You Jump, I Jump

I saw Titanic in the theater SIX times.  I've never seen any other movie more than twice in the theater.  After seeing it so many times in the theater, it just wasn't the same watching it on VHS when it came out.  I was too used to the big screen, the surround sound, and the popcorn smell.  So when I heard that my favorite movie (well, it's really a coin toss between this and the Sound of Music) was coming back to the theaters in 3D, I was giddy as a school girl after a basket of Easter candy.

Lucky for me, Mason caught the bug too.  He watched it with me when it was on tv a while back and really liked it so we let him watch the VHS version a few times (we FF'd the "drawing" scene) and loved that it was based on a true story.  He was definitely on board with joining me for the 3D version.

Since it is a 3 hour movie, we enjoyed crazy overpriced hot dogs, popcorn, candy, and Sprite.  Mason was a good boy and turned away during the drawing scene.  We both loved it.  Now I'm just trying to figure out when I can squeeze in theater viewing #8.

Oh yeah, and yesterday was Easter.  We went up to my parents and celebrated the holiday with Barb and Keith (aka the Walkers) and Gena, Jon, and the boys (aka the Morris').  Since Yaya and Papa Ron's house is very much Mason and Siena's domain and it had been a long time since the Morris boys visited, Mason and Siena gave them the full tour, including the fish pond.  Luckily no one fell in, though Quentin (the youngest on the right) tried to push his oldest brother Kaden in once or twice.

  

The kids got to eat together at the kids table and seemed just as happy to be separated from us as we were to finally be at the adult table.

Gena made this super cute bunny cake.

The little girl amongst all the boys.  She's showing off her special Easter hat and gloves.

The boys.  From left Mason, Quentin, Kaden, and Ryder.  Mason and Kaden are 3 months apart in age while Siena and Ryder are 2 months apart.

Mason may be 1.5 years older than Ryder, but they're about the same height.

Time for the big hunt.  We hid the eggs all over the back yard so the kids had to work for it.

It was a full on scrum at times.

Even amongst siblings.

In the end, thanks to a redistribution of wealth, everyone ended up with an equal amount of their favorite treats.

It had been a while since the kids had a chance to play together but they clicked like it was yesterday.  Everyone had a great time.  It was also nice that the weather cooperated.  It was the first Easter that our kids weren't Easter egg hunting in the rain.

This picture speaks for itself really.

Wet Break 2012

Since we'll be in Puerto Rico for 2 weeks in June, we decided not to do anything too big for Spring Break.  Given the weather, that was probably a good choice.  The kids had a nice 2 night sleepover at Yaya and Papa Ron's during the week and I took off Thursday and Friday to hang out with them.  Thursday and Friday were pretty slow and uneventful which is just what I needed after a busy couple months at work.

Friday night after Luis got home from work we took off for our annual Spring Break beach trip.  We knew not to expect too much from the weather and were prepared to make the best of it.  And after a torrential downfall on the drive down, our hopes weren't up high at all for dry weather.  And then there was some snafu involving someone forgetting the key to the condo, having to call the office, all of us standing outside for 10 minutes at 9 PM on a Friday night, and that said someone eventually finding the key in her purse.  But we won't go into that.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at our usual haunt the Spouting Horn in Depoe Bay.  The waitress is always the same and recognizes us when we come in since it's at least 4 times a year.  Mason made a full itinerary before we left so next stop on the list was Agate Beach.  And believe it or not, it wasn't even raining! We all played a little game of tag with the ocean waves.

There's actually a lighthouse there somewhere.  In person it looked really pretty.

After walking around Agate beach, we went down to Newport and walked around the historic bayfront.

This was the only sea lion that was there to visit with us on this trip, though he was rather entertaining for a few minutes.

Water view of the Newport bridge and bayfront.  Oh, and Luis & the kids of course.

Then the hat tour commenced:

I assume these hoodie keychains are a Treyvon Martin shout out.

And the hat tour continues! Siena's facial expression matches that of the Oregon Duck.

Indian Mason!

Not too intimidating on Siena.

After we got back to the beach house, it was time to bust out the kites that Lucinda and Deb gave the kids for Christmas! Siena's is the one toward the front and Mason's a little further out.

The kite pro herself!

Mason had a little trouble starting out.

But then he got the hang of it!  We got some good wind and the kites flew great.

While we were flying kites, Luis went clamming.  Here's his catch.  Why yes, that is one clam.

This morning we spent a fair amount of time lounging around, trying to will the weather to improve and waiting for the tide to go out.  The tide finally receded a little so we went to Devil's Punchbowl as per Mason's itinerary.  It was cold, windy, and rainy.  And the tide was still in too much to see any marine life.  It was a good adventure nonetheless.

Visiting a lighthouse was also on Mason's list but they closed the Yacquina lighthouse due to the strong wind so we headed home.

Less you think I was joking about the amount of rainfall we've had, here's a shot of the highway in Corvallis we passed on the way home.  So much for a 2 lane highway.  We saw many full rivers so this flooding wasn't much of a surprise.

For some reason, the drive home from the beach always seems to take so much longer than the drive there.  For me it's probably because I'm thinking of all the stuff I have to do at home when we finally get there.  Regardless, we made it and it's time to start another crazy week.

Are the Irish Known for Running?

I'm not Irish.  At least not that I'm aware of (dad?).  Because of that I don't generally do much to celebrate St. Patrick's day aside from wearing some token green so that others will leave me alone.  However, for the last 3 years I've participated in Portland's Shamrock Run.  I don't know if it's because of the people dressed like beer bottles or the fact that every third runner is wearing a green tutu, but this is a fun event.

This was my first year participating in the 15k.  That's 9.6 miles to you and me.  The race went well, though I didn't study the race map much beforehand and was not at all prepared when the route took us up Terwilliger past OHSU.  Brutal.  However, I survived and even got a medal/bottle opener to show for my efforts.

Siena missed 2 days of school last week with a fever but was fully recovered enough to enjoy the weekend.

Luis brought the kids down to cheer me on in my race but with all the people (35,000 participants), we couldn't find each other.  It was good knowing they made the effort though.

Mason spent the weekend asking for and performing chores as he seems to have developed a new found respect for the almighty buck.  He cleaned the family room and living room, put away his clothes, and took out all the household garbage.  It only cost me $1.50.  Money well spent if you ask me.

For dinner last night we made a trip to my favorite restaurant, Delta Cafe.  It's a little bit of good southern goodness.  Here's Siena and Luis waiting to be seated.

Besides having the best casseroles and chicken fried steak in town, this here is the finest Arnold Palmer you will ever taste.  Fresh brewed sweet tea and homemade lemonade!  Mmmmhummm.

Well, I have jury duty starting tomorrow so I need to go practice some fanatical rhetoric.

Springing Forward

While I probably say this every year, I'm going to say it again.  I HATE springing forward.  The cruelty of taking an hour away from a Sunday.  I've got a great idea.  How about we don't spring forward or fall back at all!  We'll get our lightness in the spring as ever and our darkness in the fall.  Everyone is happy.  Unlike me today wondering what happened to my hour!

Other than that it was yet another typical Cruz family weekend.  In anticipation for a 15k next weekend that I'm not quite sure I'm ready for, I got a couple of longish runs in this weekend.  I'm not feeling great about how I ran this weekend but I've been running long enough to know that that can change with each run and isn't necessarily indicative of how next Sunday will go.  I'll knock it out next weekend - it may not be pretty though.

Every once in a while I upload pictures and find a surprise.  This is apparently Mason taking a picture of himself on video on the computer.  The kids went to a swim birthday party on Saturday and had an absolute blast.  Made them anxious for more excitement the rest of the weekend.

My Grandpa Art suffered another stroke last Monday which has effected his speech and, more concerning, his ability to swallow.  We decided it'd be a good idea to go visit him today.  His lack of nourishment was evident.  He has lost a lot of muscle mass and is just skin and bones.  He can't speak at all but he seemed to recognize us and enjoyed waving and clapping with Mason.  Siena was sort of frightened to be there.  She hid behind me most of the time.  I asked her afterward if she was scared and she said she was just because he looked different and she is still a little young to understand what was going on and why he looked different.  We talked about it though and she seemed to understand and feel better.

After visiting Grandpa we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.  Yaya got some Grandkid love.

On the way home we learned how much of a car guy Luis is when he popped the hood instead of the gas cap at the gas station.  It's my job as a supportive wife to preserve this moment for posterity.

Happy Ides of March!

Another Typical Weekend

The last few weekends certainly haven't been our busiest ever.  With some hard work and school weeks, it's hard to get motivated to engage in exciting weekend activities.  I've been trying to get my workouts in as I have a 15k coming up in a couple of weeks.  Mason finished up basketball last weekend.  Siena is still taking dance.  And Luis is doing what Luis does on weekends.

Speaking of Luis, he had a birthday last weekend (happy birthday sweetie).  I gave him a new pedal for his Guitar Hero drums.  This afternoon all 4 of us played together for a couple of hours.  Its fun having the kids old enough to play games with us.  Siena sings, Mason and I play guitar, and Luis is the drummer.  We're the Band Cruz.  Or maybe the Siena's.

Saturday Jose and Gloria had a get together at their house.  Siena displays her dinner.

The glowing orb known as the sun made a rare appearance today so we tried to take advantage.  Since we were planning to have dinner with Yaya and Papa Ron anyway, we went up a little early to play before dinnertime.  Siena is starting to enjoy basketball and both kids are getting better thanks to 10 daily push ups each.

Daddy and Siena both scoring!

Yaya wanted to me to be sure to get a picture of the "yellow things" growing in her garden.  Maybe it means winter will someday come to an end.

Mason was excited to get some soccer playing in as well.

Even Yaya showed some game.

Paddle ball with Siena may have been more her speed though.  Regardless, I think we were all happy to be outside for a little bit after 4 months of indoor confinement.

Didn't take long for Mason to make his way to Yaya's computer once we got inside though.  This is a typical pose at home too.

After dinner we went out to the shop to see the progress on the Firebird.  Mason helped Papa Ron with the chrome trim the other week and is showing off his handiwork.  The kid is learning a lot about cars from Papa Ron.  He already knows more than Luis and I combined, though that's not really saying much.

Look what I found looking under the hood of the Firebird!

Just a boy and a tire.

Papa Ron keeps a meticulous garage.  He even built a hanger for his bottles.  Note too that they're all labeled.  Printed labels no less.

Yes, these too are meticulously organized with printed labels.

Every tool has its place.

The whirling dervish can put this organization to the test though.  Or at least she'll test the speed of the shop stool.

I'm sure another busy week awaits but it's nice to have some quite low key weekends to recover.