You never do know what's 'round the bend....

... A big adventure or a brand new friend. When you're curious, like Curious George!

We took The King to see Curious George and The Man With The Yellow Hat (TMWTYH) a few weekends ago. At first he was a little shy and didn't want to go near George but on our way out of the event it was a different story.

For a while The King has been wondering "How old George is?" So we decided to ask him. Since this George didn't have vocal cords, he held up "10" fingers. TMWTYH on the other hand appeared human with cords and when asked "How old is you?" he replied "40".

The mystery is now solved.

Spin Cycle - Summer

(Mendocino Village)

(The Hubby and I on one of our trips to Mendocino pre The King)

I remember the first time The Hubby took me to Mendocino. We had only been dating a few months. We flew from Vegas to northern Nevada and then drove through the mountains over to the coast. The drive was beautiful and I had no expectations. When we arrived in the little town, I was overwhelmed by its beauty. Everybody had a much different outlook on life than what I was used to in Vegas. They were laid back, relaxed and plain ol' friendly.

The Hubby grew up in Mendocino and graduated high school there. The town is small enough that everywhere we went he knew somebody. There was a real sense of community even though the place is quite popular with the tourists. For those of you familiar with the show "Murder She Wrote" with Angela Landsbury, Mendocino is where is was filmed. Other films have been made there like "Dying Young", "Overboard" and "Cujo".

We traveled the end of August which is also near The Hubby's birthday. His mother had planned a surprise party for him at the ranch. The ranch is 40+ acres along Highway 1. It's green, quiet and made me feel right at home the minute I got there. This was the trip when I met his family for the first time. Although I was nervous they were really nice to me. I remember writing in my journal that I fell in love on that trip.

We've been going to Mendocino to visit the family every year since. Now that we have The King, we don't go as frequently. The 5 hour car ride takes a little longer now. And The King gets carsick (so do I) on the windy roads to the coast. We have a routine though. We drive through wine country and stop at our favorite wineries (to pick up wine, not stop and taste) then in Santa Rosa we stop for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant - La Taqueria. We order the same thing every time - Burritos. They are delicious.

Our favorite time of year to visit Mendocino is in the Fall. We got married on the ranch in September -5 years ago this year. The weather is perfect in September. But it's also really nice in the Spring when all the flowers are blooming. They grow so many more flowers there than we do here in the desert. It's a nice change.

But I think the most fun we have is over the 4th of July. People who used to live in the area always seem to come back for the 4th. It's like a reunion every year. There is a parade, community gathering with music and art, then fireworks on the beach at dark. People come from all over to gather together.

We missed our summer trip last year. The King and I traveled to Michigan last year to visit my family instead. Although we had a really great time, we're looking forward to heading back to Mendo sometime this summer. In the past we've either rented a place or stayed with family. This year we're packing our tents. The plan is to set up camp somewhere on the property. It will be our first really camping trip as a family.

In order to prepare for our trip, we plan to "test camp" in the yard overnight. Seems like we may want to make sure we have all the bugs worked out first. Regardless, I can't wait to sit back, relax and enjoy the beauty of Mendocino.

If you've never been, you should go. I highly recommend it.

For more Summer Spins, stop by and see Jen and others at Sprites Keeper. I love to read about what others have planned.

All about me

Here are some random tidbits about me:

1. I used to be so afraid of thunderstorms that I would wear tennis shoes to bed in case I got struck by lighting while I was sleeping. (you know, because of the rubber soles?)
   


2. I had two bunny rabbits growing up named Rose and Mary. Coincidentally my grandmother had two sisters named Rose and Mary. Nice, huh?
   


3. I was voted the best female driver in my drivers ed class. They gave me a little yellow match box car as a "trophy".
   


4. I swam on the Jackson Swim Team as a kid. Breaststroke was my specialty. I still think the word "breaststroke" is funny.
   


5. I once snuck out of a hotel in Sydney Australia while on a school trip with a group of girls to go meet some boys we'd met earlier. When we got back to the hotel our chaperone's where hanging out in the lobby. Not cool.
   


6. I used to drive a convertible Camaro and thought I was the coolest thing on earth. Now I drive a Subaru station wagon and I know I am the furthest from the coolest thing on earth.
   


7. Me and three friends took second place our senior year of high school in the "Air Band" competition. We were En Vogue. We rocked. My father couldn't/wouldn't attend for fear I would no longer be seen as his little girl. Looking back our routine was very inappropriate.
   


8. I love Faygo Red Pop. I didn't think you could buy it out west but apparently I can get it right here in my neighborhood. Who would have thought?
   


9. My very favorite movie is The Birdcage. I can watch it over and over. I laugh every time. Robin Williams is fantastic and Hank Azeria is priceless. Pirin tablet anyone?
   


10. I'm having serious self esteem issues because only a few people seem to comment on this blog. My mom says she reads it but never leaves a comment. COME ON PEOPLE!! You have a direct effect on my ego.
    
    Happy Hump Day!
    
    

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I've decided to purge my brain and participate in this weeks Random Tuesday Thoughts hosted by the Un Mom. There is a lot of garbage in my brain so I thought I'd give it a try. It's totally cool and totally random. Like totally. (I'm a dork).

I still don't have any answers to my ankle problem. I lie....I did get some answers. I was told:
1.) It's not gout.
2.) It's not arthritis.
3.) You don't have lupus
4.) Your MRI came back normal.

BUT MY ANKLE STILL HURTS!! Needless to say I have the most expensive unknown ankle pain known to man. I have to wear "the boot" for another two weeks until the pain goes away. Cause apparently there is nothing else to do.

We started painting The King's bedroom last weekend. We got the easy part done. Next comes the actual underwater part. It's gonna require some serious patience on my part. And that is going to be tough. The transparency kit came in the mail and looks really cool. Now I simply need to locate an overhead projector.

The neighbors came home from their trip to Disney World on Friday and on Saturday we had hoped they would be willing to adopt the little kitty. We gently mentioned to them that we'd be willing to part with such a wonderful little kitten because of the trauma she was causing the other cat. The Hubby had asked me to try really hard NOT to mention the fact that the little feline is the devil in disguise. I did my best. They actually came over and took her to their house for a "test run" with their other cats. It apparently didn't go so well cause the kitten still lives with us.

The King woke up while I was in the shower this morning. He has figured out how to get out of the crib and each morning we hear his pitter patter of footsteps running toward our bedroom. Today he poked his little head into the bathroom and with his hair all disheveled and sleep still in his eyes he looked at me and said, "Where's daddy?". Good morning to you too, you little booger. He proceeded to say, "I wanna takeashower witch you." Okay I thought. So dripping wet, I hung out the shower while undressing him. While undoing his diaper, he looked up at me as said with a smile, "Mommy, I like ur hair." And he meant it. Too cute.

Work is busy. Life is good. We're looking forward to our yearly trip to Mendocino for the 4th of July. I plan to post more on that for this weeks Spin Cycle so stop back by on Friday.