Final hint (#7) ... time for planning!

Ok, there isn't much more to specify about the house we rented for Spring Break in SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA! However, I thought the kids might like the final tid bit of information, the actual address of the house so they can google earth the address and start dreaming and scheming about what THEY want to do while we visit.  I had a huge itinerary all thought of, all the things I wanted to show the kids, but before we cement plans, I decided for F.H.E. tonight, I want the KIDS to each come up with FIVE things each of them would like to see or do while visiting the area.  Go!

Oh, the address...


833 Island Court, San Diego, CA 92109

Woot!  Getting excited!
(Olivia didn't even want to put her shoes on today in fears that if she wore them, she would forget to pack them!)

Hint #6 (finally!)

This is the view from the house we are renting facing EAST ( away from the ocean), that should be a big hint for Braden, who has been google earthing the heck out of things trying to solve the mystery.

THIS is about a block away from the house, an old school wood rollercoaster, not a whole lot of those around these days, so that might help narrow things down a bit.

Tommorrow is Monday, the day we are going to sit down and make final plans together as a family and the kids will get to have a more complete idea of what is going to go down.  For now, this is their FINAL hint.

Hint #5 (two in one day)

Ok, so the kids didn't get a hint this week, cuz I was sick, so today they get TWO hints.  Mostly because I cannot stand it!

Getting sick of the bleep bleeps?  Did I mention I hate surprizes!? Oi poodles (see Gilmore Girls, can't remember what season).

This will take SOME of the bleep bleep out of the surprize. It has to. It really really has to!

Hint #4

Super super excited about this part! A 1920's bungalow fully restored and just a walk from bleep bleep bleep bleep more of the surprise later bleep bleep bleep! Amazing right!? It is one of those I cannot believe I did this moments...followed by "I get the BED!"

In case we want or need to cook.
A good spot for Chris to do that spring break homework that we are both dreading will be assigned over the "vacation". Well public health research never looked so inviting?
Kids get the hide a ways! ( gotta trade off the great location of bleep bleep bleep for a smaller place), and it sounded better than braving rush hour to get from bleep bleep to bleep bleep and will be closer to enjoy bleep bleep ya know!?

SPRING BREAK Hints ( and did I mention that I hate surprises a little?)

 I will neither confirm nor deny that the scuba instructor pictured is the one that I whistled at thought I whistled at him (when I was whistling at my KIDS in the soo soo setzy scuba masks).  To make matters worse, his reaction was like...  You know it.  How you doin? ick. For the record, I am NOT nor will I EVER be a COUGAR. sigh.  really!  Did I mention ick?

 Colton and Mitchell ready to swim!

 Yes, my teenage son IS wearing pants.  Oi.

 Savannah's new favorite  swimsuit.  She got THREE.  Don't ask.  It was a fluke.  Cute though, and I lurrve them.  http://www.limericki.com/

 Excited to scuba dive!

 Confused and don't wanna scuba dive anymore...

 Watching people scuba dive is well NOT so much an interesting pass time....

 Not the greatest pic, but shows the emotion well.  No?

 Our boys can doggy paddle like MAD men! (swim lessons anyone?)

Hint #1 = took the kids to Wes Deis Aquatic Center in Idaho Falls for Presidents Day while visiting in S.E. Idaho. Braden and Savannah got a taste of scuba diving (insert embarrassing story here), and snorkeling. Colton and Mitchell Ball worked on and earned their Aquanaut pin/belt loop at the same time. They appeared to have had a great time!

Hint #2 = got a big ol' laminated truckers atlas, travel toiletries and sunglasses

Hint #3 = a riddle ( I hate riddles ) : "How can you take something in the state of a gem, to silver in a day, then gold. Gold remains for five days but then turns back to silver and back to the state of a gem in the end?"

BONUS HINT!

Nothing to do with Spring Break directly, but Chris was pulled aside today and informed that he has been assigned to L.D.A.C. duty this summer. He will actually be reporting for duty right around two weeks from his commissioning date (give or take a day). His summer will be spent on Fort Lewis, in Washington state. However, even though this is a fact, it still is just a HINT as to what is coming because we don't have his BOLC dates, or any supplementary training dates from there. So we have a fog of an idea of how at least the summer is going to go. ISH.

BONUS HINT #2 (arghhhh)

Chris says after his training meeting in the morning that we will have a school date for his training!  I want to pass out.  I don't want to know, even though I want to know.  Crap!  Can I get a do over!?  (insert nervy b here).

SPRING BREAK

• it's a big surprise!
• I HATE surprises. So many things can go wrong.
• I have a few hints to make things interesting
• Braden Mathews, has a tendency to google his name @ school, and that is how he found out I keep a blog? Hope he thinks to do it again so he can find a HINT or two along with his siblings, Savannah, Colton, and Olivia....
• I am really ticked that Lybia is having problems (shallow I know) and is making gas prices jump through the roof? I can't even change plans around now cuz....
• I put money down on the bleep bleep so that we wouldn't have to cram into a bleep bleep and so we could enjoy it down in bleep bleep de bleep bleep.
• hoping that the bleep bleeps won't end up in this blog to conceal my actual feelings about planning spring break in bleep bleep de bleep bleep.

Celebrate the LUUURVE!

...also known as Valentines Day, Braden calls it 'singles awareness' day (pretty sure I did when I was single too). He is just feeling down because this is the FIRST Valentines day since he was like three that he hasn't had someone to give a little trinket to and call his Valentine.

Savannah had a guy at school ask her to be his Valentine. She looked at him and asked him to define Valentine before she would answer. Apparently that shocked him and he walked off. Silly girl? Smart girl? I would say smart, but she did say he was really tall and is on the basketball team AND the football team (insert Savannah's swoon weakness for white pants).

Tonight with the dh gone, I made sugar cookies, and in his honor did NOT frost them, just sprinkled them with sugah. I also have some of his fav chocolates hidden under his pillow (hope he doesn't bang his head when he goes to sleep tonight).

Colton had his school party last Friday so his stuff is over, and so tommorrow is all up to us how it plays out...

EXCEPT as I sat here tonight checking ebay and other things I am researching for a BIG surprise for the family later the doorbell rang.

Can I say I was sitting here in my pink fuzzy yoga workout looking things and not all together ready to answer the door? Braden was in bed snoring and the other kids were in bed, but not asleep and I must admit it freaked me out a LITTLE to go to the door flip the light on...and there is a little note that says "Happy Valentines Day!"

So I woke Braden up and made him go check cars (cuz teenagers are known to do stupid stuff to cars) and Savannah went with him. I dead bolted the door behind them. They're on their own in the world of LURVE. Turns out somebody sweet decorated my house with gel clings and gave us a "HEART ATTACK"... I hope the marker comes off.

It kinda made my day/night anyway, after I let the kids back in and they went to bed anyway. Be still my old lady, afraid of the boogy man (who rings doorbells?)heart.

LOVE YOU!

Olivia is FIVE. really...she is five...sniff

So we had a big week! Olivia turned five, and made two announcements that morning.

Announcement number one:

"I am now big enough, and I get to start school tommorrow!"

Announcement number two:

"I am five now, I am too big for my clohtes. I need to get rid of all the old ones and we need to go buy me all new clothes."

We got a giggle out of it, although Livvy didn't think it was funny that she doesn't get to start school til fall.

Yeah, I laughed til the next two days when we tried to dress her for the morning her clothes WERE too small...sheesh.

forgot to say goodbye!

Goodbye 2010 ...

the BEST of plans...

So as of February 1, the Colonel has informed us that at any time we will be seeing Chris' first set of orders. (Yikes/Yay!) So starts the daily wondering if today will be the day if we will be able to start planning the next phase of life, all while trying to somewhat manage today.

There will be little hints that will let us know orders will be coming down the line soon. Other Cadets around the nation that Chris served with at LDAC will start seeing orders and of course announcing on their social media sites where they are going and when they are to begin. I have managed to this point to just kind of stick it in the back of my head.

However...

One reality has hit. Chris, being up to his eyeballs with his Masters work, and ROTC responsibilities doesn't really even have time to sleep right now, let alone have a family or manage being a Young Men's leader at church for the 16 year - 18 year old boys. That being said, right now he is gearing up for the Military Ball (March 4th), and in March he will be gearing up for FTX ( field training excercizes, in April), and in April he will be finishing up his capstone and other classes and we should be ramping up for graduation (which he is refusing to march in...pick my battles) and the following Commissioning Ceremony on May 14th.

After that... who knows. I do know however from experience that as soon as Chris DOES get orders, life will turn up side down. The following months will be filled for him with training, schools, more training, and more schools, until we reach his first duty station. At THAT time, he will be at the bottom of the totem pole, literally and will be running ragged constantly. As they usually put new Leutenants in groups that are fixing to deploy, they will be extra busy, followed by a deployment.

I am not feeling sorry for myself. Just being real and getting a grip on the outlook for the year. THUS... I have been throwing ideas around for spring break for a while. We want to make a memory with the kids (Braden is't gonna be a kid much longer) while we are all together and have the chance.

We looked at a lot of things. Disney World FL? Uh...we're students. Soooo not gonna fly six of us to the other side of the country and then stay for a week. Lake Havasu NV? Spend some time on the lake? Erghhh. Lots of half naked co-eds and drunk jet skiiers. Nope. Seattle? Rainy, and buuurrr, we wanted some sun shine! Disney LAND? Chris couldn't bring himself to settle, but I started digging and we came up with a fun (I hope) spring break.

We have the plans made, and now it is just a matter of telling the kids. We are going to tell them at the end of the month...

I think I am going to make it a loooonnng....drawwwwwwn...ouuuuut...hinnnnting process. The suspense may kill them! Or me. ;)