Deep Fried Myth

Summer time brings the OC Fair! The summer would not be complete without at least one trip there. I'm not into the rides or the games, I go there for one reason. THE FRIED FOOD!! I LOVE to taste all the deep fried stuff they come up with new every year. Last year they had WAY better food if you ask me. They were missing some of our staples from last year... but this year they did have a few news things to try. I'm pretty daring, except to try the chocolate covered corn dog or the deep fried butter... gross. However we did try...

Deep Fried Kool-aid. It's not really as Kool as it sounds. It's almost like a corn bread consistency flavored strawberry with Kool-aid sprinkled on the outside. The first second of the first bite tasted like Kool-aid because it was on the outside. Will not waste money on that one again...

Deep fried Jalapenos stuffed with Baby Ruth candy bar. Sounds horrible but tastes quite the opposite. I was expecting (from that name) a battered Jalapeno. It was not. As you can see from the picture it was a fried Jalapeno with a piece of candy bar stuck in the middle, served with chips and sprinkled with sugar.

My reaction after I stuffed it into my mouth.... waiting, waiting... Hot, waiting....

It was actually really good. And to my surprise I hate them both and would buy and eat them again! Who knew Chocolate and Jalapenos would taste good together? We also tried Deep Fried Chocolate covered Bacon which was just ok. I can't wait to make another trip with Victor so he can taste all the yummy stuff with me. I still miss the deep fried smore from last year, that had to be the best fair food EVER!

I will say though, this year I went for the first time for another purpose other than food. Aerosmith is one of Crystal's favorite bands and for her birthday (since Aerosmith isn't playing anywhere) I bought her tickets to see Aeromyth. A tribute band to Aerosmith. The concert was in the Hanger where the sound wasn't very good. They did some great songs and some not so great songs. The guy who played "Steven Tyler" was so dead on! He acted, sang, danced and did all the same things that Steven Tyler does. The band didn't sing so great, but it was worth the cheap tickets and it was really fun! Any concert is fun especially with my bestest!!

Child

Just my Rosie being a child!

There is a new place that opened by our house called OC Fish & Chips. We tried them out one night for dinner and they were super YUMMY! Plus the lady behind the counter was SUPER nice. For desert we ordered their Fried Oreo's. Who said we had to wait for the fair to come to town? Alana had an Ice Cream bar.

On Sunday after church we took Alana to Hart Park where there is a pool there! We practiced her swim moves and we keep trying to get her to willingly put her head under water... Not so much yet. But she did love just laying out in the sun! She's such a California girl!

I'm such a happy mom because Alana really never gets into anything... she knows what she's allowed to do and touch and she minds those rules. Yes, I know how incredibly lucky I am and if I should ever have another kid or a boy, remind me of this post... Last year I posted about Alana getting into Vaseline... This year it's the Markers! Like I said, I KNOW I'm lucky and this doesn't happen all the time. But when it does, it cracks me up! She colors and draws ALL the time and I never have to worry about her coloring on anything she's not supposed to.... I know why she did it, but I just had to laugh. In the bath lately we use her bath paints. She just learned she could paint on her body with them and then it washes right off. I can only assume that's why she wrote on her body with markers.

Alana walks up to me and says "Look Mom". She had the biggest look of achievement on her face! She knew I was going to be so proud of the masterpiece she made on her body. The look on her face was priceless and I said loudly her first and middle name... then a big - What did you do?!?!?! I told her she was not allowed to write on her body with marker. She said in the saddest voice ever.. I'm sorry mommy. Had to just hug her as I put her in the bath to scrub down her body..... I love this girl!!

Crystal's Birthday Bash!

Sharkeez here we come! We met at Crystal's new apartment and had a cab come pick us up and take us down to Main Street Sharkeez in HB!

I had to make sure to get a "before" picture because God knows what the pictures an hour from this one are going to look like.... You'll see how the night progresses....


My bestest friend and Birthday girl!!


The Hubby and I

Me and Christina

Georgy and Christina

As if we didn't have enough to drink before we left for Sharkeez... We had a few little drinks here.

It would be funny to see all of the same pictures over the years that look just like this with me and Crystal!

Sexy Birthday Girl!

The girls!

Those boys!

Apparently it was really funny.

I only WISH this picture was more clear! Gangsta!!!

Told you the pictures would get worse...

And even worse.... I took about 80 pictures with my camera and a dozen of them are blurry, 3 dozen of them are too drunk looking to post and some are just arms, tops of heads or pictures of the floor....

Needless to say we had a great night celebrating with Crystal for her Birthday!! Glen Ivy on Monday for me and Crys, I CAN'T wait!! Pictures to come of fun in the sun! Happy Birthday to my bestest!!

Another Halo Victory!

Victor's hotel had a family night last Friday night at the Stadium! Alana and I got to meet lots of his new co-workers and we got to see some of the co-workers we had when we meet at the Hilton years ago. It was awesome to catch up with everyone! We tailgated for awhile and then headed into the stadium for a great game!

My little Angels fan!

Can you tell we are an Angel's Family?

My new favorite picture of her? Does that really count if they are all my favorites?

Me and my Rosie!

My silly face girl! She did soooo well sitting for the game. I'm finding that at 3 years old Alana is really patient for her age. It makes me happy, not sure where she got it from though.

Look at this girls hair!! Time for another 3 inch trim I think!

The nice lady in back of us shared her cotton candy with Alana. She loved it!

Hanging out on daddy's shoulders watching the Rally Monkey while holding her own! The Rally Monkey came out a million times for this game and Alana loved seeing him! But even this week all Alana keeps talking about is how scared she was of the Monkey coming out of the shower. They played a scene from Psyco and out came the Rally Monkey. She HATED that and we'll have to make her close her eyes next time we are there if they play it.

Friday Night Lights! She hung in there to stay and watch the awesome Fireworks! We had seats right under them which was great! She covered her ears the whole time but kept her eyes open big to see the beautiful fireworks!

Light up that Halo!!

Wiggin

Alana has only gotten into dressing up a little bit and it's mostly when she's with her cousins or other kids who are doing it. It's not something she wants to do all the time at home even though she has tons of dress up outfits. Last weekend while at my cousins house, all the girls dressed up. Alana is the youngest and they love to dress her up like a doll. This picture is worth a million words to me. Needless to say, she didn't love the wig! Shortly after this picture she ripped it off her head...



Beauties!

How beautiful are my bestest friends? Love you girls!

Flashback!

I found my dad's yearbook sitting out and flipped through every page to find him. I honestly still don't believe this is him. There is not one piece of anything that looks like him to me in his senior picture! Amazing to see! LOVE this picture of him! I hope someday my senior pictures will be as valuable to Alana as my parents pictures are to me! Love you daddy!

Cause she's cute

This post is really just because my Rose is so dang cute!!! These are some of my favorite pictures of her lately. She's growing up so much and getting so big! So smart and such a little girl. I know she stopped being a baby a long time ago, but lately it's like she's a little lady or something. She says the funniest things EVER!! And next time she does, I'll remember to write them down so I can blog about them...

 

At 3 years old:

• Alana is wearing big girl panties and I'm LOVING every moment of her being potty trained! It was soooo easy, I'm almost scared to talk about it! I don't have to buy diapers? Really amazing!!
• She loves, loves, LOVES to sing. Whether it's making up her own songs to whatever she is doing at that moment, or singing along to her kids songs CD's, she's always singing! Her favorites to sing are *The Old Gray Mare * London Bridges * Jack and Jill * Roll over * Twinkle * and anything Beatles of course.
• She still thinks I’m her best friend. Although the other day we did have this conversation:
Alana: Mommy, who were you talking to on the phone?
Me: Crystal
Alana: Why?
Me: Because she’s my best friend!
Alana: Crystal’s my best friend too mommy! (She says quietly as she snooze’s off in the car)
• She is pretty smart, she knows her shapes, colors and alphabet.
• She is great at drawing happy faces, mountain and the letter A.
• Play-doh is her favorite thing to play with (after drawing)
• She’s not really into the Disney Princesses.
• She loves to draw outside with chalk.
• Her favorite cartoon to watch is Little Einstein’s.
• She loves to say silly words and mash them up.
• She laughs at pretty much anything if you say it funny.
• She loves to fold laundry or help do anything when we are cleaning.
• She completely understands her Grandma in Spanish and responds back.
• She can count to 20 (missing 15 and 16) in English and Spanish.
• Alana is still VERY independent. She does everything on her own and would not like help from anyone. She gets the milk out of the fridge and gets a cup down. (But I don’t let her pour)
• She will sit and read for hours.
• She loves to lay on the couch with mommy and daddy right before bed time and snuggle and I couldn’t LOVE it anymore!

OH - and she is super great for my self esteem! She always tells me how beautiful I am or how pretty I look. Or how nice my dress or shirt is!

Life is just TOO short

Tuesday morning at 3:30am my cell phone rings. Now you know that is NEVER a good sign when your phone rings in the middle of the night.

My Uncle Grady that lives in Sacramento was staying at my dads house to visit while his wife and grand kids went to Baseball games in AZ. Tuesday morning he was having problems breathing and couldn't sleep. About 2am my dad called down the hall because the light was on and asked "Grady, are you ok?". My Uncle Grady said no. My dad grabbed the phone and called 911 and flew down the hall to my Uncle. My dad helped him change his shirt because it was soaked and then the Paramedics got there. My Uncle Grady stopped breathing, they took him away in the ambulance and before they could get to the hospital he was gone. Just like that.

When I got the call, I had to call my dad's brothers and sisters to let them know. I got dressed and went to pick up my Aunt and head out to Corona. We all meet in the hospital where they have a little room for the family to sit in and a volunteer to answer questions and take care of the family. All the while my Uncle Grady's wife was in Arizona and a good 5 hour drive away. My other Aunts and Uncle and my dad got to go in and see him before the Coroner took him away. It was a really rough morning for all of us.
My dear Uncle Grady. 70 years old


The rest of that day and really the rest of that week was really hard on the whole family. My sister and I raced home to my dads house to get some breakfast and clean up, as the whole family would be there within the hour. And more family from Arizona would be there within a few hours. It was like the day my mom died all over again.... One by one family members gathered at my dads house waiting for my Aunt to get there from Arizona so we could all be there for her. The last time I was at my mom and dads house with all the family was the day my mom died. Same thing, same drill, only 21 months later.

The week went on and arrangements were made. My Aunt was considerate and wanted the service in Corona so all of the family could be there. It was amazing how my Uncle Grady lived in Orange County the majority of his life, moved to Sacramento years ago, but came back for a vacation and died really close to all of his relatives. I know things always happen for a reason, but this one just hit that saying out of the park!

Not only was he out here when he passed away but most of the family had just seen him days before. We all went to dinner Saturday night before Father's Day. I got to see him, give him a hug and a kiss. Had he passed away in Sacramento that week would have been a lot worse then it already was. Not to mention that the days before he died, he sat in my dads living room with his brothers and talked about old times. My dad says they played old records on the record player, they talked about the days when they grew up in New York. They reminisced on the good ol' days. And then he died. Meant to be...

The funeral was held at my mom and dads home church in Corona. We have the best Pastor in the whole world. I called to ask him if we could have the funeral there and Pastor Steve didn't even hesitate. Yes of course. He didn't even think twice about it. Whatever the Harp family needed, he would provide for us. It's amazing to feel like you know that he will always be there! He has been there for us through so many good times and bad!

Having the funeral at our home church is bittersweet for me. Saturday when I walked into the church for the first time since we had my moms funeral there, I had to just sit down and cry. Almost as if it was my moms funeral all over again. I don't clearly remember the day of my moms funeral but it all came back to me as I sat down in the church. Pastor Steve sat with me and reminded me of all the good times I had in that church as well. And it was true. I enjoy sitting in that church while being led by Pastor Steve. He is the most amazing man ever!! The service was pretty hard on me, as was for everyone else I'm sure. I felt bad for my aunt. I felt bad for my dad who has lost his best brother not even two years after his wife. I know my whole family was feeling the hurt.

While I'm pretty crazy about pictures and have no problem taking them ALL the time, I wasn't 100% sure that a funeral was the best place to take them, but then it hit me that I never have half of these people all in one room together so now was just going to have to work. They decided to take them around uncle Grady. Kinda weird and creepy when you look at the pictures cause it looks like he is there, just sitting on a chair.

I was glad that my adopted Uncle Joey came down. He was around a lot when I was little and he was like my uncle. The family doesn't get to see him enough!

As you can imagine the passing of my Uncle was super rough on me. It was very similar to when my mom died. And at that time I was pretty numb to the whole thing, so I think I sat in the church and cried more on this day then I did when we had my moms funeral. The emotion running through me some days is pretty crazy!

Having my Uncle die makes me think about so many things in life! Things just go so fast in life and we really need to stop and smell the roses! Take some time off, be with family, take lots of pictures and remind the ones you love of how much you love them and how much they mean to you! You just never know if it's going to be their day to leave us.