playgrounds & puppies.....

Even though it was a little overcast and wet, we decided to meet some friends at the park. We already had plans and a little weather wasn't going to stop us. It was actually beautiful.

Anyway, the kiddos ran about and had a good time being outdoors. Our friends brought their dogs. It is always good entertainment to watch kids and animals together. Other peoples kids, though. Not mine. Okay, Laila doesn't seem to have a problem so far. So, just not Nathan. Here's why:It only took a minute for a small patch of hives to appear. This was a few minutes later after we walked to the car. The sad face is because he fell in a puddle and was SOAKED, which was our reason for leaving, not because he got licked.

Here's the close up. Look at the size of those bad boys!

This was after our short drive home. Seriously, click on the picture and see it full size. I think you can do that on my blog.

And this is after lunch and watching "Robots" while Laila was napping.
Poor kid!
But, it was inspiration for a new post.

And speaking of Nathan, there were some requests to know what the first most terrifying moment of my life was. It is not nearly as nail biting as Robert's story was, but it happened to me first so here we go....
We all know Nathan is allergic to a lot of things, dogs included. I don't normally shop at granola type stores, but you can't get soy yogurt at your local Albertson's. So, we stopped at Wild Oats to run in and get some soy yogurt real quick. I was VERY obviously pregnant with Laila and had my arms full of yogurt when Nathan decided he had some energy to burn off and RAN AWAY FROM ME! He wasn't trying to be naughty, he just got a sudden urge to run he couldn't ignore. So, he took off and I waddled after him as fast as I could. It ended up that everytime I made it to the end of one aisle, he had just ran to the opposite end of another. I was calling out for him and most certainly was not using my indoor voice . Why a store full of people wouldn't step in and help, I have no idea.......you don't even want to get me started on that. They must have thought our antics were entertaining. Anyway, after a bunch of aisle swapping, we ended up on opposite sides of the check out lines. I could see him, but he wasn't paying attention, he was just zipping around trying to find me. Finally, some old man took pity and sort of herded him and pointed in my direction....he still wouldn't touch him. Then, he saw me and finally came to meet me. Right as we were meeting up these two ladies had just walked in and said, "Oh my gosh, is he yours? Did you know he just ran out the front doors and into the street?"
I wanted to smack them and say "why didn't you stop him??"


Anyway, no big deal, happens to mothers all the time.....but as any mother can imagine or has experienced, it is truly a terrifying moment in your life.

Now that's using your head!

Meet my husband, Robert. He has a mountain bike. He likes to ride his mountain bike on a nearby mountain groomed for bike enthusiasts with trails and jumps whenever he gets a chance. On Jan. 1st, he had the day off from work and after a lazy morning we packed up and went to Bootleg canyon for a quick ride. It is not uncommon for the whole family to accompany Robert on a trip because the kiddos can get out and run around and also, someone has to shuttle Robert up the mountain. We met at the bottom after his trail ended. For a little more fun time, he decided to take Nathan to watch him go off of some jumps. Laila and I straggled behind at toddler pace and looked ahead as he started down.

Welcome to the second most terrifying moment of my life.....

This is your helmet.

This is your helmet after crashing head first into a dirt jump.
Any questions?

This is the end result of our time in Bootleg Canyon that day. He got too much speed coming down, went off the first jump, caught some air, was going too fast to land, started to rotate forward and crashed head first into the mound of the second jump.

Laila and I were standing right next to the crash site and had just passed some ladies walking their dog on the other side of the mound. They stopped when they heard the impact, and I gave Robert a second to shake it off and get up.

He didn't. So, I started asking him if he was okay. He didn't respond and wouldn't look at me. His eyes were all glazed over, he started to curl up a little, and then made an uncontrollable moaning sound.

I started panicking and trying to unlock my phone to call 911, Laila had started crying, the passersby came over and took her from me and she calmed right down, I pressed 9-1-1 and then Robert came to.....

I told him, "I am calling 911 right now!" And he said breathlessly, "Wait a minute, wait a minute......just give me a minute." Then I told him what had just happened, with the moaning and such, and he said, "Really?". He didn't remember it at all! I hit 'send' and got paramedics on the way, even though, while I was on the phone with them he got up and started moving around.

They got there really quickly and checked him out. He thought he would be fine, so we didn't have him transported to the hospital although they expressed concern over possible internal injuries to his brain.

We dropped the kiddos off at my parents and ended up going to the ER, just to make sure everything was fine. They must have thought so, because it wasn't urgent enough for us to see a doctor. After waiting for forever, he decided he was fine and we gave up on the hospital. We came home and he took some pain meds from when I had Laila. He has needed lots of neck and shoulder massages. He is fine besides that and some bruising. Oh, and some road rash on his face, but that is all better already.

He has always worn a helmet while riding and we have invested in various protective gear prior to this incident. He wears body armor, knee/shin guards, and his helmet. This helmet, however, was a new purchase. He wanted a pricey full face guard helmet and this ride was only the second time he has worn it!! Worth every penney, my friends! His face and jaw would have been seriously messed up if he was wearing his other helmet....

Anyway, all is well, he just got back from skiing this weekend and, as promised, wore a helmet (skiing) for the first time ever.

Way to ring in the new year, huh?

On a trip to Disneyland...

Get ready, folks! It's Disneyland overload and then Christmas pics are still to come. So, I have a lot of catching up to do....

I may have to change the format from the slide shows and list the pictures individually....I eventually intend on making one of those blog books out of this whole deal so consider this scrapbooking for me, documenting the happenings of my family, you know....anyway, has anyone made one before or do you know if the slideshow pictures would show up when it goes into book form?