The Jones Girls

We set out to go to the L.A. County Fair today.  They had a good deal, $1 per adult if you arrived 10am-1pm.  We were on the road at 11:30am and still stuck in traffic at 12:30pm with no end in sight when we would finally get to the fair.

So we ditched the scene and decided to go to a park.    We ventured over to the Fullerton Arboretum.

What a beautiful place.   It is an amazing botanical garden with lots of water features, bridges,and water falls.  The girls loved looking at the fishies in the stream and made friends with the ducks and turtles at the pond.  

There were so many different areas of botanicals – woods and forest, fruit trees, flowering trees, vegetable gardens…so much to look and see!

This was a fun way to spend the afternoon.  It is free but they do accept donations so we were happy to give them a $3 donation to support such a beautiful place in our community.

What a beautiful day it was today!!

I had a free coupon for 10 people to go bowling.  I called my girlfriend, Nubia to come join us and she brought her 2 kids down and we met up at Whittier Bowl today.

What a great bowling!!  We had a blast!!   Savannah is doing really well learning to bowl.  She crouches down and pushes the ball with both arms.

I am still using the ball ramp with the triplets but for a few sets I did have them crouch down and push the ball with both arms.   I helped them of course.

Miranda’s ball was slow moving and stopped at the beginning of the lane so I thought I would go out to the lane and get it.   The minute I stepped my foot on the lane I slipped and fell hard.    I had no idea that they was the lanes!!   Oh man, I hit really hard and my arm is really sore from the fall.   Next time, I am going to have an employee go get the ball for me.  Ouchie!!

They all had lots of fun and bowled all 10 sets.    I had crayons and coloring books to keep them busy as each girl took turns bowling.

Afterwards we went to Red Robin.  I had some coupons for free Kids Meals that the dentist gave the girls on their dental visit a few weeks ago.   So everyone had a free lunch.    Poor Maryssa and Amanda were so wiped out and they fell asleep on the chair in the booth.

On the way out everyone got a balloon.

What a great day for activities that were FREE!! YIPPEE!!

Daddy Cliff has been busy working on a job in Arkansas for a month.  He is finally coming home tonight!!  Everyone has missed him and it will be so nice to bug him…LOL!!

Cliff, honey, your girls and your wife are thrilled to have you home.

We love you xoxoxoxo

Our dog Teddy has been due for a hair cut for quite some time.  I took him on Friday.  I bathed him a couple of days ago and I just couldn’t get the mats out of his long hair.   He has the most beautiful hair – his is a Shitzu.

So I took him to our groomers today.    They told me that he would have to be trimmed a little short due to the mats. 

Well, his hair cut was more like a buz job – sheesh!!

In the evening I pick him up at about 7pm.   I had the girls with me and they told the groomer that is not our dog Teddy!!   Where is Teddy!!  They didn’t recognize Teddy with his new awful haircut.   Our sweet furry dog now looks like a Chihuahua!!   Ick!!    Or maybe more like a rat.    He looks so tiny and shrimpy.    Teddy’s hair was his personality I guess, made him look so cute.  Now he looks so pathetic.

He has been itching up a storm and seems really unhappy with the short haircut.  

I want my old dog back.  I guess he will come back when the fur grows back in (((sigh)))

Today at 2pm I took Savvy down to her school, El Portal, and they did the testing to make sure she was ready for kindergarten.

There are 2 kindy classrooms so we will know on Friday at 4pm which teacher she has.   They will post it on the door at the school.

Savvy starts kindy next Tues. 9/8 at 8:30am.    I will be there at 8:15am to drop her off.   They have invited parents for a coffee break at 8:30am to meet and greet with the principal.   I think I will do that.   

While Savannah was doing her testing which took about 20 minutes, I  waited outside and filled out some classroom forms and also got a list of supplies needed for the classroom.

Wow!!  That list was loooong.   I couldn’t believe how picky they were about getting NAME BRANDS of  things.   The teacher told me that they don’t like cheap crayons like Rose Art because they break easy and Crayola works much better.   Ummm, excuse me….I have Rose Art brand at home and they work just fine.  Also, 12 sticks of Elmer’s Glue.  It HAS to be Elmer’s stick glue.  And 2 bottles of Elmer’s School Glue (HAS to be Elmer’s).    2 white Magic Erasers (It HAS to be Magic Eraser because they won’t rip the paper..whatever…!!!)   Sharpie Brandfine point AND ULTRA fine point in black (HAS to be Sharpie!).    They also wanted an 8″x5″ pencil box that SNAPS close.  Not a zippered pencil case.    That was not an easy find.  

Then there are optional things to get…Lysol Wipes (HAS to be Lysol or Clorox, no cheapie brand), Scotch Brand Poster Tape (HAS to be Scotch!!!), Paper Towels (YAY – no name brand!), Liquid Hand Soap (Again, Yay no name brand!), Kleenex Tissues (HAS to be name brand-bleh!).

Now here is the kicker…..Snacks at school…    The teacher told me we can only send healthy snacks to school.  Things like Snack Pack Pudding are considered JUNK food and can’t be sent for snacks.  WHAT!!!   Ummm, HELLO, pudding is made of MILK andin my MOMMY BOOK that is HEALTHY.  This means I can’t send in her all time favorite drink, Yoo Hoo, which is chocolate milk.   Ugh!!  Can you tell I am getting annoyed now?   So they gave me a list of suggested snacks…cheese, crackers, fruit, yogurt.    Ok, so I got some of those cheese & crackers snacks that Savvy likes.  I also got her some string cheese and some apple juice boxes.    

The 2nd kicker…Savvy can’t have a lunch box or thermos and plastic spoons andforks only.    We send in the snack in a brown paper bag with her name written on it or a Ziploc bag with her name written on it.  They want everything to be able to be conveniently thrown away.   Ummm…HELLO…I am environmentally conscious and I want to use a reusable lunch box, a thermos and eating utensils.   

Another minor kicker that just spells BUMMER…they don’t allow the Kindy Kids to have backpacks.   What is going to school without your own backpack?   Each child will be given a folder and they take them home everyday with their paperwork in it.

This is a kicker that I think is just pathetic.  Parents are  not allowed to bring in cupcakes or ice cream for a kid’s birthday.   It has to be fruit, yogurt, crackers, only for their birthday.    No sweets or junk food of any kind to celebrate birthdays.    Now that just sucks.  They are taking something for special away from the kids as far as I am concerned.

I tell you, what is this public school system coming to?    It is so ridiculous.  I don’t remember when I went to school that my mom had to get all of this crap for me and then they tell her what she can feed me.     This is like COMMUNISM SCHOOL and I am not digging it.    Maybe homeschooling will be in my future because I think this is completely ridiculous.

I spent over $50 for the supplies for Savvy’s Kindy class.   I picked up her snacks too so I am all set for 1st day of school.

I planned a really fun field trip for my girls and for the La Habra Moms Club.  We had a huge turnout – about 26 kids and 15 moms.    We went to Red Robin, a restaurant that specialized is gourmet hamburgers and good food fare.

I arranged to have each child get a tour of the kitchen and how the restaurant operates, work with the chef to make their very own made to order burger, and then they all received all sorts of goodies like free gift certificates, keepsake cups, coloring books and crayons.

They had a private room all decorated for us.   There were balloons tied to each child’s chair.  It looked amazing!!  

Poor Maryssa was so wiped out and fell asleep eating her burger while sitting in the booth with the other girls.  I had to lay her down on the bench in the booth.    The event started at 2pm and my girls got to sit down and eat at about 3:15pm so I guess Maryssa needed to take a catnap – LOL!!

The kids got to sit down and have lots of socializing with each other while enjoying their full burger meal with fries and a drink for a negotiated discount price of $3 a kid.  Each mom ordered their own lunch.  I negotiated some free kids meal coupons so I was able to get my girls and my burger meal free.   I thought they were very gracious to our La Habra Moms Club.

Some interesting facts that I learned from our host that gave us the tour of Red Robin – the 1st Red Robin opened up in Seattle, WA in 1969.  They now have over 500 restaurants nationwide.  

The big informative fact that I learned is that they use FRESH ground beef daily – never frozen.  They chop their vegetables fresh every morning for each day.  They hand slice their cheese and luncheon meet with an electric slicer.  It doesn’t get better than this and for now on I will be supporting Red Robin and recommending them to everyone for a good and wholesome meal.