Weekend Fun!

We started off our lazy weekend with playing some Wii on Friday night.  Tim and Trent had fun playing Lego Star Wars.  They are very serious about passing levels.  I played for a bit, but they were too intense for me.

Playing the Wii.

Since it was raining most of Saturday morning we played inside.  Tim and Trent organized his Legos so it would be easier to recreate things they have built before.  I was happy they were organizing.

 I love Trent with his Davy Crockett hat.  So cute!

They took a break from organizing the Legos and used the force for a bit.  Trent was using his Jedi mind powers (brainwaves) to force the ball up the tube.  It was so cool.

Trent in action.

The sun finally came out and we headed outside to practice rollerblading.  Grandma Cindy bought Trent rollerblades and safety gear on Friday and Trent was convinced he could only practice standing up today.  He surprised himself because he did a lot more than just standing. He rollerbladed about a mile and a half. There were a few falls, but no tears (the best part)! Tim had his rollerblades on too and Trent was very impressed with how well Tim rollerblades.

He practiced getting up by himself.

Standing.

 ROLLERBLADING!!  YAY!

So awesome!

As I am writing this post Tim and Trent are playing Lego Star Wars...deja vu.

Millennium Falcon Mission...Accomplished!

Santa brought Trent the Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon, which has 1,254 Lego pieces. He was so excited to see it on Christmas morning and could not wait to get started building it. Tim and Trent tackled this project and completed it in two days.  They were so proud of themselves and Trent has been having a great time playing with it.  The best part is the Millennium Falcon is still intact.

So happy!

 That's one big ship.

My New Car!

I bought my first new car in 1997.  I financed my 1997 Honda Civic all by myself and to say I was proud of myself would be an understatement.  I was ecstatic and had worked so hard to buy my new car.  The Civic was a great car and was so good to Tim and I while we lived in Connecticut.  It made it across the country back to California and continued to be a reliable car until we sold it in 2004.  With the arrival of Trent in 2004 I needed a bigger car, so we bought a new 2004 Ford Explorer.  The Explorer was a good car, but was totaled in 2008.  At that time, gas prices were high and Tim was driving the truck back and forth to Century City five days a week and we were spending a lot of money on gas.  So, instead of me getting the new car, we got Tim a Toyota Prius.  It made economical sense and the Prius has saved us a lot of money.  Tim had the Prius and I took over driving the big ole' truck.  I love the truck and love being higher than the other drivers.  There are a few problems with the truck...I hate parking it, I have no trunk, it's a gas guzzler, it now has 150,000 miles on it and recently we have been putting more money than we would like into it to keep it running. For awhile now Tim and I have been talking about what car I should get because it's time to park the truck.  

I come from a family who knows a lot about cars, so by default I learned about cars and can name just about any car on the road just from a quick glance.  So, I have been keeping my eye out for my next car.  I didn't want an SUV, but a crossover.  Something with enough room, but not too big.  I didn't want to feel like I was driving a truck.  

Tim started researching cars and really wanted to get me a car for Christmas.  I wasn't cooperating the way Tim would have liked for that to happen, so after a 6 hour drive home from San Francisco a few weekends ago and with me wearing what Trent thought were my pjs Tim pulled into the Toyota dealership at 8pm for me to test drive a few cars.  I had no choice, but to comply.  Not only was I dressed in "pjs" it was raining, a light rain, but raining nonetheless.  The saleswoman must have thought we were nuts, but she was ready to sell us a car.  I test drove the new Prius V, which is station wagon like, the Venza and the Highlander. I liked the Venza because it's a crossover and it drove really nice.  The Highlander was nice too, but too big and nothing special.  The Prius V was fun to drive, but did we really need another Prius.  Tim was happy that at least I test drove a few cars and we could move forward in the car selection process.

The following weekend we started at the BMW dealership and Tim insisted that I sit in the station wagon and X5.  I was insistent that we were not buying a BMW.  I sat in the cars, but they are just not in our price range.  We then went to the Subaru dealership in hopes of test driving the Forester.  The salesman was this young guy who was trying so hard, which was a bit annoying.  We didn't get to test drive the Forester because it had a dead battery.  They tried to jump start it and it wouldn't even turn over.  We waited a few minutes and then told the salesman that we were leaving and thanked him for his time.  It was an odd experience to say the least.  

The last dealership of the day was Ford.  I wasn't interested in the Explorer and have had my eye on the Edge.  My Mom had been telling me that the Flex is the cool Mom's car (not sure if I am a cool Mom).  I don't like the Flex, but gave it a try and sat in it.  It's like sitting in a box and I wasn't impressed.  We had been at the dealership for awhile and was finally greeted by a salesman and I told him I wanted to test drive the Edge, which is Ford's crossover.  He quickly got the keys and we went for a ride.  I really liked the Edge.  Tim said I had the biggest smile after driving the Edge. 

Now, I had test driven all the cars that I wanted and Tim took over from there.  He researched three cars: Prius V, Toyota Venza and Ford Edge.  He had an elaborate spreadsheet comparing the three cars.  He was dealing with the salespeople about the financing and so forth.  The only thing I had to do was tell him which car I wanted.  You think that would be the easy part, but it wasn't.  I liked the Edge, but liked the Venza too.  The Prius V was eliminated pretty quickly because the financing wasn't great and we didn't need another Prius.  So it was down to the Edge or the Venza.  Tim had a weird feeling about the Venza, it hasn't been out too long, it didn't have great reviews and the 2012 weren't even in and the 2011 selection was pretty slim.  On the other hand, the 2012 Edge's were in and were selling quickly.  Ford has hit the jackpot with the Edge and it has gotten good reviews.  After a few days of going back and forth about which car to pick I finally decided on the Edge.  Tim was so happy that I had made a decision and quickly made contact with the salesman and got the ball rolling for me to get my new car.
Tim wanted to get me my dream car.  He asked me what options were a must have...a moon roof of course!  With the options I wanted an Edge was found in El Cajon.  The car was driven up to the dealership and was waiting for us.  On Monday when we went to Legoland we never thought we would have time in the evening to go get the car, but we did.  Traffic was so light and we made it to the dealership an hour before closing and I drove home in my new car. Since Tim had been in contact with the salesman for the past week the paper work had been in the works and everything went so smoothly.  I was so excited and nervous to be driving a new car. It definitely wasn't like driving my big ole' truck.  

Driving home with a big smile.

My new car!  I love it!

I have had my car for one whole week and I love it.  One of the cool options is the My Ford Touch, which syncs with my iPhone without the phone having to be pulled in...amazing!  I can listen to the music from my phone and all my contacts are downloaded...amazing!
I am so thankful and grateful to Tim for putting so much time into getting me my dream car.  I really just had to test drive a few cars, tell him the options I wanted, sign a few papers and I was handed the keys.  He did all the hardwork and I thank him for that.  I thank him for working so hard to provide for our family and to be able to buy me a new car.  He is an amazing man and I love him so very much!

Who went camping? Tanya! No way!

Since we weren't up in Lake Arrowhead or out in Oxnard for the holiday weekend, we decided to go camping on New Year's Eve. Tim and I were throwing around ideas of what we could do and when he mentioned hiking up to Henninger Flats and camping for the night and I said that I would come along I don't think Tim could believe his ears.  Tim and Trent were so excited that I would be coming along on the adventure.  I had done part of the hike to Henninger before, so knew kind of what to expect.  I knew to expect it would be hot since we would be in the sun most of the time. There is hardly any shade, which at times can be brutal. We headed out mid-afternoon on New Year's Eve and slowly made our way up 3 miles to Henninger Flats.

The start of the hike.

 It was hot...slow and steady was key to making it up the mountain.

 Yay!  We made it!

The campground is really nice, has lots of shade and most importantly has flush toilets.  There were just two other couples camping, so we had plenty of room to spread out.  We enjoyed the sunset, made smores, watched a nature movie, played cards and I think I was asleep by 8pm.  

Mr. Hiker

 Me, Trent and Trent's doggy.

 Freddy loves to come along on the adventure.

 Enjoying the sunset.

 Beautiful sunset

 City lights

In the morning, me and Freddy hiked down the mountain, while Tim and Trent hiked 6 miles up the Mt. Wilson Trail to Manzanita Ridge and then back down.  They hiked a total of 11 miles on New Years Day.  I picked them up around 3:30 and they were exhausted.

Good Morning 2012!

 I am ready for the hike down.

 Trent along the trail.  He is such a great hiker.

I am so glad I went along on this adventure with my boys. I am still sore from the hike down the mountain, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have though made it clear to Tim that one night sleeping in a tent on the ground is my limit, but he seems to think I am joking.  I am not!

Legoland

After a busy two days celebrating Christmas we were up early Monday morning to head down to Legoland.  Tim had the day off, so I figured we would take advantage of that and planned to spend the day at Legoland.  Trent has been wanting to go to Legoland since Spring Break, so when we told him where we were going he was so excited.  He has always loved legos, but recently has gotten really into them and loves creating battleships. Legoland recently added a Star Wars legos exhibit and I knew he would love to see that.

We were on the road by 7:15 a.m. (which felt so early) and arrived at Legoland at 9:00 a.m. Since Legoland didn't open until 10:00 a.m. we went to the Sea Life Aquarium first.  The aquarium recently opened maybe in the last year.  The sea creatures were beautiful and everything still looks so new.

Tim being nutty.

Tim pointing out fish to Trent.

A very active octopus.

 Building a legos sandcastle.

 Trent taking after Tim and being nutty.

 A smiling eel.

There were sharks swimming around.

Stingray

I love seahorses.  They are such interesting creatures.

Trent being brave and touching a starfish.

Oh no the shark is going to get Trent!

After the aquarium we headed over to Legoland.  The last time Trent was at Legoland he was 3 and since Trent has a memory like an elephant he said he remembered somethings from his visit way back then. 

We started with building a race car and then racing it down the track.

Then we headed to Miniland USA.  I love this exhibit.

 The White House with the Washington Monument in the background.

 The Capitol

 New York City

San Francisco

  Trent with Darth Vader

 Trent was all smiles when he was walking around the Star Wars exhibit.  

He thought it was so cool. 

Trent with his pals Chewbacca and R2D2.

A jousting knight.

Tim and Trent went on a fun ride and tried not to get wet.

Tim was a bit scared.

Where did Trent go?

  The water might get them... 

 They escaped without getting too wet. 

All smiles.

Having fun with legos.

 They built their bionicles and now they were ready to battle.  

Playing a video game.  This day couldn't have been any better.

Love Trent's funny face.

 We cruised around the lake and saw some cool legos.

 Mt. Rushmore

 New York City

Tim and Trent pulling on the rope to lift them up and away.

They made it.

One big Christmas tree made out of legos.

 Having fun sledding and playing in the snow. 

  The last ride of the day was a fun one.

 Cutie pie!

We had a fantastic day at Legoland. The weather was perfect, the crowds weren't too bad and it was great to spend the day with my two best guys.