It's Official

Jake and I are going to Hawaii! Kids will stay with grandma and we will get our first trip to Hawaii. :-)
These are views from our hotel room. Thank you grandma!

Marvelous Memories Merenia

Happy Birthday Nia! Oh, such good memories from college days. Too bad you live so far away, now! (Geez, could you at least live in the country?! Adding Germany to the many countries you've lived in. Why is it that you have U.S. Citizenship? J/K) Can you believe we met 11 years ago?! Well, here's to the good ole days.

TOP TEN
10. Concert pianist attempts to teach me to play
9. Dancing at the Omni (need we say more?)
8. Late nights in "The Marin" (okay I really should have changed my address to your apartment)
7. Our DT freshman floor. Wow, that was quite the experience! Where would I even start with that?
That is a subject for a very long blog.
6. Setting the record for time talking (we really had some all nighters! sleep was highly over rated!)
5. Dressing up for Halloween, especially the trick or treat of freshman year. Did that guy kiss you?
4. "The Gang" Rachel, Marlise, etc. etc.
3. Conviently placing ourselves near the guys we were dating, all the time (was that a nice way to say it Nia?)
2. Hi, what's your name? Marea Mowry. Oh are you related to the Maori's (pronounced Mowrys ) from New Zeland? (what a
random question. three cheers for randomness!) No but Nia is, ask her. (what are the odds of that?!)
1. Meeting guys together. Guy: Hi what's your name? Answer: Merenia Guy: Merewhat? Answer: Merenia.
Guy: And what's your name? Answer: Marea Guy: Maria? Answer: No, Marea.
Guy: Marania & Maria? Oh, I give up!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! MISS YA! SEND ME MORE PICS OF SAM & JACK!

Good News!

We are excited to report that Jake has received an offer from the law firm we were hoping to be with! Jake will start working at Greenberg Trauig on June 4th.

We are taking a very short break between the two jobs and will hopefully spend some time relaxing in Hawaii! Yipee!!

Ryan's Birthday

Okay, so I have to now add a wonderful tale of Disneyland to counter balance the last posting.

Monday, April 30th, we went to Disneyland for Ryan's birthday. We wanted Daddy to come so we waited for him to get off work and arrived at D-land at 6pm. Now, the park was going to close at 8pm so our thought was nothing other than RUN, RUN, RUN to Buzz Lightyear as fast as we can because that's the ride he wanted to do most.

We get to the entrance gate and Jake couldn't find his pass. I told him that I would just take the kids into City Hall and get Ryan his birthday button.

NOTE: When you go through the gate at Disneyland with an annual pass it has your picture and when it's your birthday it pops up on their little screen and they say happy birthday to you.

As we went through the gate, the woman working there scanned our passes and when she scanned Ryan's she turned to him and said, "Happy Birthday Ryan!"

Ryan turned around in amazement and said, "But, how did you remember?!" It was the cutest thing I'd ever heard.

We went to City Hall and the woman there was writing Ryan's name on a b-day button. She asked Ryan if he liked Buzz Lightyear. Ryan started going crazy telling her all about how that was exactly where we were going and how much that it was his favorite ride. She said to him, "Well I must have known. I have Buzzlightyear fastpasses for you right here!"

NOTE: D-land fast passes let you not wait in line. You can, basically, just get right on the ride.

Ryan was twirling around and screaming about how happy he was. I felt like saying, this IS the happiest place on earth! They just made my boy's day! (Oh how small things make us soo happy!)

We sat down for dinner and Ryan asked me if California Adventure was closed. I said, "Yes, it closed at 6pm, why?" He asked if he could go on "the car ride". I asked him what he meant and after serveral minutes of trying to figure it out realized that he was talking about Autotopia. I said, "Ryan, turn around and look behind you." He started shouting, "There it is, there it is!!"

It was a good day at Disneyland and has kept up our family tradition of having miraculous things happen there on a birthday.

Manic Monday

KEEP IN MIND: I am the biggest Disneyland fan! (well, on non-crowded, non-hot days)

Some friends our ours, that live around Sacramento, emailed us about a week ago telling us that they would be in town to go to Disneyland and wondered if they could see us. I was very happy to hear that they would be here and informed them of the days we could go to Disneyland with them. But, we never got in touch with them after. So, I got a call on Monday asking if we could come that day. Maybe I forgot when I woke up that morning that that was the best day for me to go because I'd had a busy week since the email (or maybe it's because I'm senial before the age of 30) but, whatever the reason I got the call and thus started my crazy Monday.

The call came at 9:30am. I won't even begin to go into detail about all the things I had to get done before I could go but, I was very proud of myself for leaving the house a little after 11am! Just as I was patting myself on the back for getting so much done before I left and remembering everything I needed to have with me in a backpack to take to Disneyland, I left the house and started driving only to realize (thanks to my car instruments) that it was 95 degrees outside!! I thought the instrument must be broken. It's been in the 70's for months! Ah well, off to Disneyland anyway.

We get there and everything seems to be going well. However, after awhile the heat was really getting to me. Near the end of our time there, we stopped to watch the Star Wars show. It was very crowded around the show and there was no where left to watch it, in the shade. I stood in the sun for what seemed like an eternity, holding my 30+ pound Krista. Towards the end of the show I saw some tables and chairs where no one was sitting and I climbed over. Finally relief! We watched the end of the show and just as it was about to end the Darth Mal guy came running down the aisle near us. We were up kind of high and not too near him. I assured Krista that she was ok and that no way would he come over to her. (I mean after alll, we were the only ones sitting there....and for sure the only kid sitting there was her....no way would a scary character come over to a two year old girl)

Darth Mal passed us, went up the aisle further, and then turned around to go back to the floor of the show. Before I knew it, there he was, right in Krista's face! He was nose to nose with her. Krista turned around and screamed a shrill scream (over and over again I might add) like I had never heard. The large crowd turned around and gasped and I heard a simultaneous, "Oh, no!" I scooped her up and began telling her that she was ok, he was just a guy in a costume with make-up on. (However, all I really wanted to do was get after that guy who was in the costume for scaring a child so)

Krista was definately unhappy but, seemed capable of recovering from her traumatic experience. We even went back to Disneyland the next day. Be assured I talked with guest relations and told them that they need to inform their staff not to have scary Darth Mals go up to little two year old girls, ever again.

Amazingly, after hot Disneyland and scary Darth Mals, we still made it to Ryan's T-ball game and had fun. My kids were bouncing around the field and I wondered in amazement at how their little bodies could even move around let alone seem so full of energy. What a Monday!