LA's fine....but it ain't home...

In the great words of Neil Diamond.......LA was fine, but it DEFINITELY is not home. WOW what a different lifestyle they live out there. It was great to experience it and can't wait to go back, but seriously how does a person who hasn't "made it" yet exist there? It boggles my mind to see the money thrown around there.....but it is almost a relief to come back to reality where socks cost $3.99 and I can drive more than three blocks without seeing a ocean of brake lights. Chris and I got to do a lot of stuff in a short period of time - here is a brief recap - and sorry since I now can convert this to a scrapbook you might have to deal with a lot of pix you don't want to see....but oh well.....I want to remember our big brush with Fame....haha.

• We got to go to a taping of the Tonight show - guests Ed Harris, Megan McCain - not fabulous but beggar's can't be choosers
• Drove around Beverly Hills with our mouths agape and minds spinning......

• We got to stay at a luxurious resort in Palm Springs with our own private pool and seriously what else can you do while it is 103 degrees and high humidity -my running shoes never left the suitcase :)

• We missed out on Chelsea Handler due to the infuriating LA traffic - DOH.
• We did the Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Chinnese Theatre - this picture was for Brooke and Brady and just might have cost me seats to the Chelsea Lately show - haha!
  

• Stood with the Paparazzi out side Barneys with our 35 mm Sony cyber shot....haha these guys literally wouldn't tell us who they were waiting for like we were some sort of competition with our "disposable camera", practically.

• Shopped, Shopped and Shopped - it is unbelievable the amount that you can do out there....some reasonable and then of course some not - I was joking to Chris to buy me a pair of socks so I could have a cool shopping bag to walk around on Rodeo drive and he picks up the socks and says...um these are $85 would you like the socks or Dinner tonight....absurd!
  
• Drove Muholland Drive and the Hollywood hills

• Stopped in to see the Rose Bowl.

• Experienced night life on sunset strip

• We went to The Viper Room, Whiskey a go go, Rainbow room we passed on the Roxy we thought Lindsey Lohan's Lover was not worth going to see......
  

• I told Chris VIP rooms are a little more exciting when there are actually some VIP's in the room!

• LOVED Venice beach and all the freak shows that graced our presence on the boardwalk. This was seriously just some guy happy as could be walking up and down the strip like he had something to say.....
  

• Rode Bikes to Santa Monica Pier

• Spent a ton of time at the "White Man Can't Jump" area (where they filmed the movie) and it was unbelievable the trash talking that was going on.....10x worse than the movie....it was so enjoyable and ridiculous all at the same time....I seriously think some of them forgot they were actually playing a game because they just yelled at eachother the whole time.

• Visited the ocean - I know could it get any cheesier?
  

• Walked the beaches of Malibu - Courtney Cox and Coco were no where to be found :(

• Visited Muscle Beach - This was Chris' attempt at the "iron cross"

• Enjoyed some of the best Mexican grub in a long time!

• But we usually ended up feeling like this - but it was sooooo worth it!
  

• Talked with Hubbie with consecutive sentences and no interruptions for 11 straight meals!

Thanks to the beloved Babysitters who really dug into the trenches for FIVE whole days! You know it is appreciated more than words can say and especially more than your gold plated OSCAR that was presented to you.

Say Hello to my little friend........

His name is Garmin......and I love him dearly. I don't know how I ever took a vacation without him, but I owe him many thanks and I need to credit him for keeping our marriage together. This little friend of mine saved countless arguments that I envisioned happening as we tried to navigate our way through LA last week. LA is no small feat, the place is larger than life and the traffic jam legends are well.....let's just say right on target..... but this little gem, was a life saver we got into our sweet PT cruiser plugged my friend in and listen to the sweet sound of some woman telling us to turn left here to find out where Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered, or veer right to make it to Pinks, the most famous hot dog stand in America! (even Oprah says so.....) so as we turned left, turned right, sat in traffic, headed out to the ocean we were able to enjoy LA/Palm Springs for FIVE whole days without once taking out a map and we were able to keep up with the Lamborghini's, porches, the BMW's without looking like a total Morons (I am sure we still did as we parked our sweet rental car on rodeo drive and looked like we just pulled in on some John Deer Tractor!) So yes Chris and I got to escape on a little trip to CA recently and WOW what a different place! It was so much fun and we feel like we only scratched the surface of what you can do there! So thank you Garmin for making our trip EASY - all you need in life is an address and your Garmin and you are bound to come across amazing things.......Like the studio where MJ recorded thriller, or where the VIP room to the infamous Rainbow Room is.....Can you tell I went on this trip with one Chris Munson..... :) photos to come......

Music to our ears!

Brady has been getting vocal! And we are LOVING it!

Brady has always been a quiet little man for a few reasons, first it is just his personality he isn't bothered by much and keeps to himself. Second, he is a bit delayed in the speech arena, it doesn't come easy to him, but he is making some major headway lately initiating things that we used to have to pry out of him, finishing songs we sing that he recognizes the endings..... which leads me to believe that delay or no delay it will be on his terms and when he is ready. We are certainly reveling in his new words that seem to be coming each and every day....the new one this week

WHY?
Which now follows every conversation that anyone one has.....bless his curious lil heart. His biggest break through was saying two words together, doesn't seem like a huge feat for a two year old, but for this little one it was a great moment.......we were at dinner and he said "run around" it more or less came out "whun awound" as my eyes welled up with some salty substance I don't normally deal with in the same breath he continued to dump his bowl of spaghetti on his head and laugh hysterically - Seriously Brady can't you let your mom bask in your glory for more than 2.3 seconds! And then today when I came home he said "Hi, Mom!" So we are proud of our little nugget who tries his darnest to catch up - Way to go Brady!

While we are at it......we also had some more exciting news tonight - after baths I am petting the freshly bathed beauty in a sea of fluffy towels, which he normally enjoys but he was fidgety and kept saying out out.....when I let him out the big dude walked right over to the potty and peed! I have the baby seat out just because school is working on it, he sits on it there but has never produced before........so something I thought that he didn't even grasp the concept of is apparently front and center of this little guys mind.......I am sure it a fluke but GIDDY UP - bring on the pull ups and lets get this party started.......The thought of no more diapers would be beyond a dream.......... Baby steps but you know I had to record the first time!!

I think I found a "new" career!

OK so FINALLY someone has come through for all the ladies out there! I mean Men have ESPN, they have poker nights, they have action movies, they have gambling websites, they have fantasy sport leagues.....but move over bacon....now there is something meatier..... I have officially joined an US Weekly Fantasy League (which will be referred to as UWFL). From the minute I saw the subject line on the email I knew I was in, forget how much it costs, how much time it will expend, forget all the rules and regulations SIGN ME UP!

It is seriously the BEST thing ever.....It is just one more way to get wrapped up in this fantasy world known as Hollywood! And this league is no joke, I mean I had to sign up as a team with someone else just so I could "get in" this exclusive club..... There are rules, there is a draft that happens to gain your celebrity team (I still have high anxiety over how stressful that was :) ), there are drops/adds that can be made every week depending on what new train wreck decides to enter the Celebrity world, there is a commissioner, there is points to be tallied, and best of all there are spreadsheets upon spreadsheets (okay I know a little ridiculous, but that's just me.)

So my teammate and I drafted a pretty nice team, the big joke is that Chris secretly would want to be soooo involved in this and my team mate and I taunt him with how fun it is......The biggest mistake of the draft was that everyone was choosing girls and guess who slipped through the cracks ....that's right Mr. Brad Pitt didn't get selected until pick number 13.....I still could kick myself for that one.....anyway the reason I state that is because I have enclosed some commentary that I want to preserve just for the shear fact that I laughed so obnoxiously loud when I was at work reading these emails that I was worried I would have to explain my behavior and the tears rolling down my face to my co-workers, but this my friend is why I married my hubbie.....

email from Chris - when teammate and I taunted him that we were going to go out and eat dinner and go score our points for the first week alone......we joked that he would just be standing outside the window drooling wishing he could be part....


Or....Jake eats at home with all the kids and Chris (yes, 3rd person, I'm that important)sits outside the restaurant window and waits for Kelly and Cherie to add up their points and then realize that they just lost by a point. Then Chris holds up an 8 x 10 glossy head shot of Mr.
Brad Pitt (who was in the V.I.P section not once but twice)and slams it against the window and yells "How about them apples!"? Then, feeling good about himself, Chris walks away with his best pal Ben Afleck.

Then this was his pep talk before the inaugural UWFL week.

No worries. You kids will do just fine. Remember, you've been training your whole life for this day. Tracy B? She's no obstacle, she's an opportunity. An opportunity to show these ladies what you two are made of. So as dawn approaches tomorrow morn, remember where you came from, and most importantly, where you're going. You're going to win this damn thing. Not just win it, but conquer it. The hopes and dreams of all the little girls and future subscribers are laying at your feet. Now is your time to stand up on those feet and kick some Tracy B booty! You two have made me proud. God bless tabloid journalism!

And after week one - it was everything I could have hoped for and more! I have never had such enjoyment out of reading this magazine - which you should know is at the top of my list anyway! So after week one I would just like to gloat and share the following response for all the glory because I am sure Katie Holmes will keep wearing those boyfriend jeans and ending up in fashion police section which in turn gives my team negative points!

Week #1 big winners:
The Kelly/Cherie Team – Kelly and Cherie had an amazing week with 20 points! Unbelievable. These girls killed everyone and did it with the best line-up of all. 8 of their celebrities appeared in this week’s issue and they were able to beat out the stacked coverage of Britney, Jennifer, and
Brad! Blake Lively and Heidi Klum were hot and gave them 10 of their 20 points. Awesome job!

I can only hope that I someday can become the commissioner and make this available to all my friends and family! I will keep you posted on if I can make this happen!

Delayed Labor Day Weekend Recap....

So we headed to the "ville" for the holiday weekend and had a great time......we enjoyed the fling, it doesn't seem like much has changed from 20 years ago except people aren't winning as many REO Speedwagon mirrors, instead they are playing for bigger and better things......case in point hubbie felt it completely necessary to spend money in order to win this.......... The upside is that he won - the downside is the guy guessed he was 38 wah...wah....wah.....
The girls had a blast - so excited with tickets in hand they did pretty much every ride they could for their age......

Brooke's mouth was agape at all moments just loving life and I could just envision future trips to Cedar Point or Six Flags.
However our sensitive lil Brady man didn't fair as well.......the startle factor did not set well with him and he was VERY protective of his sister when she would ride a "big" ride he would cry and bury his head in my neck crevice scared until she got off......Nice little brother but you have gots to toughen up little man - we are demon drop bound.......
We also were able to spend some time with good friends and family - Chris and I realize this trip to the south west side of Chi-town always leaves us with so much adult time we don't know what to do with ourselves.......it's a nice change

Rachel's kids are the exact same age and they all play very nice with each other so much that we are able to relive old days and absurd conversations for hours on end .....or at least until someone decides to get within inches of Brady's Bat or Ball......then it's a slight referee moment and back to action......
And then we might as well be kid free when the cousins come into the picture - they are inseparable and loving on each other like no ones business........Thanks for all the supervision Lexi, Jake, John, & Nic......
Unfortunately we don't get out there as much as we would like to, but when we do we always have a great time!

Payback is a ............

So there has been a round of practical jokes surfacing lately around the neighborhood.... and in all fairness the Munson household started it........(imagine that?) But I have to give kudos to one joker in particular, they got us good..... We drove home from Labor day weekend, unpacked the kids and the car, come into the house, open the blinds only to view this lovely artwork in our lawn:


Jaws dropped, and the only words spoken were "OH IT'S ON!" Brooke on the other hand was all "what does P-E-N.......spell" "Pencil, Brooke it spells pencil, they just must have been so excited for school to start!" So I apologize, Y5 teacher she may never really learn how to spell pencil correctly........ In the meantime all you creative minds I am taking all and any suggestions for payback ideas - please email me I will even bribe you with an award for a winning idea! So beyond that Chris spent 2 hours mowing our lawn down to it's very roots to rid ourselves of the PENCIL and hopefully it won't grow back in the same format........With that I leave a warning for our sweet neighbors - sleep with one eye open, I can't tell you when, where, how or why........but something is coming your way :) - Job well done guys thanks for making it so inconspicuous!

First day.... Big girl!

Today was Brooke's first day in the public school system and all went well!
She was a little timid in past history when she had moved to a new daycare room or a new situation where she wasn't familiar with everyone, but today there was no looking back. Chris Brady and I took her to her classroom, we found her locker and gave her a big hug and told her to have fun. She came back for one quick hug and then off to the circle rug she went to join her class. She seemed so big and independent (not that we didn't already know that in other fashions......) but it was almost like she was ready and waiting for this to happen! Then she got to ride the much anticipated bus home (mom of course went to the school tried to watch her get on and follow the bus home, but beat them to the bus stop.) She was a pro walked off of it ran to give big hugs to us and was like let's go home and play.......no worries. So here is a few pix of the big day..........

I'm a big kid now......

I got a fancy new backpack......

I got my name tag on and ready to meet my fellow peeps......

This is my new locker that I am sure I will have decorated with Zac Effron and Nick Jonas pictures soon (haha)

Here is my classroom and my new teacher! Looking forward getting to know everyone!

My cool ride.....that's just how I roll now.....

It was as if she was in US magazine......

So we had a great long weekend with family and friends - I will update more later - I just wanted to share Brooke's 15 minutes of fame with everyone. We hit the last fling this weekend in my hometown and Brooke and Sydney braved the Ferris wheel this year - we were approached by a photographer that he got a shot of the girls and it would be in the paper in the morning.....Rachel at this point was ready to give her entire life bio to the guy....but really he only wanted their names wah wah wah......we thought it would be a quick thumbnail pix, but when Paul went to get a copy that morning he noticed it was the front section and a full blown 1/2 page picture - needless to say he went to 4 gas stations that morning to snag up all the "Daily Heralds" The girls were hilarious to watch as they saw how big their picture was and Brooke has been showing it to everyone since! Grandparent's don't worry your copy is in the mail....but here is a sneak peak!