Happy Thanksgiving--San Clemente Style

Happy Turkey Day to One and All!

Last night Jared called from Okinawa (they are back at camp Hansen after venturing to the Phillipines and China) and we got to talk for awhile =). It was already Thanksgiving there and he had just eaten a late breakfast and was ready for a nap. It was great to hear his voice!

Paula is here for the holiday visiting from Seattle. We picked her up from LAX on Tuesday and she doesn't have to fly home until next Tuesday. We had a nice relaxing day today. Sleeping in, pumpkin waffles and bacon (even Einar ate bacon!), Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, picnic lunch at San Gorgonio park, nap for all three of us, cook the turkey, enjoy turkey-day food, relax some more. The turkey turned out well and I also made some sweet corn bread dressing, yams with marshmallows and a salad.

It was a nice treat to dress for summer and eat our meatloaf sandwiches in the sun. Although there isn't any real sense of seasons around here, I am enjoying the sunshine and not loosing mittens or having to wear rainboots all over the place. Dripping jackets aren't missed either.

Now it's time for some pumpkin pie and Thursday night tv with Paula. We might even hop in the hot tub too since it's all clean and warmed up again.

p.s. it's less than a month now till Jared comes home from his deployment!

Crazy about Trains

We have been living an obsessive live revolving around trains! We've been riding them, reading about them, constructing tracks in the living room, pushing them around the dining room table, looking for them as we drive around town, and if he hasn't already, I bet Einar is dreaming about them tonight. "Choo Choo!" is a commonly heard refrain in this house and the Thomas books have even been beating out the Bob the Builder books in the past few weeks.

Today we had the ultimate adventure when we went to Perris, Ca (Just over an hour east of San Clemente) and took part in the Day out With Thomas Festivities at the Orange Empire Train Museum. To begin with, it is November 19th and it was in the Nineties--it felt like summer! It was an outdoor train museum with lots of operating tracks. Thomas and his cars were on one track and there were several trolley busses giving people rides elsewhere. One of the first things we did before getting in the Thomas line for our scheduled ride was run into some really friendly EMTs who talked with the kids, gave them Thomas temorary tattoos and then let them sit in the ambulance. One of the guys even turned on the lights for the kids. Einar and I carpooled with the Cobb family and we had met up with a few other families from our MOMS Club. Then Einar found a little yellow trolley that he kept climbing into and just sitting in until I took him out.

The ride on Thomas was about 25 minutes long and just out and back on a fairly straight track. We also had lunch there--corn on the cob, Gyros and french fries. I have never seen more Thomas and Friends hats, t-shirts and pants EVER! And most of them looked well-worn and loved by the kids that were wearing them--unlike when you go to a concert and everyone is walking around in new concert t-shirts. After the ride, Einar was wiped, but still ready for anything. He did willingly sit in Nathan's stoller to be pushed around the rest of the time and crash in the car after a bit of a snack for the ride home.

A Day out with Thomas wasn't the only train adventure this week. On Thursday we went to Irvine Regional park where they operate a smaller scale train that we got to ride for about 10 minutes. That was a good ride with lots of scenery and a running commentary from the conductor about the history of the 109-year-old park.

Einar is getting very proficient and putting together his tracks in the living room and playing with his train. How does he figure all of this out?

p.s. I would have taken a few more pictures today, but as you can see from one of the pictures, my focus was wonky for awhile and I didn't get it took me some time to figure it out.

First Trip to the Dentist

This morning after we ran some local errands, Einar went to the dentist for the first time. We went to Dr. Lee here in San Clemente since he was recommended by our neighbors. For those of you who have never been to a Pediatric Dentist, you'd be amazed! His office is totally geared towards kids. Einar was captivated by the large magna-doodle in the waiting room and Curious George on the television.

When we went into the exam room, Dr. Lee (who was wearing a scrub jacket with Dolphins and fish on it) had Einar sit on my lap facing me and then we leaned him back so that his head was resting in the Dr.'s lap. I held his hands while his teeth got counted and checked. Einar did not like that and there is no way that I'll be pursuing a career in pediatric dentistry! I can't imagine using one of those really sharp instruments to look for cavities on a little, angry, screaming mouth. He obviously knew what he was doing and Einar got a well-deserved hug afterwards.

Then it was off to another chair for a cleaning. He did a bit better while his teeth got polished and flossed as he was trying to taste the paste. When it was all over, he got to pick a prize out of a special drawer and he chose the plastic heart bracelet that he is wearing proudly in his pictures. He was also given a t-shirt for having no cavities and a red balloon to match his outfit. If he wears his t-shirt to his next appointment then he gets two prizes from the drawer. It was all a bit draining, but over in less than 30 minutes and he walked out with a shiny smile on his face. Unfortunately he let go of the balloon as we were walking from the car into the house, so there were a few more tears before these pictures were taken.

PICTURES! PICTURES! PICTURES!

Hey everyone! It's picture time. I've been saving up the photos from our adventures this week. Disneyland, Squirrel feeding, Halloween, pumpkin' huntin' and hanging out with the grandparents.

Does anyone know how to get Daylight Savings time banished into the history books? Naps and bedtimes have been crazy this week. It doesn't help that Einar has sprouted in the past week, is walking around with both of his hands in his mouth due to teething, and has been biting people again. It's been a rough last couple of days. Tonight he was asleep by 6:30pm! It's time for me to hit the sack too in order to take advantage of some extra sleep. I think I'll need it!