Home is Where the Kids Are

September 26, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Kaili was very excited to have mommy and daddy back home. She wouldn’t leave my side for a good two days. We were a bit jet lagged, the time change was only four hours but our red eye flight, not getting a full nights sleep and bloody Mary’s first thing in the morning didn’t really help our cause.

Back to school sickness hit Kaili right before we got home and then it was passed to Averi who has an ugly cough. It took a few days for all of us to get back into the routine but I think we are all settled in pretty well.

Shane picked up Wags at the airport a few days after we got home. Kaili was eager to see his medals.

I think they suit her.

We spent the weekend being homebodies, enjoying the weather and each other.

Dinner and music outside, Kaili loves to dance to her favorite songs.

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She also loves this dress, today is the third straight day she has worn it. I may have let her wear it to school to avoid a fight. I need to wash it and tuck it away somewhere for a week or two.

Closing Time

September 22, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

“Open all the doors and let you out into the world
Closing time
Turn the lights up over every boy and every girl.
Closing time
One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer.
Closing time
You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”

It’s amazing how fast two weeks can go by.

We woke up Sunday morning and ate whatever was still in our fridge for breakfast. Thinking it was a good time for a second go at faceTime, we called the girls. Even though we were coming home in a few days Kaili still took it hard and it was a sad moment.

To shake the sadness, I packed up the essentials and headed down to the pool, Shane soon followed.

After a few hours of relaxation and a slightly darker tan we slipped into the bar for lunch. Since it was Sunday most of the restaurants offered the national dish of Brazil, Feijoada on their menu. Shane wasn’t being a team player, he got the host to put on American football and ordered a hamburger…side eye… but he promised to help me a little with my order, since it’s meant to be shared. I jumped in head first to my delicious lunch and it was probably the best meal I had. Although, my mom can give them a run for their money.

After lunch we met Cathy and Patti at their place, not far up the road for a car to drive us to Maracana stadium. Apparently the drive to opening ceremonies was a long haul due to traffic and closed roads, this time the driver to precautions and we went through the mountains and Favelas to get there, it worked out great. We had time for a snack and then we made our way to the stadium.

This was a sight to see and a pretty special place for me to walk into. The turnout of people was pretty spectacular.

The athletes came in and took their spots and then the show began.

The show started out strong but I have to say that after London, I am not sure anything can compare. Once the semantics were over, the party began. It was a concert for the Cariocas, which was awesome for them. They were having the best time. But for us Americans whom didn’t know any song or performer it became an old story after awhile.

The rain picked up and it was getting later by the minute so we decided to start our journey through some wild weather back to Barra. Our driver Max was waiting for us where we left him, luckily. We had an interesting ride back, Max told us about how two men tried to carjack him while waiting for us. He was telling us the story in very broken english and google translate all while driving in the rain. He wanted to show us what he did so he leaned over Shane and opened the glove box and pulled out a knife. Apparently he threatened these men with it and scared them away but it was a interesting play of events, especially for Shane who was in the front seat and not sure what was going to happen. We laughed about it the rest of the night. We made it home just fine and I’m pretty sure the closing ceremonies were still going after we fell asleep.

If there was any day to sleep in, this was it. Our final day in Rio. Nothing really to do as the pool is closed on Monday’s and we had check out after lunch. We lounged around, grabbed some food and chocolate for the girls and then met Patti and Cathy at theirs for our ride to the airport. We were very lucky to have access to the Delta sky lounge this trip. Free food, drinks, wifi and a place to relax really can’t be beat. The airport was swarming with media trying to catch interviews with athletes and even artists entertaining waiting passengers.

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With that our trip home was a cinch. After a very good meal and some free wine I watched a couple of chick flicks and then reclined myself down for some sleep.

It’s really too bad the media made Rio out to be this terrible scary place because it was brilliant. I can really appreciate the hard hand that came down on Lochte because this city of Barra did not deserve that negative bullshit. The people were funny and went out of their way to take care of us, even with a language barrier. There was no harm in grabbing a taxi, and even alone I would have felt safe…(that is taking common sense precautions.)

That said there were a few things that I missed being out of the states. Their paper products leave much to the imagination as does their plumbing. There were zero signs posted outside of stores or restaurants so you have no clue if a place is open or when it’s closing. And their food, well let’s just say we have it really good here in the states. But after two weeks, it gets easy. The transportation, the shopping the language and ok not the food but most everything becomes easy and natural. I will miss it and I get why people love it there, it’s a pretty awesome place to visit.

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Obrigada Rio!

Wrapping up Tennis

September 16, 2016September 16, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

I really want to skip a few days, would you mind? No, okay so let’s bullet point or else I will never get this all written.

Tuesday morning we took the gals to the Barra shopping mall and went back to that Italian restaurant I bragged about and I’m confident everyone enjoyed it.
Tuesday night tennis, OY! Gold medal match. I hope most of you were able to watch and if you weren’t, the USA played some brilliant tennis, only problem….their opponents weren’t Quadriplegics…..
USA took silver medal and that’s not a sad story to tell.

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I think we got some decent sleep that night although we have been waking up at the same time we do at home, which really isn’t cool. I’m sure come the weekend we will be pros at sleeping in, just in time to go home to the girls.

Wednesday Wags had his bronze medal match. We sat in the hot sun and watched what we thought was going to be a hard loss. Somewhere he found the strength to dig deep and he won 5 straight games in the third set to win the medal. It was very stressful but pure greatness to watch.

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The medal ceremony wasn’t going to be held until after the last match of the day. That gave us a few hours to hang around, which we weren’t strangers at doing.

We grabbed some lunch and sat around chatting over beers until the time came.

Brazilian fans are some of the best fans

We wrapped up the night with watching Wags receive his 8th medal, which is the most of any male tennis player …ever. You guys, that is pretty fucking awesome!

Pepé Beach

September 14, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Im not getting these posts out very fast, we have closed down the Olympic venue two nights in a row and aren’t getting to bed until after midnight…yawn.

Monday morning we met the ladies out on the street, grabbed two cabs and headed down to Pepe beach. The sidewalks are sprinkled with Kiosks serving beer and snacks. One in particular, an Argentina place serving fresh fish was supposed to be really good. But once we got down there we realized it was closed, probably for the winter. Plan B. We walked, up and down the beach, planning our next visit. Maybe we will paddle board, definitely take a dip in the ocean and rent a beach chair to sit and soak up some rays.

There were benches lining the pier and under each one was a cat along with a bowl of water and kibble.

We wandered into a seafood restaurant and was greeted by a very humorous and kind Mâitre D. Sharing a couple of mediocre dishes, seafood paella and fish stew we watched the palm trees sway in the tropical breeze.

Once our bellies were full we took advantage of one of the kiosks. Kicked our feet up and sipped on a cold drink.

After lapping up the sights we jumped in taxis and went back to our condos to prep for tennis. On our way home, our taxi was hit by another car, we were fine. The drivers got out, yelled at each other for a few minutes and then we were back on our way.

The tennis part of the day wasn’t as good as the beach. Wags had a tough match against GB and lost his chance at the gold medal. It was a long night and hit on our emotions a tad too hard. We didn’t get back until very late and we were out once our heads hit the pillow.

Not Bad

September 12, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

We took full advantage of our Sunday, starting with checking out that shopping center I mentioned a few days ago. It’s got everything, restaurants, a grocery store, hardware store, a dentist and even a Subway.

We chose to eat an early lunch at the place where the locals were. Some grilled meat, fries and cold cerveja.

It was a pretty decent meal. After lunch we took full advantage of our pool, it was very cold but still very nice.

And then we did the worst thing possible. We FaceTimed the girls, it was rough as Kaili was upset and trying to hold back tears. It really put a damper on my day. I tried to shake it off and we got dressed to head out for some tennis. Wags got us all passes to hang out in the family lounge…

It was really nice to sit in the air conditioning with free beer, I mean who would complain about that? We got to really enjoy each others company for a few hours before the match started.

When time came we made our way to our seats for Wags and Nicks first doubles match. The atmosphere was brilliant.

They played some great tennis and pulled out a win.

We then headed to the other side of town for a very late and not so great dinner. Even the drinks were bad, but the company was worth it!

Let’s Watch Tennis

September 9, 2016September 9, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Do you know what happens when you go to bed at 7:30 p.m.? You wake up at 3:00 a.m. and that is a fact, at least for me. Instead of stressing about the time and worrying when the girls were going to wake up, I scrolled through Instagram, read a few chapters of my book and then fell back to sleep. I woke to Shane making coffee at 6:45, not bad….hoping for maybe 7:00 tomorrow.

After a very casual breakfast we went to meet the gang at the Olympic venue. Cathy was able to get us tickets to see some swimming, something I haven’t been able to do yet.

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Shane and I decided to head back to the apartment to change and grab some lunch before watching tennis. Apparently a few hundred other people had the same idea and we weren’t having much luck in the food department. We finally settled on some “street” pizza, that is what I am going to call it. More like a pop up tent with some beers and pizza, I think there were fries and hot dogs too…

Doesn’t look terrible does it? Don’t let the picture fool you, it wasn’t good, like at all. AND can we talk about why other countries feel the need to douse their food in warm mayo? Warm mayo is like what would happen if men produced milk, it would taste so bad. You’re welcome for that!

Once back at the tennis venue we settled in for a few matches. As the sun went down we watched Wag’s win his first match of the Paralympics 6-4 6-4.

He had some fans waiting for him afterwards, kids longing for autographs.

And then we all took the obligatory photo together with our wonderful matching ( ahem sarcasm font) t-shirts on.

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We finished the evening with dinner at a restaurant near our abode. Nothing great, just okay food. Well the coconut cake was pretty delicious but all I have to show for it is a picture of our beers.

Today is Shane and my 10 year wedding anniversary. At this time 10 years ago we were a little bit drunk probably very loud. Eight years ago we were in China at the closing ceremonies of the Paralympics. Four years ago we were being serenaded by Chris Martin, Jay Z and Rhianna at the London closing ceremonies and tonight we are settled in our place with Brahma cerveja, so maybe I should say goodnight and talk to him instead of you.

Boa Noite.

Take Off

September 8, 2016September 8, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 4 Comments

This last week has been rough. Kaili started kindergarten the past Monday and as the week went on, the harder the days got. I prepared her her as much as I could for our trip, maybe too much. There were days leading up to our departure that I wish someone would have told me how I was supposed to act and feel because I was doubting everything. She was very sad and I was very sad.

When we said our goodbyes, there were some tears but I know we all will be just fine. Kaili walked to school with grandma and Averi and with a last wave goodbye,
we headed to the airport.

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I’m not going to lie and say how tough it was waiting for our flight. I watched other moms entertaining their kids while I sat back with a glass of wine.

We had three legs to our trip, San Diego to Atlanta, Atlanta to Sao Paulo and then on to Rio.

We didn’t get enough sleep on our red eye so we had a hard time keeping our eyes open on our layover in Sao Paulo.

Luckily that last flight was quick because I was “stick a fork in me” done.

Our luggage made it off the plane promptly and while Shane grabbed the last of our bags I had already paid for a taxi. We were on our way. It took about an hour to get to our condo, there was a lot of traffic and the main road was closed due to the games. The not so friendly police officer didn’t care if we were staying on that street so our driver was forced to take a longer detour.

I have had an exceptional time corresponding with our AirBNB host. We were greeted at our resort condo with all the information we needed.

Our view is pretty nice and although you can’t see it in this picture, the olympic stadium is to the right. We are literally across the street, it’s actually closer in person than I thought it was. After we got our access passes for the resort pool, we strolled over to the supermarket. Picking up a few of the necessities like coffee, beer, water and flip flops.

We are so wiped, hoping to make it until at least 7:00 before we call it a day. Tomorrow David plays fourth on after 11:00 am. Probably 4:ish here and noonish in California.

As I write this I am looking out the window. There are some men playing soccer and beyond that there is a shopping center. I think that is what we will do in the morning. I will report back with the goodies I find.

Let’s Catch Up

November 11, 2013November 12, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Can anyone tell me what happened? This past week is a blur, I was in San Diego then Orange County and back again….back again. I am pretty sure I left off after my Dr. appointment, is that right?

If so, we spent Friday up in the OC. We cheered on David Wagner’s doubles partner Nick as he fought for third place, we didn’t cheer loud enough and he lost.

Sigh.

After, we ate our sorrows away.

Sitting on the Mission Viejo lake we devoured an amazing anchovy and caper dotted Caesar salad and garlic infused pizza.

Later in the evening we went back to the tennis center for the guys’ doubles match. I am so grateful for all the friends and family that made it out for this tournament.

They won.

Of course they did!

Thankful for Grandpa, we were able to go out for a sushi feast after the match. I am still ~~drooling~~ thinking about one of those damn rolls, so good.

The better half of Saturday was spent at the Tennis Center, eating, drinking, tennis.

They won again.

Uh huh, we get the picture.

We drove back home {San Damn Diego} later that evening and spent the rest of the weekend trying our hardest not to move from the couch or from the T.V.

Football, Homeland, Hello Ladies. Are you watching?

We watched David and Nick play their doubles final online, they won!!

Monday, Kaili woke me up early, 5 am early.

Anyone want her? I am trading her in for a new one, preferably one that sleeps in.

We hit the road by 10 am heading back to Mission Viejo to watch David play the Masters final. Kaili was a true monster the whole way up but once I told her I was going to leave her in Mission Viejo, she cheered up, fast.

The finals match started rough, I won’t lie. David was down 6-0 the first set.

Gulp!

However he kicked it into gear and got the job done in the third set.

David Wagner wrapped it up. The NEC wheelchair Masters champ….again.

Thank you to y’all who made it out!

Masters Arrive In O.C.

November 7, 2013November 7, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

Kaili and I drove up to OC as soon as traffic let up Tuesday morning. Doesn’t this look like the perfect weather for a tennis tournament?

We got to the tennis venue a little before David’s first match. The place is really nice, decked out with a lot of comfy seating, food and drinks.

Wags kept us on our toes the first set of his match, finally winning it in a tie-breaker. My pictures of him playing have not turned out well so I will give you a glimpse and then carry on.

He killed it in the second set 6-0 kicking off his winning streak. Kaili gave her uncle a celebratory hug after the match.

The nice thing about this Mission Viejo tennis center is that center court is really open, allowing me to watch the match while Kaili wandered around in circles. She wasn’t going to sit for more than the allowed time it took to eat a fun size bag of skittles. Bribing them with candy will buy you at least 5 minutes. WINNING!

The second day kicked off almost the same way. With warmer weather and a more stressful first set, our fat heads came in handy. Each day I see the venue getting more and more crowded. This weekend should have a good turnout.

My dad came with me helping me wrangle the kid. He wandered around with her allowing me to actually sit and watch the second set. Thanks dad!

Wags once again killed it 6-0 in the second set reminding us all why he is the best!

We can’t make tomorrows matches but will be up there for the evening doubles match on Friday. I feel another win coming!

London Calling

June 10, 2012 ~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

Forget all my kid stuff for a minute. Let’s talk about why we are going to London in a few months!

My husband and David Wagner have been friends since grade school but Shane didn’t know that David would be a world class athlete.

In 1996 David suffered a life changing accident at the beach in LA that left him paralyzed.

After the accident there were years of struggle, but eventually he found his way back to a passion.

After 4 Paralympic medals in wheelchair tennis, he is headed to the London Paralympics and we will be there to cheer him on.

Here short video of David. This was made back in January as he was preparing for the Australian open.

He most recently started a free wheelchair tennis camp for disabled children. It took place June 9th in Portland Oregon, David said he had an amazing time with the kids.

The Paralympics follow the Olympics. The opening ceremonies kick off on August 29. I will share his journey and ours with you. Until then, I leave you with some pictures of a wonderful man, extraordinary athlete and amazing friend.