All Aboard the Hogwart's Express!

Fall break is upon us and so is a family dream vacation!  Our obsession with all things Harry Potter will be further heightened when we go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando.  Our flight will take off tomorrow and let's just pretend we are boarding the Hogwart's Express instead of a US Airways jet.  Our first priority will be to see ALL of the Wizarding World and then venture to the rest of the Universal Theme Parks.  But not only will the kids' dreams come true, so will that of Rob.  After 3 days in the parks we are going to Daytona Beach and of course, the Daytona International Speedway.  Rob will have been to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Daytona International Speedway in the same year!  Wow!

So I write this blog to pre-warn you that the future postings will be Harry Potter laden, with some beach and race track pictures sprinkled in.  And to get you into the spirit, here is our little Gryffindor....

That was a few years ago!

 

This Gryffindor deserves to see Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for real.......

or at least as real as it can get!

Happy Birthday Spenser!

Eleven years ago today our little Buddy was born.  He was a cutie patootie then and now he's plain awesome and rockin'!  To celebrate his big day, Rob picked him up from school early and then it was off to Peter Piper Pizza for buffet lunch.  Then the boys did what boys like to do, race go-karts. 

Normal birthday tradition includes dinner, then cake and presents.  Unfortunately Sienna's first band concert was the same night of Spenser's birthday, so tradition had to be broken.   He opened his presents before the concert, and then we headed out to birthday dinner after the concert. He was so excited to open all his gifts!

He loves gift cards!  And he loved his BIG gift!  An 8 gig desktop computer!  Just what every spoiled 11 year old needs. 

Can you see his goofy expression?  After opening this box he and Rob went right to setting it up in his room.  It was a successful and quick set-up and now all he wants to do is his on-line gaming. 

Another nice birthday for a boy dearly loved.  What a lucky duck!

Number 43

One of Rob's favorite numbers is 43 and that is because it's Richard Petty's number, his favorite race car driver of all time.  So let's just call his recent birthday his NASCAR birthday because he turned 43 - the number on the car of his favorite race car driver.  To celebrate his NASCAR birthday the family went to Chili's for dinner and then back to the house for carvel cake and presents.  Here is the cake and the birthday boy!

I know the cake says 1 and not 43, but sometimes you just have to use what you got.  He is number one in our book anyway! 

After cake it was time to unveil the presents:  steering wheel for the PS3, a Judas Priest cd, a RATT greatest hits cd, a Poison cd, a bucket of virginia peanuts, Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss,  a fire safe filing box, and  ...............perhaps the best gift of all?

Custom made SAMOUR SOUNDS t-shirts!!

The fronts have the family name and the instrument of choice, and the back says -

ROCKIN' AND BLOGGIN' SINCE 2009

Needless to say, Rob liked them a little bit!

Fourth of July Fireworks

I know it's been quite a while since it was July but there are still some summer stories that haven't been told and I am ready to resume them.  So July was jubilant as my last post said, with Sienna's birthday and our anniversary.  When July started we were in California enjoying the last of our vacation.  It started with family tennis, including Rob this time, and then on the morning of the 4th Rob and I ventured to the beach for breakfast and to get a glimpse of campers on the beach, staking their claim for the fireworks show.  Here we are at Pismo Beach...

Unbeknownst to us, while we were enjoying our morning, Spenser was home with Papa and Papa Rose, in pain and unable to walk.  So we left the sightseeing behind to tend to Buddy.  Unfortunately the rest of our day was spent at the Arroyo Grande Community Hospital where Spenser was poked, prodded, ultrasounded, and made to wait.  As you know he was diagnosed with an undescended testicle, which would require surgery in the near future.  Hmmm.  That certainly changes things.  But it was still the 4th of July so after a bite to eat we drove up the hill in Papa's truck to watch the fireworks. 

Here is Spenser after spending 6 hours in the ER!  He looks great as usual.

Here is our set up to view the fireworks from Papa's truck.

And here is a bit of what we saw.  I'm sure it's much better from the sandy beach of Pismo, but this will do too.

With the diagnosis our plan was to get back to Arizona as soon as possible.  So much for our trip to Universal Studios Hollywood!  Since we needed a stopping point anyway, we decided to keep our hotel reservation for the first night at Universal.  We were still determined to see some sights even if we couldn't enter the park (doctor's orders).  Spenser even met Lucille Ball!

Okay, so she's a wax figure from Madam Tussauds, located in the lobby of our hotel.  Here is a family photo taken in the lobby as well.

Here are the kids at the front of Universal Studios.

And the rest of the family....

Universal has a great shopping area called Citywalk.  Of course we have to snap a photo in front of the guitar and the Hard Rock - because we rock!

And here's another view of the entrance to the park.  Talk about torturous tempting!  There it is, we have tickets - but we CAN'T go in!

Before we hopped on the I-10 to head home, we wanted to see the Hollywood sign. 

If you look really hard you can see the sign over the kids heads and to the left of Rob.

Then it was goodbye Hollywood, hello Arizona.  Spenser spent a few days laying low before seeing doctors and scheduling his surgery.  He handled it like a trooper and after the hardest part of recovery was over, this is how he spent most of his days -

laying in a recliner in his underwear, playing videogames, with all necessities within reach.  That's how our summer ended.  Now that's what I call fireworks!

July Jubilations

July is a big month in our household, mainly due to two special days; the 25th of course being Sienna's birthday, and the 28th being our anniversary.  Sienna celebrated her 13th birthday and first year of the teenage stage.  Here are some photos of the event -

Her birthday cake which she picked out herself.  It was beautiful AND delicious!

First day of school and her actual birthday.

Second birthday cake, Harry Potter of course!

That was then......(1998)

This is now.......(2011)

13 years of growth and maturity.  Hard to believe she was ever that small!

And the other big July event - our 15th wedding anniversary!  As a gift to Rob, I customized his favorite type of cake, Carvel, with a picture of us.

Happy 13th and 15th!

Rancho Oso

After our adventure at Lopez Lake, we returned to Arroyo Grande and all that civilization has to offer.  We lazed about for four or five days before setting off for our second camping trip.  This time the destination was Rancho Oso, a campground in the the mountains above Santa Barbara.  Rancho Oso is more of a resort-style camping mecca, with swimming pools, hot tub, tennis court, horseshoes, horseback riding, and other such amenities.  I grew up camping there many times, and have the fondest memories of it.  From tent camping to trailer camping, we did it all.  Sienna and Spenser have actually been there three times now.  The first time they were much younger and probably don't remember much.  Sienna was still carrying around Melody, that's how young she was.  The second time was last year and the third just commenced.  So they can remember it now. 

Here are Spenser and Papa, taking a breather and enjoying the sights and sounds.

One nice thing about coming here is that we sleep in a trailer, and that involves a lot less packing.  You just throw a few things in the truck and you're off!  And there behind us is the 'hotel'.

One of the best things about Rancho Oso was that although you were camping, you could still swim and play tennis!  For our tennis playing family, this was a plus.  We even hosted tennis teams there, and they enjoyed it immensely.  The tennis court wasn't the greatest, but it fit the bill.  So it is pretty neat that I'm back at this spot, sharing tennis with my own children. 

Once the truck was unpacked, Spenser had to hit the court.  Why the sudden enthusiasm for tennis you ask?  It probably stemmed from our family tennis day with my cousin Hayley the day after her daughter Maddie's graduation.  My Grandma and Tots, cousins Hayley and May, Maddie, Mason, and their uncle all played mixed doubles, along with Spenser.  It was Spenser's first real tennis experience with scoring and points and all.  He did really well!  Here he is with his partner, Eric, my cousin Hayley's husband.

It was really fun to get together and play, as many of us are aging and can't hit the ball like we once could!  But to be back on my high school courts where it all began for me was cool.  We have several generations of SLO Tiger Tennis players here in this picture!

Perhaps this is the next generation of tennis players?

So I think that's why Spenser caught the tennis bug.  Sienna caught it too!

Now back at the ranch or rancho, shall I say, it was time for the kids to hit the court.

Papa was there as coach and mentor.

Due to the proximity of the city of Santa Barbara to Rancho Oso, a trip into town is a must.  So we hit the beach.

Here is Sienna on the Santa Barbara pier.

Don't forget me, Papa, and Spenser!

This is what we watched from the pier.  Gorgeous view!

Then it was off to dinner at a family favorite restaurant, Giovanni's, then back to camp.

So our camping adventure came to an end.  Who knew that all that tennis playing may lead to a whole other kind of adventure?  This one involves balls too, but unfortunately, these are misplaced. 

 

S'more Camping Part 3

To end the suspense from the previous post, Spenser found some rather large sticks on our last hike, which amused him to no end.  Here he is with them both...

He let me in on some of the fun too.  He said the walking sticks reminded him of Gandalf's.  You know Gandalf the Grey, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy?

So hiking was a fun family activity but there were others too.  Papa and Spenser enjoy fishing, and Spenser never fails to catch something!

The girls aren't into fishing and other such icky, smelly stuff, so they just observe for a bit, and photograph the event.

Here is the icky, smelly stuff that was caught!

Other great activities are family meals, and Kenny even joined us for one dinner.

And last but not least, sleeping in a tent is always an adventure.  But it doesn't seem to hinder my little guy.  He can sleep anywhere.

So Camp S'more comes to the end for the summer of 2011.  I think fun was had by all and the only thing missing was Rob.  We hope you join us next time!