Summer Vacation: 4th of July-the last day

Yesterday was the last day of the 4 day weekend and, as predicted, we just really vegged at home and got some things done around the house. First thing in the morning, DH took the car over to the shop to have the brakes looked at. Instead of me driving over to pick him up, he decided to walk home (which is about a 4-5 mile walk...not too bad). While he was walking, I got breakfast around for the boys so that they would be finished and ready to do their hockey shots in the garage when DH arrived. Then it was time for the walk up the hill with Bruno (the dog)...which I took the camera on, so here are some photos from our vantage spot.

So, basically this is about all we do up at our vantage point...look around at the houses below (ours being one of them) and look at the surrounding hills and spend some quality time with Bruno, the dog.

Bruno...the 85 pound mutt we got from a rescue center over 7 years ago. He is a mix of retreiver, shephard, terrior, collie...you name the breed, he probably has a little in him :) According to the vet, he is a healthy senior citizen right now and we have seen some changes over the last year; like being a little slower on walks and, lately, wanting to stop and roll in the grass. Once we finish viewing 'the world' from our vantage spot, we grab a snack...

and head back down the hill to home.

The rest of our vacation day we spent at the house...DH & the boys played an interactive game on the computer while I stitched more on the ornament for the Ornament Swap: got all the stitching done...thank goodness, I was loosing my patiences with the Krenik blending filament - it really does enhance the ornament, but it does take some patiences. All I have left to do is back stitching and then finishing it, which shouldn't take too much longer. Later in the afternoon, DH picked up the car, which received new brakes (yikes-$$) and stopped at Lowe's on the way home to pick up a new garbage disposal to install as our 10-year old one died.

Now, we are at Tuesday, July 6th...the 4 day vacation is over and we find ourselves at the beginning of a new week. This morning I go back to work and the boys go back to camp. Robert (older son) starts the new week out as a Junior Leader at the pre-school camp, which he has enjoyed the last two years. He will be volunteering there for the next 2 weeks and then he will go back to helping out at the afternoon camp that Matthew (younger son) attends. This week we have a little break from the evening hockey clinics, but Robert is still going down to San Jose tonight and Thursday evening, where his Coach from last year is doing a "hockey hike". He facilitates hikes at different nature reserves a few times during the summer - making the boys run sprints up & down the hill, while he climbs up. By the time he makes it to the top, the boys have run a great deal :) DH is taking Robert down there tonight and I will go down on Thursday evening.

Well, that wraps up another edition of Hockey Mom's Stitchin' Hobby. Thank you all for visiting and reading about my 4-day holiday weekend. It was truely a wonderful weekend and I am glad that you came by to share it with me. Have a great week and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Summer Vacation: 4th of July weekend-Day 3

I hope all my US blogging friends had a good 4th of July holiday...and all my blogging friends had a good weekend. We are certainally taking advantage of a weekend without any hockey obligations - which has been filled with fun, love and laughter...and yesterday was no exception.

OPTIMISM is a HAPPINESS magnet.

If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.

~Mary Lou Retton

Once again, we followed what has become known as the "morning routine" yesterday morning - everyone getting in their exercise and their hockey shot practice. The plan was to drive over to Half Moon Bay for lunch at our favorite: Sam's Chowderhouse and then to settle at a beach there or maybe even travelling further up the coast to another beach we haven't been to. Starting out from our house around 10:30am, we had clear warm weather already...assuming the same for the coast everything for "a-day-at-the-beach" got packed up in the trunk of the car except for sweatshirts.

Leaving a little later than typical for a drive to Half Moon Bay, concern regarding traffic is always on our minds; for after crossing over the San Mateo Bridge you eventually end up on a divided road (basically a one lane going our direction) which usually backs up quite a distance the later you start out. And it did. There was traffic...it was backed up...and moving like an inch worm.

Thoughts of a crowded restaurant and a crowded beach started swimming in my head. I could feel the anger building - about leaving so late - and resentment of having to wait for "the guys" to finish their morning routine, while I was done; because I have been "forced" to get up earlier and get mine overwith. But I took a deep breathe - exhaled - took another...the smell of the eulypticus trees filled my lungs reminding me to "...relax! It is vacation time!" With the boys entertaining themselves with their iTouch games, DH & I were talking over the plans for the day...check in at the restaurant first. Even with the traffic, we were OPTIMISTIC that be able to get up there around 11:40 or so, which is still a little early for the main lunch rush. Well, we did arrive there and while they were busy, we put our name in for a 20 minute wait...not too bad...and the food was pure heavenly, made our tummies HAPPY. For if you ever find yourself in Northern California and have a craving for a good Lobster Roll, which was voted as one of the top 5 sandwiches on the Today Show, or just great seafood, you have to go to Sam's Chowder House!

During lunch, we were bummed as the fog hadn't lifted by the coast and the temps were in the mid50s...not great for playing on the beach and definitely not good for getting in the water. And...we forgot sweatshirts for the boys. So, throughout our enjoyable lunch, Robert (older son) was negociating the purchase of the $45 Sam's Chowder House sweatshirt in order to go to the beach in Half Moon Bay (he is the one that should go to law school!) Since I had done a little research on the beaches around this area, I knew that there were a few more State Beaches north of Half Moon Bay - all of which we had never been to and might be interesting to drive to. It couldn't be any cloudier or colder than it was where we were...so by the time were were overly stuffed with good seafood, bread and salads, I stated my idea of getting back in the car and heading further up Highway 1. Pointing out on the maps I had in the car, there was Montara and Pacifica up there...and as we started to drive North, I could see blue sky...so I was OPTIMISTIC that we would see some sun if we went to one of the other beaches. It was on the Pacifica Beach, where HAPPINESS over took "the guys" as we found the beach to play at, where the sun was shining at the warmth of temperature was wonderful!

(Again, I apologize, as we left the camera in the car so we didn't have to worry about leaving our spot if we would take a walk on the beach...so no photos.)

This beach was filled with local families celebrating the holiday and surfers...for the waves were perfect for the sport. Robert and Matthew brought their little swimming pool kick boards in hope to slide them along the surf...but it just didn't work like they had hoped. They would throw the board down into the surf and then do a belly flop on it when the surf when out...only to stand up laughing with a sore belly. It was comical. After several tries, they surrendered their kick boards for a frisbee. Playing frisbee in the ocean didn't last too long, as they came back empty handed and got the soccer ball. This provided a lot of entertainment and enjoyment- for you throw or kick the ball into the ocean and the waves bring it back. They also played in the sand and jumped in and out of the waves for quite a while. This beach proved to be a fun place! Around 4pm, we packed up our belongings, cleaned off the boys and allowed them to change into dry clothing (which they had to do the "old fashion way" with DH & I holding up towels while they stripped off their wet items and put on their dry items by the car in the parking lot. This proved to be a very comical experience, which caused loads of laughter and sometimes dropping of the towel).

We arrived back home around 5:30pm - the boys showered while I quickly fixed them a little dinner. After showering off myself, we all congregated in our little room to watch "Grease". I worked on my Ornament for the Ornament exchange and the rest of the "guys" played games on the multiply laptops/computers we have in this room. We relaxed this way, until it was time to climb the hill to our vantage point to see if we could spot any fireworks around the city. We took the dog with us so that he would be able to get in his evening walk. Some of the neighbors were setting off their fireworks inthe street, which Bruno (the dog) didn't really like and seem to coware over to me when the big ones exploded. We were able to catch some of the big displays in neighboring cities, but mainly just enjoyed the night air and the twighlight sky. It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful holiday.

Today is the last day of our 4 day weekend. I think that we will probably just find ourselves staying home...I think that we are sort of beached out, tired of eating out and have some things around the house that need attending to before we start the back to work/camp routine (like getting the breaks on DH's car looked at and buying a new garbage disposal for the one that died over the weekend).

Take care my friends...and thank you for reading about my family weekend. Remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Summer Vacation: 4th of July-Day 2

The real joy of life is in its PLAY.

Play is anything we do for the joy and love of doing it, apart from any profit, compulsion, or sense of duty.

It is the real living of life with the feeling of freedom and self-expression.

Play is the business of childhood, and its continuation in later years is the prolongation of youth.

~Walter Rauschenbach

Saturday, July 3 started off very similar to Friday..."the guys" got up and ate their breakfasts; made their beds and got dressed; went outside to practice their hockey shots and puck control; and then we all went for the daily walk up the hill. The morning routine was just a little more leisurely this morning as we were all a little tired from playing on the beach Friday afternoon. In fact, the boys developed a painful sun burn on their lower backs (fyi...best if mom or dad applies sunscreen on kids; kids tend to miss areas on eachother and then suffer later). Yes...while they were very nice to eachother on Friday afternoon, assisting the other with the application of sunscreen on the back -  well, you can tell the areas they missed :(

So, what would our plans be for Saturday you ask, since we all were home and had no committments? Well, the boys decided that we would go see Toy Stoy 3...

and DH decided that we would grill something (I alway keep a variety of proteins in the freezer, ready for spontaneous family meals) and have a family meal at home in the evening. With the plans set, I took out a bag of frozen scallops and 3 chicken breasts and put them in the refrigerator to thaw...and then we were on our way to the movie.

Well, if you haven't seen Toy Story 3...I recommend it!...and bring a box of tissues, too. True to Disney's and Pixar's movies, we all were drawn into the story line pretty quickly. Especially since Andy, now 17 years old, is getting ready to go to college and his mother has asked him (several times - for they never seem to want to do anything you tell them to do the first time you tell them) to go through his stuff and organizing it into boxes/bags: "trash", "college", "donation", and "attic". After some sighing, Andy starts going through his stuff and eventually gets to the Toys - with decisions made a mix up occurs and that is what most of the story is about ...how to rectify the mistake. The tissues are needed at the end, when mother comes into Andy's bare room to say "good-bye" before he heads off to college. But right before he drives away, Andy heads over to a little girl's house to drop off the box of toys to the new, "approved" owner. And right before he departs her house, he stays...and PLAYS...holding on to his childhood a little longer.

DH and I were in tears...and Matthew (younger son) was crying, too.

Back home, we had the afternoon to relax before dinner - DH stayed downstairs to try and finish a book he has been reading and I went up to my needlework perch ('my special place' on the couch) and worked on my Ornament for the Ornament swap. A part of the ornament is stitched using Krenik blended thread, which takes some patience - meaning no distractions; so since I had a couple hours of peace, I decided this was a perfect time to PLAY with the blended thread. The boys also took this opportunity to read.

Dinner was very nice and simple to throw together. With the scallops, I marinated them in a citrus-balsamic sauce and put them on skewers with some apricot halves. A bite of grilled apricot and scallop together..."yummy"...pure heaven. It is fun to take time and PLAY with your food.

After dinner...a trip to the grocery store for DH & I for he was looking for some ice cream sandwiches (for a summer holiday weekend is not a holiday unless you have ice cream...something that we learn in our childhood). And the boys took out their Legos (something that they haven't done in a long time) and PLAYED together until it was time to get into bed.

Now we are starting Day 3...and it is the 4th of July.

Happy 4th of July...Happy Independence to you!
Only TIME will tell where we PLAY today. So, stay tuned...but remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Summer Vacation: 4th of July Weekend-Day 1

What do I want to take home from my summer vacation?

T I M E.

The wonderful luxury of being at rest.

The days when you shut down the mental machinery that keeps life on track and let life simply wander.

The days when you stop planning, analyzing, thinking and just are.

Summer is my period of grace.

~ Ellen Goodman

With my office closed for the holiday weekend, no camp for the boys and no hockey clinic...the 4th of July summer vacation weekend started off on a good note yesterday; though it did take me a little while to "chill"! The night before, we decided that we were going to go to a beach for the first day of our holiday weekend...so, I basically got up and got going; I was on the "get around" mode so that we can be on the road early. Well, I was the only one with that mentality as DH & the boys were on their typical summer schedule which has become their morning routine:

8:30am - eat a leisurely breakfast, get dressed, make beds

9:30am - go out into the garage and practice their hockey shots & drills

10:30am - take the dog for a walk up the hill, to enjoy some apricots right off a neighbor's tree while enjoying the view of our city

11:30am - "ready to go" for the day

Since I have typically been leaving the house around 8:30am to go to the office, I have not been around to observe the "morning routine" and, nor, did I realize that the "guys" were going to do the FULL "morning routine". So, all prepared to go with the basket of towels, sunscreen & books pulled together and a grocery bag packed with a change of clothing and the bathing suits...I was ready to go. Mumbling under my breath all morning at the thought of getting to the beach after noon...I stomped around the house muttering "how stupid it was to leave the house so late in the day to go to a beach in the middle of the afternoon, only to have an hour or so to veg before having to drive all the way home."  Nevertheless, I did take time out from all the stomping and mumbling to enjoy the walk up the hill with the guys & dog...and did enjoy the ripen apricot off the neighbor's tree - now I am officially part of the Apricot Club and, during the walk, felt the layers of resentment peel off allowing relaxation and the enjoyment of being with the family start to sink in.

Around 11:00am (the boys cut some of their routine short), the dog was back in his "house", the car was packed and we all hit the road and headed northwest to Stinson Beach (this beach is located near the famous Muir Woods on the famous Highway 1). After about an hour and a half...and 15 minutes of severe twisty-turvy, narrow roads that Hwy 1 is famous for...we stopped to take our first look of the Pacific Ocean and our destination below (and to give Matthew's & my stomach a little rest from the windy, twisty, turvy of the roads)

You might be able to see the windy road on the first photo...we still had some twisting to endure.

We finally got to Stinson Beach and stopped at the Parkside Cafe for a bite of lunch. Matthew's stomach settled enough to enjoy some penne pasta "plain" with the marina sauce on the side; I enjoyed an organic green salad with mangos, goat cheese and roasted almonds; Robert had the fish-n-chips and DH enjoyed a fancy juevos rancheros. While enjoying our lunch, we decided to stay at Stinson Beach...for the true plan was to head a little further up the coast to the hidden town of Bolinas and plop on the beach there (the city of Bolinas is very interesting - it is like an old hippie town; and the locals don't really like visitors, so they have a habit of taking down the sign on Hwy 1 that points you to the city). Stinson Beach looked very inviting and not as crowded as you might expect for the beginning of a holiday weekend (I guess it was only Friday afternoon).

With the boys adorned in their bathing suits; the towels, sunscreen and books in our arms, we headed to the beach.

To the "left" was the People ONLY side...to the "right" was the Dog Friendly side. Even though we were sans dog, we decided to find a spot on the Dog side and veg out. As soon as the spot was picked, the sunscreen was applied and the towels laid out - the boys ran for the water allowing DH & I to veg-out with our books.

It was truly a wonderful afternoon! I enjoyed reading some of my book, "Amazing Grace" by Sherryl Wood, relaxing in the sun and watching all the people and their dogs. DH & I also enjoyed a long walk together while the boys dug a deep hole in the sand (I am sorry to say that I do not having any beach photos, for I locked the camera in the car so that we didn't have to worry about leaving it on the beach). We were so relaxed and had so much fun, that we were surprised to look at a clock and find out that it was 5pm. After 4.5 hours on the beach, it seemed like a perfect time to depart and head back.

DH had me drive home, as I drive like a "grandma" on the windy-twisty-curves; which made the drive back a little more comfortable for all those who have weak stomachs :) And Matthew even said that he enjoyed the ride back better than the drive there :)

Since both boys fell asleep on the ride home, we decided just to do dinner there instead of finding another restaurant to eat at. This was a perfect idea, as it allowed everyone to get home and showered before eating.

Before bed, we walked up the hill again...with the dog...and perched above our little city. From this vantage point we watched the last of the twighlight darken into a starry sky while enjoying the 4th of July firework display the Alameda County Fair does for Independence day. It was a perfect way to end the first day of our 4th of July holiday.

BTW...I came home with these:

Sand-Quarter, Sand-Dime and Sand-Pennies...guess the bad economy has hit the beaches hard too :)

Enjoy your weekend and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

I'm not quite awake, but wanted to say "hi"

I thought I would start off today's post with a status photo of the Patriotic Quaker Hearts I have been stitching. Both are freebies as noted in the prior post(s) (sorry, just a little lazy this morning to link the blog with the word "freebie"). The heart on top was the freebie for 2009 and the one on the bottom, which is the one I just finished last night, is the freebie from 2010. As you can see, this year's heart is a little larger than the prior years, so the border I am satin stitching isn't going to match up...but I do have another idea to finish it - I will show you when it is done, I do enjoy creating as I stitch. Just to let you know, I am stitching these on 28ct evenweave fabric.

As soon as I finish stitching the Patriotic Hearts, I will probably wait to "finish it"  until I complete the stitching of the ornament I am stitching for the Ornament swap...deadline to mail is the end of July...and do all the "finishings" at one time.

Ahhh...I am sorry that I sound so out of it. We are at the tail end of a crazy routine that consists of getting up and exercising before heading off to work...getting home and preparing all the snacks and recovery foods for my 2 sons who are participating in a summer hockey clinic...then driving to the clinic and hanging around the rink until they are done. Both DH and I have been driving down there separately because Matthew's (younger son) age group goes from 5-8 and Robert's (older son) age group goes from 6-9 - thus, we have been taking turns doing the "early" and "late" shifts. And, as I mentioned before, we have a little commute that adds on about 45 minutes each way. The rink also has a fitness room that faces one of the rinks, which I went in and used the treadmill last night. I had a good workout, but it made it difficult to get up and jump on my stationary bike this morning for my routine morning spin. So, I am a little draggy this morning. But the end of this hockey clinic is in sight...and we will have a break for a little over a week before the next clinic starts :)

We are coming up to a holiday weekend here in the US...Independence Day or the 4th of July (how do you refer to this holiday?). Do you have any plans? It will be a 4 day weekend for our family - no community day camp, no hockey clinics or practices, no work. We do have some ideas in mind, like driving to one of the many beaches on the California coast and/or going to the Alameda County Fair which is close by. So we are going to put some thought and plans together in the next couple of days and then be ready to go. And, I am sure that we will find ourselves vegging at home too - so I hope to get in adequate amount of stitching done :)

Well, don't want to bore you too much with my sleepy ramblings. So, I will let you go with just a few more words to think about:

Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level. We need to literally “count our blessings,” give thanks for them, allow ourselves to enjoy them, and relish the experience of prosperity we already have.

On that note, I will let you go and wish you a wonderful Wednesday!

Remember to Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

A day at the fair

Saturday, the 4th of July, we went to the Alameda County Fair. We decided to go early, getting to the gate before 10am, we had to wait until they opened. We wanted to beat the heat and the crowds, as we assumed that it would be crowded on the 4th of July (the photo on the left is Matthew and Robert waiting at the gate) Each of us had special things that we wanted to see or do at the fair. The boys wanted to do the rides and the carnival games (Robert did chores around the house to earn money because he knew that we would not pay for rides/games. Matthew still had birthday money to spend). DH was looking forward to all the fair food - especially the funnel cakes which made a good breakfast.


















Me? Well, I was looking forward to walk through the craft building, or the "food and fiber" building (strange name, don't you think), and looking at the artwork/crafts. There were a lot of quilts, a few needlework pieces and many other craft types. Some were works submitted by adults and many were submitted by schools (as in school projects). I don't mean to sound disappointed, but since my only fair experience is the big Minnesota State fair where the craft buildings are huge and there are separate sections for needlework & quilts, etc - I guess I was expecting a bigger display. But it was very nice and I enjoyed looking at all the artwork. After the boys money ran out, I visited the "food & fiber" (aka craft) building, and enough fair food was consumed...we watch a horse race, as the fair ground are right next to the horse track. We were home around 2 pm...just in time for a nap :)

Our firework viewing was done on Friday night. We took a walk up the hill to the middle school where we watching the fireworks that were shot off from the fair grounds (the fair grounds are about 6 miles or so from our house - and we had a good view from the hill). The fair didn't have fireworks on the 4th - and we were all too tired to get in the car and look for any.

On the stitching front...I am still working on an exchange and waiting for confirmation of receipt from a couple of people. As soon as I hear, I will post photos of those.

Hope everyone had a good weekend...Remember to Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often - Lisa