Pow Pow Power Wheels, Pow Pow Power Wheels...

I always wanted the Barbie Jeep Power Wheel.
My friend, Gabbie, down the street had one and I was super jealous.

So when I saw a power wheel parked in Mark's garage, I think I got more excited about that than any of the other super cool toys he has out there.

It is obvious I have zero Power Wheel driving experience.
It is also obvious that I have terrible driving skills in general.
At least I made Reese hand over the plastic toy phone before I let her behind the wheel.
No texting and driving from my kids.

Sadly, When the girls turned a sharp corner, they wiped out anyway.
Quincy took advantage of not having to share the power wheel once her sister bailed out.
Reese came running for some Grandma TLC and boo-boo first aid.
This short clip proves that Grandmas are the best thing that ever happened to mothers on vacation.

TXT Me.

About texting...
What is wrong with me? Why am I a terrible texter? Why can't I work other people's phones?
It is literally impossible for me to operate practically any phone other than mine. No joke. It is just as well that I can't text, because while I totally get that there are times that sending a text is more appropriate than making a call, 90% of the time, if you can't just call the person, you probably shouldn't be texting either.

Now listen up, California. There is a REASON yalls have a no texting driving law. It is because everyone in your freaking state does it! It is unreal! I rarely saw someone that wasn't texting when I passed them on the road. Scary.

So here's my soap box, I'll make it quick.
The next time you feel like sending a text from your phone while operating a vehicle, instead, put down your phone, take your hands off the wheel, and close your eyes for 15 seconds.
Does that sound like a BAD idea?
Cuz' you're pretty much doing the same thing.
Ok, I'm done now.

Anyway, I can't text. Really.
Amy didn't believe me when I told her this. I think her brain exploded from hearing such a foreign concept, but it's true. Can't do it. To demonstrate this, she passed me her phone when she was driving, and asked me to reply to a text our friend, Caroline, had sent us.

Caroline had asked when we would be arriving at the pool. I tried to respond with "We are on our way right now" but Amy has that stupid word builder feature on her phone and it kept making other words from letters I was typing! So, instead I yelled at her phone for a minute, then sent a message that said something like, "Werrar on waxrhtlsy."

Amy laughed and said she needed to send a message to correct my mistake and clear up that we are on our way. My response is that Caroline would totally understand my hidden message, and that it's not a good enough reason to text and drive.

"Caroline is smart. She'll figure out what you meant, Amy."

Amy disagreed, because she "actually knows how to work a phone and would never SEND a message like that."

But then, the phone buzzed, and I looked to see that Caroline was calling right then,

"HA! Caroline is calling right now. Now we can clear things up, and avoid this whole stupid texting back and forth business. Excellent." I gloatingly answered the call since Amy was still driving, told Caroline the whole story, and then laughed about how Amy thinks I can't send a decent text message and shouldn't be allowed near other people's cell phones.

When Caroline didn't respond, I told Amy her phone sucks and it had either dropped the call or Caroline wasn't there anymore.

Amy said through tears of laughter, "that's because you were talking to a TEXT MESSAGE, not an incoming call!"

LOL?

So what's your opinion on texting and driving? Do tell.

Show Me Your Funky Chicken,

Ok, I know I took this video sideways, but it is still worth watching.
Here, my nephew, Brock (6 1/2), performs a song his brothers learned at Cub Scout Day Camp.

He has no idea he is cursing.
And we didn't tell him.
Awesome.
I'm so sad the video didn't pick up the first two times he did it.
Hilarious.

What's that you saaaaay?

G-town

On Sat, July 24th, I joined 101,000 garlic lovers at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
I grew up volunteering on "Squid Row" and doing pre-prep for Gourmet Alley, washing and slicing peppers and onions for Pepper Steak Sandwiches, washing and chopping basil for the Garlic Pesto, moving kegs to raise funds for the waterpolo team, washing buckets, and squishing frozen squid with the "Squid Squad" for Calamari to benefit the GHS Chamber Choir. It brought back a lot of memories to be there again.
I think it had been 7 or 8 years since I's had a pepper steak sandwich.
7 or 8 years too long.
I pretty much ate my way through Gourmet Alley.
Garlic Ice Cream.
It is a real thing.
It's actually not so bad...sort of like if you were to put a mess of Garlic Salt in a Wendy's Frosty.
Ok, that sounds disgusting, but not when you think about how awesome it is to dip a french fry in a Wendy's Frosty.

Don't act like you've never done that.

I love this Garlic Buttered Roasted Corn so much, I wanna take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.


And for Tia, I will now deliver the requested goods:
A photo with Mr. Garlic.
And for the record, dressing like a garlic bulb does not make it ok to smell like one. There was a serious hybrid of garlic and schwetty old man coming from those pits of his.

So many choices, not enough room in my belly. We will go back before another 7 years pass.
Garlic Bread, Garlic Fries, Garlic Pesto, Garlic Calamari, Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms......and later that night, a BAD case of Garlic Breath!

Totally worth it.

I'm a Survivor

We made it home safely.

I am happy to report that aside from a crazy landing and mysterious gas being pumped onto the plane (more on that later), and 1 meltdown (read: Quincy went crazy), the trip home went smoothly.

I am not happy to report that after 3 weeks away, my garden is a dying jungle,r and my house (though it is fairly clean-thanks, Aaron!) is stuffy and still smells like old lady. We've been in this house for 5 years, and every time we return home from a day away, we can smell it. Musty old lady. Which leads us to believe that our house always reeks like old lady house, but we've just gotten used to it. (hence, the smell smacks us in the face when we get home from being away).

We've replaced pretty much everything in this house except the carpet and some of the popcorn ceiling. Aaron agrees and has bumped both up to the top of our "list" that will be done as soon as I finish the pergola. I am totally paranoid about it.
Is this why my friends give me scented candles for my birthday and offer to shampoo my carpets? To get rid of the ever-present old lady smell that you think I am unaware of?
If I host a ceiling scraping party, will you come? Everyone gets a complimentary dust mask.

Pictures of our trip coming soon.

hacked

The following post proves why Hollister, Ca is one of the coolest places on earth. And that we, the Hansons, have super awesome connections, which is why Meg loves us. :p But more importantly, it proves that Megs girls are absolutely gorgeous. Aaron, you'd better get yourself a gun, 'cause you're gonna need it when they hit high school.

Mr Jingles - one cool pony

Q's "Who" face

hello gorgeous!

Reese surprised us all by wanting to ride the pony first

While Miss Q was uncertain about all the fuss over a pony and watched from the safety of her mother's arms.

And after a few minutes, she was all smiles & excitement.

Um, yeah. Aaron, you really need that gun.

I dare say that Meg & I both have the best looking girls.

Quincy - Umm I'm not too sure about Reese holding that rope

Reese- heeheehee, lookie what I got

Evie - this will only end in tears

having a blast

helloooo Quincy!it's all fun and games until someone lets the chickens out. Then the breakdown begins.

But all is fixed by a cute goat
and feeding Mr Jingles treats

Thanks Meg, for coming along with us! We had a blast. And your cd with all the pictures is sitting on my desk, waiting to be brought over to you.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Aaron just called to tell me how much he misses us. 

He must be out of frozen pizza and clean underwear.

Dear Aaron, 

I'm out of clean underwear, too. 

It just doesn't feel like a vacation if I'm still doing laundry. 

Miss you. Love you.

Hugs, 

-Megs

PS- Corbin is cutting molars.  It's awesome!