Monday, June 25, 2012

Little Known Facts

1) Men can read smaller print than women can but women can hear better.

2) Coca-Cola was originally green.

3) It is impossible to lick your elbow.

4) Alaska is the State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work.

5) The percentage of Africa that is wilderness is 28%. The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%.

6) The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven is $16,400.

7) The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour is 61,000.

8) Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

9) The first novel ever written on a typewriter was Tom Sawyer.

10) The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

11) Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David

Hearts - Charlemagne

Clubs -Alexander, the Great

Diamonds - Julius Caesar

12) 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

13) Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

14)Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace

15) Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession

16) Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter 'A'? A. One thousand

17) Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers have in common? A. All were invented by women.

18) Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey

19) Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year? A. Father's Day

20) In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase, 'Goodnight, sleep tight.'

21) It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

22) In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.' It's where we get the phrase, 'Mind your P's and Q's.'

23) Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill , they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle,' is the phrase inspired by this practice.

24) At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!



YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2012 when...

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.


Go lick your elbow!



Sunday, June 24, 2012

One Tasty Boy

I always tell Big A how much I love to nibble on him and how tasty he is... Seems I'm not the only one!

I got the strangest text from Grandma the other day... "Big A's left ear is red and hot and floppier than the other one."

Um... Okay.... Not really sure how to take that...

"It also looks like he's got bug bites on his neck."

Still not really sure what to think about the 'floppy ear', she sent me some pictures which show that the left ear sticks out a little further than the right and is quite red.


Fast forward three hours to when Molly picks the kids up... "You need to look at Big A's ear when you get home. The left ear is really swollen and he says it moves when he walks." Oh, yes... Sounds like I'd definitely better check that out! Yikes!
I arrive home to find a grumpy and uncomfortable Big A laying on the floor playing Legos and I start my 'examination'. I find two or three bites on his neck, I'm assuming that's what's wrong with the ear, and one on his arm. Poor kid just reacts NASTY to spider/bug/mosquito bites!
I place a call to Kaiser and speak with an advice nurse who tells me to use cold compresses, Benadryl, and Cortisone cream and to bring him in the next morning to have the ear checked. I know the poor guy is miserable, but he's SUCH a trooper. He eats his dinner, takes his medicine, and requests a trip to town for frozen yogurt. With a day like he's had, how can I turn him down?


Two hours later his arm looks like this. We've been through this before and I know it won't get worse, but it still makes me nervous. I begin to worry about the future... Will it get worse as he gets older? If he reacts this badly to spider bites, will he be allergic to bee stings?

The next morning when he wakes up he's looking quite a bit better but we still make the trip to Kaiser. I want to get answers to my questions to hopefully put my mind at ease.

I'm told that there hasn't been any evidence that shows that the reactions will get worse as the child gets older and that there doesn't appear to be any correlation between this kind of reactions and bee sting allergies, but to DEFINITELY watch him. I certainly will!

But for now, I'll just go apply some more cortisone cream...

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Fair

Sonoma-Marin Fair time... A time we look forward to every June! This year was no exception... Here's our day in pictures!



YEAH! We're going to the fair!



Sorry, boys! Looks like you're stuck on the Ferris Wheel!



Photo-finish for Big A and Grandpa racing down the Super Slide!


We all ganged up on Grandpa on the Bumper Cars!



CHEESE!


Big A took a spin (or two) on this mechanical bull... Threw him off both times! 6 seconds the first time, 18 seconds the second time. Probably NOT going to grow up to be a bull rider! (WHEW!)


Little A was upset that she wasn't big enough to ride the bull, so she rode grandpa... And pouted...


Until she got on the bungee trampoline, and BOY was that fun!



I remember a picture very similar to this when *I* was her age... Beth, do you remember that???



A boy after his Daddy's heart... Spinning that tea cup so fast!




Big A was SOO nervous to ride this 'roller coaster'... But he conquered his fear!


Little A doesn't share those fears...


Add in a little fair food... Chicken nuggets, french fries, nachos, burritos, grilled corn on the cob, a giant turkey leg, a pulled pork sandwich, cotton candy, mini donuts and a funnel cake... Oh... And a trek through the animal pens, and that about sums up our day!


Until next June...










































Thursday, June 21, 2012

Just For The Halibut

Today Big A and grandpa packed their lunches, loaded up the boat and headed for Tomales Bay to try their hands at halibut fishing.

Tonight we had pasta for dinner.

Guess that tells you how well the trip went! But like I always tell the kids... Winning isn't important. Having fun is what's important, and they certainly did have fun! And for the record, just because they didn't catch halibut doesn't mean they didn't catch anything...

Because CLEARLY Big A caught.... SOMETHING! What is it, you ask?? Why the biggest starfish you've ever seen, of course! Yes, he caught a HUGH starfish with his fishing pole. CRAZY!


This pelican swooped down and landed in the water right next to the boat so Big A shared the bait with him. Turns out the seagulls weren't too happy with that and they let Big A know it! He came home with a bird poop splat the size of a half dollar on top of his hat. (Yes, I'm laughing!)


And when they weren't fishing in the bay they were exploring the sea shore, rocks and tide pools searching for... Well... Just about anything!

I'm bummed that they didn't bring us some halibut for dinner, but I'm glad that they had a day of fun and adventure! Happy fishing, boys!




Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Monday, June 18, 2012

Summer Fun!

Summer... According to Merriam Webster, summer is the season between spring and autumn comprising in the northern hemisphere usually the months of June, July, and August or as reckoned astronomically extending from the June solstice to the September equinox.

Um... Yeah! That's WAY too confusing for me! To me, summer is the season between when school gets out and when school starts again... Much more simple, NO?

Summer means Popsicles and play dates, swimming pools and sprinklers, dressing up crazy, camping on the lawn, late nights roaming the fields with flashlights hunting Bigfoot, etc., etc., etc.!

YEP! That about sums up OUR summer so far! I can't wait to see what summer has in store for us in the coming weeks!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day

To al of the Dads who have touched our lives in one way or another...
Happy Father's Day!!

(Sorry, Papa - I don't seem to have a recent picture of you with BOTH kids!)