Grammy's Visit

In front of the mall CHOO CHOO!

Grammy and Ryan after the ride! He looks sad! Once is never enough!

Ryan and "Mom-Mom"

Looking at the fish tank!! "FEESH"

Eating at our favorite, Miramar Cafe!

Once again, my sweet mom came out to visit for a week while Travis was in 29 Palms and I drove her all over San Diego looking for furniture and other "house related" items. However, it did allow us to have not one, but TWO yummy lunches at the Miramar Cafe! We each had delicious meals the first time that we just had to go back! Afterwards we went to North County Fair Mall to ride the CHOO CHOO! Ryan loved being able to share his passion with his "Mom-Mom"! He always gets SO SAD afterwards....which breaks my heart!!!

A Day at Gymboree with a BONUS guest...GRAMMY!

Our good friends, Allyson and Alexis Rehm

Noodle laying down on the comfy mats!!!

Ryan showing Grammy how its done!

WHAT? A picture of mommy and Ryan @ Gymboree?

Ryan and Mommy at lunch with Grammy! (Day 1)

My wonderful mother came to town just in time to help me pack my house up to move next door. She always manages to come into town when I have a lot on my plate. i.e.-about to have my first child, just moved and getting ready to move. I always feel so bad that I drag her around town running errands and occasionally stopping for a meal at some mediocre eating establishment! Oh, we have big plans for fabulous meals, but never seem to make it!

Day one we went to one of our favorite mexican restaurants in Old Town. It was called Case de Pico in the 80's and just recently changed ownership. It was wonderful and the only thing missing was the margaritas and pina coladas, my Aunt Vikki and my sister, Katie! My mom and Aunt Vikki would have drinks and Katie and I would wander around the various shops buying random trinkets and bags of Jelly Bellys!!! YUM!!!

Ryan showed Grammy his swimming skills on Tuesday, then introduced her to his favorite gal pal, Alexis Rehn and her mom, Allyson at Gymboree. Afterwards the 5 of us ate at the Thai restaurant next door. Grammy got a yummy dish that has quickly become my new fave!! My mom had never eaten Thai....WHAT! Needless to say....she loved it!

Wonderful Worms....and fast moving creatures!

Look at that fat worm!!

Too cute!

This pic is of them sampling a slice of lemon from our lemon tree!! Ryan thought of it as a "tree of balls"! Ha!

Travis has been VERY BUSY digging up all the overgrown landscaping in our new yard. Ryan has been close by the whole time helping him out by handing him tools and trying help him fix various broken sprinklers, etc. Well, all that hard work paid off when they found WORMS!!! The good earth worms that come flowing out of rich moist soil. Even I was excited!! Worms equal childhood. They played with this one for a bit, which allowed me to take a few pics of my favorite guys!!!

Spring means one thing to me....OUTSIDE! I love it! Since we knew we would be working in the yard a lot I thought a water and sand table would be fun for Ryan and a "babysitter" for us! Is that wrong? Oh well, it keeps him occupied while we work nearby...WIN WIN! Well, the other day we were splashing around, transferring sand to the water side, enjoying the day when out of the corner of my eye I saw Georgie JUMP and then dart in the house. In the same glance I noticed a SNAKE 2 FEET FROM MY SON! OMG! What do I do? I FREAKED OUT! I was on the phone with my friend, Sarah, and all I could do was squeal and freak out! I didn't want to move to fast, but I snatched my son up and darted in the house after George! UGH! It was time for Ryan's nap so I decided to put him down and figure out what to do. On my way up the stairs I see George attacking something other than a ponytail holder or water bottle lid.....A HUGE LIZARD! I bet it was 5 inches long! At first glance I thought it was another snake. So, I rocked Ryan for a bit, put him in his crib, told him I was going to get "night night" (milk) and hauled downstairs to take care of business. By this time George was smiling proudly at her kill (which I think is her first) which was surrounded by guts and blood. Nice! So, I gathered the supplies necessary to clean up a murder scene.....a grocery store bag stuffed with a zillion paper towels, latex gloves, lysol wipes, etc. In one quick movement I cleaned it all up....without freaking out...too much! Even though I had the paper towels as padding, I could still feel the girth of this thing.....it was a big one! I tied the bag up, put it in another bag and threw it in the outside trash can. OMG! Okay....off to Google common S. California snakes. Black with cream stripes= harmless racer snake! Whew! However, it is SPRING and rattlesnakes are VERY VERY common in our neck of the woods, so I read a little about them....just to educate myself. They are scared of us and normally don't attack unless provoked! Hello....I have a toddler! Lord help me! Me+toddler+snakes/worms/lizards/rats+husband in Afghanistan for 7 months= AN ULCER! I am a mom of a boy....the adventures are just getting good!!!!

The New Digs

For those of you that have been on me to post pics of the new house....here ya go....I will take more of the inside this weekend/week! Enjoy!

Kitchen area

Front of the house....see little Noodle running in the street!!!!

Noodle in the street in front of our new home! The kid is a street freak!

Part of the back yard. We are in the process of ripping out a lot of bushes, plants, etc. You can see the firepit to the right. Ryan's new water and sand table is behind the patio table. He loves it!

Our pool area with the new "Noodle-friendly gate"