Dirt Bike 101

Jay's been in the market for awhile now for quads and dirt bikes.  At first it was just something he talked about doing someday and I agreed because I thought he was looking for quads for the boys, NOT a 2-wheel dirt bike.  Low and behold, he bought a used Honda XR 50 for Scotty and trained him in one day.  I couldn't believe how easy it was for Scotty to grasp when and how to do the changing of gears, braking, neutral, etc.  I was so impressed.  And Jay was like a kid in a candy store watching him ride.  They are out there every second they get and loving every minute.  Soon they will be hitting the dirt trails.  Now I'm just working on getting Scotty outfitted so when he does crash, because he will, he won't get too messed up.  When he outgrows that bike, it will be Zac's turn....now THAT scares me.

Uncle Scott was there for part of the lesson and it's a good thing he was because at one point, before Scotty got the hang of how to ease up on the throttle, it took both guys to grab and stop him from crashing!

Totally focused

 

Weaving with dad in and out of the cones

Kitsap County Fair & Stampede

My Cowboys

Trev and his "say cheese" smile....in the backpack.  Next year, we get him a cowboy hat :)

The county fair is in town this week and last night was the military appreciation day, so free admission to both the fair and stampede.  We have gone every year and last night was probably the best time we've had as a family and I think Scotty & Zac being old enough to go on rides together makes all the difference.  Bought the boys the wristband for unlimited rides and away they went. 

Of course we never miss the stampede, so we wandered on over to take our seats up at the very top of the bleachers like always, but we only stayed about a half hour into it, long enough to see the "buckin' horses" for Zac.

Before the national anthem, she rides around the arena to the song "God Bless the USA", while other gals on their horses are holding flags for each branch of the armed forces.  By the end of the song the horse is going top speed.....it is really beautiful, gets me choked up every time, and one of my favorite things about the stampede.  Nothing can possibly be more American than that!

Love that my boys know to take their covers off for the national anthem!

Talking to the calves in the pen

As much as Zac liked the rides, he could not get enough of the horse barn.  I think he went back three times wanting to see and pet them.  Thankfully Jay was there to do that tour with him.  He LOVES horses and unfortunately mommy is allergic, so I have not really encouraged his love for them, but now I think I must give in and tolerate whatever my allergies may do.  Especially since, in the boys plans, we will live on a farm someday.  Thus, I am going to look into a local stable and see about volunteering with Zac....Oy....the things I will do for my kids.... 

And what would the fair be without FAIR FOOD?  OMGsh, this was honestly the best burger I've had in a long time!  I even saved the last few bites for Jay since it was his burger to begin with.  But it was hard to hand it over....

A Day at the Zoo

Decided to take the boys to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma yesterday, just for something different to do, and it was a great day to be out.  They've got a big area called Kid Zone that has plenty of zoo-related toys to play on and look at, water sprouts where the kids can get wet and cool off, and a goat petting area.  It was hard to get Zac away from that part because he loves animals so much and any chance he can actually touch one, he is all over it.  Trev hung out in the stroller with me for the most part til I sprung him at the end of the visit at the water sprouts....he didn't care too much for the water but it gave him a chance to stretch his legs and cool off.  Then again at the carousel.  It was a fun day and good to get the boys out of the house (or at least out of the cul de sac...).

My Studs

Scotty is three weeks into Pee Wee Football and loving it....the parents are loving it too!  As some of you already know, since the moment they announced he was a boy, I have longed for these days to come....the days of youth sports and all the joy (and chaos) that it entails.  I literally saw myself on the sidelines cheering my boy on before he was even born!  So as you can imagine, this whole experience is a blast and the season hasn't even started yet!  Scotty appears to be enjoying it just as much. 

This week: learning Drop, Set, Hike and Blocking. 

EEEK!

Not once has he shown any grief when he's had to pick up toys or bring in bikes to get ready for practice every night...he really looks forward to going and is getting to know his teammates more and more.  His coaches seem pretty cool too and of course I signed up to assist as team mom.  It is just flag football for his age group, but I foresee it getting pretty brutal.  They still have to block each other, so we can look forward to lots of bumps, bruises, knock downs and all that other fun stuff....might as well be tackle because they will tackle by accident!  Good thing is, he's already had his front two teeth knocked out and they haven't grown in yet, so even if he loses his mouth guard, he'll be fine! ;)  They should get their jerseys soon with their names on them - CUTE!  Stay tuned...

As for Zac, he's itching to get out on the field with his brother.  Caught him "Drop, Set and Hike"ing in the bathtub last night....but he still has a good two years before he's age-elligible to play.  So for now, he resorts to playing football in the yard (or house...) with dad and also in the big mound of dirt next to Scotty's practice....its a mud bath every night.  Jay's been taking the boys camping and fishing and they've been keeping busy doing the "man" stuff. 

Zac's Blue Gill

They've mastered their BB Guns and have moved onto shooting the bow in the back yard.  Now Jay is in the market for Quads for an even bigger adventure....with kids, there is always something to do and somewhere to go.  When we're at home, the boys keep busy playing with the two boys that come visit their grandparents across the street every summer, Aaron & Tyler.  They will be sad to see them go next week....I guess its that time of year soon, summer is coming to an end and school will be starting.

Tidepool Crew:

Tyler, Zac, Aaron and Scotty

Trev is going on 14 months and only now is showing interest in walking.  He's taken a few steps unassisted here and there, but no get up and go.  If this had been the way Scotty was, I would've been freaking out thinking something is developmentally wrong with my child!  But by the third one, I'm more like "eh, he'll walk when he walks".  Trev is in no hurry.  He's got two big brothers that dote all over him, what is the rush?!  In fact, he's outgrown shoes that show wear and tear from when the other two wore them - with Trev, they never touched the ground!  Ah well.  I'm in no hurry to push him along, he is perfect and the less he travels, the less I have to chase!  And, in the words of Jay, whether they walk at nine months (Scotty) or when they are entering kindergarten (Trev), they all eventually graduate....

My New Tattoo

I have been thinking about a tattoo for a long time and finally decided what I wanted.  Originally was thinking of some sort of symbol, like in Japanese or something, to represent in some way my boys or being a mom.  Then Jay said to me, "why would you do Japanese?  You're Filipino!"  Right.  So started researching Filipino symbols and tattooing traditions and learned that a common trend among Filipinos is the sun and three stars, as seen on the Philippine national flag:

The sun's rays represent the first eight provinces that took up arms against Spain during the Philippine revolution.  The stars represent the three groups of Philippine Islands: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Though my dad was born and raised in Hawaii, he is not "native" Hawaiian.  The extended family is originally from the Philippines.  Sadly I don't know much about that part of my family, but I am making it my personal quest to learn more about them, who they were, what brought them to eventually settle in Hawaii and who, if anyone, may still be over on the Philippine Islands.  Thus, this tattoo is homage to my Filipino lineage.  When I saw the design of the sun and stars, I immediately thought of my boys.  The sun represents me and the stars represent my boys.  It couldn't be more fitting.  Of course, each of their names are between the stars and they are in my own handwriting.  It was painful, but not so bad that I wouldn't go back for another.  I really love what it means to me and am so happy I powered through my fears!  Thanks to Nik & Scott for encouraging me and literally holding my hand through it all! :)  And thanks to Jay for reminding me that I am not Japanese...

This photo of course is "props" to Imelda Marcos, the Philippine politician and widow of the 10th Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos....she was known for her collection of 3000 pairs of shoes :)

Warrior Dash 2011

Their team theme was Pirates

Nice hot pants, Max!

Have you heard of it?  It is a CRAZY race that takes you through challenging obstacles like low crawling under barbed wire through mud, climbing up and over a rope wall, jumping over fire and trudging through waist high murky water just to name a few...FUN!  People of all ages and sizes ran this race and the more dressed up you were, the better!  So many fun costumes to look at.  The course is just over three miles, but the obstacles are what make this jaunt so incredibly exhausting.  By the time you have to jump over the fire pits, your legs are like noodles, according to my sis in law who just ran her first Warrior Dash yesterday in North Bend.  Jay entered the race with them when my niece and brother couldn't attend and even he had a good time.  The boys and I waited about an hour for them to finish the race and took pics as they crossed the mud swamp into the finish line.  We got muddy just standing there!  It was a very interesting experience.  Not really kid-friendly, though and I was so glad I didn't have baby with me.  Due to the icky bathroom accommodations (good ol' honey buckets that came complete withOUT toilet paper) and just the overall crowd that you're dealing with, it is best not to bring anyone that you are responsible for, least of all little ones!  It just proved to be a very long day for them, but they did pretty good considering and the best part for them was the school bus shuttles that brought us from the parking area to the race location.  They thought it was pretty cool.

The shuttles were bussing people back and forth all day before and after races, so the seats got very dirty!

The boys entranced by the runners as they jumped the fire

The mud crawl swamp just before the finish line

Welcoming a muddy daddy

Don't know this woman, but felt sorry for her when she fell into the mud...had to take a pic!

THEY DID IT!!  True Warriors!

Team Pirates

Pile of muddy shoes that people didn't want to bother taking home

I STILL HEART DONNIE

Five New Kids and Four Backstreet Boys

Okay, I won't bore you with all the pics from the concert (sorry to my FB friends who have already seen these...), but just wanted to report that the concert was amazing, the best one we've been to by far, and we had so much fun.  Front row was the ultimate....now that I've had a taste of "first class", I don't think I can go back to "coach" up in the nosebleeds, at least not for the New Kids (IF they ever decide to tour again).  At the last minute, I decided to bring the t-shirt that I'd worn to the other concerts:

just so I could hold it up and make sure he saw it.....turns out, that was the best decision I could've made.  It caught his attention THREE times - and each time he looked straight at me and either winked, smiled, pointed, and/or mouthed the words "I love you, too"!!!  NO JOKE!  Nikki and Max are my witnesses!!  Even the girl behind me said after the concert that she was jealous because he only paid attention to me.  Ha!!!  The only thing that could've topped it is if he'd reached down to touch my hand....but I might've passed out right then and there, so probably best he didn't :)  Of course I have no pictures of him right in front of me because, duh, I was busy connecting with him instead of snappin pics!  Yeah, I know, he does this every night to any girl he happens to point out in the audience, but man did he have a way of making me feel like I was the only girl in the world.  A true entertainer for sure :)  I don't care how old they get, they can rock the stage like no other and I will never tire of seeing them perform - made me feel 20 years younger!  (Good gosh, am I really old enough to say that?!?!).  Can't imagine going nutty over childhood crushes with anyone other than Nik...thanks for sharing the memory with me sis.  And Max, thanks for humoring your mom and me as we behaved like teenagers!  A night we definitely won't forget.  Afterall, Donnie said he loves me too....

Oh how I love thee...

20+ years of friendship and NKOTB fans

Max is 2nd generation fan :)

Our heels got jacked up in the grates that they had laid down on the floor - dang it!  The cost of trying to look fabulous...