diamond in the rough

Today, the girls and I, in search of some activity that would take us out of the house and into this beautiful, sunshiney weather, found ourselves at Story and King, near the Tropicana Shopping Center. Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself, "What in the world were you guys doing in the middle of the ghetto?" and "Did you remember to wear your bullet-proof vests?"...To which, we would answer, "Having ourselves a grand-old-time!" and "Bullet-proof vests? Dude, we live here; the ghetto-ness of it all doesn't faze us in the least!"

Actually, we paid a sunny afternoon visit to the Emma Prusch Farm Park, and it's definitely a park that we'll be visiting again soon! Now, I vaguely remember going to this park on a field trip sometime in late elementary or early middle school, and my memories, though hazy, certainly did not match up to what the park is now! Granted, the animal enclosures seem to be a bit run-down, and the little displays that tell you about each animal look like they haven't been tended to since the last time I was there (let's see...late-elementary-early-middle-school...that would be...something like 16 years ago). However, the grounds are beautiful -- lots of gorgeous, shady trees, a huge field of green grass, and native California shrubs and flowers everywhere -- and, holy crap! That's the biggest playground I've ever seen!

and that's only part of it...I couldn't fit the whole thing into the frame!

Gracelyn says, "Aw yea! This place is awesome!"

So, we had ourselves a little picnic in the shade of one of the trees near the gargantuan playground, then took a walk around the park checking out all the animals they have.

Haven loved watching all the kids on the playground

Yes -- before you ask -- Gracelyn dressed herself this morning

These three were walking around, honking their heads off, acting like they owned the place!

This gentleman strolled right by our picnic blanket. I think he was eyeing my sandwich!

Mr. Pig's friends in the Small Animal Area included rabbits, chickens, ducks, and peafowl.

Mr. Sheep: Who you lookin' at? This is my turf! Get lost!

Mr. Billy Goat had a few friends that were, randomly, to be found in the Poultry Area.

We finished up our time there with a stroll through the Rare Fruit Orchard, admiring the unique trees there -- pomegranates, cherry, limequat, raisin, guava, and pistachio, just to name a few. If you're ever in the area and in search of a pleasant place to pass a couple of hours, we highly recommend this park!

pretty toes!

Earlier this month, when Judd's mom was visiting us, the three "big girls" in the house (a.k.a. Gma, Mommie, and Gracelyn...Haven was deemed too young for this occasion. Maybe next year, littest one!) took a little outing to pamper our toes. It was Gracelyn's very first "real" pedicure. She's been getting her fingers and toes painted for awhile now (Aunt Barrie was the first to do the honors back in January of last year), but this was the first time in an actual salon -- Lavande Nail Spa in Santana Row, to be exact. Gracelyn's color of choice? Red, of course!!

Pants are rolled up; we're ready for some pampering!

tickle, tickle!

Look at those sassy toes!

We love pedicures!

Everything tastes better with bright red polish, don't you think?

it's raining, it's pouring...

What to do on a rainy day? -- that is the question! Here's what we did with ourselves on this rainy Tuesday...

After breakfast, we packed everyone in the car (with all of our rain gear, too, of course) and headed over to Oma Dee's house. She just got back home yesterday from a short stay at the hospital (she had an infection, needed antibiotics, etc...She's all better now!), so we decided that a visit would be in order. We spent about a half-hour there, leaving just as they were about to sit down for lunch.

Next, we headed over to the park. I had promised Gracelyn a picnic lunch today, but since it was pouring down rain those plans had to be somewhat modified! So, we had an "inside-the-car" picnic lunch. Gracelyn got to sit in the front seat, and we ate our pb&j sandwiches together there, while Haven napped in the backseat. We had a lovely view of all the greenery-gettin-even-more-green at the park.

Since the park is next to the library, we decided to go inside to pick out some books, movies & music to take home with us. We spent forty-five minutes playing on the computers and browsing the aisles for our selections. Gracelyn took home a cd, a couple of dvds, and a huge stack of books! Even Mommie nabbed a couple of movies for herself (not that she has time to watch them, but she likes to dream...)!

Once we got home, we spent the rest of the time reading our library books, dancing to fun music, and admiring the splashes that the raindrops were making outside our window. What a lovely rainy day!