Monday, July 20, 2009

Surprize part 3

On Friday morning we got up bright and early and made it out of the hotel at the crack of 1:00 PM. (My sister's children are NOT early risers. As a matter of fact we could have easily left in the morning when me and my mom and Tori woke up, did our running around and come back and they would all still be asleep.) We dragged them out of bed and threw them in the showers and they came out smelling sweet and fresh as daisies.




After the showers Rebek was brushing her hair and putting on her makeup...that is until Jake decided that he could do a better job.




Believe it or not Rebekah convinced Jake that since she let him put make up on her it was only fair that she get to put make up in him.



We adults tried to sit around and drink coffee but there were only 4 coffee cups in the suite and the kids had used them all the night before. We are not above washing our own dishes however there was no dish soap in our kitchenette. I looked through the cupboards and found that there were no more coffee cups. Not only that but I also saw that there were not nearly enough wine/beverage glasses for our pending surprise party. I called housekeeping and had them bring us additional coffee cups but I also wrote a note to leave for the maids asking them to bring us enough glasses to accommodate 20 people for a "SURPRISE" party. And I specified that I needed the glasses to be put away in the cupboards because it was a "SURPRISE" party.

When we were walking out the door as luck would have it the maids were working on the room right next to ours so I lingered behind as the rest of the family went to the elevator and I spoke to the maid and asked her to bring us enough cups for about 20 people for a SURPRISE party and I asked her to make sure they were put away so they wouldn't be obvious. I even gave her the note I had written so that she would know that this was in preparation for a SURPRISE paryt. She said ok and I thought I had everything under control.

We went to a mall and shopped until the boys couldn't take it anymore. I can't really blame them..we held them captive at the Victoria's Secret Super Sale for a couple of hours and they behaved very well. Rebekah and Hannah scored a couple of nice things but I didn't get anything because A. they don't sell mastectomy bras and B. anything else I found that I wanted wasn't on sale. I don't do a lot of shopping at Victoria's Secret...

After we had all the fun we could have at the mall we took the kids to Lego Land. The last hour of the day they allow everyone to get in for free. We were very fortunate in that they let us in almost an hour and a half early.






We went on quite a few rides and the boys had a blast. Lego Land is a very nice little amusement park. The foliage is lush and beautiful. We saw a hibiscus plant that had flowers that were HUGE:

We were able to see a lot of Lego Land in the little time that we got to spend there. We had to leave when they closed the park and I'm glad it was time to go because I had just about had enough walking around. (Mono. The gift that keeps on giving.)

We left Lego Land and then spent a couple of hours at a "Ross" department store. We girls all love to shop at "Ross" and Paul and Jake are always happy when they can play grab ass in a shopping cart. The shopping trip was a success. I think we all got something and the boys managed not to knock over any displays or cripple any innocent bystanders. We were all starving so we headed over to our favorite restaurant in the greater Solana Beach area; "Pizza Nova". They have the best garlic bread and pesto pasta ever. We all inhaled our dinner and just to make things official Jake picked up his drink by the lid and of course the lid became unattached from the cup which resulted in both he and me being covered in Dr. Pepper. Jake was wearing the knights costume he got at Lego Land and he very kindly put on a show for the other people who were also eating on the patio. Never underestimate the ability of a small child to tell a tale when they are outfitted like a knight and they have a wooden shield and a plastic sword.

When we got back to the hotel Tori and I almost had a heart attack. When we got inside our suite we were greeted with a virtual sea of glassware. There were over 50 glasses all displayed on the bar in our little kitchenette. We all just did our best to ignore the imaginary neon light that said "SURPRISE PARTY TOMORROW NIGHT" that was flashing over the glasses. What part of "please make sure to put the glasses away in the cupboards" did they not understand?

Thankfully my mother was blissfully unaware of why we were given so many glasses. I think she just thought that every suite gets a deluge of stemware and ours just happened to arrive a day late.

The next morning we pretty much went through our same routine. By the time we got out of the hotel it was past lunch time and we were all starving. Our priority was trying to find someplace new and exotic to eat. Because we are all adventurous and carefree...we wound up eating at Subway. I guess that's just the way we roll. With a vegetarian and a 1/2, and a man child that can mow through expensive cuisine we were much better off going to a place where we knew that we could get something for everyone on the cheap.

We still had to pick up a few things for the party so we made some excuse as to why we had to hit up a grocery store. Tori and the kids held my mother hostage at a bagel shop while I literally ran through Ralph's throwing wine and soda and chips into my cart. When they left the bagel shop Hannah sent me a text to let me know that they were on their way in so I parked my cart off in a corner and ran to greet them at the door. As luck would have it the grocery store was having a "cake walk" and I rushed everyone over so they could participate. I ran back to my cart and paid for my goods and then went and put everything in the back of the truck. I made it back to the cake walk and I'm sure I was red in the face and sweating but my mom didn't even notice. Oh, and P.S. Tori won a cake! How nice of Ralph's to provide us with a birthday cake!

Ok, this brings us to the evening of the party and this story will be concluded....in my next post.

Labels:

Friday, July 17, 2009

Surprise! Part 2

When last we spoke I was telling you about the splendor of our suite at the La Costa Resort and Spa. It was obvious that the kids were overwhelmed but we adults were trying to maintain our cool. I felt like such a total goofball for being almost speechless until Tori came up to me and said..."Why do I feel like Ellie Mae?" That cracked me up. (For anyone who is too young to understand that reference...Ellie Mae was the hick daughter on "The Beverly Hill Billy's" television show of the '60's.)

We got settled in for the evening and just kicked back and relaxed for a while. Then Tori, Hannah and I decided to go sit in the jacuzzi for a while. I am not a fan of any sort of community pool of water but especially not Jacuzzis. All I can think is that I'm sitting in someone else's used bath water. People tell me that it's ok because the chlorine will kill any germs that happen to be floating around but sadly I don't like the idea of sitting in chlorine any better than I do sitting in someone else's filth. However I wanted to be festive and I know how much Tori likes to sit in a jacuzzi so I put my bathing suit on and threw on one of the big terry cloth robes provided by the hotel and we walked down to the pool.

That is Hannah's hand. And those are purple bags under my eyes. Do you like what the water in the air does to my hair?

Tori and Hannah Bathing Beauties




There is just something about being in my bathing suit out in public at night that makes me feel like I'm walking around in my underwear. During the day time I don't have that feeling but as soon as the sun goes down..it's a different story. (Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me, again?)

Once we got to the jacuzzi I was happy to see that there was no one else there and we had the whole pool are to ourselves. Tori was the first one in. She loves to sit in hot, hot, hot water. I was just going to stand on the 3rd step and hope that the warm water would ease my aching feet. Well, imagine my chagrin when I stuck my toe in the water expecting the first step to be at least 6 inches under the water only to discover that it was actually only about 2 inches below the water. I plowed my toes right in to the first step and almost took a header right in to the water. I. Would. Have. Died. I didn't die but I did scream the "F-word" loud enough for just about anyone at the hotel to hear. When Tori saw me do this she said, "Oh, did you hit your toe? The water is really shallow on that first step..I did it, too." THANKS FOR THE WARNING SISTER O MINE!

We stayed in the jacuzzi for about 30 minutes and then I decided that I'd had enough so we went back to the room. I decided that this would be an excellent time to sit in my own jacuzzi in the master bathroom. The hotel provided sea salts to add to the bath and I thought that sounded so soothing that I just couldn't wait to ease my tired body down in to the warm water and just let the stress of the day wash away. I needed to rinse my bathing suit out so I didn't bother taking it off and it's a good thing I left it on because....


I have no idea why these pictures are so small. They are from Tori's camera and apparently they shrink when they are emailed. I will try to make them bigger but I don't have a lot of faith in my computer wizardry.

Jake proceeded to jump and hop and swim and splash and kick and play with all of the jacuzzi controls and make bubble beards and bubble wigs and have more fun than a barrel full of monkeys. After about 30 minutes of this I was exhausted and I got out of the "pool". Jake stayed in until his fingers were wrinkled. By the time he got out of the tub the bathroom looked as though a porpoise and an otter and a seal had been in there with him. There was water dripping from the cathedral ceiling and Jake had a smile from ear to ear.

In an effort to keep my tiara, Miss Mononucleosis 2009, I was the first one to go to bed. I bid everyone a good night and I sank in to the delux sheets and pillows on my bed. Just as I was drifting off I heard Jake walk in. "ARE YOU SLEEPING MOMO?" "WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING? IT'S VACATION." "CAN I SLEEP WITH YOU?" "I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP WITH YOU." "CAN WE WATCH TV?" "CAN WE LISTEN TO THE RADIO?" "CAN YOU GET ME SOMETHING TO DRINK?" "WHY ARE WE AT THE HOTEL?" "WHY ARE YOU TIRED?" "LET'S JUMP ON THE BED!" "CAN YOU TAKE ME TO THE POOL?"

This is pretty much standard fair whenever I spend the night with Jake. Usually I can just fall asleep and he will eventually get bored with me not answering him but apparently that jacuzzi bath envigorated him because he was on a roll. I finally had to tell him that I was really tired and he needed to go back out in to the living room and leave me alone. He didn't kick up a fuss but it was obvious that I had hurt his feelings. As he left he said, "I'll leave the light on for you so you don't get scared." And he turned on every light in the bedroom and the adjoining bathroom and the hall way.

It's nice to know that someone is looking out for me.

Labels: ,

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Surprise Party!

Have you ever tried to give someone a surprise party? If you have then you know the feeling of being hyper sensitive to everything that is said around the surprisee before the party takes place. My sister and I had scheduled our annual beach trip weekend, (my mom, Tori and I spend a weekend in Carlsbad every year.), and IMOM offered to send us to The La Costa Resort & Spa instead of the usual motel. I figured that since we were going to get to stay in such nice digs we should take advantage of the situation and throw my mom a party for her upcoming 70th birthday. I didn't think she would be suspicious because her birthday was not for another month.
I was able to get email addresses of her friends and Tori called the few who don't have email. I would have loved to seen Tori in stealth mode as she attempted to get in to my mom's drawer that holds her rolodex without my mom watching. She sits on the couch right next to the drawer so Tori had to wait until my mom left the room before she could even open the drawer. The fact that Paul didn't say, "HEY NANA! MOM IS WRITING DOWN PHONE NUMBERS FROM YOUR ADDRESS BOOK..." is nothing short of a miracle.

In the weeks between corresponding with my mom's friends and the actual party there were about 100 times when I almost offered updates on people I had no business talking to. My mom would say something about one of her friends and I caught myself getting ready to say, "Oh, when I talked to her the other day she said....." There were so many times that I started a sentence and then would just say..."I...I..I forgot what I was going to say..." Thankfully my mom never caught on or at least she acted like she didn't have a clue.
Tori and her kids and I went down to the resort in advance so we could see how big the rooms were. We thought we were so smart to do this in advance so that we would know for sure that we had enough space to hold a party. Sadly we were not as smart at we wanted to think we were because we did this on Memorial Day weekend. Not only could we have walked faster than we were going on the freeway...but there were no rooms available to be looked at. We decided that since there was nothing we could do at the resort then we would stop by the Carlsbad Flower Fields and take pictures of the kids. Imagine our surprise when we got to the gardens and saw that they had pulled every single one of their plants. There wasn't a flower to be seen for acres and acres.

I wound up having to make our reservations over the phone with the room sight unseen. The reservationist suggested that we use the Presidential Suite if we were planning on having a party. I told her that that sounded lovely however I was sure we couldn't afford anything that included the word "Presidential". She told me that the suite was discounted at 60% and I told her "We'll take it!"

We headed down to the resort on a Thursday evening. Tori's Escalade was packed to the gills which was a good thing because then my mom couldn't see the poster boards full of pictures or the bottles of alcohol. On the ride down there which was a little over an hour from my house...each one of the kids referenced.."When my dad comes down on Saturday...." and somehow it never registered with my mom that my brother in law isn't usually one to join us on our yearly get away. Even though this happened 4 times we thought we were still stealth and we were good to go.

When we got to the resort I went to the lobby and checked us in while the porter unloaded the truck. They have large golf carts that they use to take you to your room. It made us all feel very important and tres chic. Paul jumped in to the front seat with the driver and the rest of us squeezed in as best we could. We were heading down the sidewalk when the driver welcomed us to the resort and then said, "So, who's birthday is it?" We were all wide eyed and dead silent. Once again I was waiting for Paul to smile and say, "It's Nana's birthday!!", but he remained quiet and then we all started talking at once. I said, "It's Rebekah's birthday next week", then Rebekah said, "Yeah, my birthday is next week. I'm going to be 17.", then my mom said, "And my birthday is next month" and then Tori said, "But we're not here to celebrate a birthday this is just our yearly beach weekend." And then more dead silence. I was trying so hard not to just laugh and blurt out our secret but I remained calm.




The porter walked us to our room and before we even went inside the room we bunch of hayseeds were totally impressed.


Our room had mahogany double doors and they had tied a huge bow on the door handle. And let me tell you...if that impressed us...what we saw when we opened the door was enough for all of us to let out audible squeals of disbelief.....










Our room was beautiful. We stood in the foyer looking like a collective Bambi in headlights. The kids started running around and me and Tori and my mom just kind of stood and took it all in. This "suite" was bigger than my mother's house. It had two bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 5 closets, 5 telephones and 4 flat screen televisions.


(This television got the most attention because it was in the Roman style bathroom over looking the sunken jacuzzi style tub. The kids just couldn't get over the novelty of having a tv in the bathroom so they spent many hours sitting on the tile floor watching cartoons.)

On the bar there was a delightful plate of chocolate dipped strawberries and a card. I swiped the card and stuck it in my purse. When I had a moment of privacy I opened it up and sure enough it was a birthday card. Dodged another bullet.

Before I knew it the kids had devoured the strawberries AND the chocolates that were on all of the bed pillows. They were absolutely bouncing off the walls with excitement. As if having candy strategically placed through out the room wasn't fun enough...Jake found something that was even better. "MOM! AUNTIE!! Come and look at this little sink in the bathroom!!!" "Little sink"? Could it be that they accommodate little people in the Presidential Suite? Well...no. It was the bidet. Tori tried to explain to him how it was used and he was certain that she was making it all up. We tried so hard not to laugh at his reaction that I'm sure that is what made him think she was pulling his leg.

Part 2 to follow.

Labels: ,

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Just in case any one is wondering about how Elijah is doing....

Here are two pictures I took of him a couple of weeks ago with my cell phone. It's kind of hard to tell what he is doing..but take a look at them and see if you can tell what's going on....






He is being ever so helpful by walking around on my back while I bend over the sink to brush my teeth.

Obviously he is feeling very healthy.
How do you like his "poodle cut"? The fur on his legs is growing back slowly but surely after his stint in the Fountain Valley Pet Hospital. At one point he had an IV line in all 4 legs.

Labels: