We had a great day with my Dad and Step-Mom today. Dan and I left early this morning and drove out to their new house. Their community was having a yard sale and we walked around finding cool stuff. I found a book about full-time RVing and I think it is a sign that we need to hit the road more often! :) I also found a car vac that I had wanted for the RV. And a new clock radio for our room (since Tom stole our old one). We moved a couch from Bonnie's Mom's to their new house and we took home lots of great stuff from there. The boys had fun unloading it from the truck when they got home from the movies. Grandma Ann had taken them to see Rio while we were gone. It must not have been a very good movie because I haven't heard a word about it.

Reading Plato

The next book on my list is "The Republic". I can't help but envision Viscini from "The Princess Bride" while I'm reading though. I'm totally confused. I read the Spark Notes online and have a better idea of what is going on, but sure would like to hear from a few people who have read this and learned something from it. For now, I'll keep trudging on.

Vacation Thoughts

My feelings about "camping" have changed since I moved out here to the desert. I used to feel like taking off in the tent trailer was a get-away. We were escaping, for however long, from the city and our crowded surroundings. When I returned I always felt a little sad to leave. I loved our house and our friends, but I loved being out and about in the world. I loved escaping from the neighbors, cars, and  noise. But now it's different. I love my home. I love being home. Taking off in the RV isn't an escape anymore, it's a sightseeing adventure. I love being out, but I'm happy to be on my way home. Driving into my town makes me smile to see familiar surroundings. When I get home, I'm happy to feel the wind and the dry air and to see my animals and garden. I feel at home.

Creation & Earth History Museum in Santee, CA

We got up and took a long walk with Dad this morning. He's been working while we were camping the last few days and we finally had the chance to show him the rest of the campground. Tom was out feeding the ducks while we were getting the breakfast dishes cleaned up and he came running in with big news. He was watching the ducks when a momma duck came out of the nesting box hung on a tree. Then a baby duck came out and jumped to the ground after much coaxing from mom. It was a 7 foot drop!! He was so excited he had to come get us to see it too. It was so cute! There were about 17 babies in there. It was their first time out of the nest. The momma duck stood there keeping all the babies together until the last one came down and then they all walked to the lake and went for a swim for the first time. It was pretty thrilling!

At 10AM, we drove down to the Creation Museum we had heard about. It was an awesome place! You couldn't spend all day there. It is small, but has a great book store. I was so impressed with the building. I could have stayed and spent hours reading all the signs, but the boys grew weary. There was too much to read and not enough to do. I highly recommend going. It is inspiring for sure!

Here's the website if you're interested in seeing it yourself.  http://www.lifeandlightfoundation.org/

Science and Baseball

This was the event we came down south for! Rueben Fleet Science Center hosted a Field Trip Day at Petco Park and a baseball game afterwards. It wasn't quite what we expected since they said there would be players on the field and they would do some physical stuff along with the science of baseball, but they just did some tricks with dry ice and coffee creamer, both of which we have extensive experience with. ;) Although they did give us some cool ideas to try. He he he...

Getting ready for "the show". We saw some friends while we were there!!

Part of the show. They did a great job with it. I was impressed, but just disappointed that it wasn't what they had advertised. The froze things in dry ice and smashed them, imploded a can, made a dry ice bomb, and a flame thrower...cool stuff. Hard to understand though, small PA system in a baseball stadium, my sound friends can relate.

Play Ball! The seats were great! We were up in the cheap seats but it was a great view. We had similar seats at Angel Stadium that made it really hard to watch the game, but these were the best I've had. Can't yell at the players or see them come off the field grumbling like you can at Palm Springs though.

Nikki and Dad are cold! We were in the shade at first but that all changed later in the game, much to my dismay.

The blessed hot dogs. I made them wait until after the 4th inning to go get hot dogs. For cryin' out loud, we just had lunch when the game started! They were worth it though. All the kids were shocked at the prices at the ball park. I warned them, but they didn't believe me. A bottle of beer was $7.75 and there were people drinking everywhere. Crazy. It was enough to stop me from buying anything to drink at all!

It was a great day. For once, the boys left something we planned and looked forward to with a smile. They were very pleased. It was the first big league game they had sat through the whole thing start to finish. The game was disappointing. The Padres lost big time to the Braves. We did get a big #1 finger and Padres baseballs, so that was cool. When we got back to our campground, we went swimming for awhile and filled up on tacos and now we're all relaxing and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, we will be heading home with a couple stops along the way. I can't wait to get back to my desert!

Another Day at Santee Lakes

We went out on the lake this morning!



Notice that Tom has not let go of the steering. He's a little possessive.

We had followers. These ducks kept on us the whole time we were out there. They even jumped on the boat a couple times.

Tom is a serious pilot.

And I had fun taking pictures.

Later in the day, Nikki came with us and we went on the boats again. They spent a long time in the pool and I did a lot of knitting and reading today.



We are only having small problem with the RV. The bathroom floor get super wet when we are hooked up to the water. It happened last summer when we were in Oregon but we thought it was the toilet. It's new now and is leaking more. Bummer. Dan is working on it and I'm sure he'll have it straightened out  by next time. Now the battery died on the camper...weird cause we are hooked up to city power. Ahh the joys of an old camper. Makes it an adventure! :)

We're on an ADVENTURE!

We drove down to Santee, California after our Easter celebrations at Aunt Cindy's yesterday. We're camping at a place called Santee Lakes. It's really nice. We have end spot and it's a weekday so it there aren't a ton of people here. There's a pool, fishing, playgrounds, and paddle boats. The kids are having a blast. We plan on hanging out here again tomorrow and then going to a Padres game/science show on Wednesday. On Thursday we are going to a Creation Museum here in town and then heading home. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Grandma Shelly laying down the law!

This lunch looked great until my BROTHER got in the picture!

This is our camping spot. The boys have fishing on and off all day. No dinner though. :(

Tom is the king of the rock pile!

And an afternoon swim. It is not very warm though, the pool is not heated, and it is windy. The boys shivered all the way back to the camper.

Lizard Rescue

I went to water my tomatoes and found this guy stuck in the net that protects them from getting eaten. The netting says it is "bird safe", but apparently it is not lizard safe. He was a big one and not too happy to be trapped. No worries though, he ran off when I cut him free. He was giving me an evil lizard eye and tongue though. I think he was thinking that if he were bigger he would eat me!

Jake and Baseball

Friday's baseball game was a bit rocky for Jake. At our last practice, he worked for awhile but came to me complaining of being sick. We had been fighting a cold for a few days so I figured it was best to just go home and rest. When we got his game on Friday afternoon, he ran off to warm up with the team but came back to the fence a few minutes later teared up. He was trying not to cry in front of the people, but he said he stomach hurt and he wanted to go home. Odd. We took a minute to go to the bathroom and talk. I worry about him. He has the usual spiel of "I don't know." and "It's just too hard." when he is feeling like crying and he can't explain what the problem is. I asked him to tell me what had been happening on the field specifically, this time, today. He said he went out to warm up and was throwing the ball to Austin but he couldn't throw that far. He asked Austin to move up closer so he took one step. He just kept trying to throw the ball but it wasn't working so he asked again. This time Austin just sat on the grass. It clicked for me. I had felt the same way earlier in the day. Someone doesn't something rude, intentional or not and I just can't recover. Actually, for me the incident I was dealing with is still going around in my head. It hurt Jake's feelings that the other boy was not listening or helping him. That is what Jake would do for someone else and he just can't understand why someone would hurt him intentionally. I sympathized with him but reminded him that most likely the other boy here and in other instances probably has no idea that it bothered him. He needed to play the game anyway since the team needed him to have a game, whether they knew or appreciated it or not. He said he would try and if he couldn't then he would come get me. I told him to act like the Marines he likes so much. Pretend it is a battle that he has to go through and has no other choice. At the end, there will be great rewards...like ice cream and a Mommy shoulder to cry on. And he grinned and ran off.

The game went really well! He made an awesome out at second base (you could see the grin from the bleachers). He caught the ball in right field and looked to first, runner safe, looked to second, runner approaching, threw it there, didn't over throw and the second baseman threw it to the pitcher. AND when he was playing second, he caught the ball but the runner was already safe there. Jake held the ball and walked around the base watching the boys foot to see if he stepped off before he threw it to the pitcher. He knows the game. He may not have all the skills (none of the boys do) but he knows how to play the game. He is always watching what is going on. He is proud of his uniform and being part of a team. He practices constantly, whether it be outside throwing the ball and catching or playing on the XBOX and learning the rules and plays. I'm very proud of him. Watching him (and his brother) among the other boys reminds me that we are doing something right keeping them home from public school and letting them grow up of their own accord.

"The Clouds"

Well, I finished the play. I wish I could here it instead of read it though. I didn't understand much of it, sad to say. I understood the words and what was going on in the play but I had a feeling there was deeper meaning that I was not getting anywhere near. But I did get one thing. Strepsiades getting out of his debts by the "logic" that his son learned sounded much like the politicians I heard talking on TV yesterday. They state something that makes no sense and look incredulous as if we are just too stupid to understand. It makes me nuts!

Coyotes

I love them! I don't care if they come through and eat one of my chickens now and again. They are gorgeous and I love the way they sound. This morning I was sitting here reading and I heard the start of a yip. It was really close, so I went outside to see if I could see them. One yappy call, then another from the other side of the house. Then a steady barking. I stood there for awhile and thought the coyote had left and now a dog was still barking at the smell of them. Then bark turned into a yap and back to a bark, then another yip from behind me. They were talking! I think one was calling more. Don't know over what though. I couldn't see them. But they were very close to the house.

Spring in the Desert

Yes, THIS is my front yard a couple days ago! Do I have enough to thank GOD for?! Wow!

And the next day...

Was fairly crappy!  Crazy! I have to tell you, I'm currently working through getting off of Zoloft and refusing to be on any other anti-depressant drugs. It's hard. I've been on them for about 8 years and when I started them, it was an ugly place for me. Add to that, that it is that time of the month AND those are not as easy as they used to me and you have one pretty grumpy momma. But I slept well last night and have read up a bit and now I'm thinking it will be a nice day to get back on track.

A friend pointed me to a great website a while back that has really helped me. It's called "Depression is a Choice". It has wonderful exercises and quick ways to get your mind back on a happy train of thought. The one that worked best this time was to stop and recognize that you are having depressing thoughts and that they aren't going to help. Write these down for the next time. And that is what I did. When I'm tired or feeling blue, I start to get the idea that everyone hates me and that everyone is an idiot. Well, this may be true, but it isn't going to help me much! :)) Usually, that thought just circles around and gets worse and worse until I explode into a hateful, mean spirited tirade that does not make me or anyone else around me feel any better. Then I decide that maybe the pills would be easier than trying to understand other people's points of view or getting anyone in this house to see my point of view and that there is obviously something terribly wrong with my mind to be that angry at the world. Then I feel like a big loser for a long time. Kinda like a drug addict. It's not a good place.

So here I am, writing it down and refusing to go back. There are lots of things to work on, but today I'm focusing on my family and how much I love them. I'm focusing on being the loving person my husband needs in his life. I'm focusing on the kind and understanding person Nikki needs in her life. And I'm focusing on the attention and help the boys need with their projects. Everything else is second fiddle to that. Or should I say, fifth or sixth fiddle?