Cowboy Wedding and Random

We are going to Rick's sister's wedding at 4pm today--- It is a Cowboy Themed wedding --thank goodness-- casual and comfy!!!!!

I have lost 5 pounds since we got back from our vacation and I have trimmed off some of the baby fat that Gia gave me when she was born!!!! I've cut out sweet tea, rarely drink soda, do my best to avoid the sweets, and I eat more yogurt, bananas, cereal, juice, etc.... I still - however- insist on my weekly Aparicios delivery! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!

Ricky has his first BIG date tonight! He has been asked to go to MORP! Unfortunately we will probably miss the 'picture taking' ceremony since we will be at Rick's sister's wedding- BUT I'm sure his 'girl's' mom will give us copies.

Lexi has a cold-- that sucks-- she slept w us last night- that really sucked.

I am still looking for an infant to care for-- it seems like when you are not looking that everyone wants you to watch their child, BUT when you are looking- no one calls.

Is Tuesday a Rock Concert or an Inauguration

Just wondering....

And -when did Ch 8 turn into the HSN? They are taking air time to sell Obama coins?!?!!?

"We Are One"-- I don't get it. Why are we 'One' all of a sudden?

Obama will be the president Tuesday-- he won-- He made tons of promises-- as most presidental hopefuls do-- We will see what becomes of these promises.

The ONE thing that I can say that I like about Obama is he spirit to motivate others to volunteer.

We are getting a new president Tuesday- I wish that the media would treat it as that--NOT as a rock concert. Who cares which famous people will be singing and attending? Does it matter? Maybe this is there only way to get people to watch? --Not sure.

It will be interesting to see what Obama brings over the next 4 years. Will the media be honest if he fails or will they blame someone else for his failure-- it will be interesting. Will the media and public 'hate on' Obama if he fails- like they do Bush (which- by the way- Bush did not fail completely, but the media and others speak as if he did).

I am not a fan of Obama - not because he is a Democrat--but for many other reasons-- I will - however- be waking up on Tuesday with open eyes and an open mind. I wish that everyone could do that-- even if the president was a Republican, but for whatever reason- we are not 'one'.

December 23, 2009

On this date - after the last daycare child (assuming I am still doing that field of work) has left-- we will all pile into the car and head to Florida. We are currently planning our next trip and I am so happy that we are planning it and not just 'up and leaving'. So for the next 11 months we have to save, save, save and spend SMART!!!! I was so happy that on our last trip to Walmart - we only spend $110 on groceries!!!!! (It's all about making a list!)

We should be arriving on Christmas Eve and waking up Christmas morning at Walt Disney World. We do not know which hotel we will be staying at yet, but since the kids (bigger ones) will be paying for most of their portion then that will really help. I think right now we are looking at Wilderness Lodge.

Since we are waking up on Christmas morning in a hotel- we plan on bringing a small small tree and making sure to let Santa know where we will be staying.

Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost Done

We are almost done w putting up our Christmas decorations. We have 2 more trees to tear down and a couple of plastic bins to take upstairs. Then once I can push my husband upstairs he will have to put ALL the plastic bins and the 3 trees in our Texas attics! Once all of that is complete- I can sweep, mop, and dust and feel soooooooooooooooooo good :-)

Tijuana

'Oh no you only need your driver's license to get back over the border', said everyone.

So we hoped on the bus that takes you over each border 'easily and safely'. We got where we needed to go-- TIJUANA.

Before we walked down the tunnel to get to the shopping areas-- I was very glad that I did not have to go to the bathroom because I had no quarters and it cost 50 cents.

When we got to the end of the tunnel- the streets were not too busy with tourists--so that made us (mainly Cowboy Rick) a target with the vendors. 'Hey Cowboy!!! I got some boots for you.'- 'Hey Cowboy, I got a leather belt I can sell you--come look- I make you a good deal!' It got to be a little annoying, but for the most part it did not bother me- it made me laugh because they would say some funny things & each vendor would begin to start saying the same thing. 'We have free parking.' (for the stroller)-- 'We have free babysitting' (as they tried to tell Rick he should go inside the Nude Bar). My favorite was the man that said 'Come into my shop and spend money on something you don't need.' Then they would always try and guess where we were from. Basically the vendors were nice, fun, and did not get upset when we said 'no thank you'.

For brunch-- the boys decided to eat at a Mexican buffet. I chose to eat the snacks in our backpack. The little girls- chose to eat sugar and a bite of bread. The service was great & I am not just saying great for us (I knew they knew they would get a better than normal tip from most Americans), but it was great for the table that only gave them a $1 tip. The food......... looked disgusting, but then again I do not have an open mind with food. The boys ate it like it was their last meal! Needless to say- the food was cheap and no one got the 'runs'.

After brunch- the tourists started to pack the place. It was not overly crowded but enough to take most of the attention off of us. I loved negotiating with the vendors & I never tried to talk them down too low because I knew this was how they fed their kids and family. I did not buy myself anything but I bought the girls a Mexican doll. It is similiar to the one I was given when I was little and visited Mexico. Rick bought a belt, bracelet and a pancho. I also bought a couple of little items for a friend or two.

Most of the shops down each street looked the same-- bright colors, jewelry, trinkets, toys etc.. The funniest shops (to me) were the Nude Bars on each street. I think I counted 4-5 and I only went down 3-4 streets. So basically if you walk down one street- you can cross over to the other street and choose which one you like best. I kept trying to tell Rick to go in one to see what it was all about and he refused for fear of getting robbed. As we were passing a Nude Bar- we noticed a couple of ladies getting out of a car. They were going to the Nude Bar to get ready for work. I will have to say that our Nude Bar girls look a jillion times better. These girls were scary! I am very interested in how much they bring home doing what they do.

As we walked we saw a handful of Mexican police. I have to say that they are pretty bad at their jobs- unprofessional- not really serious (except for one that I saw directing traffic- he was working hard). I saw two ladies laughing as they were passing their cell phone back and forth. I saw one policeman talking to a beautiful lady on a bench having a great time. I also saw a couple eating and looking at a vendor site. I am very glad that I did not have to go to them for anything.

After we were done shopping we headed back to the bus. We waited about 15 minutes past the time that the bus was suppose to arrive and then got on board. We were so happy. I was taking pictures and the BOOM we stopped. I noticed a really really really long line of people. These people were waiting to get back across the border. I thought 'Certainly the bus will zip right past these people and we will be off the bus in no time.' Long story short- we were on the bus for 3 hours- mostly sitting idle! Once we got off we waited in another line, but it was fast. Then we were lectured by the immigration officier- which he was actually really nice. He let us cross. We got on another quick bus to take us back to the car - we loaded up and headed back to Texas!

What can I say-- I did it and I do not see ANY reason to do it again. I would also not tell my worst enemy that 'before you leave California, you just HAVE to visit Tijuana!'-- Rick had a lady at a gas station tell him that.

San Diego Zoo and Sea World

While we were in California we bought a 'Vacation Pass'. This passbook included tickets for Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. We were able to do both in one day.

We first visited the zoo -- which I absolutely LOVED. I have only been to the Dallas and Fort Worth zoo-- the San Diego zoo was by far the best!!!!!!!!!!! I loved the beauty of it and the space and area they provided their animals. I also loved there idea of doing everything themselves as far as using recycled material (& I am normally not a recycler fanatic). The San Diego Zoo is a gorgeous zoo with lots of hills!!!!!

After our trip to the zoo we visited Sea World. I had never visited Sea World so I was pretty excited. Sea World also had a nice layout. It was very clean and had really nice exhibits. We could have pet and fed dolphins but the line was too long. Ryan and Rick bought some fish and fed the sea lions. WOW that was COOL!! They knew you had fish to feed them and they let you know that they wanted those fish NOW. They would BARK at you and try to be the loudest because they knew they were in competition with the other lions. The greatest part of this story --which I sadly have to say that I missed- was when Ryan bought some fish to feed the sea lions. He was very careless & had the fish opened up wide for ALL to see. All of a sudden a bird knocked him in the head and grabbed (in one gulp) all of the fish- leaving only the fish bucket!!!!! Hilarious!

We also went to Elmo's World and watched the 4D Sesame Street movie. Lexi finally accepted and realized what the 3D glasses were for. She loved it. As I sat with Gia I looked over and saw Lexi grabbing for Cookies and other objects that were jetting out of the screen.

Last- the all time best part of Sea World was of course- the Shamu show! Beautiful!!!! Lexi loved it and was in amazement as she watched the whales do tricks and stunts.

On our way out I surprised the girls w a stuffed dolphin and a whale. Lexi likes to call them her 'Whalfins'!

Welcome to Disneyland

We had never been to Disneyland, but only to Disneyworld! We have been to Disneyworld twice and loved it. I always thought that Disney California could not compare to Disney Florida- I was wrong.

We bought 3 day passes for Disneyland and Adventure Disney. Since we have 'little ones'-- I would have liked to have stayed at the hotel on the property and I would have liked to have stayed at least 1-2 more days.

The girls were a bit shy with the characters- They insisted on staying in their strollers (it was their protection zone). Since Disney Cali only has two parks we did not see as many characters and princesses as we would have seen in Florida-- but the girls saw enough.

As the days went on we started to 'figure things out'-- we should have utilized the Fast Past and the 'Parent Swap' more often. We took advantage of this on our last day (New Years Eve). It worked great. We also made sure to bring coats and blankets because it got really really cold at night.

Another difference from each park was the food. Cali's food was not so good, Florida's food was always yummy and awesome. We did reserve a dinner at Ariel's Grotto. We had the opportunity to have the princesses visit our table and stand next to Ariel. Tooooooo expensive but a one time opportunity.

Adventure Disney was awesome. They had a really nice 'set up' and design to that park.

The next time we visit- I am definetely going to insist on staying on the park grounds.

California Here We Come!!!!!!

So - we decided (my husband- really)--- to make a trip out to California & visit the sites. I was not too excited about the idea because it was last minute and I did not feel like spending money and adding to our bills, but I was told that I could stay home or go--so I opted to go!

We drove!!!! We always drive to all of our trips. It was quite a long trip-- no stopping- only to go potty and get gas! Lexi was awesome during the drive-- I let her snuggle in the back w me for a few hours until we started to hit icey roads in New Mexico and Arizona. Gia was pretty upset for parts of the ride there. I tried to snuggle in the back with her, but she was too wirey and got upset pretty easily. Rick drove and did a good job--- I slept during most of the night and the boys tried taking turns staying up with him.

As we arrived in California we were stopped by the Guards and asked if we were bringing in fruit-- Ummmmmmmmmm 'No'--little did they know we had a ton of oranges in our suitcases. J/K--- but it is not like they checked our bags. Of course they probably saw our car with the 'topper' and said 'Let's let that car pass!'

California was beautiful! Mountains and hills.

-- I was amazed at the houses on the mountains. After we arrived at our hotel- we unpacked and ordered room service- we had not eaten all day (except for breakfast). After we ate- Rick took a small nap - the boys crashed and I took the girls to look at the hotel.

After Rick woke up from his catnap- the girls, Rick and I headed out to buy a new double stroller and to look at the sites. After we pulled out of Babies R Us the girls passed out---so we had to look at the sites from our car- which was fine w me- it was cold!

I was amazed at how crowded California was. Did anyone have to work the next day- could all the people have been tourists? We drove down Rodeo and other nearby parts. Lights, lights and more lights. A small movie theatre on almost every corner and lots and lots of people. I loved it!

More to come............