Thanks for the memories, alpacas!

It would be super easy to take the family to obvious outings on the weekend when we have a couple of hours to spare - the library, the Outlets, the bookstore are a couple of places we go and the girls have a great time. They are always up for a trip to any of these places. But when I saw that a couple of our local alpaca farms were opening their ranches to the public one weekend, I jumped at the opportunity to expand our horizons and do something a little different. The day was going to start with alpacas if I had anything to say about it. The girls didn't really question this decision. They didn't know what an alpaca was, they changed their outfits several times because they didn't really know how to dress for visiting a farm, but we eventually got there. I called Au Bob and Julia and they met us there...it's never too early for a baby to experience farm animals. The alpaca farm, Ahh...Sweet Alpacas, had about 40 alpacas on the ranch. There were already a ton of people there when we got there. The girls were able to feed the alpacas leaves and pet them. They are such friendly animals. If you don't have food, they want nothing to do with you. They literally ran away from us if we ran out of leaves. Diana had so much fun she kept running back to get more leaves without even asking us if she could. Amy had a harder time warming up to the alpacas, but we finally convinced her that the alpacas wanted her leaves, not her fingers. She finally got brave and got a kick out of feeding them. I took a ton of pictures but due to technical difficulties am unable to upload them. It's a memory that I won't forget. One hour at this place was a great time and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a chance!

Listen close, happy kids are nearby

Parenting becomes a lot easier when you stop and listen to your kids. I can put them in swim lessons, soccer, gymnastics and every sport and activity in between and they will always have a smile on their faces. It's hard to tell when they are unhappy. Most of the time though, they aren't begging us to enroll them in some of these activities. It just happens to be that time of year, we sign them up because we did it the previous year. I'm going to start paying attention and spend my money wisely - I'm going to invest my money in my kids. Diana loves to draw and doodle and says that she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up. She's been fortunate to have three teachers so far who have made art an integral part of their classroom curriculum. Maybe this is where her motivation comes from. Lord knows it's not genetic. Her cousin is quite the artist and has an art-related major at USF. Another cousin can play guitar and was in a band for a long time. If Diana really wants to pursue this art thing she needs practice and that starts with us. She can only do so much sitting at her table in the playroom. Unfortunately, there aren't many options for art classes in Vacaville. I found a place in nearby Davis that offers a Saturday art class for kids her age and it covers a wide variety of mediums. She starts the class in a couple of weeks and I'm excited to see where it leads. I'm sure she's going to learn a lot and have fun and that's the most important thing.

We love to sew and give!

We got to combine the best of two worlds the other day when we presented four homemade baby blankets to KinderCare, Diana and Amy's former daycare, as a thanks for the years of care they provided to our family. I sat down and taught Diana to sew (not that I am some great seamstress, but I can get away with the basics) not long ago and she proceeded to make her first blanket. I ran the idea by the girls that we should make some blankets for the baby room at KinderCare because I wanted to show my gratitude to them. The girls really liked the idea and I thought it would be a fun project the three of us could do together. I took the girls to the fabric store and they picked out the colors they wanted for two "boy" blankets and two "girl" blankets. They did a great job of picking out some cute, bright colored fabric. Once the fabric was washed and ready, Amy helped me pin the pieces of material together. Then, we let Diana at the sewing machine. I was amazed at how quickly she picked it up. She wasn't intimidated or scared (which I was when I first bought this machine three years ago). She also didn't get frustrated, which I definitely do with this machine on a regular basis. She's as natural behind the sewing machine as I am on the treadmill. :) It took us a couple of weeks to finish all the blankets, but we finally knocked two out in one afternoon on a weekend and delivered them to KinderCare this past Wednesday. The center director, who we have known for many years, and the staff in the baby room were thrilled. Some of the walking babies even came over to see the blankets when we hand-delivered them. This was such a great thing for my girls to be part of. I love teaching them about helping other people and thinking of others before ourselves and they have been very receptive. I am very lucky. I completely forgot to take a picture of the blankets...I can't believe it. But they are very cute and just the start of many wonderful things my girls are going to do behind the sewing machine!

The Greatest Night of Their Lives

Even though my kids are older now, there are still a lot of firsts that we encounter. A couple of weekends ago, we took the girls to the aquarium for the first time (Diana went when she was 14 months, but that doesn't count because she doesn't remember it). Firsts bring so much joy to parents because of the reactions, excitement and suspense that come with them. A woman at work gave me four free vouchers to Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey circus for Friday night so I immediately jumped on that. No matter that it was going to be a little stressful having to drive home from Sacramento after work, pick up the girls and drive back to Sacramento for the show. It was going to be worth it, I concluded. I remember going to the circus as a kid and it truly is the greatest show on Earth. But that was forever ago. I had no idea what I was getting myself, or my kids, into by going to the circus this past weekend. We got there just as the show was starting and the girls ran up the stairs to our seats. They were blown away with the lights and the singing and the performances. I could sit here and recount every performance, every moment and every "That was amazing!" that came out of Diana's mouth that night, but you would lose interest. The girls never took their eyes off the show and sat on the edge of their seats the whole time. Diana loved the acrobats - it was hard to see the trapeze artists from where we sat and we tried to move so we could see better to no avail. She thought it was awesome that one of the artists leaped off the swing, bounced on the net right back onto the swing. I've never seen her smile so big. She was screaming in amazement. Amy loved the animals - the elephants, the tigers, the leopard, the lion, the dogs. I could go on...there were plenty. The performing dogs were hysterical and the girls will never forget them. I could've done without the horses and the "acrobats" performing death-defying stunts on them. They are truly crazy and have a death wish. Why, then, could I not take my eyes off? Luckily that was at the end of the show and Amy had to go to the bathroom so we missed most of the "good stuff." Ringling Bros. has been around for decades and maybe even centuries and it will always be highly entertaining for families. I am so grateful for the generous people in the community that provided the vouchers and my kids for making me feel like an awesome mom for bringing them!