Camping in Idyllwild

Yes, we're off on another camping trip.  Since we bought our pop up, we've been camping every month!  And we love it.  This time we were headed to Idyllwild and it was REALLY cold.  Thank goodness Garrett bought an indoor heater for the trip since it got below 38 degrees at night.  Who knew that memory foam pillows are rock hard in the cold! :)  We set up camp when we got there and our friends Pamela, Bruce and Destiny came by to check it out and then invited us back to their cabin for a warm meal.  We were grateful to get out of the cold!  The next morning we enjoyed some family fun time to keep warm.

 

One of our secrets is that we set up the dvd players in the car and when it's early and boredom hits, the kids crawl into their car seats and enjoy a show.  Here's Ty also enjoying some delicious bacon.

Yummy bacon off the grill!

Here's our camp chef.  It always amazes me what he can whip up on a campfire.

I love these sweet kids.  They actually get along really well, especially while camping.  They pack their backpacks with lots of fun activities that they pull out to play at the campground. 

My favorite camping partner. :)

We cleaned up (I took the coldest shower I've ever had!) and then headed to town.  Idyllwild was having a wine festival and Pamela had set up to have her house cleaner watch our kids while we tour the town and wine taste.  Perfect!  The town is really cute and the festival had set up tasting booths all around so you really got to enjoy the whole town.

Two of the tasting booths were set up in this common area and right above it was where the kids were staying.  We had them come out onto the porch for a photo!

Garrett and I had a blast.  Lots of tasting, delicious appetizers, including this amazing olive dip, which I'm not normally a big fan of but it had lots of garlic and soooo good!

Here's Pamala's neighbor Candy, Pamela and I enjoying our tastes.  Such a fun group!

After we made it through the town and sat down for some snacks and another glass of wine, we picked up the kids and headed up to a cabin where the Lizano's were staying.  They were able to use their Uncle's cabin the same weekend!  They had these big rocks up behind their house, the best view!

Our first trip up to Idyllwild was perfect.  We enjoyed a dinner of pulled pork tacos, salad and more wine and then headed home to our cozy little camper.  The next morning wasn't too fun.  Tatum had to go potty and when we got into the only nearby restroom, someone had thrown up on the floor of the middle staul, and there was very little toilet paper.  Tatum had to go poop so she got in there and finished her business but while I was in the restroom, I could hear this coughing.  I come out and she's litterally gagging and wretching!  I rushed her out of the restroom because I didn't want her to throw up on the floor as well and she spit up a bit but nothing too bad.  She said her stomach hurt from looking at the throw up!  Poor thing.  I told her to think of something pleasant and as we walked back to the camper, she kept saying, "I'm thinking of rainbows, I'm thinking of rainbows." :)  My dad was a gagger so I guess we know where she gets that from. :)  We packed up and headed home and all enjoyed a warm shower.  We can't wait to go back, but I think we'll wait till summer. :)

Apple Day's Festival

We LOVE Apple Days in Julian!  It's a festival outside of the town at a winery where lots of craft booths are set up, wine and beer tasting, food trucks, kids activities and best of all, apple picking.  We've been the last few years and it never disappoints.  We got there pretty early so we could beat the crowd and we definitely did because it looked like the place was barely open.  Apparently, it had been open the day before and over night a huge wind storm hit and blew over a lot of the craft booth canopies.  Most of them had picked up and left, understandably.  But the kids got right to the fun stuff!

Which always includes the bounce house...

and a pony ride!  Grandma was nice enough to buy a ride for each of them and they couldn't wait!

Then we went over to enjoy some panning for gold.  Tatum really loved this and Daddy help her three times!

Ty was more interested in the corn box. :)

A jewel!  Tatum found a few items and for $1, she got a little glass container to safely keep all her treasures.

Ty finally came around when he saw the jewels.  Who doesn't love treasure!

And after some wine tasting, we were off to do some apple picking.  These apples are always so small, sweet and delicious.  And Ty LOVES finding all the sweet ones and taking bites along the way.  He's our fruit guy.

Another good one!

We bought one big bag and it didn't take long to fill it up. I didn't get a picture of Grandma in action but she helped fill the bag as well.  Lots of fun for everyone.

Silly family!

Legoland

We had a chance to go back and enjoy Legoland for one last time and it happened to be during their Brick or Treat time!  Lots of pumpkins made out of Legos.  Ty was being a crab and wouldn't look at the camera for the picture.  He had a talking to after that and you'll see that he gladly smiled in all the rest of the photos. :)

Ty got his driver's license!  Oh no!

These silly little kids.  They were so happy to go back to Legoland and so thankful.  Lots of fun!

Tatum and Daddy went on the planes.  Poor Tatum sat back on a railing while waiting in line for this ride and flipped over and hit her head on the cement!  She survived but was the proud owner of a goose egg on her noggin!

I loved all their Halloween decorations. 

And they HAD to go down the slide about 5 times.

There was trick or treat stations all around and the kids loved getting lots of yummy treats at each one.

Ty LOVED this Star Wars mini replica.  Especially since our wonderful neighbor gave Ty this big Star Wars fighter machine that's behind him in the photo.  It's amazing what they can build with legos!

We only stayed at Legoland until just after 6 which was about when all the craziness was beginning.  Lots of people were coming dressed up in costumes and lots of crazy workers were walking around, like this tall dude.  We headed out and had dinner down the street at Miquel's, delicious.  A wonderful family fun day!

Creekside's Fall Festival

Creekside puts on a fall festival where every class mans a carnival booth.  Any carnival game you can imagine, they've got it.  And this year Tatum's class had the Gecko Wheel of Fortune.  Tatum signed up to man the booth for a half hour and her friend Destiny stopped by to visit!

While Tatum was working, Ty, Grandma and I hit a few of the games.  Each kid had a set amount of tickets so they had to figure out which games they wanted to play and how many tickets they'd need.  It was really hard for Ty since he wanted to play them all of course.  But at each game, whether you won or not, you got a prize.  Each kid had a bag to keep their goodies in and couldn't wait to empty it on the kitchen floor when we got home. :)

Garrett manned the booth with Tatum too, so fun!

And at one point, Parker came over and got behind there with Tatum.  Garrett said he got booted. :)  I asked Tatum later why Parker was behind there.  Her and Parker sit next to one another and seem to really get along.  She said they'd talked about it in class and he wanted to come help her while she was on the job.  So cute.  I think he wanted her to come back when he was manning the booth later that night but we left before his turn.  This event raises lots of money for our school and such a great opportunity to meet families, reach out to the neighborhood and enjoy our school.

Teddy Bear Breakfast

This morning the kids were asked to come to school in their pajamas.  How exciting!  This was because this morning they were having a Teddy Bear Breakfast!  The 1st graders had made bears out of paper bags and the kindergarteners had brought a bear in from home the day before.  Their bears slept over in the classroom with blankies and pillows the kids had also brought from home.  When they came into the classroom the next morning though, everything was crazy!

The bears had a party last night during their sleep over!

Here's Tatum with her handmade bear.  These were so cute!  Buttons for eyes, material for a bow in their hair.  Very cute.

And here's Sophie and Tatum excited for a fun Bear Breakfast morning!

 

After the craziness calmed down, the kids and Mrs. Kirchmeier got organized for a darling group photo.

Then the parade began!  Each 1st grade class came through the classrooms and picked up another 1st grade class and then they all paraded through the other classrooms.  So fun!

They also paraded around the school!

And here's Mrs. Donnelly, our new principle really showing her spirit by wearing her footie pjs. The kids LOVED it!

Then the classes ended the parade at the lunch tables where each kid sat down with their bear in front of a bowl of oatmeal and a bear head bread they had each made the day before.  I was lucky enough to volunteer and help each kid make their bear bread.  So fun!

Here's Tatum with Mollie H, Molly P and Kale'a.  What a fun morning for Tatum and her class!