One Direction

Sometimes when you are fourteen and love a boy band, 

the stars align in your favor. 

I mentioned a drive into Los Angeles on the beach trip post; it was in hope of seeing One Direction in concert! We were ticketless and knew the concert was SOLD OUT but that did not thwart our determination- besides a concert is never truly sold out when you have scalpers! Jason and Jace dropped Lauren and I off in the shadow of the towering Staples Center. We looked straight past the giggly girls with bouncing curls and right through the hovering moms trying to fit in with their skinny jeans, in search of someone with tickets to sell to the unprepared. Now you might think it a difficult task to procure tickets from someone who is touting tickets, but once you stepped off the Staples property and crossed the street they were pretty easy to find. Grown men in gansta get up don't fit in with the 1D groupies. We negotiated with several dealers until we found one; an overweight black man wearing stretched out sweats whose smile revealed several missing teeth, with the goods at a price we were willing to pay. In fact we ended up with super awesome seats 3rd row up from the floor(see ticket then seating chart) and payed less for them than if I had got them through the venue. In my cheap soul I know I could of held out a little longer and likely got them cheaper but Lauren really wanted to see the opener 5 Seconds of Summer. Liam, Zayn, Louis, Niall, and Harry were amazing!! I have to say I'm a wee bit of a One Direction fan myself! Of course Lauren loved every second and I hope that this is something she will remember forever!!

Lauren not wanting her pic taken so she made a weird face... now it's being posted forever on here!!

5 Seconds of Summer

The mainstage

The boys were transported right in front of us 

Played a few songs on this little stage before transporting back to the mainstage 

Back to School

I am positive that there is a massive black hole sucking time, pulling in the years faster than I can live them. I try to be present, to live in each moment, but time has wings and isn't afraid to fly. 

I can hardly fathom that my little blonde kindergartner, who profusely refused to go to class on her first day by running across the kindergarten playground and clinging to the chain link fence in protest until the principal was kind enough to lure her into the classroom, is a FRESHMAN at Legacy High School. This year she is on the J.V. Cheer team, a representative for Student Council, has choir as an elective, and is taking A.P. classes. 

My little dude is growing up way too fast. When he was little he had these cute track pants- the kind with the lines down the side. He called them his "fast pants" and believed that they made him run super fast. He would run around like crazy and show everyone how fast he could run. I feel like time has pulled on it's own version of "fast pants" zipping by as Jace starts 7th grade this year. It is a nice comfy grade to be in, as he is the middle man on campus. He has all accelerated classes and is taking Intro. to Media as his elective. 

Queens & Beaches

August 7-10, 2013

The end of summer was upon us and we needed a vacation.The best answer- let's go to the beach! We stayed the first night in Newport, followed by a night on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, then back to Newport for our last night. We toured the Queen Mary, drove into Los Angeles for the night (that is a whole separate post!), spent a day at Huntington Beach, walked the Balboa Pier, and shopped at Fashion Island. Also August 10th was the 1 year anniversary of my heart surgery- I had to celebrate!! 

Lauren had gone down a few days before us with her friend Sydney to relax on the beach and attend Pageant of the Masters, an art show at Laguna Beach. They pick a piece of art and depict it live, referred to as "living pictures." Lauren loved it and I think it is something we will also have to attend next summer.

A piece of art depicted live on stage- those are real people holding really still!!

Me at Huntington Beach with the naked surfer

The Queen Mary was cool to stay on, I just love it's Art Deco design and interesting history. Of course we had to get photos in the red phone booth! 

 

Favorite room on Queen Mary

Huntington Beach

somebody got burned!