The "Mother Ship"

Last week Andy and his brother, Mark, decided to check something off the bucket list.

Surfing.

After doing some extensive research (2 minutes on Yelp & Google), Andy called up the San Diego Surfing Academy.

He talked to the owner of the establishment and got some basic information and was given directions to meet him the next morning at a cross street near a local resort.

"Where exactly should I meet you at the resort?", Andy asked.

"Well, we're not really part of the resort.", Pat, the instructor said.

"Just meet me at The Mother Ship."

and he hung up.

So a couple of hours later, Mark & Andy found themselves here.

and met Pat, their instructor.

Whom Andy insisted looked "just like" the Dos Equis most interesting man in the world.

"No seriously, you have to put his picture there, because that was our guy".

Crystal and I decided to give the guys two hours to brush up their skills before meeting them at the beach to document.

That and we had two kids to handle.

One which nearly gave me a heart attack that morning.

Hint on which one: Her

Oh look! There are the surfers!!!

My kids were neck deep in sand in about 2.5 seconds.

They weren't really appreciating the surfing lesson so much.

And oh my Lord, THIS girl....

I really can't even talk about it.

Let's just say that she picked up a flat beach rock the size of a dinner plate and chunked it into the sand pit, missing her brother by less than an inch.

Oh, and her brother had a little accident in the car and after searching high and low, I realized that I hadn't restocked my emergency set of clothes in about a year, so he ended up wearing this.

Look!

They caught a wave....kind of.

That night we went to dinner at Poseidon to celebrate Mark's birthday.

And while we're on the subject of eating....

we had to document our team effort best dinner ever from the night before.

One more Mark & Crystal post to come.....

Wine tasting.

FYI....it CAN be done with kids in tow.

Rumor Has it

If you've been following my blog for even a little while, you probably know I'm a HUGE Adele fan.

On the brink of obsessed would be a fair assessment.

Andy and I had the luck of catching Adele in concert almost 3 years ago before she had become the goddess that she is today. Back then I snagged tickets for $27 and we got to see her in a room with 500 other people.

The Script opened for her. We had never heard of them, but bought the cd because we kinda liked them too.

Fast forward three years and I was scouring Craigslist back in June, actually considering spending $750 a ticket, which they were going for at the time.

I may LOVE Adele, but I ain't crazy. Or rich for that matter.

Well, I have never been so excited to hear that her concert got cancelled back in June.

This meant that I had a second chance to score tickets because the venue had changed to Open Air Theater, which held 6,000 instead of 2,500 at Humphrey's.

I read Ticketmaster tutorials online for a week before they went on sale.

I was NOT going to miss my second chance.

I sat at the computer and hit refresh, while putting in first available, any price starting 5 minutes before they actually went on sale.

When the clock hit 10:00, my refresh revealed "go time".

I did my thing.

There were none available.

The tickets were SOLD OUT.

within the 2 seconds it took me to refresh.

I was sick.

I hit refresh again and again and again.

And finally.....

some not so fortunate person had released their tickets...

and Andy and I SCORED.

So I interrupt our run of family events to bring you pics from the BEST CONCERT OF MY LIFE.

Well, second best to 3 years ago.

You really just couldn't beat that one.

After a forgettable opening act, my girl was on

**Side note...

Thank you Annie for letting me borrow your lens!!! I just don't think my little prime would have cut it.

and I loved every second of it.

Can I tell you that my husband tried to talk to me about football season road trips while ADELE was sharing background on her songs?

Really?

Silence please.

The hugeness of the moment must have escaped him.

When we got home at midnight after the concert, Adele's third biggest fan was still up in her room. I guess she couldn't sleep wondering how the concert was going.

So we shared with her as well.

And if you are a fan as well....which, how couldn't you be...

Here you go....

(Press pause on my music in the right hand column so you can hear her in all her glory....unless of course her song is already playing...then let it play out out of respect before beginning the live show.)

You're welcome.

Brunch at the Brig

These cute fun people left yesterday. =(

And I'm just trying to catch up on the all the fun stuff we did.

Sunday....yes, I'm way behind.

Sunday, we went to The Brigantine for their champagne brunch.

It as the best brunch I've ever had.

Granted, I've probably only been to brunch about 3 times in my life, but it was the best, I'm sure of it.

They had $3 bottomless mimosas.

For real, the best.

And we had an amazing table....looking down on the racetrack.

Addison did great

She had nothing to complain about.

Chocolate muffins, french toast, grilled cheese and bottomless juice.

The girl was happy.

And she got to color with Aunt Crystal, so that was bonus.

I got to love on my little guy.

We're already missing them, but have much more to share.

Up next.....

Surf lessons, tantrums, adult time, and wine tasting!!!!

Mark & Crystal do the OC

Yesterday was a super exciting day.

1. I got to go get a haircut. Like at a real salon, downtown no less.

2. My husband was totally supportive because it was free. The color, the highlight, the new cut...all of it, free.

*** I will interject here and say that the reason it was free, was the wonderful stylist, Megan, who has been cutting my hair out here was starting work at a new salon and they needed a hair model. To say that she had to twist my arm to get me to help her out would be a lie.

I will also say that the entire process took about an hour for every inch I got cut off and I'll just put it on the table that I'm about 7 inches lighter.

3. A few of our favorite people came to visit us.

Andy's brother, Mark, and my sister in law, Crystal flew in from Savannah, Georgia to hang out with us and the kiddos for a few days.

To say that we are so excited is a huge understatement.

After I got back from my full day hair appointment, we headed for the OC.

We were going to hit up Lauren Conrad, but she apparently now lives a little further up the 5.

Here's a quick glimpse of 7 inches shorter.....

Addison has been a weeee bit obsessed with Uncle Mark since he got here yesterday

And let me just say that my daughter from a couple weeks back has been no where in sight this week. This little girl has been an absolute angel for the past few days.

Aww, it's days like these that make you almost forget about those other times.

I mean, truly...angel.

She has come up to me several times just saying.....unsolicited ...

Mommy, I just love you SOOOOO much.

So I'm documenting it so I don't forget it during those....ahem....other times.

But I think this one might be stepping up his game to take her place in the "challenging" box.

Constant fits. It's good times, really. It's so funny, you just have to document.

So we finished our little walk and headed back to the PCH to grab some tacos before heading home.

And so began the gluttonous week of eating that fun company brings.....

Let me just say that it's the first day of my new weight watchers week and all of my extra points alloted for the week have been used.

FYI...there are about 15 points in 1 sprinkles cupcake. You are allowed 29 points a day.

My first pair of skinny jeans that were purchased today after a successful month on WW might just be making a return back to the store.

A quick attempt at a family pic....

And my new haircut debut.......

I will have lots more pics to share soon because tomorrow Andy and Mark are going to take on surfing for the first time ever.....and Crystal and I are not going to miss that!