Summer was busy with two big vacations (Hawaii and Seattle/Vancouver) and lots of little ones. I'll speed scroll you through them:
The Water Park: I got season passes for them and had to get my monies worth. We went 7 times this summer which more than made up for the cost of the season pass. We tried to take someone different each time we went.
With Rachel and Marissa
With classmates, Caryn
And Shawna
And Adrianne
Daddy even came along on the last visit!
Swim lessons for Hannah. She took one session and made it to the Intermediate level learning the freestyle stroke.
Loved jumping off the diving board
A trip to Color Me Mine to pottery paint with the Y. girls
Hannah, Jessie, Michelle, Rachel and Emily
Rock Climbed at City Beach ...
Shawna and Emily race to the top
Hannah getting up there!
Santa Cruz Tidepools at Natural Bridges with their cousins
It was a beautiful day but the water level was lower than the last time we came.
Emily, Hannah, Daniel, Joshua and Zachary
This was the crossover that everyone was having a hard time crossing. The boys just jumped down and climbed up when it was in between tides. Smart those boys!
Had to try Marianne's Ice Cream.. long lines are common but the ice cream was delish!
They offer a gazillion flavors.. lavendar?
Annual BBQ Gathering of the Gang... fewer of us made it this time but still just as loud and fun!
And still lots to eat!
My Mom's 77th Birthday: This year we gave my mom a bicycle. When my brother told me she wanted a bike, I laughed and said, you sure she didn't mean a stationary bike? But I was wrong; he was correct. Yes my mom wanted a bike. So her precious children bought her a bicycle. She said she has not ridden a bicycle in over 65 years!
At 77 years old, she did great!
A little wobbly at the beginning but she got the hang of it. It's true.. you never forget how to ride a bike!
Sleepover with Faith to celebrate her 10th birthday..
The girls had a fun time giving her a pedicure.
Emily knows how to do designs on your toes.
And one exciting visit to end the summer ... can you guess where?
You'll just have to wait for a future post on this one!
Summer has come and gone. Time to ramp up for another new school year! Third and Sixth grades! Wow.. time sure flies when you're having fun!
LAST REMINDER: Two more days... until I pick a winner on Sept 1... can't believe a month has already passed!
I am thankful that I am close to many of my cousins. .. well at least from my dad's side of the family. I have ten cousins on the O. side: four that are older than me and the rest are younger.
Two of the younger ones are from my dad's youngest sister's (Aunt Brenda and Uncle Dede) family.
Stefanie and Steven
They were so cute when they were little. My cousin Cheryl and I would play and take care of them.
Now they have become parents themselves. Sigh... I am so proud of them. And their boys are adorable. I get to dote on the little ones without needing to have any more of my own. YEAH!
Steven with his son, Brendan, and Stef with her son, Jackson
Stef with her husband Pete and Jackson
My baby cousin has her own baby now!
This is my Daddy with Jackson. He's a Grand Uncle? He sure loves babies!! I so appreciate his love for kids!!
No... Prop 35 didn't pass...yet. (Remember to VOTE YES ON 35 in November!!)
I'm talking about my fundraising efforts in regards to our Walk the Track in Oakland.
If you don't know what I'm talking about check out my post on it: http://mamacez.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-worthy-walk.html
This week I received a certificate acknowledging that my team was the Top Fundraiser for this event!
REALLY?!! WOW!! This makes me so happy ... and so sad... at the same time! Why?
I am happy that my team, the Fab 4, was the Top Fundraiser.. don't get me wrong but I like to win! Especially when I was not expecting it at all!
I am sad though that my team's $690 was the most they could get from one team. I was expecting others to raise way more than $690. But c'est la vie!
Bottom line is this.. Human trafficking is wrong wrong wrong! And we have to do something about it.
Proposition 35 is a start.
Our laws reflect our societal values. Human trafficking is a brutal human rights abuse. It is also a lucrative criminal business. Current California laws offer little protection for victims targeted by human traffickers and online predators. It is crucial to decrease incentives and increase the risk for those involved in the enslavement and exploitation of human beings.
Slated for the November 2012 California Ballot, the Proposition 35 ( the CASE Act) will deter traffickers with higher penalties and fines, use fines to fund victim services, remove barriers to prosecute child sex traffickers, mandate training for law enforcement officers, require convicted sex traffickers to register as sex offenders, require all sex offenders to disclose Internet accounts, and protect victims in court proceedings.
Additionally, the Prop 35 will raise awareness and unite Californians to take action. With up to 17 million voters, this will form the largest single movement against human trafficking in the U.S.
Taken from their website: http://www.caseact.org/case/
Please tell everyone you know to vote YES on 35. It may save someone you may know. Thank you!
... said our young friend, Faith, whom we took to Great America as a 10th birthday gift to her.
Emily, Hannah, and friends, Faith and Shawna
The girls and I used to have season passes and would go numerous times for the past few summers. But since a water park opened up where we live, I felt that we should not get passes for both. And since we spend the most time at the GA water park, it would be more convenient to just swim near home. So no more visiting GA...
...Until this summer. And boy was it FUN! The last time I was here (2 summers ago), I brought a stroller (for Hannah); had to put life jackets on both girls and had to be in the water with Hannah since she did not know how to swim.
Now, both Emily and Hannah know how to swim, Hannah can ride the BIG rides, No stroller and No life jackets needed! In fact, they can wonder around by themselves without my direct supervision. How FREE-ING!!!
Better yet, bring another friend, Shawna, to even their numbers so no one has to sit on a ride by themselves! Brilliant!!
GA was originally named "Marriott's Great America" when I first visited way back in the 80's.
Some of the original rides were:
The Berserker
Psycho Mouse
Centrifuge
TaxiJam
Logger's Run
Shawna and Faith ventured on this ride twice!
In the early 1990's, it became "Paramount's Great America" with a Nickelodeon themed running throughout the kids area of the park. SpongeBob, Rugrats, Blue and Dora were very popular!
In 2004 they added the water park, Boomerang Bay with the water slides and Kookaburra Cay, the water spray section.
This is Dideridoo Falls.. a water slide that I've always 'wanted' to go on since it opened in 2004 but I never got the nerve to actually ride it. Until now! Yep it took me 8 years to get the nerve to ride it and I did... TWICE!
At the top of the slide before we head down..
In 2007, Boomerang Bay expanded to include Castaway Creek (a lazy river) and the wave pool, Great Barrier Reef.
Hannah with her cousin, Marissa
Matthew's sister and her kids met us there to join in the fun!
Matthea and Timothy
Lounging in Boomerang Lagoon
Experiencing the wave pool, Great Barrier Reef
So happy to have Matthew's underwater camera to use!
But in 2007, GA changed ownership again and is currently called "California's Great America" with a Snoopy's themed kids area instead of Nickelodeon.
The kids had no idea who Snoopy or Woodstock were
But it's good to know that one of their favorite foods didn't change!
Reminder.. Keep commenting.. a winner will be chosen on September 1! I'm still mulling over ideas for a prize. Your thoughts?
I walk.
I like to walk... sometimes.
I try not to be too lazy.
I've never done a Walkathon though. Walking a long distance for a cause. But I did it. I guess I could check that off my bucket list if I had a bucket list to check off.
It started with my Girls Group who decided that doing one together would be fun. We'll be able to catch up with one another; get some exercise; and support a good cause. I am all for good causes and I try to support friends who go out and do a good thing for a cause. But me going out and actually being a part of a cause? Never done it.
So when Sus suggested that we do a 5K Walk to bring awareness to the inhumane problem called human trafficking, my first question was: how long is 5K? (about 3 miles) and then how long will it take us to walk 3 miles? (my husband said about an hour; a little less if you speed walk)
Three miles in an hour? No running? Not being timed? I guess I can do all of that. So Sus, Marj, Koreen and I became the Fabulous 4 and registered to Walk the Track in Oakland. To walk with some of my favorite favorite people... oh JOY!
Me, Sus, Koreen & Marj
The fun even doubled when my husband decided that he and the girls will walk too with us. It'll be a family event. Great .. Now it'll be the eight of us. Then on the day of, our friend Willie and his daughter, Shawna (Emily's classmate) also wanted to join us so it became a group of ten. The more the merrier!!
My wonderful family
With Willie and Shawna
What were we walking for? To promote the awareness and passage of a new bill that will be on the ballot this November called CASE 35. This bill will enforce stricter penalties to those who deal with and are involved with human trafficking. Human trafficking is the fastest growing and second largest criminal industry in the world, second only to drug trafficking. And it is happening in the United States at an alarming rate.
They encouraged us to try to raise $100 per walker for the cause. Matthew and I decided to raise $400 for our family of four. We ended up raising a whopping $690! Thank you to all of you who supported us. It meant a lot to us and we were thrilled with all the support.
Our Walk the Track actually became a March on International Blvd and 66th where many young girls congregate to 'work'. It wasn't scary during the day but I hear that in the evening the street has a very different feel.
Front of the Line
Walking and Talking
We even got police escorts the whole time we walked
I also want to highlight a few organizations (that I have familiar ties to) that have taken up the fight for this important issue:
BAATC - Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition where my goddaughter, Mandy, is interning this summer. She is helping to spread awareness to the youth in high schools and churches. This non profit organization is headed up by Brian Wo, an old college friend of mine. BAATC helped organize the Freedom Summit in 2011, which stands as the largest anti-trafficking gathering to date in the US. BAATC continues to bring together individuals, churches and anti-trafficking organizations to work effectively together to build a unified response to human trafficking.
For more info check out: BAATC
With Brian and Sus, us old CIBCers
Slavery Footprint in Oakland is a social media organization which aims to bring awareness to slavery in the modern world. Our pastor's son, Shadd Williams, is deeply involved in this cause in which they even created a documentary, Call & Response, highlighting the horrific modern age slavery that exists in this country and around world.
For more info check out: Slavery Footprint
California Against Slavery: founder Daphne Phung, who attended my old church CIBC, started this non-partisan grassroots human rights organization dedicated to ending human trafficking. They partnered with Safer California Foundation to put Proposition 35 (Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (C.A.S.E.) on the ballot this November. Please plan to vote YES on Prop 35!!
For more info check out: CASE Act 35
Check out our Walk on VIDEO (you can see Matthew and the girls at 45 seconds). If you look closely, you can see a part of me, Marj and Sus behind them. We're hidden behind the lady with the huge hat!
