Shakey Shakey

Today we felt the strongest earthquake to hit a populated area of Southern California in a decade, a 5.4 centered in Chino Hills. We were at the Irvine spectrum getting lunch after the free kid's movie, sitting directly next to a floor to ceiling GLASS wall. My friend Maureen and I froze and then grabbed our kids and headed outside. I don't know if that was safer than getting under the table, but it seemed like the right thing to do. And, while I thought the kids might be frightened or excited, the only reaction from any of them was Luke crying for the return of his burrito.

My phone & e-mail was abuzz with everyone checking in on each other. It was entertaining to hear the stories: Will was in a swaying office building, my father-in-law was in an elevator, and one friend saw glass pickle jars fall and smash at the grocery store. My cousin's fiance was at Disneyland, where they shut down every ride resulting in a mass crowding of the lunch-time restaurants. My friend Jenny had just finished saying a prayer with her children when things started shaking--talk about an object lesson.

But the e-mail that made me laugh the most was this one from my friend Stephanie who was shopping in Costco, "You're either going to get squished by a pallet of sliced pears in #10 cans or by a hanging light fixture/big 'ol AC box in the center of the store. All the more reason to get a churro every time I go--at least I'll be squished with a happy sugar high." Amen to that.

And in other news:

This marks my 201st blog post.

We got our first e-mail from Dave today. Despite an interesting (read loud & annoying) comp., he's doing great.

The Big Send-Off, Part II

Tuesday evening we went to see Dave be set apart as a missionary by the Stake President. We each had the chance to tell him something we admired about him and give a few last words of advice. Dave was given many wonderful promises and words of counsel in his blessing.My Mom was so good to completely organize Dave's suitcases, down to every last detail.
The nerves are showing a bit in this picture!
And he's off! God be with you Elder Rose.

The Big Send-Off, Part I

We spent the past week in San Diego to see my brother David off on his mission to West Virginia. It was a really neat experience to come together as a family to support Dave. I know we all weren't prepared for just how bittersweet it was to see him go. We are so proud of his willingness to serve, but we will miss him greatly over the next two years.

Hanging out downtown at the harbor. We thought Dave needed some ocean views and seafood before he left.
Pictures after David's Farewell talk on Sunday.

Discoveries of the OC Fair

1. Ethan discovers bowling.
2. Luke discovers milking (yes, it's a fake!).
3. Grandparents discover how to get all four grandkids on one fair ride (nevermind those height requirements).
4. Bollard family discovers Rock Band is even more fun with a stage and an audience.

Christy's Rag Quilts

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, Ethan got the idea in his head that he'd like a new blanket. Seeing as I don't sew, he decided to ask his Grandma Bollard. She graciously agreed and took him on a one-on-one outing to the "babric store."
Like a good Grandma, she let Ethan pick any fabric his heart so desired, resulting in this "interesting" pirate choice below. She then quickly picked out several much cuter coordinating fabrics to offset his pick (which she cleverly hid on the blanket's backside).
As if this wasn't enough, she's a smart enough (and nice enough) Grandma to know that little brother needs to have everything older brother has.
Embroidery makes them extra special.
Thank you Grandma, we are so happy with our new blankies!

Choice & Accountability

Today I'm having seriously impaired judgement problems.

Bad Idea #1: Swim a lap of butterfly three laps into my workout.
Result: Pull a muscle in my neck and have shooting pain down my neck, back, and right arm. Lose the ability to turn my head to the left, which gets interesting while driving.

Bad Idea #2: Take Luke to get a haircut.
Result: Twenty minutes of being Luke's "human straight jacket", nearly getting stabbed in the eye with haircut scissors, apologizing profusely after Luke kicks hairstylist in the chest, leave the haircut store covered in a mixture of hair, tears, snot, saliva and no shred of pride left.

Bad Idea #3: Buy Ethan a new toy for being so good during his haircut.
Result: After a few hours of happily playing with his new foam dart gun, he gets distracted during a TV show and decides to chew the foam dart pieces to bits and spit them out all over the rug. WHAT?!

Bad Idea #4: Lay down with my kids to encourage them to take an afternoon nap.
Result: Ethan falls asleep, I fall asleep, Luke finds a highlighter pen on Will's nighstand and draws all over my bedspread and his clothes.

Bad Idea #5: Plan several days of crock-pot meals so I can "fix-it-and-forget-it."
Result: Promptly forget my plan and realize at 4:00pm that I've got to improvise tonight.

Maybe tomorrow morning I'll wake up with my brain intact.

Tennis

This is what my boys like to do on Saturday mornings.

I stay home and get things done, alone. It's a great arrangement.
So, thank you to Grandpa Bill for being our photographer.

Let Freedom Ring

Just now getting the 4th of July Pic's posted . . . it was a great day of parades, swimming, music & fireworks.

Luke was serious about waving his flag.
Annual Woodbridge parade. Will couldn't get the boy's flags to stay on their bikes with tape, so he got out the electric drill and he bored holes into the plastic--how's that for patriotism?!
Rockin' out to Grandpa's Band, Kill Bill. My favorite number was their cover of James Taylor's Shower the People.Still waving that flag . . . and in keeping with his patriotic color scheme, he drooled bright blue cupcake frosting all down the front of his shirt. Yummy.

Team Bollard & Bollard

I am happy to report that Will & I successfully met our 4th of July Triathlon goal, which was just to finish the race! We had a lot of fun doing this together and, despite the early hour, it was a great way to start our holiday weekend. We did what's called a "sprint triathlon" (1/4 the distance of a traditional triathlon) and our combined time was 1 hour, 18 minutes--although I have to give Will most of the credit for this, as my swim made up only 6 minutes 5 seconds of this total.

Here's the blow by blow:

Waiting for my swimming heat to start. Ethan & Luke made great cheerleaders, every time I came up to breathe I could see them running along the side of the pool yelling "Go Mom!"
Getting my game face on for the start. I had forgotten just how much I LOVE to compete (Oh, the glory days of CIF . . .)
This is about the point when I remembered why I was a sprinter and not a distance swimmer! Thank goodness none of my high school friends were there to see how much my racing skills have deteriorated in 10 years.
Here is Will counting for me, which was a good thing because somewhere around the 200 mark I thought I had only gone a 150 yards and was relieved to find out I had one less fifty to get through.
Here's Will during leg #2 of the race: 10 miles of cycling.
The transition from biking to running. I poured a water bottle over Will's head while he changed his shoes. I was amazed by his endurance to keep going at this point.
And he's off! Just a mere 3 miles of running left . . .
My Dad came up to cheer us on, loan Will his road bike, and help with the boys. They had a great time with their "Gwanpa Rose."
And here's the big finish (Ethan decided to help Dad cross the finish line):

Del Mar Fair '08

In keeping with tradition, my Mom & I made our annual trip to the Del Mar Fair. My Dad opted out years ago (about the time they started deep-frying the twinkies), and Will usually has to work, but my Mom & I are the die-hards who like to stay all day. The boys' attention spans have now made it impossible for us to browse through the Home Arts buildings, but they've redeemed themselves by becoming our chief entertainment in the kiddie rides section. My Mom spoils them by buying the $30 ticket package and then we laugh like crazy watching all of Luke & Ethan's antics --the highlight this year being the cheesiest canoe ride ever that Luke just adored. And then of course there's the food . . . fried zucchini, the donut machine, gyros, grilled corn . . . we hit all the classics this year. Here's some pic's:My Grandparents met us for part of the day. Here we are at the "Swifty Pig Race," which Luke asks to go back to daily.