The reason for our trip is two-fold.  It’s an office week for Adam.  He has been working remotely from home but every once in a while it’s a good thing for him to check in at the YS office.  Secondly we need to find housing.  We have already booked our moving truck for the beginning of August but we don’t know where to send the truck. And until the housing question is answered we can’t move forward with registering the kids for school, and so forth.

Our intention today was to visit a church too.  That was until we stood in line at Hertz for over half an hour. It should have taken ten minutes to pick up our rental.  The kids lucked out because our back-up plan was to hang out at the hotel pool and then take them on their long awaited trip to the beach.  The beach was beautiful and fun - as to be expected.  We hung out at the beach in La Jolla.  We were all wearing our clothes, since our swimsuits were already wet, but that didn’t stop the kids from getting soaked.  And oh yeah, we squeezed in our first apartment viewing.  It was unimpressive to say the least.  Tomorrow we are looking at a house for rent. It is in a “real” family friendly neighborhood with the elementary school being just a couple blocks away.  Crossing our fingers.

The kids are knocked out.  It’s off to bed for me too.  Did I mention it’s been a long day?

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Yeah. Bubbles. Totally random right?

Reminds me of this song.

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July 11, aka 7/11, is the day that 7-Eleven, Inc., the world’s premier convenience retailer, celebrates its birthday and says “thank you” to its customers with free Slurpee drinks at participating stores. This year’s 7-Eleven® Day marks the company’s 81st birthday. Customers can pour their favorite Slurpee flavor in colorful, 7.11-ounce “Birthday” cups throughout the day, while cup supplies last.

Update - Happy Pink Slurpee Tongue

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What are your favorite flowers? Growing up my favorite flowers were irises. Of the flowers that grow in my yard the peonies are without a doubt my favorite. I adore their sweet fragrance. There is also something magical about the way in which they grow seemingly overnight. If I had my way peonies would bloom all summer long.

Summer in Romeo means hostas and lillies. I’m looking forward to experiencing a new gardening zone in San Diego but at the same time I am going to miss the familiarity of the plants that I’ve grown to love here in Michigan.

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Bravery requires proper attire. Paul was prepared all the way down to his Power Ranger underwear. Armed with “Sharpie” (his latest Webkinz) and a box of Spiderman Band-Aids we made our way to the doctor’s office.

Paul was great. Before the visit I had made it clear to Paul what was going to happen. We also discussed a proper reward for good behavior. He and I agreed that his reward would be to go to the video store and rent one of his favorite games, Mario Party 8 for the Wii.

I was disappointed with how Paul’s vision & hearing screening was handled. There is no pediatrician office in town so I opted to take Paul to the local family practice. The staff clearly had little experience with children. The nurse who tested Paul’s vision began by using the alphabet sight chart. After Paul shrugged his shoulder’s at the second letter I suggested that perhaps the picture chart would be more appropriate. Paul knows most of his alphabet but still struggles with identifying some letters. The picture chart wasn’t much better. A few symbols were difficult to name. It’s not that Paul couldn’t see them, he just didn’t know what to call them. The nurse tested each of Paul’s eyes separately but initially forgot to test Paul with both eyes open.

The hearing screening wasn’t any better. Paul wasn’t raising his hand high enough in response to hearing the sounds so the nurse - a different nurse - took Sharpie out of his lap. I understood her reasoning (so that he would be free to raise his arm without any distractions) but I thought the way in which she went about it was unthoughtful. The nurse showed zero amount of bedside manner. At one point she tried to threaten Paul into cooperating. It was pretty much a waste of time.

Thankfully the doctor dismissed the results of both tests (I’m fairly certain that Paul is neither blind nor deaf as the results would have indicated) and I will take him for a do-over towards the end of the summer. Next time I’ll find a doctor’s office with actual experience treating children.

All this to further prove the very scientific study that yes, most children are strongly opposed to children’s healthcare:

Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children’s Healthcare

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What sets Honest Tea apart is that it is made from real tea leaves (instead of powder or syrup) and it is all-natural. Honest Tea even tastes like it is good for you - it is only lightly sweetened unlike other cold tea beverages.

Honest Tea did not last many days in our house. Adam and I are both tea drinkers and eagerly started sampling. The unexpected Honest Tea fan of the house was Paul (4yrs old). My favorites were the Pomegranate White Tea and Peach White Tea along with all the Honest Ade flavors (Cranberry Lemonade, Orange Mango Pomegranate Blue and Limeade). I didn’t enjoy the green tea flavors as much. They left an aftertaste in my mouth. It wasn’t horrible. Just not as good to me as the others.

Honest Tea also makes a child-friendly product packaged in recyclable pouches.

Bottom Line: I really enjoyed my samples of Honest Tea. I will be keeping my eyes out for more at the grocery store.

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Kohl’s was having a great sale. I narrowed my choices to two different styles. One was a thong-style sandal and the other was the Adissage sandal (what you see in the picture). I’ve always been curious about the Adissage. Everyone that I’ve ever known who has worn them has said that they are very comfortable - despite the prickly looking “massage footbed.” The first sandal was really, really comfortable. But after a long time of mulling it over my curiosity won out and I bought the Adissage. One reason that I choose it over the other is that it looked more washable. I’m outside a lot and my feet get dirty. Okay, they don’t just get dirty but they start to stink! The Adissage looked like an easy shoe to hose down and keep my feet smelling fresh. (Can you tell that I’m more practical than stylish when it comes to shopping?)

I brought my new shoes home and immediately started breaking them in. And boy, did they hurt my feet! Honestly, I couldn’t wear them for more than an hour or two before the pain set in. But one thing that I am is stubborn. I’ve hung in there and now I can say that my shoes are enjoyable to wear. I don’t think I could wear them for long distances but for a summer sandal they aren’t that bad.

What about you? I’m still looking for the perfect summer shoe but I could use a little help. What is your favorite summer footwear and why?

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