Fun with Friends

Every once in a while, I get adventurous....or maybe a little crazy but, either way, the kids have a good time.

Last Monday, I took the kids on an impromptu trip to Lake Tahoe. Our good friends, the Resnicks, were heading up to their cabin in Tahoe and they invited us for the trip. Since we had a whole "lot-of-nothing-going-on" at our place for the week, we high-tailed it up there. I know a good time when I see it!

For those who have been to our house, Tahoe is a good four hours from Marin if you're driving the speed limit. Since I was by myself with my opinionated offspring in the vehicle, I decided to get there as fast as possible without yelling at them.

We made it in 3.5 hours.

Shazam.

On the way back, I made it in 3 hours and twenty minutes.

Double shazam!

Below are snapshots of their adventures in swimming, fishing, beaching, and general laziness. These kiddos live really good lives.....

And here is a snapshot of my favorite moment at the end of our trip:

Tahoe Donner: The Shenanigans

Animal Instincts

Last Thursday, I took the kids to the zoo. We've been there a few times over the summer but on this visit, we got to see the big cats be fed. We usually watch the penguins eat but I was able to convince the kids to watch something different.

We were completely mesmerized by the largeness of these animals. They are huge! Gigantic, even. The kids couldn't keep their eyes off them...except for Scotty-he was sleeping. While we watched them traverse the small space in their cage, they looked like majestic creatures. They moved with grace and power and you could feel their intensity as they watched us. And that's exactly what they did. Watch us. We were watching them and they were watching us. Weird. All it made me think of is the voice from those documentary channels saying, in a delicate whisper, "And so the lion watches its prey as it tenses its muscles before the attack..."

Once the feeding was over, the zoo keepers introduced the lion and his lady friends to a new den in the cage area. Apparently, it had been under construction for a while and this was the first time they were going into that section. As the big cats moved over to their new space, the crowd shuffled along with them, parallel to the cage. The lion entered first and the ladies waited. I think they knew what was coming because, not four seconds later, the lion turned his rear to us and pissed all over the crowd. That's right. He peed. And it wasn't a whimpy stream. Oh no, no, no. His stream said, " I am large, this is my area, get the hell out." The first fifteen people or so closest to the cage got lion pee on them. It was shocking and hilarious all at the same time. Sam and I couldn't stop laughing. Truly. We laughed after it was over, while the crowd was dispersing, and even on the car ride home. It's nice to know that I have the humor of a seven year old boy.

Luckily, I had made the kids hold back because I'm not a fan of large crowds like that or of my children being caught up in the throng. Like the lion, my instincts to protect what I value is strong and in tact. Good thing I don't pee on people to demonstrate this part of me....

Stachin' It

We were bored and I picked these up for a buck at Old Navy. Highly entertaining stuff, folks...highly entertaining, indeed.

Sugar Rush

Last week, I took the kids to the Jelly belly Factory in Fairfield. We brought Ben with us because, well, he is our "brother from another mother." The second you walk in the door, your liver starts to create more insulin to handle all the sugar you are smelling. It's also an incredibly stimulating place. Every where you turn, you are looking at something brightly colored, large and candy-like. The kids had a blast. They wanted to eat jelly beans at 10:02 in the morning but I held to my guns and said, "You have to wait until the tour is over." That was an entire 12 minutes because during the tour, they give you samples.

Awesome, I know.

Apparently, they don't feel the need to share that with you when they give you the funny hat to wear during the tour. The tour, by the way, consists of a small walk through the factory and four television prompts that give you no detail whatsoever as to how the beans are actually made. I think the actual process is a trade secret because all I saw were conveyers and boxes. They do give you some important historical information....problem is I don't remember anything stated. Oh well.

So, after the tour, the samples, and some very interesting smells, we purchased our over-priced picture and fell prey to the very large gift shop and sample section. I did make the kids eat jelly bean shaped pizza BEFORE the barf, skunk, and baby wipe flavored jelly beans were consumed. After all, I am woman with priorities.

All in all, we were there for three hours and dropped a serious amount of cash on candy, souvenirs, etc. The pictures below were the only ones I managed to take. This is mostly due to the fact that I had to push Scotty in his stroller and consume jelly beans as I did so....a woman of priorities, people...a woman of priorities....

Scotty: 8 Months