Apologies for being a week behind. I knew if I didn't blog this week, I'd lose all 3 of my followers.
The first piece of excitement to share is that Mason's tooth finally came out. He now has a big space in his mouth that a straw can fit through. The tooth fairy came through as promised and the cash was burning a hole in Mason's pocket. He really wanted a Star Wars book. He got on the computer and looked up the ones he liked. It looked like there were some prospects at Target and Toys R Us. We headed first to Target. They had no Star Wars books (despite the online ads). We decided then to try Toys R Us. The only book they had that Mason liked was $50. Unfortunately, the tooty fairy isn't that generous. They had a couple of Star Wars posters he liked though which, of course, were out of stock. I remembered Fred Meyer sold posters, or used to, so that seemed like a good next prospect. We drove back toward our house and tried Fred Meyer. Turns out Fred Meyer no longer sells posters. I didn't get the memo.
Mason was starting to get bummed out at this point. I didn't want to give up though. It then dawned on me that there's a Star Wars store at Clackamas Town Center...right where we were when we were at Target and Toys R Us. We hoofed it back there, found the store on the mall map, and made our way there only to discover that the store is newly out of business. Last hope was the Barnes and Noble on the other end of the mall. I was ready at this point to pony up whatever difference it was to get him a Star Wars book, any Star Wars book, just so we could go home. Fortunately he found just the one he wanted and it was only $4. A win all around.
After the shopping expedition, we went to the DeCiccos for our annual (with the exception of last year) Super Bowl party. Mason was content to watch Star Wars on the computer and the girls played together in Giada's room while the grown ups watched the game.
It was a very busy work week for me as Jan. 31 is our year end. To add to the excitement, Mr. Carl Icahn, who has been buying up Mentor stock since last spring, went on the media voicing his displeasure at Mentor management. Specifically he's upset about the moving up of the shareholder's meeting. He and some other activist shareholders went on CNBC calling Mentor a company run like a "country club" and that changes are needed.
I worked 60 hours last week and never once did I find a golf club in my hand. Where is this country club?
There are some around the office concerned about what Icahn is up to. The comment boards are lit up. I don't really tend to get worked up about this stuff. Maybe it's having been surrounded by business working my whole life but I see this as part of being involved with a company. The one thing companies are not is stagnant. There are buyouts, mergers, shake ups, meltdowns, profits, losses, highs, and lows. The best we can do in periods of uncertainty like this is to show up and do our jobs. I have no crystal ball so who knows what, if anything, will come of all this. I'll be waiting to see like everyone else.
As for this weekend, Mason wasn't feeling good yesterday so we mostly stayed home, aside from taking Siena to dance class. He had a fever that kept coming and going so I wanted to keep him laying low.
Today he was feeling better so we went out and about. I decided to start doing weekly weekend walks with the kids. There are so many parks and trails around Portland that I figure we can go different places every weekend and make it an adventure.
Mason is a good walker. He enjoys getting out and about and is always willing. Siena on the other hand, generally declares herself hopelessly fatigued 100 yards in. Whn she tried that this time, I told her about our upcoming (well October) trip to Disney World with the DeCiccos. We talked about all the fun things at Disney World but that she would need to be able to walk around the parks all day. Mama and Daddy won't be carrying anybody. The mere thought of Disney bliss seemed to be all it took for she enjoyed a good walk with Mason and I at Oaks Bottom Refuge this afternoon. It was so much fun to get out and spend some time with the kids, just getting outside and exploring the town. I think it's good for all of us to unplug for a little while each week.
We had dinner tonight at Yaya and Papa Ron's. To share a quote from Siena:
"Papa Ron, I love you. Yaya, I love you. Mama, I love you. Mason, uh, Mason, I uh, Mason I like you".
On that note...
Thursday was Luis birthday and it brought with it a snow day for Mason. We didn't get a lot of accumulation but had some flurries on and off. Typical Portland...one flake and the entire city goes into a frenzied panic. The kids had no complaints though. Even a little bit of snow is fun.
Someone taught them how to make snowballs too.
After some snow bliss, we all went out to dinner at Red Robin for Luis' birthday. Mason was making a joke of reading the menu upside down. Cracked himself up.
Of course we told them it was Luis' birthday! The kids got a kick out of having the Red Robin crew sing to daddy.
Luis was a good sport too.
This morning we went out to breakfast at the Bomber with the Cruz clan. Junior, the die hard Portland Timber's fan, got Luis an official Timber's t-shirt. Hopefully we'll catch a game or two this year. Andre is a bit of a soccer fan as well.
The boys exchanged conversation about Star Wars.
Siena practiced her Angry Birds on my new phone.
We wore out Trystin who found Andre to be a nice pillow.
The Cruzes and a bomber.
After breakfast the kids and I were ready to resume our Sunday walks, this time downtown at Waterfront park. It was pleasant and dry when we parked. Course, 5-10 minutes in, the wind picked up and the rain came. We're troopers though. Living in Oregon, you have to endure some cold and rain if you want to leave the house.
They especially liked the rocks.
Playing on rocks in Old Town.
By this time, we were pretty cold and miserable. Spirits were good though. I was proud of the kids. They walked a lot in bad conditions, didn't complain, and did great. 
And Tommy earned is worth this week...
