Typical Lewis Family Days!

We spent a lot of time this week doing family stuff. Jason was between his gig at Mizuno and New Balance (if you didn't know he changed jobs after 10 years at Mizuno!!!) so he had real "free" time! Sooooo....we did lots of family activities - 

Legoland Aquarium, 

the regular Legoland park, 

lagoon water fun/fishing, 

and an early Mother's Day. 

I don't like being a "my life is awesome" person...but I do love my "simple" life ;) time with Jason and the boys (and some quiet alone time here and there ;) are very pretty great! I feel lucky ❤😊❤😊!

I ❤ Spring Break

It was my spring break so we did a few fun things this week! Thanks to some of my teaching friends who had camp sites at San Elijo/Cardiff - we were camping crashers. We were there the best day of the week and the boys had a great time digging in the sand and playing at the beach. The boys actually had school this week so Jason and I went on a lunch date at one of our favorite restaurants - South Beach in OB. It was nice to drink a beer and eat a taco without fielding small children ;) Finally, Jason completed his project of making 2 planter boxes. We stained the boxes and added lots of colorful flowers to brighten up our concrete back "yard". All in all it was a good balance of fun and relaxing!

Too Much Time Has Passed to Catch Up!

It's been almost 5 months since my last post....and, I've had updating my blog on my to-do list for MONTHS!!!  In that time too much has happened to even come close to catching up on what we've been up to.  Not to mention that most of the things that were once really important/funny/prevalent...probably aren't anymore :)  So here are a few of the major highlights during the time that I've been off-line!

 

Kai Turned 5!!!

Tate keeps growing...and getting into things!

 

We visited our friend's Fire Department in Poway for family day. The boys loved it!

 Halloween Fun

 

I intend to get back into the swing of more regular blog posts.  Part of the problem before was that my iPhone 4 took a dive into the hot tub when I saved Tate and I had to revert to using my old iPhone 3....which took less than great pics and was sooooooo slow.  When the 5 came out I pre-ordered it and now am the proud owner of one :)  So, I'm back to my old picture taking self and will hopefully be back to my old blogging self too!  Stay tuned!

Time Changes All Things!

In the months since Aubie departed our family a LOT has happened.  We were looking for a new house and found one...but wait, it didn't all pan out.  But it did get us started thinking what we would do with our condo.  At first we thought we'd rent it out.  But really?  Did we want to be landlords?  We decided the answer was No!  So, we listed our house and pretty quickly were in escrow.  It was an emotional journey to say the least.  We actually loved our place.  We liked all that we had done to it to make it ours.  We loved our neighbors.  But we wanted a house.  So, in the end, we sold it.

Fast forward to the present.  We found a rental in Carlsbad.  At first we thought it was going to be too small, too old, too far (a whole 5 miles :) from what we thought we wanted.  But now that it's our rental, we love it!  We are in a house...no shared walls - YAY! We have a pool, are a block from the beach, and a 10 minute walk from downtown Carlsbad.  It's pretty rad :) So, now that we are in a place we really like we can wait for the "just right" house to buy....no rushing to get out of a crummy rental...we can take our time.  So, that's that! 

Below are a few pics of the past months! School ended.  We moved.  We've traveled a little with Jason.  We've been busy.  In fact, just last night I looked at Jason as we were eating a normal family dinner, then sat on the couch and vegged...and said "we haven't just sat in a LONG time."  Seems like we've been packing, unpacking, traveling, planning parties, going here and there for months!  Feels good to be settled and finally able to enjoy summer (which is 1/2 over already!!!).

Several pics from before the move: snacks, J&K surfing, all dressed up, and on the Balboa Ferry

Since the move: daily walk on the coast, swimming in the pool, riding bikes in the driveway

...can you tell I'm usually behind the camera :)

Aubie "Pup Pup" Lewis: 8/9/05-3/27/12

With heavy hearts and tears in our eyes we said goodbye to our beloved Aubie.  In the blink of an eye she went from a vibrant dog full of life, to a pup who wouldn't eat and was withering away.  In the words of Jason...

"Aubie never showed that she was in pain, not even once. Never did she whimper or show the slightest grimace. She might have been the toughest dog I have ever known. She got cancer and we lost her to it. I loved that dog, my family loved that dog, and we will miss her. If you ever got to know her she might bark at you at first, but as soon as she welcomed you, you were part of her pack. She too was a runner; she also loved to chase birds and rabbits, and I believe her favorite past time was plopping herself on your lap on the couch. She was a good dog…We will miss her."

Love you, Aubie Girl! 

Life's Challenges

So, as the old saying goes (I'm sure there's one like this :) "Parenting ain't easy!" While we knew this to be true...lets be honest, we have 2 active boys...2012 started off letting us know just how true that is.  We have spent the past 8 weeks with sick boys.  And by sick, I mean one is sick then the other.  Here and there we've had a few healthy days...like these...

 A trip to the Wild Animal Park, Hiking in the hills by our house, playing at home

Before when I said sick, I didn't mean running noses and coughs.  I meant sick, sick.  First, we started off with Kai having walking pneumonia and Tate having bronchitis.  That lasted a week or so.  Then we had a couple good days.  Then Tate had the flu.  Not the 8-24 hour flu.  But rather, the kind that lasts for days!  Then he was better and Kai started throwing up.  Then Kai was better and Tate got it again.  Then we had about a week of "health" (I use that term lightly - it was more like a week without a diagnosis). 

That was all really the calm before the storm - if you can believe it.  After more coughing and well...coughing...we were back at the doctors.  We were told that Kai had bronchitis and Tate bronchilitis.  Kai got better on meds.  Tate did not.  By day 3 he was sleeping all day and appeared to be laboring to breath.  We were back at the docs that afternoon.  He sent us to the ER. Not that that in itself that isn't worrisome.  But, our doctor is old school.  He's the "wait it out/this will pass" kind of guy.  So when he looked concerned and sent us to the ER, we knew it wasn't good.  After 5 hours and several breathing treatments at the ER, they sent us home.  Two days later, we were still a little concerned. It was a Saturday so we visited a Children's Urgent Care.  At that visit, the doctor said, "I can tell you've been thru a lot this week.  If you want we can admit you to Children' Hospital tonight for peace of mind."  I didn't really want to go.  But after talking to my sister and mother in law (both nurses), I decided :) to go.  While I thought we were ok to drive there, that wasn't an option.  An ambulance was ordered and off we went.  When we arrived and the nurses admitted Tate, they noted "I can't believe they gave you the choice, he's clearly in respiratory distress." Yikes!  And while it started as a night there for "peace of mind"...it turned into 4 days!  YES - 4 DAYS! I was glad to be under the care of professionals and was very at peace once we were there. 

From the ambulance ride, to 4 days in the hospital, and finally happy to be home!

When we got home we figured we were in the clear!  We'd been thru the ringer and paid our dues.  Well...not so.  Super Bowl Sunday, Kai got a fever which only lasted 1/2 a day.  Then 2 days later, Tate got one again.  His lasted 2 days.  I returned to the doctor's office where I burst into tears upon entering the doors.  I had had it!  Hadn't we had enough?!?  I even said to our doctor, "My boys love you, and while we really do like to see you, it's sad that they know you so well...we've seen you more lately than the grandparents." To which he responded "I see your kids more than my own grandkids." UGH!

We seem to be on an upswing.  Who knows how long it will last.  Hopefully longer than the last one :) But while I realize that this has been a terribly challenging time in parenting (not to mention marriage and managing our professional lives) what I do know is that I really appreciate the "good" days.  By that I don't even mean the fun in the sun, busy and happy days.  I mean the healthy, no one has a fever or is barfing, and we're bored at home days.  Those days are something to be thankful for.  Maybe I needed to be reminded of that because I really am cherishing the boredom...the simple days!

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that 2011 is already complete!  We had lots of fun...watching the boys grow and change, taking some local family vacations, some trips farther to see friends and family, and a big adventure to Japan.  It was quite a year.  Here are some monthly Lewis highlights from 2011...

January - Kai was really enjoying the adventure of being a big brother.

 February - This might not be the best picture, but February was a BIG month for us.  Kai gave up his binkies and earned a trip to see Mickey!  He bagged up all his binkies and gave them to Mickey to give to "kids in need" :)

 March - Since I was on maternity leave I had extra time to visit grandparents.  The boys enjoyed trips to my grandma's house (Biz-Nona as they call her).  How special (she's 97 years old!!!)!

 April - Again, maybe not the best picture.  But, it was the first of all 4 of us!  So it's really special to me.

 May - After going back to work, Pappy came to watch Tate.  The boys (and Jason and I :) loved our time with her!

June - We had a scare with Tate and him possibly having seizures.  He had to have an EEG at Children's Hospital.  Thankfully, it was determined that all was completely normal! Phew!

July - We flew to Denver to visit our friends the Pryors.  While we were there, we celebrated or 7th Wedding Anniversary. Time flies!

 August - On the way home from an overnight trip to Palm Springs we stopped at a moto-cross track.  It was at this moment that Kai fell even more in love with motorcycles.  His desire to ride one after this trip inspired him to ditch the training wheels on his bicycle and become an official 2 wheeler!

September - Kai turned 4!  Yep, four!!!!  It's hard to believe.

October - We (just Jason and I!!!) took a trip to Osaka, Japan to visit the Mizuno headquarters.  It was an amazing trip and so nice to be just the two of us.

November - We flew to Maryland to visit Jason's family for Thanksgiving.  This pic was one in a million.  Both kids actually fit in the swing (amazing since one is BIG boy Tate), looked at the same time, kept their eyes open and sort of smiled!  One of my favs from the year - Love it!

December - We took a day trip to Coronado and the boys had fun horsing around on the beach and the rocks.  I Love these two!

I hope that 2012 brings as many fun times, adventures, and more Lewis Family Antics!  Happy New Year to all!