Summer Vacation: Wednesday at Old Town and the Beach

Wednesday was going to be our "spend the day at the beach" day.  Renee and Kamuela's family drove over to hang out for the day and go to the beach with us.  My boys were thrilled to have their cousins there to spend another day together.  Their kids are quite a bit older than ours, but that doesn't matter one bit when they are together.  They just play and enjoy being kids, regardless of age.  I love that.

Well, it started out totally overcast and foggy.  The weather report predicted the sun coming out only later in the day, so we headed off to Old Town for the late morning/early afternoon.  There are lots of little museums and shops in Old Town. 

We found the little Mason School (first public school) and a big garden behind the La Casa de Machado y Stewart, an original adobe home. 

They boys loved the blacksmith shop, where they were doing some metal work demonstrations.

They also spent some time climbing on an old out of use cannon in the middle of the square.

We headed back to Carla's for a quick lunch and then drove to the beach.  We got there after 2 pm and the sun was out.  The water was the same temperature as the air (in the 70's), so it was just a tad cold for this desert girl, but not uncomfortable.  We weren't there for as long as we had hoped we could be, due to the fog, but we took advantage of the afternoon we had there.

The boys loved digging and splashing in the waves with their cousins.

Mr. Two actually boogie boarded and was quite the little "surfer dude," thanks to help from Auntie Carla.  He seemed to just float on top of the waves like a feather.  He loved it.  Mr. One tried to stand on a boogie board as the waves came in, toppled over, declared there was salt water in his mouth and put his surfing aspirations on hold yet again (remember this is the child who declared he would only go boogie boarding when he was thirty?).  He decided that standing in the waves on his own two feet was adventure in the ocean enough. 

Mr. Three did not like walking in the sand, but did like the water and the wet sand along the beach.  We were hard pressed to get him out of the water.

The kids also had fun riding in an inflatable boat that Carla had brought.  Mike got to go out boogie boarding and I watched the kids play.  I love sitting on the beach and getting my feet wet, but no swimming or boogie boarding for me!  We got the kiddos exhausted and then grilled a simple hot dog and veggie dinner and put them to bed with little complaint.

One more item of note:  Mr. One lost his second front top tooth (with a little help from Daddy).  Don't you just love that smile?  The tooth fairy almost forgot to stop by, but luckily made a quick dash for the tooth in the morning after everyone was out of the bedroom.  ;)

Something I love about having Mike's sister Carla around is that she really listens to my kids and spends time being on their level.  They love to bombard her with stories and questions and she takes it all in and savors being in the moment with them.  I always leave her house with a renewed desire to be more like that with my family.  She just loves my kids and makes them feel so important.  We always look forward to visits with her.

Summer Vacation Continued: Tuesday in San Diego

We drove to San Diego to stay with my sister in law for the next part of our trip.  Carla just purchased a home in San Diego, and even though it is still in the middle of renovation, it is already so cute!

Tuesday after lunch, we headed down to Imperial Beach, along with Mike's brothers Dan and Josh.

 First stop, Cow-A-Bunga Micro Ice Creamery.  Oh yummy!

I had peanut butter brownie and mint cookie in a waffle cone.  Mr. Three loved it as well!

The boys gobbled up some rainbow sherbet.

Mike had the cheesecake and pistachio.  Their flavors are not overly sweet, but full of flavor.  After our ice cream, we wandered along the pier and saw a group of dolphins.

Can you see them in the picture?  Squint a bit.  There they are!  There were lots of people fishing off the pier.  My kids were so excited to see some freshly caught fish as we wandered.

We had to play around on the rocks and sand and then pose for the camera at the Imperial Beach entry sculpture.  It was much too breezy to get in the water.

Next stop was the Mormon Battalion Museum.  They have recently redone the entire building and it is more kid-friendly.  The first thing you do is to go on an interactive video tour of the Mormon Battalion trail. There are talking pictures and sister missionaries who guide you along the trail and explain some of the things that happened.  You move through rooms, representing the different points of the journey, and at the end, there is a picture spot, some computers set up to see more history and geneology of members of the Mormon Battalion.  Lastly, outside, you can wash some clothes on a wash board, pump water, pan for gold, build with bricks and take a climb up to a lookout tower to see all of Old Town.

My boys loved the outdoor activities. 

Mr. One and Mr. Two had fun panning for gold and building with the bricks.

It's never too early to instill the importance of washing the laundry.

I couldn't get Mr. Three away from the water.

Outside the museum is a covered wagon and statues, so of course, we had to take a few pictures.

That evening, we met up with Mike's parents for dinner at Casa Guadalajara.  All of the reviews were positive, praising the authentic Guadalajara cuisine.  The place was very busy, and the building was lovely, so we thought this would be a great spot to eat.  Mike and his dad (who both served missions in Guadalajara, Mexico) were especially looking forward to the food.

Patiently waiting.

Still waiting...

Let's just say the wait was long (as in over an hour to get seated).  The service was really awful (30 minutes just to get drinks and take our order).  The food was ok (definitely not authentic), but the restaurant itself was beautiful.  The weather was perfect, and the company was wonderful.  Next time, we'll be researching for a better dinner spot.  The rest of the day certainly made up for the little disappointment in our end of day meal.

Summer Vacation 2011

Excuse my lack of posting for the past few weeks.  Last week, we spent time in California with family and I have spent the majority of this week getting settled back in and getting ready for school to start NEXT WEEK!

Our first vacation stop was in Calimesa to spend a few days with family there.  We drove over late Sunday night and crashed.  On Monday, we basically hung out, playing games and visiting all day.  Mike got his Risk fix with a marathon game that lasted hours and hours.  The boys loved playing Legos and running around with cousins.  We headed to a nearby park for a picnic with hot dogs and s'mores.  Wow, was it amazing to be outside in the early evening and have such perfect weather! 

The kids loved playing on playground equipment that didn't scorch their little rumps and climbing the trees. 

I loved sitting in the sunshine without sweating and watching my kids have so much fun.  Of course the chatting and the s'mores were a big bonus as well. 

The boys may have eaten more than their fair share of the marshmallows during the s'mores cooking.

Lego Tips from my sister-in-law!!

While in Calimesa, my boys poured over some Lego magazines that their cousins had in the house.  My sister in law clued me in on some great Lego "insider" tips.  Did you know that Lego puts out a magazine, and you can order a FREE 2 year subscription here?  Yes, it's mainly a big advertisement for their products, but my boys loved reading and rereading them at their cousins' home.  There are building tips and comics and lots of other Lego activities inside.  They have a version for younger children and one for the 7+ set.  Also, if you have lost or have broken Lego pieces from recently produced sets, you can reorder those pieces here.  Hooray for that!  Thanks, Renee!

It's the Dog Days of Summer

I just couldn't resist using "the dog days of summer" in a post.  Here's a simple and fun play date I set up for my boys this summer.

You know we can't start off anything big without a book, or several books!

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

Poor George can't bark and his mother is worried.  All that comes out is sounds from other animals.  A trip to the vet should sort this mess out.  Simple and funny with a great little twist at the end.  This book is my favorite dog book so far.

Move Over, Rover! by Karen Beaumont

Rover's in the doghouse, and some unwelcome visitors decide to join him during the storm.  See what drives them all quickly outside, rain or no rain!  Repetitive and rhyming, this is a good one for the preschool set.

The Stray Dog by Marc Simont

This lovable stray dog may have just found the perfect family in this simple story with a sweet ending.

Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell

Confession time:  I think Clifford is quite silly and not the best literature.  In a world of amazing children's books, I didn't really think they were worth my consideration.  However, my boys find him totally endearing and so we read Clifford books.  Lots of them.  I admit, they have grown on me and I do like that the simple text makes good reading material for Mr. One.  You also have to appreciate the simple story lines and emphasis on being kind and a loving central family.

Hondo and Fabian by Peter McCarty

If not for the story, this book is worth a read to gaze at the soft, warm illustrations.  This book takes us along on a day with Hondo (the dog) and Fabian (the cat).  While it seems that their individual activities should be quite different from each other, they, in fact, share many similarities. 

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

 

Harry goes on an adventure and gets very dirty.  So dirty, that his family doesn't even recognize him!  Poor Harry.  Luckily a good scrub in the tub will reveal his true spots.  (It would be fun to get a few plastic dogs or washable stuffed ones, let them roll in the mud, and give them a good scrub after reading this story.)

There is a great collection of printables and activities that go with Bark, George on Making Learning Fun.  Mr. Two loved the shadow matching game, and Mr. One and Mr. Two liked the George Barks emergent reader.  I tried to convince Mr. One to use the Bark George outline and create his own animals to put in his belly and write their sounds on a speech bubble, but he wanted to play with his legos at that point.  (Just keeping it real, folks!)

We made our own doggie bones using this breadstick recipe, and knotting the ends instead of twisting the whole dough strip.  (So yummy with fettucini alfredo.)

We made doggie ears from some white construction paper and stamped circles of paper with my boys' doggie names for their collars.  Super simple.  Here are "George" and "Benji" (yes, they chose their own dog names).

Then, I tested my doggies on their keen digging and retrieving skills.  They dug through our foam bath letters and numbers for the item I requested, then dropped it into their doggie dish and barked the name of the letter or number.

Obviously, I need to help Mr. Two with the whole number/letter concept.

Don't worry, all that hard work was not left unrewarded.  Each obedient doggie was given a doggie biscuit (graham cracker shapes).

I also thought of playing doggie doggie where's your bone? but let's face it, it's not that challenging to figure out who's hiding the bone when there are only three of us...

A few other places to find some fun doggie ideas.

Oopsey Daisy has a dog themed mommy school post.
Making Learning Fun has a whole section on a pet theme.

Enjoy these last few dog days of summer!

Note to Self: Yogurt and Babies

Note to Self:

No matter how adorable your one year old is, no matter how he bats his eyes and babbles to you, do not give in and let him feed himself a tube of yogurt.  In case you need visual motivation, see here.

Bad idea.  Yogurt in the baby: 5%.  Yogurt on the baby: 95%.

On the other hand, just to remind yourself how sweet above-mentioned baby can be without his own tube of yogurt, see here.

He already loves the scriptures.  You have to be happy about that!