Seaside

The third leg of our trip was to Seaside! Because Cam was sick, our arrival was pushed back by a day. But we still had a great time with Grandma! Grandma and I enjoyed our whiskey and beer until 4:00 a.m. Yes, 4:00. Unbelievable! It was so much fun and something I will never forget!





Of course, it would not have been a trip to Seaside without hitting the bumper cars - the traditional and the air/innertube ones ...



and miniature golf. Despite Cameron's TWO hole in ones, Grandma still won!






And on top of that, she was introduced to air hockey - which she also kicked Cam's butt at! Woohoo! The Seaside skate park is conveniently located down the street from grandma's house, so of course, we hit this one too. :) We had a great time with Ichi on the beach, playing frisbee, and a nice visit from Connor and the kids. Cam was excited to see his cousins!



I'm thinking when the weather is cooler here, Grandma will have to head down this way so we can repay her hospitatlity! (I'll be sure my liquor cabinet is stocked!) :)

Portland

While the majority of the trip appealed to Cam's skateboarding passion, our few days in Portland were particularly awesome! Thank you to Heather for being such a wonderful hostess and event planner. She had already pulled up some of the skate parks in the Portland area for Cameron to test out and we were ready to wrap up our "Pacific NW Skate Tour"... The famous Burnside park was first on our list, and it was an experience! This park is quite well known with all the true boarders and is even featured in some of his skateboarding video games. The guys skating were hard core - mostly locals - and surprisingly polite. This park was pretty "old school."

The next park was Pier park and a bit more urban. Cam had fun at this one, but preferred Burnside. In fact, we ended up going back on Wednesday to Burnside before we flew out. He didn't want to hit a "new" park, he was pretty set on this one. (With the exception of the 7-11 parking lot.

Heth took us to the Nike campus for lunch - I hadn't been back there since I left Nike! Cam got a real treat when we headed over to her building. One of the developers in Golf used to be over with Jordan. He'd had a pair of Air Jordan's he'd been holding onto (Cam's size) that were apparently a pretty hot item when they came out. Similar to the Wii - they were gone and sold out before they even came out! Heather told Drew about Cam, and so they waited until Cam could fit into them. The timing was perfect and Cameron was stunned to get them! Of course, we headed over to the Employee store and did some unneeded shopping. :) We also had such a great time playing poker in Heth's voodoo lounge every night ...

lunch at Stanich's ...

our walks out for our morning coffee, BBQing, and of course the girly time that Heth and I took advantage of with all of our chats. I ended up with Cam's bug Wednesday morning, so it was not a fun "last day" in Portland for me. I was sick about every hour and a half and it really put a damper on things. Thank god for Heth - she stepped up to the plate with Cam and took over! This could also be why he walked out of the E Store with two pairs of skate shoes - mom was not in the mood to argue. Sure Cam, here's the Visa ... go for it. I'll be int he bathroom. It sucked to leave and end our vacation, but there is nothing like being at home when you're sick. The flight home was horrible - couple more bathroom trips - the barf bag was NOT an option - and one pull over after Bryan picked us up. This crap lasted until Saturday morning. I'm just grateful it started at the END of our trip and not at the beginning!

We had such a great time on our vacation and could not have asked for a better time with family and friends!

I'll take Accomplishments for $50,000 ...

And the answer is: Done. Completed. Concluded. Ceased. Finished. Wrapped Up.


What is Alicia Peterson’s college career/higher education/Masters program?

That is correct! It is a very surreal feeling knowing that I have been in class for the last 5 years ... starting with my Bachelors program in July 2003, graduated in July 2006, took a few months off, decided to go for my Masters, and now here we are ... July 2008. I find it ironic that self-discipline was nonexistent in my OSU days, but absolutely essential for the online learning environment in which I chose to pursue my degree(s) . During the first couple of days of each course, we were required to post a Biography. Included in my bio (after I admitted to attending but not finishing at Oregon State) was the following quote by William Feather: "There isn't much thrill in success unless one has first been close to failure." With that being said, I am happy to announce that today is officially my "last day of school!" Mom called me this evening to offer her congrats with a serenade of "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks." I suppose because my modality with the University of Phoenix was strictly online, emoticons would fit into the "dirty looks" category, right? And dad is in the background telling me to crank some Alice Cooper ... "School's out for summer ... school's out forever ... " The timing could not have been better. Cam and I leave on Wednesday for our little trip, very excited about that. Even more excited that this will be the first time in 5 years that I won't have to worry about schoolwork when I'm on vacation. Took my last two classes back to back to avoid being in class this week, and although school everyday for the last 3 months sucked, it was worth it. At least I think so. :) I know my boys are glad I'm done, although I can honestly say that my time management and organization skills kicked butt. There were very, very few times, (I can probably count them on one hand) where I let it take priority over Bryan and Cameron. So I thought I'd come on here and toot my horn a little.

Wakeboard Lesson!

Last Saturday was our first official lake trip of the year. It had been almost a year since we were out ... before I had my neck surgery last August, being on the boat was the last thing I wanted to endure. So ... we took all of our Christmas decorations out of the bow, threw away the sour cream and onion chips from last June, and pulled that puppy out of the garage. It was just the three of us, and we had a great time. We went to Saguaro Lake, and I think at around 4:00 or so, it was still over 100 out. The lake temp was about 84 so it was perfect. Bryan gave Cameron his first wakeboarding lesson, and for those of you that remember mine, well let's just say his was significantly better. (i.e.: he did not shred his ACL.) We did have to reassure Cam that there have been several other people that daddy had helped learn to wakeboard, none of whom got hurt. At any rate, I think he's a natural. It takes a certain coordination and balance, both of which I do not have, so thankfully he takes after his daddy. The first hour or so was dedicated to turning yourself around in the water with the board on, grabbing the handle, etc. The basics. So by the time his "real" lesson started, meaning the boat was actually moving, he was pretty tired. But he did awesome. He got up on his 2nd or 3rd attempt, and loved it. He's excited to do it again this weekend. Below are the pictures I took, sorry they aren't very clear, but absent-minded me only had the camera on my phone. Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!

I hope this day finds all of the dads well! I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank my dad for all that he has done. Over the years I have built an incredible relationship with him - one that plays a huge part of my life and I could not imagine it without. He is someone that I still seek advice from, and truly enjoy spending time with.

(This picture was at the Rolling Stones concert. One of the BEST memories I have with my dad!). I look forward to our visits and hanging out with him over a few (?) beers. There have been many nights where this has ended in the wee hours of the morning! He is a natural grandpa and simply one of a kind. I'd also like to say Happy Father's day to my father-in law, grandpa's, uncles, and all the other special dads that are in my life. Honoring a dad doesn't ever end, even when they are no longer with us. So Happy Father's Day to mine and Bryan's grandpas that passed away last year - they should be proud of the way Mom and Denise turned out!


I am so thankful for my family! Bryan is a fantastic dad - Cameron is his life. They are one in the same in so many ways. Best buds that have the same interests and do everything together. I often feel as if I am raising two children. I'm pretty sure most of you would agree with that. Thank you honey, for being the dad that you are. Cameron and I are incredibly lucky.



Dear Dad,
You are the best! I love you!
Love, Cameron