Fun at The San Diego County Fair

We went up to the Del Mar Fair this past week. It really was a perfect day...which does not always happen while attending this type of fair... Chloe and Blake were in their glory, of course if I indulged them, we would be going to the fair everyday. Instead, we have lots of images to remind us of our day...

This Monster Truck below is always outside the fair on display...Blake loves sitting in the tire...we have pictures from previous years on it...looks like a tradition is started.



Then there was the food...we stayed as healthy as we could with corn, lemonade, and Greek food.




Of course you could have fried "anything", yikes !



There was the pig race...to which we won a coupon for a free pound of bacon from Ralph's, kind of unsettling in my opinion. I could have a whole discussion on the Animal factor at the fair... Caged farm animals to look at, parade around to be judged on their best physical attributes, raced for entertainment...I kept saying to myself...I know these farmers love their animals, right ??



Pony Rides...also a tradition




The kids rides...loads of fun...





Wine tasting for the adults...all local...San Marco's, Temecula, all together excellent, and a nice way to relax towards the end of the day...



The view from the Sky Ride...nice way to get back from the Kid Zone.



My favorite part of the fair... The Flower & Garden Show, different groups design and implement some amazing landscapes.



Two Happy children with their Budda/Fairy/God Mother, and Cally the stuffed dog we won.



What a nice day... My recommendations for any of you local folks reading this post who are thinking about going to the fair. Spend the day there, make sure its a cool one, & go on a weekday to avoid the crowds. Get wrist bands for the rides. Have an equal adult/kid ratio. Visit the Fine Arts Building, and the Flower & Garden Show, and don't forget to hit the Beer Garden for a cold one, or a wine tasting !!

The Beginnings of Summer

I'm back, at least in this space. I was suffering from my "can't bare to blog" phase that I experienced last year. This time the Hubby took a European business trip which left me without my camera, and little time to dedicate to the blog. The past two weeks have been very busy and I have felt like I was living the life of a single mother while Daddy was away. I have renewed respect for all of you out there doing it alone !!

Well, Hubby is back, school is out for the summer for Chloe, and it's Father's Day. So, this post will be a little montage to all of the above...

First off, Alan came home with yummy gifts, and assortment of Swiss chocolate to last me through the summer. I'll be enjoying little pieces of them with my afternoon tea.



The Bee Sting...


Our busy days have lead us a camping trip, a talent show, a field trip to the beach, and a end of the year first grade picnic on the last day of school. This made for loads of excitement followed by exhaustion repeatedly for Chloe, Blake and I. The Bee Sting happened on the last day of school, at the picnic. I was busy photographing the salad the 3rd graders picked and ate from there garden plot, when a Mom came over holding Chloe who was really in pain. We looked at her bare foot to see that something was in it...she had stepped on a bee. I have to admit my mothering skills didn't quite kick in.. I felt kind of helpless actually, trying to pull out the stinger. What happened then was really wonderful, one mother came over and immediately got the stinger out, and brought ice to put on her foot. Then another Mother offered to run home and make a baking soda paste to draw out the poison, (you can see it on her foot in the image), by the way it works really well. Another Mother came with drops of rescue remedy which immediately calmed Chloe down, and then there were all of Chloe's classmates, who came by to rub her back, or tell there bee sting story, which all sounded way worse than what Chloe was experiencing. Then there was Aiden, who sat next to Chloe with a huge plate of cookies, waiting silently for her to take one. Poor thing, she wouldn't even eat her favorite treat, I knew she was really hurting. I have to say I felt so cared for, and so grateful for all the parents who helped us...all the way down to the Mom who carried Chloe on her back to the car to get her back to school. As I thanked one Mom, her response was, "It takes a Village"...and she is right, I knew that the best place to be at that moment was in the village of our school community. Chloe went on to school to receive her promotion certificate to Second Grade. She still was sad in the image. After getting home, and taking a well needed nap, she ended up being just fine, and we actually laughed about the whole experience later that evening. I think Chloe experienced the true feeling of gratitude that day, I know I did...


To start off our summer this week, both our Apricot and Plum tree have been bearing gifts of luscious fruits each day for us to eat. Every morning, we run outside to see what has fallen on the ground waiting for us to sink our teeth into them. This year Blake got to eat the first plum...he loved it. There is nothing like eating fruit from your own tree, I am so glad Chloe and Blake get to experience this as little people. What a delight ! Local readers of the blog, you should drop by our house this week, sit under our tree's and eat with us !! Check out the bowl that our fruits are in, that's one of two beautiful pieces of pottery that Annie gave me for my Birthday...



To all you Daddy's and Grand Daddy's out there, Happy Father's Day ! Thank includes my Father, who I hope is out catching the "Big One" back in Michigan on Drummond Island (he love's to fish), and of course to Alan, who always drums up a boat load of fun for the kids...