tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135801826916162722024-03-16T00:22:02.766-07:00Frugal Fun ChallengeA Mom Trying to Live a Frugal Life in Los AngelesCatrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-27890363459980813202013-10-20T22:48:00.000-07:002013-11-15T14:50:11.131-08:00Oak Glen - ApplesWe spent the day at <a href="http://www.oakglen.net/Farms.html" target="_blank">Oak Glen</a> where we drove around the 5 mile circle visiting all the different farms and ranches. I wanted to pick apples; but learned earlier in the week that all the apples had been picked. Oh well, I guess I saved some money though. Our first stop was <a href="http://www.losriosrancho.com/" target="_blank">Riley's at Los Rio Rancho</a> where we ate a picnic lunch on the grassy hill. After lunch we explored the country store, got a good smell of tri-tip and roasted corn. They have plenty of activities for the kids such as a petting zoo, hay rides, cider pressing and a nature trail. <br />
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After Riley's, we drove to <a href="http://www.snow-line.com/">http://www.snow-line.com/</a>where they are famous for their apple cider mini donuts. For about $4 we got a dozen. You get to see how they are made and they come hot off the press to enjoy a warm snack. They were delish!<br />
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<br />From there we went to <a href="http://willowbrookapple.tripod.com/" target="_blank">Willowbrook Farm</a> for their cider pressing. They are the only place we found that will sell the cider in a half gallon instead of a gallon. We did the half gallon for $9. After tasting the cider we made, we wished we would have bought the gallon. But I didn't want to spend $15-$16 on cider. It was a fun and labor intensive experience. The girls chose the apples they wanted from the variety they had in the very cold watered bucket and filled up a wooden basket. One girl put the apples in the pressing machine while the other one turned the crank. Luckily for me the girls did all the work with the help of a friendly employee. <br />
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Our next stop was <a href="http://www.rileysapplefarm.com/" target="_blank">Riley's Apple Farm</a> where the girls had fun playing in a cabin type playhouse. They also had some archery, tomahawk throw, hayrides, cider pressing.</div>
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Our last stop was <a href="http://www.oaktreevillageoakglen.net/animal-park.html" target="_blank">Oak Tree Village</a>. I was hoping to try some apple pie at the famous Apple Annies; but the line was wrapped around outside, so I passed. This area was very crowded. We stayed only a few minutes since we were getting tired and didn't want to deal with the crowds. Oak Glen was definitely a fun and different experience.</div>
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-79347818974347193062013-10-17T22:42:00.000-07:002013-11-15T13:50:16.957-08:00Pumpkin Party - Valencia LibraryThe Valencia Library was having a pumpkin party to decorate pumpkins using inexpensive and unique materials. Thanks to Nancy's Ranch for the pumpkin donations and the library, the girls had a great time decorating their pumpkin, eating cookie treats and listening to some great holiday music. Here are the pumpkins they made.<br />
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-39139900016927004652013-10-13T22:27:00.000-07:002013-11-15T13:32:46.615-08:00Bow Wows and Meows Pet Fair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-21004257432805639542013-09-14T22:34:00.000-07:002013-10-24T10:36:45.583-07:00Aloha Beach Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We escaped to Ventura beach for a taste of Hawaii at the Aloha Beach Festival. <br />
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The festival is free admission; but we did pay $5 for parking. I've never seen such enthusiasm from a parking attendant before. He would excitedly wave people into the lot, then start counting the wad of money he had collected. <br />
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At the festival were several vendor and food booths along with an entertainment stage. We got the lay of the land; and saw surfers out in the distance. I think there was some sort of surfing contest going on. A K-9 Frisbee performance was scheduled; but didn't see where that was. The only thing that we found that the girls were interested in were the hula hoops scattered on the lawn that a vendor was selling. The girls had fun hula hooping while the hula dancing was being performed. <br />
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Since there was not much else to do, we walked down a few steps to the beach. We spent quite a bit of time there, then grabbed a sno-cone and left for home.<br />
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-21441859197954559142013-09-11T23:25:00.000-07:002013-09-13T11:27:04.055-07:00Children's Hunger Fund - Dressing Dolls33 volunteers came out to the Sylmar warehouse this morning and prepped dolls for this year's Toy Wrap! The two hours of time will help deliver hope!<span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList"><span class="fcg"> — at <span class="fbPhotoTagListTag withTagItem tagItem"><input autocomplete="off" name="tag[]" type="hidden" value="80678650494" /><span class="textTagHovercardLink taggee"><a href="http://www.chfus.org/" target="_blank">Children's Hunger Fund</a></span></span>.</span></span><br />
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<span class="fbPhotoTagList"><span class="fcg">I was expecting to bag beans or pasta today; but we got to dress dolls! The dolls came inappropriately dressed with mini skirts; so we had to undress them and put them in some decent outfits. Our girls had lots of fun last time we came and were so jealous we got to dress dolls without them. The toy wrap event is coming up; so they are excited to help wrap all those toys.</span></span><br />
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<span class="fbPhotoTagList"><span class="fcg"></span></span>Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-84947219543965957882013-08-31T22:56:00.000-07:002013-09-21T14:20:54.716-07:00Fillmore - Fish and HoneyNot much going on today; so we took about a 20 min. drive out to Fillmore to feed fish, taste honey and buy some fresh produce.<br /><br />Our first stop was at the Fillmore Fish Hatchery, where the girls had fun feeding the trout that were in trout beds as my daughter described it. We had gathered about 40 dimes to get handfuls of pellet fish food. We also brought some plastic cups for them to put the food in. There is a small bird sanctuary next door to do a little bird and duck watching. The girls spent about an hour here before we ran out of dimes. My oldest had to make sure every fish was fed, which was impossible to do.<br />
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Down the road is Bennett's Honey Farm. This is really a small gift shop selling honey and bee products. There are about 5 different types of honey you can taste including avocado, orange, sage and 2 others. I was excited to try the avocado since I love avocado. It did taste like avocado; but I didn't like it as a honey flavor. My favorite was the sage and bought a small honey bear of it that was on clearance. They also have a small glass encased display of live bees to watch.<br /></div>
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<br />After honey tasting we went to Francisco's Fruits to buy some fresh produce. We had brought a picnic lunch and purposely didn't pack fruit in order to get it here. They are the produce stand that is recognized for their red and white tent and has the most cars out of all the other produce stands. Everyone got to pick what they wanted. My oldest picked baby bananas, the youngest picked strawberries which she shared with me and hubby got apricots. All the fruit was great! But the strawberries were the best tasting strawberries. They were much sweeter than the strawberries we normally have. Even my oldest who is not a big fan of strawberries liked these ones. It was a fun frugal few hours spent out of the house.<br />
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-13731677441541800362013-08-28T14:09:00.000-07:002013-08-28T14:09:29.467-07:00Free Breakfast at Chick-fil-A<br />
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<a href="http://chick-fil-aforbreakfast.com/ComingSoon" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKThkGH7mNqDlVuZuNusm_Cesh_Hy02Kj6jXabwO4SnK8e-AmAOZzgBkXegBpI4IBnLWtJhf55SwWbt0zAlfKZBo6qbd9tcI26rk46TVwkKZncNaVH4GG8t1Il7yhZJ8L8GENcNPx0sJI/s320/Chick-fil-A-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
From <strong>September 9-14, 2013</strong>, participating Chick-fil-A® restaurants are giving away a variety of FREE breakfast entrees to customers who make a <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://chick-fil-aforbreakfast.com/ComingSoon#" id="FALINK_2_0_1">reservation online</a></nobr>. To make your reservation, visit this <a href="http://chick-fil-aforbreakfast.com/ComingSoon" target="_blank">website</a> beginning <strong>Thursday, August 29, 2013</strong> and choose your preferred Restaurant, the date, the time and breakfast entree. Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-46047938804414279592013-08-17T23:13:00.000-07:002013-09-13T11:13:38.526-07:00Santa Clarita Youth Sports Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had never been to the annual Sports Festivals; but decided to try it out this year. The girls had a lot of fun despite the scorching heat. The first activity they did was ride the big tricycles. After a few rounds on the obstacle course, we went to spin the wheel at the Valencia Ice Station table. The girls won a free public ice skating session and a free trial class. Next they did some archery. My youngest wanted to be like the girl on Brave, so she was very excited to try this. After almost getting the target, they decided to do rock wall climbing. <br />
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By this time it was getting really hot to be outside, so we moved indoors. Inside was the Healthy Family area. A mini grocery store was set up and the kids were given a bag to go shopping. They were able to make their own choices of what 3 foods they would like. They kept their food and went along to the healthy snack table to pick a snack. There were 3 snacks to pick from such as carrots, bananas and apples accompanied with a dipping sauce. My girls chose carrots snack; but didn't care for the yogurt dipping sauce to much. After snack, they did some hula hooping, played indoor soccer and that concluded the 2 hours we were there. There were many other activities to do; but didn't have time for them all. The girls had a great time and would like to go back next year.<br />
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<br />Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-60017392277395970942013-08-03T22:08:00.000-07:002013-09-13T11:27:26.256-07:00Children's Hunger Fund - Bagging BeansThis was our 1st time volunteering at the <a href="http://www.chfus.org/" target="_blank">Children's Hunger Fund</a>. It was a fun experience. We helped bag the pinto beans! <br />
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The Sylmar warehouse was bulging at the seams with a great group of 73 volunteers who packaged 5 gigantic bins of pasta and beans and built 1,071 Food Paks for kids in Mexico! <br />
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-20237294696187681932013-07-05T23:40:00.000-07:002013-09-13T12:42:55.704-07:00Monterey GetawayWe had a few days to take advantage of a weekend getaway to Monterey. Since it was a long drive, we made our first stop at the Dennis the Menace Playground so they could expel some energy. We spent a couple hours there before heading to the lake next door to do the paddle boat. It was a chilly day which was quite the opposite weather back home. We went from shorts and shirts to jackets and pants. <br />
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Once our 45 min. on the paddle boat was done, we went searching for restaurant who served the best clam chowder. I couldn't remember if it was at Fisherman's Wharf or at Cannery Row. We drove to Fisherman's Wharf and it wasn't there. Then we got on a trolley to go to Cannery Row. Well we got on the trolley that was going the opposite direction, so we quickly got off. We realized we were very far from where we needed to be. At this point we are getting hungry and cranky. We walked back to the car and drove to the correct destination. I finally found the <a href="http://www.fishhopper.com/monterey/index.php" target="_blank">Fish Hopper</a> to get my delicious clam chowder in a bread bowl! They have a clam chowder station outside the restaurant to get your food to go. My bowl was $8. Hubby and the girls wanted nothing to do with clam chowder; so they got to pizza to go from a nearby restaurant. We all ate outside the Fish Hopper and enjoyed our dinner overlooking the water. The chowder was very creamy and is one of the best clam chowders I've eaten. We took a walk around Cannery Row and browsed the shops before heading to the hotel.<br />
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The next day, we went tide pooling at <a href="http://ocparks.com/beaches/aliso/" target="_blank">Asilomar beach</a>. We found some tide pools and also spotted some seals climbing a rock near us. That was a fun treat. After tide pooling, we went back to Cannery Row to rent a surrey. It was pretty packed when we got there. Luckily we got there when we did before everyone took everything. We rode for about an hour along the beach bike path before heading back.<br />
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We were definitely ready for lunch. So we headed down toward the 17 mile drive to grab a picnic lunch to eat while on the drive. We stopped at<a href="http://www.brunosmarket.com/" target="_blank"> Bruno's Market</a> in Carmel to get our lunch. We ordered Tri-Tip sandwiches and a turkey sandwich for one of the girls. We then headed out for the 17 mile drive. It cost $9 to enter the pretty drive overlooking mansions, beaches, and golf courses. We even saw some deer walking on the side of the road! We found some picnic benches off one of the stops along the beach. That's where we stopped to eat our delicious sandwiches. We finished up the drive and headed back to Cannery Row to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I found a couple tickets on ebay for a good price and just had to pay for the kids. I was planning to use my AAA card for a discount; but apparently you have to buy them before hand at AAA. So much for saving $4. All throughout the morning while we were there, it had a huge line; but when we got there around 4:00 there was a very small line. The girls loved the aquarium enough to stay until it closing time which was 8:00. Our lunches were so filling, we didn't need dinner. We just grabbed a small snack and headed back to the hotel.<br />
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On our last day in Monterey, we headed out to Moss Landing to go on the <a href="http://www.elkhornslough.org/" target="_blank">Elkhorn Slough</a> boat tour. This was a really fun tour of getting to see hundreds of wildlife up close and personal. Me and my girls love otters. We saw hundreds of them swimming next to us along with many seals and birds and other wildlife. It was about a 2 hour tour and the guides were friendly and informative. The girls got to be otter and seal spotters and the adults help keep track of how many of each animal they see. A very fun trip.<br />
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After the boat ride, we stopped at a restaurant nearby for a must have fish and chip lunch. To conclude our trip, we made our last stop at <a href="http://steinbeckhouse.com/" target="_blank">John Steinbeck's house</a> in Salinas for a short tour. It was $5 per person to take this tour. Hubby is a big fan, so we squeezed it in for him. It was an interesting tour.<br />
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<br />Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-15437419853125225882013-07-04T23:44:00.000-07:002013-09-13T11:45:10.119-07:004th of JulyIn keeping with our yearly tradition, we went to the <a href="http://www.reaganfoundation.org/details_t.aspx?p=PE40004COEV&h1=0&h2=0&sw=&lm=programandevents&args_a=cms&args_b=62&argsb=N&tx=2380" target="_blank">Ronald Reagan Library</a> for some crafts and games. The girls made an handprint eagle craft, played some carnival games, did the water balloon toss and played a few games of presidential bingo. This time my youngest won a game!<br />
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Afterwards, we came home, took a little rest and went to the Church on the Way for their free <a href="http://soakfest.com/#/soakfest" target="_blank">Soakfest</a> event. They had a huge truck filled with water that would spray everyone, a ton of water balloons during the event as well as many more saved for their water balloon war at the end. There were water slides, activities for toddlers and a free hot dog dinner. It was a fun event.<br />
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After getting soaked, we headed back home to change, then headed back out to watch fireworks at the mall. It was a free fun filled day!Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-56174115222382350952013-06-22T22:56:00.000-07:002013-06-24T15:22:37.843-07:0011th Anniversary in San DiegoToday is our 11th anniversary and are spending the weekend in San Diego. We arrived late last night to the very romantic <a href="http://www.vagabondhc.com/" target="_blank">Vagabond Inn</a>. Yes, I am using sarcasm because the Vagabond is not a romantic hotel at all. Unless you get the Jacuzzi suite for $300-$400 a night, then I guess this might be considered a romantic place to go. But since I'm <strike>cheap </strike>frugal, we kept it about $80 a night for a decent hotel that included free breakfast, parking and wifi.<br />
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We usually never buy anniversary gifts or cards; but make them. This year the traditional gift for the 11th wedding anniversary was steel. We decided to make each other a gift with steel as the theme.<br />
These are the gifts we made for each other.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steel Wool Sheep<br />I made for Hubby<br />
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The Steel Couple<br />
Hubby made for me<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Day 1 - Saturday</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our anniversary morning started early since we had a kayak tour at 9:00 in La Jolla which is about 15 min. away. I got a discount on Goldstar for a Guided Kayak Tour of the Seven Caves through <a href="http://sandiegobikeandkayaktours.com/" target="_blank">San Diego Bike & Kayak Tours</a>. </span><span style="font-size: small;">We had never been kayaking and read this was something you got to do in La Jolla. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> We checked in, rented a wetsuit, got a locker and walked down to the beach to meet with the rest of the group. There were about 8-10 other double kayaks on the tour; but only a couple of us who had never kayaked. A lack of kayaking skills showed after they pushed us out over the tides because we started paddling the kayak in circles. Not once; but twice. Everyone else was together waiting for us while we figured out how to steer straight. We finally caught up and continued toward the cave. We got the hang of how to steer; but speed was our other issue. We were always the slowest ones and in the back of the group. Some people with kids were paddling faster than us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Our guide was very friendly and informative. We got to see sea lions swimming right next to us as well as hanging out on the rocks. We also saw Garibaldi fish. The water conditions were good enough that we got to go into one of the caves. We got lucky we were able to go in. The time came when we had to go over the tides to get back to shore and let one kayak go at a time. We saw a few people flip over as the tide came over them. I was not looking forward to flipping over. We rode one wave which was pretty fun. We were almost to shore when I looked back to a huge wave right behind us. Sure enough we got caught in it and flipped over. My oar took my arm backwards and hubby got hit in the head with the kayak. Thank goodness for the helmets they make you wear. Despite our issues, we still had a fun time!</span><br />
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After Kayaking, we went on a food tour with <a href="http://bitesandiego.com/" target="_blank">Bite San Diego</a>. They often offer half off tickets through places such as Living Social or Groupon. They have several food tours in San Diego and we did the Hillcrest tour. I found it interesting that most of the eateries we went to were houses converted into restaurants.</div>
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There were about 15 of us in the 3 hr. walking tour. Our first place we tried was <a href="http://www.jimmycartersmexicancafe.net/" target="_blank">Jimmy Carters Cafe</a>. There we ate a tostada, a beef and a pork quesadilla type dish and a calamari taco. I would have never ordered a calamari taco; but it was quite tasty.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the table where we sat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our next stop was at <a href="http://www.sanfilippos.net/" target="_blank">Sanfilippo's</a> to get a bite of some mushroom pizza.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiJLGhyphenhyphenrFLP7JJapczkrB63ySR5EcMdPvOmW4HXRlL0QrZmVBzYsfbrjs7QL2jZWPoE8ZyUaShULdhYJB8stwL2IlNDTOT-BnH4wzmJmM2N9CGnwbmpWWhJifdw_YUCI5ZpqzEJce4pk/s1600/IMG1182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiJLGhyphenhyphenrFLP7JJapczkrB63ySR5EcMdPvOmW4HXRlL0QrZmVBzYsfbrjs7QL2jZWPoE8ZyUaShULdhYJB8stwL2IlNDTOT-BnH4wzmJmM2N9CGnwbmpWWhJifdw_YUCI5ZpqzEJce4pk/s320/IMG1182.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The 3rd stop was <a href="http://www.rgangeatery.com/" target="_blank">R-Gang Eatery</a>. The Top Chef contestant, Rich Sweeney owns this restaurant. Here we tried their signature cheddar and chive Tater Tots served with chipotle sauce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8xcttq83iHB4NbFmC6fvnzbapDrtRYzH0aJbuw-ZkOatgxGf-GwDRA2O558Bg4PNBoa-1CyVbG3sMWpwUqh3cN2IZ2IRewA0vJt10dyylKEXgkBD7LztgsgE9rqQ9JoCq_1-utsT3gs/s1600/IMG1188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8xcttq83iHB4NbFmC6fvnzbapDrtRYzH0aJbuw-ZkOatgxGf-GwDRA2O558Bg4PNBoa-1CyVbG3sMWpwUqh3cN2IZ2IRewA0vJt10dyylKEXgkBD7LztgsgE9rqQ9JoCq_1-utsT3gs/s320/IMG1188.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our next place was <a href="http://www.babycakessandiego.com/" target="_blank">Baby Cakes</a> who seemed to be famous for their cupcakes. They do have a restaurant menu and bar as well. As we entered, they had us drool over a window case full of delicious looking cupcakes. But when we got seated, they served us a snicker doodle! I felt a bit disappointed that we didn't get a cupcake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our last stop was at <a href="http://empirehousesd.com/" target="_blank">EmpireHouse</a> where they served us a BBQ bacon cheeseburger slider with a pickle on the side. I can't remember the last time I had a pickle. Both the slider and the pickle were great. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Our waiter was very friendly and the owner, Larry was a cool guy. He told us how his restaurant got started, the story behind his industrial farm décor and his food.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A few hours after stuffing our faces with delicious food, we went to La Jolla for our anniversary dinner at <a href="http://www.brigantine.com/azul/menu.html" target="_blank">The Steakhouse at Azul La Jolla</a>. I was looking forward to a steak dinner; but was not very hungry from all the food at the food tour. However, I ordered the 6 oz Filet with a loaded baked potato. The meal was very good. This is now one of my favorite places to eat steak. They have 2 spots to eat; one is the patio where it's lit at night or the ocean view. We chose the ocean view seating. They only have about 5 tables for 2 that are really nice window seats overlooking the ocean. I reserved one of those; but didn't get it and was not going to wait forever for it. Instead we got a nice velvet feeling booth that also had a great view. After dinner, the waiter asked if we were celebrating a birthday or anniversary. We said, anniversary and he gave us a complimentary brownie alamode. It was sooo good! I did not have room for dessert; but had to make some for this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Brownie Alamode</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">After dinner, we went to check out <a href="http://www.thecomedypalace.com/" target="_blank">The Comedy Palace</a>. I got a discount on tickets through Sweetjack.com. Tonight's comedians were <a href="http://www.gisofcomedy.com/" target="_blank">The GI's of Comedy</a>. They are 4 guys who are veterans of the armed forces. They were very funny and got me to laugh at loud. Since there is a 2 item minimum, we ordered drinks. Those were watered down and not great. They couldn't even give me a decent Shirley Temple. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Day 2 - Sunday</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">We went on a scavenger hunt through <a href="http://urbanadventurequest.com/" target="_blank">Urban Quest Adventures</a>. I got a discount through Sweetjack for this too. We started at Old Town and used our cell phone to answer questions. They had us go on the MTS to stop in Little Italy and make our way to the Port of San Diego. This tour was really fun and we learned a lot from the cities we went. This was supposed to be a 3 hr walking tour; but I guess we were a little slow and took our time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It ended up taking about 3 1/2 to 4 hrs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For lunch, we stopped at a place in Little Italy for a slice of pizza to go. I got sun-dried tomatoes with spinach slice and hubby got a meatball with mozzarella slice. When we arrived back in Old Town, we each got 2 handmade flour tortillas with butter from El Coyote. Yum! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">These are some of the places we stopped at.</span><br />
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MTS Transportation</div>
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Fire Station Museum - In or near Little Italy</div>
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"The less things change, the more they remain the same"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgicbxgwW48LmuR4EcfleYIJ-fdgICDqaRCDubpF8hL7pmQvWKm0xKVi8TTqMi-2nWCe6hYlwmTZvrbl4rNalMawm1kd5ak8IrYaueOa8QUC2HqdLciE5KYULLo2MgsQEeRDa43gX9_iw/s1600/IMG1206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgicbxgwW48LmuR4EcfleYIJ-fdgICDqaRCDubpF8hL7pmQvWKm0xKVi8TTqMi-2nWCe6hYlwmTZvrbl4rNalMawm1kd5ak8IrYaueOa8QUC2HqdLciE5KYULLo2MgsQEeRDa43gX9_iw/s400/IMG1206.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />Recipe for Marinara Sauce.</div>
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The Star of India is the world's largest sailing ship.</div>
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Pathway leading to the transit station.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">By the end of our fun weekend, I have sore arms and a sun burn from kayaking, a full stomach from all the eating, and a small blister from all that walking. Was it all worth it? Yes! I would do it all over again.</span></div>
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-69088872478883369792013-06-17T22:01:00.000-07:002013-06-24T16:02:13.798-07:00My Birthday<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy Birthday to Me!</div>
Hubby was not able to take the day off work this year; so I had a fun girls day out with my girls. We slept in, went to have tea and lunch at <a href="http://www.theteagardens.com/" target="_blank">The Tea Gardens</a>, then got our nails done at<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/beths-nails-and-spa-santa-clarita" target="_blank"> Beth' Nails</a>. It's been 11 years almost to the date since I had my nails done for my wedding day. I am way past due! Later, I took my daughter to her swim lesson then caught up with hubby and my parents to a dinner at <a href="http://www.macaronigrill.com/" target="_blank">Macaroni Grill</a>. I have never had such bad service in a restaurant as we had here. There were only about 5 tables seated in the whole place and the waiter was absent the whole time. He couldn't get anything right and gave us the wrong food. Because of the terrible experience we did get our salads free and free desserts.<br />
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-30469711060417989312013-06-16T22:56:00.000-07:002013-06-24T15:47:05.609-07:00Father's Day at Pacific Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Happy Father's Day! </div>
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Today, we celebrated by going to our usual breakfast spot with hubby's parents at <a href="http://millies.com/" target="_blank">Millies</a> in Granada Hills. I got my usual California avocado omelet with hash browns and a biscuit with gravy. My oldest was especially excited to go out to breakfast just so that she could have bacon. </div>
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My picky eater recently decided to try bacon and is in love. </div>
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I never cook bacon, so it was a treat for her to have some today.</div>
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After a full belly, we headed over to the Santa Monica Pier so the girls could ride the rides at <a href="http://www.pacpark.com/index.php" target="_blank">Pacific Park</a>. I had bought a Groupon for unlimited rides for them. They enjoyed a couple fun hours here riding about 7 or 8 rides twice. I read they were giving free basketball shots to dad's in honor of Father's Day. Hubby is not into basketball; so we did not take advantage of the free try.</div>
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After a visit to Santa Monica, we went to my parent's house for a chicken and steak BBQ and called it a day.</div>
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<br />Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-74388640952940423052013-05-31T23:41:00.000-07:002013-06-24T15:42:37.364-07:00AAA Member Magic Mountain NightIt was the last day of school today and decided to surprise the girls to a treat at Magic Mountain. They have a private event annually for AAA members to enjoy the park all day with the public or members only from 6:00pm-12:00am at a discounted rate. We told the girls we were going to the store to get something that was on sale for that day. While driving there, they had their faces in books and didn't even notice where we were going. My oldest noticed that we were at Magic Mountain; but didn't say anything cuz she thought we were just passing it by to get to the store. There was silence as we entered the park. This was not the reaction we thought we would get. We had to stop and park before they started squealing about being there. <br />
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My youngest is much taller than the last time we were here a couple years ago, so we had fun getting on more rides. The last ride of the night we went on was Roaring Rapids at about 10:00pm. We got soaked! It was still about 80 degrees out; so we were not freezing, just uncomfortably wet.<br />
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We got on a couple more rides, grabbed a funnel cake and went home. There is still debate on which is the better funnel cake. Is it plain with powdered sugar or with strawberries added on top? We ordered strawberries on half of it because that's what hubby thought was better. It turned out that he was the only one who like it. The 3 of us split the other plain half.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Where hubby and I first met and used to work.</span></div>
Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-3211243776373461392013-05-28T12:08:00.000-07:002013-05-31T12:09:29.007-07:00.50 Ice Cream - Burger King<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.bk.com/en/us/fresh-offers/index.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTUeHBS77iR-D4hrz1cWC8IXzE6cI5CLJieHzSlYr8bWNRDNGBtTfcv3PrOfnEbDD0q21HP3nDAHAvJi_W-Qbuxll9FWdCIxqLH4cv0pgHOtmbV3svPbAxnRVZ6NlFG2apvUphgsBAqM/s400/BK.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now through August 5th,<a href="http://www.bk.com/en/us/fresh-offers/index.html" target="_blank"> Burger King</a> locations are selling Soft Serve Ice Cream
Cones for only $0.50. No coupon necessary!</div>
Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-64799045936617161092013-05-25T23:49:00.000-07:002013-05-29T16:59:57.529-07:00Street Food Cinema - Stand By Me & Corey FeldmanFor date night, I found <a href="http://www.streetfoodcinema.com/home.html" target="_blank">Street Food Cinema</a> on Goldstar.com. When I saw they were showing Stand By Me, I had to buy tickets since this is one of mine and hubby's favorites movies. The featured band entertainment was Corey Feldman. We got to Exposition Park and waited in the fast moving line about an hour after they started letting people in. The place was packed with 2,000 people; but we managed to find a decent spot a short distance from the VIP section.<br />
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The only grip I had about the spot we picked was that there was a tree branch blocking the top part of the screen. It ended up being tolerable once the movie had started.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kq2m57RVFH3Jok4Djse-mKh2lDxLhClRimFlCdj_eCl25p37pT5b75hlmCZoPtI2VhiinE1FjlPCoabt1Uh0PpijtjPH2-WlHPQU5aVlbCu0oGDAQXq8LqtxuXdT3SJ3TWGB5CcGyVA/s1600/SF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kq2m57RVFH3Jok4Djse-mKh2lDxLhClRimFlCdj_eCl25p37pT5b75hlmCZoPtI2VhiinE1FjlPCoabt1Uh0PpijtjPH2-WlHPQU5aVlbCu0oGDAQXq8LqtxuXdT3SJ3TWGB5CcGyVA/s320/SF.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our view with a tree branch obstruction</td></tr>
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There were food trucks of all kinds, most with long lines except for the organic truck. I guess there were not a lot of healthy eaters in the crowd that night. Hubby and I were going to share a meal from one of the Korean BBQ trucks; but the line never moved after standing there for 15 min. Another popular truck was the Grilled Cheese. Someone in front of us got one of those sandwiches and it didn't look like anything I couldn't make at home; but I'm sure there was something unique about it. The 76 gasoline booth was giving out free coffee which was an added bonus for hubby.<br />
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Everything ran later than planned; so the movie didn't start until 9:00-9:30. This was our first time at Street Food Cinema and we enjoyed it. Well, we enjoyed the movie, not so much Corey Feldman's singing. That was pretty terrible. It was more entertaining to hear him being insulted by the crowd. It was a good, fun crowd that helped make the movie enjoyable.<br />
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Next movie is Risky Business on June 1st!<br />
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<strong>Some tips for a fun frugal time at Street Food Cinema are...</strong><br />
Look for comp tickets found on Goldstar.com. Two people can get in for $7 by paying just service fees.<br />
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Forget about paying $10 to park on site and find meter parking across the street. Parking is free on the street after 8:00pm.<br />
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Bring your own food and have a picnic on the grass.Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-71385633558696866912013-05-25T22:16:00.000-07:002013-06-24T10:18:53.427-07:00Fluffy - First Pet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The girls got their first real pet besides a goldfish from a friend who was giving away some rabbits. She is a lionhead rabbit with so much fur, you can barely see her eyes. The girls named her Fluffy and are so excited to have her. She's about one year's old, is very gentle and sweet, and loves to play outside.</div>
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<br />Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-51860872831494591962013-05-23T10:19:00.002-07:002013-05-23T10:21:56.711-07:00.49 Slurpee - Memorial Day Weekend<div id="gigya_ruler" style="display: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 11px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;">
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<strong><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="color: red;">Fri, May 24th - Mon, May 27th </span></span></strong></div>
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-6502837250244618542013-05-19T22:00:00.000-07:002013-05-23T10:09:42.530-07:00Memorial Day Weekend - Fiesta Days in La Canada <div align="LEFT">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: 40</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">TH </span><span style="font-size: large;">ANNUAL MEMORIAL WEEKEND <a href="http://www.lacanadaflintridge.com/cham/events/fiesta.htm" target="_blank">FIESTA DAYS</a> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Arial; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Arial; font-size: small;"></span></span> <a href="http://www.lacanadaflintridge.com/cham/events/EventsSked13.pdf" target="_new"><strong>Get the 2013 Fiesta Days Schedule of Events here.</strong></a></div>
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<strong>Vintage Car Show </strong></div>
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<em>Miss LCF and her Royal Court</em></div>
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">How to Train Your Dragon</span></strong><br />
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<span style="color: blue; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>In Memorial Park</strong></span><br />
1301 Foothill Blvd.<br />
Admission Cost: <strong><span style="color: red;">Free!</span></strong><br />
Classic movie concessions for sale<br />
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All Families Welcome!<br />
Bring blankets or chairs for comfortable viewing in the park.<br />
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<li>The La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce and Community Association </li>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">B.B.Q in the Park and <br />
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<span class="style2"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sponsored by NASA Services, Inc.</span></span><span class="stylesheet"><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Parade Down Foothill Blvd.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Sponsored by Allied Waste Services</span><br />
<a href="http://www.lacanadaflintridge.com/cham/events/parade_map.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">See map of where parade starts.</span></a><br />
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Local School Bands<br />
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Bounce Houses</div>
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Children's Petting Zoo</div>
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<br />Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-22429974073003492192013-05-12T22:14:00.000-07:002013-05-16T12:04:58.237-07:00Mother's Day at the Japanese GardenThis morning I was greeted with a cheerful "Good Morning, Mommy, Happy Mother's Day!" as the girls came in my room with a bowl of Cheerios. They had made me breakfast in bed and were so excited to do it. Shortly after breakfast they were eager for me to open their presents that they worked so diligently on. I loved my homemade cards, bookmark, picture frame, handprints, and mini books from the girls. Hubby picked roses from our backyard and gave me chocolates. What awesome gifts! <br /><br />After church, we continued with our Mother's Day tradition with a Panda Express picnic at the park. We then went to the <a href="http://thejapanesegarden.com/index.html" target="_blank">Japanese Garden</a> in Van Nuys for their Mother's Day celebration. The event consisted of... <br />
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ORIGAMI</div>
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IKEBANA EXHIBITS</div>
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DOLL MAKING - DEMONSTRATION & DISPLAY</div>
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KAMISHIBI - JAPANESE STORY TELLING</div>
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<span class="txt13">TEA & COOKIES IN THE SHOIN
BUILDING<br /><br />GENERAL ADMISSION : $3.00<br />CHILDREN UNDER 10 AND SENIORS : $2.00</span></div>
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<span class="txt13"> We had wedding photographs taken here and it brought back good memories coming here for the first time since our wedding. It was a very hot day, so we bought the girls 2 paper fans to cool down as they walked through the garden. It was very cute watching the girls fan themselves during our walk. <br /><br />Making origami flowers was our first stop in the garden. They were simple to make and the girls had fun. They even gave us tiny vases to put the flowers in.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7GUoMWRQIlZgT-hw9r8tMAdqSpvahy8TKCbWjLbF-8LbicTnqqmg3Uc3pLBf3PiickKG0Z1kgNz_RvWil_XIDYyBJRDhGTW9s25om_Zbm-oYRBhCY2R4nxnDGLqMt7kly4WQV_MTspg/s1600/IMG_20130513_122812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7GUoMWRQIlZgT-hw9r8tMAdqSpvahy8TKCbWjLbF-8LbicTnqqmg3Uc3pLBf3PiickKG0Z1kgNz_RvWil_XIDYyBJRDhGTW9s25om_Zbm-oYRBhCY2R4nxnDGLqMt7kly4WQV_MTspg/s320/IMG_20130513_122812.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="txt13"> We came to the shoin building where they were serving tea, lemonade and cookies for $2/person. We sat down at the table overlooking the water sipping lemonade and eating those yummy Japanese cookies with the almond in the middle. One of the volunteers in the shoin came over to the table to do some magic tricks for the girls which was a fun added bonus. <br /><br />We finished our stroll through the garden and headed home. Our day continued as we went to my parent's house for our yearly tradition of eating KFC dinner while enjoying the nice evening weather in the backyard.</span></div>
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<span class="txt13">It was a happy Mother's Day full of love, fun and lot of food!</span></div>
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-48625147980411604902013-05-04T18:22:00.001-07:002013-05-04T18:22:57.397-07:00May the 4th be with You!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFevyWoeejU9aMeQu1atWY446gVFTcbmt4lTZXVAzTT-UHu5GLhveIZ1yrwdZsC9QjW2wpHENPECFKL6a5meUOreS2Y4eD4hObpVfKj2u0NSdkmi_UBICWl_anIYeUGhuXCtxnve8libo/s1600/DSC04068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFevyWoeejU9aMeQu1atWY446gVFTcbmt4lTZXVAzTT-UHu5GLhveIZ1yrwdZsC9QjW2wpHENPECFKL6a5meUOreS2Y4eD4hObpVfKj2u0NSdkmi_UBICWl_anIYeUGhuXCtxnve8libo/s400/DSC04068.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div>
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<br />To celebrate May the 4th be with you, I found this cool </div>
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Yoda cube craft to make (actually hubby made it).<br />Make your own <a href="http://www.cubeecraft.com/cubee/lego-yoda" target="_blank">Starwars cube craft.</a></div>
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The 4th was with these lucky kids when they won an </div>
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R2D2 water cooler at the Kids Day Fishing event at <a href="http://www.castaiclake.com/index.html" target="_blank">Castaic Lake</a>.</div>
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-55804811884906450852013-05-02T22:05:00.000-07:002013-05-02T22:05:00.186-07:00Kid's Fishing Castaic Lake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><strong><br />Kid's Fishing Day 2013!</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Free at </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Castaic Lake</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"> </span></strong></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.castaiclake.com/docs/2013/2013_kids_fun_fish_day_flyer.pdf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrAJ4QiSYezcfj0HTC_7Gyi2HDgWesvGm9eKXvdK7Zu0WpfJVtZGDK3eWiHAdJvbxV1IdC-Yi8sJktAME7VF6wFL9MicnY4HH_RrxdniZpmrMuSMX1WhcNt_OLQGKxCGOxYnoNf1v-Ks/s400/2013_kids_fun_fish_day_flyer.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for Flyer info</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><strong>Raffles and Prizes</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><strong>Tackle Giveaway <span style="font-size: x-small;">(while supplies last)</span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><strong>Free Hotdog Lunch</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><strong>Rods, Reels and Bait Provided</strong></span></div>
Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-52179046496601952592013-04-28T23:39:00.000-07:002013-05-16T09:45:48.055-07:00Saving A Life at the Zimmer MuseumI bought a Living Social deal in December to come to the Zimmer Museum and finally got around to using it today before it expired. As we were putting my purse and lunch through their metal detector security area, out wobbles a 12-15 month old girl. Assuming her mom was nearby, I didn't pay too much attention. Then I looked back and the girl pushed the door open and walked outside. I'm looking around for a parent, realized there wasn't one and walked out to get her. She was just a few steps away from walking right into the street; but hubby was fast enough to grab her. The employee took the girl and called inside the museum to report a lost girl. The mom was completely oblivious and calmly walked to get her child. The museum is not very big, so we saw this mom several times and noticed she always left one child to tend to the other. Several minutes would go by with one of the kids just wondering by themselves. It was soooo frustrating watch. I just had a hard time believing these kids made it this far with the lack of supervision they had. <br />
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Later on, the girl hubby saved ran a shopping cart into his leg. I guess that was her way of saying thanks. Hubby must have been a magnet for shopping carts cuz another kid also ran into him. It was a day of mostly people watching as our girls managed to stay in one area for really long periods of time. They really enjoyed the ball pit ship, the grocery store and the cafe. For the most part the kids at the museum were behaved which made people watching a little less interesting. We did have a stinky diaper go past us, and some screaming babies go by (mostly from the one we saved from running into the street). There was only a certain amount I can just sit around watching the girls play and people watch. 2 1/2 hours became my limit and we headed home. The girls had a fun time though.Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713580182691616272.post-18357586390839184282013-04-20T22:56:00.000-07:002013-05-16T09:45:36.880-07:00Painting with Fruit and Astronomy DayCollege of the Canyons held it's annual Kid's Day event today. While I think my 5 and 8 year old girls are getting a little too old to participate, they always find something to keep them entertained. As we were walking along the booths, we started to smell something next to us. It was like there was a Starbucks or bakery a few feet away. I think the booth was advertising a preschool. The activity was to mash up different kinds of fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, pomegranates and some others to use as paint. The fruit were in mortars and the kids used a pestle to mash it up. Once the fruit was all mashed up, they were given a scrap fabric and a paintbrush to paint their masterpiece. <br />
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In the same booth was what looked like a vintage coffee grinder and coffee spread all over the blanket. Our girls didn't participate in that activity; but other kids seemed to enjoy grinding up their own coffee beans. The smell of the coffee, all the fruit and some shade of that booth, kept it inviting.<br />
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After about an hour of kid's play, we went to the local library for their Astronomy day . We got there at the time they were making telescopes from a kit. The girls each made a telescope brought to us by Santa Clarita's local Astronomy Club. The girls were were eager to try it out later in the evening when we went back for stargazing. After they made telescopes, we watched a presentation on TMT, Thirty Meter Telescope. It was very interesting to see how many people and how much time goes into building this thirty meter telescope. Construction began in Mauna Kea, Hawaii just this month after about 20 years of planning. I believe it will take about 10 years to complete.<br />
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After the TMT presentation, we did an astronomy scavenger hunt within the library which helped teach us some interesting facts about our solar system. We got to also view the sun through a solar telescope.<br />
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This is the telescope we viewed the moon from.<br />
Later in the evening we grabbed our homemade telescopes and came back for some stargazing. We got to see the moon and it's many craters! We also got to see Jupiter and three of it's 67 moons! We also got to see Saturn! It was fascinating to actually see the rings around Saturn. <br />
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Catrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03832976139645314241noreply@blogger.com0