MOMS Club Fire station #54 Tour

I arranged for a cool MOMS Club field trip to coincide with school being out for President's Day. We visited one of our local fire stations.. Mommy has been looking forward to this for some time! Unfortunately the crew had an emergency call so we started a bit late, but it was worth it! All the kids had a great time and even our little "slow to warm-up" kids had a blast when all was said and done. Thank you so much to firefighters Robert Lopez and Jeff S. of Camarillo Station #54.





Maddie surprisingly jumped right in!






The kids learned about smoke alarm safety and hopefully will be less afraid of fireman should they ever encounter one in an emergency situation.

Who doesn't love a fireman?! I wonder if they rent their uniforms out? :)

Disneyland - Take Two

Southern CA residents have a special offer this year to visit Disneyland or CA Adventure two times between now and May 15th for $99... Miss Maddie still gets in free so we decided to take advantage and try to go down for the day on Friday, February 4th and drive back. We had lots of fun but the drive home was MUCH longer than going.. isn't that always the case?

We got there right after they opened which was good. I heard that February is one of the slowest months for the park and was that right! The ride lines were super short.. 5 minutes for Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.. too bad the munchkin didn't want anything to do with the pirates this time and we figured the Haunted Mansion would mean no sleep for us for at least a week so we skipped it and opted for Ice Cream line instead! I tried the pineapple ice cream from Dole but Matt wasn't having any Tiki room nonsense this time... fine by me. Yummy!

Last time we made the mistake of looking for lunch too late, this time we wised up and ate early.. we were all much happier!

Although the ride lines were short, the lines to meet characters were not! Oh boy! We waited 45 minutes plus to see Rapunzel and Flynn.. well worth the 90 seconds we spent with them.. lol Maddie didn't want to get close but she sure did talk about the flowers in her hair and things I never even noticed.

Waiting for Rapunzel by her tower


Maddie and Daddy sat down while we were in line.. it sure wasn't moving fast at all!


Maddie started flashing gang signs to get things moving.. that seemed to work!


Finally...Rapunzel



We also waited for Tinkerbell and her fairy friends. Of course we did!!!



I must say, Terrance is a bigger fairy than I imagined.. yes, that is an acorn on his head! He was impressed with Maddie's homemade autograph book.. all the characters were. (Yay mommy!)




Waiting for the Nemo ride


Waiting for a ride.. gotch ur ears on?!


Maddie made sure we were going the right way!


Ice cream anyone?



We hung around for a little bit after it got dark and then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. Every time we've been down there we've wanted to eat at the Rainforest Cafe but the wait was always 1.5 hours or longer.. no thanks! This time I came prepared with the phone number to make reservations. I called around 4:00 thinking it would be no problem.. WRONG, their reservations were full until 9:30 or something like that.. poo!

I guess they really weren't needed after all. We walked down to the restaurant (which is on the very end of Downtown Disney) and waited only 15 minutes for a seat! Yay! Maddie wasn't too thrilled with the moving animals and rainstorms but she did much better than I thought and we got to eat our meal in relative peace.

Oh, did I mention a scary anaconda came down from the tree? Sometimes parents can be so mean!
Oh, this place is fun....


What the &^%* is that?!


Ahhhh!!


Long day of walking and laughing... can't wait to go back again!



Oh, note to others.. if you go in February bring a warm jacket for your child.. that was a $39.95 lesson.. we bought it a few sizes too large that this is now Maddie's official Disneyland dress/jacket. :)

It's been awhile since we had an update.

What have we been up to lately? LOTS! For starters my 2005 Mac was dying a slow death and then one day... nada. We took it to the Apple store for testing and I guess it felt it was back home and wanted to stay. So.. it just wouldn't start. We made the painful decision to not resuscitate. I think it's what it would have wanted. Anyhow, we now have a new Mac! Things sure have changed in the last 4 years.. it's been fun going through all the new interfaces but I'm still working on figuring everything out. Matt couldn't believe I was checking emails within two minutes of plugging it in.. gotta love Macs! That's my excuse for not blogging but so much has happened so let me get to it!

Two weeks ago, Maddie and I drove to Malibu to visit my old CurtCo coworkers. It was a gorgeous day and little Miss Maddie was in a good mood so off we went! Crazy how we live so close to the beach and almost never go. I think we'll be visiting more this summer now that she no longer tries to EAT the sand.

Lunch on the beach!


The Paparazzi caught this beauty drinking on the beach






We had a great time playing in the sand and eating our lunch.. Miss California finally took off her socks so we could walk down to the waters edge. What happened next may have scared her for life... she stepped on a Bee! Poor baby. It was her first bee sting and it was a doozy.. there's still a red mark on her foot and it was swollen/red for 2-3 days. Bright side: she isn't allergic!


Valentine's Day Celebrations
I'm trying to make each holiday fun in our household by decorating and doing cute things for the family. I imagine we'll be decorating more next year as I purchase things on clearance after each holiday but I'm doing my best with what I have.

I decorated the kitchen this year and made a cute little banner.







Miss Maddie received TWO boxes filled to the rim with gifts. Grandma Doris and Grandpa Frank sent their love from WI and Papa and Grandma Lena sent love from Denver. I can't seem to find my photos from the WI box but Maddie was soooo excited when we received it at the door.. she now thinks ALL packages are filled with gifts for her. She was slightly disappointed to learn today that the box of diapers from the Fed-Ex guy were really just diapers!




At Maddie's class they had a valentine card exchange.. can you imagine, they're only two! Anyhow, it gave me a chance to create and this is what I came up with.. Valentine S'mores! Everyone loved them... strawberry marshmallows (pink-heart shaped), Dove Chocolates, and a graham cracker. I've been a bit obsessed with Owls lately so it was fun to make this bag topper.




I also made her teacher a small gift with a tag I found online.. thought it was cute and our classroom uses a lot of soap each year so I thought it was practical. (sorry it's sideways)


Alright, I'm off to get more photos to share... check out my facebook page from our MOMS Club Fire station Tour today! That was a lot of fun. (for mommy too!)

Horizon Hills Snow Day

While my family in WI is pelted with a ginormous snow storm, we enjoyed some snow, California style! Horizon Hills offers Snow Days each year.. this was our first year participating. Maddie had a blast running down the snow filled hill and riding on the sled. What a special treat for our Sunshine Girls!

Our CA snow bunny.. for the life of me I couldn't find her mittens.. oh well, turns out they weren't needed.


Give the girl a hill and she will RUN!


Maddie and Mama... weeeeeeee

Maddie and Bella.. both just checking it all out before being convinced that it's a fun ride.


Much different than a sand box!


Another great day of learning while we play!