Lombari Ranch Fun

Today we were off to Lombardi Ranch to take some pictures with some pumpkins for Halloween. This ranch has been around for as long as I can remember. Mom used to take me when I was a kid. They are open year around and sell all sorts of veggies. Halloween is one of their biggest times with all the pumpkins.

I dressed the girls in their costumes and we were off. Teresa is a monkey. She is my chunky monkey. Mary is a Tinkerbell princess. She loves wearing her costume.
There are a bunch of animals at this place. Teresa loved the animals. This turkey puffed up for us and spread it's feathers. It was pretty cool. Mary loved the lamb, of course. I couldn't get both of them to look at me at the same time. It was a fun day at the ranch.

On Last Beach Day Of 2009

Sunday we woke up to wonderful October weather. I woke up refreshed and ready to start the day. I cleaned the upstairs and went to the gym. On the way home I decided it would be a great day to enjoy the beach one last time this year. I got home and suggested the idea. Kevin was good for it and Mary was, of course. We waited for Teresa to wake up from her nap and we were outa there and on our way. About an hour later we were there. The weather was beautiful. Mid 70's and sunny.

First we ate lunch at the Spot for some burgers and an ice cream.

Next we were off to the brewery for a beer. That was the key to get Kevin to go. = )

Now it was off to the sand. Mary was excited. We found our spot and made camp. Mary wanted to get in the water first. Kevin took her out there to put her toes in. It was cold at first but then she was happy to let the waves get her legs and fall down on her butt. Mary was a happy camper.

Teresa wasn't too sure about the sand at first. She has not been in the sand for a couple months. She kept feeling it and making a funny face. Then tasted it, of course. Then she got used to it and was off crawling around. She was pretty darn cute.

IT was a fun afternoon of sand family fun. What a way to spend an October day in sunny California. Sorry, to my family who lives in Indiana. = )

Dressing Room Fun

Ok, so not every family can say they did this.
We went shopping at the Good Will for a dress today. A dress, for Kevin. He is going to be a drag queen for Halloween. So there we were in Good Will shopping for a dress to fit a 6 food 3, 250 pound man. It was quite funny. We picked out four dress' and were off to the fitting room. All four of us crammed into the tiny room while he tried on the dress'. He was not going to come out and show us. We were down to two choices. One sleeveless and one other. I liked the sleeveless but it was too tight on his arms so we went with the other. I can't wait to see him dressed up. I will post pictures, of course.

Wonderful Week of Camping

Where to even begin. It was such a fun filled week. From the beginning........

Saturday morning we got in the packed motorhome and we were off for a fun filled family camping adventure to Zion National Park. Mom and Dad, Nana and Papa, joined us on the adventure. Mom and dad would take us to camp on the Virgin River as we grew up. It was such a fun vacation that I want to share it with my kids as well.

We were on our way about 8am. Our first stop would be State Line for some lunch, about 3 hours away. We got there and ate in the food court, which was right next to an arcade and rides. SO, of course, Papapa was suckered into taking Mary on a ride. The only thing she was tall enough for was this froggy ride. It would rise up and then bounce down some and then back up and then down a little more and then again and over again and then stop at the bottom. She was really brave, with a death grip on the bar.

Now were supposed to make our next stop Misquite, just at the other state line of Nevada to Utah, but we decided to make our next stop at Sam's Town in Vegas. It was closer from here and that would be where we'd stay for the night. It was hot in Vegas, as usual this time of year. So Kevin took Mary to the pool. She was all ready in her Ariel suit and her sunglasses'.

That night mom stayed back with the girls while the three of us got to go to the casino and have some fun. I ended up $350 ahead when I woke up!! Awesome!! In the end after spending here and there I came home with $75 of that, but it was money I didn't have before.

The next morning we went to have breakfast in the casino. We ate in the buffet. After Mary ate a good breakfast I thought I'd give her a treat and let her have some ice cream. Hey, we were on vacation. She REALLY enjoyed that. From then on out, if there was ice cream, she got to enjoy some after a good meal was eaten. The fun things of vacation.

The next day we were off to our destination of Zion National Park. We stay in Springdale, which is right at the entrance to the park. We stayed in the same campground we always have. I have not been in 15 years. It had changed a lot. They totally re-did the park. The things I had remembered as a kid were not the same. But it was still a fun place to be.

Mom and dad are on the left and we are on the right. When they bought the new, nicer, motorhome we bought their old one. We had a trailer, but after we had the kids it was too hard to pull the trailer with the kids in the back of the car. This was I can hop up and down to help the girls out while they are in their car seats.

Anyway, back to our trip. To get into the park we had to walk up to the lodge, about a 1/4 of a mile, to hop on a tram which took you to different spots in the park to see.

The first hike we took was to see Wheeping Rock. It was a quick easy hike up to this area where water seeps out of the rocks and looks like it is raining. It is pretty cool to see.

Mary liked to stand under the 'rain'. Oh, and we had to take Pinto EVERYWHERE we went. That poor bear needs a bath SO bad.

Teresa was really enjoying the scenery, as you can tell.

The next day we were off for another adventure to climb to take a hike to see these pools of water. We had no clue what we were getting into. We had our two strollers of kids ready to go, and off we went. Boy, did we NOT know what we were getting into. It was NOT a trail to push a stroller on. So out went Mary and mom carried the umbrella stroller. Kevin was pushing Teresa in the jogger as Papa helped get her over the rocks and ditches. Mary was such a good hiker for all this. We made it to the top and saw this.........not as exciting as I thought it should have been after what we just did.

Now to get back down the mountain on the other side. We were hoping for a better hike down with the stroller. Well, not so much. Kinda got worse. But, if we had done that way on the way up we would have stopped and turned around. So, we were on our way down. We got to the stair way down of rocks......

SO dad and Kevin carried Teresa down in the stroller. What a work out. Everyone who walked by us laughed and said Teresa had it good. The views from up so high were beautiful. It made it all worth the walk.

We did another walk along the river which takes you to the beginning of the 'Narrows'. This is where you can get in the river and hike your way up. If you hike up far enough it will get really narrow. My parents have done it a couple times. I have done it once when I was young. It is fun, but a lot of work to hike upstream in the rocks. But it's an adventure.

stopping for some lunch at the end of our Narrows hike.

Normally we would camp in July when it was warm. We had never come in October before. So, we were used to what we were used to in July. Usually we'd camp on the river and raft down the river 20 times a day, well us kids would. This time of year the water was like stepping into an ice chest. There was no way we were getting in it to tube down. My mom had spent 2 1/2 hours making the tubes and sewing seats in them. Well, those will have to be used at a later date. No one was getting their butts, much less past our toes, into the water.

Dad sat there and pondered his thoughts as the river went by.

We took turns going to dinner at the nice restaurant to take away from cooking and cleaning up. One night Kevin and I went and mom and dad watched the girls. Then next night they went and we stayed with the girls. We decided to have a little camp fire the night we stayed back. The girls loved it. We stopped at a store and got marshmellows and sticks to roast some marshmellows. Mary loved the roasting part, oh and the eating part too. She cooked everyone their marshmellow.

We stayed in Zion for four nights. For our last two nights we were off to Pahrump Nevada. This is a town about 50 miles outside of Vegas. Most know it as the place of the whore houses. Back in the day it was the only place whore houses were legal near Vegas. I don't know if they still exists there, but who knows. Our friends stay at the camp ground there all the time and rave about it, so we thought we'd try it out. It is a beautiful camp ground right on a little lake. After driving 'over the hump to Pahrump' we made it. A friend of mine who lives in Vegas made that comment when I told her we were going there. After driving over the huge Pahrump grade, I understand now. haha

Anyway, we made it to Pahrump and got all settled. It was so nice. There were about 50 ducks all over the park. The girls loved them. There was also a casino at the camp ground. It only had slots and was really small, but it was nice and convenient for food and fun. Mom and dad were nice enough to watch the girls here and there so we could go have some fun. I gave some of my winnings back but it was all good.

THEN.......we were walking back to the motorhome one time and I look up and the couple who told us about the camp ground were there walking towards us. We had NO clue they'd be there at the SAME time! It was so funny. So good to see them too. We used to camp with them every April in Mexico, but have not for a couple years. What a small world it is.

In the end it was a wonderful family trip. The girls was outstanding and didn't make the trip too hard. We really enjoyed ourselves.

Friday Night Excitment in Val Verde

Kevin come home this Friday night to tell me that the park down the street is on fire. Well, that's not comforting news when the park is RIGHT THERE and we live in fire county. So we all go outside to look. All the neighbors were in their yards too looking and taking pictures. It was close, but not close enough to get us and the wind was blowing away from us too. But it was cool to see. We could see the flames. There were three helicopters and two water dropping planes. The planes would go fill up at Castaic lake, just up the way from us and then swwop in over the hill directly at the end of our street. They would come fly in really low over our heads. It was the coolest thing. Then they would go over to the fire and drop water on the flames. There is a fire station at the stop of the hill, which was on fire, and the helicopters would land there and fill up with water and then circle around and drop the water on the hill. It was quite the excitement for a Friday night in our po-dunk town. It was started and out really quick. They were right on top of it. BUT it was big enough to make it on the news. Pretty darn cool.