Oatmeal Playdough - The Recipe

1. Measure 2 cups of oatmeal into a bowl (I used quick oats and regular - the texture of the regular oatmeal is much coarser)

2. Add 1 cup of flour

3. Add 1 cup of water, a splash of vanilla and a sprinkling of cinnamon (the vanilla and cinnamon are totally optional, but it sure made it smell YUMMY!)

4. Mix well

5. Knead the dough for a minute or so and have fun!

Concord Bazaar and Obon

For dinner tonight we went to the Concord Bazaar. We didn't realize what a hot spot this was going to be! Wow, just lots and lots of people and lots and lots of cars parked all over the place. We got "lucky" and found a spot about 4 blocks away, but people were parked way out. We decided we'd better eat first so we picked up a couple chicken dinners (1/4 chicken, rice, sunomono, edamame and a fortune cookie), some sushi, kushiyaki and udon. The food was all really good (except Clark said his chicken was very tiny)! I'd say it was the best bazaar food I've ever had. After dinner the kids played some games and won lots of (pretty good) prizes! We had a shaved ice and waited for the obon to start so Bailey could see what that was all about. She wanted to dance this year, but we didn't go to practice and didn't bring any kachi-kachis or fans so we just watched. Next year maybe we'll give it a try!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Beach Vacation

We just got back from our wonderful little beach vacation! I blogged each day, but here's a slide show if you're interested in seeing more pictures. We all had a GREAT time and can't wait for our next trip to the beach!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Vacation - Day 1

We started our vacation with a Thomas the Train ride in Felton, CA. We wanted to take the kids on a train ride and when I went to check the info Thomas just happened to be there the same day we wanted to take a ride! What luck! We left the house around 9am and got to the train station around 10:30am (maybe earlier). We walked around - they had some steam engines running on the tracks, Thomas tattoos, coloring station, toy train area, souvenir store and some other stuff to look at. Our train ride was at 11:45. We boarded around 11:30a and went on a 25 minute train ride through the redwood forest (beautiful!) The weather was perfect and the kids had a nice time riding the train. I have to say the Thomas part was a little disappointing. He was so small compared to the steam engines they normally have running at this station and to take a photo with him you have to wait in this VERY LONG line! We skipped that part since neither of our kids are really that much into Thomas. They were more interested in hitting the park for lunch! Next we drove to a small park near the train station and had a picnic. The kids played on the playground equipment for a short bit and then we drove to our hotel to check in. This trip we decided to rent a one bedroom suite at Seascape Resort in Aptos, CA. I have to say, this is a great idea for families with little kids. We spend a lot of time in our room and this place has a nice table they can work at, couch, kitchen, etc. We even have a nice little view of the ocean. We spent most of the afternoon here in our room (watching GOLF), took a quick walk down to the beach and had an early dinner at the Japanese restaurant. When we got back to our room the kids made their special beach treat for dessert, took a bath and now they are in bed (7:18pm)! Let's see if they fall asleep. Daddy is in there with them so hopefully they'll get a good night rest. Tomorrow we are off to the beach!

Vacation - Day 2

When we woke up this morning it was actually drizzling! We decided it was going to be too cold to take the kids to the beach so we took them to the Seymour Discovery Center. What a find! This is the BEST place for small children. It is very small (like the Lindsay Museum except for sea life!) They have touch pools, an aquarium section and some other exhibits that don't include live sea life. We spent about an hour there and the kids (and me and Clark) learned a lot of new things. We even saw how (some) baby sharks grow inside these seaweed pods! We saw things in the little museum we've never seen in larger aquariums and there were lots of volunteers around to answer every question you may have (or not have). After we finished looking around the center it was still dreary so we took the kids to the Boardwalk to ride the merry go round and play skeet ball. When I was little I remember going to the Boardwalk to play skeet ball! Skeet ball is still a little too hard for them, but they had a good time. I think Daddy threw most of the balls for them, but they tried too. After the Boardwalk the sun started to come up so we picked up lunch from this little Japanese hole in the wall take out (just the perfect lunch! we may do it again tomorrow!), ate in our room and headed down to the beach! Our hotel has a nice beach and it provides shuttle service from our room to the beach so we called for a ride and loaded our beach stuff up and away we went. We spent a couple of hours on the beach, came back to our room to take a bath and decided to call in a food order to Chili's (we were planning to eat there, but no one took a snoozer and Gregory took a header on a rock trying to move out of the way so a shuttle could pass us so we're staying in and resting). Daddy picked up our dinner and we enjoyed it in our room. For dessert I ran across the street to pick up Popsicles for Daddy and the kids. We had planned to stop by Black China Bakery for some vegan cupcakes, but they closed early today so we didn't make it in time. Maybe we'll go there for scones in the morning!