Summer Camp

We dropped Vinny off at summer camp, today.

"I miss bro bro," says Gio.

"We'll try to keep you so busy this week, you'll forget you even have a brother," I say, trying to make Gio feel better.

"Dad!" screams Gio. "Mom just said she wants me to forget Vinny."

Um.........

Sweet!

Gio feeding his bro bro french fries. I love this!

Tree Monkey

Scar Shield

Hubby modified my bike helmet with a hat to keep the sun off my cut. Which is healing nicely...

The Skinny Mirror

Hey Internet! My BFF designed and made a skinny mirror, a mirror that makes you look 5-10 lbs thinner and 1-2 taller. She was inspired to do this after after having a bad 3-year relationship with a mirror that made her look wider and shorter than she really was.

It was like having a boyfriend that said, "Yeah those pants do make your butt look big!"

We look in the mirror everyday, as we get dressed, and walk around the house. Why settle for a regular mirror when you can have a skinny mirror that makes you feel better and pays you a compliment every time you gaze into it? The skinny mirror gives a slimming reflection of yourself, embedding that image into your subconscious.

Some people say, "Yeah, but I'm just tricking myself with a skinny mirror."

But that's missing the entire point and purpose of the skinny mirror. The skinny mirror is a living vision board allowing gazers to see weight loss results before they happen, by inspiring you to exercise and eat right.

Please check out my BFF's kickstarter project and pledge today. Any pledge amount is appreciated, but pleadging $105 actually gets you a skinny mirror. As with all kickstarter projects the entire goal of $100,000.00 must be pledged for the project to funded.

Please share this with your friends and family, acquaintances and the entire world RIGHT NOW!.

Sleep System

My husband is always entertaining, even when he's sleeping.

Baseball Camp

Gio went from basketball camp to baseball camp with eagerness and dedication... His behavior is very dissimilar to his big brother who'd rather sleep in and enjoy summer than improve his skill set.

Lego Spill

Sometimes, even Legos are overwhelming.

Hiking Fort Ord

There's no surfing, so now there's hiking!

Surfboard To The Face

Once again as I'm paddling back out after catching a wave, Carmel gets me in the face with my own surfboard, I think. And now there will be no surfing for 5 days! 

Many thanks to J.A. Urgent Care for fixing me up on a Friday night!

And, no, Mom I'm not going to have a scar..............

Synchronized Sleeping

When they aren't eating, they're partaking in synchronized sleeping. No wonder they're always hungry.

Feed Us NeOW!

WTF? Why the faces? They're starving to death, of course.

The Difference Between Cats and Dogs.........

Love this! Though my cats would never do such a thing. Thanks Mom!

Sand Art

This sand art is creepy and cool all at the same time.

Happy Father's Day

My kids have the best, funnest, awesomest Dad ever! Sometimes the boys even act like they know this..............Parenting can be a thankless, exhausting job. But before we know the kids will be grown and out of the house and we'll be longing for the days when they drove us crazy...

Happy Father's Day, Honey!

Man-In-Training

Happy Anniversary Huz!

Happy Birthday Vinny!

We celebrated Vinny's birthday with Thai food. Nom nom nom!

The Invisible Man San Francisco Giant's Fan

Basketball Camp

The boys are both in basketball camp this week from 8-4 everyday. Apparently, it's a lot of work..... 

"My back is sore from basketball camp," complains Vinny. "Can I stay home?"

"No, now go roll out your back on the foam roller," says Hubby.

Poor kid isn't going to catch a break from his parents.

Sorting Socks

Sorting white socks is one of the worst domestic jobs ever. Thank goodness for outsourcing........

South Swell Summer

The south swell is still pumping so we headed to a river mouth where we hoped there'd be some swell........And there was.

Hubby and I took turns surfing while the boys played in the river.

I was nice and let Hubby surf first, mainly because I had already surfed twice this week, and I didn't want to be a wave hog. When I came in from my session, to my shock and horror I saw the boys playing with someones' precious surfboard in the river.

"Stefan, the boys have stolen someone's surfboard and THEY'RE PLAYING WITH IT IN THE RIVER," I shout.

"Yeah.......that's my board," says Hubby.

"Okay................" I say, thinking if he's okay with I am too. But I was glad they didn't have my surfboard in the river......

BFFs

This is so cute.

Dolphin Plays With Cat

This is amazing!

Fake Shark Attack Warnings

Surfers truly are rascally rabbits. Today I went to Santa Cruz to surf and the first thing I saw were postings on three separate great white shark attacks the previous day, and warnings that it wasn't safe to go in the water.

Being a surfer in what's known as the red triangle for over 25 years I didn't really take the warning to stay out of the water seriously for several reasons.

One: Sharks are out there.

Two: Santa Cruz is really crowded. More items on the menu, and by items I mean surfers, the less chance of me becoming someone's lunch. Internet, sometimes crowds are a good thing.

Three: I decided to surf a spot that wasn't a mile out to sea and was located inside the kelp bed, since two of the reported attacks were outside the kelp bed. That was enough to make me feel safe......

Four: The waves looked really fun!

In other words, three separate shark attacks the day before an epic south swell began filling in were not going to keep me out of the water. Today anyways.

Trust me, there have been plenty of times I have "avoided" certain spots because of shark sightings or attacks. I have sharkdar, radar for sharks, I hope.

But before I paddled out I facebooked, instagrammed and tweeted the picture of the ominous shark attack warning with the caption "Stay inside the kelp, today, kids."

Stay inside the kelp today, kids. #greatwhitesightings #surfing #capitola twitter.com/wendysurf/stat…

— Wendy Sea (@wendysurf) June 6, 2013

It was kind of a joke. But since two of the supposed attacks happened right outside the kelp beds I wanted to believe the kelp was my friend, who would fiercely protect me like her own baby.

Ironically, the only thing that attacked me today was the kelp monster. Imagine, a giant octupus with a thousand tentacles wrapped around me and my surfboard that won't let go. (Shivers)

By the way, the waves were really fun and the swell was only starting to build. When I came in my legs felt like limp noodles from riding waves. In Santa Cruz the waves are loooooong!

Anywho, by the time I came in from my session 9 people had shared my photo on Facebook, 7 of whom I didn't even know.

KGO news tweeted me their phone number to give them a call......

And Hubby and my neighbor were both texting me about the shark warning signs.

"Did you see the fake signs," texts Hubby.

"R they really fake?" I text.

"Yes," texts Hubby. And he sent me this link.

The clue was at the bottom of the flyer:

DUE TO THE HIGHLY AGGRESSIVE NATURE OF THESE ENCOUNTERS IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED TO STAY OUT OF THE WATER FOR 48 HOURS OR SURF COWELLS INSTEAD.

Cowells is surf break for beginners learning how to surf. And by beginners, I mean people with Costco surfboards. Not that there's anything wrong with that......

Anyways, I inadvertantly and unintentionally spread a hoax thanks to my need to share with everyone on social media. I felt a little silly when I learned the flyer was a hoax, and I probably should have read the entire flyer, instead of reading only the scary parts, but I'm human.

On my way out of town I stopped in a surf shop to feel up some sexy surfboards.

The person working in the shop, who I'm not facebook friends with says, "Oh hey Wendy, my facebook friend just shared your picture with me. And now you're here, that's weird.............."

It was a little weird......but that's the power of social media to spread information, true and false, like wildfire, which would be a great name for a social network....

All in all it was a pretty good, non-violent trick. Most importantly, there were a lot less Costco surfboards in the lineup during my session.........

Skateboard Fence

Where else would you find a decorative skateboard fence besides Surf City Santa Cruz?

Summer Vegetables

It's summer time and the vegetating has officially begun. Hopefully there will be a lot of surfing, times tables, home improvement, swimming and reading in between vegetative modes........

Carmel Beach

This is at the far end of carmel beach heading towards Pebble Peach. It's one of my favorite places on Earth.

Sunshine Freestyle Surfabout 33

Two weeks ago: "I'm never, ever surfing," says Gio. "I don't want anything to do with the ocean."

It looks like a surf contest is all the motivation Gio needs to change his mind about surfing. Thank Goddess.

This was Gio's first time standing up on a surfboard riding waves. Hubby pushed Gio into 5 waves in Gio's first surf contest ever......

Somehow he was disappointed with his result (#5 out of 7 in his heat).

I was stoked he got up and rode waves all the way to the beach. I was a little worried he wouldn't be able to get up at all. Also I happened to be judging his heat so it was pretty exciting seeing hime surf for the first time IN A CONTEST!

Good job Gio!

Sunshine Freestyle Surfabout 33

It's surfabout time again, surf fans!