Leo Carrillo Ranch (aka the Peacock Park)

I moved to San Diego county in 2009. Wow, 5 years - I just need to let that sink in for a second!

At that time I began hanging out with the boys and tromping up and down the coast. I've always liked kids, so it was fun and natural to explore the world around us. When the chiquita came along my perimeter got astoundingly smaller, we still ventured out, but it was always more close to home. Now thats she's a whopping 2 and a half that perimeter is expanding again! Internal happy dance!

Funny thing is: one of our favorite new spots? 5 minutes away. Yep. Right down the street and we only discovered it recently. That's the way it goes sometimes.

It's actually my own fault. I had heard a friend talking about the "peacock park" for a while, but we were always so wrapped up in schedule that we never checked it out. Finally we made plans to meet there for lunch one day. Since then it has joined our weekly routine. Leeloo loves it and always asks to go.

Leo Carrillo Historic Ranch is just up the street from us in Carlsbad, CA. From the main road you wouldn't know that such a charming place was just down the drive. The city has converted the ranch into a historic site, with a little museum, and lots of memorabilia from Leo Carrillo who played the Cisco Kid. The kiddos don't notice any of that - what they like are the peacocks. So many peacocks!

Our first visit we wandered into a little picnic area awaiting our friends. In moments we were surrounded. They are not people shy at all, and I have to constantly remind the chiquita that they are not animals to pet.

I'm so happy we found this place. It's perfect for picnics or just for a little walk. Yay peacock park!

Our first visit:

Babies!

And since then, we go quite often.

Easter

Holidays make me so giddy now. It's weird. I guess my lack of enthusiasm stemmed from young adult aloofness. But, my family always came together at holidays and made it fun for us, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me at all that I wanna do the same for the chiquita. 

Our Easter came in three parts this year.

Part 1:

The first was a neighborhood celebration in Stepford, Bunnypalooza. It sounded like a fun idea and the girlie was so very excited. View the excitement:

Running to the park to see the Easter Bunny (which to my knowledge, she has no real concept of).

I actually love our community and I'm thankful that there are events like this. However, I always come away a little (a lot) disappointed. Some insight:

The little one ran from the car (a block away), and into the event field, filled with gusto. There was a crowd, and jumpy castle things, and people she knew, and tents!, oh tents!, and more jumpy castles and-- yes, excitement. 

I--as a mother, looked past the bright and shiny, and saw the crowds, and the lines. I tried to steer Leeloo towards the open craft tent - but no, she saw the great big (with slide and climbing log) bounce house.

"That mommy!"

So we went into line. And we waited. And she ran about. And came back and we waited. And she ran to the front of the line and I coaxed her back and we waited. And she tried to pull me to the front of the line, but I convinced her to hold our ground, and we waited. And about 20 minutes later (two toddler lifetimes), we were next. 

This was a big bouncy castle, like the penthouse version. I sized up all the kids in front of us and they looked around Leeloo's size, so I felt ok about it. She pulled off her socks and shoes and clambered up the bouncy slope into the abyss. 

This is where my mommy vision went into 5 second slow motion cycle: She's in...she's smiling...she's balancing...I can jockey for position and see her clearly...she looks unsure...she sees me...she smiles...she's balancing... she's jumping!...she's giggling!...she's so happy...she's - what?

There was a blur of blond and then a grunt. Leeloo was down and an 8-yr old little girl pushed herself up off of her and bounced away. My girlie is tough. She has brothers that knock her about constantly so she can take a whollup. This time, she froze, assessed the damage, made eye contact with me and said "ow, mami, ow head", then started to cry. She made her way out, wailing. I held her and moved away from the castle, trying to soothe her, but really it just made her even more upset. She was holding her head in pain but so sad that she wasn't back in  the castle. I suppose I should be grateful for her resolve, but at that point I was not gonna shove her back into the melee. More upset.

Eventually (after ten minutes or so of her crying and cuddling and running back to the line and cuddling and pleading for more), I bribed her with a cookie. 

The egg hunt for 1-2 year olds happened simultaneous to her meltdown. So once I calmed her down they were on to the 3-5 year hunt. The hunt was in a small fenced yard--maybe 50'x50'--with only one side opened. There was no real "hiding" of the eggs, just groups lying on the ground. In front of the one open side there were parent and kids and older siblings lined up ready to go. When they finally gave the hunt order it was chaos. At first we couldn't get passed the parents standing and watching, the we couldn't make it around the kids getting the eggs, so in desperation I picked the girlie up and like a running back tried to take her to our goal--an untouched egg-filled corner. With great maneuvering we got there, but as soon as I set her down the eggs were gone, mostly picked up by older siblings who were "helping". We left with an empty basket.

After that I decided to abandon Bunnypalooza and head down towards the playground. Eventually all her little friends made it there and she had a great time with them, but it took an hour or so of me watching them to let the frustration subside.

Part 2:

The second egg hunt we attended was much smaller. The day before Easter our complex decided to do there own little hunt. We bounded down and waited for the doors to open.

Waiting with Wawa.

When we got in, Ripley got to meet an Easter bunny (I will not say "the" Easter bunny because the costume was one of the creepiest I've ever seen).

After meeting creepy bunny she had to wait again. I'm all about teaching my daughter patience - but seriously, there is only so much you can ask a 2 year old to endure.

The second egg hunt happened in a much smaller area. But the chiquita was still no match for the older kids. Her abuelita and I managed to steer her towards one egg but that was all. Luckily she didn't really think that she was missing anything. Especially since the hunt was at the pool. I let her put her feet in, but she was all in (fully dressed), in minutes. Time to start swim lessons again!

Part 3:

Easter Sunday.

The day started with her basket:

Contents: Coloring books, a birdhouse, box full of "jewels" and small little things.

Her first jewelry box.

Best matchbox car ever.

Grandpa joined us for Easter morning.

After eggs we got dressed and put all our things together to head to the park where we invited all her friends for a picnic. All week my mom and I worked to make small gifts for the kids. We ended up with super cute chickies and sock bunnies. 

Little felt chicks in eggs. 

Sock bunnies from my own recycled socks.

Ripley loves her little bunny.

The park was wonderful. We have a small circle of families that we do a lot of things with. All of our kids are the same ages and they see each other many times throughout the week. The kids play so well together and the parents are all very nice and genuine. We are lucky to have a good circle.

Our picnic was fairly simple. We had snacks, bubbles, little paper airplanes, sidewalk chalk, and our own egg hunt. The night before I went out and bought more eggs, determined that the kids would not be left wanting. I admit now that I went a little overboard, and I'm ok with it.

Michaels had the best bubble wand.

Flying a paper kite with her Uncle.

Happy memories.

A Day in the Life

I was on Facebook last night and there was a post about going stir crazy because of a lack of Friday night plans. I hadn't even realized it was Friday before I read that.

Pre-children, pre-suburbia, pre-mommyhood, I was out every Friday night. Most nights in fact. I love music and dancing and coffee and art - I did everything and anything that would pull me out of the house. I performed, had rehearsal, volunteered and worked 40-60 hours a week. All while being aware of what was going on and where and who would be there. I prefer "social butterfly", but my partner likes to affectionately say, "party girl".

When I moved to the suburbs it was hard to adjust. Nothing is in walking distance. The closest coffee is Starbucks - in a grocery store. There is great art - about 40 minutes away. And music and dancing is rare and far between. Before Leeloo we had the divorcee schedule. Every other weekend we'd be sans kids and head out for a downtown brunch or take a drive up the coast. Now that we are 24/7 parents those trips have been replaced by the park, soccer and football and beach, today it was a science fair, and tomorrow Legoland. I forget it's Friday night because the days are such a whirlwind that by the time I open my computer I'm exhausted. It's fun and good, but mighty different from the life once lived.

A typical day:

6 - 6:30am - Leeloo wakes up and wanders into our room to snuggle.

7ish - she decides that it's time to eat, and usually sits straight up saying "Yum! Yummy!"

7:30 - FaceTime with the grandparents. She officially thinks my computer's only purpose is this. She opens it up and looks at the screen saying "Grandpa? WahWah? (her version of abuelita)".

8:30 - breakfast. Avocado on toast is popular. So are soft boiled eggs. And fruit, lots and lots of fruit.

9:00-10 - Caillou is on. Leeloo's favorite show is about a Canadian 4 year old boy. He's kinda whiney and always disappointed, but she likes him so much that she no longer refers to her brothers by anything other than "Caillou!"

I use this time to shower, get dressed, clean up breakfast, get Ripley dressed and get things packed up for the morning (snacks, lunch, etc).

10am - Morning activity. Park, library, dance, playdate, swimming, anything that gets us out of the house.

On a walk to a playdate. We stopped for every snail and she
discovered ants. It took us almost an hour. Toddler pace.

On this particular day Leeloo got her first cruising experience. In an Escalade no less, with big ginormous speakers.

Noon - time to head home for nap.

12 - 3 - welcome to the unpredictable portion of the day. On good days she sleeps for a few hours. Lately, afternoon naps are hit or miss. Mama still needs the quiet time. Please, nap overseers of the universe, have pity on us!

She's so lovely.

2:30 - B comes home from middle school. Let the homework begin!

3:30 - Z gets home from school, yet more homework to be had.

4:00 - By now the chiquita is up and it's snack time for all the kiddos. Then we are either off for a family walk, errands, or football practice.

On our way to practice:

What we do while the boys practice:

5ish - head home and cook dinner. Or drop the boys off to their mom and sometimes cheat on dinner.
This day we had some errands to run (buying stainless steel bowls since I'm trying to ween out all plastic). Dinner was found nearby.

Dinner cheat. Panera.

Always gotta stop and see the fish.

6:30 - our normal dinner time.

7:00 - clean dinner plates while the kids go bananas.

7:30 - bath time for all.

8:00 - reading time for the chica and bedtime for the monkeys.

8:30 - 9:30 - convince the 2 year old that sleep indeed is a good thing.

10:00 - 12am - Glass of wine, piece of chocolate. Catch up on daily events, write, edit pictures, anything I can while my eyes stay open. Oh, and maybe spend sometime with the partner (if he hasn't fallen asleep with Leeloo - which is what he did tonight).

And you wonder why I don't remember that it's Friday. Whew!

(all these pics were taken on one day - the outfit changes are typical, 2 year olds are messy!)

Confrontation at the Park

One of the main reasons that we frequent the park so often (despite fighting cabin fever), is so the the chiquita can socialize. Human interaction is this crazily intricate web that takes acrobatics to navigate - and here we are, as parents, fumbling to teach it to our little ones. Mostly the playground is a good experience. Leeloo has her little clique of friends that she plays with, but she also includes anyone that is in her little 3 foot bubble. Age two is nice that way - no discrimination. Occasionally there are disagreements, someone claims a toy, or sand gets tossed in an eye, but luckily these moments pass quickly and all is forgiven easily.

Today I got a glimpse of what I hope is not the future yet to come. The park was super busy. Every other day there is a mama exercise group that floods the playground. The whole place vibrates on these days. Leeloo was playing quietly on her own and I was letting her be independent. However, I still watch her, and all the kids that I know and love. Actually, I watch all the kids - even the ones I don't know, because they are kids, and vulnerable, and very apt to needing an adult to help with something. I was there watching, when a situation started brewing. It was innocent. M was at the top of the slide and R jumped on the bottom, ready to climb up. A scenario that happens almost everyday - no biggie whatsoever. M's mom intervened, first asking R to let M slide down, and then when R was not compliant she tried to get M to move over to the next slide. M got upset, wondering why, if he was there first, he had to be the one to move. These boys were 4 and 4 and a half. The younger more gentle and the older definitely more assertive. Unfortunately, the scene devolved and poor M got taken away for a time out. Not because he was the one in the wrong, but because he choose not to listen to his mother after he became upset.

 At this point nothing out of the ordinary had happened. R was certainly being bratty, but most kids have their turn. It wasn't until M and his mom were gone that I overheard R excitedly say to his friend (who looked like a scared deer), "Look! We got M in trouble! He'll probably have to go home! He'll probably have to go straight to his room!". These words were laced with equal parts menace and glee. It was terrible. And unacceptable. And I couldn't let it pass.

 The conversation that followed went something like this:

Me: "R, that was not a nice thing to do to M. Where is your mother? We need to talk to her."
R: "No we don't! I have no mother!"
Me: (to the scared deer boy) "R is not being a good guy and his mom needs to know. Which one is she?"
R: (with intimidation) "Don't tell her! She wants to get me in trouble!"
Me: (again to deer boy) "If R was being mean to you, would you want him to stop? Would you want his mom to know?"
With that, the little deer boy pointed to a group of moms that were in exercise gear, talking, with their backs to the playground. I thanked him and looked at R with my most serious face, and said: "I know who your mother is now. If you play nice, I won't have to talk to her."

 The playground chaos took over and I thought that was the end of it. M's mom came back (having two other children to keep tabs on) and felt guilty for essentially punishing M for being bullied. Eventually she went back over to M, who was still upset, and I overheard R saying something like: "let's go look at M in trouble!". Oh kids - they are sometimes awful!

I stepped in immediately and told the boys to leave M his space. When met with more indignation by R I went to his mom. I slipped into her circle, and didn't wait for her conversation to end before I quietly told her what happened. Immediately she yelled at R to come towards us. I calmly explained what I had told her and she demanded if it was true. He hung his head and said yes. She stood up and grabbed his arm and pulled him over to M to apologize - thanking me, while threatening him.

I felt bad for the kid. He was a bully and he totally upset me, but the outcome of the whole situation upset me more. Bullies learn their behavior. This boy is only 4 (and a half). The whole time his mother was chatting, back turned to the playground. When the little deer boy pointed her out, I watched to see if she'd turn to check in on R, but I never saw her face. R made some bad decisions, but I won't hold it against him. I will be nice (but on guard), when I see him again. Throughout this whole scene I knew where Ripley was and that she was ok. She is my priority. Throughout my day I have to excuse myself from conversations because she requires my attention. I teach her patience, but I am also protective and interested and concerned with her well being. At the end of it M's mom thanked me for talking to R's mother. She said that it was so hard for her to do that. I let her know that I will always be there to stand up for our kids. I am confrontational. Maybe it's the latina in me, but I will not be timid when our kids are at stake.

Super casual simple park birthday

When your daughter has a gaggle of friends you find yourself at lots of toddler parties. Indoor, outdoor, fancy, plain - parties of every shape and size. For Leeloo's 2nd birthday I wanted to do something simple. I decided that we would just have a morning in the park. Not even the bigger park that we usually attend, just a small little neighborhood park down the street, which is usually empty.

The chica's birthday happened to be on a Friday, so I set the date for the party on the next day, Sat from 10-1. I also thought that, since she's blessed with so much, we should just have a book exchange, and then everyone could go home with something. Park, book exchange, maybe some snacks, oh and a piñata (because it's required), easy peasy.

Oh, and if we were going to have a book exchange, the kids needed a reading space, so I thought, why not make a teepee that the kids could sit in? The piñata also had to be handmade, because the ones in the stores are super cardboardy and you need a chainsaw to break them. Piñata, teepee, park, snacks, a cinch.

Then I started the invite list. Friends, family, our friends with kids. It soon grew to over 40 people. So snacks became a little more involved than I initially thought. Fruit, and sandwiches, but those are boring, maybe sandwich skewers, with star shapes? We also needed veggies, so veggie rolls, Yeah. And for dessert, cupcakes. But I didn't want to buy them - because that is entirely too simple. I wanted angel food cupcakes with strawberries and a whip cream frosting. But whip cream melts - so a mascarpone frosting. Which meant I needed to buy a piping tip too. Super casual simple park bday.

Did I mention that I also hosted Thanksgiving at my house? We had a Halloween party, then we went to visit Arizona for a couple of weeks, followed by Thanksgiving, and her birthday was a week after. No pressure.

It was mostly all under control until the monday before. That's the day that a friend asked me if I had looked at the weather (which I never do). She said there was a chance of rain. Great.
So everyday after that I checked the weather. Mon: 15% chance. No biggie. Tues: 40% chance, I sent out and Evite warning that there might have to be a plan B. Wed: 60% chance, I had to actually start thinking about a plan B. Thurs: 100% chance of rain on Sat (with the temp in the 50's), this is where I may have had a bit of a freak-out.

I thought about all logical indoor alternatives. I had a cafe say they could accommodate us (but what do you do with two year olds in a cafe?), and I also had a very nice friend offer up her house (which I declined and then told her the size of the guest list). Ultimately, I had to bite the bullet and postpone the party by a day (Sun: 0% chance of rain). There were a couple of cancellations, but mostly people were flexible.

Saturday morning we woke up and it was sunny. Seriously. Bright blue sky and sunny. At this point I was cursing the gods - or a least the meteorologist. However, by 11:30 it was pouring. We would have been soaked. My faith was restored.

By Sunday the rain had cleared up. It was still way colder than we're used to (in the fifties), but it was sunny and not too soggy. In the end there were only two families that couldn't make it, and the rest of the day went smoothly. Just another little birthday in the park. No big thing.

Link to my Pinterest idea board.