Newport Beach

Three weeks ago we left for vacation, and I'm just now finding time to blog about it. To say life has been busy is an understatement. I think I needed this vacation more than any other vacation ever in my life. The beautiful thing was we had zero plans. Well, we had one plan...to hit the beach every day for 4 beautiful days. And that's exactly what we did.  I didn't bring a computer. I didn't post about it on Facebook and I barely took out my good camera. Truly, it was just what I needed.

But, the whole point of this blog, other than keeping you beautiful people up to date on our life, is to have memories for my kids. So, blogging I must do, I want to do. I just needed to find a little time.

So, we took off on a Saturday. Due to Em's color guard schedule we left a day early and spent the night at a hotel. We had to come back early by one day. This way, we would have all of Sunday at the beach instead of that being our driving day. Did I mention we went with 2 other families and we all shared one huge 3 story, 6 bedroom house on the beach?  It was awesome!

So, here we are, all loaded up.

 We got to the Hilton and looky here. I was the guest of the day! Basically, I got a free Starbucks and a free dessert!  Sweet! They randomly pick a rewards member and it was me!

 The hotel was super fun. They had free happy hour with drinks and appetizers, so the adults took advantage of that.

 The kids rode the elevator and went swimming. It was a super nice hotel. This is the inside of the hotel with real trees and a huge atrium. Noah said it looked like the cruise ship.

 That's Noah and Clara in the back doing flips. Ben and Savannah are the normal ones in the hot tub.

 On Sunday, we headed straight to the beach.

 Ava came with us. Her parents were going to Washington, but she wanted to go with us, so it all worked out. We told her the first time at the beach, and you have to get buried. She was cool to play along.

 

There was an air show going on at the beach down from us, so we got to watch an awesome airshow!

 Every night meant walks along the beach and pier. Noah is being a goof. He didn't want his picture taken. I would've made the exact face at 10. Karma, right Mom?

 

 

 This is the only blurry photo I got of our walks and tag on the beach. It's a nightly thing.

 The sunset from our balcony was pretty perfect.

 The fist night we made steaks with potatoes and salad, and this was how it was most nights. All of us enjoying food. It was so fun!

 I think this is one of my favorite pics of all 4 girls. They are just having fun and doing their thing.

In a few more years, I'll have Ben take his Senior pictures here. He's the class of 2024, so this lifeguard station is perfect!

 Ben walking along the beach at night.

 Every day, we got shaved ice or some little treat. Noah wanted this crazy SpongeBob popsicle.

 These pics are all out of order and I don't have the time or desire to reorganize them. So, Ryan got sick after the first day and was pretty much in bed the entire week. I felt awful for him and Dakri who was single for much of the trip. We still went out on the last night and enjoyed our favorite Vietnamese place. The 420 downtowner rice is so good! It's cilantro lime rice with chicken and fried pork on top.

 This is Noah and the girls on the last morning. The were feeding the birds all of our bread that we weren't taking home. They enjoyed every last ounce of beach time!

Ok, now these are my expansive camera photos.

So, this was us on day one. It was a Sunday, so the beach was more crowded than normal. 

 The bigger kids are in the water.

 I think this was the second day. It was like noon and this huge fog just came in off the ocean and sat there for like an hour. It was so bizarre, but that's Cali for you.

 One night, the girls wanted some pics taken of them at the beach. These girls have been best friends for years, so it was so fun they all got to be together on this trip. The pics came out really cute. I think I took over 200!  HA!  Here's a few of the best ones.

 And while I'm taking pictures, this is going on behind me.

 And this.

 These girls are so cute!

 Ben didn't want his picture taken either, so I got the back of him. He loves the ocean.

 And they had to take a selfie!

 These three kids played so great together. Clara is 11. Noah is 10. Savannah is 9. So, I always wonder which one Noah will marry. Maybe neither of them, but I hope so! They are sweet as can be.

 The sunsets in Cali... wow!

And this was the very last photo I took.

Everything went so well, we decided we will do the same trip again next year at Fall Break!

I can't wait.

A Sad Goodbye

We put Rocko down yesterday. It was so hard and a decision we knew was coming for probably a year. It's such a tough choice to make and know when the right time is. Physically, he was still okay. Sure, his walks had gone from 40 minutes to 20 in the past 6 months. He would've preferred 10, as he was usually lagging behind us all the way home, but, he kept up.

With Rocko, it was all mental. We knew he was scared to death of thunderstorms. He's been that way for 10 years, but it had started to take on a whole new form. He was scared of everything, lighting, thunder, dark, light, wind, steps, grates in the road, the garbage truck, it goes on and on. We'd sometimes sleep at night with the TV on and eye masks on as he would start panting and shaking when we'd turn the TV off. Most nights, David slept in the other room with Rocko tied to the bed. He was destructive when he'd get scared and you couldn't do anything. He's tore up a table cloth, comforter, drape, screen doors. He "rakes" the carpet and puts holes in window screens. He scratches at doors, dig holes if outside, it goes on and on.

We've manage to deal with it and didn't feel like he was ready to be put down. But, over the past few weeks, he'd spend all of his awake hours like this...staring at a corner and panting. It's really very sad to watch him shake for hours for no reason what so ever. We tried every medicine out there from herbal stuff to prozak and nothing worked. Inevitably, after hours of panting, he'd drink a bowl of water, then vomit several times. It was all just going downhill.

 

 Anyway, all that to say, after a few awful nights with him, we decided it was time. This was his last photo. David went in with him and he said it was all very peaceful and calm. The kids were a mess. We all were. Emily wanted to do one last day of all the things he loves, but it's just so hard to drag it out once you've decided. Plus, if he had a good night, then, we would've waited for more bad nights, which would've surely come. It would emotionally draining to put us all through that. It was more bad moments for him than good at the end. If he was awake, he was scared. Ultimately, that was the deciding factor.

 

  

David brought home his collar and leash and Prim was Rocko's biggest fan. She loved to cuddle with him. Today she climbed up on the table and snuggled into his collar. It was the sweetest and saddest moment ever. 

We will always remember him as the sweetest dog ever who loved to play fetch and go for a walk. He had the softest pillowy ears and once you started petting him, he'd always reach out his paw for more.

We will miss you sweet boy.

15

How is my baby girl 15? I don't know where the time has gone. Here birthday was on a Friday, which was also a football game. That means she has to leave for school at 6:40 for an early morning pep rally, and she gets home after the game at about 10:30. It's about a 16 hour day. Tiring for sure!

We started celebrating a few days before with her favorite dinner of roast, carrots and mashed potatoes. The next night, I made her a pumpkin roll and we sung happy birthday.

She used to always give her Dad big kisses on her birthday. Now, he settles for this. Ugh, teenagers!

She was spoiled with lots of cards and money!  Thank you to everyone for making her special.

Grammie and Grampie also took her to Olive Garden for lunch!

The football game was fun! Well, the don't look like they are having fun, but they were!

Then, she went shopping down in Phoenix with her friends for their annual birthday trip.

They went to Dave & Busters too and played video games.

The got Boba teas.

 Had lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

 And spent way too much money shopping!

I think she had a great birthday. Teenage girls are not easy to navigate, but she's a great young lady with a whole life ahead of her. We are thankful to help her any way we can.

Moving Day!

Moving day finally came on August 19th! Geez, we got yanked around with our mortgage people and it was so hoops, but we finally closed!

We got a Uhaul and loaded everything up. The kids were awesome and helped as much as they could with all the heavy lifting. Our friend Ryan also helped, which was so nice on some of the heavy pieces.

It's nice the new house is abut 7 minutes away and we got everything unloaded. David and I decided to load it up again and make a second and last trip that night. It took about 6 hours, but we got everything to the new house.

The next day, David took off work, and helped them get everything set up.

The blind guy came that day, and Gwynne had everything scheduled to be turned on. It was a super busy few days.

Enrique's room is really nice with a TV and recliner.

Gwynnes room and she has a nice master bath.

I'll have to take some pictures next time I'm there, as it looks way more homey now. David got some pictures hung up and they are getting a rug for the living room this week. They just need a loveseat and they'll be all set!

We are so glad they are here and close to us, and just in time since hurricane Dorian was on it's way. It was nice not to have to worry about them and dealing with that!