And then So Cal Said 'Welcome Home, Karen!'

Magnitude 5.6 - GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
2008 July 29 18:42:15 UTC
Details
Maps
Scientific & Technical
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Earthquake Details
Magnitude
5.6
Date-Time
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 18:42:15 UTC
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:42:15 AM at epicenter
Location
33.959°N, 117.752°W
Depth
12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Region
GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
Distances
3 km (2 miles) SW (235°) from Chino Hills, CA
8 km (5 miles) SE (127°) from Diamond Bar, CA
9 km (5 miles) NNE (23°) from Yorba Linda, CA
11 km (7 miles) S (178°) from Pomona, CA
47 km (29 miles) ESE (103°) from Los Angeles Civic Center, CA
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 0.3 km (0.2 miles); depth +/- 1.3 km (0.8 miles)
Parameters
Nph=144, Dmin=8 km, Rmss=0.42 sec, Gp= 18°,M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=1
Source
California Integrated Seismic Net:
USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR
Event ID
ci14383980

See MAP

Homeward Bound

But hangin' in San Fran. This is the second place hubby and I have ventured kids in tow to places we slinked around P.B. (pre babies).



But let me start at the beginning:



After a month of fun and knocking myself out dealing with the GERD infant and four other children, trying to show them the vacation of their lifetimes (and the kids have been to Australia and Bali, so this was a major milestone to accomplish for me), hubby flew up on Friday to rescue me. Rescuing to me means 1. sleeping in til oh, 8am and 2. Nordstrom sale. I need to say no more.



We pick up hubby at the airport, after four spins around the terminal awaiting his blessed arrival (which I think totalled to about $16. 00 in gas), then trying to find the airport's holy grail, the cell phone lot, playing chicken with an armed and PISSED OFF AT ALL STUPID BLONDE WOMEN DRIVING LARGE SUVS security guard in the clearly marked DO NOT ENTER area of the airport (I love an adventure, I tell you), we find hubby.



Deposit the non-jet lagged traveller into the black SUV. Drive to Tukwila. Spew out of said vehicle. Leave hubby and four eager children at the entrance of Nordstrom. Take deep breath of snooty, on sale, perfumy Nordstrom air and RUN, run, I say, into the store with only one child and Grandma in tow. Try on jeans. Touch all sorts of beautful clothes. Hold hand in front of infant facing outwards in Baby Bjorn who has decided to spew spittle doing newly found ability to 'motorboat' with her lips. Realize that people sayins 'oh how cute' are only being polite and no one, NO ONE wants to try on $100 shirts with baby spit on them. Keep hand in place covering cute baby's face.



Leave establishment. Go to Grandma's for some sleep and SLEEP IN. Til 9 AM. Will wonders never cease? (this is of course, after getting up every 2 hours for infant.) Pack six people's belongings back up for trip home. Which means trying to find three small boys' shoes and enough socks to cover us for the three day trip back home. Not easy.



Go to airshow (tin cans with wings, I tell ya). Last supper with family. More sleep. Up at 3:30am to nurse baby, rip covers of of snoring hubby at 4am, out the door at 5am. Get to long lost friend's house at 7:30 PM. Yes, we drove from Olympia to San Franscisco in ONE DAY. Unbelievable. Even after Kyle ripped loose tooth out at the 2 hour mark and the B colored over her face with a black marker a the 5 hour mark. Note to self: If I have to tell 2 year old 'Do not write on yourself, just on the paper' it's probably not a good idea in the first place to have her do said activity.



Travel quote of the day was hubby: "No drinking water. Drinking water makes you pee and peeing makes you stop."



Today, up and at 'em at oh, 10 am. Out the door at noon. To San Fran. Drive over bridge. Go to Lombard Street, actually find parking so we can walk up and down and then drive it. More tourists video taping the large American family in the big, black SUV than the actual street. Icing on the cake that Kyle is wearing Holy Family Catholic School sweatshirt.



Do the kidcation again - Curving road, Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum and Ghiridelli for overpriced ice cream Sundaes. Nothin' like paying $75 for lunch, another $40 for ice cream. ICE CREAM. Okay, so I regularly pay $3.50 for a coffee, but that's another story. Then, Zach decides he would have rather gone to Cold Stone and refuses to eat his ice cream. We're all about empathizing, so without missing a beat, we eat our icecream, then his ice cream too. Kid has to find graham crackers in the back of the car if he wants to have dessert.



Have pictures, but no USB cable, so I'll do that later. In the meantime, here is the commercial break:



Yes, that's a 'heart mom' free lance sharpie pen tattoo on his upper arm. His brothers are practicing for their inevetible stay in San Quentin, obviously.

Park Play at the Zoo

If I only had one of these at home to 'stick' them in for time outs at home

Kyle trying out new homes

Leapin' lemurs

*No Sabrinas were actually eaten by large hippos in the making of this picture

And at the end of the day you have to kiss a lot of frogs,...

Point Defiance Zoo - the Best for Defiant Little Boys

Tufted Puffin that made Zach "nature boy" swoon.



Extremely large walrus that freaked little 7 month Sophie out so much I had to take her out of the exhibit. Who knew babies suffered from walraphobia,..



Squid disection - yes, this was gross enough to make the zoo a worthwhile visit for three little boys.



Elephant.



Kid area. I did not get stuck in the otter slide as I raced Sabrina down, thankfully and contrary to my own opinion. Phew.

Lunch at the Zoo - The Most Important Meal of the Day

Baby lunch.



Sabrina doing everything BUT eating,...



So excited to have to eat grapes with their lunchables,...



They used choppers big as these for that picnic.




So we could turn into healthy sea creatures at the end of the day,...

Cousinly Love

The B and her 6 months-older-than-her cousin.



The newest addition to the cousin clan with our awesome uncle who is all but recovered (okay, we all know it's still a long process and you are never really recovered, I guess) from stage 4 colon cancer that metastized to his liver. If you need inspiration, this dude is it.

This is why we trekked to Washington, you know. It makes the 1100 miles, four hotel rooms and six inches of sticky on the back cup holder panels of the Suburban all worth it. Really.

GERD: Not Just an Urban Legend

Okay my peeps, I know the story I posted the other day wasn't really true. And, I happen to love a lot of Obama supporters. All in fun, ya know? Listen, if I've gone through life being blonde, female, polish and Catholic, the rest of you yaps can take a joke.

Try as you might, you can not possibly ruin my great mood - because the babe has been fixed! Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!

Frustrated with my annoying pediatrician in So Cal, I made like a stalker and had the Screamin' Ia seen by my pediatrician here in Washington. The poor man has seen this family through ameabas and yucky skin problems, speech impediments and faulty nursing. He's given us his personal email address and if it weren't for him, we probably wouldn't have survived those countries we trekked to for the last few years.

While I had a well baby appointment set, it just so happened my little babe had a fever to get me to his office all the sooner. Unlike my annoying doc in California, this guy listens. Long story short, that 'nothing more than a laundry problem' the California doc said I had from Sophia spitting up all the time, and the fact that I CAN NOT put the kid down, and SHE WON"T SLEEP (attributed to just a wild little babe - 'and be glad of that,' she said, 'the other ones usually have some sort of problem.') This guy said, you know what, it's probably acid reflux. Let's try an antacid and see.

You know what? That kid has been on zantac for three days and it is an amazing transformation. She SLEEPS. She can be put down and can actually roll around. We didn't know this before as she was PERMENANTLY ATTACHED TO MY CHEST or strapped into a 30 degree bouncy seat. I actually got five, yes, count them, FIVE hours of sleep IN A ROW last night. I don't know what to do with myself.

I'd give that doc a big ol' kiss straight on the lips if I weren't convinced he'd take out a restraining order on me.

So, now I have to get over my antihypochondriaciness I seem to have and that big ol' catholic mother guilt that I've let that kid suffer for seven months. Fifth kid, you'd think I'd get it right,...

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsors,...

How's this for a gunshot survivor...

Linda Burnett , 23, a resident of San Diego , was visiting her in-laws and while there went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries.
Several people noticed her sitting in her car with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head. One customer who had been at the store for a while became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open, and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she had been shot in the back of the head, and had been holding her brains in for over an hour. The man called the paramedics, who broke into the car becausethe doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head.
When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat, making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head.
When she reached back to find out w hat it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered.
Linda is a blonde and a Democrat, and an Obama supporter, but that could be irrelevant.

Fourth of July in Fotos

Baby's first sparkler.



This is in the morning when we're all still happy to be around each other. Just kidding. But check out the B's pose. Does Sears & Roebuck still have a catalog?



The "You are NOT my mother" moment before the shrieks. We don't call her the 'Screamin' Ia' for nothin'.


Evidence that Zach did not just eat one hotdog and 347 s'mores at the picnic. He also had a piece of watermelon.



Oh, what she'll learn from her older brothers. I just don't want to think about it,...

To quote Zach, "This was the BEST HOLIDAY of my entire life!" Before he passed out in a heap of 8 year old boy at midnight, smelling of sulfer from all the fireworks he helped light on fire. Man, if I knew I could entertain three boys for so long with $30 worth of flammables, I would have gone down that road a loooong time ago.

Self Sufficiency or Bust

I am at a new low. The babe, numero fiv-o, the one that should be easier than a piece of cake because she's well, number five, is going to get the best of me. She had roseola and thrush. Now that she's better she's decided:
1. never to bottle feed again
2. inhabit my body again, or at the very least, become another unnecessary appendage
3. refuse to make nice with anyone who is remotely related to her
4. howl at the moon when she sees me but isn't attached to me.

Oh, and she growls. Really. But that's nothing new.

So, this means that unless that kid is sleeping soundly (only after anywhere from a five minute to a 2 and a half hour ordeal) she is wrapped up in my right arm propped on my hip. Anything else and the sirens sound.

She's got quite a rep, this little California blossom - up here visiting all the Washington relatives who can only look at her like some savage exotic creature, fearful if they come too close she' ll scream, scratch or bite. They take pictures, they smile, they stay very far away.

Seriously, I need some help. I am afraid this will be my last post until the kid has her driver's license and leaves the house.