Summer: 29 Days (Marathon Field Trip Week)

I haven't been blogging much because I've been BUSY chipping away at my summer bucket list! Last week we didn't have a single, solitary appointment worth keeping (okay, we went to the orthodontist on Tuesday . . .) so we had a "field trip week" and went bananas. Every day was a lot of fun, but I am tired now, so today is our first ever jammies and movies day. No one is actually watching a movie right now but the three older kids are still in their jammies and loving every minute of it. They are so easy to please!

A run down of last week. Monday was our lemonade stand which I already posted. Tuesday we had the orthodontic appointment so I didn't want to stray too far. We lucked out and got invited by my sister in law to go with her and her kids to her grandparents' pool. One of the great things about living in southern California is that it's not too hard to know someone who knows someone who has a really great pool. Half of the beauty of this pool is it's location overlooking Pasadena and the Rose Bowl. (Great spot for fireworks on the 4th!) My kids just know it's fun.

Rachael is becoming a binky addict. I've got to do something about that.

See the slide behind them? So fun.

And there is the amazing view you can't fully appreciate from this picture.
(Did any of you do this weird thing with your hair when you were young girls? We always called it the Betsy Ross for some reason.)

On Tuesday night I had my annual sleepover with the 14-15 year old girls I teach at church. We had a lot of fun making gourmet pizzas in a real outdoor brick oven, kidnapping a new 14 year old, dressing her up in a Twister mat costume and sending her into the grocery store to buy toilet paper. (I don't know WHAT the toilet paper was for!!)




I got about four hours of sleep and then got up to take my kids to Riley's Farm in San Bernandino County about an hour and a half away.

When I was a little girl, I LOVED Little House on the Prairie. Maybe because I had so many fond memories of my own grandparent's farm, maybe because life back then seemed so simple, innocent and fun. Whatever the reason, I am a sucker for any type of living history farm where I can go and get a flavor for life as it used to be "back then". (I know, getting frozen chicken breasts from Trader Joe's is way simpler than killing a chicken, feathering it, skinning it, gutting it and cooking it over a fire on a hot summer day. Just let me live the dream, okay?) So we played Little House on the Prairie all day Wednesday at Riley's Farm.

http://www.rileysfarm.com/

It was a marathon, but worth every minute.
First we hopped on the hay ride to go pick raspberries:

William was NOT into the bees and thorns so he stayed with Rachael in the shade of a tree. This was helpful since Rachael wasn't into berry picking as much as berry eating.

Never mind the computer to the left of Elizabeth. So authentically 18th century.

Riley's Farm has a series of activities you can sign up for throughout the day so we packed in as many as possible. After berry picking and a little lunch, the kids got to make their own little apple pies from scratch.

Then we did paper making. . .

Colonial games . . .

archery . . .

and the much anticipated tomahawk throwing class. Doesn't this look safe?

We had a little time in between classes just to roam around too.

I gotta get one of these:

By the time we left our feet were filthy, everyone was hot and sticky and the baby had already fallen asleep in the car (during tomahawk throwing) and was now awake. It was getting close to rush hour and I was feeling the effects of my four hours of sleep so I was anxious to get the show on the road. I bought the kids a bunch of orange soda to cool off before the drive. Halfway through the drive and when we were in the middle of nowhere Elizabeth's orange soda came a calling. She had to go NOW. They say necessity if the mother of all invention and let me share with you the brainstorm I had in my moment of need: one of Rachael's diapers. I will spare you the details but it worked like a charm.

On Thursday, Brandon was home in the afternoon so we took off for the beach.

We ate some overpriced Mexican food at the end of Santa Monica pier after the sun went down. At night the lights turn on at the mini amusement park on the pier making it a really fun atmosphere.

On FRIDAY we went with my sister in law, Shauna, and her kids to the Natural History Museum. In the summer they have a pavilion full of live butterflies outside the museum where all the little ice cream vendors hang out.

We were just about to leave when this butterfly landed on Nicole. Gotta love the "hands on" room.

Kate has a serious collection of rocks, mineral, shells, and bugs at home so her favorite gallery by far at the museum is the rocks, gems and minerals gallery. This is just a little table full in the hands on room.

Can't resist these next two photo ops.

Notice Rachael only has one shoe on. Honestly, I could have sworn I put her in the car with both of her beloved yellow crocs on, but when we arrived at the museum she only had on ONE of Elizabeth's pink crocs. Go figure. Luckily, she stayed in the stroller most of the day.

That's it! It's now Tuesday and besides our jammies and movie day we have gone swimming twice, made raspberry shakes from our hand picked raspberries, gorged on corn on the cob, strawberries and plums from the Farmer's Market, made two kinds of homemade cookies as well as MUDDY BUDDIES. (If you haven't had muddy buddies you haven't lived.)

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/chex-muddy-buddies