What a busy and wonderful week this has been! Monday was picture day for my little one at Sears Portait Studio in Orange. She did incredibly well and we ended up with some nice photos. In order to make things time efficient and cost effective we booked an appointment at 10am, which is their earliest appointment, and I used a coupon as well as my Smile Saver card with my purchase. Once that was all done we headed home where I met up with my husband and we set out on our weekly hike.
My husband and I hiked over 6 miles through Whiting Ranch/Limestone Canyon in Foothill Ranch. It was a beautiful hike full of plant life and a little stream through the center of it. We spotted squirrels, lizards, numerous birds, a roadrunner and some mule deer tracks. At least we believe they were mule deer, we aren't exactly trackers. After about a two and a half hour hike we were back at our car and heading home for a much needed shower.
Tuesday was a quieter day and we spent the morning at Citrus Ranch Park in Tustin. Since my girls tend to complain when I suggest we go on a hike I decided that we should try nature hikes during the week to get them accustomed to being out in nature. So before I let them play at the playground I had us walk the little nature trail there. It wasn't very long but it gave the girls an opportunity to follow a trail and look at the trees, go up a small incline, and look at the animals. Afterwards I let them lose on the playground where they spent an hour and a half playing with one another and some of the other children present. It was a bit warmer of a day so we ended about 11:30am and drove to the library to pick up some new books.
Wednesday was our weekly Pajama Day and ballet for my little one. She did much better this week after we went over the rules again about behavior in class. Try them out they work for most anything. First, don't leave class. And next, do as the teacher says. That's it. Simple and to the point. And though she did well she came out telling me that after ballet was all over she wanted to go back to taking ice skating. *Sigh* I have no problem letting my girls do whatever makes them happy I just wish they could do it closer to home and in a warmer building.
Thursday! Mom's pool day. Not my pool, since we seem to have misplaced our pool key, but my mom's pool. We were there for about two hours and I even got in so as to work on swimmimg skills with them. You can assume from that statement that I don't really do the whole swimming thing. I can swim well enough, so please don't think I'm somehow going to drown, I just don't like to be in the pool. Or the ocean for that matter. But we all do things for our children that we may not normally do and all children need to know how to swim.
On Friday I attended a mommy group meetup event at Newport Beach Back Bay. First of all, I was the only mommy from the group there which was a little funny since it was my first meetup with the group and there was no one to meet up with. And secondly, I must have missed the part about it costing me $10 to park there for two hours! I am a very frugal woman. The reason being is that there is simply not enough money for us to be throwing it around. So that $10 didn't exactly make my day but we were already there and I wasn't about to turn around and drive back home after my girls were all set to go in the water. Overall I thought it was nice enough but I don't anticipate going back there. The kids seem to have more fun at the beach and the parking is free.
Saturday went a little differently than expected. I joined another new meetup group so spent the morning walking/hiking just over 4miles. When I got home I had planned to do some things with the family but ended up sending my father-in-law to the doctor with my husband as support. The bad news is my father-in-law is in the hospital as we speak. The good news is he is doing better, we think we have avoided surgery for anything, and he may be home soon. With all that going on I focused on just keeping the girls busy. We started with an egg hunt. I have kept our Easter eggs from this year and last to use for a random snack hunt now and again. I filled 24 eggs with some snacks, treats, and coins then hid them in the grass and bushes in front of the house. Once they found them all they came in, had their snack, and we moved on to the next activity. Face painting! My youngest decided to have her whole face painted like a cat and the oldest wanted a unicorn across her cheek. I sat them by the computer, googled images for a cat and unicorn face painting, then let them pick what they wanted. After that I just did my best to emulate what I saw on the screen. Then we finally ended with some finger/brush painting. My husband brought home Mexican food for dinner and we all picnicked in the living room and watched The Goonies. Yes, there are swear words. Yes, we explained why they could not repeat them. And yes, they listened. Kids are awesome.
Holy cow we have come to Sunday. This morning we attended church then came home where my husband got a to go lunch ready for us all. I grabbed some things for the girls then sat down and had a quick lunch. After my lunch we were off to grandmas house where I dropped them off with their food and swim gear, talked for a few minutes, gave out some hugs and kisses, then ran out the door. I didn't want to be late for my appointment with the American Red Cross. Today was my day to donate plateletes. Donating took about two hours and went well enough. There was no pain just the usual fatigue and some light headedness but I'm feeling good now. And just as a side note plateletes are not the same as donating blood. I am unable to donate blood due to an extreme reaction that results afterwards. But plateletes are something inside my blood that they take then put the blood back in me. No nasty side efects. The rest of my night has been reading, resting, and some documentary and mars landing television. I watched the documentaries while my husband is currently watching the NASA channel.
Okay, lessons for the day: Hiking is awesome! Get out there and reconnect with nature. While you're connecting with nature make sure you connect with water as well. It's a great and gentle form of exercise and all children need to learn pool/water safety. Remember that Easter eggs can also be snack eggs. And donate! Time, money, blood, whatever you can and have. All we need is love and the world would be a better place if we all loved it enough to take care of all the living things in it. Giving blood or plateletes is free and only costs your time. You could save someone's life one day and all you had to do was watch a movie while they took some blood then eat some snacks when you're done. Reconnect, be creative, and give.
