Our Field Trip to Logan's Candy

On Wednesday we went to a candy store in Ontario where they make candy canes by hand! A big ol' THANKS to Pia from CHN's Yahoo Group for arranging all of it. It was awesome. If you are interested in the place, go check it out. They don't have a website, but they are located in Ontario, CA on B street. We got there an hour early, so we walked down the center of Euclid and looked at the Nativity Scene's they have out. It was fun, but a little sad. They look poorly taken care of and I wish they would have been in chronological order. But it was fun to look at them all and think about the people that took the time to create them. The boys were a bit wild since it was getting near bedtime so it was hard to be reverent!   Once we got to the candy store we stood out front waiting for our tour. Jake made a friend right away. It was adorable watching them compare ages, bikes, scooters, and eventually height. The tour itself is not a tour, but a demonstration of how they make their candy canes. It was a fabulous experience. It was crowded, but they made it very enjoyable and really took care of their audience. They went through the whole process, from boiling the sugar, adding color and flavor, to wrapping the candy and rolling it out to candy cane size. We got samples, humor, and even a bit of candy cane history. I was amazed and so was Tom. Jake couldn't see much because it was so crowded and the other kids were pushing him up against the counter which he couldn't see over. I didn't realize this until afterwards when he came and told me. Poor guy! But he was happy since he got a candy cane.

Christmas at Knott's Berry Farm

Today we went to to the Craft Fair for the 6th time. I love this! Santa AND History! What can be better? The craft fair is in the Calico Ghost Town area. Here is a link if you aren't familiar with it. Knott's Berry Farm The ghost town is a replica of the real Calico out in the desert. Lots of Gold Rush history here. Calico was a silver mine, though. We read a bit about it before and Tom remembered the 49'ers (not the football team!). I found a website about it, of course. There is a Gold Rush movie narrated by John Lithgow that I would like to see, but I can't find it to rent anywhere. Maybe I will buy it, who knows.  

Great-Grandpa met us at our house this morning and we headed for Ghost Town! We got there just in time for the Wild West Stunt Show. They changed it! The boys loved watching it. Tom still has a problem with sudden loud noises, aka gun shots, and he watched with his fingers in his ears. While waiting he noticed a lot of the devices for the stunts, fall mats, break away railings, etc. He is just so darn observant! Seriously, he amazes me. "Mom, why is that part of the floor different than the other? Oh, I get it, they are going to run up those stairs, get shot, and fall from the top on that mat!" 
 

The next thing we visited was the blacksmith. That guy is great. He works through all the metal and equipment and tells the kids all about it. Then we went for lunch at the Ghost Town Grill. We went to see Santa after lunch. Jake is terrified of the man but he did go up and sit with him for a picture. He refused to talk to him though. He had this nervous smile on his face. You could see him talking to himself to remain calm. Afterwards he walked calmly to me and had me hold him for a long time. He was trembling! He just sat there real still while I patted his back. He took a few deep breaths then asked to leave. He said goodbye to Santa, but wouldn't look directly at him. So funny! Tom, on the other hand, had an agenda. He talked to Santa for a long time describing exactly what kind of gun he would like. Both the boys desperately want the orange and green, wood and metal rifles that they sell in the park. They have been asking for years, but I refuse to buy them because I know they may not shoot bullets, but they are heavy and will undoubtedly become swords that will kill one or the other. But Tom is insistent. Santa told him to have a back up plan because he doesn't bring weapons! I love that man!

  
After that, we went shopping a bit and decided to pan for gold. I haven't ever done this! It was so fun mostly because the man that worked it was so nice and knowledgeable. Tom had a blast asking a thousand questions and Jake just soaked it all in. 

Next stop was the western museum across the way. We spent a good hour in there looking at all the guns, rocks, saddles, and equipment. They have old instruments, toys, clothes, and just about everything else. I had to drag them out because the Bird Cage was about to start seating for A Christmas Carol. We stopped to see some cowboys fighting in the street, too. 
 

A Christmas Carol was great as usual. I love that show! The boys remembered it from last year and actually requested that we see it again this year. Today I went to the library and got the book so that we could read it entirely. The show is a short version. On the way out of the park we saw the Dickens Carolers and the huge piece of Magnetite they have by the Geode Shop.

It was an awesome day! I was so happy to have Grandpa there to share it with the boys. They love to have him with them. Thanks for coming Grandpa!

The End of An Era!

Jake has worn the same set of camouflage pants and shirt for two years! It started on Tom's 4th birthday in 2004. The outfit came from Walmart and a pair of black rubber boots came with it. Tom got one too. They both wore it daily for a whole year! They became known as the camo boys! Jake's has lasted longer than Tom's because when the pants were torn and frayed he was to tall for them and so Tom's went to Jake. The rubber boots were so worn that they were completely flat on the bottom and his toes were curled up in the end of them. They were two sizes too small when I finally got them to retire! Well, this week, Jake finally conceded that the camo pants he had inherited from his brother were too short for him.  Don't worry, he isn't having withdrawal's. I bought him a new pair of pants at JCPenney. They are really cool, but they aren't the pull up Walmart pant (those are for little kids).

Another Trip to the Desert!

Last Saturday morning Dan playfully suggested we go camping. I thought he was kidding, but he meant it, as in right now! So he got out the trailer while I went to the grocery store for supplies. We left three hours later. It was already 2:30 and it starts getting dark at 4:30 AND he wasn't sure where we were going. 

Our first choice was ruled out due to a freeway closure. Tom suggested another route. He was right, but that way would take us a considerable amount of extra time. So we headed out past 29 Palms to a place called Old Dale Mine. There we were looking for a dirt road my husband hasn't seen in 30 years in the desert in the dark with a truck load of kids and a trailer.

We turned around a couple times and on the third try got stuck in the sand! Luckily we were off the road enough not to worry too much about someone hitting us. We decided to bed down in the back of the truck until morning and then call a tow truck to pull us out. This was about 8pm. 

Around 11pm, a man pulled up to see if we needed help. He had four wheel drive and had pulled people out before. He attempted to drive around the other side and push us and got himself stuck as well. He was a real character too! Luckily he wasn't upset about and had AAA. He called and they sent him a tow truck. 

Around 2am the guy showed up and pulled us out without incident. He knew where we were going and led the way. Pointed us to a dirt road about a mile away from where were stuck and told us where to camp. He was a great guy! 

At 4am we finished setting up the trailer in the middle of the desert with no idea exactly what was around us. We all had a snack and hit the hay. The kids slept until after 8am, which they never do and I had totally not expected. I thought for sure they would never go back to sleep and want out of the trailer the minute they saw light outside. 

Tom got to do lots of shooting with his BB gun, which brought him great joy. He is quite the shot! 
 

Jake spent most of the time digging holes, lots of them. They were everywhere. He said he was killing snakes. Sometimes he would bury things. He was completely covered in dirt and sand.

Dad brought a couple of model rockets to build and launch, but when they started putting them together they realized that they would need glue. Well, that is what the instructions said anyway. But leave it to Dad to attempt to build a rocket with scotch tape instead. They launched it thinking that it would be a one hit wonder, but it lasted several trips into space, including the brilliant idea of a night launch. That turned out pretty spectacular, except that it landed right next to me. I could have been killed! :))

Kiara refused to lay on the ground like a dog and commandeered this chair for the evening.

Before we left, we drove up into the hills and checked out the mine. We found one really deep shaft, several burnt out cars, propane tanks, bbq's, etc. It was a very exciting trip. The boys spent quite a bit of time throwing rocks into these big tanks. There was a lot of old mining stuff. We couldn't figure any of it out. I hope the boys become interested in it. Dad would love to spend some time researching old mining techniques!

It was a great trip. Another exciting adventure in our new trailer. We will definitely be going back to this place! Maybe next time we can spend some more time out there. Now Dad is trying to figure out how we can afford a 4x4 truck and some dirt bikes!

Our School Day

We took a bike ride at Irvine Regional Park today! I need to get myself a bike. They are too fast for me now. I thought my legs were going to fall off chasing after them. They have only known how to ride a bike for two weeks and they are crazy. We did practice some rules of the rode. You know, don't run over people and stay on the right side of the road! Tom likes to go fast and has learned to skid to a stop.

I tried to take the "jumping off the swing" picture several times and this is as good as it got, slow camera. They can't do THIS in public school! They don't even have swings anymore!

This is one of my favorite places to take the boys. They will climb on here for hours. Luckily they kept their helmets on today. Jake is quite the climber! And Tom is really good at finding a SAFE path to go up.

On the way home we stopped at Pizza Hut to use their free pizza coupons from "Book It!". Nothing like your own personal pizza!

Another Perfect Day

Today was one of those days that just makes you happy to be homeschooling. I spent the day doing laundry and working in the yard, not to mention my regular chores of cleaning and cooking. These kids actually like to be fed on a regular basis! Imagine that!
 

The boys spent the entire day playing pretend games all over the house. I don't think there was a single argument all day. They rode their bikes around the back yard in circles. I think they are wearing a rut in the grass. Our yard isn't that big, so it is funny to watch them. They must be getting quite a workout riding on the grass. When they play cops, Tom is the older police man and Jake wants to be trained but his little brother (invisible and they do talk to him a lot) is too small to come along. They also play The Great Escape. Jake is always Steve McQueen. He has a leather jacket and his bike is a motorcycle. They also played some XBox today and Legos. But most of the day was spent in an alternate universe.

At 5pm we went around the house and did our 5 o'clock clean-up. They are doing great with this idea. I told them that Dad is so much happier when he comes home and can get through the livingroom without tripping over toys. They are very proud of their work and they are getting really good at it. I only have to keep Jake moving.

We played Green Gators for 45 minutes. I bought this game a year ago at Discovery Toys and Jake was too little to play. You really need three players for this one, so I put it away. I found it the other day and left it out so that I would remember to suggest it to the boys. They loved it. It got quite rowdy. Jake is amazingly good and describing the pictures and giving us clues so that we guess what it is, even when he isn't sure what it is himself!

Tom is staying up late tonight so that he can watch Mythbusters. He loves that show! It was on during the day a couple weeks ago and he watched three in a row. The show is an hour long. Any show that is about how things work or any kind of science is his favorite. He has been waiting all week for this tonight. He kept telling me, "Don't forget Mom, Wednesday at 8!".

It is almost bedtime and I'm beat!

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday we went to our regular park day and we had a party! Fun! What a great bunch of families. I love those kids and the Moms are so much fun to be around. The boys love it and they look forward to it every week.  The kids all sat in a circle and went around passing treats out one at a time. They were so excited.

One of the families brought beanie babies! Little did they know they would be adding to our family when they did that. The boys love their critters! And now Jake has a total of 14 different animals in his bed.

 
Jake is not in costume because he found that he could not ride his scooter with it on. Tom had no problem since his fit better. There was more than one Darth Vadar though! Jake was a clone trooper. Maybe I can get a picture of him in it tonight.

  

As for today, it has been great. This is day two of our new morning schedule. We actually get up, get dressed, and make our beds. We have breakfast, brush our teeth, and read something from the Bible. Then we talk a lot about what Mom is studying at the moment. Right now it is Ancient Greece. Love it! The boys love it too. I found a site for them yesterday and they were making and printing pictures of pots for hours

This morning we went to the library and the grocery store. It is a great thing to shop on Halloween. Everyone is dressed up in a costume! When your son yells, "A Witch!" I know he isn't being mean to some poor old woman at the grocery store!...Yes that does happen. Sad but true.

We have also made a pumpkin cake together. I let them read and mix and crack eggs. Tom even hung around and washed the dishes up with me. I dried them. It was a true miracle because I have very little patience. I am working on it though. God help me!

Now we have gone to our spaces for a bit. Tom is playing video games with Grandma. Jake is playing games on our tv. And I am here writing this. OH! And I just heard the trash truck go by! Yay! They have been on strike and haven't picked up in two weeks!

And now the Halloween carving of the pumpkins begins!

Tom is being a great helper for Nikki.

And Jake's going crazy with TOOLS!

My three little trick-o-treaters! Darth Vadar, Clone Trooper, and Script Writer!

What a morning!

My nose was so stuffy this morning and I thought, "Oh no! I'm coming down with a cold!" but then I came downstairs and went out the front door to get the paper. The Santa Ana winds are blowing! For those that read this that are not in California, that is when the wind comes off the desert and blows so hard, hot, and dry. You would think, yuck, but I love it. It is like God is calling us back to the desert to camp some more!

Tom and Jake have been playing happily all morning and I am thanking God for THAT! Tom is still in his jammies and Jake is in his usual camo garb. They have all the airplanes, trucks, and tanks out and set up all over their room. So cute to hear them playing. They talk for all the characters and make up missions for them all. It is a cross between army, Indiana Jones, and Tomb Raider right now, but I'm sure the game will pull in Star Wars some time soon!

Pringles

How does a can of Pringles start a conversation about math?

Well, first of all, I don't usually buy them because they have absolutely no nutritional value (and I can't stop eating them until they are completely gone). But today we got some because we had a coupon that made the can 33 cents and I just couldn't pass them up. Tom likes to get the Prints ones that have jokes on them but they didn't have those, they had the Guinness Book of World Records printed on them.

So there is my boy, munching away, trying to read each one before he licks all the printing off and eats the chip. He was trying words like "meteorite"! Then we had to talk about what that was. Where is the Weddell Sea? What does cm stand for? What is an anteater? And the list goes on. It was a rewarding conversation!

Camping at Joshua Tree National Park

We went camping at Black Rock at the south end of Joshua Tree. The drive out was horrendous since we had to pick up Nikki at school and drive from Huntington Beach to Joshua Tree on a Friday evening, but it was SO worth it!

This was our first camping trip with our trailer! Yay! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Tovaas! We now have one sticker on our trailer!

 

     

This turned out to be the LONGEST hike in the world. The map said one mile loop, but I think we got lost and wandered trails over two hours. Luckily, the boys are used to a lot of walking. 

Jake started to complain at the beginning but then he found something interesting on the trail, LEAD!

Ahh! Look out, a jumping cactus! 

 

  

But worth it for this view! Dad called Grandma to check in while we at the top.

 

Dinner and some evening campfire fun!

Now go to sleep!

On Sunday we packed up early and started driving further into the park. First we stopped at the Visitors Center and picked up some souvenirs and some maps. Then we drove across to Cottonwood Oasis and had lunch there.

   This was at the Oasis of Mara and the visitors center. If you haven't been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland you have no idea what these two are doing. Hence, the look on Jake's face as his brother and sister pose for the camera. On Indy the beginning of the ride is the Temple of Mara and you aren't supposed to look into the Eye of Mara or you will die.

This is at Split Rock. That was fun. There are lots of huge rocks to climb on and trails follow. I realized how old and fat I am here. :(  But it was gorgeous. The kids really scared me here too. There are plenty of places to fall and get killed!

 

This is at the Cottonwood Oasis.

Nikki found a rock that looks like the side view of a face. Cool! 

I finally got to see a snake in the desert. All my life I've camped in the desert and every time I'm worried about snakes. I'm always searching for them wherever I go. I'm constantly telling the kids how to avoid them now and what to do if they see or hear one. And then they all skipped and ran right by the rattle snake in the road!! Ahh! I found him all coiled up and ready to strike. He was a baby one so we all stood out of striking ranged real still and watched him hiss at us and then side wind his way off the trail and under a bush. I thought, perfect, now they've seen one, and they believe me and they will be more careful. But no. Off they go running through the bushes and not watching or caring at all about where they are going. I'm bringing a snake bite kit next time we go out there. It is only a matter of time!

We can't wait to go again!