Wednesday 8/11/10 We had so many fun things to choose from today! MOMS Club was doing a pet store tour (11am,) and another moms group was going to both Fox Hollow Farm (10am, 30 minutes north of me) and Moonshadow Alpaca Ranch (12pm, 30 minutes south) so I could only pick one! Since the pet store tour had been too full, and I dislike driving north (the freeway gets terrible traffic!) I chose the Alpaca Farm.
Since it wasn't until noon, I had plenty of time to make a fancy lunch, which I instead wasted on the internet. So instead I threw together some leftover sliced strawberries (from the last kids cooking class,) some leftover Happy Meal apples, and PB/honey (for her) and cream cheese/strawberry jam (for me) tortilla roll sandwiches. Plus a chocolate soy milk box and a leftover McD apple juice box (sometimes she wants milk, sometimes juice, whichever one we don't have with us!) I like the soy milk because it doesn't need to be refrigerated (until it's been opened) so I don't have to worry about chilling, warming because she doesn't drink it, re-chilling, warming, etc. like I would with milk. It's not very tasty when warm, but I've received no complaints. My one issue is the sugar, but they make it plain, just not sold at Costco that I've found. I hear there's cow's milk in individual servings that doesn't need to be refrigerated too. Once we run out of this, I'll keep my eyes out. I might still add a little Ovaltine, just to mask any soy or weird taste when it isn't chilled, but she's happy with a way more diluted mixture than all the pre-made chocolate milks I've found! Just need to find a mini funnel...
The entire drive there, Little Z fixated on the word 'farm' and ran with it, listing all the farm animals we were going to see. Since I'm not stupid, I chose not to burst her little bubble. Plus, I didn't know FOR SURE that there would be no cows, sheep, horsies, bunnies or doggies, now did I? She was all excited when we got there, since there was an alpaca looking right into her window over the fence we were parked by.
The ladies running the ranch were nice, and let the kids wander at their own pace. They pulled strips of leaves off a willow tree for the kids to try and feed to the alpacas. Mostly, there were only 2 of the males who were interested, and that was through a fence. But to be fair, the female alpacas had cute little babies or were pregnant, making them more cautious.
Since it wasn't until noon, I had plenty of time to make a fancy lunch, which I instead wasted on the internet. So instead I threw together some leftover sliced strawberries (from the last kids cooking class,) some leftover Happy Meal apples, and PB/honey (for her) and cream cheese/strawberry jam (for me) tortilla roll sandwiches. Plus a chocolate soy milk box and a leftover McD apple juice box (sometimes she wants milk, sometimes juice, whichever one we don't have with us!) I like the soy milk because it doesn't need to be refrigerated (until it's been opened) so I don't have to worry about chilling, warming because she doesn't drink it, re-chilling, warming, etc. like I would with milk. It's not very tasty when warm, but I've received no complaints. My one issue is the sugar, but they make it plain, just not sold at Costco that I've found. I hear there's cow's milk in individual servings that doesn't need to be refrigerated too. Once we run out of this, I'll keep my eyes out. I might still add a little Ovaltine, just to mask any soy or weird taste when it isn't chilled, but she's happy with a way more diluted mixture than all the pre-made chocolate milks I've found! Just need to find a mini funnel...
The entire drive there, Little Z fixated on the word 'farm' and ran with it, listing all the farm animals we were going to see. Since I'm not stupid, I chose not to burst her little bubble. Plus, I didn't know FOR SURE that there would be no cows, sheep, horsies, bunnies or doggies, now did I? She was all excited when we got there, since there was an alpaca looking right into her window over the fence we were parked by.
The ladies running the ranch were nice, and let the kids wander at their own pace. They pulled strips of leaves off a willow tree for the kids to try and feed to the alpacas. Mostly, there were only 2 of the males who were interested, and that was through a fence. But to be fair, the female alpacas had cute little babies or were pregnant, making them more cautious.
After making me denude the poor willow tree of branches (not really, but it sure felt that way!) she finally got up the nerve to not immediately let go of the branch once the alpaca got hold of it! I think this alpaca's name was Trooper. He was pretty much the only one eating from the kids' hands. There was another that came over a few times, but mostly, it was this guy.
She didn't want to eat any of my yummy lunch at the farm. There was even a nice shaded grassy spot! So we got into the car to head home. She still didn't want to eat... until *I* started eating it. She even fell asleep with food still in her mouth!
Nice Nautilus.
ReplyDeleteMy son still fits in his current seats so I can not justify a new one... yet.
Yeah. We got this one when we retired the bucket carseat. We have a Britax Marathon we got as a shower gift (friend of our Aunt Sha got it for their niece who visited for 2 weeks, so it was practically new.) But the Britax doesn't have a cup holder, and I desperately wanted a cup holder for snacks, toys, drinks, whatever. Once I turned her front facing, every trip involved me unstrapping my seatbelt at each stoplight to fish something off the floor for her!
ReplyDeleteThe only way I could get hubby to agree to buy a new seat is a) we could have one in each car, and b)this one would convert into a seatbelt booster, then, what I call a phonebook booster (basically like sitting on a phonebook.) It came in an adorable pink, but that one cost $20 more. :(
The down side is, it will get crusty and gross and I will want to replace it when it's time to move her up to the next phase booster seat. Maybe we can put this one in HIS car and get me a new one... Then we can still LATCH it into his car!
That title sounds like it should be the name of an 'I Love Lucy' episode...
ReplyDeleteWe have a Britax Marathon (Still RFing because I have not gotten around to turning it around) in one car and the Evenflo Maestro in the other (fairly new seat. Was inexpensive earlier this spring when I needed a seat for childcare. But when I turned DS FFing, I wanted a seat with cupholders so I gave her her my Britax Roundabout50 and took the Maestro back! -- I have discovered in the last couple of weeks when he has been FFing that more stuff gets dropped FFing than RFing :( We have had to have car seats in both cars since last year around this time -- one of us drops off at childcare and the other picks up. )
ReplyDeleteThe Graco Nautilus converts to both a highback booster and a no-back/backless booster (I think what you refer to as a phone book? Except for you do know NOT to use a phone book in the car, right?) When the child outgrows the harness/can sit properly in a booster, you convert to the highback until they outgrow the back, then convert to the backless portion until they are 4'9"/can pass the 5-step test for sitting in a car seat with just a seatbelt.
LOL yeah. I know not to use a phone book! It's just my nephews' seats slide out from under them all the time, which seems suboptimal. So I started calling them 'phone books,' since THEY used to slide out from under us too!
ReplyDelete