Winter Wonderland

I'm gonna get you!

Tonight was the Pennypickle's Workshop Winter Wonderland.  We scrounged up all the pennies we could find so we could take Kyle to this fun event...and boy did Kyle have FUN!  =)  Upon arriving you bought tickets.  1 ticket = $1  Everything is then paid for in tickets.  We bought 15 tickets, and we had a lot of fun with that $15 tonight!

The first thing we did was take a family photo. Which was downloadable online. Let me know if you would like a copy, and I can email it.  It didn't turn out as great as I had hoped, but we don't have many photos of the 3 of us because Josh is always the one taking the photos, haha!  So, I will be happy with what we got.  ;o)

Josh, Beth, and Kyle ~ Dec 2011

After our photo I asked Kyle if he wanted to meet the Snow Princess, and he said yes....so off we went.  She was hidden away in a secret tent, where she individually meets with each family.  She gives each child a snowflake with a secret message on it.  Kyle's message was "You won a prize!"  So, Kyle won a cute little pin that says "imagine Temecula".  He thought that was pretty neat, and we promptly pinned it on his winter vest.  ;o)

Next we stood in line for the SNOW!  Yes, they had a machine that made real snow.  Kyle got to throw snowballs, and we even built a miniature snowman.  (And I really mean miniature, lol)

Would you like to throw one too?

Kyle has been asking to play in the snow ever since our visit to Tucson this month.  Mt. Lemmon was covered in snow, and he wanted to go play so bad!  We promised him we would take him to play in the snow in California...and we delivered that promise tonight.  ;o)

After our snow play, Josh took our picture with this cute sled that was playing music, had all kinds of lights and moving parts.  In fact the whole sled was moving around.  Pretty neat science experiment made by Mr. Pennypickle.  ;o)

They had a special "kids only" shop...where children under the age of 10 years old can go in and pick out a present for Mom and Dad for the cost of 5 tickets.  We weren't allowed in there...Kyle did this all on his own!  But what I heard them say was that they had examples out of each gift, and the child would pick what they wanted to "buy"....and they had wrapped ones all ready for the children to take (so that Mom and Dad don't know what it is, of course!).  Kyle came out of the room beaming with the biggest smile and handed me the gift that he chose.  I could tell he was so proud of himself for getting us something for Christmas.  In fact, he feel asleep in the car just before we pulled into the driveway...but the first thing he said when we got in the house was, "Where is the present?"  He wanted to put it under the tree....and he did.  Then he said, "You will wonder what it is going to be.  It is fragile."  What a sweet boy!

Here Mommy, I picked this for you and Daddy...it's a surprise!

We ended the night by getting a small bag of home baked cookies with our last 2 tickets, in which Kyle enjoyed munching on while Josh and I had our free glass of wine at Lorimar Winery.  (We are members there, so we get a free glass every visit...and we also get free tasting for our guests.)  So, if you are ever in town.... ;o)

Kyle had so much fun!  When we got in the car he immediately said, "I want to go there again."  The next adventure will be ice skating!  They have an outdoor ice rink that opened up tonight, and it brings back memories of when I lived in Salzburg, Austria.  Josh has never been ice skating before...so it will be so fun to take both of my boys for their first time!  What a charming little town, I just love living here!!!

Park Play

It's almost December, and the weather is heavenly out.  It has been such a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!  Josh had 4 days off, we had my brother and family down from L.A. for the holidays, I got all the Christmas decorations up, and there was plenty of time for play with the little monkey.  Today we took him to the park to monkey around.  ;o)  It's so fun having a professional photographer for a husband, because we end up getting so many beautiful photos of our son.  Such wonderful faces, moments, and memories...captured forever!  I just wanted to share a few of these moments and silly faces from today.  Kyle has the most beautiful deep blue eyes, that I swear just talk to you when you look into them.  He has all kinds of silly faces and smiles....he is just a delightful little boy, and we are so blessed he is our son.  Enjoy some photos of our handsome 3 year old from the park today.

Handsome boy!

He's a climber!

Climbing UP the slide...

Swinging on his tummy.

There are those talking eyes.  Love it!!!

So sweet, just melts my heart!

What's the caption on this one?  Haha!

It is winter time, so why not make a sand angel....since there's no snow...  ;o)

Sea World Christmas 2011

One of the perks of living in Southern California is being close enough to have a membership to Sea World!  (At least I see that as a perk, lol!)  We made the journey down to San Diego on November 18, 2011 for their special members only event.  This was their special kick off for their Christmas Celebration.  As a member we got a special green glass blown turtle ornament, which is now hanging on  our tree.  We saw Mrs. Clause, real reindeer, played in real snow...Kyle sledded.... and we watched their special holiday Shamu show complete with fireworks at the end.  It was a very busy crowd that night, but it was fun to enjoy the festivities of the holiday season.  Here are some photos from the night.  Enjoy!  =)

Sea World Sky Tower

Kyle, Mrs. Clause, & a very happy Elf

Mommy & Son

Sledding in real snow at Sea World, San Diego!  ;o)

Daddy & Son waiting for the Shamu Show to start

Watching the fireworks show...look at his big eyes!  Makes a Mother's heart dance!

Choo, Choo!

November 5, 2011 was a very fun and very special day for one special little boy I know.  ;o)  Thomas Train was visiting in Perris, CA... a short drive from where we are living.  Kyle loves Thomas and his friends!  This event was being hosted by the Orange Empire Railway Museum (in which we are members).  The membership is only $60 for the entire family for the year, and provides unlimited rides on all the trains, and street cars whenever they are running (mostly just on the weekends).  Kyle LOVES it there, and we are happy to support the museum...as they are run completely off of volunteers!!!

Our train ride was scheduled for 10:30am, so we made sure to get there in plenty of time to get parked and where we needed to be.  I will never forget the *sparkle* in Kyle's eyes when he saw Thomas pulling up to the train depot!  It was such a sweet moment, that I will hold in my memory forever!  He lit up inside, and while he was trying to not be too excited on the outside (he's a boy...gotta stay 'cool' when possible, right?)...I could tell that he was dancing on the inside!  There he was, THE Thomas Train, chugging along with steam and all... and about to take us for a ride!

Our first glimpse of Thomas!

We boarded a passenger car, that Thomas was "pulling", and went for a 25 minute ride down the track and back.  Thomas wasn't really pulling the train...there was a diesel engine at the back that was pushing and pulling the train, in all reality.  But, Thomas was puffing steam, and for all intensive purposes, he looked like he was pulling the train!  =)

Front row view from the platform of Thomas pulling the passenger cars behind him!

Here is Kyle in anticipation, right before the smile, as he saw Thomas coming in the above photo.

"HI" Thomas!  =)

 

 

 

There he goes!  Choo, Choo....

We got to do some other fun things during the day as well!  We got to ride in the top of a Caboose, and Kyle really enjoyed that!  Here are a few photos from the caboose ride.

Mommy and Kyle in the Caboose

Hanging out the caboose window up top to "see what he could see"

His eyes are so deep - old soul right there!  ;o)

We got to see a real steam engine, although not running...they are getting it ready to run it soon I think.

Steam Engine

Kyle got to play with toy trains in a large tent with tracks and train cars galore!  They had temporary tattoos, and Kyle choose "Diesel 10" as his.  That one seems to be his favorite right now...even above Thomas it seems.  ;o)  We rode a street car around the museum, and got our photos taken with Thomas.  It was such a wonderful event!  We literally spent over 5 hours there!  We all had a great time....especially Kyle!  But I sure had a great time watching Kyle's eyes dance with excitement all day long!

Kyle and Daddy

Daddy, Kyle, & Mommy

Kyle's Tattoo

Riding the street car.

Mommy & Kyle, waiting to have our photo taken with Thomas

Thomas up close and personal

Thomas is #1!

 Photography by Josh Buchanan: J.B. Photography

Happy To Be Three...

Well, I have realized that it has been 16 months since I last blogged!  Whoa!  A lot happens in the life of a child in a year!  I'm kind of kicking myself now that I let it go...but that is the past, and I will try to do better to keep up with things now.  ;o)

We now live in Southern California, and Kyle is 3 years old!  He is so tall that most people think he is about 4 or 5 years old.  The pediatrician said at his 3 year well check that he will be 6'3" or 6'4" when he grows up...WoW!

Where to even begin...!  Since we have been in California (about 6 months now), we have been SO busy!  The parks here are beautiful and EVERYWHERE, lol!  We have passes to Sea World (of course!), and the Train Museum in Parris, CA.  Kyle is in love with trains!  In fact, we will be going to the train museum tomorrow to ride THE Thomas Train.  ;o)  This is a big event in our house this weekend for a special little boy.  We took Kyle to the beach for the first time, and he loved it!!  What a water baby!

Jump!

Splash!

Run!

And...tide pools at La Jolla, of course!

We went to my brother's lake house for a weekend, and Kyle got to do the water ski trainer for the first time!  Just turned 3 years old when we went!  Here is a picture of our adrenaline junkie, haha!  And that is me trying a paddle board for the first time.  My darling husband is such a great photographer!!!

I have plugged into a great Mommy's group here, and Kyle and I do so many fun things throughout the week.  One of the things we did recently was visit the Fire Station.  That was a big thrill for a little boy!

Kyle driving the Fire Truck.

On Sunday I will be running a 5K down in Del Mar.  I just completed my second Half Marathon a couple weeks ago up in San Fransisco for the Nike Women's Half.  I got my Tiffany necklace at the finish line, and boy was that an awesome experience!  =)  I even got to visit with some family while I was up there.

I am a stay at home mom once again, and Kyle and I couldn't be happier with the arrangement!  He is such a joy to have in our home, and we are so blessed to have such a happy, bright, intelligent, fun little guy!  =)