March 18-19, 2011

Chris and I go to San Francisco every year for a weekend to celebrate our Anniversary. This year we celebrated our 10 year anniversary! Friday night we arrived in San Francisco and checked in to the hotel, This year we stayed in the art district, we won't stay here again. The hotel itself wasn't bad, it was an old hotel where the elevator door had one of those cage doors you shut before the elevator door closes. I really liked the hotel, it just wasn't a good area. One of the things we do every year is go to the Powell Street Mall and eat at Buckhorn Grill. We asked how far away it was from the hotel to see if we needed to drive. We were told just a couple blocks, so we walked. Well it was more like a mile away. After we ate we walked around the mall and then we hopped on the trolley to Ghiradelli Square. We walked down to Pier 39 and back to Ghiradelli Square, took the trolley back to Powell Street, and then walked back to the hotel. Saturday we were expecting rain so we took our umbrella and walked back to the Powell Street Trolley to head back to Fisherman's Wharf. We didn't have any set plans about what we wanted to do so we just started walking. It was raining so we wanted to find something to do inside. We decided to go into Ripley's Believe It or Not and the Mirror Maze. We had fun doing the different exhibits and reading about weird things. The mirror maze was pretty fun too! We decided to go back to the hotel and change into dry clothes. Then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I have been to a Cheesecake Factory several times, but Chris had never been before. This Cheesecake Factory is at the top of Macy's with a great view of Union Square. While we were eating it had really started to pour. And the wind was unbelievable. We stayed in the restaurant as long as we could, but it was obvious the rain was only coming down harder the wind was blowing harder. So we decided to leave and make a run for the hotel. About halfway back our umbrella breaks because of the wind.  We decide to throw it away and continue running. I wanted to take a direct route back to the hotel because of the rain but Chris said we couldn't go the direction I wanted to go because it was the Tenderloin district and it was a really bad area. So we had to go around it. We saw a dead body laying in the street, hit and run. We kept running. By the time we made it to the hotel, we were drenched from head to toe! We cranked up the heat that night. Fun weekend adventure in SF.

March 5, 2011

Tonight we celebrated Todd Porter's birthday! Boy does he know how to throw a party! First we all showed up to his house. We showed up with the Jacobs so Chris and Jeremy could give Todd a singing telegram. Jeremy was dressed up in a cow costume and Chris was dressed in a Superman costume. When Todd opened the door they burst out in singing Happy Birthday. It was great! After everyone showed up we boarded the party bus and Todd took us to his favorite Chinese Buffet Restaurant. After dinner we went to the Martinez Marina, separated into teams, and played Frisbee golf. It was a lot of fun. Then it was back on the bus, back to the Porter's for dessert.

March 5, 2011

Today we had a family day. We started with a morning run at Concord High school around the track. Kyle mostly kicked the football around. Riley Jo ran some then played some. Santa got the kids a basketball hoop for Christmas. We finally decided to put the basketball hoop together.Chris got only a little frustrated with it. :-) While Chris and Ty put the hoop together, Riley Jo wanted to learn how to roller skate. So I tried to teach her how to skate. Then we all rode bikes. It was fun to just hang out and play!

February 11, 2011

Riley Jo learned to ride a 2 wheeled bicycle! She was the youngest Rossi kid to master the two wheels at the age of 5! All 3 of her siblings waited until they were 7/8. We had gone to the park and she would see kids younger then her riding a 2 wheeled bike. She wanted to learn so bad. So I asked my friend how she trained her 3 year old to ride a bike. She told me that she took the pedals off the bike and her son would push himself around with his feet and he would learn his balance. He did this for about a month and then they put the pedals back on and he rode his bike. I thought, I have held onto the handle bars, the back of the seat, and the bottom of her shirt with no luck. Let's try it this way. So we went home that day and I took the pedals off Riley Jo's bike. I went inside to make dinner, we live in a court so I opened the blinds in the kitchen and I watched Riley Jo as I made dinner. She was out in the court everyday for 2 weeks pushing herself around! At the end of the 2 weeks she told me she had found her balance and wanted the pedals back on her bike. So I put the pedals back on, held her to get her steady, and she was off! Riley Jo had taught herself to ride a 2 wheeled bicycle! This is the essence of her personality. If she wants to do something, she figures out how to do it. That is the only reason she was potty trained before the age of 2, she learned to ride her bike, and why she DIDN'T walk until she was 14 1/2 months old. Our stubborn smart little girl!

January 22, 2011

Back to the snow we go! We went to Adventure Mountain Snow Park. This was our first time ever going here. Sheri had invited us to go, their ward was taking their youth up and she had to drive so we went and hung out with her and Tyler went along with their youth for the day. (Michayla was at her mom's) Abby hated the cold wet snow and so they spent a lot of time sitting at the cars. So Chris and I took Kyle and Riley Jo on the hills. I could not believe how big the hills were. Some of them were steep too. They had hills for all ages, some weren't as steep, and some had some bounce to them. By late afternoon the sun started melting some of the snow and making it kind of slushy. So you went a little faster. One guy was zooming down the hill, hit a big bump, fell off his disc and his his head. Yeah the ambulance was called! We pretty much finished up after that. Riley Jo even went down a couple times by herself. She got over confident on one hill and ended up falling off twice. But did go down again so that was good. Tyler and Kyle had fun too. Kyle would only go down in the sled. I think it went slower then the discs, and anytime he felt out of control, he would just tip over. And you can't go down backwards in the sled, the disc likes to spin and most of the time you would go backwards. So Kyle felt safe in the sled.

January 17, 2011

We went to the snow with some friends today. The Jacobs had never taken their kids to the snow so we picked a day and we all went. We went to a place called Echo Springs near Tahoe. We found a small hill to practice going down the discs on, then we made our own hill. The kids and adults all had fun going down the hill on the discs, sled, or slick mat. And, you can't go to the snow without having a snowball fight. Everyone had a blast!

January 8, 2011

I wanted to compete in a Duathlon event up in Folsom. It is a free event they do on the first Saturday of the new year. Chris got me a road bike for Christmas so I was really excited to do the event. The race is more fun for me if I know other people in the race. So I convinced Chris to do the race with me. So he agreed and convinced his good friend Tim Doll to do the race too. We had to run 2 miles, then bike 7 miles, then run another 2 miles. We start off and I take off from the boys right away. The bike was a loop, you rode out 3.5 miles, turn around, and ride back. On my way back I of course pass the boys. I cheer for Chris, still looking for Tim though. I almost make it back to the transition area and I see Tim. He is going up the hill, kind of straddling the bike, walking up the hill. I cheer for him and go on! I don't know why he thought that would be more affective then changing gears and riding the bike up the hill, or even getting off the bike completely and walking up the hill. The bike course was trying. It was a constant up and down hill with sharp turns thrown in there. I almost launched myself over my handlebars on one sharp turn. Like I said, new bike, I forgot which brake was which and I accidentally slammed my front brake. Luckily I caught myself so I didn't flip! I make it back into that transition area and start my second 2 mile run. Thinking at least Chris should be close behind me. To my surprise I finish the race, go back to my bike to get a drink and there is Chris! He was waiting for Tim but he said he had just got there. We wait a couple minutes and here comes Tim. He gets off the bike said the tire wouldn't turn and that he was fighting the bike the entire 7 miles. Turns out the brake was rubbing the back tire. Needed a little adjustment and then it worked fine. So, I finished the entire race as the boys finished 2/3 of it, AND neither of them wanted to run or walk the last 2 miles. Even though I told them I would walk or jog with them. I was glad they at least participated with me!