Free Flight Aviary: Take 2

My new playgroup was asking for suggestions for play dates, so I suggested the Free Flight Aviary in Del Mar. We had such a wonderful experience there when we went with our Rockin' Moms, that I was sure we'd have the same experience again.

I met up with two new mom's and their kids and we went in. Unfortunately, the handlers didn't even greet us, let alone, educate us on the different birds. Last time, we had a wonderful handler that brought out "kid-friendly" birds for the kids to see.

Leah holding the bird (sorry about the sideways movie!)

So we were left on our own to explore. Leah was just dying to hold a bird, so I tried to get an idea of which birds would do okay with her. I finally found one that was extremely friendly. But while Leah knew to hold her elbow up high, she let it drop and the bird shimmied up her arm. Because of his sharp nails, Leah screamed and the bird got into her hair! All this while the handlers sat and watched! Needless to say, we were done after that. We left with a very negative feeling towards the Aviary, which is a shame.

Decorating for Halloween

I've been chompin' at the bit waiting to decorate for Halloween, my favorite holiday! This year I just couldn't wait until my normally scheduled decorating day of Oct. 1st. Luckily, Al agreed and I got to bust out my 5 boxes of Halloween decorations and put them up! Now the inside of the house is SPOOKY! I will be waiting until the 1st to decorate the outside, though. I wouldn't want the neighbors thinking I'm weird!

Cloudy with a Chance of a Sick Kid

The day had already been turned around. Leah's "cold" seemed worse than normal, while Ty seemed fine. I took Ty to school and Leah to the Doctor. Dr. Ricci told me Leah was fine and just had a cold. No sinus infection like I had suspected. Afterwords, since it was just Leah and I, I decided to make it a "Leah and Mommy Special Day". We wanted to see the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"....just the two of us. We first drove by San Marcos. Not open until 1pm. Next we went to the Krikorian, Vista, where we saw that it was playing at 11:40. It was only 10:40, so we went to Panera for some breakfast to pass the time. When we returned, the box office was open and ready to charge us $24 for two tickets! Are you kidding?! So apparently, they failed to indicate on the marquee that it was in 3-D. Without the internet (or an i-phone), we headed to Carlsbad Mall of El Camino Real to check it out. We were in luck! "Cloudy" was showing at 11:10 (it was close to 11:30) in non-3-D. 2 tickets, popcorn, candy and a drink cost us under $20. So we sat down and began enjoying the show when my phone began to ring. "Montessori School" calling. Ty was running a fever, I had to pick him up immediately.
Luckily, the manager of the theater overheard our conversation and refunded us the money for the tickets. Leah and I rushed over to find Ty (who just fell asleep) at school with a very low grade fever. I took him home and he didn't have a fever at all. I'm thinking the poor guy got over-heated on the playground. Anyhow, Leah's special day got interrupted, but she was a trooper. We get to go back and watch the movie again for "free".

Daddy's Little Girl

Rockin' Lampost (and Schmitty's)

The Rockin' Mamas!: L to R (back row) - Amber, Stacy, Cheryl, Me, Laura, (front row) - Roshi, Lauren and Angie. Not pictured here are Jess and Melinda

For this evening's Rockin' MNO, the ladies got together to celebrate Stacy and Roshi's birthdays at Lampost Pizza in Vista. We had a great time laughing, sharing pitchers of beer and taking pictures. Notice everyone but Jess was in a black top and jeans....no memo! We sat around the fire pit for a long time before most of us moved on to Schmitty's (a little dive across the street) for some pool and karaoke. Luckily, I was DD, so no karaoke for me! That takes a couple of coctails! I really needed that MNO. It was my first since bunco in February! (L: The fire pit at Lampost)

Us again (with the missing mamas). L to R: Melinda, Me, Laura, Stacy, Jess and Amber

At Schmitty's: Angie, Laura, Jess, Cheryl, Me, Mel, Roshi/ Angie, Me, Amber and Stacy

The many faces of Angie and Patti!

*Thanks to Cheryl and Angie for the pictures! I'm not sure how I brought my camera and only got a picture of the fire pit!*

Playwerx and Some New Friends

The other day I had taken Ty to Barnes and Nobles so that he could play with the train table while I got some free reading time in. While we were there, a mom's group had a play date. I ended up talking with them the whole time (instead of reading). Long story short, I joined their Mom's group (which is also a "Meet-up" group like my "Rockin Mom's"). The group is called North County Mom's of Tots and is headed by one one of the ladies I met at B and N, Suzanne. The next week I already RSVPed for a playdate at Playwerx in Carlsbad, where we met up with just Suzanne and her son, Aiden, who is Ty's age. He had a blast, but I ended up in the play structure with him for a majority of the time and didn't get a lot of "Mommy" adult time. I'll have to go back to B and N. That place was perfect for grown-up talk!

Praying Mantis

Today was a strange day in our home. In the course of one day, we had a butterfly, a bee and a praying mantis inside our home. I have never seen a praying mantis in So Cal before, so I put him in a jar and took him to Leah's school, where her teacher, Mr. Kumar took care of him. Mr. Kumar was a former HS biology teacher and is very knowledgeable about this sort of thing. He told us that praying mantis's are a protected species in Arizona, so he returned it to Leah and told her to put it back where we had found it. That wasn't going to happen, so let it go in the yard!

Family Wall

L to R: Great Nana and Papa (Nana's parents), Papa, Nana and Papa at their wedding, Grandma and Grandpa at their wedding, Al's parents and my parents wedding photos, Grandma's father and grandparents, Al's grandmother, Al's grandmother and great-grandmother, Al's other grandparents (Harry's parents).

For quite some time now, I've been wanting to frame and hang some old family photos. I've finally finished it! It was going to go in the upstairs hallway, but instead we moved the kitchen pics up there and hung the new pics near the kitchen table where we can enjoy them more.

Lunch with Cousin Julie

Today after I dropped the van off at the shop to get the breaks fixed (yet again), Harry and Lupe picked me up and took me to lunch at Fidel's North. We met up with Al's cousin, Julie Thunder, who lives in Cardiff by the Sea. Julie is Harry's brother Al's daughter. She and her husband Kevin have four daughters in high school and college.

Harry, Julie and Lupe

Guajome Park with Friends

Ty and Jonas

Jonas/Ty/ Marina testing out the equipment


Summer/ Christian/ The kids feeding the ducks

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Leah is at school and I have Ty. On these days I love to provide Ty with lot's of social activities that not only can he learn from, but that will wear him out. So today I put an email shout out to all my Mommy friends. I got responses back from Marina and Maria. So we all decided to meet at Guajome Lake Park in Vista to play and feed the ducks and geese. Maria brought her son Jonas, I brought Ty and Marina brought Summer and Christian. It ended up being a beautiful day to use up all those frozen bread "butts" in my freezer.

Marina and Maria

Ty, Jonas and Goose: "The Stare-down"

Sam's tattoo

George Clooney in "From Dusk till Dawn"/ Charles tattooing Sam

Tonight I went up to Fallbrook Tattoo on the corner of Mission and Main St. in Fallbrook, to watch Sam get tattooed. He was getting work done on a huge tribal piece reminiscent of the piece George Clooney sports in "From Dusk till Dawn". He had already got the outline done and tonight he was getting much of the arm filled in. (R: Charles filling in the tribal pattern)

His artist Charles was a crack up. He was spouting out jokes left and right. It was great to get to watch the process of filling in so much color. I believe he used a number 11 or 13 shader. It was a long and painful process, but it's looking good!

Dinner with the Morellis

Sofia and Leah/ Ty and Gianna

This evening, we had another fancy pizza dinner with our friends the Morelli's. We really enjoy spending time with them. Leah and Sofia are the same age as is Ty and Giana. Al has played hockey with Joey for about 5 or 6 years, and Christina and I get along great. We used to even do Stroller Strides together when Leah and Sofia were babies. (L: Al, Christina, Joey and KC)

The kids always have a blast playing dress up and driving around in the Jeep while the adults get some much needed grown up time. (Below: Leah/ Ty chasing the girls)

My Sweet Husband!

Thank you, Al!

Family in Town

Daddy and his girl. Leah swam for almost 3 hours!

This weekend, the family came into town again. The Texas Misners, Arizona Ballatores and all the cousins (Bryan, Jen, Alex, Kelly, Tracy, Kevin), came together at Mom and Dad's again for a visit and to celebrate my cousin Bryan's 25th birthday. Our family, Sandi's family and "Great Nana" also joined the fun. (L: Papa and Ty)

Capri Blue: Mom and me/ Jen and Sawyer (which one is more nervous?)

On Saturday night we went to Capri Blue in 4S Ranch for a great dinner. On Monday afternoon, we all headed over to Mom and Dad's house for a "Labor Day" BBQ to swim, eat and play. After we were worn out and full, we went inside for some cake! (R: Leah in goggles)

Savanna

Dino and Jack/ Bryan riding the turtle/ Ty Ty's tushy!

Enjoying the sunshine (or shade)/ Ty, Savanna and Leah admiring the cake

The now infamous "belly-flop-off" starring Bryan and Savanna!

Bryan and his assistants blowing out the candles on his bday cake/ Ty

Rockin' Pump it Up

Jess, Cheryl and me

This morning I met Jessica and Derby, Cheryl, McKayla and Mason at the "Pump it Up" (a Jumpy playground) in San Marcos. It was an eventful day for me and Ty. We slid, jumped, and ran obstacle courses. While the kids were good, it was the grown-ups that got in trouble for not following rules. Apparently, we each counted as 2 children, therefore violating the 6 people in the jumpy rule and getting a "time out" for maxing out the limit! I just wish I hadn't exercised that morning at the gym. Pump it up is an intense work-out. I was sweating! (L: Ty on the slide, his favorite)

Ty coming out of the obstacle course/ Cheryl practicing her cheerleading skills