In Search of a Space Shuttle!

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is moving right this second from the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) to its permanent home at the California Science Center.

When Mr. M got home from work, we threw everyone in the van and went off in search of the rolling space shuttle. It's hard to miss! ;-) We figured out the route online, and followed it until we hit major traffic. Then we parked the car and walked the rest of the way:



After a brisk evening stroll, we arrived! We ended up at Randy's Donuts (an LA Landmark) just in time to see the shuttle. Here's the five of us - I wish we had a better family photo of the event, but we did the best we could at the time. It was a little hectic, to say the least!



The crowd was pretty insane! We fought our way to the front, but here's what it looked like when we first arrived:




I guess everyone wanted to come for a peek!




The girls took turns getting a boost from their daddy:




Ginger loved riding on her daddy's shoulders:





I am so glad we went. Times like these make me grateful to live in Los Angeles - I love that we got to experience this right in our own backyard, went out to dinner afterwards, and still had the girls home in time for bed.




Paprika said she will remember this forever. Me, too, kiddo!  Me, too.





Pin It

Singing The States!

We sing A LOT in our house.   All the time, in fact.  We sing about anything, everything, and all things under the sun.  I wanted the girls to know the 50 States in alphabetical order, so I taught them the Fifty Nifty United States song.  I learned it in 6th grade, and once you know it, you never forget it!  ;-)  We started last week, and it only took a day or two to learn it.  We had fun with it, as you can tell!

Here are their renditions of them singing the States part:

Paprika (6 years, 1 month):



Ginger (3 years, 3 months old):



The End!

Pin It

Ducks and Dollhouses!

First, do you remember the post I did back in May about the ducklings? Well, I never exactly found out what happened to them and I fretted the worst case scenario.

Remember how they hopped the fence into my backyard neighbor's yard and were never to be seen again? Well, a few days ago, I was in my backyard and my backyard neighbors were out there building a toolshed.

We got to talking, and they told me so many fascinating things about my house and our neighborhood, in general. They have lived in their house for 20 years and have heard things. ;-)

The first thing they told me is that the piece of property I live on used to be a pond! Before our city had houses, it was a lake with ducks. When the neighborhood was built, they filled the lake in, and made a lake at a nearby park (the park where we go to feed the ducks!)- and well, I guess the ducks have never forgotten this little home...so that is why they come here with their babies!

I hesitantly asked about the ducklings from May, and the wife said the MOST unbelievable thing! She told me that her teenage son WALKED those ducks all through town to the pond. They walked across traffic and across a MAJOR street (like six lanes, people!)

 It seriously was a Make Way for Ducklings kind of a thing. Their son even held up traffic to get the ducklings to safety. I guess this is not the first time this family has ushered little ducklings to safety. She said that every duckling made it safely to the big pond.

I don't know about you, but I'll sure be sleeping better at night now. ;-)




In other news, remember how I wanted to move into that dollhouse of a rental (the house across from the park that was $300 less/month) but Mr. M said NO? Well, I about cried for a week about it when I realized it wasn't going to happen. The rental had a guest house and a jacuzzi on the back deck (and a wet bar) AND cost $300 less/month - did I mention that part?! Haha.

So, last week I was over at the park and I saw the new family moving in. I was having a serious case of green monsters because I love that house.

Then, over the weekend, I was at the park and the dad came out of the house with his two little kids and we got to chatting. They are the NICEST family, and I found out that even had we applied for the house, we wouldn't have gotten it anyway.

Turns out that the family's old landlord needed to move back into his house, so the family had to find a new place...and their old landlord was childhood friends with the guy who owns my little dream dollhouse.  They went to elementary school all the way up through highschool together and were t-ball buddies or something like that.

 So, basically, they were IN and there was no way we would have gotten it anyway. Well, that bit of information gave me peace and made me happy we didn't go through the drama of trying to get the house (and goodness knows, I would have been packing boxes the night we sent in the application).

Anyway, I do love our street we're on now and our lovely neighbors. And just knowing that we could possibly have more ducklings coming to nest in the future is reason enough to stay. :-)




Pin It

The Big Swim Race!

Paprika had her first swim meet on Sunday. She did GREAT! I was having a lot of anxiety about taking all three girls by myself, since Mr. M had to work. But at the last minute, he decided he could go into work a little late  - so I didn't end up going alone! Yay!!!




He took Paprika at 9am to get her checked in and warmed up, and I followed a little later with the other two girls (plus snacks, towels, goggles, etc.) I felt like a pack mule, as usual! ;-)

Paprika's event was #36, so we had to wait for 35 races before her. Wow, that's a lot of waiting! The girls entertained themselves by running around, and then we played "I Spy With My Little Eye" for longer than you can imagine.

 

We amused ourselves by taking pictures of one another.  And also taking pictures of other people taking pictures. ;-)




And then showing the girls the pictures we took on the camera:





Ginger wanted to go play down at the park, so I took her for a little bit while we were waiting. She finally decided to wear last year's Halloween costume top! It's a little small now! ;-) Now that she's wearing clothes, she loves picking out her own outfits. I love what she comes up with!




It was so exciting seeing Paprika race. She LOVED it. I was worried that she wasn't going to enjoy it, or feel pressured, or lose her love for swimming. But, quite the opposite, she got out of the water and wanted to race again and again. She said next time she wants to swim in every event.

I was worried she was going to be concerned with "winning" - but quite the contrary, she didn't notice if she came in first or second or last. All the kids finished within a second or two of each other, so it was very even. There ended up being four people in her event, and they all did great. I was so proud of ALL of them - to be six years old and able to swim across the whole pool freestyle...I think that's a pretty great accomplishment.

Anyway, after the meet was done, Mr. M went to work, and the rest of us spent the afternoon at the park. I had been telling Ginger for the three hours prior that once the meet was done, we would go to the park...so needless to say, I had to make good on my word! ;-)

She was a happy girl!



Paprika is already looking forward to her next "racing swim meet" - my gosh, could she be growing up any faster? I am so proud of her, and really glad we all got to go to her swim meet and see her race for the first time.  It was one of those extra concentrated  peak moments in time  - one we will think about years from now.  I want to file it away in my brain forever, it was just that perfect.  :-)

 

The End!


Pin It

Happy Weekend!

 Mr. M is working this weekend, so it's just me with the girls. We are getting it off to a great start. After school today we played in the backyard until sundown. I love seeing these three play together, even though the mess is triple when they do! ;-)

Instagram pic poolside:


Yesterday Ginger had a breakthrough at swimming. She went underwater a bunch of times - her first time doing that. Huge, right?! Haha! But anyway - I was really proud of her. Mr. M got to go to her lesson and see her swim, since he was off work yesterday. Yay!


Paprika has her first swim meet this weekend. Somehow I am supposed to take all three kids to the swim meet by myself...and wait there for like three hours until Paprika's event! I am bracing myself for that experience. ;-)

There are only three kids signed up so far for Paprika's event (including Paprika), so no matter what, she'll at least come in third place! I told her third place was like winning a bronze medal. She was happy with that!  I know that at some point kids have to know about winners and losers, but I really don't want to get her discouraged before she even gets started.  She loves to swim, and well...let's just say that she lacks a competitive spirit.  I love that about her, and just want her to enjoy it  and not feel bad about coming in first or last place.  I just hope she doesn't decide to sit on the bottom of the pool during the middle of the race!  Ha!



Pin It