Shark Bait

I apologize again for the huge lapse in posting. Rob was out of town 5 days in Boston for work which left little time for me to do frivolous things like posting on the blog or showering (HA)! I also had the added fun of being unsure whether my computer had a massive virus from the hijacking, so I didn't use it until Rob got home to scan it.

We had a good week, but it's always better when Daddy is home. While he was away one of the goldfish died, but Jack hasn't quite figured it out yet. He counts them, but he knows there were four, so he always manages to count one of them twice! I'll enjoy his lack of accuracy while it lasts. I also was surprised by a mouse eating dog treats in our garage cupboard. They only freak me out when I am barefoot, as I was that morning! We've since set a few traps knowing that if you see one there are probably ten, but nothing yet.

This week, Rob is (are you sitting down?) playing hooky from work to have a staycation with us! I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes! Yesterday we just kind of loafed around, but today we drove to Santa Barbara to visit the Ty Warner Sea Center on Stearn's Wharf. Jack got to touch a shark and hold several sea stars. He also explored their aquarium tunnel and he loved playing in the marine animal puppet center too. We followed the visit with lunch on the pier. It was fun to be tourists for the day in our own back yard.

Hijacked

No pun on our son's name! My email account was hijacked last night and it has become a huge nightmare! I can't access the account and the hackers still have control over it. The good news is that I was not mugged at gunpoint in Scotland and I am not in need of $2500 to get out of trouble. But it will take many hours to get my new email account up and running. I don't know if I will ever have access to my old address book, photos or saved files. You can help by NOT using my old email account! Do not send or open any email from the old email account, I won't get it, but the hackers will!! You can contact me through Facebook or email me at my new email account shannon.trani@hotmail.com. (New account has a dot between first and last name.)

So now, we take Batman with us for protection!

What a Week!

Over the weekend, we made an impromptu visit to Palm Springs to see Great Tutu and get away from our June Gloom (that was still here mid-July!!) We drove out on Friday night and got settled into the hotel and the pool. The weather was a lovely 110 degrees! But I was certainly not complaining, it was a relief from the 60 degree temperatures, fog and drizzle that we had experienced all week in Ventura! On Saturday we got to visit with Great Tutu at her house. It was so wonderful to see her! She and Jack have always had a unique connection, and even though it had been a year since they'd seen one another, he flew in her door, gave her kisses, high fives and even did knuckles with her! That was adorable! Jack and his great grandmother doing a whole series of gestures to greet each other! Rob and I were able to chat with her for quite a while while Jack explored all the treasures in her living room. We caught up on all topics, from serious to silly, and everything in between. Rob and I could not have agreed more, it was by far the highlight of our trip!

Ironically, Auntie Kim was in Italy and Uncle Lorenzo in Houston while we were in the desert. Crazy that we missed them, but sometimes that is the way it goes. Furthermore, Uncle Carlo, Aunt Tara and cousins Luke and Collin were vacationing in Santa Barbara while we were in their neck of the woods! We were so glad their stay was extended so Jack and I could join them for fun at the beach in Santa Barbara on Tuesday. It was an absolute gorgeous day and we were so happy to spend it with them. The boys got to play together and even posed in their matching Italy shirts for a muscle photo! What a fantastic day! As you can see, it wiped Jack out. He fell asleep in Rob's arms that night. You can only party for so long until it catches up with you!

Independence Day

OK, I realize this is really delayed. I'll blame it on pregnancy brain. I could've sworn I'd posted Fourth of July photos, but I guess it was on FaceBook instead. Sorry! Well, here they are. We loaded up the wagon with Jack and all our picnic supplies and rolled over to the City College for their annual fireworks show. It was the first time for all of us and we were so impressed! We stopped at Subway for sandwiches and then made our way to set up camp. After eating our picnic dinner, Rob headed out in search of the Kettle Korn that we had promised Jack. I took Jack to the Jolly Jumper to kill some time. It took an hour to get through the popcorn line, but it was worth it when Jack dug in to the bag with both hands, yelling "popcorn!" He also made his own fireworks show with his light sticks as it got dark. If he thought those were cool, it must've totally rocked his world when the real show started.
Around 8:30 Jack started asking for the fireworks. He had no idea what fireworks were, but we had been talking about them for a week, so he was ready. Finally, at 9pm he snuggled into Daddy's lap just as the sky exploded! He sat completely stunned for about the first 5 minutes, not sure if it was cool or scary. Then Rob told him it was like the lazers that Ironman shoots. That was all he needed to know. He had all three of us pretending to shoot lazers from our palms into the sky! It was really funny! I'm sure the people around us thought we were crazy, but Jack was happy, so who cares!

Lily's Party

Today we had the pleasure of attending the 6th birthday party for our neighbor, Lily. Jack is totally getting the whole birthday party thing. Between Junia, Max and Lily, Jack has had nearly one party a week for the last month. When we told him it was time to get ready for Lily's party today he jumped up and ran for the bedroom. He got to eat pizza, watermelon and M & M candies. He made a bug jar and got a load of ladybugs to go inside and release at home. He got to take his first swing at a pinata and then watched the kids go crazy for candy. He even went on the water slide with Daddy. All that followed by a two hour nap made it an extra special day for all of us!

For the record, Jack wanted to do it again about two minutes later...sorry Daddy! On Sunday we will be heading to the college for Jack's first firework display. Surely more photos will be coming soon. Hope you are enjoying your Fourth of July weekend.