secret stairs

my girlfriend and i have been getting together on tuesday mornings to exercise. i love it. it is the only hour or so in the week that i get to do something for me. it is very fun.

we started out just walking around the neighborhood around her house. we usually walk around three miles. it is super fun. now we have switched it up and have been doing walking tours from a book called secret stairs. there are all these public staircases around los angeles that have sometimes been forgotten and neglected. the author created little walking tours that highlight the stairs and architecture in different neighborhoods.

today we did a walk in highland park. it was an easy one with only 342 steps. it featured craftsman homes. it was the first walk i have done from the book but my friend margaret has done a few of these before so she led the way reading from the book as our tour guide. it was really fun. i never would have done this walk by myself though. it takes you through some pretty crappy areas. lots of trash on the street and smells i would like to never experience again. but for the most part it was really interesting and the houses were cool. it is a great way to see the city.

our walk lasted for almost two hours and then i had to rush to pick up connor from preschool. i can't wait to do another one.

mayors park

we went to the sweetest little birthday party today. it was held in a tiny park in la cananda called mayors discovery park. there were only about ten kids and the parents so it was a nice intimate group. they had lots of classic park games and a few new ones that were really fun.

the party started with a large spiderweb made from string. every child was given an end of the rope and a stick to wind it. they had to wind up their string until they reached the end. on the very end there was a prize. all the kids loved this game. it was nice because everyone won. there were also classic games such as walking with an egg on a spoon and the three legged race. they played another fun game where each team of two kids were given wooden blocks to assemble into the tallest structure they could without it falling down. they had two minutes to finish and keep it standing until the whistle blew.

dahlia was the big winner of the day. she is crazy competitive and took home three first place blue ribbons, and a red second place ribbon that she gave to connor. i was actually feeling bad for the other kids because she won every game. the parents thought it was very funny that she was beating out the older boys. poor mason and the birthday boy ended up crying at the end because they didn't win. luckily all was forgotten by time we had some birthday pie. homemade apple pie. yummy.

they did a cute craft where they got to decorate a large first letter of their name and then they all got goody bags filled with color pencils, notebooks, and scented markers. i loved the little party. such a nice treat to have fun without a big production.

heritage day festival

we woke up crazy early today and went to placentia for the heritage day festival. there is a small parade, then at the end of the parade there is a party in the park with booths that sell food or crafts. they also had a bunch of blow up slides and bounce houses for the kids to play in. there is a car show there as well displaying lots of cool looking cars.

i took dahlia and connor with me. mason said he didn't want to go because "parades are boring." he stayed home with miles and later said he should have gone with us. ha. i knew he would be missing out.

we had lots of fun. connor was so cute. he loved watching the parade. he waved at everyone walking by. when we got to the park i spoiled the kids and bought them a snow cone and popcorn. we walked all around the booths and then looked at the car show. we couldn't stay too long because dahlia had a dance class at 1:30. i was rushing like crazy to get there on time but we were still ten minutes late. there was an accident on the freeway and i was stuck. ugh. oh well. at least we managed to get there.

mind blowing science

mason got this cool science kit for his birthday and after school today we got to do some experiments. the first one we did was to make some slime. this is easily accomplished with some cornstarch, food coloring and water. this was dahlia's favorite activity. she could not stop playing with the slime.

our second experiment was called color changing liquids. this involved mixing citric acid, and baking soda to water colored with red cabbage powder. it was a really fun activity that had the liquids changing from purple to blue or red depending on if you added citric acid or baking soda. it also made the liquid fizzy and more fun. they were super excited about this one.

our last experiment used cross-linked polyacrylamide crystals, red cabbage powder and water to make colorful jiggly crystals. basically you just add colored water to the crystals and wait until they absorb all the water and become soft. this project takes quite a while so it was the last one we did today. we still have a lot more projects to do.

mason exclaimed that science is his favorite and he loves his mind blowing science kit.

an invitation to the castle

well here it is again. party time. this year we are again going to have a combo party for the boys. yay. we decided on a castle/knight theme. i thought this was a good choice. mason is really into castles lately and connor likes whatever mason likes. i already have some good decorating ideas.

miles made the invitations again. we went back and forth on the typography. most fonts were not very legible. i think they turned out pretty cool.

oktoberfest

dahlia's dance class performed a short recital at the annual oktoberfest celebration in montrose. it was cute. i have never been to an oktoberfest celebration. i guess because i am not really into beer and lederhosen. truthfully we left before the celebration had really begun. she did her dance onstage at noon and the festival was starting then. we left after it was over because it was mason's birthday and i was happy to just go home. miles and her brothers were waiting at home with granny for us.

we had fun. we got there early and decided to get a frozen yogurt because it was crazy hot outside. her dance was short but sweet. she did a ballet routine. she is not at all shy onstage which is a wonderful change from mason who hates to be the center of attention. this is her first year in the advanced class and she is liking it but she thinks it is a little hard. i think it is a little hard too, but she is doing great. much better i think than i could do. i am so proud of her. my little girl all grown up and yes she is wearing red lipstick. she is on stage after all.

mason is eight

mason turned eight today. wow. time is just flying by. it kind of makes me sad. he is so grown up now. eight seems very grown up to me. at least he is my oldest child and not my youngest. i still get to play with connor. mason is very sweet though and still likes to snuggle with me. thank goodness for that.

we started our day with lounging in the big bed and then miles and i surprised mason with his birthday present. a giant castle lego set. he was very excited but not at all surprised because dahlia spilled the beans about his gift two weeks ago. it did not take away from his excitement though. he got to work right away building it. miles helped and they had the whole castle done by lunch time.

miles' mom came to visit for the weekend to celebrate his birthday with us. we had a yummy salmon dinner and then mason blew out eight candles on a pumpkin pie. his favorite. i bought the movie "the croods" and the kids got to stay up late watching it. happy birthday mason. i love you very much.