Dos Pueblos Ranch...A Slice of Paradise

My family just got back from camping on the most beautiful stretch of beach in all of California. You may be thinking, "is it really the most beautiful beach in California"?

Take a look...



Thank you Moloney family for allowing us to stay on your property. Dos Pueblos Ranch is an idealistic slice of California coastline. Our family treasures every moment we have spent there.











I can still hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore....total relaxation.

Perfect Beach Day

I am a Southern California girl. I have salt water coursing through my veins.

Last week I blogged about not knowing what to do while the kids were at camp. Now that the fog(literally) has lifted, I have my solution: THE BEACH!

The key to going to the beach in the summertime is getting there early! I had a full hour on the beach before the junior lifeguard crew showed up and at least another two hours before it started to get crowded. When I left at noon I was still comfortable.

I chose the perfect spot. Let's just say I was the only one on the front line not sprinting to get my towel when the tide came in. I was far enough back not to get wiped out, but close enough to get the ocean spray on my face.

I read books, watched the local seal freak out the boogie boarders, also watched the boogie boarders get churned up in the waves (they were crashing today, the waves that is), listened to my ipod, basically, just relaxed. Gloria Gaynor on the ipod is always a good choice to drown out the shrieking children (and men, that water was bone chilling cold).

Here are some photos from my perfect beach day. They should be captioned "wish you were here"

For you locals, see if you can pick out which beach I was at.

Scared Straight

I've said it before and I will say it again...

Daniel makes me laugh AND cry more than anyone I know!

Yesterday, while riding his scooter in our quiet, little culdesac, Daniel nearly ran into a car. Before you read on in panic...Daniel is fine. It's his mother who is an emotional wreck.

Daniel has an electric scooter, it goes up to about 10 mph. He scooters all over our neighborhood, which is made up of only 3 culdesacs. It's great for the kids because we don't have much drive through traffic.

This is what happened...

Gary was outside playing basketball, I was in the house reading, while the boys were roaming the neighborhood. Zack was on his bike, ahead of Daniel. Daniel was leaving our culdesac to catch up with Zack. As he rounded the corner...there was a car that had stopped in the middle of the road. He swerved out of the way, at the last minute. Luckily, for him, it was our neighbors and they had seen Daniel coming on his scooter and realized he wasn't paying attention. They stopped their car so as not to hit him. I am so thankful to Danielle and Ty for being so cautious!

Gary didn't see what had happened, so when Danielle and Ty pulled into their driveway they stopped to let Gary know how close Daniel had come to hitting them. Well, by this point Daniel was pretty shook up and realized he was about to get into trouble(he is not allowed out of the culdesac on his bike or scooter until we are sure he is truly paying attention to his surroundings). He circled around a few times until the neighbors went inside and Gary called him over. Gary didn't even have to say anything and Daniel burst into tears. He knew how lucky he was.

We had a long talk with Daniel (his learning lesson) and it was at this point that I pulled out all the stops. "You could have been severly injured or you could have been KILLED"! (I wanted to make sure he undersood the consequences of not paying attention)

I am still shaking in my boots over the thought of him getting hit by a car! This is the part that makes me want to cry!

When we asked him if he understood how important it was to ALWAYS pay attention when riding his bike or scooter, he said he did. I believe he does!!!

We told him that he should be thanking Danielle and Ty for being so cautious. This is the part that makes me laugh. He said,"like the Little Green Men from Toy Story"?
Huh???

You know..."WE ARE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL"

Yes, Daniel, Like that!

I have a great video of Daniel riding around on his scooter, but it is on my other computer, which at the moment is being exorcised of all viruses. I promise I will post it just as soon as I get it back.

Blogger Hat

I first got interested in blogging in 2009.

I tried my hand at a life drawing blog. I posted all of the artwork that I was creating in my college class; it was only open to invited viewers. (due to the subject matter) It had a short lived purpose; I am not interested in drawing naked people anymore.

Now, in 2010, I have started blogging about my life. It is a great creative outlet for my writing and allows me to update my friends and family with my day to day happenings.

Since I started, I have been reading random blogs on the internet. I have become inspired!

Did you know that you can make money blogging? Companies will actually pay you money to review their products and blog about it. Awesome!

Did you also know that you can win blogging awards? It’s true! Some of the blogs I have been reading were nominated and/or won blogging awards! I WANT THAT! Sure, I like to be creative, blah, blah, blah. Get me that 1st place ribbon to pin on my blog, now we are talking fulfillment!

After doing a lot of research I have decided to give my blog a purpose. I am keeping it a secret for now, until I am ready to unveil my re-purposed and re-designed site.

I can hardly wait!

MY, I-have-no-job-what-am-I-going-to-do-while-the-kids-are-at-camp, HAT.

I woke up this morning with a plan: find a job.

After I got the kids off to summer camp, I sat down at the computer and pulled up the usual suspects: Craigslist, Elance, and Monster. Nothing. Now what…

I checked my facebook page. Nothing. Now what…

Really!! NOW WHAT???

I picked myself up and found some laundry to do. It seems there is always laundry to be done!

10 minutes later…Ring Ring… “Hello”, “Hi Mom” (Hooray, I have something to do)

More laundry.

Clean bedroom. Call Friend. (I am a multi-tasker)

Call pharmacy for refill. Call Dr’s office to complain that my refill has not been authorized.

Make lunch. (Will this day ever end?)

I will spare you the details of the second half of my day.

It is now clear to me (crystal) that I am going to have to task out my day. All those BIG projects around the house that no one wants to do… ALL MINE!

I will, at the very least, have to pull out my PAINTERS HAT.