Friday, July 29, 2011

Waiting and Waiting

We spent the day at home, waiting. The boys were waiting for their Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 game to arrive, so we just stayed home. Kevin ordered it the other day, and had it two-day shipped, which meant it would arrive today. Oh my gosh were there some anxious boys around here. There was much complaining about how "bored" they were for most of the day, and then, at 1:45 this afternoon, Fed Ex arrived! The excitement was immense. Riley quickly set about loading it onto Quinn's computer. He hit a slight snag as Quinn's computer needed some updating first, so Kevin quickly got that done-the boys were super lucky that he arrived home from work early. Once that was complete, they were good to go. Riley struggled (and was frustrated) when he couldn't get it to finish loading at first, but after a little break, he tried again, and success!

They can now create their own zoos, and have roller coasters and other rides as part of the attractions in their zoos. I have to admit, it is pretty cool. They can have animals galore, and feed them, and give them toys, and they even poop. Big news for 9 year olds!
There was no fighting over the game. Riley played first, and when he left for piano and his waiter duty at the Elk's Lodge (Scouts), Quinn played. Riley returned, and they continued to share very nicely.
See how excited Mr. Quinn was? Ecstatic.

In other news...
I took the boys' popcorn rock out of vinegar today. The crystals are still sprouting out of the rock too! Now there are fine crystals all around the side of the rock, and there weren't any when I took this picture. It's drying now, and I assume the crystals will stop growing as the rock dries.
Last night, I was up really late, finishing a book. This was Maya's position on the couch. That does not look comfortable. Those are HER toys all over the floor too!
The boys gave up a chance to go swimming yesterday, to stay home. I was feeling a bit stir crazy, so I went out to do some antiquing. I bought these three treasures. My favorite is that gold tray-and it was on sale!!

So today I had pent up frustrations in me, so I took it out on my laundry room. I cleaned the entire room. Vacuumed and dusted too. I need to go to Ikea-going to try and squeeze in a visit tomorrow night-to get some bins for the boys school work I am keeping, and maybe a better system for the dirty clothes.

I watched Project Runway this morning. It was my first time watching the show, and I did so at the urging of my mother in-law. I had to watch it online, because the tape that I had of it (that's right, we don't have a DVR, we have the old VCR) got stuck in the TV/VCR combo! Now the TV doesn't work anymore. That was such a bummer because I wanted to just have the TV on in our office, and clean my craft desk. It was not in the cards for today-and apparently not in the near future either. Perhaps my dad can fix it, but he's across country until the end of August. Bummer.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

A's Game

We went to the A's game on Wednesday night. It was $2 night! The tickets to the game are $2 on Wednesdays! Cool huh? Since my friend Valerie is in town, and her son is a big fan of the A's, we decided to take in a game. It was so much fun, and really an awesome game!
Quinn and his giant nachos! It was very sunshiny when we first arrived, but it didn't take long for the sun to get out of our eyes.
Kevin says there are not many baseball fields that allow you to sit directly across from home plate any longer. It was an interesting view, except we couldn't see the outfielders at all, and every ball hit, looked like a home run. There were at least 3 home runs during the game.
The A's played the Tampa Bay Rays.
The whole group in front of us left really early, so some of the boys in our group moved forward. It was funny to watch these three. I don't know what they were doing, but it was exciting and fun to them.
See the score? That's only the 6th inning too! The 4th inning was a major inning for the A's. The final score was 13-3.
Posing for a picture.
I guess Quinn was feeling very Zen here.
....I really have no idea.
Quinn's been on this Angry Birds kick lately. The iPod goes everywhere with him, and it's a constant, "Look mom, watch this..." as he makes his birds fly. Oh, he also likes Pocket God, which is one app that I really have NO idea how it works. NONE. Quinn does though. Funny boy.

7th inning stretch.

We left at the bottom of the 8th, to avoid the giant crowds getting back onto BART. It was a fun night, and a really exciting game-Giants kind of fun!!

Monday, July 25, 2011

The Boys Cooked!

I put the boys to work yesterday.
I had them take the wrappers off of a jillion Hershey's Kisses.
Then I had them put the kisses onto the pretzels. These pretzels were a little too big, but once the chocolate set, they were fine.
We melted the chocolate onto the pretzels for 3 minutes, at 275 degrees, then pushed M&M's into the melty chocolate. We used regular M&M's and also tried some of the peanut butter M&M's. Yum.

We put the cookie sheet into the fridge to set for a little while, and then they were ready to eat! I need to give these things a name. I found the recipe online, and they weren't called anything. Speaking of names, my new doll needs a name. Suggestions?

Giants vs. Brewers at AT&T Park

Saturday night, we went to the Giants vs. Brewers game! It's like a show, going to see the Giants. The players have theme songs when they come up to bat, and it's always so much fun to watch them play.
AT&T Park. It's such a great ballpark.
All four of us were decked out in our Giants gear. It was country western night, and we all got Giants belt buckles. They are pretty darn good belt buckles too!
We had total nosebleed seats, on the 3rd deck, second to the very last row. It was an awesome view of the ballpark and the bay though. That's McCovey Cove up there, and you can just make out the "Splash" camera. That camera catches homeruns which are hit out of the park, and into the water. Barry Bonds use to do that a lot, and that's where the name came from.
That's the Bay Bridge back there, behind the Coke bottle slide. It's actually two parts, the part that's like the Golden Gate Bridge (but not dark orange), and the flatter part behind the island.
All of the Giants home games are pretty much sold out. We bought our tickets on Stubhub, and they were probably somebody's season ticket seats that they weren't using.
We got a view of downtown too! You can just see the point of the Transamerica Pyramid.
2010 World Champions!!!!
The Giants were ahead, by two, at the top of the 9th, so it was time for the closer. Fear the Beard. Brian Wilson.
Brian Wilson only threw 5 pitches, before the game ended!

Giants won, 4-2!!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A Day in the City

The boys and I headed off for an adventure today. We went into San Francisco: through Chinatown, and into North Beach, with stops along the way. It was a beautiful, warm day in the city. We took our sweatshirts, but we all ended up carrying them. I even got a sunburn!!
Heading into the tunnel to Chinatown.
We walked through Chinatown, stopping to check things out along the way. We stopped at a pet store there, and looked at some really really big fish, and talked to a bird. I have a video of Quinn asking the bird questions. I'll post that. Chinatown led us into North Beach. We stopped in Washington Square, and had a great view of Coit Tower on the way.
We went to a store in North Beach, called Double Punch. They specialize in Japanese toys. The boys purchased some treasures. This was the view from across the street. Beautiful day on the bay!
We walked all the way down Columbus Ave, into downtown, after we visited Double Punch. We passed this building. It was featured in the movie, Interview With a Vampire. I love the look of it. That's the Transamerica Pyramid behind it.
Transamerica Pyramid. I think this is my favorite building in SF. You can't go to the top though. It's not a public building.
This is the view from under the structure of the Transamerica Pyramid. Cool huh?
These hearts are all over the city, and each one is different. This one is in a lobby of a business, just outside of a Starbucks.

We went into a cool toy store (Jeffrey's Toys), on Market Street. Quinn got a wooden sword. He just loves his swords. I love this picture. He looks determined. I told him he was not allowed to stab anyone.

It was a very nice day! To see the rest of my pictures, click HERE.

Monday, July 18, 2011

I Sewed Some Stuff!

I sewed a dress for my newest girl. I really need to come up with a name for her. Perhaps another poll?
All three of my girls sporting dresses I made for them.
I also made a pillow. My mother in law gave me this chenille remnant piece (I think it was from a bedspread). I used another piece, a pink piece, for the back of the pillow.
Maya enjoyed some girl time today too!
They boys played some Monopoly City tonight.
I started a new puzzle tonight.

We didn't leave the house all day. It was nice. I have a clean house and I was free to do what I wanted, all day!

This was Maya this evening. Looking pathetic crouched on that little pillow. She's now snuggled next to me, sound asleep.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Where Does the Time Go?

It has been a crazy busy week. Appointments every day of this last week. Doctor appointment for Riley, Endocrinologist appointment for Quinn, dentist for both boys, orthodontist for Riley, and a cut and color for me. It seems like that's all I got done this week. The appointments were all long-well except for the ortho. It's always rush rush rush at his office. Today it was kind of low-key around here, to make up for such a busy week.
I was on Pinterest today (as I am every day), and came across the yummiest looking treat! It called for three ingredients! Pretzels, Kisses and M&M's. You put Kisses on the pretzels and heat them in the oven at 275 degrees for 3 minutes. Then you push an M&M into the melty chocolate and refrigerate. Easy peasy and oh so yummy.
Don't they even LOOK yummy? You would not believe how good these are! The boys loved them. The neighbor kid loved them. Kevin loved them. I loved them. You should rush out, get the 3 items and make them. Yum.
Last night Kevin and I went to Valley Fair Mall. Macy's was having a sale (one day!-can you hear the song?) and I got the last two sets of Fiesta dishes I wanted. These are turquoise but you can't really tell the color in this picture.
There was snuggling with Maya sometime this week. This boy sure loves this dog, and vice-versa.


I made friendship bracelets this week, for both boys, and for me. This one is mine. It has Wicked colors. There are lots of tutorials and posts for friendship bracelets all over Pinterest, and Etsy. They seem to be making a very popular comeback.

Curious about what Pinterest is? CHECK THIS OUT. Prepare to be addicted. You have to request an invitation, and that takes a day or two, but it's so worth it. It's so cool.