California Fun Pt. 2

More fun from here in Sunny Southern California. Diego was scared of the big waves at Seal Beach so we thought this "Mothers Beach" was a better bet for a beach day. The water was on the cool side and a bit breezy out so there wasn't a lot of swimming although Cali did lay on her belly and squeal with delight and Dave was brave enough to dive in for everyone's entertainment. The older boy pictured is our nephew, the kids' cousin. He's staying with Grandma & Grandpa for the week too and the kids just love him. Diego exclaims "Hi Jacob!" every time he's been out of sight for 2 minutes and gives his big cousin lots of big, spontaneous hugs. Cali likes him so much she is even sharing her "Princess gum" with him and he has shared his gum with her in return.


This evening after dinner we went to a fun park just a couple of blocks from Dave's parents' house. So many ducks (including a mom with 11 babies), roosters that crowed for us, and a chicken with a matching chick chirping along behind it. We didn't have any food for them, but Cali loved watching them all hop or flap into the pond.

Tomorrow is the main event... off to Disney!

California Fun

On vacation, having too much fun to blog much. Here are some pics so you can see what all we've been up to so far.

Heritage Park, Cerritos CA

Seal Beach

Natural History Museum of LA County

Poor, Sad Canon Rebel

My poor Canon Rebel, I really don't know if its going to be OK. After googling some tips on what to do in this situation, we stuck it in a box of rice to help draw out any more moisture. We left it there all week and today Dave called to tell me he had turned it on and was setting the date. Yay! He took a few pictures and uploaded them. Yay! I take a turn, start playing with Manual mode for a minute and after 3 pictures the screen stops working, I press a button the screen comes back. The screen goes away, the camera dies. We stuck it back in the box of rice. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the more it dries out the better it will work again....

FTF

Three of my favorite things Cali has said recently...

1. "Daddy! Mommy is being so nice to me!" As we were scrapbooking together and I was giving her a couple unwanted 12x12 papers from my stash.

2. "Mommy you're amazing! You can find anything!" After finding a mitten she was looking for in the floorboard of the car.

3. "Mommy thank you for this delicious salad!" After she had repeatedly complained that she did not like salad, did not want salad, etc., etc. as she watched me make it.

ETA

4. "Mom, you're such a good killer!" After smashing a big wolf spider with Diego's flip flop this morning.

4 of 52

We've had a very busy week here... Camping, hiking, strawberry picking. Next on my list is packing for California. Here are a couple faves of me & the kids from camping, you can see me in the ladybug picture in the previous post too.

*************************************************************************************

Are you the Mom who's always taking pictures and look back only to realize you aren't IN any of them? Do your kids look through photo albums and ask "Where were you Mommy?" Well, Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans decided to change all that and challenges any one who's interested to do the same. So hand over the camera, or at least figure out the self-timer and get on the other side of the lens more often. Post your photos of you enjoying time with your family every Thursday and share the link with other Mom's by posting it on Carin's blog. You can start any time with week 1 of 52, don't worry about being "behind" just jump on in.

Sweet Berry Farm

Its that time again - the strawberries are ready down at Sweet Berry Farm. We went on Tuesday and it was a great day. So many red berries just ready to be picked. Our bucket filled up very quickly, even with Diego sampling every one he could get his hands on. Very few people there and no bees and no mud. The horses and donkeys were very friendly (watch out though the horse will bite) and there were several baby goats with their mamas. Unfortunately they had moved the chickens over to the the main house and we only saw one sleeping cat. If they have any available, make sure to pick up a dozen farm fresh eggs. They make for a very tasty breakfast!

If you're looking for something to do after the berry picking we always stop for lunch right on the water at Chili's then go over a couple blocks to the great big playgrounds at Johnson Park.

Dinosaur Valley State Park

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This was on the top of the list of things I wanted to do as a family before Dave deploys again. I was so excited when he told me he took a 4-day pass so we could go this weekend. I chose this campsite in particular because of the awesome Dinosaurs and real dinosaur tracks in the river bed. Its only a 2 hour drive from here on a nice State highway.

We arrived Sunday morning around 10am, set up camp, ate lunch, then went out to explore. We walked over to the huge Dino sculptures and the great little gift shop then on to one of 4 main Track sites. The tracks are so cool to see in the water, even the kids thought it was exciting. There were also tons of little minnows & several bigger fish too. The water is so pretty and clear and a bit on the cold side still. Although by later in the day there were plenty of people wading and even sitting in the water.

After a ridiculous attempt to get them to nap we snacked and loaded up for a hike with our Kelty packs. Diego was out within 5 minutes. We followed all along the creek bed enjoying the view and making a few tricky rock-hopping river crossings. By the end of the day we saw every track site. For dinner we made the campfire and had hot dogs and sausages. I cheated on the S'more and just used Marshmallow Creme.

Cali started asking to go to bed by 6pm, I think a combination of being tired and really wanting to sleep in the tent. She was out by 7:30 but we kept Diego by the campfire with us until he was good and sleepy so he wouldn't disturb Cali once we put him in the tent. Everyone slept really well, except Diego who was a bit restless and insisted on going to the potty at 4:30 am.

Breakfast was muffins, yogurt, and bananas. Wished I had a nice kitchen like the other campers to make a hot breakfast. Oh well, we made do. Went for a short hike with the kids the other way up the creek. Took the net to catch minnows and could hardly find any this time. Once we got back it was time to pack up.

As soon as the tent started going down Cali cried that she did not want to leave and chose to sit in her carseat the entire time until we drove out. Came home exhausted with a few scraped knees, a bruised tailbone, and a broken camera but it was a great time spent together and we can't wait to do it again.