And We're Back

We are back from a most fabulous vacation in Pismo Beach, California. I'd like to think that this vacation was purely some joyful insight into what and where (?) our future home will be.

We were having so much fun, I don't have as many highlights as I would have hoped from our trip. Few as they may be (for my taste), they are fabulous and probably more than enough for your enjoyment!


The boys were loving the water, but froze after a matter of seconds (it is the Pacific Ocean, you know).


Yes, we were shred-ready and rocked those waves. Heh, heh.


We were nap-free for many days, so JJ found many instances to get his cat-naps in.



JJ couldn't get enough of the sand, as you can see. It was so soft, how could he resist?



















Here is one where Dave condones brotherly torture.





This is all about Lathan. Make sure you keep your eyes on Lathan. No peeking - this is not a flattering moment.





We love our Dito and Lucy! Thanks for coming to see us.


This place had AWESOME clam chowder. Since I ate here 3 days in a row, I thought I would document it with my BFF, Betsy. These are our new $12 sunglasses, too. Lovin' it.


This is JJ's cousin and new favorite person. He would take a look at me and shake his head in disapproval. He wanted nothing but Hannah.




This is the clam chowder place on the first day. We were lucky enough to dine with the Gonzalezes. They are an awesome bunch. Thanks for making a pit stop to visit!

Fishing off the pier reaped some rewards, although they were not interested in touching said rewards.


We flew out of Santa Barbara in the evening, so to pass the time, we visited the Santa Barbara Mission (I did a report on this place in the 4th grade, so it was a nice full-circle moment for me.) It's a beautiful place - and not just the mission.







JJ getting in another cat-nap. If you look behind Nana, you can see one of those 6-person bikes. We had it for 2-hours and the boys loved it for the first 20 minutes before feeling the exhaustion set in.


The pier in Santa Barbara. Thanks Nana and Pops! You guys are the best for spending the day with us, only to drive 5 hours back home after dark. Every moment was appreciated. This was by far our best family vacation EVER!

Quick Update

They just anounced the Day of my Residency Graduation as......drum roll please.....June13th. All are welcome.

Dave

Dave's Take

Once again, another day of call.

JJ

Smiling. Laughing. Now starting to whine, cling, and had his first ear infection. Thankfully he likes the pink amoxicillin. Evidently Kaelan likes it as well because every time JJ gets his medication Kaelan says that he is sick as well and needs medication as well.

Kaelan

Trying to get sick so he can have medication as well. Loves jumping on the trampoline. Probably the funniest kid we have. He always is making funny faces, saying funny things, and just waits for the reaction. Kills me.

Lathan

Dying to do something. Doesn't know what to do with all the free time of the summer. Had his best behavior yesterday when he started to pull weeds in the garden. Griselda is going to be referred to as task-master Griselda if that is what it takes to keep him happy.

Griselda

Slightly overwhelmed from our basement overflow into the rest of the house; however, she is finally getting the wind in her sails and has tackled the family room and kitchen. The ants coming into the house through the fireplace helped to make it a pressing matter. She used some carpet scent powder to help persuade the ants from returning. Unfortunately, it also persuaded some of us to avoid the room as well. It is the equivalent of walking into a room that has been blasted with a perfume bomb. Made the eyes tear for a while.

Dave

Still working like mad. Trying to stay, I mean, get into shape for my Sept triathlon. Going to be interviewing for fellowship positions in the next few weeks. Also interviewing for jobs in the upcoming weeks. Currently speaking with firms about Visalia, Auburn, and Roseville.

Family

All of us are looking forward to vacation. We can't wait to dump our kids, I mean see our family. The kids are dying to go to the beach. I think that we are going to fly with our bathing suits on in anticipation of the beach. OK, maybe not.

Nothing else really going on. Everyone is relatively healthy, happy, and a little crabby.

Dave

Less than 2 weeks to go....

We are so very excited to get some R&R (yeah, right - with young kids?) at the beginning of August. We are headed to the beach and are anticipating long days, late nights, and an overwhelming dose of family (a WONDERFUL thing, if you ask me!). Until then, we are busy doing the kid-shuffle. We have everything from soccer twice a week, tennis, golf, preschool, piano, and my work schedule at the gym. It's all been working out quite smoothly, except that no matter how hard I tried, I got lost on the way to every class for every kid the first day - leaving us missing the entire golf lesson, and half of the others. The boys now seem to always ask, "are we lost again, Mama?" Sadly, the answer is probably yes 9 times out of 10.



This is Kaelan getting on the bus for the first time EVER (Lathan hasn't even done that yet) to go to the Detroit Zoo with his preschool class.






We've been lucky enough to squeeze in a bunch of fun and impromptu activities, if you will. This is a wonderful highlight of the various activities we've been able to catch on camera. Dave and I were both dorks for forgetting the camera when attending piano and the annual bike parade at the park this past weekend. So those will have to be left to the imagination.







We hope you are having a splashin' good time this summer, too!

Dave's Take

First off, isn't Griselda the best.

And now, for the rest of the story....

So, this guy trying to beat me at the finish is Eric. He happens to be a nurse that used to work in the special procedures / interventional radiology lab where I currently work. He ended up dating a neurologist at the hospital, and then subsequently got married and left to work at another hospital. Anyway, I used to talk to the guy all the time and hadn't heard from him in a year or so. At check-in on the day of the triathlon there he was standing in line. We talked. I told him that this was my first triathlon. Turns out that he has been competing in triathlons for about 7 years. Anyway, I told him good luck and never saw him again, until......wait first the triathlon run down.

The swim

It was a 75 foot section of beach with 225 people trying to all get into the water and start swimming. Imagine 225 people clawing, splashing, kicking, hitting......like a super huge game of water polo but with 2 foot waves coming intermittently. Fun times.

The bike

Held my own. Passed one person and got passed by 4 people.

The run

No mile markers. Dead tired. Competing against relay people with fresh legs. The overall winner went sub 6 min miles. Me I kept it at an even 8 min / mile.

The finish.

So the run is a 2 mile out 1 mile back route that loops back on itself. I ran into Eric about 100 yards after I turned around for the final mile and about 100 yards before he turned around for the final mile. Should have seen the look of surprise on his face to see me running in front of him. Anyway, I plodded along as best I could. Smiling and waving at the kids cheering me on. No idea where the finish line was. Rounded what I thought was the final corner. Not so. Rounded another corner. Started to put it into 4th gear definitely no overdrive capabilities at this point of the race. Eric rounded the corner shortly after me. He had had some "gel" nutrition product, got a burst of speed and we crossed the finish line neck and neck. If it had been a foot away he would have crossed it first; however, it wasn't and so we tied. (a bystander later told me that I had inched me out but that's OK). Anyway, I shocked everyone. Definitely the most out of shape appearing guy to cross the finish line in the first 100 people or so. The fact that I crossed it tied for 24th fastest time probably got some dieting, running, weekend warriors pretty upset. Anyway, had a blast. Looking forward to my half iron man in Sept. Thinking that I am going to have to train a LOT more than I did for this one. Good looks, determination, and plain stupidity only get you so far......

Dave

My Guy Rocks!!!!

This is Dave getting his first trophy on his first triathlon. What a stud!!!! He got third place in his age group. AWESOME. There is a plus side and a not-so-plus side to his finish. The not-so-plus is that his age group had a WHOPPING five men. The plus side of it? Out of the 225 contestants, he was 24th! Woohoooooooo! That is huge considering that all of these top finishers are all seasoned triathletes. Dave has always had a tremendous ability to flourish with physical exertion. Sounds funny the way I put that, but I couldn't think of any other way to say that he rules and has a raw and natural talent/ability in this arena. Also consider that he trained only a little over the past few months. Surgery residency, along with a deprived-of-daddy family, doesn't allow for much time for training. He still got in a couple sessions at the pool, and a couple of runs - but no real time on the bike. But when you're Dave, who needs training? I' m sure if we tested his VO2 max, he could be somewhere in the same league as the Lance Armstrongs of the world. He's that good. Not fair, but very cool. Now, he says, on to the 1/2 ironman. For that he is planning to do a bit more training.


















The following are in the order as they occurred. I did participate also, but I only did the swim for a relay. It was the gnarliest swim EVER. I've never started with the men - and with only one heat. So ALL 225 entrants were in the water on a small beach (you can see some of it behind me in the 1st pic - noodles really?? Had I known, I would've taken one). The waves and the commotion (my friend Alex appropriately named it "combat swimming") made for an interesting - and slightly panicky - swim. I came out with an ok time (I stopped to look around about a hundred times to be sure I wasn't totally off course and to stop the blows to the face from my neighbors).



































This is my relay team. We spanned 3 decades with our ages. I hope I'm still doing stuff like this in 20 years.















Dave was 7th or 8th out the water. Lucky guy left the hoards behind him from the start.


















































I was like, "Dave GOOO!!!" I didn't want to quite say "he's on your tail!" But maybe I should have. Would've made me look a bit too competitive, no? Instead I was waving my arms like a crazy mime. I don't think my message came across effectively because, well, see below.


I think Dave was a bit startled by this guy, Eric, because he literally hopped over the finish line in surprise as he looked over his shoulder. It was a cute little peek-a-BOO moment.



For the bit about the story of this photo-finish, check out Dave's Take above. It's pretty funny.






I'm so proud of you David. You are amazing. As India Arie so nicely puts it (in the song "Truth" on the sidebar), "...if I am a reflection of him, then I must be fly... because his light... it shines so bright...."

It's always about me, isn't it? ;)

Ahh, summertime....

Well, the boys have taken to skateboarding. Not the real way, of course. They are Dave's children (wink, wink). But I see Kaelan trying it soon one of these days. Lathan would be just as happy to keep his body firmly planted on safe, unmoving ground. You can see the terror and caution on his face as he rides in the video. Poor dude.


























And finally, we were able to "celebrate" Lathan's birthday on Sunday once we returned from camping by singing him a song with a birthday treat of his choice from Basking Robbins. We've had the treat for almost 2 weeks becauese we've been waiting for a night that Dave would be home to take part in the festivities. It really was a pitiful celebration. Poor guy didn't get anything but a whole week of blackout the first time around. We'll just make it extra special next year!

Fantabulous 4th!!!

So we were able to take a long weekend with the Independence Day holiday. We were fortunate enough to be invited to go camping with our good friends from church/work. We went to the Pinery, which happens to be in Canada. We thought it wouldn't be a big deal to get there, but it turned out to be a tedious thing to cross over the bridge to Canada. We were able to get TWO movies in just waiting in line before we even made it to the other side. We were all antsy and stuffed with snacks we packed for camping. Talk about carb-loading. We made it to the campsite (that was a trial in itself) and were astonished to find that the entire perimeter of the site was covered in poison ivy!!! WHATTTT? Ridiculous. So now here we were having to corral the little ones away from any vegetation, the campfire, the hot plates/stoves/dutch ovens, and the street. I was JJ's shadow at all times, which was not at all relaxing.

Needless to say, once we made it to the beach the next day, we were ecstatic to finally relax and let the kids eat sand even. As long as we had poison-ivy-free kids, I was happy to let them get into whatever else. Lisa and I were able to take the opportunity to practice our 800m open water swim while hanging out at the beach. Our triathlon is this weekend, so we wanted to build our confidence in the water. Lisa was so sea-sick she threw up afterward. I was dizzy, too, but I realized that I must be dizzy a lot of the time because it felt rather natural. Yes, I was off-kilter, but that's how I always feel after a swim. I am so my mother. She would get dizzy with a strong wind! I find that as I grow older, my equilibrium is more and more sensitive. Anyway, I digress... Dave practiced his swim and rocked it - as usual. He is meant to be in the water. Man, does he thrive there. Josh needed a little convincing, but he got in and did his thing, too. So we all got a little R&R with some exercise. Nothing feels better than that!

We were able to hit up a local park before crossing back over the border. It had a beautiful waterfall and lots of fossils throughout. Fun had by all.


We were stuck waiting at the border AGAIN for an hour or so and passed the time messing with our walkie-talkies and eating tons of Starbursts. Now Dave and I are headed to the dentist to fill some cavities (in fact Dave is getting a root canal tomorrow!!! Yikes. He said he's a little nervous. I love him, but is it awful to be happy that he'll actually be home early tomorrow - in spite of his sad predicament?)

We had a lovely time and hope to get to do it again soon! Thanks Joneses. You rock.

Dave's Take

Funny story from our weekend.

We went camping in Canada for the 4th of July weekend. I know, its independence day and we leave the country, go figure. Anyway, we had to cross the border / bridge twice, there and back. To pass the time, the two cars had hand held radio's to talk to each other on. Didn't use them much on the way there, but waiting to come back into the country, sitting on the bridge for two hours they came in quite handy.

So the situation is that I have a radio and my friend Josh has the radio for his car. Josh is messing around while these customs officials walk up and down the rows of cars just monitoring things. He then says, "hopefully, they don't check your car top carrier.......and hopefully they aren't monitoring radio transmissions." Right then, a new customs guy comes running out of the booth, hand held radio in hand desperately looking at all the cars. He comes to a stop one car in front of us and off to the passenger's side. I casually grab the radio, pretend to drop something on the floor and whisper over the radio, " Hopefully he doesn't see us in the yellow truck pulling a camper." By the way, we were driving a blue mini-van. The yellow truck was the car next to us. The customs official stares at the truck, radio in left hand, right hand over his hip holster, flexing and extending his fingers. All the sudden over the radio we hear, "itchy trigger fingersss....." Griselda grabs the radio from me and while trying no to laugh, and failing miserably at that, sends, "shhhhhh" over the radio. We were dying. Hadn't laughed that hard forever. Didn't even notice the screaming JJ.

Dave

Music Choice

I'm working on the post from our fabulous weekend getaway. In the meantime, I changed the music on the side; and just to clarify, I wanted to mention that the song "Stay" reminds me of how I feel as a widow to a surgical resident. So with no other meanings or innuendos, "she" can be interpreted as "the hospital." Just thought I'd mention it :)