Saturday, June 26, 2010

Another week down...

This week we played with lots of play-dough!

I also received this look quite often the first couple days of the week!

Oh yes, now I remember...Riley was a MESS Monday and Tuesday of this week...glad that's over!

Monday morning on the way to school I actually had to pull the car over and get her under control. She had completely lost it because her wallet fell on the floor and I would not pick it up because I was driving and couldn't reach it. I turned the radio up loud to drown her out but even that wouldn't work. I tried to reason with her. I finally lost my cool, pulled the car over, and then she was scared. Once we were both calmed down I spilled my hot coffee all over my hand and screamed and she got upset because she thought I hurt myself. When we finally made it to school, she totally melted down because her class wasn't on the playground yet and she wanted to go outside...her teachers had never actually seen her that upset...way to start off the week!

I figured we were both just feeding off of each other making matters worse, but we survived.

Tuesday morning was much better and that evening we went to eat dinner at the Buckley's house!

Dinner was great and the company was even better!

Here's me, Riley, and Baby Will!
After dinner, Will had gone to bed and Riley was watching a movie in the living room...it got quiet and we went in to find this! Such a silly girl!
She had a few meltdowns during dinner and ate virtually nothing...awesome!

Wednesday we started something fun in our house to get excited about Jason coming home. I can't take the credit because my friend Laurie shared this idea with me and I just love it!

Rather than counting days until Jason gets home, we are counting and eating Daddy Kisses!In this bowl is one Hershey's kiss for Riley and one for me for each day until Jason comes home...we each eat one kiss per day and when they are all gone he will be home!

Riley has really caught on and she gets excited about eating her Daddy kiss each day...I put them next to the frame she made at school for him for Father's Day! Her teachers told me that she said "I smile for Daddy" when they took this pic...such a sweetie!

Wednesday we also went to the Hampton Inn in Suisun because they open up their hotel each Wednesday for deployed spouses and families...they provide dinner, a massage therapist, and access to their pool! We met up with some friends and had a grand 'ol time!

Thursday I kept Riley home from school. With the sun rising at 4:30 and setting at 9:30, she had not been sleeping well. This fact along with her unusually cranky self made me wonder if she was just really lacking some sleep. Call it mother's instinct but that girl slept over 4 hours on Thursday for her nap and woke up feeling much much better and I regained my sanity! That afternoon we just played outside and then went to grab pizza for dinner with some friends!

Friday was water play day at school and Riley got to wear her swimsuit and play in water tables and in a sprinkler...that girl was in heaven!

Friday night we celebrated Katie's birthday!

Here's me and Riley before the birthday celebration...she got a new outfit from DiDi and it's so stinkin' cute!
Love this girl!
We had a blast hanging out with Katie and her friends...such a fun night!

Riley had fun playing "in" the toy box!
She also had a blast pulling her friend Carter around on the leash...again! You think this boy would have learned, but they were so cute together!
She also showed Carter some of her dance moves!
We stayed way too late, but Riley was having fun and so was everyone else. She became our entertainment as usual! I found Boom Boom Pow sung by Alvin and The Chipmunks on YouTube and it is the funniest thing ever...here's Riley dancing away!



Today Riley slept in (woohoo) and we had such a fun day!

Discovery Kingdom is about 20 minutes from our house and I have seen it so many times and noticed the steel roller coasters but never thought they would have a lot for Riley to do. Thank goodness I met someone at the pool one day who clued me in to what a great place this is and we got season passes and headed out for our first trip today with the Hollenders!
This place is awesome...basically a zoo, a Sea World, and an amusement park all in one!

There were HUGE tigers sitting right next to the window and Riley loved knocking on the window to try and get his attention!
We headed first to JungleLand...a land full of splash pads, rides for Riley, and jungle gyms!

This was her first splash pad to experience and at first she would just let herself get misted!
But in about 30 seconds she realized just how fun it was and started taking her shirt off...so that was my clue to put her in her swimsuit and let her go wild...and that she did!

Her and Braden had the best time running around!

We played on this huge jungle gym next...
Riley tried some new things even though she was scared at first!
We rode several rides and then checked out the animals!
These lions were so close and so pretty!
We finished up at Jungle Land we went to grab some grub and I ate the largest corn dog I've ever seen in my life and boy was it good!

After eating we headed to Thomas Town...home of Thomas the Train!

Riley was giving Braden some BIG hugs while we waited in line!
Riley had greatly anticipated riding on Thomas the Train and had a very hard time waiting in line until our turn...it was smack dab in the middle of her normal nap time and she was a crank pot! We barely made it on a train and had to leave the Hollenders behind for the next ride but we were all in agreement that getting Riley on the train was vitally important! However, once we got on the train she was so upset because she couldn't drive the train...let me introduce you to her totally fake sad face...many people have fallen for it but her mama knows her too well!
She eventually stopped crying and had fun on the train!
We found another splash pad once we got off the train and I think cooling off was just what she needed...she was a happy girl again and just had a blast!
She got much more daring at this splash pad and she kept wanting to get her hair all wet!
Once she got her hair wet and flipped her head back up she spent a very long time brushing it all back and styling it back into place...you'll see just what I'm talking about in the video below!
Happy Girl!
After the splashpad we got some frozen lemonade and headed to LooneyTune land!
This girl is a trip...this was the face she made when she got a chill from eating the frozen lemonade too fast...love her!
We walked around LooneyTune land and by this time the park had gotten much more crowded and the kids had reached their limit so we headed out of the park!

I can't wait to go back...this is the perfect place for Riley...there are over 20 rides she can ride with me and she's actually tall enough to ride some by herself but I'm just not ready for that! We can't wait for Jason to get home so we can all go!

Here's some video I got from our day!



She had a super fun day and was in bed asleep by 6:30 tonight...one tuckered out little girl!

I'm pretty tuckered out myself...night!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Ups and Downs...

This week has had its ups and downs...

Let's start with the ups...

Wednesday night I had Ashley, Katie, and Julia over and we started out by playing at the pool where Riley was fearless again in the big pool even going all the way to the deep end!

After the pool we headed back to our house because I had some cooking to do! I am in love with my Pioneer Woman cookbook and made her Penne Pasta with Shrimp recipe and it was delish!

After I put Riley to bed us "big" girls headed outside to eat dinner on the patio and chat the night away over wine...it was great!

With all the boys gone we schemed up plans for Thursday night as well...dinner at Cheesecake Factory!

So Thursday we headed to Walnut Creek and started off with an early dinner outside!

Ashley, Katie, Julie, Riley, and Me
Riley enjoyed sporting Julia's sunglasses!
Ashley and Katie
Julia, Riley, and Me
Align CenterRiley ate really well and I did too so we shared some Snickers cheesecake...yum!

After dinner we did some shopping...it was so funny because we stopped in at PB and we met a little girl named Riley who was exactly one month younger than my Riley and she had red hair! The two of them put on a great show for all the shoppers complete with song and dance...I love how social Riley is! She had a hard time saying goodbye to her new friend with the same name!

We headed to H&M and then off to the semi-annual sale at VS...look who found something just her size and for a great deal!
Eventually the sugar low mixed with exhaustion hit Riley and she was melting down...I had finished up all my shopping so I took her outside for a change of scenery while everyone else finished up...she turned that frown upside down and went back to her silly crazy self!

She wore Ashley's scarf over her head the entire walk back!
We had a fun night but unfortunately Riley's tummy got turned upside down for some reason and when I went to wake her up Friday morning I found her sleeping soundly in her own puke...poor girl!

Since she hasn't thrown up since she was 5 months old I didn't quite know what to think but I decided to keep her home in case she had some kind of bug. She was a little lethargic that morning and laid on her pillow to watch a movie while I got some work done!
It didn't take but an hour or so and her energy level was right back to normal and she had eaten her breakfast with no issues. I had quite a crazy morning juggling work and her...she chimed in on one of my conference calls exclaiming that she had to poop...luckily I was in good company and they all understood and chuckled! She did take a 4 hour nap so I was able to regain my sanity, however!

Due to the craziness of Friday it was 4 before I got out of my pj's...gasp!

So we laid low and just stayed around the house that evening!

Saturday morning we went to the Vacaville Farmer's Market and got some fresh fruit and veggies...and then we came home and had a picnic in the front yard...grilled cheese and fruit!

Riley ate really well and loved our picnic!
After our picnic she rode her bike!
She then ventured into a world only Riley knows and found her best bud Max (from Where The Wild Things Are) and she held his hand and dragged him all around the sidewalk!
"Come on Max"
She is such entertainment for me these days!
After our picnic she headed to take a nap and this is what I found when she woke up...not one but two binkies...how I dream of the day there are ZERO binkies in this house!
So we try and stay busy and have as much fun while Jason is gone but I have to say that there are days that just drag and are just plain hard...those are the down days of life. Yesterday was one of those days...we are so close to Jason coming home but yet it is the hardest part of deployments because I'm just done...ready for him to be home NOW! I know Father's Day being this weekend played a part in all of this and it didn't help that they played this video at church Saturday night...

I have seen this video before and it is very moving, but when I saw it start at church I have to say my thought was "Oh no...don't play this"...it was rough.

Today, however, has been much better...we started off our morning skyping with Jason and that always makes things better. Riley was so cute and was so sweet wishing him a Happy Father's Day!

We also got out of the house all day and went to Lake Berryessa again!

Me and my fearless water baby!
Ashley, Jill, and Katie
We started out docked off at a beach where we lounged and ate all of our goodies but then we got back in the boat and played the rest of the day!

Jill got up and skied!
Then I got up and skied...after a few unsuccessful attempts and a last minute change in my footing I was able to get up and had a lot of fun skiing! I am already sore! Riley was cheering me on in the boat the whole time!
When I was done, she wanted to jump in and swim with me!
California law states that when you have a person in the water while boating you have to wave this flag...look who made sure we were all safe today!
After our skiing, it was time to break out the Ski Bob!

First up, Jill and Katie!
Jill...gotta love a fellow Texas girl who rode this thing like a bull!
Next up it was Riley's turn to tube for the first time!
Our first attempt Ashley pulled the slack on the rope and Riley was all done!
But as soon as she pulled us in and Riley got in the boat, she was ready to try again so off we went!

This time we stayed out for a while and I think we were pretty much in neutral the whole time but she had a blast!
And here's the proof that Riley was one tired little lake girl!
Jill was riding the Ski Bob on our way back to the marina and Riley completely sacked out...bumpy ride and all!

So that's the ups and downs of life here...on Jason's side of the planet our countdown is 23 days until he heads home!