Too quiet...

Mom: "What are you guys doing over there?"
Moo: "Nothing..."
Mom: "Moo, you guys are being really quiet.  I'm glad that you're getting along, but what are you doing?"
Moo: "Ummm...just reading some books.  Nothing's wrong, I promise."

It always worries me when Moo tells me nothing is wrong.  I stopped doing dishes and looked behind the couch to find this scene.  Don't they look like they're hiding something?  I still don't know what it was, but I'm pretty sure they weren't just reading books.

Toots and the Happiest Place on Earth

Sun protection is a must!

 Well, we took Toots to Disneyland for the first time on Thursday.  Moo had been bugging us to go for a while and frankly, Daddy was bugging me about it too.  We took Moo her first time when she was about 6 months old, so Toots being 8 months was apparently WAY behind schedule.  I didn't get that memo.
  Anyway, we planned to go bright and early to get there at opening.  Of course that did not happen.  Toots kept us up late and I had bottle troubles meaning that I had to run the dishwasher in the morning before we could leave for the park.  So we didn't end up in that most magical place until

She's got a good seat for the Main Street parade.

 about noon.  Moo didn't want to miss a single minute so we just jumped right in and went to her favorite ride, the Toy Story 3-D thing where you get to shoot an air cannon type thing at a bunch of carnival games while on the ride.  It really is a lot of fun and we used to play against each other since there are two cannons in each car.  But since we had Toots, I held Moo on my lap and Daddy held Toots on his.  Moo worked our gun and Daddy and I kind of lamely worked the one on his side.  It was lots of fun and Toots did great.  Moo got freaked out and screamed every time we went into a dark ride, but Toots was fine with it.  She laughed when we laughed and seemed to really be watching and interested in what was going on.  She didn't even fuss in the LONG lines.  She's such a trooper!
  We had a park hopper pass, so we got to go to California Adventure and Disneyland (the two parks are right next to each other for those of you who have never been).  We started in California Adventure, hit the Toy Story ride and then the new Ariel ride.  Think It's a Small World only Ariel themed.  Moo liked it, Toots was in awe which was hilarious and the animatronics were really good.  The Hubby and I both

Toots is already out!

 commented on how well they did.  Ariel really did look life like.  Then we headed over to Disneyland and Moo went on the Carousel with Daddy, while Toots took a nap and I just kind of hung out.  Moo loves to ride the carousel horses.  We thought about going to meet Rapunzel, Moo would have died of excitement, but the wait was 75 minutes for a 1 minute meet and photo op.  We will have to go back and do that next time.  She absolutely LOVES Tangled and I'm glad we didn't tell her about the possibility of meeting Rapunzel...she would have been so sad to miss her.  But after 5 years of raising this kid, I know now to keep my mouth shut!

Getting ready to fly!

   After the carousel we went on the Dumbo ride.  That was the first one Moo went on when we went to Disneyland on her first trip, so we had to hit that one up with Toots.  Daddy took Toots in one Dumbo and we were the chaser elephant.  Moo got to drive the Dumbo, which was an interesting experience.  I'm glad we didn't eat first, let's just say that.  Toots seemed to really like that ride.  I think she likes the wind in her face.  After that we went to grab dinner at the mexican place in Frontierland and made it back to Main Street just in time for the parade.  Moo sat on Daddy's shoulders for a better view and waved to all her favorite characters - some of them even saw her and waved back!  Then we stuck around for the fireworks show they have right before the park closes.  It was MAGICAL!  I have seen quite a few fireworks shows in my time and this was the best. They even had a girl dressed as Tinkerbell flying around the castle while the fireworks were going off around her!  It was everyone's favorite part of the day.  What a great way to start summer!

Me and my girls.

Jenna's First Year at Cold Antler Farm

As many of you know, I am a farm dreamer.  I have what my soul sister, Jenna Woginrich, calls a bad case of Barnheart.  I am debating getting one of her tee shirts with this imprinted on the front, sharing my affliction with the world.  Though I have never met Jenna in person, I have read her blog daily for years now and feel like I know her.  I know that sounds kind of creepy, but hear me out.  She writes daily about her adventures in farming.  She is a single woman, about my age and she bought a farm.  She has sheep, fiber and meat rabbits, a pony, a sheepdog, sleddogs, chickens for meat and eggs, geese, a pig, the occasional turkey and a vegetable garden I drool over.  She hunts, she fishes, she hauls hay in the bed of her "new" truck.  She is doing everything I hope to do someday...minus the sleddogs.  I think they're cool, but not of much use to me here in hot Southern Cailfornia.  She recently posted this video compilation of her first year on her very own farm and I was so moved.  It is a beautiful visual testament to living out what is in your heart.  As she can attest too, it is not easy to live out your dream.  It is hard and messy and sometimes lonely, but if she has shown me anything it is that IT IS WORTH IT!  So check out this video.  Then go check out her blog at Cold Antler Farm and maybe you'll develop a case of barnheart too.

Reading Teepee

Earlier today I was searching the blogosphere when I happened across this little gem.  I found a picture and a link to a site called tatertots & jello about a cool summer reading teepee.  Super cute idea!  I clicked on the link and it was just awesome!!!  I think I will add this to the ever growing list of things I want to make to put in the girls' playroom since it seems to also appeal to the older kids as well.  Just click on the link to go on over and check it out.  On a side note, I'm going to be checking on this blog now too.  Anything involving bunting, red & aqua and cute DIY is alright by me!

Modern Parents, Messy Kids

I am loving this blog I just stumbled across!  Great links, great ideas, just all around greatness!  If you have kids you need to make checking  this blog at least a weekly thing.  

Then there was an ARMY...

This is what I found in my raised bed today.  An Army of tiny grasshoppers.  Literally, an army.  This was the largest cluster of them that I could photograph all in one frame with you still able to see that they are grasshoppers.  At first I didn't notice them as I was going about my watering of the garden.  Minding my own business, I watered the nearby apple tree with no issue.  Then I turned the hose to the garden box and it literally came alive!  Little tiny green things exploded out of the box, hopping every which way and freaking me the heck out!  I dropped the hose, which totally drenched my leg (thank you) and did that scratchy thing you instinctively do when you see a million insects of any kind.
  After regaining my composure, I knelt down to try to figure out what I was up against.  And wouldn't you know I came face to face with 3 grasshoppers sitting on the green top of one of my red onions.  Grrr!  I knew we had large grasshoppers, I had seen them around and killed as many as I could...my favorite is when they are munching on my flowering plum tree which is still quite flexible and I grab as high on the tree as I can, pull back and fling them out into the street where they smash on the pavement and get eaten by the crows.  Very Looney Tunes, the whole tree catapult thing.  Anyway, I must have missed one and it must have thought that my vegetable garden looked like the perfect place to lay a million grasshopper eggs (by the way, I don't know how grasshoppers reproduce, so don't e-mail me telling me how wrong I am about Grasshopper life cycles).  So now my garden is overrun with a million baby grasshoppers and I have no idea how to get rid of them.  I can't just go around smashing things - I'll kill my garden!  And I DON'T want them to eat it all.  So what do I do?  I'd like to keep my garden as organic as possible, so what can be done about the Grasshopper Hoard that has taken up residence?  By the way, those things are about the size of my 5 year old's thumb nail...the biggest one I saw was about the size of my pinkie nail.  Still very small considering the one I have been finding (and killing) in the garden are usually about the length of my middle finger and the thickness of a large man's thumb.  Giants.  I don't want to let these babies grow up to that!  Help!!!!

Come On Up To The House

   Found this on one of the blogs I read daily, ColdAntler Farm, check out the blog coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com, you'll love it.  Thanks for sharing Jenna!
   After watching this with me just one time, Moo has been singing it all day.  She gets most of the words wrong, but it is a totally catchy tune.  I found myself singing it while doing dishes and watering the garden.  In fact, I'm on my way to iTunes right now to see if she has a CD out.  Now this is my kind of music.

Peppermint Patty Brownies

If anyone knows where this came from I would like to credit the original source, so please let me know.  I have a few blogs that I read regularly, some that I read maybe once a week, some that I check once every few weeks and some that I just stumble across in a link from one blog to another to another.  I think this idea came from one of those blog links to a link to a link and I just can't seem to retrace my steps to find it.  Anywho, the post was about a delicious recipe for peppermint patty brownies and it was complete with a recipe for decadent brownies filled with the yummy Yorks.
  Well, I didn't bookmark the link and I can't seem to find it again so when I felt like something sinful for dessert I tried to recreate them to the best of my ability.  Since I was in the mood for instant gratification and not a lot of time consuming measuring, I went with the classic boxed brownie mix, whipped it up and placed 12 patties on top of the filled brownie pan.  Then I gently pushed them down into the mix, just low enough to be covered up.  Then I baked them to the package directions and voila!  Let me say that they were DELICIOUS right out of the oven and tasty when cooled, but the candy interior firmed up (the Yorks didn't go back to being Yorks, they became quite firm and more like one of those pillow candies).  They were tasty either way, but I liked them right out of the oven, so the patties were gooey.  Yum!  I bet they'd be even better in that bloggers actual recipe, if only I could find it again!  And I'm sure this would be equally good with any candy you have hanging about.  A nifty little way to spice up the plain old brownie - I plan on making these again after Halloween this year to use up some of that candy in a dessert I can serve to adult guests...a hot snickers brownie and a scoop of ice cream?  Genius!

Who's that girl?

          Who is that beautiful girl hiding behind those fabulous shades?

Seaworld!

Let me start by saying that if you live in the Southern California area, Seaworld is a great deal this year. If you pay for admission one time, during 2011, you get entrance to the park for the rest of 2011 free. How great is that? Last year we bought San Diego Zoo memberships and hit that up once a month over the summer, but this is the year of Seaworld!

So this was our second trip of the year (on those same tickets, yes!) and Moo had a blast. She already knew what kind of shows and things they offered and she was ready to see them all. She was excited to see some of the animals we saw the first trip, but also some of the things we missed. Toots just liked riding in the shade.

One of Moo's favorites is the Dolphin touch tank. You can lean over this little slanted wall and actually pet the Dolphins, if they come close enough. Both times we stayed at the touch pool for probably a half an hour and both times the Dolphins were SO close, but just out of her little reach. Some adults next to her made contact, but Daddy and Moo had no luck. I managed to talk to a trainer who was standing by to answer questions and she let me know the best time and place along the wall, so next time we go we'll have the best chance of contact. Moo wants SO badly to touch one. I hope we can next time.
We also spent a lot of time at the touch pool, feeling all the different starfish and looking at the neat little underwater world they've got there. Not as diverse as the Monterey Bay Aquarium in terms of things to feel, this was really limited to starfish and urchins - though the urchins had clumped en mass at the center of the pool where they were out of reach to everyone. But Moo loved it just the same.
After our first visit, when we got to see the Shamu show, Moo decided she wanted to be an Orca trainer when she grew up. Now she wants to be a Dolphin trainer or a Penguin trainer. I told her I don't think Penguins have trainers, but they do have people who take care of them at the park, keepers maybe? Either way, she is much more interested in the aquatic life at Seaworld than she was with anything at the Zoo. So it looks like we may have a little Marine Biologist/Dolphin & Orca Trainer/Penguin Keeper on our hands. Needless to say, we will be visiting Seaworld many, many times this summer. We're already planning to go back next week. Moo is very excited.

What to do with a Harvest?

Well, last night I made my first real harvest. Yipee! I came away with 6 red onions, two big cherry tomatoes and a bell pepper that I had to pick because it was rotting on the bush. It never had a chance to turn red. So far the bell pepper bushes aren't doing too well. Both fruits have been rather small and both started to rot on the bush before reaching any kind of maturity. Bummer.

But I was able to use the other veggies in my haul to make a yummy chicken enchilada casserole, which we all love. Tonight it was made all the better with the veggies we grew ourselves. Actually, nobody said it was better, but I thought I could taste the difference. Maybe just a little.