This is it...Kindergarten

This was it...Lauren's first day of kindergarten. She, unlike me, was very excited to start school. I guess I was just pretty sad that our days of summer were ending. We have had a fantastic time playing and swimming and bike riding and not having to make bedtime etc., etc. I was even struggling last night to get them to bed on time. Once we got to school this a.m. my dread came to an end and I was really thrilled for her and this new experience. She doesn't know anyone in her class, but daddy has challenged her to know all 19 of the kids' names by Friday. Chad was able to leave work and he was manning the video camera. (once I figure out how to upload video I will add those to our blog) We all gave her big hugs and off she went in a single file line with Ms. Bans to her classroom. She turned and gave us a wave and that was it (sniffle, sniffle).



Allie was great company today and it will be nice for us to have this time together (check back in two weeks for her 1st day of preschool post). I do have to admit I did a drive by to see if I could sneak a peak of Lauren's class on the playground but they were not out there. A ton of boys are in her class so maybe some of this fancy girly stuff will wear off of her this year.



Lauren's friend, Ellie, and my friend Sylvia (her mom) met us after school for a lunch date and then Ellie came home with us to play. We still managed to get some pool time in tonight during family swim time at the rec center. I just can't let summer go.

Gelato anyone?

Our friend Clara is back in town after an extended stay with her grandparents in Washington State. We got to play with her today while her mom had a Dr.'s appointment. We went to get gelato at our favorite gelato place around the corner "Nado Gelato". Not sure if you can see the Vanilla Gelato covering Clara's mouth and chin, but it was a sight to see. Allie never strays from her favorite flavor of strawberry.

A Day at the Races - Del Mar

Chad had Monday off so what did we do? We went to the races in Del Mar. We were not sure how "appropriate" it was for the girls to go, but it turned out to be a really great time. Luckily they didn't get the gambling aspect of it. We stayed for 5 races and actually picked the first and second place winners in 2 different races. Too bad we only bet the $2.00 minimum so our winnings weren't that much.

Girls trip to Chicago

My girl's trip to Chicago happened this weekend. First of all I have the best husband who is so supportive and more than able to care for and entertain Lauren and Allie. They had a great weekend with daddy.

Our weekend started out with a ride on the "L", the elevated train, from Midway. Karen was running late thanks to the tropical storm that hit Texas that morning so Ivy and I braved the ride by ourselves. We took good notes for Karen once she landed and made it on the train herself. Shalah was there on business and met us at the Brookses a little later. Once we were all there, Laurie prepared a fantastic dinner of swordfish, eggplant stacks and yummy garlic and cheese potatoes. We spent the night catching up on our lives.

The following day, Friday started with some shopping and lunch in Lincoln Park. Later we met Jamie at Wrigley Field for the Cubs/Cardinals game. Several bars later and after a ton of Thai food we headed back to the house.

Saturday we left Laurie and Jamie's house to check into the Intercontinental hotel...

We dodged the rain and went shopping and made a quick stop to Garrett's for some popcorn. Man that stuff is good. We got back to the room and started getting ready for our night out to Topolobama for dinner. The pressure was on b/c this was a recommendation from me for one of my favorite chefs, Rick Bayless. It did not disappoint as I had one of the best meals ever.

It was a little hard to get out of Chicago on Sunday with all the bad weather around. I sat on the runway for almost 2 1/2 hours waiting to take off. I kept thinking how much better it was with just me instead of doing that with the girls. Thanks for an amazing weekend guys! Can't wait until next year.

Julie didn't make it but Chris did

Chris, who just got hired with Delta, had a layover in San Diego last Monday night. The girls and I picked him up from his hotel and took him back to our place. Chad managed to come home from work early and we had a nice dinner and really excellent time catching up with him. Funny how he managed to make it out, but Julie and kids couldn't. We hope for them to come this fall sometime. Thanks for calling when you were in town Chris.

Kate and Cara were here

We just had the best two days visiting with our friends from Silverdale, The Schweitzers. Jill is from San Diego so was here visiting her family, but made a big effort to fit us in. We met them at the beach at the Coronado shores yesterday. After playing in the sand and surf we moved over to the pool for lunch a swimming. We had the best time. Tonight we went to Jill's mom's house out in La Mesa for a fantastic Taco dinner. Their whole family is great and we had a very fun time. This is Allie and Cara saying goodbye. See you at Thanksgiving!

We like ribs

I enjoy reading food blogs about great places to eat in San Diego. There was a bbq place called Phil's bbq that I had read many great things about. And since coming to San Diego we have had plenty of fish tacos, but not so much in the way of bbq. We had a great dinner, but have to say that it didn't touch some of our favorite places back in GA. In other words it had nothing on Ware's. We will be sticking to San Diego's specialties from now on and leave the bbq to the south.

Uncle Joey and Casey come bearing presents

Joey and Casey got in on Friday the 3rd. We had a great visit with them. The ballgame in the previous post started out our visit. They came with new pool toys for the girls b/c the heard how much they enjoy swimming these days. How sweet! They spent some time up in LA, but we really enjoyed it while they were here. Today we took them to the airport so they could go home and Lauren was very sad to see them leave.

Not on Our Night

So, Chad got free tickets to the Padres game last night (8/3/07). Joey and Casey just got in town and went with us. The seats were fantastic...I don't think I have ever sat closer during a baseball game. We thought the stars were aligning just right to see Barry Bonds at least tie Hank's record. Here is what the swing would have looked like...but it just so happen he waited until the following night (tonight 8/4/07) to do it. We still had a really great time.