Sweet!

Irvine Spectrum... yes shopping, but actually a great place for a play date! Who knew? Definitely not I, but there really is some fun, entertaining things for the kids. Merry-Go-Round, Ferris Wheel, Train (Fri-Sun only though) and they even have an ice skating rink for the holidays...Merry Christmas!

There is a nice 'food court' area complete with shade, tables and one of those splash mat play areas for the kids, you know where the ground squirts water and the kids go crazy. Perfect for a warm day, avoid that area if you want to keep the kids dry and tantrum free.

After running around and checking out all the things to do, we finally reached our final destination. The "Sweet Spot", is the place to be! Okay so it isn't a place for exercise, actually it is quite the opposite. It's a cupcake place... and not just any cupcake place but a decorate your own cupcake place! And it is worth the $5 they steal from you, to watch the pure joy and pride as your kids create a work of art.

So with frosting covered hands and faces, signs of an apparent sugar high and a post-play date meltdown, we headed home. A beautiful day outside & another great afternoon spent with the kids and our friends.


                                   Kayla and Abby decorating

                                        Kayla's Master Piece

                              Kyle enjoying some of Kayla's frosting

          Forgot to mention all of the fountains, always a perfect place to climb.

An Afternoon at the park

I decided it was time to get out of the house and enjoy the weather...after all we have been cooped up in the house the last few days dealing with whatever flu has struck our family. We ended up going to what we call "Shady Park". Not sure what the exact name is, but it is part of El Dorado Park in Long Beach. It is as far south of the park you can go, on Studebaker. If you blink you might miss it. It sits off of the busy street and is pretty small. But such a great park for the kids.

It does have sand, and if you know me at all you know how much I loathe sand parks, but I do like this one. Besides, most kids eventually find themselves being entertained by nothing but the sticks that fall from the trees. For some reason this is fascinating... and a little dangerous at times as there is always that one kid that chooses to use it as a light saber.

This park is THE perfect place to spend hot days. There are so many trees that it is a park of shade...hence the name. You actually can enjoy the summer at the park. However if you go on a day that is under 80 degrees or so, bring a sweater, it gets pretty cool.

There are tables and benches for lunch, a large grass area (soccer field) for running your little ones and something that resembles a bathroom. It is definitely not the cleanest or even very pleasant but it does serve its purpose.

Kayla always has such a great time when we play at the "shady park". It is a small spot but perfect for spending time out doors.

See, even Kyle found sticks

Last but not least... here is a preview of the bathroom... yeah I know

Happy Birthday my boy!

October 15, 2008 at 8:01 my beautiful boy came into the world! Thinking back I am still trying to figure out where the time has gone! The long nights of crying, the days of no napping...all which seemed like was going to last forever, has become faint memory of something that seemed to have happened years ago!

But what an amazing year it has been. Every day, looking at Kyle I am constantly reminded of just how blessed we are that he is in our lives. We waited for a long time, with much heart ache, for this little guy. And not a day goes by that I am not thankful for him!

Here is his first picture taken of him as a 1 year old... such a happy guy!

Here are some pictures from his NASCAR racing party. It was such a great day..too bad it was so hot! But he didn't seem to care, he was his usual charming self.

Cake time... took him a while but he got the hang of it.

Trying to share

Yep..that is frosting in his hair!

Mission completed...cake destroyed!

I ended up having to give him another bath to get all the frosting off.

What a joy it is to be a mommy... I can not wait to see what the next year has in store!

Fall is in the air

I have always thought that Spring was my absolute favorite time of year. However I have come to realize that I am definitely a 'Fall' girl. Not sure why I have all of a sudden fallen in love with fall, particularly this year, but what I do know is that I LOVE this weather and I just happened to have THE best day with my kids... just doing 'fall' things.

Yes the heat is gone, but that doesn't mean our kids need to enter hibernation. So, what are we to do in order to entertain our kids? Well you can always go play on a farm! Wait, what? Yep we found us a farm in Southern California! I know, it is a little hard to believe...but as it turned out, it was the perfect way to spend the day.

Tanaka Farms in Irvine is apparently THE place to be, which I quickly realized driving pass many school buses while searching for a parking spot. And let me tell you, it really is a place you have to see. They have everything... hay maze, corn maze, tractor pull rides, petting zoo, pumpkin patch and a vegetable farm where you can actually pick your own veggies to take home. And if that isn't enough to convince you that you and your kids need to visit the farm, let me tell you that your little ones will be worn out! Yep, they will run, jump, skip, climb and try to pick up every pumpkin they can find pretty much the entire time you are there. Which means that they are exercising... see you can get healthier kids anywhere, even at a farm :)

The hay maze while small, kept Kayla running for a good 20 minutes while Kyle explored the new world of hay and pumpkins and I chased them both around with my camera. Once our friends joined us we quickly made our way to the slow moving tractor pull ride over to the petting zoo. A small-ish zoo with a whole lot of goats, sheep and some other llama looking animal that apparently can spit with perfect accuracy...hmm? But it was very clean, complete with hand washing stations.

There are plenty of spots to eat lunch... sitting upon bales of hay of course over looking the whole pumpkin patch with the strong smell of onion in the air (only present durning the fall). It was after lunch that the real fun of the farm began. We found ourselves picking our own vegetables. We had our choice of radishes, onions, carrots, and green beans not to mention the thousands of pumpkins to choose from. What a great way to expose your kids to healthy food. This was most definitely Kayla's favorite part of the day... and she can NOT wait to cook her own veggies. A great sense of pride over her small bag of veggies and the perfect teaching opportunity!

If you can't tell by the pictures, we had a great time! I only wish I can post every single picture. If you are looking for something ideal for a family outing this is such a great place to take the kids. Perfect for all ages, although it can get a little rough pushing around a stroller through all the dirt. Here is some of the necessary information for pretty much any mom:

- Admission is FREE and Parking is FREE!

- Tractor pull is $5 (3 years old and older)

- Petting zoo is $3 (3 years old and older)

- Veggies picked are $2.99/lb.

- Pumpkins picked range from $3.99 - $100 (that is what the sign said)

- Restrooms are available. They are all outhouses, but they are very very clean, don't smell and are equipped with hand washing stations.

- Not very stroller assessable, however you can definitely get around. Note: you can't take the stroller on the tractor pull

- Bring your own lunch

- Wear closed shoes... its DIRTY! You are on a farm :)

- They are open all year round, crops changing with the season

If this place doesn't make you LOVE fall... well I just don't know what will!

And just in case you didn't get enough...here are a few more pictures!

Since we have moved on to this FANTASTIC weather of clouds, breeze and under 80 degree weather, the kids and I went and spent some time outside today. Decided to take them to Liberty park, which really is perfect on days like this...there isn't a whole lot of shade for the hot days. Kayla quickly made friends as she always does and quickly began telling them all what to do... again, which is usually does. Although the amazing thing is not only she is able to tell them what to do, but that they all do it! Definitely not one of my traits, she is a born leader, like her daddy!

Kyle stumbled his way around the playground but spent most of his time trying to climb up the slides... which by the way is something that even the 4 year olds apparently enjoy just as much. A joyful event that I just don't get, but hey as it turns out, a perfect exercise for their little legs. So let them climb! And when they are done with that...let them run and run and run!

In a nut shell, we had a great time! Liberty, has a good sized playground designed for 2-5 year olds, a rubber ground (no sand... great news for those with babies who enjoy eating it), a walking track, clean restrooms, shaded picnic tables and in the warmer months a water play area. Great place for a play date, or two.

Remembering...

Hard to believe that 8 years have past since our country was attacked, yet is seems like not that long ago. We will all remember where we were when we found out what had happened and I hope that the feeling we felt on that day will continue in us to always remember the immense tragedy of it all.

Our flag is always flying proudly in front of our house, but on this day we fly it in honor of those whose life story was cut short, those to lost family members and for those who served and continue to serve to protect our future.

ugh... It's HOT!

So today I needed to find my dad a birthday present, and because I waited until pretty much the last minute, I had to take the kids shopping. So the kids, my mom and I took a drive out to Downtown Disney. Yep, I was on a mission to find an "Old Guys Rule" shirt for my dad. I have been there before, but now that I am on the look out for new places to take the kids which might help encourage any sort of exercise or activity, I had a whole new experience.

Kayla figured out pretty quick that we were right next to Disneyland and quite frankly made it pretty clear that she would have preferred to be hanging out with Mickey than with me, however there were a few things that still caught her attention. Water fountains and tossing in the pennies are always a hit, but they also had birds out in front of 'The Rain Forrest Cafe" to check out. Above everything else, she seemed to enjoy the fish tank at the Quicksilver store... a great thing to keep the kids in one spot while you spend money on over priced T'shirts.

And in true, hot summer, no nap, little sleep kind of day we even had a major meltdown as we tried to get back to the car, Kayla did not want to go home. At one point I even turned around to find her on the ground screaming, something I haven't seen in quite a while. Anyway, Downtown Disney can offer some fun when you need to get the kids out of the house.. . parking is Free for 3 hours, plenty of time to get out and enjoy a little sun with the kids! While it doesn't offer a lot of physical activity just getting out in the fresh air, and maybe doing a little shopping, makes it a great place to hang out.

Kayla's 1st Day of School

Its hard to believe that the summer went by so fast. While I am the first to welcome the cooler weather and the promise of a possible winter, I am kind of sad to see it go. Kayla started her 2nd year of pre-school today. She was so excited to head back to school. What was she most excited about? "Playing dress up and snack"... well a girl has to have her priorities! Dropping her off was uneventful, as I got my quick kiss goodbye and she was off to sit on the rug with her newest classmates. While it was near impossible to get any sort of information out of Kayla about how her day was, I could tell by the smile on her face and her inability to stop bouncing around, that she had a great first day! As for me... I had a great first day as well. Went for a run and enjoyed a quiet house as Kyle took a long morning nap.

Great Family/Friend Outing Location

So the weather around here has been pretty lousy, which means that we find ourselves stuck at home. Mostly because I hate the heat more than anything. But today my sister in law introduced me to a great new spot (new to me anyway). It is perfect to spend with the family and/or friends when you really don't want to tackle the beach. Which can be a little hard when you have a 10 month old who finds putting sand in his mouth enjoyable.

Seabridge Park in Huntington beach, is the perfect location for any outing. It is a hidden beach area, actually a bay, with grass, lots of shade and a playground. Best of all parking is FREE!!! Seriously what more can a mom ask for, okay a bathroom... which they have by the way, although it really isn't much to talk about, or even think about for that matter. But it is functional.

Here is the link to the park. A great day away, fun for the kids, and before you know it, hours have passed and your kids have been... ACTIVE!!! YAY ! They are exercising and you didn't have to make them!

Seabridge Park

Countess Ave. (off of Edinger)

Huntington Beach CA

http://www.stockteam.com/seabridg_park.html

Sitting on the couch this morning, drinking my coffee, listening to the kids play I began some research online on how we can start our kids off right. By this I mean, eating right and making good choices. It is one thing to choose what your kids will eat at home, but what would your kids do if left alone to make their own food choices? Studies have shown that kids will more often than not make the same food choices as the parents when left to "shop" alone at a grocery store. They are watching, and learning from everything you do. They notice when you make healthy choices... that goes for exercise too. They see mommy and/or daddy exercising, it becomes important to them too. As parents we are our kids most valuable resource.

Here is a website I found, geared towards kids. Check it out. http://chrissare4kids.com

Here's to you, and your kids' health! :)

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought for a price. So glorify God in your body.

This is my family... the reason why I smile every day. God has blessed me more than I could ever have imagined. I am dedicating this blog and my new adventures to these amazing gifts.