Fun day w/ friends (isn't that pretty much everyday??)

It was the first day of summer. So we went to Disneyland to watch their brand new water show-World of Colors.  Kind of like the Bellagio water show, but with laser, Disney stories projection, and lots of fire balls.  So yeah, it was pretty awesome.

I decided not to take the stroller, so Z got to wear her little puppy backpack.  She did not like the backpack when she was younger, so I was delighted to see that she actually liked the buckles and the puppy and wanted to wear it.

Playing hide and seek w/ mommy

"haha you found me!!"

Z w/ her puppy backpack

We went on two kiddie rides before the show, and one of the was high and spun around.  Honestly I was little terrified, but Z was perfectly fine.  When I told her to put her hands up, she did!

The next day we met some friends at the Children's Museum in La Habra. This was also the first day I started doing "timeouts" w/ Z by placing her in the corner for a minute (ok, more like 20 seconds) for being naughty.

The first time I did it in the morning (Z had pushed over the clothes rack,) Z didn't seem to care as she just took in the corner, not crying or fighting it.

Z and her friend Nico go for a ride

She insisted on sitting on the chicken :0D

Loves the trampoline! x3

Busy grocery shopping

Don't forget to pay

Doing sound effect for a show

Z looked so grown up in this picture....(tears~)

Then she was a bus driver...

There was room full of taxidermy animals for the kids to touch.  Z got to feel the Lions' claws (VERY sharp!)...

...so were the wolf's teeth!! ( Is that you Arbby??)

Z putting her finger tips together to signal "buggies"

Saying hi to the tarantula...and yeah Z, it is the thing that goes up the waterspout (!)



Z got timeout once at the museum (which she fought) and one more time in the restaurant bathroom during dinner.  I made sure I always hug and kiss her afterward and explain to her the reason for the timeout.  It seems like she's getting it (when I asked her if she wanted a timeout, she shook her head and quieted down.) Hopefully this will help her understand her boundaries better without making her feel like I'm mean or love her less~

Lunch @ Torrance

I had to go to Torrance today for a dental appt and Z came along.  Afterward we went to eat lunch @ Otafuku for their handmade soba.

The hostess seated us at a table w/a ledge.  Z could sit there w/o a highchair.  She was thrilled to sit next to the Asahi cat.

She liked the soba!  I could hear everyone in the kitchen laughing at her wolfing the noodles down.

After she was done, she tried to feed the noodles to her new friend...

More pics w/ the kittie:

Mt. Wilson

I recently joined a group of hikers called the OC hiking club who introduced me to many good hiking trails around orange county and the LA area. 

 Today we're tackling Mt. Wilson.  Picked up my hiking companion (dad) and got to the bottom of the trail @ 7:50am.

For the first mile or so there's no shade.  It got pretty hot so we were just trying to go as fast as we could.  Also the incline were steep at some point, so by the time we got to the first marker I already felt like I got a good workout!

Dirt trail.  Following the advise of hikers on the internet, I wore long pants and brought along a bug repellent.  They weren't exaggerating about the bugs!  There were flies EVERYWHERE!!  And I was surprised when they bit me THRU MY PANTS!!  Because of the flies we hardly took breaks, and when we did take them, they were short and I never sat down.  Instead I did my "fly dance" trying to keep the flies off of me!  Next time we go I'm seriously considering one Yelper's suggestion of wearing a bug net!

Bugs aside, once we got into the mountains it was a beautiful and enjoyable hike.  The vegetation provided some much needed shades and there were all kinds of wild flowers to look at along the trail.  There is a stream running along the trail and we spotted a few wet doggies. 

long pants are definitely the way to go on this trail.  Also I was excited go see this little guy hiking in the mountains.  Small yet mighty!  Now that we know our way around next time I'm definitely bringing the doggies along. 

It took us two hours to the half way point.  Since I had brunch on my mind the whole way up, we decided to turn around and hike back down.  The return trip took approx. 90 minutes.

This was my reward for a good hike!

Z's morning routine

Z's typical morning this week:

feeding the dog...

letting the chickens out of their room....

Making sure they get their  morning exercise...

Just being part of the group....

Phew~ after finishing up her responsibilities, Z can finally start playing!

Where is Z???

There she is!

 
















"Hi!"

CoCo came to join in the fun!

For lunch we went to see our friends C and her mommy.  The kiddos missed each other so much!

Making funny faces

Z loves her big sister!

We had so much fun with our friends.  Let's not wait too long to get together again!