Thirteen Vacation Memories

It's time for another Thursday 13; a list of 13 things (anything!) on a Thursday!  (Yeah it's not Thursday yet!  But I missed last Thursday because it was Thanksgiving and we were ON this vacation!) Since we just got home from our wonderful family vacation, I thought it would be cool to share with you 13 of my favorite pictures/memories from our trip!

 

Our Thanksgiving Family Vacation! 2012

Brother & sister reading books in the car!  this was the longest road trip they have ever taken!  6 hours in the car is a LONG time!

Along the way we stopped in Cabazon, CA to see the big dinosaurs on the side of the road!

We arrived in San Pedro, CA and settled in to our cottage where we spent the next 3 nights!  It was so lovely!  Plenty of room for all of us!  The kids played kick ball in the front yard for awhile, they needed it after the long drive!

"Girl Time Bonding" with my mom!  We traded socks, now she has one of mine and I have one of hers.  Our "mismatched" pair of socks will always remind us of this vacation!

Thanksgiving Day, we walked to a park where some very fat squirrels would come right up to us for some bread crumbs!

There was a beautiful pond with lots of ducks to watch and feed!  And some very noisy geese as well!

Taking a walk around the neighborhood with my uncle.  My youngest son really bonded with his great-uncle, it was so sweet!

 

Waiting for the Thanksgiving Feast!

Day after Thanksgiving; Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.  At the "touch tank", petting some starfish and sea anemones!

more fun at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium!

Daddy and Daughter in the ocean!

Exploring the tide pools at Cabrillo Beach!  We found some really cool shells, starfish, sea-slugs, and had a great time!

We had some car trouble on the way home!  But it's just another memory... an "adventure"!  All worked out okay!  Being stuck in the desert was no fun but it just made us all the more grateful for our wonderful, safe, happy family vacation!

Thursday's 13 - Halloween Party Prep List

      One blogging meme I have always loved doing is Thursday's 13.  Oh how I have missed you!  I'm a list-maker anyways... so having an excuse to make a list of thirteen things every Thursday is just.... divine!  So in re-joining the world of blogging, I just had to jump in with a Thursday 13.... and the timing is perfect because I really need a bit of a To-Do List to keep myself organized right now! 
      This Saturday is my son's birthday!  In between the moments when I become catatonic thinking to myself "Oh. My. Gosh. My. Baby. Is. Turning. SEVEN."... I have somehow managed to plan this huge Halloween themed birthday party for him!  Then sometime yesterday I realized that there are only a few days left until the party, and the panic really set in! Double the panic by throwing in a couple days of work where I wasn't home long enough to do anything, and here we have it, tomorrow is Thursday; my one day off before the party!  EEEEKKK! 

So here it is;

Thirteen Things I Need To Do Before The Party!

 

1) Buy his presents.  Well, buy at least one more thing to go with the two smaller gifts I already got him :) Edited 10:34 am Thursday.  DONE

 

2) Wrap his presents.  Which also involves buying the wrapping paper.  So does that count as one task, or two?  Hmmm...

 

3) Buy the last of the goodies for the party.  A couple prizes to give kids for the games we play, and some candy to send them home with.  Hey, I am entertaining these kids in my house for a couple hours... the least I can do is send them home to their parents with a sugar high!  It's called payback.  Or Karma.  Or whatever.... you owe me so don't complain! Edited 10:34 am Thursday.  DONE!

 

4) Clean up the back yard.  You know, check for broken glass, nails, trash, cat poop.  Because I don't want this crowd of hyper kids tracking poop or blood into my house.  That's just bad party ju-ju.  Edited 12:12 pm Thursday.  DONE!

 

5) Once the yard is cleaned up a bit, figure out where things will be hidden for the Halloween Scavenger Hunt.  Then make the clues that will be part of the Scavenger Hunt game :) Edited 12:12 pm Thursday.  DONE!

 

6) Get the trick-or treat pumpkin baskets out of the attic.  Because for some reason they didn't get brought down with the other Halloween stuff, and of course I need them for the other Halloween Game we will be playing! Edited Saturday 11:00 am - DONE!

 

7) Clean the house.... the usual daily stuff like dusting and washing dishes and putting away the toys and laundry.  (Thursday) Edited Thursday night DONE

 

8) Finish organizing the girl's bedroom closet.  Not that this really has to do with the Halloween party, but it's my project for the week and I really want to get it done before the weekend. Edited 2:38 pm Thursday.  DONE!

 

9) Make a cake and decorate it.  Oh yeah, that. 

 

10) Make green jello jigglers and then put a few in each little plastic sandwich bag.  The "other game" I mentioned?  It's called Brain Toss and it's like a beanbag toss but we are using "Brains" (bags of green jello)... tossing them into those plastic pumpkin trick or treat buckets.  Oh yeah and the buckets will be on top of someone's head.  Yup.

 

11) Final pre-party cleaning. (Saturday) The mad dash to get the house nice just so a bunch of kids can come terrorize it.  Why do I torture myself?  Because I LOVE my son.  That's what I tell him anyways.

 

12) Set up the hidden clues around the yard for the scavenger hunt before the guests arrive.

 

13) Get the kids dressed in their Halloween Costumes.  Because oh yeah, did I mention it's a Costume Party too?

 

Meanwhile, try not to go insane.