www.http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/disneyh10/bkroeze

It is officially official... I am in training. While I learned my lesson and have not signed up for a full marathon I am in fact doing a half. I am training and raising money for those affected by Leukemia/lymphoma. Please help me reach my monetary goal and donate money to an amazing cause. Pray for me daily... I am NOT as young as the first time I did this!

A Day in the Park

What a morning! Both kids seem to find pleasure is yelling, no, screaming at the top of their lungs. Mostly at each other because for some reason, that I will never understand this is FUN. By the time we left the house I had quite a headache, but was looking forward to a little fresh

air. And I have to say we ended up at the PERFECT place today.

Atlantis Park in Garden Grove seems to be the best kept secret, okay not really, but such a fun place to play! It costs $1 per person to get in, but seriously most of us have that lying on the floor of the car.

It is a huge park, built in 1963... and quite frankly I think some of the play equipment has been there at least that long. But the kids had a BLAST. And as always just watching them giggle and run and play I was struck again at my many blessings, all while the effects of the morning faded away.

We were there for a little over and hour and I don't think the kids stopped running once. I actually think Kayla ran up this hill about 30 times... while Kyle ran up and down the hill

gathering whatever his little hands could hold. And they both had a great time.

The only bummer part is that it actually has a closing time, so we had to leave at 2. I have to say this is probably the first time I am the one who didn't want to go home. A fun place, lots of room to run, play and laugh... perfect moments.

Good to Know:

Parking is FREE, $1 per person (under 2 years old is FREE)

Open Tuesday - Friday 10-2, Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-4

Lots of benches, grass and shade for lunch

Good walking paths so easy access for strollers

Bathroom (although I didn't go inside)

13630 Atlantis Way Garden Grove

I am not sure what made Kayla happier today... telling her that her BBF Olivia could come with us on our latest adventure or trying to figure out just who she wanted to pretend to be at any given moment. Okay it was definitely having her friend sitting next to her in the car, and I know this because of the non-stop giggling of 2, 4 year old girls and an occasional laugh out of the littlest Kroeze. A noise that is topped by no other!

What a place Pretend City is! Talked about imagination overload. While the girls ran all over the place trying everything out, I spent time thinking "Man, why didn't I think of this!" Everything from a grocery store, a farm (complete with real baby chicks), doctor's office, fire & police stations, a cafe, and a post office. All of which the kids can punch time cards and collect 'money' from the pint size ATMs. Not to mention the beach, splash room, dance stage and craft room... this place is a great way to spend some time in full play mode with the kids.

Even Kyle had a great time. He wasn't into the dress up play, but he found him self quite entertained just sitting in the farm 'digging' and playing in the sand at the beach. I am telling you this place has something for just about any age. (Although I don't think I saw many kids over 7 or so)

Another great day playing with the kids...

Good To Know:

-$10 adults & kids (13 months and over)

-$2 kids 12 months and under

-They are open 10 am - 5 pm

-Free Parking

-You can bring in your own food. They do have a real cafe, however it is mostly just vending machines, so not a whole lot of nutrition. I would advise bringing your own.

-Clean bathrooms complete with changing tables and diaper genies.

-Purell is readily available throughout the whole place

-Overall the place is clean

- 29 Hubble Irvine Ca

- 949.428.3900

- www.pretendcity.org

Winter beach day

I am almost embarrassed by the amount of time that has gone by since my last post...well actually I did attempt to post a couple weeks ago but managed to make it vanish. So here I am, again hoping that it is going to make it into cyber world this time.

After spending 8 days in Maui, I decided on my first day back in official 'mom mode' I would take the kids to the beach (because apparently I hadn't had enough). It was the perfect, sunny, warm, clear and um..oh yeah WINTER day to set off to the beach.

Kayla specifically asked to go to Seal Beach as she prefers to jump and play in the waves over any other option. So with all the gear in hand, a quick stop at Target to get Kyle a new suit and 20 minutes to smoother the kids in sunscreen we made it to the sand. With the warm air, a perfect view of Catalina (very rare by the way) it was a bit shocking when the, dare I say, FREEZING cold water hit our feet. Water so cold that Kayla's skin actually turned a shade of red. But that didn't stop her she played in it anyway, while her brother liked the idea of playing in the sand much better. And me, well I just chased after both of them, taking as many pictures as I could. And I must say, these happen to be 2 of the cutest kids in this world!

Good to know:

2 lots next to the pier $3 for 2 hours $6 for the day to park. Make sure to bring money for parking machines. All parking on the street is free, however it is 1 hour parking only

Restrooms and showers both next to parking lot

Downtown Seal Beach is across from the beach with many restaurants, ice cream, coffee shops..etc. Ruby's Restaurant sits at the end of the pier as well.

Can get very crowded on the weekends/holidays so go early.

Surfs up!

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!