August 29, 2014

AV Fair

This past weekend we took the kids to the ever popular Antelope Valley Fair. As always, we had a blast.

We finally convinced Peter to get back on the horse....er.. sheep in mutton busting. Poor kid only lasted a couple of seconds and got bucked right off but I think he had a good time.
Travis took the boys to the monster truck show which they loved and then we met up with Peter's best friend Noah and his family to ride some rides together. I love how good of friends these two are. They've been best friends since the beginning of kindergarten and still are like two peas in a pod.


Like always we had to stop by the kids play area to milk a cow and rope some cattle.


  And check out this petting zoo. Honestly this is probably my favorite part of the Fair since they have a wallaby, pigs, goats, sheep, llamas, baby deer, checked chickens and ducks. It's awesome. Though the kids are always a bit hesitant after getting their shirts nibbled on a few times.


Once it hit dark, we indulged on some overpriced junk food and went back to ride more rides. Nora was such a champ the entire night, just hanging out in her stroller and even falling asleep off and on.


Even the grown-ups had a good time.

Pete was terribly excited about winning a goldfish. Sadly, Star did not last the week nor did the 4 others Daddy surreptitiously bought to replace it. They had a nice little ceremony where our tender-hearted Peter got pretty teary eyed before flushing the fishie goodbye.

I just love going to the fair every year and taking my kids to see all the cool animals. We can't wait for next year!

August 20, 2014

Six Flags!

Peter got a free pass to six flags magic mountain thru his school for reading this past year and since it was about to expire we decided to have a Mom and Peter date complete with roller coasters while Travis was kind enough to take the day off to stay with Benji and Nora.
This was Peter's first time at six flags and I wasn't sure what he'd think but he had a blast. Luckily he was tall enough to ride at least one roller coaster and you can be sure we rode it at least 3 times. 

And because it was so hot OF COURSE we had to go on all the water rides a few times each.
Can you spot the little shorty in the orange shirt here standing on the bridge over splash water falls? I used to love doing this as a kid! I told Peter what would happen but I don't think he was quite prepared for the wall of water that came his way.
After the deluge: he totally loved it!
Some nice people even gave us these great batman and superman capes - here's Pete in his best superhero pose.
He was in heaven all day and I had so much fun with him. He's at an age where stuff like this is really fun. No naps, no tantrums and no whining - even with all the walking and heat. He didn't really like it when the lines were long but hey, who does?
We totally shut the place down. I was worried I'd have to drag him off the rides! It was such a fun day and I'm glad to have gotten to spend the day with my grown up man. 

August 7, 2014

1st Grader

Where did this big kid come from? Dropping him off for his first day of first grade this morning, I couldn't help but think how much he has grown up this past year. Where has the time gone? Although my mom heart did break a wee bit when I saw how small he still is compared to all the older kids he'll be with on the playground.

I just want to hold tight to his sweetness and happiness for a few more years. Don't get too big too fast little man.  Growing up sure is bittersweet.

August 4, 2014

Switzer Falls

A couple weeks ago I took the kiddos up to Switzer Falls again. It's one of our favorite places to visit up in the Angeles Forest -- mainly because it's the only place around here with shade and running water! With temperatures around 104 degrees that week, I knew we needed to get away from the heat.
I had hoped to let the kids play in the water and not hiking so much but the water was waaay down this year (due to the nice CA drought). So we enjoyed ourselves in the little bits of stream we could find.

Right when we got there, Peter found this little salamander. 
He played with it for a bit and then Benji decided to pick it up and he carried that poor thing around for at least 10 minutes. I don't know how alive he was once I finally convinced Benji to set him free.
 The boys entertained themselves building dams and looking for tadpoles and other animals.

This picture makes my heart happy. They can play so well together -- other times not so much, but this was a good day.
Nora spent her day napping away in the baby carrier.
 After a picnic lunch, we hiked in a little bit and found a part of the stream that someone had dammed up to make a couple of little pools that the kids wanted to play in. Peter decided it would be the perfect place to catch water bugs and they spent a long time doing just that.
 Peter with their 'catch.'