all in a day: 3.9

my birthday always seems to come up and surprise me.  i feel like i'm just getting over the frenzy of the holidays, celebrating jordan's birthday (which took us into february), then valentine's day and boom it's my birthday.  i love that everyone asks what i'm going to do and are surprised when i say nothing.  just chill at home with the family.  maybe order a pizza.

this year my birthday landed on a saturday.  naturally that means we should have a party, right?  well, no.  but it did mean that we could celebrate late into the night whatever that may be.

because it was a saturday that also meant that i had running to do.  and this day the training involved a five mile course with a steep incline.  our trainer always makes fun of me because he knows hills are not my favorite thing in the world.  but i do them knowing the downhill is the best feeling.  and honestly, i don't have a choice.

my running buddies.

i loved starting the day by challenging myself.  it felt good. and oh what a beautiful day.  the weather was just how i love it.

a good breakfast after a great workout is my favorite part of the day.  i've earned every bite.

then jordan and i had to get to notre dame to register for school.  i loved that i got to spend some alone time with him.  we both talked about being nervous and excited about the change ahead.  i got to tell him how proud i am of everything he has done. and i got a better insight into what he wants to do with his life. (he has no idea. but his interests and talents are widespread, so the sky's the limit.)

we went to a few presentations and learned about course load, financial commitments, and all of the extras that go along with the high school experience.  we even had to track down a sweatshirt since they had put them all away by the time we were ready to purchase.

doesn't he look good?

we left the high school and hurried to the baseball field to catch the last two innings of andrew's game.

that's him on second base.

i think andrew did this for my benefit but at his next at bat he hit a double right into centerfield.  i missed the actual hit because i was trying to position myself to take his picture.  but i heard the crowd cheering and looked up to see him running to second.  the next batter drove him home and he crossed home plate with the biggest smile on his face.  i love that he's doing so well and enjoying his sport.

two of his grandparents were there to celebrate their second win and to give me a birthday hug.

before heading home sofia and i had nail appointments at our favorite salon.  she is a pro at this now, picking her colors (pink with silver sparkles), sitting patiently while the lady paints her nails, and then waiting for them to dry before touching anything.

showing off our manicures.

she told me in the car that she wants this to be our new birthday tradition.  sounds like a plan.

a stop at starbucks for my free birthday coffee - venti skinny caramel macchiato and a hot chocolate for the girl.

at home we relaxed while bobby went to softball practice with his new team.  then my parents came over to pick up the kids so bobby and i could go to dinner and a movie.

bobby gets to enjoy some nice lunches through his work. he comes home and says "i went to this restaurant that you would love."  so he planned an evening to take me to one of those places.

sushi. yes, please.  katsuya in hollywood, alrighty.

we ordered the rock shrimp over spicy tuna roll.  the best thing i've had in a long time.  i mean really good.  we could have had two.  we also got ceviche, tuna on crispy rice and the lobster on a california roll.  oh and this brew.

a-ma-zing!  no time for dessert.  we had a movie to catch.

we had tickets to see side effects at the arclight.  i had heard good things about this movie and frankly we've either seen everything else or really didn't have an interest in what else was out.  not the most cheerful movie - it deals with depression and the side effects of medication.  but it was well acted and we were drawn in to the story.  overall a thumbs up.

love this display on one of the walls.  we stood on the stairs and identified all of the movies we've seen - it was a lot.  of course many of them we watched in school.  but some of the classics i hadn't seen.  must put those on my todo list.

here we are waiting for the movie with our big tub of popcorn and a drink.  there is always room for popcorn.

my favorite part of the night was walking back to our car.  the streets of hollywood on a saturday night are a sight to behold.  people watching, listening to the guy rap in front of the restaurant.  limos pulling up every two seconds. the stars on the sidewalk.  i forget sometimes that we live in the shadow of this famous city.  i forget that bobby sees the glamorous and crazy side of this business everyday. it's still exciting and scary and entertaining for me.

i couldn't do this every saturday night.  but once in a while it's kind of fun to step into this world.

that's how it went.  my birthday come and gone.  celebrated exactly the way i wanted.  thanks for the facebook notes, the texts, cards and phone calls.  it's nice to be reminded how much you are loved.  thank you to all for making it a special day.

all in a day: 2.2

this past saturday was another one of those days.  we had four people with four things that had to be done.  a lot of it overlapped and we wondered how we could get it done.

we decided to make a game plan. bobby always thinks best with pen and paper.

 

he made a list of who needed to be where and then we matched up our schedules like a jigsaw puzzle.  (note: we got up at 6 not 6:45.  that was wishful thinking.)

we had 4 big events:

• i had my first training run
• jordan had a high school entrance exam and interview
• andrew had his first baseball practice of the season
• bobby had a rowing competition

after looking at the different things we had and the location of each we figured out the best course of action.

bobby dropped off jordan at his test.

then took the kids to breakfast at ihop.

i went to the y for my training run.

it was an easy one this morning. 40 minutes on a very familiar route.  i have to admit i feel a little rusty.  things are achey and sore.  but it felt good to be running again.

we met up at home.  they brought me breakfast too.

then i showered and andrew got into his baseball gear.  bobby and andrew left for practice.

andrew is on the same team from last year.  it's nice because we love the coach and feel good about his ability this year being a little older and more experienced.

sofia and i went to pick up jordan from his test.  he had an hour before his interview so we grabbed lunch at panda express.

then it was back to school for the interview.

he did awesome by the way.  i had a few questions about college preparation and honors classes and then we were on our way.

a stop at the mall to get a birthday gift.

bobby and andrew left baseball practice early to get to his competition in long beach.

he's been training for the past few months on the rowing machines at his work. it was a complete workout regimen all for 8 minutes of rowing. he did great beating his goal by 6 seconds.  go bobby!

andrew was not happy about being around "a bunch of sweaty old men". but he was a trooper and even took pictures for us.

we were all reunited at home for the afternoon.  the kids relaxed, played video games and we took a much needed nap.

a friend of ours was celebrating her birthday that night.  unfortunately, we did not have a babysitter.  so bobby stayed home with the kids and i went to the party with my sister-in-law.

the party was at la descarga in hollywood.  a cuban cigar and rum bar.

i had never seen anything like this before.  you actually enter through a closet to get into the bar.  so cool.

and then you see this.

and this.

we had such a good time hanging out with friends, watching the show, drinking mojitos and making it home before midnight.

we definitely seized the day!

all in one day

i think i've made it obvious that our family leads a busy life.  whether it's sports, or school, family or friends, work or home we are in constant motion, and sometimes going in 5 different directions at once.

sometimes it all works in harmony and sometimes we are a mess trying to get it all done.  it helps when we all need to be at the same place.  this past saturday we had one of those days where at the end we wondered how we did it all.  i decided to document it on instagram and write about it here.

it all started with an article in westways magazine about downtown la.  bobby read it and was inspired to discover a little bit of our city - something we don't do enough of.

then i remembered a bakery that i've been wanting to go to, and we decided to throw in a visit to see the space shuttle endeavor.

all in one day.

it started, as all good journeys do, at the car wash.

then it was on to atwater village to get breakfast at proof bakery.

here's where ideas can sometimes go wrong.  i read about this bakery on oh joy!  she wrote that it was her favorite place to get fresh croissants with her family... of three . . .and one of them is a baby.  the photos she posted were beautiful.  so we went, only to find a tiny store front, packed with hipsters, and no place to sit.  we walk in, all five of us, and get stares from hipsters and young folks.  we were definitely out of place.  so i took the two younger kids and stepped outside while bobby ordered whatever he could.  $32 later we were back in the car with 4 croissants, 3 chocolate milks, 2 cappuccinos, and a spinach quiche.  and everyone was still hungry.  fail!

not the best idea.  the food was good but meant for 2 people, or take out. definitely not a family (of 5) friendly place.

our next stop was chinatown.

originally we thought about getting dim sum for breakfast, but we had reservations to see endeavour and wanted to visit the museum a bit beforehand.  so we'll leave that for another time.

a quick tour of little tokyo.

then we made it to the califonia sciencenter.

i still think it's so cool that this museum is free.  the kids and i have visited many times over the years, we are a science loving family.  and there have been school fieldtrips here as well.

andrew was excited to show us the ecosystems exhibit where we visited the dessert, a kelp forest, tide pools, and the north pole.

i loved this infrared scanner that showed you your body temperature.

see the blue on my nose?  that means i'm cold.  i had more blue on my body than anyone else in my family.  further proof that i was not meant to live in temperatures below 75 78 degrees.

finally it was time to see endeavour.  we toured the exhibit and read about the space program, failed missions, even some classified missions - andrew was intrigued.  and of course we had to see the presentation on using the potty in space, very informative.  the tour ends in the hangar where the space shuttle is currently housed.

it was impressive and breathtaking.

seeing the usa flag and the nasa logo made us all emotional.  we took pictures and saw video presentations and read more about this journey.  worthwhile to have made the visit.

by the time we left the museum my ear was hurting pretty bad.  i've been sick since our trip to mexico and it lead to an ear infection.  bobby had a meeting at work - yes on a saturday - so we dropped the kids off with grandparents and then stopped at urgent care for a quick check up and prescription.

on our way back from urgent care we saw the burbank rose parade entry for this year's rose parade.  so naturally, we stopped to take a closer look.

i grew up watching the parade, in person and on tv.  my parents would take us every year to see the floats stationed after the parade.  they are truly magnificent.  so this brought back memories and inspired me to get information on getting involved with the float committee this year. is this starting to sound like a "if you give a mouse a cookie" book?

we finally ended up back at bob and d's house for chinese food and a little rest before heading home.

and an awesome fortune!

quite the day, don't you think?  but it's perfectly normal for our family.