Okay, maybe I'm a little obsessive...

So, unless you have kids who are into the Disney movie CARS, maybe you won't have a clue what I'm talking about. But Mattel has created die-cast matchbox cars of all the CARS characters. We bought Ella Mater and McQueen about two months ago just because she really seems to like them. She has a few different CARS things: a book, some McDonald's toys, a sticker book. Whenever we go to Barnes & Noble, she likes to look at the CARS books. Well, she loved these two little cars. So when we had to fly to MN a couple weeks ago, Andrew bought three others at Kaybee Toys just to have as new things to entertain her on the plane ride. These were also a big hit. So when I was at Toys R Us last weekend buying Ella's birthday gifts, I noticed they had a whole rack of the cars. I called Andrew and asked him how many I should get. He said, get all of them! So I got all the ones we didn't have yet. There were three out of the 16 that we didn't have after this purchase. I refrained from buying all of the multi-pack "Movie Moments" sets because I thought that would be going a bit overboard. I just got one of those.

I got home and Andrew says to me, well, why didn't you buy all of the Movie Moments sets? I told him I was practicing not spending too much money. (This is a new thing for me). I emailed some people and just asked them if they happened to pass a Toys R Us and wanted to look and see if they could find a Lizzie, Chick Hicks, or Filmore. I'd love it if they could pick them up for us. Well Pat found a Filmore. So we're down Lizzie and Chick now. I decided to just do a little browsing online and came across an article that said how rare Lizzie, Nitroade, and Sarge are. (I got a Nitroade and Sarge no problem when I was at TRU--he he). It was then that I realized how obsessive people are over these cars. The frenzy is being compared to the Toy Story toy shortage of 1995 (Tour Guide Barbie makes reference to the short sighted toy manufacturers in Toy Story 2--yes, I've seen this movie waaay too many times). I checked it out on eBay. They are selling for $20 a piece (versus the $3.49 retail price)! And now, I'm completely kicking myself in the arse because I didn't buy those Movie Moments sets when I had the chance. I've now become one of those obsessive people....

Hello, my name is Holly and I am a CARS addict. I went back to both TRUs within 5 miles of our house yesterday to see if I could find any of the ones we're missing, and they had NOTHING! So now, I'm checking eBay again. And I'm actually considering buying them. I have an auction finishing in an hour to get all four Movie Moments for what would have been the retail price if I'd bought them at the store. So I don't feel too badly about that. But I'm horrible at these last minute auctions so I'm assuming I won't get it even though there are 0 bids right now.

It's funny, I cared absolutely nothing about these things until Andrew said we should get them all. Then when I came home all proud of myself for the restraint I showed in not buying the multi-packs, and he said, "Why didn't you?". Well, of course that gave me the green light and now that I know how hard it is to get these things, I'm completely obsessed. At least I know Ella LOVES them and will play with them. And I really won't spend more than I would have paid for them otherwise. So it looks like Lizzie and Chick will probably be missing from our ensemble forever. Hey, I'll pay ya back if anyone out there can find those two cars!

UPDATE: How sad is this? I am SOOO happy right now. Completely made my day. I won an auction on eBay for ALL 4 Movie Moments sets and for a decent price. Funny though, Ben called me to say that I outbid him! Luckily, someone was inbetween us so I didn't just pay more than I could have. I was seriously doing a Happy Dance when I was won. Boy, it's the little things, isn't it? And in further news, Ben won a Chick and he's working on a Lizzie. So, we will have ALL of the CARS now. Whew, now I can relax. Boy, isn't my life exciting?

The Good Life

This picture shows one of the things I will really miss about California. The views are never boring. It's funny, we have a view of the Verdugo Mountain foothills from our loft window and we almost always have the blinds down (that would be because the museum worker in me knows what the sun will do to the fabric of our bedding). But the blinds were open yesterday because we had an open house. And last night there was a really great sunset. At that point, the girls were bathed and put to bed, and Andrew wasn't home yet. So I sat with my Mike's Lemonade and just enjoyed the beautiful sky. I think we should open our blinds more often.

We also spent the afternoon at Topanga Beach yesterday with our playgroup. Can you believe that I have lived here 5 1/2 years and this was the first time that I went to the beach with the sole purpose of just going to the beach? We've stopped by before to show visitors the Pacific Ocean, but never really made an outing of it. On the LONG drive there (an hour and half because there was traffic and construction in Topanga Canyon), I realized the drive was what kept me from going before. But I think maybe we'll have to make a day of it again before we move. Amazing what you take for granted until you know it won't always be there.

We've been back from MN almost a week now. We had a really great trip there. Andrew and I had fun looking at houses in Plymouth and Maple Grove. We think we've settled on a neighborhood we really like in Maple Grove and put in an offer on a house. They weren't too crazy about an offer with a contingency so we are sort of putting offers on hold for the moment to see what happens with our condo. I was pretty disappointed about the house when we heard yesterday, but then I looked this morning and there is another house in the same subdivision that is less expensive, pretty much the same layout, and more square footage. This only reinforces my belief that everything happens for a reason and that things work out for the best.

While we were in MN, we visited with all the usual suspects, saw the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America, Deep Sea 3D at the IMAX theater by the zoo, took in the Aquatennial festivities, and saw Superman Returns (just me and Andrew at that one). Ella and Lily got to spend good quality time with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Clare. It's amazing how well behaved Ella is in a setting she's not completely used to. Makes me wish she was that well behaved all the time. Sure would make my job easier!



Just a quick update on the girls. Lily is ten months old tomorrow. She had her 9-month checkup a few weeks ago and weighed in at 20 lbs, 8oz (75th %) and measured 30 1/2 inches long (100th%). For comparison, Ella was 19lbs, 8oz and 29 inches at her 9-month checkup. Lily is just chugging along, she pulls herself up, walks along the furniture, speed crawls, climbs things, and tries to do everything her big sister does. Ella is almost three (in a week!) and I can't believe it! She has really grown up in the last 6 months too. She is very helpful around the house, she has been better with Lily lately, she listens better, and she is talking more everyday. I think she will absolutely love our new house when we move. She had such a great time with the freedom of going outside whenever she wanted and playing in the sand box or with a ball or whatever when we were at the grandparents last week. They both loved just having the patio window there to look out and see the world.

Okay, I think that's all for this installment. I promise new pictures very soon, but for now enjoy the ones in this post.

UPDATE: Over 100 new pictures in June & July albums on the photo site

How We Spent Our Fourth of July

I took the girls to the park and Barnes & Noble this morning so Andrew could clean the carpet in their room. He started to work in the kitchen as well. We grilled out for lunch and had some yummy corn on the cob (it wouldn't be Fourth of July without grilling out!). Then I did some touch up paint in the bathroom and the girls' room. We cleared out anything extraneous from their room and took pictures for our realtor. Then quickly put the stuff back (the whole idea is to get people interested and in the front door, right?).

Then we packed up the car and drove over to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for what was supposed to be Southern California's largest and longest fireworks display. The show is supposedly put on by the same people who do the Olympics and the Super Bowl. We exit the freeway and find a good place to park and see about 75 people sitting relaxing waiting for the fireworks to start. (There are thousands more right by the Rose Bowl, we were a little further away. Trying to beat out traffic issues.)

We find our spot and settle in. More and more people join us. Then, we hear the familiar boom of the first rocket's red glare, but "Where are they?" All of sudden, all 250-300 people around us realize the fireworks are right behind this large (and the only) patch of trees! I've never seen so many people get up in a mad dash and move across the street at one time! Andrew and I stayed put for a minute trying to decide our next step. After a minute or two, we gather up the girls and leave our stuff and join the mass. But our view was horrible. So we got in the car and drove closer. We had a great view from the car for about 3 or 4 firecrackers. Then we found a great place to park and were able to see them if we just walked a few feet. The anticipation for the finale rose with each new boom. Then about five went off at the same time and I said to Ella, "Here we go, this is the start of the Finale!" Then it was over. I stood there stunned. THAT was the finale. No way, there had to be more. NOPE. THAT was it, five measly little booms. All from the people who brought you the Olympic and Super Bowl fireworks. Well, I certainly hope they put more effort into those!

So we got back in the car, highly disappointed, beat the masses driving home, and drove past the Rose Bowl on the freeway. There was a GIANT flame shooting into the sky by the Rose Bowl. And I mean ginormous when I say GIANT! Okay, so feeling slightly guilty about calling the finale weak, we start to worry that something went very wrong and that they had to cut the finale short and that was why it was so lame. We put the girls to bed and turned on the news. But all we can find is a perky second rate reporter telling us that all was well at Amerifest and that the Rose Bowl fireworks were great! So hmmm.....a giant flame shooting into the sky is NORMAL after a large fireworks show? Okay, filing that one away into my misc. completely trivial knowledge. *Back to being disappointed with the finale*

But overall, we had fun "trying" to see the fireworks and as you can see, makes for a good story. Hope you all had a safe and festive Fourth!

Major Happenings in the Isaacson Household

We have some news to share with all of you. I have been meaning to send everyone an email and just haven't gotten around to it, so if you read this here first and I haven't gotten to you personally, please don't be offended. The Isaacson Family is moving back to the Midwest! We've been pondering this decision for a while now and were always on the fence. In the last few months we finally decided it would be best for us and our little family to move back to the Midwest to be closer to all of our family, and be able to afford a nice house with a yard and a garage. So we took the leap!

Andrew talked to his bosses over at Hornet, and as much as he was dreading the conversation because he loves working there so much, it went much better than he ever expected. They asked him to stay on with Hornet from Minneapolis (oh, yeah did I forget to mention that, we're planning on moving to the Twin Cities area). They want him to work in sales and business development. So his role will be different, but this allows us to move without Andrew having to find a new job!

We already had a trip planned to visit my family so now we'll get to look for a house too! We are so excited by this change in our lives. We love the weather out here in California and the people we have met are all wonderful and supportive. But there is nothing like being close to your family and having your kids really know their grandparents.

Our condo goes on the market July 10th! So we spent last weekend and today getting it ready to sell. We're painting the kitchen, touching up the "evidence of children" on all the other surfaces, trying to stash the clutter in a way that won't be noticed by a potential buyer nosing around our stuff, etc. It's actually been kind of fun "fixing up" the place.

More news on this topic in the future....