Wall-E

I had bought "Wall-E" a couple of years ago off Ebay.  The littles loved it and watched it quite a bit.  And then it disappeared.  I had thought perhaps the neighbor had taken it when he was in our place while we were on vacation.  The only hang up there was I thought he would have taken the box also, not just the movie.  So the box has been sitting on my shelves for over a year with no movie and I keep thinking about throwing it away.  And then I don't.
So today we have been searching for Sylvester.  Either he escaped and we weren't aware of it or he has found a really good hiding place.  I suspect he escaped and will turn up tonight.  In my search I pulled the couch out in case he was behind it at the bottom.  And there stuck to the wall was "Wall-E"
Audrie and I have been enjoying watching it again.  It is almost like watching a new movie when you haven't seen it in so long. I love that we have the movie and the box. I hate having one without the other.  One of my quirks.

Lucia Falls

It is hot so we decided to go down to the river.  We went to Lucia Falls Park.  Way back in time there used to be a restaurant there and it had a great deck with stairs and landings going all the way down to the river.  Now it is just a decaying structure.
We picnicked before venturing down to the waterline.  There is suppose to be no water contact at this park because it is a resting place for salmon.  And yes those are my kids putting their feet in the water.  We walked around on all the great rock formations.  They threw rocks in the river.  And then we were just hot.  Audrie especially.  Her little nose was sweating.  Connor had poured out our water, so we headed back.
It was a nice evening with a nice walk even if it was warm.  And the littles had a good time.

Long Week

It is another week of full days for the littles and me.  They are spending the day at care house.  Audrie seems over her problem there.  So we have one more long day and then we go back to five hour days for me at work.  Yay!
I'm going to love my paycheck, but I'm getting tired.  Two weeks in a row with eights is a lot.  Especially when they came after a lull where I only worked one day one week and two days the week before.
I'm still on four day weeks though.  It's good.  Hopefully we can set a little aside to pay for our California trip this fall.  San Francisco......here we come.

When Will I Learn?

We have almost ran out of small hair bands.  They work best for Audrie's hair.  So while shopping I spotted a bag of 500 latex bands and thought cool.  I won't be out for a long long time and when they start getting lost it is no big deal as it was just a couple of dollars.
Well I didn't think that one through very well.  But I did when I was picking up 500 latex bands off the floor.  Although I did not get all 500 because they keep showing up.  I was a bit smarter at that point and put them up.  I can get them down as I need them.
So then I bought her a bucket of beads.  Yup, you guessed it.  I didn't think that one through.  Should have put over half of them away in the first place.  And I was thinking about that as I was down on the floor picking them all up.  Thought "man that seems like a lot for 500 beads."  Nope......looked at the bucket when I was done and it held 5000 beads.  They are now put up for awhile.  And when they come back down......at least 2/3 of them are going into a plastic baggie to remain put up.  Oy.

Wedding Fun

And the day finally arrived.  My friend and co-worker got married.  I got us invited and we went.  Belinda hadn't invited us because she didn't want to impose and thought we wouldn't come.  Ha!!
And she was such a beautiful bride and Tim was a wonderful groom.
Brenda and I arrived right on time due to a little detour my gps took us on.  But we got there.  Used valet parking for the first time ever.  That was hard for me and them.  They parked my car right outside the front door.  We were shown upstairs and the guests filled the room.
The ceremony was nice and performed by a long term friend of Belinda's.  And then we were ushered downstairs for cocktail hour.  Brenda had a beer....a ginger beer that is.  She didn't care for it too much.
And then it was time to go back upstairs for the dinner and reception.  Belinda's dad gave a speech and he was very eloquent.  Told us we were from all over including Shanghai and Hong Kong.  We ranged in age from 6 months to 96 years old.  His father was not the oldest at 91, but he did get the longest marriage thus far of that group at 46 years.  Methinks that was a second marriage.
Dinner was buffet style with prime rib.  Unless you were one of the few children who got served burgers and french fries.
Once we were done eating it was time for dancing.  And by dancing....I mean Belinda's whole family gets up and dances.  It felt kind of strange to be one of the ten guests or so who wasn't dancing.  It is my usual mode of operatus. And then I decided why am I doing that? So I and Brenda joined in and we did the limbo and the Congo line and just danced.  And we had a blast.  Dancing and watching others.
They had an open bar but no one got sloppy drunk and that was very nice.  I think it may be because of all the dancing.  ;p
The cake cutting was beautiful.  Both the bride and the groom showed great respect for each other and did NOT smash cake in either's face.  There were three different flavors to the cake and I can attest that the lemon was divine.
And then it was time to wind it down.  We all went outside and received very long sparklers that were then lit and we stood in two lines and Tim and Belinda pass under the sparklers for their festive send off.
I absolutely still believe in the institution of marriage and I send great love and light to Belinda and Tim and hope they have a beautiful long life together.  I loved the wedding, I loved the dress, I loved the party.  I had more fun than I have had in a long time. I'm glad I manipulated the situation and got to go.  And I'm glad I left the littles at home.

Testing

Audrie has been doing so well lately behaving when we go places.  And then today she didn't.  I don't know why they feel the need to test the boundaries.  I don't understand temper tantrums when they know they don't work.
So today we are at lunch with Mona and Fred in Red Lobster.  We order.  We eat biscuits.  We color.  And then our food comes.  They were sharing a chicken strip plate because all she wants is french fries.  So I put some french fries on a plate for her and then it begins.  She wants the big plate that the food came on.  Well no.......So we go do a timeout in the bathroom that then gets moved outside.  I told her she would not get the big plate since all she wanted was some fries and if she continued I would pay the bill and we would leave.  She didn't want that.
So we go back to the table and she starts right back in.  The waitress must have been a mind reader as she came right over and then quickly got me the bill and to go boxes.  Yup.  We paid and left. Once outside she threw her milk cup on the ground.  Made her pick it up.  Got them in the car and she starts in on wanting the mini ipad.  I told her no.  She could not have it until she got home.  She kept at it.  I told her if she kept it up she wouldn't get it all day.  I am not rewarding temper tantrums.
Amazing.  She immediately stopped and was quiet the whole way home.
Guess Connor and I are having Red Lobster for dinner.  He fell asleep on the way home. And I bet she behaves next time we are out.  Unfortunately that will probably be awhile because I don't feel like a repeat any time soon.

Tired

I always love those really long work weeks right after a nice lull.  I worked 30 hours in four days and am exhausted.  I was by myself and the warehouse was and still is packed.  So it was work all week.  I got a lot done, but boy am I feeling it.
And I got next week to look forward to with 31 hours in four days and lots more work....going to start returns.  Whew.  When it rains it pours.
Looking forward to the lull in October.  I have decided we are going to make our trip in that month down the coast to San Francisco to see the Redwoods and the bridge and Jeremy.