Jennie's got a gun

The idea of having a gun scares me. While it's comforting to think of the protection one may provide in a bad situation, the chance of my kids having a horrible accident or of me having obsessive thoughts about doing something crazy just because it's there are not worth it. But I may have found a way to have my cake and eat it too: I recently bought this little beauty for $9.95 in Chinatown:

It's some sort of BB gun that came with an orange area on the nozzle to show it's fake (nothing that a Sharpie and some black nail polish couldn't disguise--am I going to be arrested for posting this?). My thought is that threatening someone with this pretend, empty gun might help me out in a plight like this one. Or it may encourage the other person to shoot me first when they otherwise wouldn't have. Hmm....

My trusty 1985 t-ball bat is probably still the best option, but what can it hurt to have a fake gun hidden somewhere just in case? It may at least come in handy for a sketch or as part of a costume, and it did give My Boy a thrill--you should have seen him chattering excitedly and trailing me around the house when I first opened it. At least I have a plan; maybe you shouldn't mess with me.

Simple pleasures

Several weeks ago, My Boy came back from the kids class he attends at church with this--hee hee!

Birthday Road Trip

I turned 30 last week and to celebrate I decided on taking a family road trip to the San Luis Obispo area (about 4 hours south of SF). It was a great way to mark the occasion, and it felt appropriate to do a final special something as a family of three.

The central coast of California is beautiful! We were fortunate to have good weather and get a decent hotel room in Arroyo Grande through priceline.com ($70/night for a 2-star place--not my finest hotel deal, but it was fine). My Boy hadn't been in a hotel room since he was around a year old and had a great time jumping back and forth between beds. He also noted the hotel had a "yard" (=open areas with grass). Sorry City boy--some day!

We stopped in Monterey on the way down to check out the Dennis the Menace playground:







Here we are at Avila Beach near San Luis Obispo. It was a little windy, but that didn't stop us from spending nearly 3 hours there:



At the San Luis Obispo Children's Museum. My Boy told us he wanted the fire truck and police motorcycle pictured below (among other things) for his birthday:

We stopped at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on the way back. My Boy was fairly brave about the kiddie rides, especially the helicopter that went up and down. He rode it 4 times, making me feel confident a trip to Disneyland in the next year or so wouldn't be a waste; at least he'd like the Dumbo ride:

Eating highlights:

-Mo's Smokehouse BBQ in Pismo Beach--maybe the best ribs My Husband has had and a great shredded pork BBQ sandwich for me

-Ate twice at a McDonalds...with a Playplace!

-Taco Temple in Morro Bay seemed full of promise, but my giant chicken burrito was mediocre at best

Other stuff:

-Morro Bay Aquarium: a very dated, sad little place with a couple of retired performing seals and about a dozen tanks with local sea life. The all-seashells, all-the-time store across the street was quirky and very amusing

-We enjoyed just driving around and seeing what was up at Cal-Poly University, downtown San Luis Obispo, etc.

Happy birthday to me!

My Bump, my bump, my bump

Even though several people have asked lately if I'm due in a couple weeks, I actually have over 2 months to go. And here's what I look like for those who have asked:



I thought, "Hey! I don't look as big as I feel" when I saw the above shots. But then here's me pregnant with My Boy at about the same time...my belly is definitely more out there with #2; yikes!

An ultrasound this week showed the placenta has moved up and out of the way, so no [planned] c-section for me--yes! There were no slip-ups on the gender during the appointment, so we're still on track for a surprise. If I had to guess, I'd say girl, but I really have no clue.