HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIO DONNY!!!!

WE MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU AND WISH YOU WERE HERE BECAUSE THE PONIES IN CALIFORNIA JUST DON'T HAVE ANY PERSONALITY!!!

HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY, TIO DONNY!!!

COME SEE US SOON!!!

BELATED BDAY PICK WITH MOMMY

I know, I know, sometimes it's even hard for me to guess who's the oldest in this picture. :P

YIPPIE KA-YAY!

Although the kids kept going on and on about how they've already ridden a REAL horse at Tio Donny's, they still had a great time with the ponies that came to visit their school (nevermind the fact that they're both huge cheeseballs and never miss an opportunity to ham it up!!!)

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRDTHDAY, MOMMY!!!!!

Taking Mommy to play golf today with an 18th hole that sits on a cliff overlooking the Pacific.



I have to tell you...even I'm a little excited about this one.

HERE'S TO A VERY

WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY

AND A BRAND NEW YEAR!!

THINGS HERE ARE JUST BEACHY

Although the day was just a little too windy, making the already uproarious waves a teensy bit too frenetic even for our family, the cooler weather versus our sweltering abode really left us with little other alternative but to trek our sweaty booties to the beach on Sunday.

As per usual, Saia ended up with way too much sand in her pants, and Chago ended up with way too many seagull feathers in his possession, but all in all a really nice escape from the blistering heat.

And here's a little video of the terrible trio in action...

If you can't see the video above, click here.

COMMANDER SANTIAGO

Primarily due to the 107-degree weather (yes, you read that right) and the fact that we don't have air conditioning in the Bay Area because, well, WE'RE NOT IN FRIGGIN' SOUTH TEXAS AND DON'T EVER EXPECT TO HAVE 107-DEGREE WEATHER(!!!!), so we spent the whole day yesterday at the beach (photos and video coming tomorrow -- really).

But as we were getting ready to head out, the kids are putting on their swim suits in their room when I overhear Saia telling Chago that she's not going to wear her panties because you don't wear panties under your swimsuit. To which he replies in a tone just a might too proud, "Me neither. I'm going commando!"

SPARKLER, SPARKLER BURNING BRIGHT...

Okay, I'm back. My two-week-long-24-hour-a-day project has finally come to an...well...let's just say reprieve because it really does start back up next week. So, for now, I'm back and will try to get up as much as possible before I become a blog recluse again.

Alright, so you see the really cute pic of Chago playing with the sparklers down below (July 14th entry)? Well, because of the flurry of events since that visit, I haven't had any time to update you on the biggest chunk of news of all. Our poor Bubba suffered a minor second-degree burn from that overly friendly sparkler when it traveled a little too close to his left cheek.

The day of, he was covered in frozen peas. The day after, he looked like this: But about a week later, a few tubes of burn gel and bacitricine, a few hundred bandaids, Eucerin, and a bottle of peroxide later, and you can hardly tell it was there at all. He's been such a trooper, even the doctor congratulated him on not being afraid to pick up another sparkler after he got hurt. We were all very proud of him, and I'm veeeeeery happy to say he'll only have this photo by which to recall it. (And yes, I'll post a recent photo tomorrow for all you non-believers!!)

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a little pre-injury video of the dynamic duo and their sparklers:

If you can't see the video above, click here.

If you can't see the video above, click here.

VERY BELATED 4TH OF JULY PICS

So, after something like 10 years (and 4 states later -- geographically speaking, not mentally, of course -- well, wait a minute, that's not entirely true in some cases...) Cristina finally decided to grace us with her company and pay us a legitimate visit. The kids had a great time with Ruth & Cris -- or maybe it was the other way around. :) Either way, it was a lot of fun, and waaaay too short a visit. Here are just a couple of pics of the 4th. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good shot of Ruth's thighs burnt to a crisp. Or one of both of them all bundled up in fleece and knee-high socks while the rest of us were in our flip-flops and sleeveless shirts. Or one of Ruth driving the Mustang -- or Cris driving the LandRover. Or one of the two of them chowing down on my famous carne guisada and mashed potatoes. But I AM still waiting to get copies of the photos from Cris' camera (hint! hint!), as I believe there are a whole handful of other very highly incriminating ones of ME that I'd like to doctor up before seeing posted all over the 'net!!! ;)

But anyway...thanks for the visit. Hope you come back soon. Love and miss ya! Us...

KING OF THE KASTLE

"Mama," says Chago pensively as I'm brushing my teeth this morning.

"Yeth, Bubba?" [rinse. swirl. spit.]

"The horse is the king of the farm," he says in almost a question, but not quite.

"Sure, son," I reply, "that makes sense to me. So, then who's king of the jungle?"

"THE LION!!!" he roars.

"So then who's king of the forest?"

"THE WOLF!!!" he howls.

"Well, then who's king of the oceans?"

"THE SHARK!!!" he sneers.

"And what about the sky?"

"THE DRAGON!!!" he hisses.

"Okay, but who's king of this house?"

"me," he says a little hesitantly, which then spreads across his face into a huge grin as he realizes that he's absolutely right, and, man, I really inserted foot in mouth with that one, didn't I?

APOLOGIES!!!

Sorry, folks. Very very busy couple of weeks.

Promise to get 4th of July pics & video, visit with Cris & Ruth, and more (aren't there always?) toddler perspectives up on the blog real soon.

Keep checking back.