Life with Boose and Finch

We drove through the rain to Sacramento stopping only once because Ro didn't tell us he needed to use the bathroom until it was too late.  Once we got that figured out, the rest was pretty smooth sailing.  We stayed on the 7th floor of the Hyatt Regency across from Capitol Park.  For the most part, Ro was pretty good all week except for when he was really tired (unfortunately, that was most of the time).  He still doesn't quite understand hotel etiquette such as not running/stomping around the hotel room, or shouting.  The main problem with his little kid voice is that the high pitch is loud no matter what volume he speaks.  So, he had a hard time remembering that he needed to speak softer or whisper at night.  I think we might take him on another trip again.  While B was in his conference classes, Ro and I roamed around downtown Sacramento, Old Sacramento, and Sutter's Fort.  The first thing we did Monday was check out an umbrella from th...

We had a crazy busy last couple of weeks. Ro was starting to get kind of clingy and the week before Thanksgiving.  He told me that he really didn't want to go to school or daycare.  I told him that if he was good, he didn't have to go to daycare for the rest of the week.  My mom and stepdad then visited starting on Wednesday and drove Ro to my sister Ev and brother-in-law Ricardo's house that Friday.  It was a fairly uneventful visit, which means it must have been a good visit.   Things are still awkward to hang out with them because we still have to b-s- things to talk about together.  I'm not sure why this is.  Maybe it's because they have a more idealized memory about what it was like to raise kids -- so we don't really know how to talk about raising kids together because in their minds Ro is always acting out instead of just being a kid.  One of the days they were visiting, they said they took Ro to the park four times in one day...

Ro's birthday turned out great!  We invited all of the kids in his daycare class and dropped off a few invitations at his preschool.  We also invited a friend of ours who brought four out of five of her own kids to hang out, too.  The only family members who arrived were my sister, B's grandfather, and B's aunt, but that was okay because it gave us a lot of time to talk to the other parents.  I even managed to exchange phone numbers with another mom to maybe have some playdates! Unfortunately, we've been pretty busy every weekend since so I've been dropping that ball.  I am pretty excited about that prospect though because then there's a good chance that Ro will have lifelong friends from his diaper ages.  I enjoy time with all of my friends, but I've found that those are pretty special. After waking up, B left to go biking for the morning and we started the day off with a Starbucks breakfast.  Ro loves getting an everything bagel with cream cheese w...

I had been trying to plan a trip to visit my Aunt Jane and my Aunt Jean in Illinois for awhile.  Eventually, I heard that one of them was having dizzy spells and other health problems.  I figured that now would be better than later to go -- even if it was in the middle of summer time.  Ro will be starting pre-kindergarten in a few weeks and airplane tickets were just going to get more expensive until next February.   Day 1: We left Fresno Saturday just before noon.  Ro was raring to go on the trip until he realized how long it was going to be.  It didn't hit him until we got on the ramp to go from 99N to 152W.  Then he needed to use the bathroom and we tried to use a side road to convince Ro to go to the bathroom next to the road.  He's told us jubilantly before that one of the grandmas let him pee on a tree, but he just couldn't pee or defecate on the ground next to the car.  We packed him back into the car until we exited...

I took a women's self defense class with Aikido of Fresno this morning.  I really should have sooner considering that it has been over fourteen years since I've attended a jujitsu class.  Once upon a time, I worked to get a black belt in jujitsu.  Now I'm lucky if I can remember that I can slap someone.  A friend had told me that the Aikido of Fresno's self defense seminars were worth going to, and so I bought the $20 ticket on Eventbrite for this one.  And then I bought a $35 card for ten more classes to try out some actual Aikido. Originally, I had been planning to starting another martial art when Ro started a martial art, but it doesn't look like he'll be taking classes with Aikido of Fresno.  Their only kids classes are at 4:30pm during the week even though the adult classes are evenings and Saturdays.  I guess there are enough other people out there who can take their kids to these classes to keep them open.  I'm thinking about getting hi...

I hope you had a good Independence Day!  We definitely did. It was long and tiring, but we made only good decisions with low expectations. Other than being Independence Day, it was also my mother-in-law’s birthday. I invited her over earlier in the week for an indoor barbecue. Ro had spent the night with her and so B woke me up at 7am (I could have slept until 9am) anxious about getting the tri-tip ready in time. I had already marinated the tri-tip in soy sauce, garlic, and olive oil per  this recipe . Of course, I realized that I forgot to get spinach for a peach salad. And then I forgot to buy a cake. So, I had to run to the store a couple of times during my preparation time. During the whole time, B had Caddyshack (1980) playing on the tv, but he helped arrange the food and serve everyone. .  In the end, I managed to grill the tri-tip, chicken sausage, shrimp skewers, aspasagus, and corn. I tried to do squash, but burned it all. My mother-in-law brought over Ro...

Hi, all! I still haven’t figured out how to use this space. I have a family to think about while posting.  Our little family consists of me A, my spouse B, my three-year-old son Ro, dog Caboose and cat Finch. I love my family, listening to podcasts, doing stuff in Fresno, CA, traveling, and exercise. Lately, I’ve been trying to get back into shape to do 10 mile runs. Our family has also been surviving with only one car and so I’d like to share a little about that to let other know that is it possible to live in Fresno without two vehicles in the family. We all also really love all forms of travel. Enjoy!