Halloween Happenings

This year, we were able to draw out Halloween a little longer with opportunities for P to wear her costume multiple times. Thank goodness so all my efforts to make the tutu, the headband, and hunt for all the right purple gear from the leotard, the tights, right down to the shoes, got a lot of mileage!

The first two events were the Halloween parade at her preschool. They did this two days in a row (for parents whose kids come only on certain days, they have to make sure they include everyone). Total pain for parents and complete distraction, but whatever, they're still little and it's not like they justify what standard they're addressing!! The fun part was definitely watching all the kids strut their stuff in their cute little costumes. Then each glass gave a little performance in front of the parents.

We went to Avila Valley Barn without costumes this year. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision and just because her buddy Bode wanted to show her the cool hay bale maze. That was actually my first time in a hay maze. Let's just say that I'm glad Bode knew where he was going because I wouldn't have liked trying to find my way out of there!

A Little Girl's Dream

The time has finally come to make my girl's dreams come true. Over a year ago, we happened upon a documentary First Position which chronicled a number of children's journey to make it to a professional ballet company. The funny thing is that she was only two at the time, but was so engrossed in the movie and asked to see it again a few times. I'm not sure if that was the start of her interest in ballet, or if it comes innately with little girls at this age.

Tosh & Umo

Miss P rode her first horse today! She actually was able to ride two of them. RT's colleague from work has a couple of Arabians and has told us that we can come out any time to "ride". 

Tosh is the brown horse and Umo is the white one, both are males. When P sat up on Tosh, he was a little skittish at first, which made P nervous, so she decided to try out Umo who's a little more mellow (not that these guys weren't mellow). Miss Deb led Umo and P around the pen. I'm not sure if it's because she is so little, it's her first time, or if she was a little nervous but she was really slouched over. She didn't have a saddle so that may have made it more difficult. As the time went by, you could see P's posture was much straighter and her confidence was better, too. At the end of our time there, she was determined to ride Tosh after all, and this time, he was ready for her.

Horses Galore

Well it's no secret that our child has a love for horses that we're not sure where the fascination stems from. We've been told to not foster it by certified "horse folk" and on the other hand, girls that are raised around horses have some top-notch personality traits that transfer to success in the "real world"--again words from same certified "horse folk"!

Adios Daycare!

We have come to the end of the daycare phase of P's life. When we started at the infant daycare, she was only four months old (I can't believe that!) and Anne was her daycare provider. When she turned one, she graduated to the older daycare, and luckily the woman who was referred to us was Anne's own daughter, Donna. We were lucky to be able to get into Donna's daycare but with Anne advocating for us, how could Donna argue with her mother?

Camping at Sequoia National Park

Play ball! It was all fun and games until P's buddy hit a line drive right to her eye!

Food is always a highlight for camping! Tri-tip tacos, homemade rice, and beans the first night.

Having fun on the shuttle bus ride.

What trees? The balance beam was a hit!

RT looking up through the trees...

Quick! Take the picture! P was not having her picture taken for nothing!

Taking a break in the cool granite cliffs. The mosquitoes were fierce!

The Cragheads on a crag!

 Poor Daddy had to CARRY her the whole way back.

Look at the size of these!

Yikes! A bear on the loose!

Throwing some blueberry pancakes on the griddle.

She's a cool rider!

The mommies take a much-needed break.

Our little home away from home.

The last possible moment of our trip with both kids unhappy and crying like banshees!

We've been pretty good so far this year staying on top of our camping trips and making reservations early enough in the year. This trip took us back into the valley to drop off Jannu at my folks' house, hang out with my parents for an evening and then mosy on up to Sequoia National Park at the Lodgepole campground. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was up there. I know that from photo documentation it was circa 1998--so 15 years ago?

Anyway, I couldn't wait to take P to see the big trees. I kept building it up saying how humongous the trees were that she couldn't even wrap her arms around them. She was excited to go. But, as you all know, camping takes A LOT of effort. We left on a Thursday evening, which makes it tough to get ready throughout the week. Packing, loading, chopping, shopping--it sucks! Once you're there, though, it's so worth it and so relaxing.

Horses, Neigh!

Our daughter seems to have an affinity to horses. I'm not sure when, why, or how this came about, but it's been steadily growing in the past year--her interest. For a birthday, she had asked for a pink horse and she's been given quite a few horse-related gifts from friends and family.

Front Yard Makeover

In the past few months, if you have driven by our house, you may have wondered why we haven't kept up the front yard. Well, this past fall, I had a brilliant idea to redo the front yard. For me, the idea is brilliant, for my husband this just means more work! My motivation behind the makeover is to have our yard fenced in so P can have a place to play out in the front. Also, when we come home from work/school, our street can get busy, so I'd feel better if P can just get in the fenced area while I unload our stuff or groceries from the car. PLUS, since being on Pinterest, I have tons of ideas as to what I want to do.

Jannu and the Dirty Dozen

 

Side note: Jannu ran away from home. Or, I should rephrase that: Jannu ran away to try to find us! We left her by herself for just an evening (Friday evening) since our friends who usually watch her were coming back into town the following afternoon. I happened to look at my phone on Sunday morning and read that somehow our neighbor has Jannu. After a phone call to figure everything out, Jannu had escaped to Del Mar Liquor Store, which is close to Highway 1. They picked her up and called my cell phone but didn't get an answer (cell phone service is sketchy up at Big Sur), so someone took her to our house but since we weren't home, they knocked on other neighbors' houses to ask if she belonged to us. It all worked out in the end, but we are lucky that someone picked her up and called us.

Soccer Kicks Off!

Well, we didn't get much enthusiasm for this activity as you can see P's hands behind her back, hands on her hips, no smile...maybe it'll improve after Day 1. We had to bypass the playground to get to the other side of the park, and she wanted to play on the play structure rather than play soccer. At least her daddy was there to give her a little nudge and be by her side for support.

Pfeiffer, Big Sur Camping Trip

We took our first camping trip of 2013. This was P and my first trip to Pfeiffer. It was a beautiful 4-day/3-night adventure with our friends, although a bit windy at times and a little chilly.

We didn't even make it out of the campground! We didn't care. At this stage with P, as long as we're outside enjoying the outdoors, that's all we care about. It's tough because we started out pretty late by the time we  ate breakfast and cleaned up, then we did our little trek, and by then it was late afternoon and our kids were ready for prime meltdown, and eventually their naps.

Fantastic Gymnastics, Or Not

P has been really excited to start her gymnastics class. We prepared all week, buying the leotards, trying them on, talking about it, while she danced around (although she was doing "ballet" moves, not tumbling around!). She knew her friend Kili was going to be there, so that seemed to get her even more excited.

We arrived at the gym, and she still seemed excited but her friend Kili was no where to be found. Class started and all the kids assembled around Miss Chloe and the other teacher. There were about 5 or 6 other kids. They were in a circle just stretching and were trying to invite P over. She wanted NOTHING to do with it. She wouldn't even go on the mat.

I tried bribing her, "I'll buy you anything you want if you go." Mother of the year moment, I know. No dice.

Look Who's THR33

I can't believe our little girl just turned three! We had a little Alice In Wonderland themed party, and it worked out great. The weather was beautiful, but since last year's weather was a disaster, we planned for an indoor party with just a few of P's friends who were close in age.

Happy Birthday Grampy!