Dodgers…

What happened to good karma???   All the Dodger games we have gone to this year the Dodgers have won.  I had tickets to game 3 of the NLCS but someone in our group couldn’t go to game 4 so they asked to trade nights.  I decided to be ‘nice’ and I traded and the Dodgers won game 3.  Sadly, the Dodgers lost game 4…the game we went to!!   ARGH!  Lesson, be more of a dick and do NOT do something nice.

In any case, it was fun at the game.  We got there early and since we had to park in general parking we saw some photo ops that we usually don’t see like the Dodger bobblehead.

Jack saw all the cholo’s on the big screen and he wanted to look like them…minus the LA hand sign.

It was great to see all the fans into the game…standing…waving towels…it was great…too bad the Dodgers lost:

Weekends...

I remember before kids when Friday’s meant you would talk to your buddies about what you were going to do on the weekend and then again on Monday about what you really ended up doing on the weekend.  

Usually it was about eating, drinking, sleeping, watching movies….something fun with a story.

Now, when people ask me about the weekends, I don’t really have much to say.   Sure, I am way more busy on the weekend, for example my upcoming weekend activities:

Wake up the same time I go to work

Make breakfast

Drive to Redondo Beach for swim lesson

Go to the donut shop

Drive to Carson for a basketball game

Drive to Marina for a birthday party

Tenative play date

Dinner

Storytime

Sleep

Sunday, it is almost identical except throw in that I play basketball, errands and chores to do at home.  The fun exciting weekends have disappeared and the chauffeuring and sitting around watching Jack and Stacy activities have replaced it.

Not saying that they aren’t ‘fun’ just so different from how it used to be.

Pool…

Fall??  Nah…not here in LA.  With all the warm weather we have been having we headed out to the pool.  The kids trying to jump in at the same time:

Fun times at the pool!!

Snacks…

Stacy’s reward for going to basketball is she usually gets a snack bag as well.  Stacy is enjoying her fruit roll-up that just keeps on going:

And going…

And going…

SBY Basketball…

Man, basketball is in full swing for Jack now.  We are now practicing twice a week on Thursday and Saturday.   Jack has games on Saturday and Sunday.   Jack also has club team practice Sunday afternoons.  Crazy how much basketball he is playing now.

So far, all the practice has been great for Jack as he is putting it all together on the court.  I moved Jack to point guard now:

I think it was the smartest decision I could have made.  He is running the squad great, attacking and passing:

Too many turnovers for my taste, but he is crossing kids over, scoring at will…he just has to get better at reading the defense and not trying to split the double and triple teams:

Definitely been leading the team…so happy Jack is balling out well.

BBQ…

We were invited to a BBQ over the weekend.  We thought it would be something simple, burgers…dogs…basically a play date with food.  Turns out it was a big party!  Lots of food, drinks, bouncer, magician….good times!

For some reason I thought Stacy looked older than she is in this picture, sometimes I forget she is 3…most of the time I think of Stacy being the same age as Jack:

The magician:

Of course, Stacy asked for balloon dog!

Art…

I came home early one day and Stacy was painting a picture at Grandma’s house:

Stacy was taking her time, changing the colors, staying in the lines:

And she did a great job:

Beautiful!!

Gymnastics…

I am lucky that Stacy started gymnastic during the week and it is 2 blocks from work.   I am able to stop by at lunch and watch some of her lessons.  Stacy does a great job at gymnastics.  The Bear Walk:

Bars:

Rings:

Swimming…

Stacy was swimming so well that the teacher told us not to quit and to move Stacy up a level.  With Jack we always quit when school started because we didn’t want him to get sick and he was terrible.    With Stacy she loves to be in the water that we decided to keep it up.   I am thinking if Stacy learns to swim better than Jack than Jack will want to swim more as well.

Stacy has so much fun in her class:

And seems to like the group class more than the private class:

Right now she is the worse one in the group but hopefully it makes her try harder and gets better quicker.

Preschool…

Look who else started school this year…STACY!!   Stacy started preschool at the same school Jack went to:

I thought school would be a mad house the first day but it seems like a lot of the kids started in the summer so it was business as usual the first day:

Stacy was excited to start school:

And seemed to settle in just fine:

But then Stacy got a little sad over the next few days and didn’t like school very much.  Near the end of the week she made some friends and now she enjoys going to school!

2nd Grade…

Jack started the 2nd grade this year and Aya and I took him to school his first day:

Stacy wanted to send Jack off to school as well:

Jack checking out his desk:

Madden…

I don’t get to play as much XBOX as I used to or want to but when I occassionly play, Jack asks if he can play.  I always say, “No” or that “You have to wait until you are 8 years old.”   I realized, wow…Jack WILL be 8 soon.

I just got Madden at work and I know Jack plays Madden on the iPad so I handed him a controller and told him lets play!!

Surprisingly Jack was pretty good.   If Madden was just a pure arcade game I think I would have lost.  Luckily Madden has so many options and features and Jack didn’t know how to read the offense and defensive plays so I just ‘owned’ him on both sides of the ball:

Jack was getting frustrated losing, so it might have been good to play XBOX because when I asked him to play again after 3 games he didn’t want to play anymore because I kept beating him!!    Hey, I gotta get all the wins I can get now because pretty soon I won’t be able to win at all!!

Dodgers!

Our last game of the season for our season tickets and look at these EATERS:

Man, it was hot at the game and Stacy and I were sweaty:

Jack is happy as long as he gets his cotton candy!

Hopefully the Dodgers can advance to the second round of the playoffs and beyond.   I passed on the earlier rounds for tickets for the later rounds!!

Chuck E Cheese Part 2…

Jack was invited to Ryan’s birthday party:

Any time Jack can play video games he is a happy camper!!   Jack loves to play Deal or No Deal:

Baseball:

Basketball:

Monkey Ball:

Artic  Thunder:

All in all, it wasn’t too bad at Chuck E Cheese.   I think I would go back even when it isn’t a birthday party.

Chuck E Cheese Part 1…

Stacy’s first trip to Chuck E Cheese:

This was my first time to Chuck E Cheese since I was a kid.  I thought it was mostly for older kids and lots of video games but they had a lot of kiddie games and rides:

Stacy was having fun going on all the rides:

Best of all, we were there for a party so we got lots of ‘free’ tokens and the place wasn’t crowded at all!!