East Coast

Well we are in West Virginia visiting with my sister, my niece, and brother-in-law. We are having a great time not only visiting with family, but we are also taking the opportunity to see some other states while back here. Matthew is in heaven playing with his uncle Greg who took him to his job yesterday and bought him gifts....need I say more? He is also enjoying Noelle's cats and plays with them constantly. They have become his obsession and he frequently says, "I wish I had a pet."

On Wednesday, we headed out for Washington DC. I have been so excited about this for a number of reasons. The first, of course, is going to the White House. I was all geeked out by going and seeing it and knowing that this was going to be the closest I will have ever been to a sitting president....even though he is a couple of thousand feet from me, I would still be that close to him. Well, that is until Rich burst my bubble and told me that the president was making his first trip to California (that's right, that state in which I live and I had just left to fly across country to be the closest I will ever be to the president!) and would actually not be back to the Whitehouse during the time we were in DC. Lovely! The second reason I have been so excited is that fifth grade core curriculum is US history and government, and I simply can't wait to share all my pictures with my class.

The second day we were in DC, we took the Metro all the way to Arlington to see the cemetery. This was one of the highlights of the trip fro me. When we got to Arlington we looked up my great-grandparents grave sites and set off to find them. It was cold, raining, and a bit miserable, but we figured that we had to do this while we were here. So, a fifteen minute walk in the rain and wind brought us to their grave sites. As we were taking pictures and carefully describing this place to Matthew and it's significance, we heard a marching band start to play. We looked up and saw funeral procession coming right toward us. All of us later commented on how is was amazing that we could get so emotional and cry within a 45-second time period for someone we had never met, nor knew what their history was that brought them to this point. It was not only breathtakingly beautiful, but incredibly sad and emotional as well. I turned to Noelle and said videotape as much as you can without them seeing it so we are not disrespectful, but I wanted to share with others what we had seen. I hand my camera around my neck and I had no idea whether it was focused or even if the picture would be lined up, but I just kept snapping away in case I could get a few shots of what was going on.







With the rest of the day pretty much subject to rain, we decided to head back to get our car and just drive around to see all of the sites we could possibly get in. Forgive me, but most of these were taken with Noelle driving and me snapping away as fast as I could. At one point I hopped out of the car, on a very busy street, to run up and see the Lincoln Memorial and snap as many pics as I could. We drove all over the rest of the city and hit all the major places that we thought we couldn't leave without saying we had been there to see it. I really could come back and spend an entire week here and hit two to three major sites a day. We certainly made the most of our trip, the short time we were there.

Kings for a night

This year Matt and Ryan were pictured on a Kings Season Ticket, after a few years of trying. So on Sunday night we went to the game, the four of us and Rich and Sharon, and enjoyed a Kings win...which is good, but depressing. It was good because they played really well and it was a lot of fun to watch. The depressing part was remembering how exciting it can be to be at Arco when the game is tight and the Kings end of winning, and knowing that it hasn't happened a lot lately.

The kids had a great time. Ryan did surprisingly well. He stayed with Rich and I for the first part of the game and then joined Rich and Sharon for the second part of the game down in their seats. He had a better time with them because they had a tub of popcorn and every time Rich and I looked at him he was eating. Matt had a great time too. Cheering for both teams, you know....covering his bases so either of "him teams" would win. Lovely!

Here are some fun pics from the game.

Six Flags

Last weekend the four of us and Rich and Sharon headed to Six Flags to spend the day with the Sacramento Kings. As a treat to all the FAITHFUL KINGS SEASON TICKET HOLDERS, the Maloof's coughed up some major coin and pretty much bought out Six Flags for the day to treat all the ticket holders who are braving these not-so-happy times at Arco. So, braving the wet forecast, we headed for Marine World in hopes to see some animals and maybe some Kings players who were going to be there.

When we got there, the weather was misty with on and off sprinkles. It actually wasn't bad at all. We headed for the animals first off because Ryan was pretty excited to see them. The great part about the closed park to the public, is that it was VERY QUIET and there was hardly anyone there....however, we were the crazy people wearing ponchos and carting golf sized umbrellas prepared for a monsoon. As we made our way through the park, a lot of the animals were not out due to the weather. It was the day after the opening day at the park for the season and you could tell all of the employees were ready for questions, just begging us to quiz them on the animals. So we asked, "Where are the tigers?" and the sweet young lady who could tell us probably more than we ever wanted or needed to know about tigers replied, "Well, they are cats and cats don't like the rain." Alrighty then.

As we made our way through the park, the weather unfortunately got worse. The rain started to come down harder and the wind was getting worse. As we were trying to make the best of our free day of fun, it was clear to us that our time was going to be cut short. The good news is the park officials felt the same and we heard them come over the loud speaker and say that they were going to close earlier than expected and that the Kings would "make it up to us" at a later date. So, stay tuned.

We mostly took video of the day, but here are a few pictures from our day.

Magination Friend

So, Matthew has a "Magination Friend". Don't try to correct him, by calling it an "Imaginary Friend", he'll say you're wrong. We don't have a lot of experience with "magination friends" and that can be dangerous. For instance, I don't know where he sits when he wants to sit down or frankly, when he is even "with us". His name is Meteor. And yes, according to Matt, that is how he spells his name. He joined us the other nights at dinner and thank goodness there was an extra seat at the table because he apparently can't fit on the chair with Matthew.

Anyways, I am not sure how long he will be with us. He pops up at the oddest of times and we REALLY TRYING TO BE COOPERATIVE ABOUT THIS!!!

Stay tuned and, of course, sorry there is no picture....

Cuteness!

This was taken this past weekend in the hotel room. My boys love a good hotel room, well...any hotel room.

Real quick story. In the picture, Ryan is playing Matthew's DS. As we were getting ready to leave, and we were trying to pack up to leave, we noticed that Matt was missing some of his DS games. So, I went out to have a conversation with Matthew about his games and this is what took place...

(Scene--In the hallway of hotel....voices occasionally raised)

Mom: Matthew. Where are all of your DS games? I can only find four, so we are missing two.
Matt: I don't know.
Mom: Well, we need to find them now. Did you know Ryan was playing with your game?
Matt: Yes.
Mom: What have we told you about your DS? If you are not playing it, you have to put it some place high so Ryan can't get to it. If he lost your games, it is because you were not careful and you did not remember to put it up high. Those are expensive and we cannot replace them that easily.
Matt: Well, if Ryan was playing it and he accidentally lost them, then I would not get mad because it was an accident. But, it he lost them on purpose, I would get mad because it was on purpose. I think he did it on accident.

(Exit Mom...I have no argument for that)

Nana Sharon's Birthday Weekend

This past weekend we spent Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco for Sharon's birthday. For Christmas, Richard had surprised her with a weekend in the city with ALL of the Marini's. It was a real treat because it is very rare for all of us to go away together. We spent most of Saturday at the California Academy of Sciences Museum. It was a great day and the kids had a blast together. That night we went out to a fabulous dinner.

Probably the most memorable part of the day happened just before we were getting ready to leave. We had gone up to the roof because you can walk around on top of the building and see the living roof. So, as we were getting ready to head back down, we decided to take the elevator down because Rich had been carrying a sleeping Ryan for about an hour....and that sweet child is no feather-weight. As we were waiting for the doors to open, another family was there waiting to get on as well. When the doors opened, Matthew and Mason jumped on and we played a game of "You go...No, you go...No, really, you go." with this other family. As neither of us committed to getting on the elevator, the doors closed and Matthew and Mason took off. By themselves. As the doors shut, the elevator proceeded down, all of us looked at each other and said..."CRAP!!!" So, Michael took off down the stairs at record pace to try get to them. Now, one would think that we were panicked and scared...and we were...right up until we all started laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. It was hysterical. So, after our little hoot and holler, we headed down to see about the boys. They were fine, they did a great job. They had gotten off at the first stop and just waited there until Michael found them.

If you ask the boys what there favorite part of the day was...there answer was the ride in the elevator. A multi-million dollar museum, with the most amazing exhibits, and their favorite part was the elevator ride.

Here are some pictures from the day.

The Twenty Minute Snow Trip

On Sunday, Rich and I decided to take the boys up to play in the snow. For fifteen minutes there was a mad scramble around the house to put together outfits fit for the snow, even though we own nothing that is suitable for the snow, let alone getting out and playing in it. After we dressed Ryan, he could barely walk to the car with all six of his layers on. Thank God he still wears diapers, because he was dressed for the next four hours. Matthew's clothing was a bit different. He did have snow shows and gloves and a thick jacket, so we were a little less worried about him freezing to death.

After all of the layers of clothing, after putting in the snow discs, after driving an hour and a half to find snow....it ended up being the quickest trip in history of all snow trips. We got out, we played, we froze, we got back into our car. Here are some pictures. Don't adjust your screen, your eyes are fine, yes that is Rich out in the snow (35 degrees) playing in shorts. The few choice words I had to say to him will go unpublished for now....but I'm sure you can figure it out...those of you who know me well.

The Whitehouse

Well, we are officially on countdown until our trip to see Noelle in West Virginia. Yesterday we booked a hotel in Washington D.C. and we plan on cramming everything we can in the shortest amount of time possible. As I would love to visit all the main attractions, I really am picturing Noelle driving at a moderate speed around town as I have half my body out the window either taking pictures or video-taping. I have this vision of visiting Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, Smithsonian, etc. at the rate of approx. 25 mph, and I don't think I am far off.

Noelle and I already tried contacting our congressman to see if we can take a Whitehouse tour, but they will not let us because we are not a group of 10 or more. That's fine. Whatever. They will then have to deal with us hanging around outside, hopefully gaining suspicious glances and unwanted attention from the secret service, as we protest that we are five short of an actual group!

As we are looking forward to this trip. I did have to let Matthew down about not visiting the Whitehouse. Somehow, I don't know if it was television or what, he heard about the Whitehouse having a bowling alley. He immediately asked if we could go bowling there. I told him no, for a couple of reasons....

1. The Whitehouse is not a place of business...well, crap, it is (should I explain the situation room now or later?)...okay, it is not a place of business that hosts bowling leagues and birthday parties. It is simply some one's house that has a bowling alley in it.
2. Not just anyone goes to the Whitehouse. You have to be invited or be in a GROUP OF TEN OR MORE!
3. This is a functioning house and the family that lives there really doesn't care if you want to come bowling or not, because they don't have a clue who you are and that makes you a security threat.
4. And finally....No honey, we can't simply go up to the door and ring the bell to ask them. The men with the big guns, dressed in black, on top of every building in a five mile radius, would appreciate it if you would stay behind the nice tall black gates and enjoy the view from outside.

Can't wait!!

Four-skin

Okay, so I need to post this story. Simply because the "word" has started coming up again...no pun intended.

So a few months ago my sister and I were sitting in the living room visiting while all three of the kids were playing. Ryan was doing who knows what, Natalie was probably watching Noggin, and Matthew was sitting in a chair talking to himself. As Noelle and I were carrying on in our conversation...I'm sure solving the world's problems...Matthew out of nowhere says, "I just love my foreskin."
Noelle and I froze in mid-sentence and I said to her, "Did he just say..." and she quickly added, "He said EXACTLY what you think he said."

Here is the conversation as it followed.

Mom: Matthew, what did you just say?

Matthew: I said I loved my foreskin.

Mom: What do you mean foreskin?

Matthew: You know, when you scrape you hand or finger and it bleeds, the skin grows back one-skin, two-skin, three-skin, and four-skin.

Mom: OH THANK GOD!!

When Noelle and I could talk again after laughing, I simply said how lucky I was that this conversation did not originate at school during show and share.

Don't worry, I have since told him that the number of layers of skin that grows back is three. Just to be safe. :-)

Autism Speaks Awards Dinner

On Saturday night, my mom and I joined our friends Lynn and Jason, and her mother Diana, on the Delta King in Sacramento for an awards dinner for the top earners for the WALK NOW FOR AUTISM. Because Noelle and Greg obviously could not go, my mom and I happily attended the dinner in their place. It was a fantastic night and we can't wait to get started on next years WALK NOW fundraising. Here are some pictures from the night.