Prepare yourself for this long winded post...Last week we decided to go pay a visit to my sister in Oceanside. Steve had a scout trip, so I took the kids and hit the road. Lori recently had a baby girl and I couldn't wait any longer to see her. It was a little chilly, but my children proved resilient.
Hailee and Savannah
Sadie and Tyson love to explore the marine life
Tyson found a big starfish!
I'm a baby when it comes to the cold!
Sadie's favorite place all weekend. Holding baby Emily! :)
We got Savannah this skirt for her birthday, and I couldn't resist getting a matching one for Hailee. They were so cute dancing around.
In Carlsbad, the flowers were in bloom.
Tyson and Savannah
I caught Tyson doing push-ups
And then checking his muscles. hee hee! So cute!
Tyson begs constantly to go fishing. So the last day, I took him down to the pier.
Here's the fishing crew
Visited with some odd creatures
And some really cool ones! This seal kept coming to see us. 
Here's my fisherman cutting up squid for his bait
He could stay here all day
In fact, we did.. I had to pull him away when it finally got dark. Finally after all that, he caught two itty-bitty fish he was so proud of!
At last, time to venture home. I had to hustle, Steve was making a birthday dinner for me at his parents house! I couldn't miss my own party! The road was treacherous! An hour or so of foggy rain, then wind blowing me to and fro
Then through the dunes, there was a sand storm that fogged up the road
But at last we made it back -just in time. Steve had made my favorite dinner-Hawaiian Haystacks. Steve and his family all pitched in and got me this Beach Cruiser! I've been wanting one for a while! So exciting!
I had to take it for a spin. :) 
My second birthday present ( I know it's still early), was from Dr. Tyler Robison. Notice anything??? Not the tired, it's 11:00 and I need to go to bed look! Oh yaaa! My braces are off! No more tinsel teeth, silver mouth!!! Woo hoo! I'm so happy, and it's not even my birthday yet. Oh wait, one more hour.
Here's her closet after she was done. I'm so happy! One kid down, 2 to go!
So then I walk in my bedroom ready to go to bed last night, when this horrendous smell wafts into my nose! A chemical burning mixed with skunk. It burns my nose. I tell Steve to check on Jasmine (our dog). Sure enough she smells horrible and she's even coughing. Steve then sees out of the corner of his eye something white move. I grab his glasses for him and low and behold there is the skunk, right off our porch. It looks terrified and is just staying put like it's been cornered. I grab the camera and Steve starts getting closer to take a picture. It starts looking like it's going to charge him like a bull, we back off, but not before getting a picture. Can you see it? I wish I could lighten the picture so you could see how cute it is.
A few of the kids creation
I wore my brace and I was cautious. :) It was so much fun! I was a little worried that I wouldn't remember how, but about half way down the first slope, it all came back to me. Just like riding a bike. From then on, I was cruisin. I even kept up with the boys- which was my biggest worry. I did not want to hold them up. This is the most freedom I've felt for a very long time. I've just been hoping for eternity to come so I can do all the things I used to do. So this was one exciting day! Even better that I got to share it with Steve and my kids!
Maybe not nuts for inviting that many, but nuts thinking we could make pizzas and not have a flour fight.
It actually was a great party. After they made pizza, they played games, split up and did a lipsync contest, then danced until the mamas came and took them away. Then this mama crashed!!!
After I was done teaching yesterday, I was walking the last of the students down the stairs and out the gate when Sadie says "Mom there is a huge spider on the gate!" Fully expecting a wolf spider, I was totally freaked out when I saw this!!! I have NEVER seen anything like this before! It looked like a small terantula! It's body was as big as a big grape, so my guess is it is pregnant. I can't kill things this big and look at the location! Not an easy kill! I waited for Steve to get home. It was still there, and he grabbed a broom and hit it a few times, but it fell between some cracks in the wood plank floor and I don't know if it is dead or alive. I am completely freaked out. I'm almost possitive it is a Brown Recluse- which are horribly deadly!!! And if it is pregnant! Aaahhhhh- I'm just going to believe that it is dead! Bug man sprayed the day before, which is why it was out in the day time I am sure. You know- scorpions are one thing- I've killed so many now, I'm not even scared of them- I'm angry at them, but they don't scare me anymore. They can't kill you! Anyway, has anyone ever seen a brown recluse and can confirm my feelings??? Can they get this big???