Family Traditions- Christmas Lights Parade

We live in a small-ish town. Our small-ish town remembers when it was a small town and still has it's fair share of downtown events. I love downtown events. I love them almost as much as I love cake. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy (events, not cake).

One of the traditions we really love is the Downtown Turlock Lights Parade. Jon used to march in the Christmas parade when he was in highschool. I always attended the parade with family and I seem to recall being in a parade or two myself. (Debra Morgan dancers- this shout out is for you).

Anyhow, we like a parade covered in lights. We like Christmas. We dislike crowds but not enough to dislike this event.

We got GREAT seats this year. Also, because the rain was coming it wasn't too cold. The rain started to trickle just as we went back to the car which was perfect because it meant Layla wanted to get into the car.

The parades here are long, loud and have a huge variety of random. It's always a good time and I'm glad we went and that we stayed all the way until Layla waved at Santa at the very end.

Eventually more pictures of this event will be available on the girls blog as I didn't take pictures of the parade really, only my kids. Priorities, yo.

Downtown Turlock Christmas Tree Lighting & Festival

If you know me, you know I love a good local event, and Jon...he's a local boy so he's all for going downtown and keeping up a tradition for his wife's sake. Our tradition, it appears, involves Jura's Pizza and Hot Wings followed by the Downtown Turlock Christmas Tree Lighting & Festival.

Layla wanted some flashing green mouse ears, which of course I let her have because how cute is that cookie covered flashing little girl? Very cute... I agree.

Sugar cookies on a stick are something we seem to get at every local festival. They are tasty but she never finishes one. She of course picked the lighted tree since it was the Tree Lighting.

Anyah fell asleep as we were walking around looking at all the vendors, it was past her bed time. She slept right through the tree lighting countdown and everything.

As usual we danced on tables in our new winter coat. The whole thing went pretty well. It was a nice way to spend an evening before the holidays. Maybe we'll see you there next year?

Hot hot Hot

This weekend the temperature decided to stop fiddling with out of season rain and instead get warmer...and warmer...in fact it got down right hot.

Yesterday at the Apricot Festival Layla became the proud owner of a $5 shade umbrella. She insisted on toting it all over the place which was both akward and adorable.
Anyah didn't get an umbrella because the day before she specifically said she rather likes laying on the grass in the shade so she didn't need one...see...

So in marched the season of sunscreen, wading pools, water parks, sprinklers, bathing suits and sundresses...

Let summer begin!

To Market

Today we went to the downtown Farmer's Market here in Turlock. Anyah in her sling, Layla holding Nannie/Mommy's hand and a big empty bag for our shopping loot was all we took with us.

Don't let how fascinated she is with these tomatoes fool you...she won't eat them. I think she thought they were balls made of food...which I guess they are. In addition to lovely tomatoes we found organic salad greens, fresh red onions, local olive oil, honey, and a variety of fresh baked goodies.

Anyah was the center of attention for most of the event. Several people stopped me to ask how old she was and how big she was. A 7 lb person in a sling must look a lot smaller than normal. She slept off and on in the sunlight.

Layla enjoyed scoring a cookie from Nannie and a package of brownies, petting the dogs of strangers and dancing to people's radios. The event (at this point) is only 2 blocks long (it's early in the produce season here) but it still had a good vibe and a wonderful selection.

We'll totally be going back each week while I am out on maternity leave... especially since the girls did so well this first time out.

A Million Little Things

I am going to be home for awhile. Some of that time I'll be on partial bed-rest (like now) and some of it I'll be recovering from having a c-section (a few weeks right after baby) but some of it is just time for bonding. In fact, that's what they call it here in California. Bonding time.

So I have been thinking of a few things I'd like to do during that "bonding time" other than sitting around the house getting to know each other. With Jon's flexible scheduling at work we often have time midweek to throw something in. If we can afford it (which is a big if right now when I don't know how much my compensation will be while we're out) these are some things I've been thinking about doing.

• I would like to take Layla to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and to check out the tide pools in that area.
• I would like to check out the Chaffee Zoo again in Fresno now that my girly is a little older
• My mom has expressed interest several times in taking Layla to Golden Gate Park and the Exploratorium
• Go to the Patterson Apricot Fiesta in June
• Attend the Stanislaus County Fair in July and see the Beach Boys
• Take a road trip to someplace like Columbia or Sonora or Old Town Sacramento
• Attend a Renaissance Faire (although this might not happen until Sept when Pleasure Faire happens at Casa de Fruta)

Some more local and small scale things I am looking forward to include...

• Toddler Story time at the local library once I can drive again
• The return of the Downtown Turlock Farmer's Market in May
• Being able to go to the park and actually keep up with my toddler because I am no longer very pregnant
• Taking Layla to a place where she can paint pottery
• Swimming Lessons at the local city pool

Most if not all of the things on this list I am looking forward to doing with both my girls (maybe not the swimming lessons) because I think it will be good for Layla to see that you can still do a million fun things while sharing Mommy with your sister.

Any ideas for other things I could try in the area?

Christmas Tree Lighting

Jon and I are locals. We kind of pride ourselves in that. It's a silly thing to be proud of but it's also nice to know when you go downtown you're amoungst a tradition you've known you're whole life. Yesterday when it started to sprinkle and I had a migraine from Black Friday shopping it never crossed my mind to stay home from the Christmas Tree Lighting downtown. We always go. We're from Turlock, that's what you do.

My mom decided to join us this year because she can't make the Christmas Lights Parade next Friday night and she wanted to see how Layla liked the local Christmas scene. We showed up just as the spirnkling stopped for a bit. We walked down both sides of Main Street and checked out the sparse craft booths (it was wet and crowds were light).

We decided to hit another downtown local favorite for dinner. Jura's pizza is a classic. Layla had her first hot wings and we had pizza. Then we bundled back up and headed back into the dark to watch the parade. Jon had put the stroller back in the car before dinner so we let Layla walk and it was a wise choice.

Right after we got to "our spot" to watch the lighting we spotted my Dad and he had Teri and one of his good friends with him. So it turned into a suprise family event. Silly locals.

At the lighting location they had a Christian Rock Band playing and they were pretty good. Layla and Mommy danced for awhile. Then she danced with Mommy and Papa. Then she danced with Teri. She danced and danced and danced some more. We have great videos of it.

When the music stopped they did a countdown and lit up the tree. Ironically, someone moved a tent right in front of Layla just as they got to ONE so she missed the big moment. But eventually Daddy, Papa and Teri took her to see the tree.

Then we danced a little more. By then me and the baby bump were beat, so we headed home and snuggled up in bed. Right when we reached the car the rain started back up so we listened to it as Layla told me stories about dancing Papa...until she slipped off to sleep.

It was a perfect local moment.

*more pictures of this event are available on my facebook or on Layla's site. Thanks!

The Fair

The company I work for decided to host their company picnic at the Stanislaus County Fair today. It was an awesome idea. They gifted us with 3 gate passes, 3 bbq lunches, 3 unlimited ride wrist bands and two parking passes. Technically we were supposed to get 1 parking pass but when they asked if I would like a second 1 I said yes, because it's always good to have a spare.

Turns out it was the ideal plan. We went a little before the picnic (which was scheduled during the hottest part of the day) and walked the through the air conditioned buildings, checked out the art, the exhibit booths and the plants. We also made quick stop to buy Laylabug her first cowboy hat and to get something to drink. We also checked out the rainforest exhibit which Layla liked a lot.

The picnic was really informal. We had BBQ and soda. By we, I mean me and Jon, Layla refused to eat lunch and only had a cookie. They had face painting which we opted out of as Layla isn't a huge fan of stuff on her skin or sitting still.

After we ate I said hi to a few people and then we made our way out. It was obvious that Layla, who skipped her morning nap, was going to need to go home and sleep. We contemplated calling Nana Lorrie but as I really wanted to do the rides part with the baby we decided to take her home and let her nap instead. On the way out we checked out the petting zoo in the 4 H area which Laylabug loved.

We got our hands stamped, went out to the car, drove home and there was napping. Then 3 hours later we packed back into the car and the cranky baby from earlier was much more adapting so we decided to go back. We used our 2nd parking pass to park, our hand stamps to get in and went to enjoy a much cooler hour of fair-time.

We got corndogs. Layla didn't want to eat her corndog so taking advise from a girl friend of mine I wrapped it in a paper towel and stuck it in the stroller. We got wrist bands and we started riding rides.

Layla's first ride ever was the Jumping Jumbo (which is a generic Dumbo Flying Elephant ride). She rode with Daddy and Mommy took pictures. Then we stode in line and rode the Cars Route 66 ride. Daddy took pictures that time. Then Daddy and Layla rode Jumping Roo (a kangaroo ride) and then we put her back in the stroller and there was a brief fit because she wanted more rides.

We made her get into the stroller anyhow and walked to another part of the park. She immediately stopped crying when we started moving. She drank some water, ate some left over corn dog and we walked around for awhile (think of it as a Disneyland test run).

Then she went on the a Dizzy Dragon with Daddy, and a choochoo train with Mommy and we ended the night with a ride on the carousel with Daddy. Funny thing about the last ride, as we were walking there Layla was chomping down on her left over corn dog. Jon said "do you want to give your corn dog to mommy and ride a ride with daddy?" and she literally threw her corn dog on the ground and started waving and pointing at the ride.

That's my kind of kid. She loved things that went fast or that spun. She got off that spinning dragon with an ear to ear grin. Unfortunately the camera battery was low so we didn't get as many pictures as I like. I mean I only got 90 or so today. Which if you know me isn't very many.

We didn't head home until around 8:30 and then there was a wash down, a snack and some quiet time before bed. I think she finally crashed about 9...happy and silly as ever...

it was an awesome day.

KAT COUNTRY LAC 2008

This Saturday, my sister inlaw, one of my friends and I went to the KAT Kountry 103.3 Listener Appreciation Concert here in Turlock. It was a beautiful day, with a nice breeze and we spent time chatting, eatting, dancing on a blanket and listening to Lee Brice, Ashton Sheppard, Andy Griggs and Blake Shelton. It was good times. And the corndog the size of a grown adults forearm was pretty impressive. I'm glad these girls went with me it was the perfect mixture of "oh my god did you see that guy/girl/idiot/drunk" and "woo hoo let's dance to the song we don't know".

The Answer...

I've been praying a lot lately about jobs, money and the possibility of downsizing our home due to high rents. There is a small possibility that today God answered one of those prayers. We'll see... only time will tell.

Today I also went to the Apricot Fiesta in Patterson which you can read about here. There is also a cute pic of my daughter eating garlic fries.

Tomorrow I am cursed with a DMV appointment and an interview for a job. Pray for me. 1) that I don't kill a DMV employee or commit suicide while I wait for the DMV to see fit to help me 30 minutes after my appointment and 2) that my job interview goes well.

It was a hot one

Yesterday was a pretty long day. My friend E & I took the kids to the Oakdale Chocolate Festival and ended up outside on one of the hottest days of the year. Man I got a great tan out of that. We walked around shopping, chatting and keeping the kids happy (both kids did very well) and it was a darn good day.

Then I came home and the baby napped without issues. Mainly because I laid down next to her and also fell asleep and got myself a 2 hour nap. By the time we got up it was almost time for Daddy to be home and we played and snacked a little then I made some really good easy calzones and we ate dinner.

After the baby went to bed I sent out the "munchkin?" text and we gathered up our friend Batman for a lovingly sarcastic and brutal Munchkin card game tournament where we played every box we owned but 2. The last game was the best and we successfully killed, tortured and taunted each other for awhile before someone squeeked out with a win because we were seriously out of cards.

After Batman left we sailed undaunted through clean up. We've been married long enough that there was no talking and no running into each other... we each just did our thing until it was done. Then I went to bed.

It was a good day after it really got going. I darn good day.