Field Trip

So our day got off to a bad start. Well, mine did. In my pea-pickin' head I thought I was to be at school at 9:30 a.m. because the caravan was to leave at 9:45. I was off by an hour! No matter, NM had a ride down there, so I high-tailed it out of the house after rushing to pack for the baby. In so doing, I almost forgot to bring baby some formula. Tsk!

The drive was long, and I didn't realize just how long. Bates Nut Farm was about an hour and 20 minutes to get to. J was hollering in the back seat because he had pulled the car seat cover over himself and it was on his lap, plus he threw his pacifier somewhere. He couldnt' sleep! I finally thought to sing "Jesus Loves Me" which I normally do for him at bedtime and that worked. The drive was so nice: the view wasn't what most people associate with So Cali. There were stands of oaks on either side of a windy road, behind them old homes with some land and the occassional farm. Yes, Typical So Cal reared its head in the form of a housing development of huge homes taking up most of their lots surrounding a brand new golf course.

Bates Nut Farm was fun. First the kids picked out pumpkins, then they ran through a maze made of bales of straw. At different hidden areas they had mailboxes with stamps that they used to mark a card they were carrying. Myself and 2 other moms were in charge of 5 rambuncious kids who would run off in random directions--the stuff of nightmares! Thankfully, no one got lost, not really. They did a tractor ride which they thought was the best thing in the world. I love how kids are not jaded. This thing was rigged with about 10 trailers with 3 straw bales each, enough to carry maybe 8 people. It goes around a large field of corn and pumpkin patches, nothing really big, but to the kids it was like Disneyland only better because they were with each other.

Lunch was interesting--we had not realized NM didn't have his backpack, so I bought him a burger and myself a hotdog with grilled onions. Remind me not to do the onions next time. Ouch. I didn't even go into their store because I knew I was succeptible to impulse buying at places like that. They know it, too.

After petting and feeding the goats and sheep (cute!!!), we packed up and headed out. The drive home was uneventful except for the fact that NM fell asleep maybe 2 minutes before we pulled up to the house :D He didn't want to go home and kept finding excuses for me to drop him off at school instead of home. That means he had a great time!

Here we go

It seems to be working just fine. Well, other than the fact that I'm still fleshing out my blogroll. It looks really different from the last layout which was really different from the one before. This one makes me wish they offered a printmaking class when I was going to school. Or rather, one that fit in my schedule. Regardless, the blog is up again, sans the ability to categorize but we'll deal with that.

UPDATE: Let me rephrase that. I thought it was fine. In the preview window, the header shows up but in reality, it's MIA. Blech. I have to go play City of Heroes now. I'll let tech support deal with it.

Now I can go back to posting about the family! Briefly:

~ Baby started cruising last Saturday. His favorite pasttime is tossing things on the tile to hear them make noise. He will take anything that looks like a bucket and put it to his face, "take a drink" then toss it if there's nothing inside. Will repeat the process until something else is more interesting. Has done it in the bath and almost choked so those things aren't allowed there anymore (tabos are just for moma now). He cut his first tooth on Sunday (front right). Both front teeth were visible under the gum and the eye teeth were visible, but now the gums over them are red so they can't be seen. J loves to pull up on mama's pants and make it hard to work in the kitchen. He is also really enjoys the bottom dishwasher drawer because it goes back and forth, just so. Other than the 4 nights last week and Thurday night, he's been sleeping through but for one episode of wakefulness just before mom and dad go to bed, so it's been wonderful to get sleep.

~ NM is doing great. He plans to be the next Chip Foose, will take up automotive design at The Art Center in Pasadena (we better start saving now). Armed with his new set of markers (24 colors including "sassy grass green"), he has designed tow trucks, souped up sedans, muscle cars, super cars and delivery vans. His favorite game is still Burnout 2 where, during the grand prix of 3 races, he got 1st, 2nd and 2nd place in that order. He is very proud (it's not easy to do, trust me).

~ JM had the root canal done. He was not happy that so much novocaine was used, at least, not afterwards. It was hard to talk and he had to wait for it to wear off so he could eat. Because there was more than the last time, it took longer. And he is a cranky guy when he has to wait to eat. Next week: the crown.