My Almost Teenager

Tonight was homecoming for TVHS, so Taylor went with her friend Jenna to take pictures of her brother and his date.  They went out to the wineries for the pictures and the girls got a few of their own.

I can't believe I almost have a teenager and she could be posing for her own homecoming photos next year at this time...YIKES!

Trying Something New

Reanna, Allison and Faith are sure seeing a lot of each other these days.  They have soccer together on Mondays/Wednesdays and games on the weekends, but will now be seeing each other every Tuesday/Thursday through January as they rehearse for Fiddler on the Roof at the Old Town Community Theater.

For years, Allison has talked about getting involved in theater and her dream is finally coming true.  Allison will be a villager and a daughter in the show and will spend lots of hours singing and dancing to rehearse.  She was pretty confident she could earn a big role in the auditions, not realizing that many of the kids are much older than her and have been doing this for many years.  This will be a great experience for her and I can't wait to see the final product in January!

On the Field with the LA GALAXY

Cameras weren't allowed, but I did sneak one (not so great) picture at today's private practice session for the LA Galaxy.  Charlie and I drove out, along with several other Hawks coaches, to watch the 1 1/2 hour practice at the Home Depot Center.  I loved watching the speed, power and intensity that these players have and especially loved watching David Beckham and Josh Saunders do their thing!

Furlough Day

Although I wish our teachers and students didn't have to deal with furlough days this year, it did make for the perfect opportunity for one beach day.  Each time we go, we worry it could be the last of the season, but the girls had a great day boogie boarding, surfing and taking a hike down the beach.

KC Award Recipient

 Yesterday, I got an email from Allison's teacher saying she was being honored with the KC (Kindness and Compassion) Award for her class at this morning's flag salute.

 Matt and I told a little fib this morning about why we were both in the car to drop her off and we actually were able to surprise her!

 Mr. McTasney called up all of the 4th and 5th graders that been given the award by their teachers and the students all gave them a big round of applause.

Then it was off to the Multi-purpose Room to put her name and handprint on the KC Award wall.  Way to go Allison...A great way to kick off the new school year!!

Riding Shotgun

Matt invited me to do a ride along with him before he switches back to day shift.  He has been on the department for almost 18 years and this was my first time riding shotgun with him!  I brought cookies to the deputies while we sat in briefing and we were off to our first call within a few minutes...a possible shoplifter at Kohl's.  As Sergeant, Matt doesn't have to go to every call, so we took a little time for dinner and then he drove me all over town.  One of our first stops was to surprise our friends that live in the area.  Mark, Julie and PJ have had some neighborhood trouble so we stopped by to check in.

PJ loved talking into the speaker and seeing the lights on the patrol car.

For the rest of the night, we kept plenty busy and I saw more in 8 hours than I could have imagined.  From transients, to traffic stops, a car racing and running into a light post to a horrible DUI crash, I am amazed by how much these officers do each night.  By 2:00am, I was tired and headed home to get a few hours of sleep before coaching all day Sunday, but I loved every minute of my night.  I have always respected Matt's line of work, but have a new appreciation for the risks they take and the love they have for what they do.  I am so proud of him and would love to ride shotgun with him anytime!!

Playing Hookie

Matt and I dropped everything today for a little date on the beach.  He had the day off, the kids were in school and the weather was perfect!

 We pretty much had Carlsbad Beach to ourselves, except for a few surfers and just enjoyed some nice uninterrupted conversation, a walk to the jetty and a little time to read.

 We stopped at JR's for a shaved ice on the way home and the date continued with dinner that night since both of the girls stayed at friends' houses.  There aren't many perks to the crazy schedule he has at work, but a day off during the week was certainly one positive!

Bull Dog Pride

Taylor was invited to today's Bull Dog Pride Luncheon by her teacher, Mrs. Rasmussen.  She is one of the PE teachers and Taylor is a Teacher Assistant for her class.  She was presented with this certificate and a cupful of goodies while enjoying her pizza lunch.  Way to go Taylor!

2012 Presidio League

The 2012 Presidio League season officially got underway this weekend.  It was super busy with both teams playing on both days and the weather made it extremely demanding on all of us.  However, it was a great weekend of soccer with lots of tough competition.

 The GU13 team is playing AA-A this year after winning AA-B last year, so we knew we would have a tougher schedule for sure.  On Saturday, we faced Poway Vaqueros (a team we tied 1-1 twice last season).  Although Poway took a 1-0 lead at halftime, we came back with a nice goal by Isabelle and a great PK shot by Ashley to win 2-1!  On Sunday, we drove to Carlsbad for a meeting with Carlsbad Wave and beat them 3-0.  It was nice starting the season with 2 big wins!

The GU11 team is also playing AA-A this year and hoping to finally have some success.  We hosted the DMCV Sharks on Saturday, played a little tentative and lost 3-1.  Allison spent the whole game as keeper and had some nice saves, but we just couldn't stop them from coming down the middle.  On Sunday, in the middle of a thunderstorm, we hosted Carlsbad Lightning (how appropriate).  It was a back and forth battle with Isabella scoring a nice goal and a PK to give us a 2-2 tie.  Not exactly the start we had hoped for, but we saw a lot of great ball movement and some nice improvements, so hoping for good things this season!

Fontana AutoClub Speedway

 For Matt's birthday, his Dad sent him a certificate for a 5-lap NASCAR race around the AutoClub Speedway track in Fontana.  He was finally able to find a day to book it, so we pulled the girls out of school (special treat), picked Alan up a the airport, got lunch at Victoria Gardens and made our way to the track.  We first stopped by some of the coolest semi's I've ever seen!

 While Matt registered for his race, the rest of us checked out the track and some of the cars that would be racing.

 All geared up and ready to go!

 Lucky #7

 Matt was harnessed in and put his life in the hands of his driver, Bill.  He was even from Temecula!

 The raced 5 laps on the track at an average speed of 155 mph.  It was so loud and so fast and over in the blink of an eye, but he loved it!!

 He survived to tell us all about it and now wants to take the 2 day driving school so he can drive the car himself...

 It was really cool having Alan there to watch

and we all had a great afternoon together at the Rusty Wallace Riding Experience!

JOEY

 We are officially in love with this little guy and had the pleasure of watching him for a few hours this morning.  Joey is Bella's little brother and is growing up way too fast.  He is almost 9 months old already and the girls loved every minute of watching him.

 They perfected feeding him breakfast and lunch, but nearly gagged on the smell of his food!

 They loved playing on the floor with him and took turns holding him throughout the morning.  He was  a good little napper and didn't make a peep.  He is welcome here anytime!

Labor Day Weekend Visitors

I am loving that Wendy and David moved to Arizona!  We have seen them 3 or 4 times already this year which has been so much fun.  They drove out for the long weekend to spend time with us and some other friends in SD.  Unfortunately, our girls still has school today, so Matt and David went golfing and Wendy and I took the boys to Get Air, which just opened a few weeks ago. 

The boys loved climbing up the trampoline slide,

running down it,

and landing in the giant foam pit!

Parker was so excited that he was big enough too!

They pretty much had the place to themselves so took full advantage while Wendy and I were able to catch up a bit.

Once the girls were home from school, it was into the pool!

 Nolan has become quite the little swimmer so he was all over the place!

 Both of the boys especially loved the wave pool the girls created!

 We enjoyed a delicious BBQ dinner and Parker got in one last cuddle with Matt...who knew they would be best buds?

Saturday we were off to Moonlight Beach...the boys first time at the ocean.  Nolan loved the waves and couldn't get enough.  Parker liked them too if he was in the security of David's arms, but had much more fun making sand sculptures on the shore.

It was a perfect weather day and great day with our dear friends.  Hard to believe Wendy and I have been friends for 22 years!!