A little of this and a lot of that

I hate when I wait so long to post. Sometimes when I'm driving in the car I try to tell myself to remember things that have happened to blog about. Then when I finally get around to doing it I can't remember what we did yesterday let alone 2 weeks ago. Lots has been going on so this blog is not in chronological order. Rather, just as I remember things that have come up or as I come across pictures.

My sweet baby boy turned 4 on Wednesday! He has been talking up being 4 for weeks. He will say when I be 4 I am going to sleep on my bunker bed (top bunk of his bed), when I be 4 I'm going to kiss Valentina (schoolmate), when I be 4 etc... Well 4 finally came and what does he say? Am I still 3. I say no, you are 4. Oh man, I don't want to be 4, I like being 3. The morning after his birthday, first thing he asks, am I still 4? Yes, Jake you are still 4. Jake response, ah man! Sebastian and I took donuts to his class to celebrate. It was fun to see him interact with his classmates. He has been talking about a little boy Matthew and how he's going to kick him in the shin. Well I saw Matthew in action and I can see why. Being a preschool teacher is NOT in my future. I don't know how they do it. After school Sebastian and I surprised Jakey by taking him to the train museum. Fun to spend the afternoon doing something he likes to do. We had Jakey's birthday at Pump It Up on Saturday evening. After a very busy day, more to come on that later, we played it up at his party. Lots of fun and I love the 2 hour box party. Quick and easy and in and out, done! Plus, he had fun and got to play with all his friends. You'll notice in the pictures that most of the kids are older than him. That's because he thinks Alyssa's friends and their siblings are his friends too. Love how they all go along with it too.

Jake returning to class after chapel

praying before snack

Jakey and Lincoln

train museum

He would watch trains all day long if you let him

Jakey and his friend Lincoln from preschool

Alyssa and Ytalia

Jake walked around all night with his crown and stick that he continually hit people with. At the end of the night when I dropped off Ytalia he gave it to her. Ah!

Playing basketball with Papa Walt

Jakey and Ytalia

Wouldn't be Jakey's birthday without tears

While Sebastian was away on tour with Pearl Jam in Wisconsin during Labor Day weekend, the Geckos had their first scrimmage. Yes they lost. Hope that isn't something I have to report on too often this season. After the game what else would I do but take the kids to the Getty's new pool for the first official Serrano swim.

This weekend was the beginning of soccer season, both teams. Have I mentioned that not only is Alyssa playing AYSO with Coach Aron and Sebastian coaching the Green Geckos, but she is also playing on the boys Nomads club soccer team. That means practice Monday - Thursday and games all weekend. This weekend for example consisted of 2 soccer games on Saturday, picture day early Sunday morning, 7:15 am to be exact and then another soccer game Sunday afternoon. Thank goodness club soccer only has Sunday games through this month. Poor Lis was sleeping in the car on the way to Sunday's game as well as on the way home. Busy busy weekend. At least we were able to end the weekend with a nice dinner and swimming with the Getty's in their new fancy schmancy pool.

Lis is #6 on Nomads

Alyssa did great in all games. She scored a beautiful goal during her Green Geckos game. Get that on camera you ask? Absolutely not! I was too busy screaming Go Baby, yes go baby continues, as she scored. I'll try harder to take pictures of these great goals. Focus mom, focus! This is her first competitive year of AYSO with goalies and all. Games this year won't be as high scoring. The Geckos lost 2-3. It is quite evident that this season will NOT be like last year. All families from the Fire Foxes have concluded that last year was our "magic season". We all got together last weekend for a barbecue and have decided we must all be together again next season. Every girl lost their game opener on their new respective teams. Together the girls were undefeated, apart everyone lost. That says something. Miss that team and their families immensely.

Lissy is wearing #10 (yes she is excited to be given #10)

I think this is the pass that started her fab goal

Goalie got a little brave and stepped away from the goal and Lis almost scored a goal off her corner kick

Fire Foxes pool party, Irelin and Alyssa
Kailey, Isa and Alyssa
Irelin, Alyssa and Veronica

Fire Foxes, less Sarah

Alyssa started third grade in August, yes that's how long it's been since I posted. She is doing awesome, but is definitely feeling the added responsibilities of the higher grade. No Wednesday's off from homework and no break for the weekends either. She's a smart girl and I know she'll be just fine!

Promise this isn't her first day of second grade. It just looks the exact same. The only way to tell the difference is by her shoes. Too funny!

Papa Walt took Jakey fishing and he loved it. This was his first time fishing and now asks to go back and do it again. Fun!

Jakey had his friends Chloe, Andrew, Ytalia and their families over for swimming and a bbq. I am really enjoying watching Jakey have his own time. Not just being the little brother running around at all his sister's functions.

Alyssa got to leave school early, big special treat in-itself, to go to the Taylor Swift concert in LA. Just Alyssa and dad enjoyed the concert. She gets her love for music and concerts from her dad so it was so apropos that the two of them share this experience. Mom and Alyssa will be attending the Taylor Swift concert when she comes to San Diego in October.

Someone is excited to go to the concert with ticket in hand

T Swift's signature heart with her hands

She looks so happy with her daddy

Alyssa singing her little heart out at the concert

You better believe dad is taking the kids to the track. My kids love being there.

I'm sure there is lots that I'm missing and I apologize for the rambling. Hope you enjoyed catching up with the Serrano's. More soon!

This one is about me

I usually don't post just about me, but need to just this one time. I will post very soon because Alyssa started school and soccer.

Last week I got together with several girlfriends at Dream Dinners. No, this is not the reason I need to post about myself, although the thought of me making dinners is quite unusual. We all had a great time and I was able to prepare several days worth of meals for my family while I was at it. Secorra and I stuck around in the parking lot after our friends left to look at movie times. We were dying to see The Help and decided we needed to go that night to a 9:40 pm showing. We left the parking lot having decided we would go home, put our dinners in the freezer and she would pick me up to go to the movies. Gotta love having your friends live 3 minutes away. I digress, anyway, on my way home I called Sebastian to tell him about my evening and that I would be home in 10 minutes and that I was going to the movies. We both laughed about what an unusual night it was for me. First I was out at night making dinners and then I was going to the movies at 9:40 pm! I can't stay up late EVER and here I was planning to go to the movies at 9:40 pm. Anyway, I won't go into details about the events that happened on my way home, considering my probation friend Secorra thinks I may end up in court. (I didn't do anything wrong, just saw something very wrong). The point being that I did see something very wrong, called Secorra who was driving behind me and she stayed with me for 3 hours on the side of the road. Not only did she stay with me, she was my calming force, made sure our faces didn't show up on the news AND she tried to convince the officer to let me leave to use the restroom. One can only hold it for SO LONG! During the night while sitting in my car I really wanted to be able to tell her to go home and be with her family. I even told her this, but she wasn't having it! There are moments in your life when you realize who your true friends are and those that aren't. Not that I didn't know we were all really good friends, but this really solidified it. Not many people would sit for 3 HOURS on the side of the road, late at night with your family at home, in a car STARVING! We only had one small bag of smart popcorn to share. The point being, she did! I am so thankful to her for that. Not one day has passed since that evening that I haven't thought about what happened or what I saw. It truly makes me appreciate my normal, stable life and all the wonderful people in it! Secorra knows I blog, she even joked about me blogging about her nasty cut on her toe. Not blogging about your nasty toe cut, but am blogging to say THANK YOU, especially for making time in your tight Friday schedule to cry with me while watching THE HELP!

School has begun for Jakey. Big big sigh! I can't believe my baby boy is starting his last year of preschool. He is officially in Pre-K and on the upper campus or "upper camp" as he says. His class size has doubled and he only has one familiar face in his class from last year. Luckily he sees one of his friends on the playground. We are fortunate enough that his teacher is Ms. Eva. This was Alyssa's very first preschool teacher. She's wonderful and is making the transition easy for Jakey.

Walking into school

The face after he was picked up

Being excused from class

Outside his classroom

We got to enjoy a few quick day visit with Mike and Tammy from Colorado. Went to opening day at the races, quite the experience. Great place to people watch though. Their stay went way too fast! Hope to see them again soon!

Sebastian and Mike at the Field downtown

Jakey enjoyed a day out with his buddies from his old preschool class. Old Poway Park to ride the train, play in the park and eat lunch, great afternoon! He so enjoys his own time with mom and his friends. It's so fun to see him have his own things to do.

A quick cute story. A few days before we had our play date I received a text from Ytalia's mom. The text read

Ytalia started school today on the lower campus she said Jake must be sick because he was not at school. I tried to explain he was in another class. She said would have to visit him because he is probably worried about her.

So cute! Poor kids didn't truly understand that they would all be in different classes going to school on different days. Bummer!

Ytalia, Jakey, Chloe and Andrew

They were all so happy to see each other. They were giving each other a great big hug!

Jakey and Ytalia at lunch

Friday night we stopped in for a quick bowling trip before the coaches had to rush off to the soccer draft. I won't say much about the draft because no need to dwell on negative things or shaddy people, but I will say that I am really proud of our coaches (Sebastian and Aron) for doing things the RIGHT way ALWAYS! Regardless of what others say or do, they know it's all about the girls. I love them both for that! The girls on this year's team are very lucky to have two great coaches. We are all very sad not to have one returning player from last year, but very happy that this will be the 5th season that Isa and Alyssa will be together.
I will say though that it was fun to sit and get texts from the coaches as we sat on the couch anxiously awaiting the names of the new players. Here's looking to another awesome season!

Pictures from our Vegas trip compliments of Mrs. Secorra Getty. Guess I've got a blog follower! Thank you!

Shark Reef Aquarium. Favorite pic!

Shark Reef Aquarium

This sign was so cool! As you walked by the picture moved, like water. Fun!

On the tram ride to our day adventure while the men golfed.

Jakey and Auntie TT

First night in Vegas at dinner. Ah love!

Last night in Vegas. Dinner at Tao. Could not get a picture with my eyes open. If you saw how bright the flash was, then you'd understand

Stay tuned for SOCCER SEASON! Practice starts this week. Soccer season keeps me on my toes and I generally post weekly. Hope that is the case this season.

We have been keeping busy this summer. Alyssa enjoyed a week of soccer camp with all but one of her Fire Foxes soccer team members. The girls got right back into playing together again. The camp coach knew they were a soccer team and even referred to one of the girls as "Fire Foxes" all camp. Jakey was invited to his very first playdate during the camp with one of the girls' little brothers (more on that later) so Sebastian decided to take all the girls, plus a brother, for lunch and bowling. Pretty brave if you ask me. Kids all had a great time, but I would venture to say Sebastian may have had a better time having the team together. We ended camp with a fun swim party at the house. So nice to enjoy a Friday afternoon with a majority of parents and all the girls. What a special season/team it was last year. Soccer drafts are in a few weeks so we shall see if any of the girls will be together again. Fingers crossed!

Alyssa (believe it or not she is the youngest of the group), Sarah, Irelin and Isa

Brendan and Kailey

Jakey has been enjoying a little social life himself these days. As I mentioned above Jakey was invited to a playdate with another one of the little brothers. This was his very first invitation to have his very own playdate. I was a little nervous about him being dropped off and behaving, but apparently it went really well and he was happy to be doing his own thing. And a few days later Jakey had another playdate. This time with the little girl he adores so, Ytalia. They invited us to the Children's Museum. On the way to our playdate in the morning Jakey asked me to stop at the donut shop by his school (Krispy Kreme) to get a donut for Ytalia. A chocolate sprinkled one. WOW, he can actually be thoughtful. Guess that's what a little crush will do to a little boy. He was so happy to see her. He followed her around the museum and was so proud to show her the trolley's that drove past the museum. We walked to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch and he walked the streets downtown holding her hand so proud. So funny how young it starts. It was so cute to watch him like he was on a little date. He has another playdate with her this weekend to see trains. Trains and Ytalia? What a day he is in for.

Jakey and Ytalia at the Children's Museum

Walking to lunch

Enjoying dessert

We roadtripped it to Vegas a few weeks ago with our good friends the Getty's. Great weather, great friends and Vegas, what more can you ask for? Sebastian even surprised us by bringing along Auntie TT. She watched the kids one evening so we could go out and have a nice dinner and gamble a bit. Thanks, Taylor! We headed back just in time to take Jakey to Ytalia's birthday party on Friday evening. We were tempted to stay one more night when I saw that Nick Lachey would be hosting an evening in Vegas, but I declined just so Jakey could finally go to Ytalia's party. Jakey asked me many times prior to her party, "did I just already go to Ytalia's party?" How could I deny him? Overall fun trip and I even think we passed the travel test. Woot woot! Aloha anyone?

Only picture I took the entire vacation. Maybe Secorra will share a pic or two? Hmmm?

After Vegas we needed to fill a weekend with something fun to do so we rented a cabana at Knott's Soak City. The kids (less Jakey) enjoyed the water park. Jakey was content sitting in the cabana. What is wrong with that kid? Don't answer that. Haha! Another chance for Alyssa to hear me scream on a water slide. Sorry, but going down a tube in pitch black and then exiting the tube to slide up and down the side of a big funnel definitely constitutes LOTS of screams!

Four kids under those towels. Long day at the water park

Alyssa spent a week at SeaWorld camp with three of her kinder friends. The kids are all growing and changing, but it's still nice they like spending time together. The campers were told they would not be riding Journey to Atlantis. The one thing Alyssa really wanted to do was ride Journey to Atlantis so Carol and Sean invited us one evening after camp to ride the rides. How many times in a row can the mom's ride Journey toAtlantis at night before calling it quits? That would be 4 times! The kids got a kick out of listening to me scream each and every time. Guess there might be a pattern with me, if a ride is involved then that equals mom screaming.

We spent this past weekend camping at Lake Jennings. No toyhauler involved. Just the families, a tent and nature. Gotta love it when the moms run to the grocery store and come back to camp being completely set up. Love the men! We stayed two nights or maybe I should say one and three quarters. The first night after the kids and moms headed to bed the entertainment started at the campsite next to us. The gentleman (I use that term extremely loosely) started his rants and musical concert. With the radio blaring he started his yelling. A visit from the campground supervisor and a visit from the Sheriffs did not stop this man. He demanded a return visit at 2:30 am from more Sheriffs, paramedics and fire fighters before the ordeal was over. I'm just saying this could have made a great episode of Cops! During the ordeal Jake had issues with asthma that caused Sebastian and I to head home at 4:00 am. I promise this was not a ploy to sleep in my bed and take a warm shower the next morning. With Jake medicated and a little sleep we headed back to our campsite for a day of relaxing and a paddle boat ride on the lake. Let me just say they should warn you that it's tougher to paddle back in than out.

Jakey and Mady watching a movie in the tent

Roasting marshmallows

The girls in the morning hanging out

Jake starts school this week. Can't believe this is his last year of preschool! Where on earth has the time gone! Sigh!

Getting soccer pointers from Brendan

Summer is here!

I've been horrible with pictures lately, so be forewarned this is a picture-less blog. BORING!

We had a great Father's Day. Spent the day exactly as Sebastian wished. Pizza Port, homemade dinner and swimming. Perfect Sunday and Father's Day. He's such a wonderful dad and person. He deserves at least one day a year to do exactly as he wishes.

Jakey finished his first year of preschool a few weeks ago. It honestly feels like just yesterday I cried dropping him off with hopes he wouldn't hit kids or misbehave. I'm so proud to report he had an amazing year! No tears at all (with the exception of his first day of school when I picked him up). His teachers were so complimentary of him on the last day of school. All the amazing things a parent wants to hear, he's a good friend to others, he shares, he has lots of friends, he listens in class, etc. Why the heck doesn't he do all of those wonderful things on a daily basis at home? Well I guess it's better that he puts on a great public face and he lets loose at home. He's grown so much since he started school. Not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. He found his "first love" (I'm sure of many to come). He was even invited to a play date with her this weekend. He's so excited. His speech has vastly improved. There are still some words that even mom has to ask him to repeat, but for the most part he doesn't speak "Jakey" anymore. He's really coming into his own and it makes me so happy and proud to see.

We ventured out to the fair this year. We seem to go every other year. Once we go we always say the same thing, "nothing new this year, no need to go again next year." It's so true! It's always fun, but not necessary to go every year. The kids had a lot of fun on the rides and it was great to see Jakey enjoy himself on the rides and pick which ones he wanted to go on. He was so happy to be able to go on them alone and seemed really proud of himself.

Jakey is growing up so fast. He even told me the other day he's not a baby, he's a little man. Not kidding. He was talking about a girl and said she could be his princess and he would be the little man. Girls, watch out!

Off on a quick family road-trip next week. Hopefully I'll remember the camera and remember to charge the battery.