i know i will regret this

but yes, i planted another avocado tree!!! this one is out front and is a hass...it was a gift for my dad but he is gun shy of trees now, he has had to remove dozens over the years. i know chris thinks he can cut down the other tree out back and put in a swimming pool when this one starts producing...um...he might have to wait 20 years for that (i am talking about having the money to put in a pool, not just the wait for this tree to get big enough!)

daydreaming

when you work a weekend, you daydream about your last day off...spent visiting grandparents (notice the shoes, "let me do it myself!!!!! age three to the max) working on the garden (liz played house while i chopped back the plants) looking out the bedroom window extra time to make a good dinner, who says being vegetarian is boring? not me!

the snake that got away

i didn't know until we returned yesterday, while i was waiting for my stepson (i actually thought i had officially lost him!) that the group up ahead saw a gopher snake cross the road. so cool! the big bummer is not only that i missed seeing it, i would have caught it for them in an instant to see up close.

in my previous life (first marriage kind of stuff) my first husband was obsessed with snakes, we had dozens and dozens at all times. we even caught a rattle snake off the bluff at this very same wildlife reserve. we hunted diamond backs in the desert near palm springs, driving at night and looking for them getting warm on the highway. not my idea of fun now, but 15 or so years ago, i guess it was exciting. we belonged to a snake club and returned everything back to where we had caught it, especially if they were poor eaters. poor eaters meant a live mouse was left running around in the cage, upon which my dad would let them go saying they deserved a second chance, more than once i found him gently talking to a mouse and setting it free out back.

back to mr. gopher crossing the road, this would have been an easy catch, darn!

Bolsa Chica Wetlands walk

Our group is taking the Cerritos Wetlands Project on as our own personal charity project, something we are going to fight for as a group. The Bolsa Chica Wetlands are a functioning wetlands reserve which has taken years to save and is finally open to the ocean and is a great success. Our group took a tour of this reserve to earn part of our environment patch and to check out what our work for the cerritos wetlands could look like if it is saved from development.

checking out the wildlife displays inside the information center





touch tank



hitting the trail



stink bug, watch your step!









bone collecting, emily got the prize skull and was sad when



she had to toss them back, the bones are eaten by ??? and nothing can be taken from the reserve. she got over it fast though! good girl emily!

tech trek

after our "little" escape to the science center...liz and i joined emily for her tech trek...a jog-a-thon to raise money to keep the computer lab open another year. emily made it 10 laps, she was hauling! liz and i mostly watched as liz was pretty tired. good job emily!

calling in sick to visit a dinosaur

yes, i called in sick today. liz seems better this morning and i did promise a visit to the discovery science center. this place ROCKS!!! we have a family pass, so a one hour visit is all we need!

a little play area surrounded by the mama's tail

a life size "poop" and a water mister simulates "pee" (nice on a hot day!)

if you can believe it, i have even more photos on flickr...

it's a WILDlife

ok, i just wanted to take liz on a special trip to the discovery science center this morning...she was really lazy getting up but i didn't realize that she was sick until she threw up in my car on the way. poor kid kept telling me she was ok and wanted to see the dinosaurs! well, we couldn't go home because i finally got my cleaning people back in to do a cleaning...so off to the park we went to read and sleep (liz immediately fell asleep after getting sick).

so here i am, minding my own business when a frenzy of crows come crashing into view. at first i thought it might be some "spring" action, but no, there was clearly one bird getting chased and hassled. to make a long story short:

not on my list of things to do, but one sick kid, one sick crow (broken wing), a trip to the vet, back home with a sleepy snuggly kid, and i am finally getting some quiet time to catch up on reading. weird day!

one on one with lizzie

trying to give miss lizzie more one on one time, she is growing up so fast! we took a walk around the block and i tried to keep her to the "only one" principle of taking flowers...she was pretty aggressive!





sniff

please don't pick that flower liz, but mommy it's for you!



and we're off!



sunset light on lizzies face...singing a song

stop for a quick photo



check out the loot

almost home

thanks for the walk liz! i am ready for bed!

at random, bloopers and outcast photos