunny on the third base side. We look forward to more spring fun.

HAPPY EASTER

The girls with Cindy Bunny at the Jelly Belly Factory. I'll put up pictures of them coloring Easter Eggs as well. I haven't downloaded those pics yet. Sorry.

Jelly Belly Factory Tour

Friday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour. What a fun day! We had a bit of a wait, but they give you Jelly Bellies while you wait. The girls had so much fun. O had a hard time eating her Jelly Bellies. They gave her two hands full and she didn't have an extra hand to put them in her mouth. That didn't stop her. She didn't want any help from me either. She was afraid I would take them away I guess. The girls were able to see Cindy Bunny and eat more Jelly Bellies. We learned all about how Jelly Belly Beans are made. After our tour we had lunch in their cafe - Jelly Belly shaped hot dogs.

Enjoying any little bit of sun!

This rain is really getting to all of us. Especially the girls and I. Talk about cranky! Although C has it bad. He's gotta work in it.

Today the sun decided to bless us with it's presence (at 3pm). I took the opportunity and the girls and I went for a walk to our neighborhood park. Unfortunately Daddy had to stay home to study for his last quiz (FT mids end tonight! yea!).

We had a great time. It was a much needed park visit! I must say, with all the rain the creek is full and the hills are coated with a beautiful carpet of green. I just LOVE where we live! We look forward to tomorrow. It's not suppose to rain and it's C's day off!

Getting ready for summer.

The girls and I are getting ready for summer. We have many fun things planned. All we need is the warm weather! Will the rain ever stop? O sings "Rain rain go away" every day. Poor thing.

What a stinker.

Our beautiful O.....what a stinker! She came up to me this afternoon with a blue headband. She says to me, this doesn't match my dress. I took the red one off my head and said, I'll trade. This red one matches the red dots on your dress.

"No" she said, "Green one". Her dress is a chartreuse green with red and blue dots. We have a green headband that matches perfect I asked her were it was. She tells me she doesn't know. I start looking around the house for this green headband and can't find it. I said were did you have it last. "Playing on my knee.", she tells me. Yes...but in what room? I go into my bedroom, which is were she was and started looking around again....asking CK if she had seen it.

I again ask O, "Do you know were it is?" "Yes" she tells me, "right here!", and she pulls it from under some of her toys on my bed. With a BIG smile on her face, BTW.

What a stinker!

Daddy can study with his eyes closed?

It's been too long since my last update. I know. We have been so busy. I just haven't had the time to add things in the blog. It's not like nothing has happened - plenty has. I'll try and be better.

These pics were taken one night in January just after Daddy started phase II of his new career. He had been working all day and tried to get some studying in that night. Gee....can you study with your eyes closed? It never worked for me in college.

The girls were SO cute. They were trying to make Daddy more comfortable by putting his slippers on. They tired to wake him up by running around the family room screaming, but it didn't work. He was just too tired.

Christmas Tree

This past weekend we were in Sacramento visiting my sister and brother and their families. It was my nephews birthday. The girls and I had a great visit. We were up late and O didn't have a nap other than an hour in the car. We got home on Sunday tired. CK fell asleep about 10 minutes before getting home.

When CK woke up (about 7:30pm) the first thing she said was "Can we put up the Christmas Tree now?" I was tired, but thought okay. We'll put it together and finish it tomorrow. So...we did. We put the tree together, rearranged the furniture. I put the lights on the tree on Monday afternoon. I must say, I didn't want to put it together on Sunday night, but I'm glad I did. NOW, I'm really in the Christmas spirit.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving. We went to C's parents house. C, his sister and I made dinner. It was very yummy! D did a WONDERFUL job on the turkey. We enjoyed our leftovers for a week!

While the turkey was cooking D washed her car. The girls, of course, wanted to help. They had a great time. Auntie is a great teacher. CK now knows how to wax a car. While CK was waxing the car O was making a rock cake. We had a nice visit and a very delicious dinner.

New Dishwasher makes EVERYONE happy.

I know, I haven't put anything new up in a while. It's not that nothing has happened......I've just been really busy. My photography business is taking off and with C's schedule, Thanksgiving and now Christmas coming. I don't have to explain, I'm sure.

Our dishwasher, which was about 15 years old, decided it had enough. Fine with us. That thing was SO loud. We purchased a new one and when it was installed I told the guy we would keep the box. Oh, my gosh! That was the best thing. The girls just love that box. I made two windows and a door and they play in it all day. As for our new dishwasher.....it's SO nice. You can hardly hear it. We just LOVE it.

Now the box house is starting to get in the way. Our house is not big enough for this thing. I don't know how I'm going to get the girls to let it go. Too bad it's raining now, I would just put it outside.

Family Movie Night

We had our first real family movie night last night. I put a fire in the fireplace, made some popcorn, and we all sat, in the dark, and watched Shrek. It was great. The girls loved it. Especially eating popcorn out of the fun popcorn boxes I found at the grocery store.

I want to do this at least once a month. It was nice family time.

She Falls Asleep at 10:30am!

Yes, O fell asleep today (second time this week, actually) at 10:30am! WHY? Because she wakes up at 4:30am!!!!! 4:30AM!!!!!!
Do you realize that is before C wakes up to go to work. Goodness! Her wake up and nap schedule is all off because of the time change.

CK was also waking up early, but was napping (at a normal time) because she has been sick with a cold. CK is back to her normal wake up time now. I hope O gets back to hers soon! I can't take this 4:30am wake up time much longer. They DON'T let me go back to sleep! I should just get up, shower and get stuff done, but I just don't have the energy to do so when it's STILL DARK OUTSIDE!

Trick-or-Treating

Here are some pictures from trick-or-treating last night. We had a great time. As I told you CK wanted me to dress up. Next year I'm going to have Daddy dress up as a chimney sweep. That should be fun.

This was the first year O really got into trick-or-treating. Last year she like it, but I don't think she really got it. This year she did. She said trick-or-treat and thank you happy Halloween to every house. It was so cute. PLUS, every house you get candy! That was the best thing ever! Every time someone put candy in her trick-or-treat bag she would say "my candy". It was so cute.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Halloween Party, Parade & Concert

CKhad her first Halloween party, parade and mini Pre-K concert at school today. O and I were able to join her. We had a great time, but we missed Daddy.

O was SO excited to be able to stay at school with big sister. That just made her day. I'm not looking forward to Wednesday when she realizes she doesn't get to stay. The good thing is, O and I have a mommy and me class starting on Wed. that should help.

It was wonderful to see CK with her friends in school. They are all so cute. We even got a class picture. O sat next to CK for the class picture and circle time. CK was so good at including her little sister in everything.

The Pre-K classes got all together and sang about four Halloween songs for the parents. It was wonderful. I recorded two short mpg movies of those. I wish I knew about the mini concert. I would have brought the video recorder. Next time.

We had a wonderful time. The girls came home tired. CK is starting to get a cold. We'll nap this afternoon and out again for trick-or-treating tonight with Daddy. We can't wait.

Since I made the girls their costumes and we have been talking about Halloween for weeks, CK has been asking me what I'm going to be for Halloween. I finally thought of something I could do without purchasing a whole costume or making a costume (since I don't have time now). Mary Poppins! I have to put the flowers on my hat, but by trick-or-treat time I'll be ready! Check tomorrow for pictures.

Decorating for Halloween

Last week the girls and I were just getting home from something and CK says, "Mommy, our house is the only house in the neighborhood that is not decorated for Halloween." Okay, goodness. How dramatic. About 1 out of every 10 houses decorate for Halloween in our neighborhood. I did want to decorate. I've just been a little busy making their Halloween costumes. I have all the stuff, so I told CK we would do it that afternoon.

We did and it looks great. Both girls helped. They loved decorating. The wind took care of some of the cob webs on Friday, but it still looks great. What do you think?