What A fun time at Top Golf with Dad and Abigail. Abigail and I did terrible in both games we played. First it was just a game of take turns and hit but then we played teams. Dad killed Abigail and I and he was on his own team against us.

So today I Spencer took over dad's blog. I am in 7th grade and 13 years old. On January 6th I bought a MacBook Pro.

San Francisco Treat

Right in the middle of a summer swelter, San Fran and its moderate temps were just what we needed. On a bit of a whim a mini-vacation was planned to get away to the coast, and enjoy the city the way the locals do. While there we stayed a little motel on Lombard St., and enjoyed the many quaint stores within the area. Dogs definitely rule the roost around these parts. They are welcome in any store and treated like a member of the family. First night consisted of the wharf, Pier 39 and Rainforest Cafe. The kids enjoyed all the sights and sounds, especially the street performers. One who Spencer was sure was a robot. We ended the night with some sourdough turtles from Boudins. The next day was bit more relax with a stroll down Chestnut to Noah's Bagels, and then a good session at the local park. After that, it was off to the cable cars. Without a destination known, we hopped on and ended up in Union Square, where we changed our plans to eat at Lori's Diner, and it could not have been finer. After naps, we decided to continue our adventures on the MUNI and travel like the locals. It got a little crowded at times and the places we wanted to go to all ended up being closed, but the journey was fun nonetheless. Day three brought the Exploratorium and after 3.5 hours, we still didn't see it all, but our energy was fading, so we cut the visit short. Off to Lucca's Deli for some authentic Italian sandwiches and spaghetti, then to top it off, Susie Cakes cupcakes for dessert. All in all, it was a fantastic trip with no real agenda that we will be sure to do again next year to take in even more that San Fran has to offer.

Abigail's First Lost Tooth

Our not-so-little Abigail is growing up so fast and seems to reach milestones too fast for our liking. the most recent, which was losing her first tooth. This tooth had hung on for a good while, but nothing was going to keep it from falling out this night. Abigail was excited, yet a little apprehensive about pulling it out. She was definitely against using any floss to yank it out. So she slowly loosened it to the point of no return and eventually removed it all by herself. We both screamed with excitement upon realizing that it actually came out, and as she ran to show mommy the excitement turned to fright, and she started to cry. The crying was short lived, and we quickly set on making the tooth envelope for placement under her pillow. The tooth fairy made her first official visit for Abigail, and the money has already been spent.

3rd Annual Neighborhood Camping Trip

This was the third camping trip made my the neighborhood gang, second trip with everyone being able to attend. This year's location was the coast at a beautiful campsite called Costanoa. Although it was a wee bit chilly at times, it didn't take away from the fun-filled adventures everyone had. We arrived to the site on Father's Day and enjoyed a well planned night of food, drink and songs. The next day we all managed to make the hike to the beach where the kids explored and splashed in the waves. Tuesday was a two-fer, we were able to go see the redwoods on our nature hike, and go to Santa Cruz to enjoy the boardwalk and the beach. Each night we were able to all huddle in around the fire and enjoy each others company. We had many visitors throughout the trip including two skunks, many prairie dogs, one little resident kitty, and several raccoons who feasting on our food. All in all it was a great trips with great friends. Can't wait for our next camping installment.

Abigail's Hawaiian Rollercoaster

Abigail completed her last performance for the spring dance season, and might I say, it was flawless. She was front and center with her friend Clarisa, and the two of them danced in perfect unison. We are all very proud of little ballerina in her last performance in ballet shoes. She has decided that she would like to try hip-hop or jazz next time. New and exciting moves are sure to come from that. Here is a picture of Abigail with her roses that Spencer gave to her after the concert. She made sure that we didn't forget her flowers with multiple reminders.

Outta Hiding

Alright, so I thought I would give this whole blogging thing another whirl. Work is kind of slow, and I need something to keep my brain from physically dying. There has been so much that has happened since our last entry, and no amount of motivation would allow me to catch up, so with that said here is what I can remember in bullet format.

• Spencer graduated from Phoenix Preschool.
• Summer was upon us with swimming and more swimming.
• Visited the great island of Newfoundland. Top notch visit.
• Camping trip to Fallen Leaf Lake with the neighbors (rained on last day).
• Andy and I milked a free white-water rafting trip. Booyah!!
  
• Spencer started Kindergarten.
• Abigail's Christmas Dance Concert.
  
• Christmas in Cali this year. Loved the new fake tree.
• Sledding in the Sierras.
  
• Home floor reno official began, and is still in progress.
• Bring on the 2010 Rocklin Pony baseball season.
  
• Finally finished the front garden area. You're welcome neighbors.
• Grandma and Grandpa Polischuk come for a visit.
• Running Events: Davis Stampede, Run Rocklin, Parkway Half Marathon, and the World Famous Camp Pendleton Mud Run.
• Spencer graduated Kindergarten.
• Abigail's Spring Dance Concert.

... and that about bring you up to date. I know it must have been tough all those months wondering what was going on, and for that, I apologize. Here's to a bigger and better effort this time around.

The Cal-Poli's

Jelly Belly Heaven

I was finally able to take a day off to accommodate a trip to the Jelly Belly Factory. Tours run all week, but on weekends there's no actual production, so it more interesting to go on a weekday. The place was hopping, and full of tasty things to eat. The tour went through the entire factory from pre-jelly belly materials, to creation, to boxing them up for shipment. Some free jelly belly's were enjoyed at the end of the tour, and we were lucky to go during Easter, as the Easter Bunny was paying a visit. All it was a great way to spend a rainy day.

Canadian Christmas 2008

This year we decided to fly home and spend Xmas with the family in Saskatchewan. At first we were all gung ho, but then we were a little leery once we say some of the weather updates. We quickly got over it and were prepared for some fun, festivities and family. Spencer and Abigail were quite excited to go on vacation, and kept asking when we were going to wake-up super early to fly on the airplane. We had to leave the house at 4:30 am and our neighbour Andy was kind enough to drive us to the airport. The airplane/airport experience was relaxing and smooth. The kids enjoyed all the perks of flying, and had fun discovering all the plane had to offer. We arrived without a hitch and our vacation officially began. After a few short visits and errands, we were off to my hometown of La Ronge. A thermometer reading of -32 C greeted us once we arrived, but that didn't lower our enthusiasm for winter/snow fun. The very next day we were off and running. Clearing the ice rink at the Alicia and Mike's, and prepping the hill for sledding. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and the kids absolutely loved it. Neither Abigail nor Spencer had ever been on ice before, so this was pretty special. Abigail was trooper, even through all the slips and falls. Spencer preferred sledding, but also enjoyed the ice for awhile. Spencer and Abigail continued to play with their cousins Parker and Morgan every chance they got (especially on the swing in Grandma and Grandpa's basement), and we got to enjoy to child-free hours entertaining ourselves with cocktails, Wii, old friends and the odd puzzle. I was lucky enough to be invited a jam session with my bro that lasted a total of 6 hours. Many a good tune was played that evening. Finally, Christmas had arrived, and it was utter chaos with four young kids frantically ripping through anything in their path. It didn't take them long to demolish the pile of presents under the tree. Abigail kept opening every present and commenting that "I've been waiting for this." Even though we're pretty sure she didn't even know what she had before saying it. Later we got to enjoy a traditional Polischuk Xmas dinner consisting of lobster and crab, and afterwards enjoyed some Wii for a nightcap. The kids got to strap some skates on and try them on an official ice rink, which was pretty cool. Both did very well considering where they're from, and have shown a serious interest in skating and hockey ever since. They also got to take a ride on Uncle Mike's snowmobile, and if it were up to Spencer, we'd still be driving on it. They loved it. Unfortunately, our trip drew to a close and we had to say good-bye, but it turned out to be a great trip with lots of fond memories made.

More recital pics

Abigail's Christmas dance recital

Tonight we went to watch Abigail in her first ever dance recital. We were so unbelievably proud of our baby girl. She did such an amazing job and we loved watching her. Lauren also took part in the recital and did a wonderful job. Both girls looked so beautiful! Abigail loves dressing up like a "princess" She was very proud of the medal that she got to take home at the end of the night and was very excited about getting red roses from her Big Brother who sat so good through the entire concert. We love you so much Abigail!

More decorating

Decorating 101

This past Sunday we decorated our house for the holidays along with the neighbors. We all had a fun time despite it being a little chilly. All of the kids played great together as always and we all opted for pizza for dinner to finish off the night. Leslie took all of the kids on a "hike" to sing christmas carols and then showed off one of her hidden talents, making objects out of pipecleaners. The creations were endless. Another enjoyable evening on Magnolia!

Roseville Santa Parade

O.K, so it's been a little while since our last post. On the 22nd of November we took the kids to the Roseville Santa Parade. It was great for the first hour but after the 3 or 4th 10 minute gap in floats we were tired and the kids were bored! It wasn't very well organized to see the least! If you're wondering why there are no pictures of Santa it's because we didn't even stay to see him!

Abigail on her way to "work"

I had to work today and Mark took pictures of Abigail as she dressed up like Mommy right down to wanting the cup of coffee...not sure if this is a bad thing or not but it sure looks cute. She wanted to go to work. I wish I had the opportunity to wear these clothes to work...only scrubs for me! As you can see in the second picture, Spencer opted for the life of a pirate. In his words "Jack Sparrow with Mickey ears."

Date Night

Last night we enjoyed a night out with our friends Leslie, Andy, Mike, and Christina. We were surprisingly able to arrange all of this is less than a week which was great considering we all needed babysitters and time off work etc. We had a great dinner at PF Changs and then on to Starbucks for coffee, ice cream, and Leslie's riveting game "10 fingers" . We were all on the edge of our seats as we learned more and more about one another. It was actually a ton of fun and the only bad part of the night was having it come to an end. We couldn't ask for better friends and we're looking forward to our next night out...love you guys!!

Our little Ballerina

We gave the kids a choice of a few things to do this fall. Spencer chose soccer again and Abigail chose Ballet. She goes every Thursday morning but if it was up to her we'd be there everyday. She loves it and we think she looks so cute in her little outfit. At class she always listens to her teacher, and is a natural dancer. Despite her size, she very flexible, and moves around with much grace. We love our little ballerina.

Halloween Party

This past Saturday we were invited to a Halloween Party at the house of one of Spencer's daycare friends. The kids had a fantastic time decorating pumpkins, sifting to find "treasures", decorating bags, making magnets, and their favorite...wrapping daddy up like a mummy with toilet paper. Abigail looked adorable and loved the "pixie dust" that we sprayed in her hair. Spencer was very proud in his Peter Pan costume and especially loved spraying his hair red. There were lots of yummy treats and lots of friends to play with. Mark and I also got to dress up for the first time in years. I was very creative and went all out dressing up as a witch. Mark looked great as a member of the Blue Man Group.