For I have sinned mondays..

I have had this on my sidebar for a long time, but fail more than I succeed at actually writing an appropriate post for this on a monday! I got the idea (and graphic) from mom on a spin. I don't believe that she still does this, but I'm going to give it a try for 2010! My first visit to this particular confessional will focus on my glee that school has started again today! Now don't get me wrong, I adore my 3 crazy girlies, but at some point you reach the point of family time saturation and my darlings are at that point! Now hubby and I would be perfectly content with another week of down time, family time, sleeping in and staying up late! The three young ladies in our fold however have perfected sleeping in and staying up late, but NOT managing to be pleasant to be around when sleep deprived! We have had a lot of Jekyll-Hyde moments in the last couple days! One minute they are playing nicely together, the next we hear blood-curdling screams and the tears begin to flow! So my friends, I admit publicly, that I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY to send them off for some learnin' today! My money is on significant grouchiness upon their return to the homestead this afternoon, but hopefully the exhaustion will lead to earlier bedtimes tonight!! And with a Hail Mary and an Our Father, I am done with my confession for the week!!

In case you are looking for a place to stay while visiting....

So, you want to visit San Fran? When I travel, I like to stay in the bosom of the city, interact with the locals and get a true sense of the city. That's why I chose my hotels for their character and reflection of local flair - and a cool sign is the first sign you've found just such a place!! Ok, I admit, I choose a place for comfort, location and if I can stay there free on points, but in another life, this is how I'd like to travel - all based on cool signs!

If you are looking for a quiet get away, the Capri may be just the place for you! And you can get a AAA discount - bonus!!

the sign is way cool - does the Star really need to say anything else?

Don't ask and they won't tell...

The Buena Vista... does it really have a buena vista? it's kinda in the heart of things

In case you forgot where you were, the Francisco Bay Inn will remind you!

If you stay here, you can walk the super famous windy street rather than wait in line with all the cars!

The Hotel Stratford looks like a solid stand-by

So, if you are planning a trip to the city of fog, you may want to consider some of these fine establishments!!

I know that you have all missed me! I was out of town for a couple weeks - vacation and my baby sister's wedding - all of which I will share with you in great detail, do not fear! We arrived home at 1am monday night/tuesday morning and had to be at the middle school for 6th grade orientation tuesday morning! I have felt like I was swimming underwater for the last couple days with my jet lag - the girls on the other hand were wired for sound! Of course there is NO interest in getting up in the morning and bedtime has not adjusted either, so we are battling jet lag and trying to get on schedule for school which begins in 6 days! Big S created a plan for getting herself on schedule for her 6am middle school mornings - we suggested that she was a little ambitious and this morning was confirmation of that! If anyone has any miracle working plans for getting kids back on a school year sleeping schedule in less than a week, by all means share your wisdom! I promise posts full of our Cali vacation and baby sister's fabulous wedding soon!!!!

heading home...

I'm heading home today from a blissful visit with Ranch girl.  I am so lucky to have a friend like her!  I am so lucky to have a hubby who would give this trip to me because he knew how much it would mean to me!  I am lucky to have 3 beautiful little girls who love me and missed me and are excited that I am coming home!

  I was pondering what my day of travel might be like today.  I have 3 flights, so perhaps I will get an opportunity to fly on each of these planes throughout the course of my travels today!  The yellow one looks like it may lack leg room and I'm concerned that it may not have a potty!  This stealth on looks super cool, so I'm imagining that everything inside is super high                                        tech!  I think it probably goes pretty fast too!

This on looks sleek and sophisticated - like me - ha!  I bet it has lots of leg room, cool tvs for each seat and really nice flight attendants with cool uniforms and english accents!!  

Of course I am probably not going to get a chance on one of these planes let alone all three, but a girl can dream!  I'll keep you posted!!

think of me...

So, as you read this, I am winging it accross the country to visit Ranch Girl!  Here's what my day of travel will look like...  I have a 6am flight out of Indy to Chicago, then a nice little layover - time for coffee and a muffin (ok, it's a 2 hour layover so 

several cups of coffee and muffins!!).  Good thing that I will have packed this...

with lots of entertainment for me!  I keep m

unchies, knitting, reading, my DS to play games on, my Archos to watch movies on and of course I have my "liquid baggie"!!

I need to make sure that I have a good seat assignment and not one of these!!

Emergency exits seats are good for the legroom, but I HATE not having my stuff at my feet!  Don't even get me started all the education that goes into the responsibility of sitting in that seat - you can waste all your time on a short flight studying these em

ergency procedure cards!

I am looking forward to a nice peaceful flight - ok really 3 flights, but traveling alone makes it much better - trying to switch planes twice with hubby and the 3 girls is a whole other story!  Too much crap to lug around and too many people to keep entertained!  Don't get me wrong, my girls are great travelers and I really enjoy our family trips, but when it's the 5 of us, I prefer a direct flight  one change at the most!  When it's just me, I don't mind more than one transfer - especially when I'm heading on one of our girls' trips or in this case going to see Ranch Girl!! 

family camping adventure.....

What better way to spend the last week in July than to camp??? Now everyone has their own definitions of camping; we have friends who put packs on their backs, hike a while on a trail, then go off trail and find a spot to camp - if you can't carry it, you can't take it is their motto!! Our definition is a little different! We have a travel trailer with ac/heat, shower and toilet, fridge, stove and oven, two tvs.... we camp at Thousand Trails campgounds so there is always tons to do! We got here the day before Big S's 10th bday so we got to make her cake in the oven - devil's food with chocolate icing which she decorated with m&ms! It was really cute!! We hung up banners and blew up balloons the night before so she was surprised in the morning! Any wway you slice it, eleven days is a long time to spend together in a confined space! So far we are surviving nicely!! There may be some sibling assault charges by the end of the week so if the heat doesn't kill us, they may still kill each other! BIL is with us too, so there are 3 kids and 3 adults in our little trailer - luckily I run a pretty well oiled machine when we are camping - unlike at home ;) I'll post later and let you know how we're surviving!!!

wedding fun....

So, last night we attended the beautiful wedding of Jamie and Nick (the bride is hubby's cousin).  My first 4th of July wedding and I must give serious props to the bride!  

I have never seen anything like it!   The theme was everywhere, but done with such class!  The bride had a red sash (as you can see above) and red trip on her veil and the maid of honor was in red and the bridesmaids wore blue (the corresponding men matched the women).  The ceremony was lovely - everything you would want - sweet, simple, meaningful...  My girls got to pass out the programs beforehand - made by the bride in the theme of course with patriotic paper and ribbon!!  We threw red and white rose petals after the ceremony - the girls passed those out too!

 

The flower girls stole the show in red, white and blue tutus -adorable!!!

Look at this amazing cake!  There was also a cupcake cake of red and blue cupcakes with white stars on them!!

The reception was amazing!  They had a live 12 piece band that was fabulous and a dj that took over when they were on break!  They had pails full of red, white and blue flip flops for everyone to change into for dancing - how thoughtful!!  There were tvs everywhere playing pictures that the photographers had taken throughout the evening (they were more like paparazzi and there was a videographer and his crew too!).  The lighting was amazing and they had the "Nick and Jamie" logo in lights on the dance floor.  They had a photobooth (which was broken unfortunately) where you were supposed to get those pictures in a strip taken and then put them in their guestbook - super cool idea!  Instead of place cars, they had those old-fashioned red, whit and blue swirled lollipops with your table assignment on it!  The tables were decorated really nicely and they had one separate kids' table with crayons and pads for the kids to draw with and then each kid had a flag colored bag on the back of their chair FILLED with fun stuff!  They thought of everything!  In lieu of favors, they gave out these "support our troops" bracelets and had made a donation in honor of their guests to an organization that 'supports our troops' - a really nice idea! 

 

Only Jamie could pull off these glasses!  They had pictures after the ceremony at a friend's gorgeous backyard!!  I can hardly wait to see the pictures!

have to put a little shout-out to my favorite great uncle (hubby's actually) Uncle Gene!! I love this man!  If I weren't married, I'd be his trophy wife in a second ;)  Sadly he was widowed a few years ago.

The girls and I played nail salon all day - I did 40 toenails and 40 fingernails!  Everyone's was different - everyone chose their own pattern!  What fun - the bride actually noticed and was thrilled!!  Can you guess who's is who's??

The bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner :)  Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!!!!!!!!

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!

Here's to hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, apple pie, cold beer and fireworks!! I hope that everyone is enjoying a beautiful 4th of July! We are attending Jamie and Nick's wedding this afternoon/tonight. The girls are excited to go to their second wedding!! The weather has been swealtering here on Long Island but frequent dips in the pool have kept everyone cool! We are looking forward to our visit with Chris, Pat and Avery next week!! Off for another dip in the pool! Happy 4th everyone!!

life on the road

So, life on the road is always interesting!!!  The 3 crazy girls and I spent almost 2 weeks on the road - did over 1700 miles and I don't want to think about how much $$$ was spent on gas!  We did have a really good time!  We drove to my sister's place in Williamsburg and spent 3 fun, incredibly hot and sometimes crazy days with her and little man J!  Did I mention that it hit 101 while we were there? 

 I thought we were going to melt!  We did a fast and furious tour of colonial Williamsburg - apparently they didn't have air conditioning yet!  

Poor little man J had a baseball game in that heat!  They were real troopers playing 2 hours in that heat - anything for the sport!  We did manage to catch 'Kung Foo Panda' - great flick if you haven't seen it yet!  The highlight was probably the impromptu dance party the night that we got there!!  Words could not describe the sights, nor cameras accurately capture the fun (although I did try).  

We headed to my parents' place next, but not before stopping to show the girls where hubby and I went to college - they were actually old enough to think it was kinda cool - I think the last time they saw it they were in diapers!!  My parents' place was a much different pace - as you could imagine!  Big fun when mom and I took the girls to Dixie Caverns - they've never seen anything like it before.  The responses were a mix between cool and scary!  I think it was the only time during the trip that we weren't sweating!  

We celebrate my Dad's bday and father's day early since sis and little man J came out for the weekend.  We did the trip home in one day - ugh!  Luckily we had beautiful weather most of the time and the girls were really good - it just makes for a really long day - I walked in the house and straight to the couch - didn't even eat dinner I was so tired!  Now back to the chaos of our house for a while!!

tick tock....

This is what the situation looked like last night!!  Things are beginning to look up though!!  I am still doing last minute laundry, the kids have their 'activity bags' ready, the munchy bags are ready, but drinks aren't yet!  NO CLOTHES have been packed and I am busy filling my ipod with cds from a neighbor that I need to return before I leave!  I think that I am leaving between 2 and 3pm tomorrow...votes on whether or not that happens?  Went to AAA, have the route mapped with hotel options for tomorrow night... hubby can sleep in peace when we are gone!  I can hardly wait to hang with my sister and her son (ok, really with her when the kids all go to bed!)  I can play auntie friday when they are all rested, but thursday night is sister time!!!  A bottle of wine and not nearly enough sleep I imagine!!  I can hardly wait!  Went to the library to get books on colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown for the kids to read on the way - bets on this happening either??  The washer and dryer are both beeping at me - off to finish the loads so I can start packing!!!