Long Beach Scavenger Hunt

I totally wussed out on my husband for father's day...and last year our anniversary (10!) was a total bunk...and he has a birthday this week...so i wanted to do something super special to cover all 3! I put together a little bike ride through Long Beach scavenger hunt. We covered Belmont Heights, Retro Row, Downtown, did a boat ride ($5 a person!) during sunset, Alamitos Bay and back home. I had 8 "clues" - every clue had a little bag that contained either a gift card, or cash- i included all the cash he would need to buy the dessert and pay for the boat ride, etc - or a little card to represent that clue. He was super pumped - we both love riding our bikes and we both love Long Beach...so this was a perfect way to celebrate our little life markers!

I have to say...i timed this extremely well and i am super proud of myself because that takes work for me...i had friends meet up with us at one point, and we had to make the boat at 7, so there was a bit of a time crunch, but not really - he felt he had enough time to shop at the stores and a timeline was probably a good thing for Bryan since he has been known to spend an hour looking at all the different cereals in the grocery store...not really...but kinda...

It was so nice to spend the day alone with him...it really felt like a mini-vacation (thank you thank you mama!) and we had all sorts of funny conversations and new experiences together. Long Beach really is the perfect town to do this sort of thing - its easily accessible and has such cool unique parts to it...we are in love with where we live! where else can you take a semi-private (there were 2 other couples on the boat with us) sunset boat ride for $5 a person? so cool. and we took our bikes on the boat. 

We had a lovely dinner and since we don't really have lights on our bikes or night riding stuff - we got a cab home and locked our bikes...i somehow picked them up the next day and somehow fit them in our car...no small task (they both have kid seats)...and side note...i was walking my bike at one point and slammed my foot into a metal pole and i ended up breaking my toe...i thought i just stubbed it at first but the next day it was swollen and all bruised and today it hurts like madness...so i was doing all this with a broken toe apparently...

anyway - very fun! i highly encourage this type of date - keeps things new and definitely a cool memory of our little mini home-cation :) 

Clue#1 - Your boys have your style, so ride about 1 mile, and pick something out to wear out and about! (The answer was Long Beach Trading Co)

Modeling his shorts he bought with his gift certificate

Clue #2 - Mama's little baby loves shortnin shortnin,
Mama's little baby loves ____________ Fill in the blank to pick up some after dinner goodies!

Clue #3 - They are truly unique, No two are alike, They help catch creeps, So get on your bike....Head to the store Where there is music galore, pick up some vinyl and go buck wild! He got a Leonard Cohen record <3

Clue #4 - What has, holy water, Beers made by Monks, Naughty School Uniforms, The Roddys? (Congregation Ale)

Bryan's white twin and his beautiful wife and beautiful beer :) 

Clue #5 - Get Ready, Get Set, Get Sailing! Hurry up or you might miss the 7:00 departure...Look for the purple red and yellow boat at Dock #___________ (Hint: the number is also a golf term)

On the Aqualink

We perfectly timed it for a sunset arrival

Right after I broke my toe :( - i didnt know at this point...

I missed some pictures of dinner - Clue #6 - and Clue #7 was maybe a movie - but we were so tired (read:old) this was clue #8 - a gift card to Roger Dunn so he can get his club re-shafted or something like that...

Homemade Garden Tomato Marinara Sauce

Blanching the tomatoes

Marinara and Meatballs

Beefmaster

Red Brandywine

Black Firm

Large Red Cherry (they look big in this picture, but they are truly cherry tomatoes, promise!)

Gold Medal Heirloom 

This post is kind of funny because i really cant take credit for any of this...but now that i have fully disclaimered that...let me just ramble on and take credit for all of this.

i think because we got such an early start on our summer garden after our winter garden...and because bryan totally vamped up the soil and turned it real nice...and because sometimes there are just better tomato years...this year has been our earliest crops and our best crops. He planted 10 different plants (gold medal heirloom, beefsteak, 2 beefmaster plants, black firm, mortgage lifter, red brandywine, lg red cherry and 2 un-known to me...but they probably have some cool name). we went away for a long weekend and came back to a huge crop ready for picking. normally we use the tomatoes every day - our favorite is to make a tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado salad with this sesame ginger dressing - soooo good...the best summer salad. or bryan makes salsa, or we use them in sandwiches...but this was a big crop, so i decided to make a marinara sauce with it.

i had looked up how to do it...and had all the ingredients...but the problem was that we have soooo many left-overs in our fridge from 4th of july and such that it seemed silly to make a new big pot of something. well...good thing my mom came over and picked all the tomatoes thereby forcing Spaghetti Sunday back into effect.

The thing about it is that it was much easier to do than i thought...which is probably another reason why i was procrastinating. you want the skins off your tomatoes before they become sauce and the easiest way to do that is to blanch them in boiling water for about a minute and then throw them in an ice bath...the skin slips off - its amazing. then we (and by we i mean mostly my mom) cored them and diced them and threw them in.

For the sauce - this time was a little different since my mom made these amazing italian meatballs first, but normally we (and by we i mean mostly bryan) get some onions sweating in olive oil and garlic...lots of garlic...i never count, but usually i think he uses a whole bulb...at least 10 cloves and probably 1/2 an onion to a whole onion. And then after the tomatoes we added some herbs from the garden - marinara sauce loves oregano and thyme...my mom even added mint. some salt and pepper...

but i think the thing i love most about Spaghetti Sundays is that there are always people around to help consume said spaghetti and last night we had lovely company in my (very pregnant) sister, brother in law, mother and two of my boys and my man. it was a truly lovely meal on the porch on a lovely summer night with a glass of nice wine and our new Leonard Cohen record playing. truly memorable. its what family is all about...and i went to bed feeling very blessed and very content.

Home-Made Sunflower Seeds

My sweet husband on the day that Bodie was born, ran out and got me two huge sunflowers. I never particularly liked them before, but in his card it read - may these "Son Flowers" brighten your days for years and years to come. It was the sweetest thing and it really did make me love sun flowers and always make me remember that sweet gesture of his....also a side note - we had purple calla lilies at our wedding and every house we have lived at he has planted me my own purple calla lilies to remind me of our wedding day. He is romantic in those ways and I love him for it.

So this year he planted a "Son Flower" for each of my boys and they got HUGE! we let them seed and I was leaving for my camping trip thinking, I must look into when they are ready to harvest...and how to harvest and roast them...well - i never did - i just let them sit there, but yesterday when we got back they seemed to fall out easier, so i decided it was time to harvest! (BTW - This site pretty much says exactly what we did to harvest and roast)

I soaked them and cooked them in salted water for an hour and a half and then roasted them for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. They are SO GOOD. like, SO GOOD...and i love sunflower seeds...and my husband too - we have never had freshly made seeds like this - what a difference! i am finding that with everything freshly made it is becoming this new experience...which is why making things at home is so addicting...in a sense. Bringing the boys in on the process is so fun too. Even Bobby was enjoying them! (after i shelled them of course!)

We are having so much fun with our garden this year! More pics to come! Hope you all are enjoying the summer so far!

Home Made Cheez-its

we made cheez-its this weekend using this recipe from Prudent Baby. I used aged white cheddar, so they have a bit of a bite - they did not pass the kid test so much in this house. Next time i will try and use sharp cheddar or maybe medium cheddar and see if the kiddos like them more. I also want to try and use this recipe too! so fun...making something you wouldn't think of making normally...

we ate them last night as croutons on our salad and it was genius...not to brag...too late...but pretty stinking genius. now i am thinking of maybe breading some fish with the crumbs and lightly saute-ing it inside a cheez-it jacket...how good does that sound? oh the possibilities!

Pool Chemical Myth-Busters for Summa-Time

so....my husband and i have owned/run a pool business for the last 10 1/2 years...i also took the LA Health Department class on water safety...but - i never took the test...so, i am not licensed...but owning a pool business for 10 years should make me licensed by some loop-hole i think...i don't often share that world here...but this weekend i was having a discussion with mamas who were talking about pools and pool chemicals and i realized there are a lot of commonly believed myths about pools and chlorine, so i just thought it would be super nice of me to share some of that here...hopefully you learn something new...but if you already know it all - call me - we will put you to work!

1. Myth #1 - My hair/ My daughter's hair turns green from the chlorine

Actually - the green is from copper piping in the pool, NOT chlorine...well - i guess it is partly chlorine's fault since it erodes the copper from the copper piping, thereby causing copper elements to be in the water...but newer pools are all built with PVC generally. You only find copper piping now-a-days in older pools. (something to back me up here)


2. Myth #2 - I can smell the chlorine - that means there is too much chlorine in the pool.

This is the most common misnomer with pools...the smell that you are smelling is actually the result of all the chlorine being used up...that means - GET OUT OF THE POOL/SPA! this is a bad sign. When chlorine is in the water - you should not be able to smell it. Chloramines are the active chlorine that attach itself to bacteria - the smell you smell is the chloramines being all used up. when a pool or spa gets to this point you need to "shock" the water with a bunch of chlorine to "oxidize" the pool and re-generate the cleaning/sanitizing agent in the chlorine.

Bryson at 3 Weeks

3. Myth #3 - Salt Water pools are Chlorine Free

Lately the salt water pools have become our biggest nemesis. A normal salt water pool works with a "saline generator" - basically it generates the sodium chloride (salt) and releases the most corrosive form of chlorine - chlorine gas. you basically are turning salt into chlorine...but the highest corrosive form of chlorine. so you will most likely see deterioration happen a lot quicker on all of your pool equipment. Plus you are releasing chlorine gas!!

i must say that if you are able to maintain your chemical levels perfectly (which is extremely difficult to do with most salt water pools) you will not see as many problems...they will happen about the same rate as a chlorinated pool, however - if you are thinking of installing a system because it will save you money - double think...(and read this and this and this)


4. Beware of all "Kiddie" Type Anything - Pools or Fountains

My husband is usually pretty okay about our kids and public pools - he can usually tell just by the clarity of the water if there is enough chlorine and if it is properly maintained (NOTE: if the water is cloudy, especially to where vision to the bottom is impaired DO NOT go in!) but...the one thing he has always steered clear of is kiddie pools and fountain things...fountains that spit from the ground...types of things.

Now - dont get me wrong - I am sure Disneyland has properly chemmed water...i am sure big water parks have all types of electronic chemical systems...but i am talking about the ones at little parks or the ones in outdooor shopping malls - those types of things...my husband used to check them - he used to service some of them and they never would have enough chemicals in them.

A basic understanding of chlorine...chlorine 101 - heat zaps chlorine...fast...so any spa, any heated pool, any body of water under the sun - unless maintained on a regular basis will lose chlorine fast. especially a shallow body of water like a kiddie pool...that stuff needs chlorine continuously - and hopefully they have strong chlorinators attached to them, but just looking at them grosses me out. Also a fountain that has a low gallon amount being constantly exposed to the heat.

Because he used to clean pools, we would have little test strips - mainly he would use them if we ever rented a house with a pool where our kids would be in a lot, but they are not that expensive and come in a little plastic bottle the size of an aspirin bottle and can put your mind at ease super easily.

Hope that information over-load helps a little! Feel free to ask any other questions you may have and I will edit the post to answer them!

Urban Foraging - Blackberry Picking

(I am pre-dating this post since I forgot to post about it last June and want to remember for next year!)

Right when school got out this year we went to the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary to pick some of their blackberry bushes that are growing wildly. We had quite the group and it was so much fun to send the kiddos out to help us collect blackberries - hello child labor! love it! my kids got a little bored after a while, but i was on a mission to get enough to make some jam, so maybe next year there will be more focus...i was only able to get enough to make about 4 cups worth. So yummy though! home-made blackberry jam is my fave!

Apparently these bushes are planted to attract certain kinds of birds for the bird refuge nearby. We got there a little late in the season - it would probably be best to go early June and we will definitely be going again next year- i am all about free produce :)

mom, can i stop now? no...

This tree made me laugh

the ongoing bushes

the free labor

Loving Friends

the bounty

the jam

Vintage Backyard Picnic Baby Shower

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

i.

j.


My baby sister is having a baby...and a baby girl, no less! There is a lot of excitement around here. I am so beyond thrilled to meet sweet Riley. Lord knows this family needs some girls! I am going to share more about the shower on our family blog, but thought here would be a good place to share some of the details about party particulars.

Not sure if the correct theme was backyard picnic (since we weren't sitting on the ground) or maybe it should have been Vintage Floral...anyway - this is the third or fourth party i have thrown with a similar theme, since it is the only things i have in ways of tablecloths, etc to throw a party.

The day was so lovely - plenty of shade thanks to our pine trees...of which i am grateful because i did not want to have to get a bunch of umbrellas! and plenty of lovely ladies around...and the food was pretty delicious and simple - chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, spinach salad and caprese. We ordered small desserts from Sweet and Saucy and I tried about 3 different ones and they were all amazing!

My sister's best friend from college - Liz helped me throw the shower and it is always so nice to attempt something like this with a partner. I did get a few things in preparation for the party - all of which were purchased at thrift stores. I would pick up white salad plates whenever i saw them at a thrift store - they are usually .50 - $1 and usually better quality than if i were to go to IKEA and get all matching ones. I also found the sweetest eclectic mix of vintage napkins at the Assistance League Thrift Store on 4th st. The Coleman Dispenser was also a thrift find at $5 - so was the mustard yellow cooler (it leaks but it held the ice the entire party pretty good!). The flowers for the most part are all in vintage blue mason jars, which was a flea market find. The tablecloths come from various places - I realize that there aren't any really good shots of them but the one on the table on the far left was from a thrift store, the middle was from a flea market and the one on the right was from Etsy.

It was so fun to find little treasures for this party. it has been a while since i have been on a good thrifting hunt! on one of my adventures i found something pretty special...i will have to share it with you soon (it deserves its own post...trust)


The pictures in order:
a. The table all set
b. Finishing touches
c. in case you want to take a nap!
d. Bevvies - home-made beer, lemonades and wine
e. Thank you notes that people addressed and more wine
f. gettin fed
g. the lovely mama to be and her big sister
h. action shot
i. the onesie crafting table
j. The Riley banner i made using my yellow scraps

DIY Pizza Sauce

the great thing about having a DIY pizza sauce is that there is no cooking needed...you just whisk all the ingredients together and Voila! yummy home-made pizza sauce without who knows what-all is in it stuff you get at the store! we make a pizza at least once a week - its a great way to get rid of left-overs and veggies...sometimes i like to throw cooked leftover veggies in the food processor or blender and add some water and add it into the sauce. it works especially well with sweet potatoes!

We tried this recipe and it was a success with all my boys - even the picky big one...picky as in, Italian Food snob, not picky as in a picky eater - he will eat anything! (luckily)

All Purpose Pizza Sauce (Better Homes and Gardens Feb 2012)

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 or 1/2 cup water (depending on thickness/consistency)

The Salad

I was at a friend's house for dinner a month or so ago and her friend was there who works at Amy's Farm in Ontario (you should plan to go if you haven't - cutest farm!) - anyway - she made this salad....and I only was able to get the recipe because she mentioned that a friend blogged about it.

Here is the original post and original recipe - Purple Mizuna and Kale Salad

I loved the dressing and wanted to make it, but didn't want to run to the store with 3 kids, so I used what I had...Spinach, Chicken, Goat Cheese, Mixed Dried Berries, Pistachios and Sunflower Seeds - so good! I've made it like 5 times since.

Here is the super simple dressing recipe (From Heidi):
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp Honey
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Pepper

If you double the recipe it fits perfectly in a 12 oz mason jar!
Enjoy!

Cabrillo Tide Pools

Last week I went on my son's Kindergarten field trip to the Cabrillo Tide Pools (in San Pedro, CA). I had taken the boys there myself a year ago, but i went to the wrong area...it was good to see the correct area to go to and also get to learn a little more about them. i pick his field trips completely selfishly :) Field trips are also tricky - i must say - i have to do it during my work day, which means i have to be answering texts and emails and i felt bad, but at the same time - its the only way i can be there...i limited my phone time to bus and lunch, but still. bryson didnt want to sit with me on the bus by the way...pshaw...whatevs...

anyway - so i went on this field trip - turns out the whole thing was outside. the kids went through stations and learned about marine life, grunions (the grunions do their infamous run around this time every year at the beach the kids were at...in fact they are supposed to be doing their thang tomorrow! Info HERE) - it was cool...but the coolest part was when they gave them each a little jar with sand and they filled it halfway with water and swirled it around and hatched little baby grunions! i thought it was pretty cool...i kept asking bryson if i could have a turn...

after the learning part - they had the option to either explore the tide pools or tour the aquarium...i am so glad his teacher decided to check out the tide pools - it was by far the coolest part! we found big crabs, sea urchins, sea stars, anemones...and it was gorgeous out there! i just finished reading this fantasy book, and i couldnt help thinking how other-worldly this place was...the landscape of it all was just so captivating!

the field trip actually consisted of a kinder class and a 5th grade class. they have paired up with a 5th grader all year as their reading buddy...and i was so impressed with the 5th graders. such neat kids - they really took their job of looking after their buddy seriously. they would not let them leave their side on the rocks and they were so kind and helpful and encouraging! i told the teacher i loved them and she agreed she had a pretty special class.

I would definitely recommend going - especially around this time of year as well. The aquarium is free, but they suggest a donation and the tide pools can be found (if facing the aquarium) off of the big rocks to the left and back of the museum.

Pictures in order:
1. The Tide Pools
2. Bryson and his reading buddy checking out the crabs
3. Hatching grunion eggs
4. Reading Buddies!
5. Pretty colors in the Tide Pools