American Idol Auditions

okay so my alarm was set for 225... I got up after a short nap and walked around disoriented... I think i walked to and from my closet a dozen times... I knew I put my clothes somewhere... but in a sleep deprived setting... i didn't know where...

dressed and finally ready to go, I let my sister in the door. we got the cooler filled, coffee thermos filled and we were outta the house at 330. drove to mom and dads to pick up the birth certificate from the mail box and headed to the city - the cow palace again....

We sang and talked on the quick trip to San Francisco - we arrived in need of a potty break - it was 530 and there were groups of people everywhere - We were in 2 miles away from the entrance. The news stations were there, picking out the ugliest and worst singers in the world to show their stuff. In our group there was a boy wearing a girls wig - he had lots of media attention. We stood in line for hours - a girl had a boombox in our group. so there was music and dancing... another girl had a guitar and she serenaded us... She was actually good.

I think we got inside the Cow Palace at 930 am.. Your tickets that you picked up on Tuesday had your section and seat number... Everyone went to their spots.... We didn't actually get to sit on our seats... but as long as we were in the section it was good... we sat about 10 rows up... The place was PACKED... well half the Cow Palace was filled....

It was time for the chorus... we stood, sang and danced for the camera... 'We built this City' (Starship) and 'Get Ready' (Temptations) - then we had to say a bunch of tag lines - 'American idol is back in San Francisco and bigger than ever' and a bunch more.... Finally they set up 12 booths in the center of the Cow Palace - a table and two chairs behind it, each booth was sectioned off by a cloth wall....

They had one set of bathrooms open... One Mens and One Womans... the line for the women was wrapped around - so the women were urged to use the Men's bathroom... Two lines... Men against the left side of the wall and Women against the right... the men hugged the wall of the urinals and the ladies got the stalls - Mr Comedian (one of the workers who had jokes) kept us all entertained directing men and women alike to potty.

We were Section 13.... it was filled to Section 35 - They called the auditioners down by sections and you stood in groups of four, four deep... and the judges called you up from your four and you sang - 10 seconds to a minute... They weren't letting many people through... Amy was in booth 3... I stood near booth 1 (that was as close as we could get to hear people sing) There were some really great singers.... and they didn't get through.... - how did the dude in the chicken suit get through? One girl belted out Celine and it was amazing... snip when her wristband as she walked out into the gloom of the parking lot...

I couldn't hear Amy sing... but the girls in her line... Amy said that two of them were really good, they sang three songs each and after that all four of the girls in Amy's line went to the scissors... and out we walked.... Lots of people were disappointed and very upset... but Amy didn't seem to care - funny she wasn't the least bit nervous either... Lucky her... Let's see..

Those people that did make it through this round had more rounds and had to come back on Friday... and maybe Saturday and Sunday.... oh yeah... No Paula, Randy or Simon - but we did see Justin Guarini (the runner up to Kelly Clarkson) - no music career for him i guess...

We headed home - a lot tired after three hours of being cooped up.... Ben had the girls at his moms house... he had to pick up Bianca's soccer stuff at the house and then was going to practice....We got to my house @ 330 (ben and bianca were there) I tried to sneak in and to bed without Ben seeing me... it worked... He set the alarm and headed out the door... I heard the door shut... and I turned the alarm off - climbed into bed home free...

a minute later he was there harassing me.... like he wouldn't hear me shut the alarm off... Well i hoped.... anyhow he wanted me to pick Sydney and Peyton up in a couple hours at his parents... yeah I said.. and went to sleep... He got home with the girls at 9pm... I was still sleepin... the babies rushed upstairs to wake up... so sweetly - "mama, i miss you" sydney and peyton whispered to me... melted my heart... so i got up and we played for awhile... and it was hard to put them to sleep... and finally by the grace of God... I was in bed and going back to sleep around midnight.... - did i mention I had a headache and still this morning I have a headache....

another roadtrip

Tuesday night I washed the car seat cover twice and it still smelled bad - went to bed after midnight (i think) and woke up at 545 to put the car seats back in the truck and get ready. ben wanted to leave for Great America @ 7 - we were in the car and outta here @ 730, stopped to pick up MIL and then we were on the road. Sydney started to cry as soon as she realized that Bianca was getting in the back and I was in the front... "mama, hand" over and over - it's really hard to hold her hand when she is sitting in the car seat behind me... even harder when I'm driving... luckily i wasn't driving... but I hate giving in.... but after 15 minutes.. I gave in... and then my arm was hurting and there were no signs she was going to sleep... so I needed my arm back and she continued to cry, scream, wail... I went to sleep... Peyton and Bianca went to sleep... Sydney-well she screamed... sometime around Fairfield Sydney fell asleep and there was a wonderful silence...
We arrived at our destination at 945 and got right into the park. They have wristbands you can get that determine which rides you can get on - according to height... well Peyton got her wrist band... and Sydney was 1/2 inch or less from a wristband... ~tears~ We managed to get the wristband off Peyton and onto Sydney's wrist so we could go on the log ride... it wasn't like we were going to send her off on some crazy ride on her own.... so don't worry... First we went on a bunch of the lil kid rides - bianca included on the ones they let her go on (she was a lil tall for some). We did the lil roller coasters with the girls. They loved it the first time. Peyton liked it the other times... but Sydney wasn't so crazy about it after ride #2...

SpongeBob says hello to the girls

Finally it's warm enough for the log ride. Bianca chickens out... so it's Me, Peyton, Ben & Sydney. The girls really enjoyed the 'boat' the hills were a bit iffy... but the log ride became the favorite...
Time for a magic show... Sydney decided she didn't want to stay for the show, so we went for a walk to her favorite place - the restroom... they have small (kid friendly) sinks where she can do it all herself... we spent anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes playing in the sink every time we visited the restroom... which was more often than I liked.... but i figured playing in the water... or screaming... you can only imagine -
I finally talked her into going to the water park - where the water slides were... she was excited and we met up with the rest of our crew, took off our shoes and went to play.... They had a small water slide for the kids and Bianca took them up... but the lady measured them even with the wristband and let Peyton go down... but not Sydney.. TANTRUM it was awful - the worst... and i felt so bad for her... finally she played in the spouts of water area and had some fun... but she wouldn't stop running and fell a couple times and we decided it was time to leave the water. TANTRUM again... this one lasted way to long... nothing seemed to work... Ice cream? NO Candy? NO... Daddy? CERTAINLY NOT... Shoes? HELL NO... Mommie? less crying... Sponge Bob Soda? YES... i was relieved... shoes went back on and we headed for the log ride.
While in line Sydney fell asleep in my arms so I put her back in the stroller while Peyton and Daddy went on the ride. HOORAY
I talked bianca into going to the big water slides with me and left MIL, Sydney, Peyton and Daddy at the log ride. Bianca was very nervous about the slides, but we climbed a lot of stairs and she got into the big round yellow boat, and off we went..... she screamed most of the way but by the time we were at the bottom.. she was all smiles... and we were off to go again... Second time was more fun. I talked her into the two man boat that goes in the dark circular tubes... and she screamed the entire way down... it was pretty fast... but not really scary... again we went and she had more fun... So we did the slides a few more times - the entire time we did the water park Ben took Sydney and Peyton (alternated) on the log ride... Sydney only napped like 10 minutes... MORE RIDES... finally we left the park around 8 something... got home at 10 - showered, blew my hair dry and went to bed

the gang

Peyton and Bianca

Sydney and Peyton

Snail rides

check out the slideshow

Stincin Beach by way of American Idol

Originally I planned this week to be my stay at home mom week. I really miss my days of being a stay at home mom. Almost a year of being home full time. It is something I will always cherish. So every year our daycare providers take a much needed vacation and therefore we must vacation too.

The plan was to leave for San Francisco at 4 a.m.... Here's what really happened.

Day One:

Wake up at 4 a.m - crawl out of bed @ 4:15 - call Amy to see where she is on the road - Sunrise Mall - Sweet.

Most everything was ready the night before. Dressed, Ready to go, wake kids up, get them dressed and into carseats @ Starbucks at 5:25 - $20 later we're on the freeway and driving. Holding Sydney's hand - I wasn't driving... my arm fell asleep, so did the girls... Home Free. Potty Break in Pinole.... onward we drive. Gotta love Carpool when there are tolls to be paid.
Get lost, flip a (BEEOTCH) Sydney starts throwing up... UGH - I've got a brand new pack of wipes... I'm going thru them, catching puke, cleaning up puke from hands, arms, face, clothes... SO GROSS...
Get to the Cow Palace - change Sydney (yes, I brought four sets of extra clothes, including bikini's for the beach)
Stand in line - the babies were EXCELLENT. Sat in the stroller when asked, ate goldfish, drank apple juice, played with babies, I only had to hold them a few times.... We had our wristbands by 10 am and headed for the beach
No one told me the road to stincin beach was paved with VOMIT - this road is windy, hilly, bumping...
Sydney fell asleep and woke up 8 miles into the 12 mile drive to the beach...throwing up again... This time RED - she'd eaten licorice. She looked so awful. I felt so bad, I tried to catch most of the red vomit, I cleaned her face, her hands, she kept throwing up... we found a place to pull off.. it wasn't easy, the road is windy and there aren't many turn outs.
Cleaned her up as best as we could, and found a better place to get out. Changed her clothes again.
We hung out and walked around in a small wooded area, no where near the beach. the girls played some, I held Sydney a lot. They used the potty (I made them use pull ups.. they were MAD). After 25 minutes we decided to head home, no sand, no beach, no water for us.
Sydney was pitiful on the way out, we drove so slow, I think 15 miles an hour.... Peyton dozed off, and Sydney started to, but not long into the drive she was throwing up again... I felt so bad, I just wanted to cry. Finally a clearing.. and a Walgreens.
Bought some Kids chewy Dramamine, another bucket of wipes (the shea kind that grandma always buys - I love that smell) and a gingerale.
The kids slept the entire trip home....

What a nightmare.

Sydney & Peyton

Amy and the girls

Sydney and mommie lookin at the ocean

loves her sick baby, Peyton is picking up rocks

goofy

potty break

let's dance

fighting sleep

look at the red straps on her carseat.. poor sick girl

slight view of the road

Happy Birthday Diego

Diego turned one - HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....we drove to Davis for the lil mans birthday. It's been a few weeks since we've hung out and he was a bit shy.... he's got mommy itis... just like my girls.... (always lookin for mama)

Diego and Peyton have a conversation about how old he is

Uncle Mike and Diego have some fun

Sydney and Peyton watch as Bianca sets up the bowling pins

The kids bowled, played in the sprinklers, pretended to make coffee, grubbed, hit the watermelon with a stick (pinata) and had a great time.

Sydney, Stella & Peyton

Zion and the girls eat cake