Well, it’s official…I’m not only a soccer mom, but a soccer coach mom!
I’ll be channeling my {non-existent} inner Brandi Chastain and coaching Holden’s U6 team this fall.
Scary since the last time I “played” soccer was circa 1983 in PE class at Wangenheim Junior High. However, the nice people at AYSO assure me that I can coach these cute boys with no prior soccer experience and one training session. {there weren’t enough coaches for this age group, so they needed volunteers}
I’m up for the challenge!
I received my roster and a coach’s bag complete with brand-spankin’-new soccer balls and orange cones! I’ve contacted my team and we’re meeting next week.
Elliott is also playing for the first time this season and I just got the e-mail from her coach this morning. Practice starts for her this coming Monday.
*****
I’m excited and super nervous all at the same time.
I may drop to my knees at the end of the season, but I promise not to strip down to my sports bra! {wink. wink.}
In just two shorts weeks, we’ll have two kids in elementary school.
How is that possible?
We have turned in all but one form to the school office, shopped for a {big boy} backpack, tried on and purchased new Vans, picked up a few t-shirts here, some shorts there and checked off the school supply list with things like crayons, plastic folder, glue sticks, etc.
It seems like just yesterday my Target lists included diapers, wipes, Gerber puffs and jarred baby food.
Now he asks that all his shirts display a skull and crossbones…
In just 2 short weeks, he/we will be starting a whole new chapter.
Trying so hard to fill the last blank pages of this chapter with fun memories. No more impromptu play dates on a Wednesday morning. No more lounging in pajamas ’til lunch.
My baby will be in school five days a week from about 8am – 2pm. He will have sight words and homework.
But at the same time, he’ll make new friends {which he’s really good at!} and will hopefully develop a love for school just as Elliott did.
Speaking of blank pages…he has just two untouched pages in his baby book that I’ve been dilligently keeping for the past almost 5 1/2 years…
“My First School Day”
With lots of blanks to fill in ~ what I wore, teacher’s name, what I was proud of, names of my new friends and a spot for his picture.
Looking forward to scanning the bulletin board for his name to see who his teacher will be and getting started on his educational career.
He’s ready.
Not sure if I am.
Those last two pages in the {baby book} will be hard to complete….
My brother-in-law and his sweet new girlfriend, Anuja, were in town visiting from NYC last week. Since they’re footloose and fancy free, they ran off to San Diego for a couple days and then stayed one night in Santa Monica before catching their early morning flight out on Sunday.
We went and hung out at their hotel on Saturday afternoon. I immediately wanted to move in the moment I stepped into the lobby ~ super old Sheraton on the outside, boutique hotel on the inside.
We sat out in the cabana while the kids swam.
It was glorious.
Later that evening we headed to Third Street Promenade to find some dinner and stumbled across Loteria Grill.
The food was great and I loved sitting out along the promenade sidewalk amongst all the evening energy.
I wanted to share with you a drink that I had…michelada de mango. I almost ordered the traditional michelada {tomato juice, lime & beer}, but then laid eyes on the mango variety. Yes, why should a michelada be limited to only tomato or Clamato juice?!? It was slightly sweet, slightly tart and very refreshing.
Super easy to recreate at home…
{Mexican beer of choice, mango nectar, pico de gallo seasoning & lime}
Rub lime slice around the rim of a tall glass and sprinkle with the pico de gallo.
Add ice and 1/4 cup mango nectar to the glass.
Add the juice of 1/4-1/2 lime depending how tart you want it.
Top off with an ice cold beer.
You could certainly mix up a pitcher of these, chill in the fridge and then pour over ice into prepared glasses for a larger crowd.
*****
We loved hanging out in Santa Monica all day…the kids had a blast and now I see the attraction to the whole {staycation} thing! It can still feel like a vacation even if it’s less than 40 miles from home.
Last week we celebrated my dad’s 80th birthday {his actual b-day is in January} at the happiest place on earth. It was his wish to experience Disneyland with his grandkiddos and I think the trip was just as he imagined.
I loved having my iPhone for this trip because it was easy to capture special little moments quickly that we may have missed with our bulky DSLR.
1. Grinning ear to ear
2. Hibiscus Cutie
3. Popsi of The Caribbean
4. The path to Fantasyland
5. Bumpiest Autopia ride ever
6. Ice Cream snack on Main Street
7. Blue Bayou Lanterns
8. Me with The Birthday Boy
9. Silhouettes ~ A Disney tradition
10. Best Day Ever {any Phineas & Ferb fans out there??}
This trip was an extra special treat as we stayed overnight and were able to see California Adventure for the first time. We were also able to make reservations at The Blue Bayou months ago for a nice celebratory dinner {if you’re going for the Monte Cristo, be sure and make lunch resos…not served at dinner!}. Our meal was excellent and it was so neat to sit {outside under the stars} and watch the P of the C boats go by!
A BIG thank you to Popsi for coming down from Seattle to celebrate his special milestone birthday with us. We all had a fantastic time and I know that the sweet memories will be held close for a long, long time.
Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books back in the day? Where you would start reading and then have a choice of what you could do a few pages in and ultimately guide yourself through different options until the end?
Well, today kind of reminded me of that. I had to take my car in to be worked on…doesn’t sound so difficult, right? I can be without a car for a day or two and survive. But we have to throw a wrench in things and have a car that has to be serviced far, far away. It’s not like I can easily drop it off and catch a ride from a friend without inconveniencing anyone. So, with that said, I made an appointment for this morning to have a warning indicator light checked out. I was dreading today last night when I went to bed and when I woke up this morning. I was supposed to get there at 9:00 and got a late start. Goldfish crackers were my children’s breakfast. In the car. And I ran out of milk for Holden.
I was dreading the fact of having both of them with me for ultimately 8 hours in an area that I am not familiar with. I packed a beach bag with towels, bathing suits, clean clothes, buckets, shovels, etc. and thought we could spend a good portion of the day at the beach. We entered the San Fernando Valley and it was cold and gloomy which reached way down and over to the coast. I quickly decided that we may need to wait until later in the day to hit the sand. So then I thought we could meet up with our out of town friends that were in Simi Valley for the day. That meant that I would have to drop off the car, wait for Jay to come from Woodland Hills to pick us up, take him back to WH, go to Simi, visit, wait for a call for the car to be done, pick up Jay in WH and then go back to Lawndale to pick up the car before they closed. NO. Too much driving. I had the option to rent a car, so that is what I decided to do. I figured I could stay closer to the shop and not waste so much travel time. And gas money. I was literally driving and making decisions every so many miles which I did not like. I like to have a plan.
This is how our day unfolded ~ the adventures that we chose for ourselves.
{here we are still having NO idea what we’re going to do}
{finally got our Toyota Yaris}
{11:45am showing of Madagascar 3 in 3D}
{for lunch, they chose the Golden Arches and I chose this Happy Meal from Capriotti’s}
I almost died when I spotted this sandwich shop across from the mall! You can read about my love for it here.
We drove around and checked out the beach a little, but it was still yucky and by this time we would have no sooner schlepped our stuff to the sand, set it up and gotten the call that the car was done. I am sure of it. So that is when we spied a Menchi’s and the kiddos wanted frozen yogurt. I talked them into Rite Aid instead.
{their choice, cotton candy [yuck!] and my brilliant choice, chocolate malted krunch}
After our ice cream we cruised Artesia Blvd. {don’t be jealous} and then I remembered I’d seen a Michael’s over yonder earlier. We ran in there for 2 minutes since my patience level was extremely LOW by this time. No sooner did we fill up a little gas in the Yaris when I got the call that our car was ready.
By 5:15pm we were sitting in 405N traffic with a new compressor and fresh oil and filter. Yay!
I chose to listen to this rather than the #4 CD that I’ve been listening to since Christmas…
{forgot how much I loved this music, y’all!}
Since the kids really wanted pancakes over goldfish for breakfast this morning, they chose them for dinner instead.
*****
Now that I am home, in my jammies with a glass of wine, I can sit back and say, “That wasn’t SO bad.”
It was a little stressful having to deal with the estimate for parts & labor, authorizing diagnostic work and another e-mail I received this morning during all this, but we just tried to take it one step at a time and enjoy this summer day! Looking forward to lounging at the pool tomorrow before dance class and getting the house ready for my Dad’s visit next week…we’re celebrating his 80th birthday with a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure.
Yesterday was one of those moments as a parent that I will never forget…
I had to take Holden to LA and sat in traffic on a Friday afternoon for nearly 3 hours. Meanwhile Elliott had an on stage dress rehearsal…fortunately Jay had the day off and my mother-in-law is here so the two of them got her in full costume, make-up and a “messy bun” on the left side. Apparently there were lots of tears when doing the bun ~ it wasn’t messy enough. Miss Mechelle said it had to be messy, so that is how it needed to be!
We got to the high school auditorium just minutes before they went on stage to rehearse. Needless to say my nerves were frazzled and I was stressed out.
But, she looked ADORABLE. Better than any hair or make-up I would have done.
She has been relentless in practicing this dance at home. We downloaded the song to our iTunes library, I videoed her in class and she has been perfecting her moves for weeks now. I love that she loves dance. This will be her first hip hop/jazz routine as she just this year transitioned over from 2 years of ballet, tap and jazz. She is very sassy and enjoys the upbeat tempo of the music more in this genre. I admire her for wanting to try different styles of dance to find her comfort zone, although she isn’t quite ready to try my favorite, lyrical. “The music makes me sad”, she says. I know the more she dances she will understand the beauty of these {sad songs} and may want to tryout this style, but for now I am more than thrilled, over the moon, ecstatic the she is attacking hip hop and jazz and owning the stage. I could NOT be more proud and she hasn’t even performed yet!
Today is her big recital and I cannot wait to be screaming for her out in the audience…yes, I am one of {those} mamas!
