Sea Life Expert

On Saturday, Ron and I took Rosie and Sadie to the Sea Life Aquarium at Lego Land. We had intended on taking the girls to the San Diego Zoo, but I came down with a little cold, and in an effort to keep everyone healthy we opted for something a bit more mellow. We had such a fun time together. Such fun. I highly recommend it. The aquarium offers a 10 question- answer-as-you-go- quiz. The attendant at the door assured us of a exiting "prize" for a perfect score. Of course, Ron and my competitive spirits came out and we were checking and double checking our answers along the way. The prize ended up being a sticker that said, "Sea Life Expert" that Rosie proudly wore to our pizza dinner at BJ's. It's a WONDERFUL Life!!

In one of the exhibits, you could stick your head up to get a true view of the fish. Rosie was NOT excited about this... but Ron and I certainly took advantage :)

Sadie prefers the mammal type, thank you very much.

Fun on the Run

On Friday before swim lessons, we were playing with Rosie's friend Zachary, at the park. Suddenly out of nowhere a San Clemente Parks and Recreations van pulls up and starts unloading tons of fun stuff onto the lawn. Rosie stood there in complete awe as the 2 leaders pulled out bin after bin of sports equipment and art supplies and invited Rosie to play. I compare it to the same feeling I would get if suddenly a free mani/pedi truck pulled up outside our house and invited me in.

Pure Joy.

Rosie's friend Zachary took a moment to collect his thoughts at the art table....

but, as you can imagine, Little Miss Muffet dove right in.

I'm so proud of my little town for setting something like this into motion. Each day this truck drives to a different location in San Clemente. Each team has both a Spanish and English speaking leader and their sole purpose in the park is to play with the kids... it's awesome! In a culture where simple play is often neglected and adult interaction and supervision is scarce... San Clemente is making it happen. Yeah, San Clemente. I'm proud of you. We'll be stalking your "Fun on the Run" truck from here on out.

Tanaka Farms

The girls and I had a great time yesterday at Tanaka Farms. I so often long for the girls to see open space and take part in organic experiences. This was the perfect fit. We toured the farm and tasted fruits and vegetables straight from the fields. There was something about the charm of the farm that inspired Rosie to eat everything that she was given to sample. She ate: green beans, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, corn, 3 different kinds of watermelon, and 3 different kinds of cantaloupe type melon. It was amazing. Even Sadie sucked on green beans and watermelon. At the end of the tour we got to pick out our own melon. Rosie chose a Saticoy, which is like a cantaloupe.

We had such a great time, until mama lost her melon.... seriously!

As we were walking out the car, Rosie was hot and tired and decided to throw a royal tantrum because I wouldn't let her strip and walk to the car in her undies. I had put the melon in my purse (that tells you how large my bag is... this ain't no wussy clutch) and when we got home the melon was gone. My thought is that my purse fell over while I was getting the ladies in the car and the melon fell out and rolled away! I was So SAD!! I almost cried when I was telling Ron about it when he got home from work. I had to tell myself to get a grip.... or a melon in this case.

Despite the Disappearing Saticoy, we had an amazing day together.

This is a picture of my backyard and this year's tomato crops..... in my dreams! Doesn't this picture make you a little greedy?

Yes, folks, this is a rare picture of my 2 year old munching a raw carrot in one hand and a tomato in the other! Never to be seen again!

The Watermelon Walk just wore little Sadie right out!

Yup, that's the Saticoy that got away.

Fwim 'Cool

Rosie's learning to swim! The best part is that SHE LOVES IT!!

These are the Days

These are the best days

These are days when

the perfect companion is a bucket and shovel

we leave our cell phones at home

we only wear swimsuits and sunscreen

we lose all track of time

a sandy hotdog and a popsicle count as a healthy lunch

all worries vanish with a nap in the sun

These are the best days

Easy Rider

Rosie and I crashed the ECDC Wild Rivers party today. It all started with a trip on the bus. Rosie was so excited to ride the 'cool bus. It was definitely the highlight of the entire day.

Rosie also went down a few waterslides. They were secondary to the bus ride. We could have driven to Irvine and turned around and came home. The bus was THAT fun.

I love the joy of new experiences. What did you find joy in today?

Simplify Part 2

Do you ever have times where you've felt nudged to do something? It happens to me... the nudging usually involves praying for someone or something specific, having a difficult conversation, or spending time with someone. This time, I've been nudged to air my dirty laundry :) I'm constantly convicted to try to make our carbon footprint a little smaller.... like more the size of Sadie's footprint and less the size of mama's "bigfoot" print. I recycle, use cloth diapers 75 percent of the time, compost, vermicompost, grow some of my own veggies, use reusable bags, conserve energy, reduce and reuse.

Do you ever have times when you ignore the nudging? I do. Sometimes, if you ignore the nudging, you get swallowed up by a whale and, sometimes your dryer just breaks.

On Sunday morning, I threw a load of laundry in the dryer while making pancakes for Rosie. Suddenly, the dryer started to smell terrible...like "make your eyes water" terrible. Like "burning clutch burning breaks" terrible.

OK, OK, I get it...no more dryer. I live in the land of perpetual summer. Why has it taken me so long to do this in the first place?

So, that was me in my jammies on a Sunday morning hanging up a clothes line in the backyard.

Yup, that's us... with our panties in the breeze!

P.S My darling husband came home and fixed the dryer. My hero.

I am, however, committed to the clothesline. It's one of the reasons I'm posting this. Ask me about my clothesline in 3 months. Hold me accountable to my clothesline.