Logan's Log

I gotta show off Logan's new project! And so far (day 2) he's lovin' it http://vanpeltium-4-loganslog.blogspot.com/2010/05/memorial-day.html Now we just need to work on his typing skills...I see some Mavis Beacon in his future.

Summer is Quickly Approaching

and I don't feel ready! In summers past, we've always had a bit of a plan... maybe a vacation mixed in with a couple day camps, swim lessons, gymnastics etc. This summer has snuck up on me! Partly because it is STILL May and school used to get out around the 14th of June every year....NOT THIS YEAR! How does one week make such a difference to my mental preparation?

Last summer, Logan and I made his "What can I do? list" That worked really well...we will definitely do that again but now that Caden is older, we can drag him along to more outings too. So in my crazy need to plan way, I'm trying to compile cheap ideas to keep us busy. We are so very lucky to live in "the most desirable holiday destination". (a mom from Logan's school said that to me today, she's from England and it sounded so perfect, especially in her proper British accent)

• DUH! The Beach...this is a given but believe it or not, we sometimes forget about this FREE resource. If you've read my blog before, you know we LOVE the worlds biggest sand box. We hope to make lots of trips with friends and fam.
• Our neighborhood pool...again, we often forget about this FREE resource and again we plan to go A LOT with friends and fam.
• Free Tuesdays at Balboa Park...the Natural History Museum has a new exhibit on Gems and Minerals...something Lo and I both will enjoy.
• Birch Aquarium - its small but mighty...there are always coupons in those free Family magazines and on the first weekend each month, they offer free admission!
• The new Children's museum - another great kid play place and they also offer free admission on the first weekend of the month AND Target supports Free Second Sunday. I've also heard that the public libraries carry passes. Might need to check that out too.
• Summer Reading Library Programs - WE ♥ our Libraries! RB & PQ libraries are great along with the Poway & 4S branch
• The Zoo and the Wild Animal Park...now that the WAP has the water play areas, it might just make summer time visits a little more bearable. (get it...bearable...wild animals...I crack myself up)
• The Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center of Pauwai - we drive by this so often and have never checked it out.
• Pioneer Park - love this place, just went today with Caden...such a great kiddie water park with the craziest slide EVER!
• Movies in the park - not really sure if this will work with Caden, but it might be worth a try.
• See the seals in La Jolla. They stink but they are cute.
• Field trip to a few favorite restaurants Pelly's, Roberto's Taco Shop on the way to Torrey pines, lettuce wraps at Pei Wei, slushes from Sonic, (still thinking)
• Breakfast at IKEA. Last few times we've been there, they didn't serve Swedish pancakes, which I love, but it's still a decent amount of food and Logan loves that play area. Of course, by the time Caden is old enough to go play, Lo will be too big :(
• Padre Game at Petco...could be fun...maybe glove night, hat night
• Jr Ranger program at Torrey Pines. Looks like a great program but I'm guessing it fills up fast.
• Summer Concerts around town...we love HELP! the Beatles cover band and the 4 o'clock Friday line up looks pretty good too (preferably without the kids).
• Feed the ducks at Lake Poway...Caden IS obsessed with ducky bread
• Hike the Highland Valley trail. We started it with Logan's cubscouts but ran out of time.
• MOVIES - again, maybe not the best with Caden

To be continued... I'd love to hear your ideas too!!!!

Happy Birth Week Caden!

Caden's Birthday continued long after his "Choo Choo Party" The morning after his party we ate leftover cake for breakfast. You can't waste good cake, right?

On Tuesday we made it to StoryTime at Borders, where Miss Christine led "Happy Birthday" with the toddler crowd.

Wednesday was feeding ducks with Caden's best buddy, Jake Kelly brought over the ADORABLE pinata her students made.

Finally, Caden's actual birthday! Eggs with Train Toast!!

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies for the Birthday Boy, he didn't enjoy it much :)

Then, to continue the celebrations, we had a family party at Nannie and Papa's! Caden was a cool cat, playing with his new drum set (I'll get the video up soon!)

Grandma made a train cake. By now, Caden is a pro at blowing out candles. Look at the focus and intensity.

And then there was the eating...that is a scoop of ice cream he had in his hands, dripping down his arms. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!

The power of Google

Logan loves to "Google". He loves to come up with obscure questions and then google it for answers. The latest... How do pistachios get split open?

Well this google adventure took us out to the garden. Did you know that snails don't like pistachio shells. So out we went to spread our shells because we sure have the snails.

i

And then we discovered the World's Largest Pistachio located in New Mexico...I see a road trip in our future!

Fight and Form

Logan participated in another karate tournament this past weekend.

He brought home a 2nd and 4th.

ay-ya!

Spring Fling

Logan volunteered at the cub scout booth this year at Spring Fling. His pack runs the bottle rocket launchers, a very popular attraction.

So while he worked, Caden and I played...actually he played with this duck pond for most the hour.

Brendan

Ryan

Max & Maddie

Morgan

Here goes Logan and Jacob...3,2,1... BLAST OFF!!!Can you see his rocket in the air?

We also made our rounds to all the other carnival games.

Logan scrambled up that wall really well!

Success!!

MORE TRAIN SANDWICH

at lunch today...

Caden: more train sandwich?

Me: sweetie, how about some watermelon

Caden: TRAIN SANDWICH!

Me: you already had 3

Caden: Four Sandwich Mama?

How can I say no to my smarty pants? Hope he doesn't get a stomachache!

Train Party Details

So you might recall the post a while back about Caden's obsession. Once that seed was planted, I started the search for ideas...Look what I found here and here...and then there was this! and THEN, my sister-in-law, Chelsea (who is one of my three regular reader "HI CHELS!") sent me this link, which uncovered my NEW Favorite Blog.

So, with all this wonderful inspiration, I put together Caden's bday party. The invites obviously came first, I simply searched google images for a free train silhouette and colored it in photoshop. The other labor intensive part were the favors. I decided to make Kool-aid scented playdough and included a train shaped cookie cutter in the bag. I think it came out super cute! The bag was simply a sandwich zip-lock and printed label double sticked on top. I also loved the train shaped PB&Js. My mom and I put those together in no time, assembly line style. And possibly my favorite was the train cake. I used a cake pan from William Sonoma. (coincidentally, a gift from Chelsea...THANKS again, Chels!) And with Trader Joes Vanilla Cake Mix, it was super easy and DELISH! Did you notice the ADORABLE handmade train pinata in the lower left corner? That will be in his bedroom for years to come. As for games and activites, since our guests ranged from 4 weeks to 7 years old, I needed to be creative and I'm not a big fan of competitive games at a bday party (Why should only one person win at a party?). We had the train table, which I found on Craigslist for $10 (I repainted the sides glossy cherry red and the top with Chalkboard paint). I also had Play-dough Station, Bubble Junction, Ball-pit Express, and Bookmark Stop. For games, I found "Pin the Smoke-Stack on the Engine" and we also played "Chugga Chugga Choo-Choo" a version of duck duck goose, which was fun for adults and kids both.

Of course, I had one additional obstacle...all this stuff had to be carted to the park...but that's where the train is, so off I went on Saturday morning at 7 am to ensure we'd have a prime park spot. Shawn and the boys showed up a little later to help finish setting up. Shawn went right to work blowing up a purple balloon...WHAT?!? He will probably tease me forever over my reaction when I saw that balloon :) OK,OK,OK...I was a bit stressed to finish up before the guests arrived, but come on....RED AND BLUE EVERYTHING! But I'm happy to say, one purple balloon really was the only hitch in our wonderful birthday celebration for our little man.

Now a few months off til September, our Birthday marathon month.

Choo Choo Caden Turns Two

We kicked off Caden's Birthday Week Celebration with a train party at Old Poway Park. It was a wonderful day! Caden, of course, LOVES being the center of attention, so being surrounded by friends and family was such a joy. Caden and I landed in the mush pot during a few rounds of 'Chugga Chugga Choo-Choo'.

Aunt Chelsea & Sammie waiting to race.

Nannie and Caden led the way to the train...CHOO CHOO

All aboard the Birthday Express! All the passengers sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Caden as we steamed along our ExTrA Birthday Lap. He absolutely LOVED it!

Then it was time for CAKE!!

Yummy-Yum-Yum As you can see, Caden's knees took a beating, but it didn't slow him down a bit, until he discovered the joy of dissecting leaves, because the bubbles, playdough, train table, friends etc weren't entertaining enough.

Saying goodbyes..our monkey is looking tired!

If a party can be measured by the filth level of the guest of honor, this was a huge hit! We are so very lucky to be surrounded by such great friends and family. Caden had a traintastic day!!!