No More!

We have been working with Dillon on learning some baby signs. The first (and so far only) one that he has picked up is "more". It's been awesome to actually be able to communicate with him and know what he needs. The problem is... well, now he wants more of EVERYTHING! The first time he used the sign without us prompting him was when Jason gave him one M&M (much to my dismay). Dillon looked at Jason put his little fingertips together and signed more. He looked so cute that Jason gave him more. Now when he is hungry, he walks over to his high chair and looks at us and signs more. He has also used it to tell us that he wants to go outside - signed more and then pointed at the door. What a little smarty he is!

I Miss My Old Kitchen

Yes, you read that right - I miss my old kitchen! But I guess it would be more accurate to say that I miss having a kitchen. It has been slightly over a week of having no kitchen and it stinks. We set up a make shift kitchen in the garage with our refrigerator, microwave, toaster and Jason's coffee maker. And while that's nice, it's a pain in the butt having to do dishes in the bathroom sink. And having to go out to the garage every time I want to throw anything in the trash really sucks.

On the upside, the plumbing is almost finished and the electrical should be started any day. On the down side, there is still so much to do and I'm not expecting everything to be completed much before mid-October (yes, almost two whole months from now!). I ordered the kitchen sink and faucet and the sink won't be in until October 5th. How stinky! Oh well... I guess it will all be worth it in the end and that patience really is a virtue.

Out With The Old...

Race For The Cure

Cancer has touched my life many times. When I was younger, my step mom had breast cancer. My sister-in-law and best friend, Susan, is currently fighting colon cancer. I was very surprised to learn that one in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. I knew that the rate was high, but I didn't realize that it was this high.

On Sunday, September 23rd, I will be participating in the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure. I will be walking on a team with Susan, Tiffany and several other ladies from the company where Susan worked. While this is specifically targeted to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness, it is my opinion that cancer is cancer and if they can find a cure for breast cancer, they will be able to cure all types of cancer.

I am asking for help meeting my fundraising goal of $500.00. If you can help me out, please visit my website, to make a donation. Whatever you can give will make a difference in the lives of many. I truly appreciate your generosity and will keep you posted on my progress. Thank you so much for your support in the fight against breast cancer. I hope and pray that one day in the not so distant future, we will able to put an end to all types of cancer once and for all.

http://ocraceforthecure.kintera.org/rachelslagle

I'm Tired...

But what do I expect to feel when I have spent the entire day packing up the kitchen. I guess that's what happens when you wait until the day before the crew comes out to demolish your kitchen to pack it all up. What a daunting task it was. I literally spent ALL day! But at least it is all done. I can't believe that they are coming in the morning to start the kitchen!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Today is Jason's birthday. I gave him the option to do whatever he wanted to do. His choice was to drive to Malibu Beach and then walk around the Santa Monica Pier. We went to Bubba Gump's on the pier for lunch and then went to Buca Di Beppo for dinner. While we were walking on the pier, Jason played a dart game and won Dillon a stuffed shark. We think he really liked it because he didn't throw it - he throws EVERYTHING! I hope he had a great day and a very happy birthday!

High School Musical 2

For the premiere of High School Musical 2, I had a party with my nieces (we kicked out the boys) and some of their friends. We spent all week listening to the music. We decorated the house with red balloons and a Mylar High School Musical balloon, hung up a few banners (we made one that said "East High") and had HSM plates. We dressed in Red, White and Black. We made a ton of food - artichoke won ton cups, BBQ potato rounds, stuffed portabello mushrooms, a chicken club ring, mini brownie bites and a giant M&M cookie! During dinner we played a game that we bought at the party store - it was some High School Musical game - even thought it had absolutely nothing to do with the movie! It was actually really cool and got everyone talking. It was a card game that asked questions like: If your life was a movie who would you want to play you and what television show do you wish could be erased from history. It was a great ice breaker. After dinner, we gathered around the TV and watched the "main event." We all really liked the movie. I thought it was just as good as the first one and if you hadn't seen the first one, you could still enjoy the second movie. The only thing that bummed us out was that our favorite song - which happened to be a bonus track - was not in the movie. (Hopefully it will be on the DVD) After the movie was over, we watched the new Hannah Montana and then went off to bed. In the morning I made waffles and sausage - I have never made waffles before - that's Jason's job! (I only burned one! - I forgot about it while I was eating) We topped the waffles with syrup, strawberries and powdered sugar - they were really tasty! I had a great time and hope that the girls did too!

Zoo Fun

The last stop of the week was the Los Angeles Zoo. Jordan and Dillon didn't get to go with us - Jordan wasn't feeling well and I didn't want to drag Dillon around the zoo in the hundred degree heat. We did another photo scavenger hunt. This time they needed to take pictures of specific things such as a picture with at least two different kinds of animals in it and an animal that starts with the letter D. All day long we teased Ryan to watch out for birds - we told him that the hawks and vultures were staring him down and trying to figure out how to get him. For some reason, the meerkats were my favorite part of the the zoo. They were so cute and fun to watch. They even politely posed for pictures. The zebras were pretty cool, too. They were all standing in a big group and they really did blend in together. My least favorite thing (and Tiffany's too) were the spiders. They had a whole spider exhibit and those suckers were gross... They had big, fat hairy ones and itty bitty small ones - I disliked all of them! I felt like something was crawling all over me the whole time we were in the building. Ick! It was a hot day, but we had fun despite this. Tiffany and I drove the boys crazy on the way to and from the zoo listening to the soundtrack for High School Musical 2. By the time we got back home, the boys were singing along. I forgot my camera so most of the pictures were taken by Tiffany and Ryan (I borrowed Tiff's camera to take a few pictures)...

Discovering Science

I have always wanted to go to the Discovery Science Center, so today I dragged the kids there. It was really interesting. We got to lay on a bed of nails and went on a "treasure hunt." I had my height measured by sonar - and it was actually right. Tiffany made a composite face on a computer. Jordan made the little dipper with pretzels and marshmallows. Dillon played with puzzles. Ryan got bit by a bird. Again. (You would have thought he would have learned his lesson at the aquarium.) I loved how there were so many "hands on" things to do. I especially loved the fact that they had two areas where only babies were allowed - It was great because Dillon wanted out of the stroller so bad. I highly recommend the Science Center - Most of the exhibits are inside so it is great on a hot day.

Soak City

Today we went to Soak City. Jason's brother came with us, plus two of Tiffany's friends - There were ten of us! I was totally excited because I was able to float around the lazy river three times in a row... Jason usually only last a maximum of twice around and then he is so bored he has to get out. My nieces wanted to go around three times, so who was I to complain? This was also the first time that I went all the way into the wave pool. Normally I have Dillon with me so I can only venture in up to my knees, but this time, I was able to go into the deep end. I am now totally in love with the wave pool! I even broke rule number one in the Rachel handbook - I got my hair wet - which is something that I never, ever, ever do.

The food at Soak City is really expensive and really gross. So, this time, since there were so many of us, we packed an ice chest with drinks and food. Tiffany made ten sandwiches and we brought along some chips and pretzels. This was definitely a great way to go!

A Is For Aquarium

Our first adventure was the Aquarium of the Pacific. And what an exciting adventure we had. We started our day out with Ryan puking in the parking lot. Joy. We were just starting to explore the first section of the aquarium and had been there for maybe thirty minutes when the fire alarm went off and the whole place was evacuated. While we were waiting to be allowed back in, Ryan threw up in the ocean. Luckily, this was the last time he had "issues" and luckily, it was a false alarm so they let us back in. I gave the kids an alphabet photo scavenger hunt and told them to be creative with it - and they really were. They had to find something that either started with the letter or represented the letter. They took some awesome pictures!

We thoroughly explored the aquarium and decided that the lorakeets were the highlight. They were absolutely beautiful! They were an awesome shade of green. You could buy bird nectar and the birds would land on you to drink from the cup - at one point Jason had two birds on him. Ryan really liked the birds, but they didn't like him - he got bit by two of them! I guess that I should have prefaced this with they fact that they tell you not to pet or try to grab the birds. I asked Ryan why the first bird bit him and he says that he tried to pet the bird. Oh brother!

Dillon really liked the fish. He was pointing at everything! He also enjoyed the Lorakeets and from what we could tell, he wanted on to land on him, too. But, I didn't dare let him try! He didn't want to be cooped up in his stroller, so we had to carry him a lot - he really just wanted to be down crawling around. But he was a trooper and did pretty well considering that we were there for around three hours.

I really enjoyed the aquarium and highly recommend it. I would like to go back sometime (just maybe without five kids in tow) so that I could read more of the signs and stuff.

Dillon asking for more green beans - what a polite baby :)