Teeny's Vacation Thoughts

Over all I enjoyed our vacation very much so! We got to see and experience many cool things. My favorite piece of the vacation was shopping all around San Francisco! We went to Japan town, China town, and Height Ashbury to shop. I got a TON of stuff such as, a necklace, 2 bracelets, a poster, and a paint bored. I also got a presents for my 2 bff’s in the world Brooke, and Brenna, and a t-shirt for my boyfriend Trevor. I missed them all terribly bad on the trip! :-)

I also loved all the scenery! We saw the curviest road in the world, and the biggest tree! It was tons of fun! I also got to know Mao a little more, which was great!

Mom's turn: Monterey...ready or not, here we come!

Day 9 We traveled on to Monterey, spotting some crazy surfers along the way, and Travis got all registered for his race! Oh the excitement is building now!!!

they didn't get the memo that it's FREEZING outside!

Day 10 We relaxed today in preparation for the marathon tomorrow. We…sort of! I took the girls down to Cannery Row to go shopping – and Travis walked all the way there from the hotel to meet us! We did lots of shopping, again, and I met a new friend – Betty Boop-boop-y-doop!!She was unimpressed with my pajama attire, however. Oops, caught again! We ate a nice dinner, Travis’ pre-race request – sushi, then went home to actually rest this time.

Mom's turn: Back in the Saddle...with wine!

Day 5 We stayed in Fresno last night and then headed on to Napa today. What a beautiful town!! We booked the same hotel that we stayed in 4 years ago and didn’t even remember, the Chablis Inn. They gave us a goodie bag on arrival…full of fur-baby treats. How thoughtful!! It made the fur-babies feel right at home.

Day 6 Today was the most exciting for me! We went on a 16 mile bike tour through the vineyards of Napa Valley. We started with espresso and a currant scone from Bouchon Bakery then on to Napa Valley Bike Rental to pick out our bikes. We went with the Specialized hybrids that were recommended by the staff, who was awesome by the way, for easy touring of the wineries. We had a fabulous time; the views were spectacular with vineyards and wild flowers everywhere, and the wine was just as good! My favorite winery was Goosecross Cellars with Jose. He was very knowledgeable and quite entertaining. The girls opted to sleep late and play in the hotel pool.

We went back to the hotel and picked up the girls to finish the day up shopping in St. Helena and then traveling up the mountain so we could look down over the valley. What a view!

Belated Birthday Bounty

For my birthday my grandparents took me out to eat and then shopping. I go an AWESOME pair of Ed Hardy shoes from my grandpa. They are purple, one of my favorite colors, and black and have skulls on them. Sounds kind of creepy, but they’re not! On top of being totally adorable they are EXTREMLY comfortable. Great walking around shoes or shoes for my hip hop dance class that I am now taking with Mao! I also got an adorable belt and shirt, purple of course, from Marion. Thank you Pop-Pop and Marion!!!

Real-Life Fairytale

Teeny has been dreaming about her first dance and last night she got her opportunity. She attended BRHS’s Winter Formal with her boyfriend. So I had my very own live fairytale princess at the end of the shopping/dressmaking/hair styling/and makeup drama week!! GIRLS! She couldn’t have looked more angelic when it was all said and done, though. How perfect is that for the very first try. And her boyfriend was quite dapper in his new tuxedo I might add.

Trevor

Of course I took at least a hundred pictures, but I'll only post a few :-D

"I had a lot of fun tonight. First, my boyfriend took me to eat at Bistro Byronz. That was nice since it was the first time other than a movie that we had gone out. I also had a cool time at the dance and he even danced with me! That was shocking :-D I saw a few of my soccer teammates and my friend Brenna was there, too.

Brenna

I was a little surprised that there was no decoration or anything, but I still had a nice time. The music was good; they had a D.J. hired from the station 94.1 and they played some of my favorite songs.

I also LOVED my dress. It was a vintage dress from the late 60’s or early 70’s that my grandma found and we had it altered to fit with a few changes to update it a touch. It was perfect when it was done!

My hair and shoes and nails were also great! My mom let me get my hair and nails done since I did not get a “new” dress (which I’m glad I didn’t anyway).

Mom called me "twinkle toes"

I spent many hours picking out the perfect hairdo and a pretty headband to go with it. I decided on a loose up-do like Taylor Swift had in one of her videos.And my hairdresser, Angela at Salon Boheme, did a GREAT job! It looked amazing and just like the style I picked out! I also spent a long time picking out shoes. We went to several different places and must have tried on a million pair, but we finally found my glass slipper at Dillard’s.

Daddy's girl - "thanks for making it all possible Daddy"

We thought we were going to go with silver shoes and accessories, but we ended up doing everything in a pale gold with pearl and rhinestone accents. They are about 4 inches, which my mom was a little concerned with because I am not that graceful. That put me over 6’ tall…good thing my boyfriend is tall too! My mom even let me borrow her diamond and pearl earrings and pearl bracelet! I felt like a princess…Thank you Mom & Dad."

Mom's turn: Sweet Surprise!

Travis had a few surprises up his sleeve for me to keep my mind off the fact that we weren’t able to camp. First we stopped on the Cherokee Reservation to get some fudge – they have the absolute best fudge ever…or maybe it’s the memories that go with it. That is the same vacation stop we made when I was pregnant! It’s also always nice to pass through their and remember a part of my heritage from my father’s side. Then he stopped at a hotel in Sevierville, TN right on the French Broad River so we could see Teeny go whitewater rafting on her all day trip on Wednesday. We headed over to the outpost bright and early Wednesday so we could ask them where to go along the river and catch them on the rapids for some great pictures. WELL – we got there a little too early and the kids hadn’t boarded the bus yet. That ended up being a good thing because the person in the outpost informed us that the river was inaccessible and pictures could only be taken from a kayak. Hmmm – that won’t work! We spied on her for a minute before she realized we were there and she was laughing and yawning and having a good time! When she came over to the truck we were able to get a hug & kiss, and some quick details of her camp so far!!! She was a little nervous because they had just found out that they were taking duckies down the river!

Kyle & Christina all geared up and ready to go!

I was so glad to have just had that experience so I was able to put her mind at ease. She also said they had hiked SIXTY miles, she got four blisters, and was stung seven times getting into a yellow jacket nest and stirring up some hornets (which she said was the worse sting she has ever gotten instantly causing hives all over her leg). She also stepped in a stinging nettle which she claimed was worse than the yellow jackets, fell on her first day hiking and had two monster bruises on both knees, and caught a cold on her second day hiking! GOOD GRIEF – all that and she was still smiling!!! Additionally she made up a little poem…but that is her story to blog when we pick her up tomorrow!

After they got on the bus to head to the drop off point Travis and I went on to see Asheville, NC to visit and shop since we couldn’t watch her raft over the rapids. Asheville was a lovely community and a place Travis had always wanted to see and the weather was gorgeous.

does NOT make me homesick!!!

We got some coffee and a little treat and then visited some of the shops where I got some surprises for Teeny. She loves to bead and is always making me sweet treats, so this time I found some stuff and decided to make her one so she would have a memory of NC. Of course I went with the Asian theme and added some iridescent beads on a beautiful two tone silk ribbon. Then I found something for myself…a wonderfully scented beeswax tea light holder and an elephant. That is always the best way to remember NC by! We headed back to the hotel but stopped at the Knife shop first. When we got back, Samson said it was time to play…again! He found a new source of entertainment – there was an apple tree by the cabin and he snuck one in his travel house and brought it with us!!! Funny boy.

Mom's turn: Technology blues

Hmmmm – I may have bit off more than I can chew. I needed a new phone…my primary concern was that it had my GPS availability in it. I purchased the AT&T Tilt. I can barely make a phone call on this “smart phone” because it’s so bloody complicated!!!!!!!!! Same goes for Christina – her need was not GPS compatibility (although she got that by default); she wanted texting, internet, and personalization…what teenager doesn’t. She purchased the Palm Centro, another “smart phone” – personally I think that’s an oxymoron! She’s having troubles of her own as well. This is going to take some serious getting used to along with another trip back to the store!!!!!

Mom's turn: Heffalump Obsession

Anyone who knows me well knows about my gianormous elephant collection; a love that I inherited from my mother when she passed away in 1982. Therefore, most of the gifts I receive originate from some sort of twist concerning “the most unusual elephant” to add to my collection. Recently, my friend Sara purchased something for me combining elephants along with my other love – supporting a cancer cause. It was an ID holder from Vera Bradley with pink elephants all over it.

Pink Elephants are on a mission! These pretty pachyderms pack a powerful reminder – they’re our newest mascots in the fight against breast cancer. With trunks held high for good luck and hope, Pink Elephants products help raise research funds for theVera Bradley Foundation.

It came just in time for my vacation to Colorado so that I could carry something small on the slopes and have something to purchase those wonderful Irish coffees with!!

The pink elephant pattern brought back vivid childhood memories of a scene from my favorite Disney movie, Pink elephants on parade in Dumbo. I fell SO in love with it that I instantly hit eBay and started surfing for more items adding a book cover, pen, purse, and mint tin (full of little pink mints). Unfortunately, purchasing them this way did not help support their research, but I knew I just finished a race for the cause so I don’t feel too guilty!