Do you take your kids to the grocery store?

Question of the day:

Do you take your children to the grocery store?

This is a constant struggle with our family. We cannot and almost completely avoid taking Angry Toddler to the grocery store with us. It's a complete pain and gives Angry Husband and myself, great anxiety. A fifteen minute trip into the store for one item, turns into forty-five minutes with that original item, a piece of candy, and some band-aids. My kid has a serious addiction to character band-aids.

Because of this, Angry Husband calls me on his way home every day. We have the usual conversation, "I'm on my way home, do we need anything from the store?" We live very close to the store and tend to shop European style, as in shopping for a particular meal, not for the week. We are lazy like that, and we constantly change our minds. We do keep snacks in the house, but we don't plan meals in advance. Our schedules fluctuate so much and we never know if the entire family is going to be home at the same time.

I think my hate for the grocery store was programmed into me, early in life. My parents both work(ed) in the grocery industry and one of my first jobs was a courtesy clerk (bagger) at a grocery store. My mom was a checker and hated shopping, and we always heard the good ole' saying, "she didn't want to bring her work home, and get the hell out of dodge while you can". I grew up eating out a lot, and having my mom shop "Euro Style" also.

You should see me when I'm in the grocery store. I wander around the isles, clueless. I just throw random things in the cart. I do shop with coupons, when I remember to bring them. Thankfully, Angry Husband does most of our shopping.

Recently, around Halloween time, I saw an entire family with two very small children (both under 3) shopping at the store. They were doing their "big" weekly shop, I could tell because the cart was full. The kids were running around like animals. Both parents were present. I kept thinking to myself, why doesn't one parent just stay home with the kids? I just shook my head.

I thought I would tempt fate on Friday night. Angry Husband was working late, so I attempted to run some errands with Angry Toddler after preschool. We went to the bank (he drew his name on deposit slips), we went to a surf store (had to purchase some shirts for family pictures), and then...well the grocery store. Angry Toddler was being sooo good, I mean beyond normal good. He had a great time at the surf store, well maybe the pretty female employee who "watched" him for me, was a good start. And then it started.

I went to the pricey, very pretty grocery store. That store with the higher prices, but oh my gosh, it's so beautiful, I want to eat off the floors displays... I asked Angry Toddler if he wanted snacks. He agreed and we put the specific things, that HE WANTED, in the cart. It was all about him. I even asked what he wanted for dinner. He told me spaghetti, which he pointed out the expensive service deli kind, fine. We then hit the produce department, oh the shiny beautiful polished exotic fruits and vegetables.

Yes, Angry Toddler started "molesting" the fruit. He is 4, I know.. He's completely into textures and touching things, I get that. But seriously, he molested the fruit. He fondled the fruit. He walked around almost every fruit display and breathed on it, caressed it, and picked the fruit up. I got those looks. You know the snobby, I only shop at the expensive store, because I live in Orange County, and I can, looks. They saw the 4 year old boy, with his grubby little hands, the finger paint stained shirt, fondling the fruit. I did what any other Angry Mom would do, I grabbed him by the bicep with the "death grip" and pulled him away from the display. Well he spun around, got those eyes, the eyes of Satan, and ran. Oh and he ran...He ran like a parolee with a no bail warrant (got to give some laughs to my co-workers). He did not look back.

What did I do? I reacted. I yanked my purse out of the cart, and took off after him. Perhaps, I screamed several four-letter curse words during my chase. I finally caught up with him, and promptly marched him towards my car. I gave the lecture, "What the hell were you thinking? Why did you run?" I knew it was fruitless. He was done. I left the cart standing in the middle of the produce aisle, stranded.

Angry Husband was able to pick up some things on the way home. He then gave me the lecture when he got home. What was I thinking, taking him to the store? I knew better. He turns into an animal. Etc.. Etc...

The next morning, out of the blue. Angry Toddler comes up to me and says, "I'm sorry for running off at the grocery store. I will never ever do that again. I promise to be good. I will be good mama". It was completely random. Angry Husband had left the house prior to that. Angry Toddler knew he was wrong.

But really, why do I torture myself at the grocery store?
And why, do other people do this to themselves too?

I Need More Soap

I need more soap is what he screamed from the bathroom. He said that the shower was very dirty and that he needed to clean it. He used an entire bottle of body wash. But I really don't care, because in the end...I had a clean kid, and a clean shower.

Text Message of the Day: Legos

From Angry Husband:

"Kid comes in and says his nose hurts. I ask why and he says because there is a Lego stuck up there. I asked why it's in there and he says, cause it fit at first."

It's Turkey Time!

I'm trying to be a bit more organized lately. I love decorating for the Holidays, but sometimes I need a bit more organization. We recently got a new dining room table, which I need to post about soon. Maybe I'll post once I get an awesome centerpiece for it. But I saw this display at Pottery Barn yesterday, and swoon, isn't it lovely. Not that I would decorate this extravagent, cause Angry Toddler would probably thrash it, but it did give me ideas.

We usually have Thanksgiving at our place, with just my immediate family. I'm an only child, so it's just my parents, Angry Husband, and Angry Toddler. My stove/oven are unpredictable and we are quite lazy. We have pre-purchased a Thanksgiving meal at Claim Jumper for the past two years, and it's quite delicious. It's also cheaper than preparing everything on our own. We do add some extra side dishes, like this Watergate Salad. And really, is it considered a salad when there's marshmallows in it?

In 2006, we headed to Disneyland for Thanksgiving. They have the BEST Buffet EVER in their Grand Ballroom at The Disneyland Hotel (call (714) 781-DINE for info). Angry Toddler was eighteen months old at the time. My friend, Ruth, suggested this event, as we were looking for something fun to do. The food was to-die-for, the desserts were over the top. I could have feasted all day long. One of the best parts of that day, was the character interaction. They had a ton of characters there where you could take pictures. They also had beautiful decorations, but of course they did, it's Disney! Angry Toddler was a bit skeptical of the Chip and Dale. Would you be too? Chipmunks aren't supposed to be six foot tall.

I Was Such a Baby, What Happened?

My parents had Angry Toddler overnight on Halloween. Angry Husband and I both had to work early this morning. We had an exciting night of putting together our new kitchen table, eating pizza, and handing out candy to greedy teenagers from our garage. My mom said that Angry Toddler had a blast and that they took him to a local neighborhood. We had already done Disneyland twice this month, the Pumpkin Patch, and a school party, I'm ok with not trick or treating on Halloween night. Does that make me a horrible parent? I hope not. So that is why you won't see any trick or treating pictures from us, because sigh, my mom still can't work her digital camera after two years.

But I've been trying to organize things on my desktop. I had some new/old Halloween pictures on there from this post. YIKES!!!! What happened to me? I found a picture from 2005, where Angry Toddler was five months old. I was 29. I compared it to this year's picture. It looks like I've aged ten years! I think I have aged for the better, for the most part, but yikes, scary to see in pictures...my youth, oh my youth!

Angry Toddler Growing Up Via Costume

We've had several variations of Halloween costumes throughout Angry Toddler's short life. We've gone from the oh my he's soo cute, to this year, his choice, sigh. I used to agonize over his costume. I would jump on the computer in July, and have his costume ready, months in advance. This year, well, we went to Target. I chose several things in his size, and said, PICK! He pretty much picked what I thought he would.

But let's take a little tour of costumes past and present:

And this year, he's Jango Fett!

What and who is a Jango Fett? I know, most people are not Star Wars Freaks like the boys in my family.

Jango Fett was a renowned human bounty hunter, assassin, mercenary, and the "father" of Boba Fett, a genetic clone of his, whom he raised as a son. A Human from Concord Dawn, Fett was adopted by Mandalorian warriors following the murder of his parents and the disappearance of his older sister Arla in 58 BBY. Years later, he would go on to lead them through much of the Mandalorian Civil War. After being imprisoned by Jedi, Jango was responsible for destroying the Death Watch, a Mandalorian group who killed Jango's mentor, Jaster Mereel.

Jango Fett information from the Wookieepedia.

Sunday Afternoon Car Shows

Yesterday, my parents took Angry Toddler to a car show at our local Ford dealership. Actually, they had a car entered in the show. My first car, well technically my second, was a 1966 Ford Mustang. This was my car, since the first car I had was a hand-me-down. When I was in high school, my parents were very involved in the car show scene. I got dragged to them every weekend. They have a 1956 Ford Thunderbird also. Well, they still have my their Mustang. They occasionally put the Mustang in shows still. The car show was hosted by the Orange County Mustang Club. I headed over there for a little bit and took some pictures, cause that's what I do. Of course, I did not take any full pictures of our car. Cause I'm lame like that and the sun was beaming on it, creating havoc with my camera.

My dad told me to take a picture of this car. I think he's a tad obsessed.

Shiny new cars. Aren't they pretty! Just a little advertising for the dealership.

Angry Toddler and my parent's car. He's "Jango Fett".

Target practice?

Angry Toddler was "shooting" at this.

And at the end of the day, I picked Angry Toddler from my mom's house. He shouted this from the backseat, "Momma, I won twenty bucks in the costume contest. You need to take me to Target and buy me some toys." Ahhh, I'm soo proud! He won first place! But seriously, proper English child, it's twenty dollars!

The Pumpkin Patch, Then and Now

We've gone to a local Pumpkin Patch with my best friend, Stacey, and her daughter, Stella, since the kids were about a year and a half old. Angry Toddler and Stella are two months apart. Looking at the pictures, you would think there was a bigger age difference between them, but there's not. Stella just has extremely long legs. You can't tell from this year's picture, but she's several inches taller than angry Toddler. I took a million pictures last week when we went to the Pumpkin Patch. But I really, there are million "patch" pictures on the blogs this week. I thought I would you show you our little tradition. Oh, and Stacey and I compared the kiddos from that time.

2006-The kids would not sit still. They wanted to explore everything. They loved the train ride.
2007-The kids were umm, bitchy. They refused the train ride and cried.
2008-The did not want to sit still, again. They did not want to be bothered with pictures. They wanted us to buy every pumpkin. They rode the train, but wanted to climb out.
2009-The kids posed for our pictures. They wanted to ride the train. They wanted to ride the train, multiple times. They sat together, without us.

THEN

NOW

Confessions of an Asthma Mom

Earlier this week, I posted about Angry Toddler getting sick in his carseat. On Monday, Angry Husband kept Angry Toddler home from preschool. He said that he was coughing, had a runny nose, and felt "pukey". Angry Husband started our usual protocol. Angry Toddler has had several febrile seizures since he was a little under a year and a half. The kid can't control his temperature and it skyrockets within minutes. We can never predict when his temperature will rise and he show virtually no symptoms.

He went to school on Tuesday, as he felt a little better. Yet, he had a little wheeze and cough. I decided to give him a breathing treatment with his nebulizer. He used to fight the treatments as a baby, but he's ok with them now. On Wednesday, I dropped him off and one of his friends ran up to him. The kid had those dark circles under his eyes, the wet barky cough, and a runny nose. I walked right past the kid's mom on the way in. Umm thanks lady, my kid has allergies and asthma. You're soo awesome for bringing your sick kid into preschool. I gave the teacher "that look". She moved the kid away from Angry Toddler.

On Thursday, he was still a little wheezy so I gave him another breathing treatment in the morning, Of course, the temperature was really hot outside. The drastic change in temperatures also effects his asthma and allergies. Angry Husband picked Angry Toddler up from school. Angry Toddler's teacher advised AH that he had not taken a nap for two days, and that he was not eating, at all. Well, when Angry Toddler doesn't eat, we know that there is a problem. This kid eats like a fourteen year old. He has a huge appetite. Plus, his behavior was downright awful. There's nothing worse than a sick asthmatic kid doped up on steroids from the nebulizer, who also has ADHD. I decided that we needed to take him to the doctor the next morning. The doctor's office was already closed, so I had to wait for it to open on Friday morning.

At 8am, Friday, I called the doctor's office. I'm sure that the receptionist was not too happy when I called for an appointment that minute that they opened. I was able to get him in for a 10:15 appointment. I was at work, but Angy Husband was on his day off. He said that Angry Toddler looked a little better, but was going to get him checked out. They went to the doctor and she said that it appeared that he was just getting over a cold/virus. He had no signs of bronchitis or an ear infection. She said that we need to take him off all fevr medications, because we need to see if he gets a fever. If he had no fever wthin twenty four hours, he was good. She also told us to get him something for post-nasal drip if he had a runny nose.

Where am I going with this all? You are probably thinking that. Well, I know several people around me that have come down with H1N1. Since Angry Toddler has asthma and lung issues, he could potentially have more problems with it. Because he's been sick for almost a week with all of this, we could not given him any type of flu shot. I was waiting for his doctor to get more of the regular flu vaccine in stock. I started panicing on Thursday night, because some of the H1N1 symptoms show an absence of fever, etc. You just never know. Angry Husband and I both felt a lot better by getting him checked out before the weekend started.

Oh, and as for flu shots. I got one on Thursday. I work with some "interesting people", and they sometimes carry germies. I did not want to be the person to bring home something to my son. And the doctor strongly advised me to get the vaccine. The regular flu shot, not the H1N1. I'm still on the fence about the H1N1.

Cleaning the Carseat...1.5 Hours I'll Never Get Back

***Disclaimer: My friend, Lindsay, advised me that I need a disclaimer. This post is about my kid, and his umm puking in his carseat. Really, it's not that graphic. But she would have rather not read the post, right after eating dinner.***

Angry Husband took my car on Friday night to take Angry Toddler to my parent's house. He's been going to my parent's house, every Saturday night for the past month. Angry Husband and I both work on Sundays.

He mentioned something about going to Target. I think Angry Toddler was rambling something about getting a "kid's game" for the Nintendo DS. The DS is actually Angry Husband's but I think it's somehow been taken over by Angry Toddler.

About fifteen minutes after Angry Husband called me. He rambled, "he's puking everywhere, it's gross, ugh". Angry Toddler is known for his puking. Unfortunately. He was a reflux baby, and always had no gag reflux. I called my mom to warn her, and to have her prep by getting towels, and a bath ready.

About an hour later, Angry Husband arrived home. He had removed the carseat from my car and brought it into the garage. Seriously, the smell was AWFUL...I think every inch of that carseat was covered. I love the carseat, a Britax Regent, but seriously, there's like a million parts to it. Angry Husband said that it was flowing like lava out of the kid. Angry Husband also said, that Angry Toddler was coughing and said that he had a fly in his throat, aka phlegm. I wrapped baby wipes around my hands as make-shift gloves, to take it apart. It took me over an hour to dissect it all. I was making gagging motions during this, seriously, it was that bad.

I finally got all the "washable" parts into the machine. I realized that the body of the car seat was still covered in ick. Good times. Seriously, one point five hours later, I was finally done cleaning the carseat. Angry Husband was laughing at me. He knew how long it would to take the cover off the seat. He also knew that I had never taken it apart before.

Last night, I sat down to put it back together. I had pieces everywhere on the floor of the garage. I was on the phone while assembling the carseat, of course. I'm a master multi-tasker. Or maybe, it's the ADHD. But then again, it took me another one point five hours to put it back together.

P.S. This post was sponsored by me, my Britax Snobbery, and my unwillingness to clean up kid vomit.

OC Children's Book Festival

I met up with my mom and Angry Toddler today at the Orange County Children's Book Festival. My parents watch Angry Toddler on Sunday, and she was looking for something to do. I suggested the Book Festival since it was something different and local.

I didn't realize how many people would be attending the event. It was crazy. My mom told me that she circled around for about thirty minutes before she found a parking spot. I eventually met up with her and Angry Toddler.

We checked out some trains. Angry Toddler is used to playing with his Thomas Trains, but I don't think he's seen mechanical trains. He was pretty impressed with them, and how big they were. We then started to look around. I found my friend, Debbie and her husband from Dippin' Dots. I introduced my mom to them and we had some dots, of course. My mom had never had Dippin' Dots, she was intrigued.

We then walked around some more. We headed towards the bounce house, Angry Toddler bounced. We listened to the girls who do the voices for The Wonder Pets read and sing. Angry Toddler got a tattoo. What a tattoo? He got an airbrushed tattoo of a skull with a snake. That's how we roll.

We walked some more. We checked out some fabulous books and of course their authors. Angry Toddler got a skateboard book. He's still talking about it.

And then it was time to leave. We spent about two hours there, and then I carried Angry Toddler to the car. Geez, the kid is getting heavy. It's not fun to carry a 45-pound kid a mile to the car.

My mom said that he took a two hour nap when they got home.

If I Could Bottle His Energy

We took Angry Toddler to a birthday party yesterday. It was a four hour party at an amusement type place. They drove race cars, they rode carnival-style rides, played laser tags, ate pizza, and video-gamed to their hearts content.

Angry Husband and I were so exhausted that we issued an order for a family nap. Angry Toddler wanted no part of a nap. He kept going....that is, until we dropped him off at my parents...

Angry Husband took some videos of Angry Toddler and his friend dancing on one of those you know what I'm talking about, dancing games. It was hilarious. I don't think they knew what they were doing. But they had fun.

Check Their Pockets

I do all the laundry in my house. I have laundry OCD. Well really, I have a whole system for it. I separate clothing by color, and then the towels also get their own cycle. I also use the cold water soap. When Angry Husband does laundry, he shoves the entire washer full. Well we all know what happens. It doesn't cycle properly and the stains stay.

While prepping for laundry procedures, I check pockets. I washed Angry Husband's iPod a few months ago because I got careless and didn't check.

When going through pockets I've found cash, pens, Lego figures, home theater parts, wire, tools, notecards, chapstick...ok maybe some of those things were left by me. But you get my point.

After I picked up Angry Toddler from school, he was digging in his pocket. He wanted to show me something. He pulled out a very small tomato, some green beans, and some snap peas. They have a garden at school. Angry Toddler likes to point out what they are growing. I would have never thought to check his pockets for vegetables.

So be sure and check the pockets before doing laundry. You might just find the ingredients for a salad.

What strange things have you found in your laundry bin? Or family member's pockets?

I Was That Mom

With the crowds dying down a little, we've been using our Disneyland Season Passes more lately. Sometimes we've gone two to three times each week. But you can do that, when you live fifteen minutes away.

Last Thursday, my mom and I took Angry Toddler to Disneyland. We got there around 5pm. The park closed at 9pm. When we go to Disneyland, we let Angry Toddler make all of the ride choices. After all, it's his gig, let him pick. We went on The Jungle Cruise, The Haunted Mansion, and It's a Small World. He danced in Tomorrow Land. He got a Buzz Lightyear toy. Gotta love that birthday certificate that he received in May. I still had $20 left on it.

And then...it was time to leave.

We were walking down Main St. We peeked through the store windows as usual. Because there's no way we were going to actually take him in the store. This kid wants anything and everything. But he didn't even beg for a balloon like he usually does. Shocking, because now they even have Mickey-head shaped balloons that light up.

We hit almost the end of Main St. We are right by the Emporium. And then we have the "sit down". As a parent, you should know the sit down, by now. Where out of nowhere, their body goes limp, and they just sit down. The tears start to roll down. They become dead weight. He was fine two minutes ago. So I ask him, "what's wrong?" The tears and sniffles start. He replied, "I want to go on one more ride. I don't want to leave." I point to the crowd storming down Main St. and I nicely tell him, "Disneyland is closing soon. See everyone around us. They are leaving too. It's time to go home. And we are going on one more ride, the tram to the parking lot." He gets up and slowly starts walking. We go over to the Emporium because I wanted to look at the Halloween goodies. I should have known better. He lost it again by the sucker display. And this is what he had to say. "I NEVER get suckers, I NEVER get ANYTHING". Yea ok, I believe you had a churro about 30 minutes ago.

He turned into a limp bowl of jelly again. They my mom tried to pick him up. She even tried the under the armpit carry. My kid is heavy. He's like almost 45 pounds at 4 years old. He doesn't look that big, but the kid is solid. She couldn't get him up. I could see the anxiety starting. We finally made it out of the store and onto the tram. He sat down on the floor and would not sit on the seat. I was trying to fold the stroller and get onto the tram myself. My mom was persuading him to get up. He was not budging. So I then became that mom, at the "Happiest Place on Earth" in front of all the tourists. I screamed, "Sit up, sit up now. You will sit on the seat. The tram is leaving. Do you want it to leave without you? Because it will. Then you will have to walk back to the car." I said a few more words too, don't judge me, we've all been there. He finally got up. Once again, the tears were flowing. We made it to the car. Mr. Cranky was super tired, we get that. Yet the week before, we left Disneyland at 11pm. He was fine.

I got home and posted this as my Facebook Status:


I got (5) likes and 12 comments on that Facebook status. They were some of my favorite comments. Because as a parent, I think we've all BEEN THERE.

Lisa-"I know that look well...from the receiving end, of course."

Ruth-"I was that parent Feb 7, 2007 by the Pirates of Caribbean.. It was so horrible that date is etched in my mind.. I feel for you!"

Robin-"I was that parent last September at Walt Disney World. Food court in Land pavilion- sorry if I scared anyone! Someone decided to pitch a total melt down fit over..........Cheetos. I feel for you Julie!"

Amy-"End of July 2009 at 11:56pm...ALL the way down Main St...but mine was a 10 year old...that looks like she is 15. Good times."

I've had many moments like this as a parent of a four year old. I will have many more. Thankfully, I know that all the other parents out there understand. You've been there, done that, and will do it again!

Theme Park Week

Angry Husband has been on vacation this week. It was completely last minute so we had nothing planned, yea really, we have no money to do anything. We have passes to Disneyland, so Angry Husband and I headed there. We went to Disney's California Adventure first. You can tell a true Disney Geek, because we were excited by all of the construction. Angry Husband made me take several pictures of the construction. It's amazing how much is going on.


After touring through California Adventure, we headed over to Disneyland. We mostly walked around and toured the shops. That's what you can do when you are kid-free and have Season Passes.

On Wednesday, we headed to SeaWorld. I am thanking, Lorna publicly for giving me passes. I twittered about SeaWorld discounts and she let me know that she had some passes. How awesome is the power of Twitter!! We had not been to SeaWorld for about two years. So we thought we would give it a try. Of course, we picked one of the hottest days of the summer to go. We slathered on the sunscreen when we got there. Okay, they slathered on the sunscreen. I was too worried about Angry Husband and Angry Toddler getting burnt that I forgot to put some on. You can only imagine that awful "farmer's tan" I am sporting. It's awesome. We went through all of the exhibits, and sat for two shows, The Shamu Show and the dolphins. Angry Husband and I decided why we don't go to SeaWorld that often, we are not impressed. I think we are totally spoiled by The Aquarium of the Pacific. We used to have a season pass there and went like once a week. That place is beautiful. Sadly, SeaWorld is not that pretty. I now have the same opinion of Sea World as I do of Legoland, "meh, not impressed, not worth the money, and why can't they paint some stuff to make it pretty".

Yes, I got my official "Shamu" photos taken with my upgraded lens on my camera. Yes, I got some pictures of Angry Toddler, but really, give me Aquarium of the Pacific anyday, over SeaWorld. Oh, and Disneyland. I could go there every day of the week and see something different.

On Thursday night, I headed over to Disneyland with my mom, and Angry Toddler. My mom had a Disney pass that she wanted to use and suggested a trip. I agreed. Angry Husband was out hanging with his boys. Oh my, was it HOT! I think it was almost 100 degrees at 6pm. CRAZY! It was pretty quiet though. I think a lot of kids have gone back to school and people were not traveling as much. We were able to see the fireworks, and enjoy some shows. We actually stayed till closing, and the best news...my mom got a season pass. Now she can take Angry Toddler...hehehhehe.

P.S. I added the lovely title to my California Adventure pictures, because I get so many random "hits" for Disney Construction in the title!

Planes of Fame Air Museum

Last Sunday, the boys in my household *Angry Husband and Angry Toddler" took a little trip to Chino. What's in Chino? Well there's an air museum called "Planes of Fame Air Museum". Planes of Fame is an independently operated aviation museum dedicated to collecting, restoring, and preserving aircrafts and memorabilia for educational benefit.

Angry Husband's BFF, Eric, told him about this museum. Eric went with Angry Husband and Angry Toddler. What was Angry Julie doing? Julie was sleeping on the couch, and then she went to work later that afternoon. Don't be jealous. I love touring the sites with the best of them. But walking around a tarmac in Chino, in the summer, not my idea of fun. Think hot, melting sun.

Angry Toddler fell in love when he entered the museum. This love was not any type of aircraft. Oh yes, it was a vending machine. He declared to the hubs, "my favorite".



Angry Husband said that Angry Toddler fit nicely in this B-17 Ball Turret. What the heck is a Ball Turret? A Ball Turret is a space on the bottom of a B-17 where a gunner stayed for approximately five to ten hours with tempuratures averaging 50 below. No thanks. Plus the space was really small, according to Angry Husband.



YEE-Haw, This is the bomb. Angry Toddler was riding a bomb, umm Rodeo Style?



But yes, it is an Air Museum, so you probably want to see some aircrafts, right? Here they are:







Angry Husband took like 200 photos that day. I know you want to see more. Check out my Flickr Account for the rest.

Project Playhouse

Every year they set-up "Project Playhouse" at Fashion Island. Before we even had Angry Toddler we would go and check out the playhouses. Each year builders and designers come up with new and different ideas for these playhouses. They are out for display for six weeks and then they are auctioned off.

This year Project Playhouse is at the Irvine Spectrum, just north of Nordstrom. It opened up last weekend and will be there until September 12th.

Per their website:

"Project Playhouse debuted in 1992 and has become HomeAid Orange County's signature fundraiser. In 18 years, the event has raised more than $5 million to help the organization fulfill its mission to build and maintain dignified housing where homeless families and individuals can rebuild their lives."

Angry Toddler was being crazy on Saturday afternoon so I suggested to my mom that we take him over to Project Playhouse. It's a $5 fee to enter the playhouse area, but it's for charity. Angry Toddler loved all the playhouses and wanted to go in and play.

I would love for Angry Toddler to have a playhouse like these. Unfortunately, we have nowhere to even put one. Our backyard is tiny. In reality, my house is only a tad larger than these playhouses. We also bought some raffle tickets to win one of the houses. I have no idea where we would put the house if we "win" it. I told my mom she would have to buy a new house just to accommodate the playhouse.

But seriously, I think this is a great idea and I loved touring all the playhouses. There are such great unique ideas. I wish I would have had something like this to play in when I was little.

An Overall View of The Playhouses

Interior Views of the Playhouses

I've added more photos of the Playhouses to my Flickr account. Check them out here!

Observations at Swim Lessons

Angry Toddler has been taking swimming lessons since the start of the summer. We are doing the lessons through the City's Parks & Recs program.

After the first day of lessons, Angry Husband called to warn me. He took the kid the first day. He said that there are lots of bitchy mothers who are complaining that they do not like the instructors and want their kids switched. I just rolled my eyes, while listening to him on the phone.

The second day, I sat down and began with my people watching. I'm new to this youth sports thing. I like to watch the parents as much as the children. When I observe the kids, I like to see how Angry Toddler is interacting with them. Are they acting like him? Is he doing well developmentally? YES, these are the things that go through my head.

And then there's the parents. They are very cliquey. The normal "sports cliques" really don't apply here. They actually break themselves into "race cliques" here. The "crackers" my white folk, were left sitting alone. We had no cliques, just ourselves. I actually watched my kid, mostly, since I wasn't busy gossiping in foreign tongues.

The outfits on the kids crack me up. Even Angry Husband shakes his head at these. Angry Toddler's swim lessons are usually in the early evening, think 5 o'clock. This is in Orange County at a high school pool. I can't tell you how many kids that I've seen in full wetsuits (long sleeves), rash guards, normal clothes, and bathing suits that look like they are 5 sizes to small. These poor kids, I just don't get it. A wetsuit to take lessons in a 3 ft deep pool? I guess Angry Toddler is boring, wearing just swim trunks and some goggles from the grocery store.

We've done 4 sessions of lessons so far. Angry Toddler has "decided" that he would like to play water polo in the future (random for a 4 yr old). I told him that he needs to learn how to swim really good. Hence, why we are at swim lessons, almost every day of the week.

The last session of swim lessons was my favorite by far for the people watching. While they have the group swim lessons for older kids (3 and up), they also have the parent and child for the smaller kiddos. There was this dad, just walking around in his Speedo and t-shirt. He was fit, but not ripped. He always got there early. Dude, I really don't want to see your junk that close. He kept chasing his toddler around. I wanted to say, please put some damn pants on.

Then my most favorite story. There was this woman that walked in with an infant in a stroller system thing. I guess she had an older kid in lessons. All of the sudden this young girl walks up to her. The mom says something and walks away. I then see her go running. These swim lessons are 25 minutes, not hours long. The girl looked lost with all the other "parents" sitting there. I finally figured out that she was the nanny.

The next day, I saw the mom again, with the dad. They had the baby with them, and the nanny. The nanny was sitting on a folding chair, and the dad pretty much kicked her out of it. She ended up sitting on the floor. The dad kept asking her weird questions, like was she wearing a new shirt, what book was she reading, etc. It totally creeped me out. I would never want to nanny for a family like that. I was texting the entire situation to Angry Husband while I was there. His response was "ewwwwww".

Angry Toddler started another new session this week of swim lessons. They are broken up into two week increments. I hope I can get some good stories from this session. Angry Toddler is doing quite well. I guess he's working on his goal of being a water polo player. He does amaze me though. He knows all of the kid's names in his class and all of the instructor's names. He's 4, how does he do that?

I don't know if I could ever be a soccer or baseball mom. It's probably that I don't fit in. I like to sit on the sidelines and stare at everyone. I'm such the people watcher. I CAN NOT help it. At least I keep entertained with the people watching, and maybe even Tweet while there.

P.S. I'm including this picture of Angry Husband and Angry Toddler. Don't they look angry? Angry Husband hates his picture being taken. I will know if he's stalking/reading the blog because he will say something like, "umm, why did you put that crappy picture of me on your blog post."

Wordless Wednesday: The OC Fair 2009

A Night at the Circus "Zing Zang Zoom"

Last night, we were able to attend Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's "Zing Zang Zoom" circus courtesy of Mom Central and the Feld Family Activators. When I say, "We", I mean Stacey (The BFF), Stella (BFF's daughter), Angry Toddler and myself. Angry Husband has been very busy doing work-type stuff lately.

We started the night off with a Special Event for the Activators. We were treated to a buffet of wonderful "circus-type" foods (i.e. hot dogs, soft pretzels, all you can eat cheese dip for the pretzels). We then had a great show put on by Magical Zingmaster Alex. Stella was chosen as his helper. She was very excited.

They then brought in the clowns and goofed around with the kids. They loved the clowns and thought they were very funny, and not so scary. Ever since Poltergeist, Julie has not been a fan of clowns. Stacey and I agreed, that these were not scary clowns.


*All Access Pre-Show

At 6:30, we went down to the floor of the Honda Center for the "Clown College" show. We got to meet more performers up close, along with getting autographs, seeing the elephants, and even miniature horses. This is event is FREE to everyone with a ticket to the Circus. Several hundred people "flooded" the floor for this. Angry Toddler seemed to get lost in the shuffle. He is used to Daddy putting him on his shoulders. Ya, a 45 lb. kid on my shoulders was not too comfortable.



*Main Event

It was then time for the "Main Event". We went up the stairs and took our seats. Stacey and I were very excited because our seats were on the end. Yes, we are big dorks. Angry Toddler and Stella requested more cotton candy. We obliged, because really, we wanted some of the sugary goodness also.






We saw acrobats, elephants, horses, zebras, and even dogs perform some fabulous acts! Angry Toddler and Stella really loved the show. I didn't even tell Angry Toddler that we were going to the Circus, until we got there. He talked about going to the Circus all day today. He was very excited to tell his preschool friends this morning.

And a little video I took of the dog acrobats...please no comments on my bad videography!

I really want to thank Mom Central and the Feld Family Activators for such a fabulous event!

The Circus will be at the Honda Center through July 26th, and then will be in Ontario from July 29th-August 2nd. Use can use promo code: MOM, when purchasing tickets on Ticketmaster.com. With this code, you can purchase a 4-pack of tickets for $44.