HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX!

What a fun filled day! We played video games, played in the pools, had a delicious dinner, had a great cake with ice cream and enjoyed a phone call from Debby (who is about ready to come home from Iraq). Max barbecued tri-tips for dinner and Kathy, Paul and Michael joined us.

The day before Max took Devin with her for a photo shoot she had to do for a friend and then to Radio Shack to find a "work" project they could do together. They ended up with the coolest 1965 Ford Mustang radio controlled car they are going to build. While they were gone, Desirae, Deanna and I baked the cake and did cards and decorations for the next day. Desirae decided the best places to put the decorations and cards (all over the bathroom mirror so she would see it when she first got up, all over the house and around her computer).


As an added note - this may be the sweetest thing in the world, BUT you end up paying the price when she is WIDE awake in the evening and does not stop talking, playing, kicking the wall etc. until around midnight. Desirae can fall asleep with tons of noise and she does not care, but poor Devin, Max and I paid the price for my afternoon snuggle. To give Devin some peace of mind and rest, we moved him to a room of his own. Of course, the night we changed him Deanna was asleep as soon as her little head hit her pillow!

The plans for tonight are that Paul, Max and Desirae and going to tie flies while Kathy, Devin, Deanna and I do some crafts. Max and Devin plan to build the car on Saturday. More pictures after the evening is over.

Later . . .

Max's Birthday

Max called in sick on Wednesday (she took the day off for Thursday) and her "peeps" at work set up her desk for a birthday surprise. She works with a great bunch of people and they did themselves proud. Max felt awful after she saw the pictures of what they had done and she did not show up. They picked out "special" cupcakes just for her!

She is very special . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAXINE!

Later . . .

Another day done

Today was another good day. We had beautiful weather and the kids swam while I cleaned the hot tub cover. We have been blessed with some really nice weather - it is hot, but not unbearable hot. Max surprised us all by popping in for lunch and that was a nice change of pace. Max barbecued hot dogs for dinner and that was a treat for me (have not had a hot dog in a long time). Thank goodness it really cooled off so heating the oven for baking cookies was not miserable. I missed the opportunity to get pictures of the cookies before they were eaten and also the left over chocolate on the faces of three happy kids.

The days are long, but they are a lot of fun. I love watching them grow.

Later . . .

The Grandchildren

I must say they are keeping me busy. Now I completely understand why one has children when they are younger. Actually things have been going quite well. The age difference shows up a bit when it comes to playing in the pool. Deanna wants to play, but is not as confident in the water environment as the other two. She tends to stay in the little pool and entertain herself - with dog toys it seems. The pool is their major attraction and it is what they want to do all the time. I wish we had one that was bigger so I could actually get in with them and teach them how to swim.

We all watched a movie yesterday "Flushables", which was quite interesting and really pretty cute. I am taking the opportunity to work on hand work (sewing on binding) while they are playing in the pool, playing video games or watching a movie. It has not been so hot lately so sitting outside with them is easier to do. If it is really hot, I just sit inside by the sliding glass door so I can see them while they play in the water. I will not let in the hot tub unless I am right there with them - too easy to fall in there.

Max decided to paint the girls' fingernails on Sunday night - Desirae chose green sparkle and Deanna choose red like my toe nails. Hardest part was having them sit still until they dried - which Desirae accomplished and Deanna did not.

We have thawed out cookie dough to make cookies tonight. We also need to make a cake for Max's birthday, but that will be on Wednesday (not her birthday, but the cake making). Max is taking Thursday off for her birthday and we are having Kathy, Paul and Michael over for a barbecue. We are also considering going to a matinee Thursday afternoon. The movie of choice will either be "Return of the Ice Age" or "Up".

Later . . .

Max's New Toys

Max was cruising eBay and ran across a fly tying vise that she has been wanting. It is one step down from the one Paul has and is "totally cool" (her words not mine). We decided to bid on it and give it a "snipe". Figured if we could get the vise plus all the extras for the price of a new one we would be ahead of the game. As luck would have it (or crafty sniping) she won the bid. Great bunch of stuff and more than she expected. Unfortunately, the vise had a knob that broke off during shipping, but it can be drilled out and replaced - so no harm and we are still ahead of the game.

Max is looking forward to tying flies with Desirae while they are here visiting. Of course Paul and Max will get together to tie before we go fishing in September (and that vacation is just around the corner).

Later . . .

The Grandkids have arrived

Max and I make the drive to Cal City after she got off work on Thrusday. With the 5:00 PM traffic it was about 10:45 before we arrived in Cal City. We had a nice day on Friday with Denise and the kids and then we were able to spend a little time with Duane Friday night. We packed up the kids and headed home around 11:00 AM on Saturday.

We got them settled in and the adventure begins! It is such a MAJOR help to have Max around to help out - I will be missing her a lot this week. After a good pancake breakfast, we set up their new swimming pool. While we were filling the pool they all took a dip in the "no so hot" hot tub. I had turned the temperature down a while ago because we don't really use it when it is hot. Then enjoyed themselves and once Devin got over his fear of falling they had some fun - especially with the jets! Desirae was especially happy because she had never been in a "hot tub" before (and she still hasn't been in a HOT one).

They transferred to the other pool - which is much larger than the one we had last year and had some fun. My battery went dead on my camera, but I will get pictures tomorrow. The new pool has much more room for splashing and playing, but Deanna tends to bail when a lot of splashing is happening. I did get out the little plastic one and she played in that for a bit by herself.

It is GREAT to have them here, but I must admit it is a major adjustment on my part.

Later . . .

Flight Day for Warren

Warren, Ann and Jesse came down for dinner on Friday night and then Max cooked breakfast for everyone before we took off at 0800 to make the drive to Sonoma for Warren to take his airplane ride. We wanted to arrive when they opened and get Warren in the air before it got too hot. We were warned the plane he would be flying was enclosed with glass windows and it gets pretty hot in there if it is hot outside.

We arrived early enough for Warren to be the first in line to fly the "Texan" that he wanted to fly. The people there were extremely nice. Warren had a wonderful time with the pilot doing loops and rolls and such. Warren was given the controls and he got to fly quite a bit over the area. Initially they were going to fly to the coast, but when they arrived it was really foggy, hence they came back to our area; which was nice because we got to watch. Max got some really great shots. I got most of the adventure on video, but I cannot get it on my Mac. I need to go buy a firewire cable that has 4 pins on one end and 6 on the other (I have one that is 4 and 4, but it will not work with my Mac).


Warren had such a good time and he was VERY happy. He was given a certificate and a t-shirt. I am sure it is something that he will treasure for a long time. He told me it was the BEST father's day he had ever had! It actually looked like it would be fun to take a flight with them. Don't think I would be up for the loops and rolls, but going in an open bi-plane might be fun.

Anyway, that was the weekend and it turned out well. Kathy and Paul did not go with us as Michael had to work and Paul was working on the bathroom. We did see everyone for a bit on Friday night after Kathy came back from Red Bluff with Michael (he was vacationing with his grandparents while we were in Vegas and stayed on for another week).

We are gearing up for the grandkids. We are driving down on Thrusday after Max gets off work and then coming back on Saturday - that will give Max a day off with the kids before she has to go back to work. We are going to keep them until mid-week so that Max can have a weekend with them. I know they will keep me busy, but I will try to blog with pictures of the kids while they are here.

Later . . .

Home from Vegas

Now that we are home I have some additional pictures to post from Vegas.

When we were in the Bellagio they had a section of ceiling at the reception lobby that was made of blown glass flowers - it was awesome to see and the picture does not do it justice. The Bellegio had some amazing things in there garden area. We got to see all the little love birds snuggled up together (2x2) in their bird house sleeping. It was adorable.

There was also the most amazing motorcycle on display at Treasure Island. It was made of metal and it was all woman - from the head right down to the boots on her feet going back to the back tire. It was hard to get good shots, but I did get photos of all the different parts using my flash.

When we went to the Stratosphere and out to the top - the wind was really blowing. It was a clear night and the lights of the city were great. Max was doing all she could to get some shots since she did not have her tripod with her it was a challenge (as you can see). We really had a nice time at the Stratosphere.

We had a great time overall, but the strip is a bit busy for my liking. Fremont Street was fun and even though there were a lot of people it was not as crazy packed like the strip. The light show was very cool and I am in awe that someone actually had to program that whole thing! We stayed up way to late on Thursday night, but we managed to get up and out of the condo by 10:00 AM for the quick flight back to SFO.

Later . . .

More Vacation

We all slept in yesterday - staying up way to late running around Vegas. It is much nicer to be out and about at night when the sun is not cooking your brain. Paul took Kathy to Lawry's for her birthday dinner and Max and I got to join them. OMG I really have to say that was probably the best meal I have had - EVER. They are famous for prime rib for a reason. They served everything at the table and the chef cut each piece of prime rib cooked the way we requested it. The meal came with salad, mashed potatoes and gravy and Yorkshire pudding. You could order veggies and stuff if you wanted and also lobster to go with your prime rib. They also had some of the best creme brulee I have ever tasted. It was a real treat for everyone - Happy Birthday Kathy!

We then caught the bus and headed downtown to the Circus Circus and Slots of Fun. We gambled for a while and then headed home early (that would be around midnight). It is nice to have a condo to come back to. Gives us the opportunity to sit around and chat and relax before we headed to bed.

Today is our last day here and this is the day we are doing the Fremont Street Experience. I love the laser light show and then we will have our "last chance" to strike it rich (haha).

Later . . .

More Vegas

We have been having a really good time. Considering the heat we have been doing really well walking all over the place and checking out ALL the casinos. Monday we did the walking trip to Paris, Bally's, Bellegio, Caesers Palace, Flamingo, Palazzo, Treasure Island, Venetian, Wynn's O'Sheas and the Casino Royale. We stopped at the Flamingo and went to Jimmy Buffett's Margritaville for Volcano Nachos. OMG check them out.

The Bellagio, Venetian and the Paalazzo were amazing places. The stores and such were incredible. We saw some blackjack tables that the MINIMUM bet was $1k. We put some money in the slots in all the places and had fun. This guy is a real person doing the painted no movement thing and swear we thought he was real when we first saw him at the Venetian.

Last night we grabbed a bus and went down further down the strip to the Stratosphere where we had a buffet dinner that was excellent and saw"The American Experience" which was a show with people singing impersonations of Elvis, Brittney Spears, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and Michael Jackson. It was a really good show and we all enjoyed it a lot. We then made our way to the top of the Stratosphere to see the night view of Vegas which also amazing. We took pictures, but they are still on the stick cause there were not really enough to make a disk.

Today we are slow playing it until we go to dinner for Kathy's BD at Lawry's for what is said to be amazing prime rib. Then we plan to go to the Circus Circus and Slots of Fun this evening. Tomorrow we are doing the Fremont Street experience and then Friday it will be homeward bound.

More Vegas

We had a great time yesterday. Started off the day with a good breakfast made by Paul (sausage, eggs, toast, coffee and orange juice). We managed to walk about and see New York New York, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay and the Tropicanna. We had "pub grub" in New York New York at the "Nine Fine Irishmen". It was good, but not like REAL pub grub from Ireland.

Either everyone was hung over and not out and about or they were leaving after the weekend. It was nice that there were not so many people to work our way through. As the day progressed more people showed up.

Max and I had a Timeshare tour of the facility (Polo Towers). It is part of the Resort we own and they are adding another tower. We got some perks for going and we really wanted to see the rest of the resort. It is pretty nice - a little out of the way, but very nice.

I could not find any place to buy a memory reader or cable. Since we don't have a car we are a bit limited. I will keep looking, but I found a Walgreens that I can get my photos put on a disk for $2.99. I will do that this evening for sure and then be able to get some pictures posted tomorrow (or later this evening depending on the time we arrive back to the condo).

Not sure what we are going to do today, but I think we are going to venture further down the strip. We can get a bus pass that will allow us to go back and forth for 24 hours.

Later . . .

Vegas

We arrived in a very hot Vegas after a quick flight from SFO. OMG we thought for a bit we were not going to make it at all. Our flight was scheduled for 1325 hours. We left for the airport at 1100 to HORRID traffic. We arrived an hour early to check in, but the line for security was UNBELIEVABLE! I have never been at the airport when the lines for security are that long. We had to be escorted to the front of the line by our airlines so we could catch our plane on time. I guess we all forgot that Friday was a holiday and MANY people would be on the roads and at the airport.

The condo is really nice and we settled in and then went to do some exploring. We did some gambling at Planet Hollywood cause it was the closest in walking distance from us. It is amazing how many people are in Vegas for this weekend. We are hoping that it thins out after Sunday.

This AM our condo provided a shuttle to Albertsons to do shopping and we picked up some groceries. Difficult being without a car, but public transportation is good and with the condo providing the shuttle for shopping - it is all good.

I took some pictures, but I fogot to bring the connection for my computer. If I can find something cheap at Walgreens I may pick one up so I can load some pictures. Otherwise - sorry. Max and I are both taking pictures and she also forgot her cable to hook her camera up to the TV for a slide show - ahhhhhh well.

We had a good day of being out and about today - hot, but bearable. None of us are doing much in the gambling area. I am not much of a slot player and all the tables have been raised to a minimum of at least $10 and I don't like spending that much money at one time. We are just hoping that things will back off once the weekend is over. We have all kinds of plans to venture out and about during the week. We had a really good lunch/dinner in the MGM Grand at the Rainforest Cafe. We had thunder and lightening and rain - it was actually a really cool place. We also spent some time watching the lions. They have a male and female that they feed and play with on the hour. The male is massive and very impressive and the female is equally impressive. I took a video of her playing that I hope turns out okay. Not sure what the pictures will actually look like because of the glass enclosure was pretty dirty (I tried to shoot in clean spots).

The big disappointment is the fireworks. This year they are not doing fireworks like in the past. Last year the firworks caught the Monte Carlo on fire and they changed the fire codes since then. What we were told that all the fireworks displays will be at ground level this year. We made it back to the condo by dark are were able to see quite a bit of the displays because we are on the 12th floor and have a good view from our windows. Not what we expected, but it was still nice.

I am going to sign off to the sound of many sirens. The cops are going to be busy tonight because the town is packed and the drinking is heavy!

Later . . .

Off to Vegas

We are off to Vegas for the week. Should be a fun weekend - the 4th in Vegas and they are suppose to have some awesome fireworks (provided we can get Kathy out of the Casino). We have no real plans except to have fun and celebrate Kathy's 50th BD.

I am taking my computer and camera - so hopefully I can find a Wi-Fi connection and be able to post something for the blog. If I don't, I will catch up when we get home.

Paul has made great progress on the bathroom. Max got the plumbing stuff done and Kathy has picked out all her stuff.

Later . . .