School Program

Milo's school had another amazing program this year. Now that my child is a first grader, I have become jaded and didn't cry through the entire show like last year.  I'm not so hard hearted that I didn't tear up a few times though. This hour of the year is one of my favorites. The kids are great, the song choices are perfect and the costumes and props are very creative. Milo did the show three times, but we were at this first performance.

Tipi

 A few weeks back, a friend of mine from book club invited us over for the afternoon to visit the tipi they have set up in their yard. Unusual? Sure. Cool. Very.

 Milo had a GREAT time exploring the tipi and examining all of their other native American and western artifacts. Thanks to my friends for sharing! 

Winter at the Adobe

 There is a historic adobe ranch near us that hosts excellent childrens' programs. The winter themed one was no exception.

 The day we were there two lambs were born. It was very exciting.

 Look who else was there!

 The day was cold, well, by LA standards. Thankfully they had hot chocolate to warm us up. Milo said, "I am in love with the person who made this hot chocolate!" 

Nonna's Visit

 For our Thanksgiving break Nonna came for the holiday and to celebrate her retirement!  We are so excited that she is free from full time work, and now she can visit whenever she likes for as long as she likes. We did something fun almost every day. Above is a picture of her and Milo at the zoo on a nice sunny day when we could eat lunch outdoors.

 We saw the movie Frozen. We all gave it 2 thumbs up, and Milo is still requests the songs from the movie when we're in the car. At the theatre, we found these Lego cut outs. Can you spot the newest Lego guy?

Northern CA

 For Thanksgiving break, we drove up north to Donna's cousin's home to Santa Clara. In route, we went through Big Sur, The Redwoods, stayed in Monterey and then into San Jose. I love it up here. There is so much space and the air is cool. Along the way off the PCH, we saw signs for a Seal Rookery. Look at these fat, happy seals beached in the natural habitat. Milo loved looking at them. He said, "This is fantastic."

 We also stopped in Limekiln National Park where they brag the oldest redwoods. I wanted to bottle the smell and take it with me. We all enjoyed the hike (it took us just over an hour) to a waterfall. Their were campers in at the primitive site, and even Lyman said he would enjoy camping there.

 Milo found these roots that he thought looked like a heart.

 There were some footpaths and bridges in the forest, but some were just logs thrown down that you had to precariously trip over. Donna was a huge sport plucking her way through!  I love that Lyman walked all the way carrying his coffee cup.

The end of the trail was this waterfall. It was worth the walk, and we all want to see more someday.

In the forest

Correction: There were no sequoias in this forest. I am still working on my California native tree identification.

Family for the Holiday

 In San Jose, we went to the Tech Museum for the traveling Star Wars exhibit .Nonna got her serious geek on knowing all the names  of- well, everything!  It made me think all those toys she bought for Lyman when he was a kid were for her to play with too!  Milo liked looking at everything, but he enjoyed the hands on stuff the most.

 After, we strolled around downtown San Jose to look at their Santa Village.

 Who is this toy soldier?

 Milo adored his cousin D; who at 15 was pretty amazing to Milo. He was so nice playing any game Milo suggested and answering all his questions in rapid order. When D put on his nicer shirt for dinner, Milo scurried of to find his to wear too! 

Opps, this one is out of order, but here is the gift Nonna got M at the exhibit.

Turkey

Thanksgiving dinner was amazing! I think Milo enjoyed it best of all eating the entire turkey leg to the bone.

The Tree Is Up

When we got back from Santa Clara, Lyman went right to work, and so did we- putting up our tree!  Nonna was a great help telling Milo all about the ornaments she has bought over the years. In no time, we were decked and watching our favorite Christmas videos. We had such a great time this visit. Now that Nonna is retired, we look forward to many more! 

Ghost Train

The night before Halloween, Lyman took us on a spooky trip.I came home from work and was told to get in costume. We surprised M at school in costume and headed to the Ghost Train. It was crowded with families and had a long line which was no bog deal with all the fun stuff to look at in the line. The train ride was really long and spooky, but M was not afraid. If you live in the LA area, you should totally go next year. We'll go with you! 

Halloween NIght

 Seriously, Milo could model costumes. I could be paying for his college tuition if we had any free time.

 Halloween night we had so much fun. We hit the streets with our friends D, M and M in their nice Burbank neighborhood. Most of the houses were giving out candy, there were other treaters but not a big crowds and the houses were really close together which was great for tired feet.

 Everyone was in the spirit. I regret that I don't have a pic of Dave as Elvis. M started the night as Marylin, but then got cozy as a duck. Sweet M was Shirley Temple, but if you didn't guess it, she would break out singing "Good Ship Lollypop" or "Animal Crackers in my Soup" to help you.

This was one of their neighbors. They said Disney was going to dump this Ranger, so their rescued him. Nice. All in, we were home by 8:30 with a bad of goods it will take until New Years to eat.

Bain and Batman Battle

Hit it like a Man!

A Pirate Party

 Our buddy turned 6 with a pirate party!  His mom and dad did a great job with the theme, and we all had a fun time.

 Milo and his buddy have been friends since they were babies, and we wouldn't miss a celebration. I love their matching toothless grins. J is a super baker; this cake was delicious!  Here is M double patched and ready to take a swing at the pinata.

The Happiest/ Spookiest Place on Earth

 My friend W asked me to come along with her to D-Land's Halloween event, and I am so glad I did. It's only in Oct. and only 3 nights a week from 4-12:00 am (at a slightly discounted price if you can even say discount and Disney in the same sentence!) We went on a Fri eve to have the weekend to recover, but she really didn't as she hosted a huge party the same weekend! (see following) The park was so pretty with wonderful fall decor dripping off everything. 

 Milo chose to be Batman, so I was Robin! We were quite a pair.

 You all know who our little friend was!

 Midway through the evening, there was a firework show which knocked my socks off. This picture doesn't even start to do it justice to how big, loud and awe inspiring it was.

 Both our troopers took a nap in the traffic on the way there, and this was them at 12:15 am just before we left the park- still smiling!  W and I are perfect travel companions. We both love to have fun and see neat things, but we want to get our money's worth. At 11:45 pm, we were literally running to get on one last ride; new favorites include Peter Pan, Nemo and Tikki Room.

This is M as we made our way to the car. Happily we only had a 5 min drive to W's timeshare where we stayed all night before gearing up for the next big party of the weekend.