A Little Disney Magic

A Picture...

Truly is worth a thousand words. Over the weekend we went to the "Happiest Place on Earth"!!! Yep, Disneyland. We decided to go to California Adventure Friday afternoon and Disneyland on Saturday.

We had such an awesome time watching the parades. Alex loves to be the "pre-parade entertainment". He gets right out in the center of the parade path and jumps, dances and sings. It's too cute. He had so much fun seeing all of the characters. This time he loved them all.

The last time we had gone, Alex wasn't tall enough to ride a couple of the rides. Thanks to a major growth spurt, this time he was able to ride them. We rode Soaring Over California, Big Thunder Mountain, a cute little jelly fish ride and Star Wars. He was so excited!

As we rode the Monorail, I was trying to talk him in to riding the Matterhorn (he did last time). He looks at me and very seriously says, "Nope, you and Dad can ride it. I'll stay here." This cracked up the people sitting by us. He remembered that at the end a big snowy monster pops out...he made it clear he did not like that! : )

I have to tell you all something I did. (Franky was insistent on this since I wrote about him dragging Alex in one of my posts!) We had gotten sandwiches for lunch. They came plain and you were able to doctor them up at a little salad bar type area. I was fixing Alex's for him. He likes his sandwiches with mayonnaise, so I put it on, finished fixing my sandwich, then we go sit down.

Now Red has a hard time sitting still for anything. He was getting out of his seat jumping around, pretending to be a dog (licking my arm) when I tell him to "SIT DOWN AND EAT!!!" He sits and takes a huge bit of his sandwich immediately sticking out his tongue (food all over it) and says,"Mom, it's too spicy!" To which I say, "It is not spicy. Just EAT!" (I'm thinking turkey sandwich with mayonnaise is about the most bland thing you can eat.) He proceeds to pick at the sandwich, eating only small bites of turkey, some apples and grapes. He pushes away his plate almost a whole sandwich left on it. I take a bite of the (almost whole) turkey sandwich and my mouth immediately begins to burn...what I thought was mayo was actually HORSERADISH!!! Poor, Red. Lesson learned...

So what about the picture at the beginning of the blog? On Friday night, we left the park at around 10:15 and walked back to our hotel. Alex had not had a nap all day and was still going strong when we arrived at our room at 10:45. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Then at 5:15 am woke us up and says, "Come on! It's morning time! Let's go eat and go to Disneyland!" We did just that. Got to the park as it opened at 8:00 am and went all day. At around 6:00pm, clouds began rolling in, the wind kicked up. It was COLD. We were talking about getting something to eat when Franky suggests we just go back to the hotel and order a pizza. We were waiting for a protest but Alex said that's what he wanted to do. We got on a bus to head back to our hotel and didn't get one block when our little red head fell fast asleep. : ) He was pooped!

What fun. Can't wait to go back next year. Red may be just tall enough to ride all of the roller coasters Franky refuses to ride with me!!!

Spring is in the Air...

The weather has been so beautiful. The mountains to the east of us are covered in orange, yellow and white wild flowers. Everything is green. The new baby sheep have arrived at the farm near our home. This is my most inspired season. I love everything about it! (Except for the allergies!)

I've got all of my Spring decorations out around the house. Just like Christmas, when I open the boxes of my Easter decorations, my heart flutters with excitement! How silly to be so dramatic about decorations! But when you have cute little chicks like the one in this picture, you just can't help it!

I'm also getting very excited because on Monday, my parents will be on their way out to California for a visit.Red is counting down the days, too. We already have a camping trip to Morro Bay planned. Mom and I are looking forward to visiting our favorite little shop in Cambria, Birds of a Feather. Talk about inspiring. I could move my bed right in the center of that shop and be as happy as a clam! (Franky, quit rolling your eyes!!!) It is adorable. The shop owner has a knack for displaying simple objects in such beautiful ways...oooh, I can't wait!
I'm very proud to say that I have had one of the pictures I took of Alex and my three nieces published in the Brainerd (MN) Dispatch! My Mom took the picture (of the kids at the Brainerd Lodge showing off their tattoos) to their local paper to be published in their reader picture section. It is one of my favorite pictures. I can't wait for Alex to see himself in it! I told Mom and Dad to buy about 25 copies since this would be Red's first appearance in a newspaper! : )

I hope to get some scrapping time in soon...I have so many ideas floating through my head, I can't wait to see what they become. I hope each of you find inspiration and delight during this wonderful season.

The Party's Over...

Alex's fourth birthday was awesome! We all had such a great time. The kids all loved being able to dress up like pirates. They ran around yelling out piratey things, played some fun games, ate some really good food and helped Alex open all his booty.

Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean even made an appearance! Alex was thrilled. It's funny that even though his has never seen the movie, he knew exactly who he was. He was delighted to pose and have his picture taken with him. (See picture in slide show.)

Everything went without a hitch. Luckily no adults were forced to walk the plank. : ) Franky and I were talking that it is going to be hard to top this "piratey" party. We've already began to think of themes for next year. I threw out a cowboy themed party. Little did I know Red's ears were perked when I said this. Today when I picked him up from school, he asked his friend Taylor if he wanted to come to his "Cowboy Party" tomorrow for when he turns five....

Captain Redhead's Piratey Party...

What's a Pirate's Favorite Letter?

Corny joke compliments of Tim, Alex's Godfather.

Yes, we are turning into Pirates here in the Lerda household, gearing up for Alex's fourth birthday. It is going to be so much fun. My friend Miriam and I made the invitations, my friend Martha and I are making a Pirate Ship cake, and I made all sorts of other "piratey" things. I can't wait. Alex is over the top excited and is keeping a count-down on his easel in his bedroom.

I'll be sure to post lots of pictures so everyone who couldn't attend can see!!! Until then, see ya' later Mateys.

Happy "Heart" Day...

What an awesome day totally dedicated to celebrating those we love. We had a pretty fun Valentines Day this year. It was a normal day, meaning Franky and I worked and Alex went to school, but fun none the less.

I got a beautiful bouquet of red roses. Franky got a round of golf at River Island. Red got balloons and a little stuffed monkey that reminded me of him!

On my lunch break, I took Alex's teacher some flowers. When I got to his school, he was playing in the sand box with a very cute little girl dressed completely in pink with matching bows in her hair. I greeted Alex and was talking to him about his day when the little girl approached me. She says, "My name is Brooklyn. You know, Alex is my friend. He is never mean to me." I say,"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm so glad Alex is your friend." She says, "Yeah, Alex even gives me hugs and he kisses my arms." I say," Oh my goodness, he gives you kisses? He's supposed to save all of his kisses for me!! Alex, do you give Brooklyn kisses?" Alex with a huge grin spread across his face says, "No-Yeeaahh." How cute is that?!

Hope you all had fun on Valentines Day...And if you ever see a little "red-head" passing out kisses, it just might be Alex. : )

A Funny Valentine...

I decided to go "home made" for my parents for Valentines Day this year. A little juvenile to some, perfect in my book. I have been dying to try using fabric as a medium so this little project seemed just right.

Most of you know my Mom is about fabric as I am about scrap booking supplies. When they moved to MN., Mom says she was embarrassed by the number of boxes that contained crafting supplies (namely material!). So, I guess you could say I came by the "more is better" (especially for all things beautiful, junky or rusty) attitude naturally. : )

To begin my project, I cut poster board into heart shapes. I covered them with the material and the sewed around the edges. I (unlike my Mom) am sewing challenged. Meaning that when you take a close look at the sewing on this album, it looks like Alex did it!!!

It was actually pretty cute. Dad was the first one I talked to on the day they received it in the mail. I told him that I had fun making it but told him that it was kind of tough sewing around the heart shape. So, very matter-of-fact, Dad proceeded to tell me that next time, I should get one of those markers that you use on material that disappears. Then, outline the place I want to sew around and that would give me a line to follow when sewing my project together. He also said something about starting with practicing sewing straight lines. Yada yada!!! It made me smile that Dad would take the time to give me sewing pointers. I think next time, I will follow his advice!!!

They LOVED the album though. Despite the terrible sewing, when you look at the finished product, it was pretty awesome.

P.S. Dad, when you guys get here at the end of the month, I have planned to set aside a half hour each day for sewing lessons. I still haven't bought one of those markers. Maybe we can begin with sewing straight lines?! : )

A little behind...

There, it is written. I have been neglecting our blog. For me, the blog is a way to catch everyone up of the goings on around the Red Head's household. More than that it is a reminder of the fun, silly, amazing life we are living. So imagine the GUILT I'm feeling...I haven't written a thing in a whole month. I hope whoever reads this hasn't given up on me! Red Head's going to be staying more current. It's a promise. (Don't people say if you write something down, you have an improved rate of follow through?!)

Well, to get to the meat and potatoes of the last month, I will dive right in. At the beginning of February, we took a very spur of the moment camping trip to Pismo. We stayed (for the first time) at Pismo Coast Village. We have been pretty curious about it for a while so we were excited to get a spot there.

Our spot was literally that. A spot. It was a tiny little site. Luckily my very expert, precise, park- on-a- dime, hunky hubby got the trailer backed-in making it look easy. (Just a little exaggeration!)

Many of the sites around us were home to those "someone hit the lotto" type motor homes. We hadn't been at our camp very long when a middle-aged woman with bleached blond hair holding a Chihuahua (with the same hair color), wearing pink sun glasses (yes, the dog, not the lady), driving a golf cart painted with flames, equipped with a sound system that would've put my brother's (from his high school days) to shame. And what else would be playing (very loudly) from the "wanna-be-Paris"mobile? M.C. Hammer's "You Can't Touch This". Wow. Franky and I both cracked up! Where were we staying?!

As we unpacked and set up camp, I quickly realized that I had packed everything under the sun. Everything except the bag that contained Alex and my clothes... How do you do that? Clothes are just a little important. Needless to say, I went shopping and Alex and I got some new duds.

We spent much of our time walking on the beach, walking to town and riding our bikes. For the most part, Alex rode solo. He was happy to show off his riding skills to a group of campers whose boy was twice the size of Alex and still peddling away on training wheels. He even tried to go a little X-games on us when he decided to ride at full speed into a big pile of compost. Don't worry, it just caused him to stop abruptly and get compost all over the place!!

When we rode further or near the street, Alex rode in tandem behind his Daddy. Franky has a small bike that attaches to the back of his bicycle. It is very cute and tends to attract a lot of attention. Well, we had gone to check out the Monarch butterflies and decided to ride through the state camp grounds when we discovered a trail leading right to the beach. We all agreed it would be fun to ride our bikes along the ocean so we peddled up the trail leading to the beach access. When we got to the top of the trail, the black top had ended and very thick sand began.
Now mind you, we are at the top of a hill. Without looking back, Franky heads down the hill Alex in tow. Now I'm freaking out and thinking, "What is HE thinking?", when I notice that my boys have caught the attention of some people picnicking to the left of the hill top. The scene went something like this:

People: Hey look at that guy with his kid on the back.
Me: Franky, what are you doing? (mildly freaked-out voice, still smiling)

People: Oh..he almost fell!!!
Me: FRANKY, get off your bike and walk. You're going to fall.
Me to People: He's braver than I am...I can't believe what he's doing.

Franky: (Oblivious and very focused on peddling through the very thick sand)

People: Oh my gosh, he's dragging the little boy!!!!
Me: (Embarrassed and extremely freaked-out) FRANKY, STOP!!! YOU'RE DRAGGING ALEX!

Franky: (Peddling harder.) Thinking "Man, it sure is hard to peddle through this sand!"
Alex: DADDY, You're dragging me!!! Stop!! (His feet dragging beside him looking like Fred Flinstone's feet when he's driving his car)

Finally after dragging Alex another 25 feet, Franky hears us yelling to stop. Alex is scolding Franky about dragging him. I was giggling and telling Franky the story of what happened. Alex starts cracking up too. What an experience!!!

Later that day we were riding through the camp site. (Alex flying solo) when a lady walking past says hi to Alex. He stops his bike and says," My Daddy was dragging me on his bicycle and I was yelling for him to stop....." The lady had no idea what Alex was even talking about but it made us crack up once again. Never a dull moment.

We had a great time. Made lots of memories. Can't wait to go back to the beach!!!

P.S. Franky, you didn't actually think you would get away with the whole "dragging Alex" thing not being posted on our blog did you?! What a memory. : ) We still love you more than ever anyway!!!

Silly Guy