. . . and the party goes on!

The party couldn't end with Mom and Dads house!  After that party wound down, a group of us headed on over to Red Lion to do a little more partying (as if I hadn't had enough "Julie Celebration" that day).  It was time for a little Karaoke Singing.

Liz, Amy, Me and Christy

deciding what song we were going to sing!

The Guys - enduring another super fun "Julie Idea"

Ha ha - you have to do what I want, its my birthday!!!

The place was packed, so by the time we actaully got to sing, Liz and Amy had already had to go home!

(Well it was almost midnight at this point!)  So Christy and I had to carry on together!  What a good friend!

We think we are so good!

The boys were cheering us on . . . they must really love us!

 . . . a bunch of my co workers were there too, so I got up and sang a song with them!

So much fun!

April and I trying to keep up with the other girls singing Love Shack!

And one last picture of the Birthday Dork!

What a Super Fun, Perfect Day!  I loved every minute of it!  Thank you so much to all of the people who love me and made this the best day ever for me!

I am a VERY lucky girl to have so many awesome people in my life!

The Best Day Ever!

As most of you probably know, Pancho gave me a surprise Birthday Party last night.  I told him that I DO NOT LIKE SURPRISES!  He obviously doesn't listen to me (I guess thats what happens after 15 years of marriage), but I am so glad that he didn't!  I had so much fun!  So many of the people that I love were there, it was amazing to be showered with that much love and attention.  I wish that all of you could have been there.  I  plan on posting pictures later today, but for now we are off to Sam's Basketball game at 9:00am, Lucy's Gymnastics meet (her first one) at 10:00am, Max's first Basketball game at 9:30am and Max's second Basketball game at 1:00pm.  Busy Day, with so much to post!  More to come . . .

Dinner at the 50's Restaurant!

The McCarthys invited us to go visit them at the Beach this weekend.  They had purchased 3 nights at The Embarcadero in Newport at an auction.  After Sams basketball game on Saturday, we packed up the car and headed for Florence with plans to head up 101 to Newport.  Just past Sea Lion Caves, there was an accident that shut down hwy 101 for hours.  We waited for over an hour, then gave up, headed back to Florence, checked into Driftwwod Shores and called the McCarthys to tell them that  we would meet up with them the next day.  Our first stop was this really cool 50's style burger restaurant in Florence.  It is always one of our favorite stops there!  The kids LOVE it because you get to eat in a car!

This is the car that we got to eat in!!!

We are actually sitting at a table in there!

Max wanted to try out one of the other "tables".

After being in  the car for so many hours, the kids were a little hyper at dinner.

Luckily we were practically the only people in the restaurant.

The boys were being goofy for the camera.

Sam giving his sister a BIG hug!

Cheers!

Lucy is always so patient with her two REALLY LOUD hyper brothers.

Pancho and I were there too!

We had Max take a picture of us.

Probably shouldn't have included this picture, don't look too closely at the braces mouth full of food.

I wanted to show that the kids get their meals in a cool little 50's car at this restaurant. . .so fun!

These two have really gotten closer lately. 

It is so much fun to watch them having fun together.

Lucy always says . . . "Oh Brothers" when they are acting this way.

The Beach!!!!

The combination of my excitement for my new camera, and my love for beach pictures, has made for a POST THAT IS WAY TOO LONG

about our trip to the beach, we were only there for one night for goodness sakes, but I just really like all of my pictures, so feel free to skim this one, its long!

When we got to Driftwood Shores, we went straight to the pool!

Even Mommy went swimming!

The hot tub was perfect!

They just remodeled the whole pool area at Driftwood Shores.

The kids had a great time exploring all of the new stuff!

a picture of the newly remodeled pool area

Go Max!!!!

Pancho teaching Lucy how to swim,

she was doing really well this summer, but we haven't been swimming in a while, so she needed a little extra help at the beginning.

Ever since we went to Hawaii, Sam LOVES snorkeling.

Max

Lucy

Then we all went down to the Beach, it was a really nice day.

Max, our Engineer, always starts a cool sand project.

Lucy was into collecting shells . . .

Sam was looking for sticks for the top of his castle.

The kids with our hotel in the background.

Max is looking so grown up to me lately.

He is getting so tall and skinny.

I can see glimmers of teenager already.

I want to slow down time!

Lulu and I went for a little "shell finding" walk together.

She is so fun to talk to, always happy and full of excitement for the world around her.

Daddy got to have some Lulu time too.

She would get so excited when she would find a shell.

Sam found a stick, but it was a little too big.

building a castle together. . .

Oh Yeah, we're cool

Check out these guns!

Lucy took this picture of us!

While she was taking it, we didn't know that Sam was goofing around in the background of every picture.

He cracks us up constantly! He is always doing something funny.

Lets get a cute picture of all three kids before we go!

Yeah right, well 2 out of 3 aint bad

 (or at least that is what I have to constantly tell myself)

Max was mad because Sam used his bucket.

We finally made it to Newport to meet up with the McCarthys at Moe's!

. ..the kids were so excited to meet up with their friends.

We went back to their place and the kids all went swimming.

Then we all went up to their condo and played board games and cards all night!

So fun!

One last picture of the view of the bridge from their place!

What a fun way to spend the three day weekend!

I Love the O'Hara Staff !!!!

Can I just say that the people that I work with are an absolute BLAST ?!!!

Now that Christmas is over and we all have a little more time, we have started having "Friday at 5:00".

We plan to meet out at Cornicopia for drinks and dinner every few Fridays.  Last night was full of toasts and funny stories.  We were so loud that they moved us to a back table, and an older couple that was sitting near us asked "What school do you all work at?  I am going to make sure that my grandkids go there, you look like you are having so much fun!".  There were about 20 staff members there, I love hanging out with people that make me do the REAL laugh, the one that makes your stomach hurt, and tears come out of your eyes.  I guess that with the job that we all do, there is plenty of opportunity for good stories and a true need to let off a little steam.  If I do say so myself, we all work REALLY hard and it is definitely not a job that you are there for the $$$.  This is a group of really good, kind, caring hardworking people, that just happen to be super funny and fun too!  This (and my awesome students) are what make me love my job

Christine and Keely, (the young ones)  we all live our lives vicariously through their young exciting lives.  We were giving Keely the third degree about her latest love interest, then we did a really loud toast to Keely "not being easy"  she was really happy with us.

I wish that I would have taken more pictures at the restaurant of the whole group, but I was stuck back in the corner (it was a L shaped table so I actually had the best seat) and couldn't get out to get a good pic.

After the restaurant, about half of us headed to the Red Lion for a little Karaoke.

Angela (Max's teacher), Leslie (Lucy's kindgarten aide), and Heather (our office assisatant)

Bibi (Lucy's preschool aide), Cathy (Lucy's teacher) and Darleen (Max's preschool teacher)

Kris (6th grade teacher and she works across the hall from me), Me and Mike A. (4th grade teacher)

Tammy(middle school science) and Chris (her husband) were there too, but I didn't get pics of them!

We made Mike get up and sing, he didnt want to, so I went up there with him (not the best picture of me)!

I pretty much let Mike sing by himself since I didnt know the song. I was morale support.

The OHara crowd cheering us on!

Leslie is actually a really good singer.  She sang a whole bunch of songs.

She and I sang the "Love Shack" duet together.  I wish I would have asked someone to take a pic. We were pretty proud of ourselves and we got really into it . . . Can you say dorks?

Leslie, dancing away!  This girl cracks me up!

Christine, a friend of theirs and Keely singing.  Thank goodness we have these two around to update us on the latest apps and how to twitter.  They were cracking us up all night (cell phones constantly in hand).

They sang a Britney Spears song, they were so cute!

I love how they got so into it!

Mike and Chris got up and sang a Beastie Boys song.  They were awesome!

They got the whole crowd singing along.

What a fun night, I didn't get home until 12:30!  I havent been up that late (besides New Years) in a looong time.

When Leslie suggested that we all go Kareoke singing, almost everyone said No WAY!  I was like, cool, lets go!  They said, will you get up there and sing?  I said Sure!  I think that I shocked them all with my "Mad Skills" at Karaoke Ha ha.  (not that I am a good singer, I just have no shame!)

What a fun night, I cant wait for the next one!