Pacific Life Holiday Bowl

The big game will be aired on ESPN on December 30th. Kick off is 5pm (PT) so if you add two (CST) or three (ET) for your appropriate time zone, you can tune in to watch. Our Cowboys will be taking on the Oregon Ducks, and we hope for a win to end the season with a 10-3 record. If this is accomplished, it will only be the fourth team ever at Oklahoma State to have ten wins in a season. What fun to be a part of it all . . . okay, so I am not so much a part as a close observer, but it is quite an experience.

San Diego Zoo

We had a short, but enjoyable visit at the zoo. Robbie chose the elephant as his "must see" animal; Alexa chose the giraffes. Lucky for us, the giraffes were having snack time so for $5 of our per diem money, Robbie, Alexa, and I each got to feed a giraffe a special treat. Very cool! I only captured Alexa on film, but I think our friend got some shots and the zoo people take photos and put them on-line somewhere, so maybe after I track those down I will be able to add more. I think the giraffe's 18-inch tongue was as long as Alexa's whole arm!

Hotel photos

Good Morning from a much sunnier San Diego

Not much happened yesterday as the photos above show. We hung around our room, walked around the hotel to check things out, played in the "children's hospitality room", invited some other moms and kids to dine with us in our room where we served cupcakes (with candles) for dessert to celebrate Jesus' birthday. The day did not feel like Christmas at all to me, but having the company come over for dinner helped add some festive feel to the day. I have some photos of the room that I will try to put in a slideshow and post soon. Today we are heading to the zoo, so we should have some photos and stories to share from that excursion.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from (not-so-sunny) San Diego

It's cloudy, drizzling, and windy here today, but it is Christmas! We hope you all have a blessed day with family, friends, safe travels, and whatever else may be a part of your day. We began our day with a powdered donut breakfast. The kids are already asking what we are going to be doing next. Today is a low key day around here for us though, thus the answer so far is nothing. Am going to get back to the troops for now but will share more later.

On to San Diego

I just read Rob's commentary on the trip I took with the kids. I may indeed be crazy, but they did such a good job with everything I would do it again in a minute! Anyway, we managed to get all the laundry done, bags repacked, house straightened up, and arrived on time at the Stillwater airport to get on our chartered flight to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl trip. And, BOY, what a trip it has been already!

We arrived at the airport and were given first class "tickets" -really just slips of paper with our name and seat assignment. Some kind soul (or intolerant one who sat by crying Rachel on our return trip last year) decided that the families with young children should get to sit in first class seats this year. I'll tell you, they were nice seats! I have sat first class once before, but doing it with four children in tow really makes you appreciate the room all the more. I actually changed Cole's diaper on the floor between our seats and the row in front of us. For anyone who has ever flown coach, you realize this is a feat impossible there.

Note- No tears from Rachel this year. Maybe she is just a "first class girl".

Robbie wandered up to the cockpit and got to visit for about five minutes with the pilots and got a quick rundown of how things worked. His friend said he was up there "telling them what to do" and my reply was "I certainly hope they don't listen". Robbie's comment when he came back to the seat, "There were a LOT of buttons."



The three hour flight went well, but involved a lot of seat switching with our group. These flights are very relaxed though, so we just blended in with everyone else.

Our hotel (The Hyatt) is right downtown so it was only a 15 minute ride from the airport. Upon arrival and receiving our room keys, we went upstairs and found that not only did we have adjoining rooms (which we generally get when the kids accompany us on a trip) we actually have a suite with a HUGE parlor area between the bedrooms. The whole setup is probably twice as big as the first apartment we lived in for two years when we first were married. We have a dining room, a kitchen (including all but a stove/oven), living room, three bathrooms, and two bedrooms. Kiddie goodie bags (backpacks with crayons and snacks) were waiting for the kids. Beverages (water, soda, and the adult variety), fruit, nuts, and fancy snack tray were waiting for us as well. The lights were all and music was playing. This hotel (in conjunction with the official hosts of the Holiday Bowl) really play up the hospitality here.

We arrived in San Diego around 3 p.m. (PT) and we have done the following so far: a grocery run (Krista), set up/play in the hotel training room (Rob/kids), set up practice stadium training room (Rob), played in our room, played in the kids' "hospitality room", eaten dinner, put kids to bed, visited the adult hospitality room (Rob), and logged on to internet using the VIP guest login/password for free internet use.

In summary, there are some perks for Rob working the hours he does all year long. Although he is more important to me than the perks, it is nice to pampered like this and know that he (and his role in the program) are recognized and appreciated. More photos and updates as the week progresses.

Brave.....Amazing.....Crazy?

Krista has taken the kids back to Indiana this weekend to visit with family and friends. She left of Friday with all four, and drove for 12 hours to reach her first destination. She proceeded to drive another hour for a family gathering the next day. Followed by a 1.5 hour drive the same day to visit more family. She made a short trip to visit a friend and now is making the 13 hour drive from there back to Oklahoma.

All reports are that all is well through all of the driving, visiting, sleeping, eating, etc. Krista will arrive back with everyone late tonight (appx. 1:30 AM). We will be here for a day before departing for San Diego for a week at our bowl game. We will then pack back up and drive back to Indiana for more visiting, eating, sleeping, etc. with my family.

Krista is unbelievably BRAVE to take on such a trip. I know how stressful that trip is with both of us going together. Who knows, maybe I'm the one that adds all the stress to the trip!!!! Anyway, she is never one to shy away from a challenge and for her to make this trip alone is nothing short of AMAZING! I thought she might be CRAZY as we talked before she left, but she is the farthest thing from crazy. She values her family/friends and will do whatever it takes to make sure the kids get to see their Uncle who lives in Austria, visit with Aunts and Uncles for their Christmas gathering, spend time with Great Grandparents, and see old college friends. No distance is to far for this lady.

What an INCREDIBLE woman!!!

Aaaaah

Rachel and Cole are playing with their pretend food and setting up a bit of feast here next to me (I am sitting on the floor sending an email to my friend Christine), and all of a sudden Rachel grabs my hand and Cole's to say "payrs" before she takes her first bite! How sweet is that? Now they are chowing down like little piggies- oink, oink! I am sure a skirmish will break out before long, but those little "aaah moments" that make my mommy heart smile get me through each day.

Weather in Oklahoma

Today it is 60+ degrees here in Stillwater. Pretty nice for mid-December if you ask me! The "problem", if you ask me (and since you are reading my blog, I will assume you did ask), is the wind. I don't really know the speed at which it is blowing, but it is strong enough to blow a small child over. Rob took the kids out to enjoy the warmth and Rachel refused to stay outside. I don't think she could walk. Cole is significantly bigger than her, so I think he was able to hold his own.
And, did I hear someone ask about tomorrow's weather? It is supposed to get to the mid-70s in the afternoon with freezing rain in the evening. Figure that one out!?

Co-sleeping

They haven't slept in the same bed together since they were four months old . . . until today!

Cole is a habitual climber-out-of-bed. He only does it at nap time (and in the morning when he wakes up) and he usually plays with a few toys and then falls asleep in his bean bag or on the floor. Once things quiet down, I go in and put him in bed. This week though he has been climbing into Rachel's bed. She doesn't mind if it is play time, but she usually shouts at him if she is trying to fall asleep. I guess today they came to some kind of agreement because when it got quiet, this is the scene that I walked in on. Too cute!

P.S. In case you were wondering, I did put him back in his bed after I took the picture.