The Gann Family

Well, I have gotten behind on my blog.....again!! There was actually so much going on that I have hardly had time to do anything else!! So here we go with a catch up of the last month and a half, I'll try and make it quick.......

My 30th Birthday

So lets start with my birthday!! I celebrated m 30th birthday on June 14th! It was truly one of the best birthdays I have had in a long time. I never do much for my birthday, I hate planning parties for myself, but my family had different plans. My sister came home and surprised me with a party at my parents house. The best part was her being there, but the surprises did not stop there. She got me this super fancy and super delicious cake, it was like a little wedding cake, I just love fancy cakes! She decorated the whole house with flowers, balloons, homemade confetti and 30th signs just in case I forgot! My mom made a great dinner for the whole family! After cake and presents, Arnold offered to take the kids home and let me spend the night with my sister, what I great husband! We went out on the town and had a great time! The next night my parents came over to my house to watch the kids while Arnold and I went to a birthday dinner with my friends! It was a PERFECT birthday weekend! My loving family, my wonderful friends, good food and GREAT cake, what more could I ask for? Thanks again Eileen and Mom for everything that you did!

A longtime family friend, Allison Barnes, came over to wish me a happy birthday. It was nice to see her and hang out a bit. Here we all are just hanging out at my party!

Alana's favorite part of any birthday party is the cake. She loves the presents to, but I think the cake is always her ultimate favorite part. This cake was delicious, the best cake I have ever had! So many yummy noises came out of my mouth when I was eating it!! I took what did not get eaten home and I can honestly say, not even a crumb was wasted. I ate every last bite. It took a few days to finish it and I looked forward to coming home and eating some of that cake each day. I was so sad when it was all gone, I craved it for days afterward, actually I still do! Good job on the cake Eileen!

On to Alana's next favorite part about birthdays, the presents. OK, so Alana is not the only one who enjoys this part of the birthday! I love getting gifts, it is so fun to see what things people pick out for you. It is nice to know that the people close to you take the time to find something specail for you. It is always a nice surprise to discover that people remember something that you have wanted or notice something that you need. All my gifts were very thoughtful and well picked out. Things I needed like a device to save all my files on my computer to from Steve (he has bailed me out of too many crashes) to the perfume that my sister remembered I had wanted to buy on the cruise but never did. And I always love my personalized cards that my Mom and Dad make on their computer, they always put the nicest pictures in. Steve even made a card for me that had a poem in it that used the letters of my name as the first word of each line, now that is thoughtful!

Alana's first Dance Recietal

I've Been Working on the Railroad

On Saturday June 20th Alana did her first big dance recital! She did an awesome job, we were all so proud of her! Here she is waiting backstage with the rest of her class. She had to wait there on her own until it was her turn to preform, it was a crazy scene but she did really well with all the chaos. She made it on stage, no tears, no fear, and she didn't miss a step! A star is born!!

She was so proud of herself after the show! She got to come out and watch the other dancers when she was done performing. I think she loved the big stage and all the attention, just like Mom use to!

Grammy and Grandpa were equally proud of their little star! Here she is sitting with Grammy after her performance, watching the rest of the show.

The proud parents with the star of the show! It was only a few minute performance, but for those few minutes she was our little dancer. She had been practining the dance for months in class and at home, it is truly special to watch your child learn a routine, remember it and preform it in front of a large audience. Alana amazes me everday with the things she says, thinks and does. You always feel like your child is smart and capable, but to see it in action, up there all on her own was amazing!

Father's Day Camping Trip

Lake San Antonio

That same weekend was Father's Day. So after the performance we headed out to Lake San Antonio to meet some friends for a night of camping. It was a blast as always! We love to spend as much time as we can at the lake during the summer, this was our first trip and so far our only trip. Hopefully we will get our there again soon, just need money to put gas in the boat and stock the cooler with beer......If only Arnold had more work!

The two dads were responsible for cooking the Father's Day BBQ! They love being in charge of the BBQ , Arnold takes great pride in his meat being cooked just right. As I remember Scott and Arnold had quite a good time that night, notice the margarita in hand!

Here everybody is trying to stay out of the sun. ; It gets really hot out there, shade is a must. We set up all of our screen tents next to each other, four all together, to make one big shady area. With an the average temprature of about 100 degrees, shade and water are a necessity!

I got Arnold this wakeboard for Fathers day last year. He has not gotten up on it yet, but was extremly close this trip. Next time he will have it. It is actually very challenging and takes a lot of arm and leg strength. Appearently, once you learn how to get up it is not so hard and looks like fun. The process of learning can be discouranging and a lot of physical work. You get sore and tired quickly. I have never been able to do this and since I do not enjoy being dragged around the lake by a speeding boat struggling to keep my head above water, I have given up trying. I am the offical driver of the boat. I like this job, it can be scary out on the lake with all the other boats and crazy people, so I like to be in control of keeping my boat and passengers safe. Plenty more lake trips to come, we hope, so let us know if you want to join us. We love to share our boat, everyone is welcome to party at the lake!

Swimming Lessons

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We started swimming lessons on Monday June 29th. I did Mommy and Me with Cael. He did really well, he loved the water! He was a great splasher, kicker and crab walker (along the wall). He was not afraid to put his face in the water, although I think he was drinking the water. The pool we go to is salt water not chlorine treated, so I think he liked the salty taste. He learned to climb in and out of the pool safely as well as go under water. He loved it all!!

Alana, who has always been pretty fearless of the water, was old enough to do lessons without me in the water(Yea, I get to sit and enjoy the sun!). I have done Mommy and Me with her for the last two years and was so excited to have her move up to the next level. She loved her teacher and followed all instructions well. She did everything that the teacher asked her to do with out any hesitation. She learned to jump in and go under the water, push off the wall backwards, and jump to the teacher off the step without holding on to her. A few of the kids in her class were a little timid, but not Alana! She loved it so much, and I loved relaxing by the pool watching her SO much, that I think we may do it again this summer. Not only is it very important for kids to learn how to swim, but this is a great summertime activity for all!

4th of July 2009, Cayucos

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Next, came the 4th of July! It was on a Saturday this year, so my family from Southern California were able to come up for the big day! My sister came, My cousin Joe and his wife Vanessa and my Aunt Marilyn. My brother Steve also came to hang with the family. Oh and I can't forget the pet's, Joe and Vanessa brought their two dogs, Wiley and Indy and Eileen brought her darling little Gidget Bianca! Alana loved having all those dogs around! Here we are hanging out in the backyard at my parent's house, talking , drinking and smoking some tri tip!

Cute, little, pregnant Vanessa!! I love spending time with my wild and crazy cousins! Pop that baby out so we can get back to partying!! Just kidding (kind of)! Even though she could not really party with us, she was still her fun, crazy, nutty self! She can liven up any group without even trying! I am glad that she is a tough pregnant person, not a wimpy, whinny pregnant person. I hate wimpy pregnant women, get over already!!

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Erika and her hunny, Kevin stopped by to spend some time with Erika's second family! Love her like a sister, it was so good to see her! Erika is also pregnant, but once again the party rages on no matter what! Even on her best behavior, Erika is always a blast to be around! She makes me laugh and act silly and I love it! Also not a whinny pregnant person, in fact truly the opposite! She is enjoying being pregnant and is choosing to have a natural labor, so swollen feet, back pain and morning sickness is the easy stuff compared to birthing a baby with no pain medication! Good luck you crazy girl!! You know God made an epidural for a reason!! Just kidding, you go girl!

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The 4th of July always starts with the Parade, wait make that a Mimosa and then the parade, then moves on to a walk downtown to check out the peddlers fair and other vendors, BINGO at the vets hall takes up the early afternoon, with lots of drinks, friends and socializing in between! The day always ends at the 9th street beach (our beach!) to watch the fireworks off the pier. We had a beautiful day this year with lots of sun and the fog even stayed away for a clear evening. The fog can ruin the fireworks show and has completely hid the fireworks in years past. But this year we got lucky, a nice, clear,wind free evening at the beach. We could see the show perfectly and it was awesome! I love fireworks, I wish we could have them more often. The picture above is the whole family all set up at the beach enjoying the spectacular fireworks show!

Cael's 1st Birthday Party

The weekend after the 4th of July was Cael's first birthday. To celebrate his first birthday we threw him a beach party in Morro Bay. We rented a camp site at Morro Strand State Beach for the weekend and camped there. I used to camp there all the time when I was little so it brought back fond memories!

We had the campsite all decorated for the party and ready for guests. Alana handed out the little bucket and sand toy set that each child received as their party favor when everyone first got there so they all had something to play with. We then took the buckets down to use in playing a few beach party games. First we had a scavenger hunt for things on the beach (seaweed, shells etc.) and then the kids used there sand toys to hunt for buried treasures in the sand (I buried little beach items for them to find). All the kids loved the games, the treasures the found and the prizes they won!

After some time on the beach, we came back to eat cupcakes. We all sang Happy Birthday to Cael and then let him dig into his cupcake. He tried to eat the candle and made a big huge mess, but I think he liked it!

And of course, presents!! Alana was definitely more excited about the presents than Cael was. She was patent for hours before we finally opened them. She was a good big sister and showed Cael what to do. She let him open them a little bit, he mostly just wanted to bang on them with his hands, but did most of the gift opening for him. It does not matter much now, but boy is she going to have a hard time with this when Cael is old enough to do it on his own. I don't think she loves anything, and I mean anything, more than birthdays! It was an awesome weekend, the weather was great, and the party was fun! Not that many guests attended, but everyone who did attend had to leave early, before dinner was served. I ended up with lots of chicken, pasta salad and garlic bread, we are still eating it!! We had a good time but I think we are going to skip birthday parties for awhile, they are a lot of work and money, and I always end up disappointed about something. Alana's birthday is in November and we have decided that we would rather spend the money that we would spend on a party on a trip to Disneyland instead! I know we will all enjoy that! Your all invited, so mark your calendars if you want to come.

Alana's first visit to the Eye Doctor

Since I have such terrible eye sight and have ever since I was a very young child, I decided to get Alana's eyes checked. The thought of my beautiful little girl not being able to see did not sit right with me. I still remember when I got my first glasses at about age 6, I could not believe that was how things were supposed to look, so clear!! I was born nearsighted, which according to the doctors is kind of rare. Nearsightedness normally develops or gets worse over long periods of time. Most people do not even notice a problem until they are teenagers. However in my case my vision was awful right from the beginning. I am almost considered legally blind without my contacts on, so it is not just a slight thing. If you have a nearsighted parent you have a 60% chance of being nearsighted yourself. I hate not being able to see, it is a very uncomfortable feeling, so with those odds and knowing how I feel when I can't see, it was important to be sure that Alana did not have the same problems I do. Alana is not afraid of the doctor and was happy to go. In the picture above she is sitting patiently in the chair for the doctor to come look at her eyes.

The nurse came in first to do a few tests with her. With children this young they use different pictures instead of letters. She did the same things an adult would do just with pictures of ducks, cakes, trees,etc. They also check for color blindness by having her look at some pictures that have red and green shapes mixed in with other color,s. Since color blindness only applies to the colors red and green, if they can see the shapes then they are not color blind. They also had to put drops in her eyes to dilate them. She did really well getting the drops in, even though they sting a little bit. She did so well that the doctor gave her a certificate to go get a free ice cream while we waited for the drops to work on her eyes (they take 45 minutes to work). In the picture above Alana is sporting some special glasses that helped block the sun, since the drops make your eyes really sensitive. At the end of it all, Alana seems to have gotten her fathers genes when it comes to her vision. She passed all the tests and the doctor did not see anything, besides a slight astigmatism, to be worried about. I am happy to know that my little girl is seeing everything clearly! The doctor wants to see her again in two years to be sure we are still on the same track. Now the next doctors visit will be to the dentist, I have a feeling that one may not be as easy!

Alana choose a bright pink, bubblegum flavored ice cream. She picked it because of the color, which was fine because I don't think there is a flavor of ice cream that Alana does not like. I took a small bite and quickly realized that bubblegum is deffiently a childrens flavor, yuk! I will stick to cookies and cream!

Hot Summer Days

Well, that should just about catch us up to now! It has been a busy summer so far, lots of fun stuff going on! The weather has been hot, between 100 and 110, lately so for now we are just trying to stay cool. A difficult task at those temperatures! On this particular day even Arnold decided to get in the kiddie pool action to cool off! Alana loved seeing her Dad in her little pool and had a blast playing with him. I am sure that the rest of the summer will go by just as fast as the first month and a half did, so forgive me if I fall behind again. But there is still a lot of summer fun to be had, the fair, the lake, the beach, the water park, the pool and so much more. And don't worry I will post blogs with all the fun details! Alana starts preschool in the fall, that she goes to without me. We have done Mommy and Me preschool up until now, so this is a big deal for both of us. It is a co-op preschool so you are required to work in the classroom a few times a month, so she won't get rid of me all together but I won't be there everyday. Cael and I will start Mommy and Me preschool in the fall as well, I am excited to have some one on one time with him, he gets very little of that. So with summer half over I am already thinking about the fall, but there is still plenty of summer left to take advantage of and that is what we plan on doing! I hope you are all enjoying your summer, make the best of it because it will be over before you even know it!

Miscalenous Pictures

So somehow I never get the formatting right on these things, so I have a bunch of blank space at the end that I am going to try and fill with some random pictures. Hope you enjoy!