Just Checking IN!

I have not blogged in awhile cause I just been too busy to get to it. Anyways nothing too much new happening besides trying to enjoy the summer!

I been signing the kids up for Summertime classes and we have a lot of trips planned for July and August so we been kind of hanging low on the weekends just cleaning the house and organizing and last weekend we had a yard sale. I been working in the planters as well to put in some new flowers.

 Last weekend on Sunday we took the kids to Disneyland to finally see the new Carsland. Parker and I waited for almost two hours to go on the cars ride which was Way cool ( the ride that is..waiting in line SUCKED!)

 Ava and I started swim school this week. So far she has been Loving every second of it. We go 5 times a week. There is about 10 kids in the class with her. It's a mommy and me class so I get to enjoy it with her as well. We are taking the classes at Mayfair Aquatic center..same place I toom my lessons when I was a child.

 So far she has been pretty fearless with the pool. She jumps off the side, kicks her legs and paddles her arms and starting to go under water! She does not like going under water too much though..after a couple times she is Done with it.

 This week I also was super Stoked to find my first Birchbox delivery! For those of you that do not know Birchbox is I highly suggest you gals check it out...or men cause they offer subscriptions for both. Basically I pay 10.00 bucks a month and get newsletters and special offers on beauty and bath and spa products. Every month you get delivered to you a box full of fun beauty products to out. You than can shop for them ( some at a discount) online. Leave mea comment with your email addy and I will send you an invite!

 In this months (June) Birchbox I opened it up and saw these really cool cynthia Rowley Band Aids which sell 15.00 a Box and limited edition, a Borghese Face Bar of soap...

and in the tissue paper Little bronzer, lip and cheek stain and a Bvlgari Perfume _which I really am digging_  I think this was for sure worth the 10.00 dollar a month subscripton, Heck maybe  I will be introduced to some fantastic products as well I never used! Anyway I suggest joining..give yourself a treat...There is a waiting list however before you can join. I have a handful of gal pals who also are members of Birchbox and a handful who want to join based upon my experiance with it...Looks like they will be joining as well! I find if your invited by a member you don't have to wait as long.

Anyway This is one of my last laid back weekends and Then the madness of family vacations begins. I will keep you all posted...Happy Summer everyone!!

La Palma Chicken Pie Shop

I have been dying to check out this ol Chicken Pot Pie shop forever and finally this past Saturday I got to go! Anyone who knows me know I am a HUGE lover of Old Mid century Diners and Dives. I am also a Huge Lover of Chicken Pot Pie.

A lot of pot pie lovers love the pies without veggies but me personally I love the veggies! The pies here contain NO VEGGIES!

 Check out the old Neon! It works too...looks much better at night when it is turned on. The pie shop was opened in 1955. The year my dad was born, The year Disneyland opened and as my husband would say the Year the Dodgers won the World Series...or something like that..

 The building of course is this sort of ranch house style but on the corner adjacent to a little strip mall..a bit unusual but still cool nonetheless

 It was like a ghost town in the place. I don't think too many people go...well at least the time we went. There was ceramic chickens and roosters EVERYWHERE! Check out the old register and that clock!

 When you first walk in you are greeted by many tempting cakes and pastries for amazing prices.

 It was really a bakery ..you can order from Pies to cakes to cookies to danish to eclairs and cream puffs etc.....

 

 They also have soups and potato salad and other sides to order. I think this lady is the owner or manager. When we went there she let us know that they would be closed until the 14th of July cause they were going on vacation! hmmmm I wonder what they did with all those cakes....

 Here are some pictures of the dining room..Check out the oil rain lamp in the corner!

 Dig these chairs!

 I like the structure of the zig zag window seats

 and the stone walls

 Ava..she and Parker enjoyed themselves. There was probably 4 tables in the whole joint including us. Lots of regulars.

 Big booth full of chickens

 The menu..

 I ordered the chicken Pot Pie Lunch..I had cole slaw, chicken pot pie, mashed potato's. Ok so the pot pie I ate all of it. It is just filled with chicken and gravy, the mashed potatoes I think were instant ( i despise instant mashed) I had some cole slaw too which that was pretty good.

 Gabe had a Reuben which he enjoyed

 See how cheap the items are!!!

 There was no one sitting at the counter ...but check out the old Soda Jerk machine...the lady told us it does not work but would be awesome if they served real Malts and Shakes

 After lunch of course we ordered dessert..Well Gabe did ..I took a bite...so Delicious!

 Ava and Parker got chocolate pudding

On the way out we stopped to purchase a couple eclairs to take home for later. I love this patio area.
Anyway this place is not too far from Disneyland and I am thinking this will be a good place to eat before going into the park. It gets you nice and full and it's cheap and personally I LOVE it. It is seriously a blast from the Past!

A regular weekend

This past weekend we did not really do too much..but than again maybe we did do alot..

 My weekend started Thursday when we went to take out some colleagues from the New York office out for Apps and drinks at RA Sushi. I had a cali roll and some edemame and this cocktail called the dragonbite. It was so refreshing.

 Friday night we headed to Hollywood Park and met up with some friends and watched The Jesus and Mary Chain...they were OK...I never really been a HUGE fan of them. Some songs were performed better than others.

 Saturday we went and bought a new tent ( Family Cabin)  for our upcoming camping trip with friends in July and then headed over to La Palma Chicken Pie Shop which I have been DYING to check out.

 afterwards we went to the Place Gabe has been dying to check out...Hollan-American Market & Importing

 I believe this has been around for ever. They sell import foods. It reminded me a lot of Solvang. ou have the little danish lady behind the cheese and meat counter. The isles were filled of unusual foods and spices...and Black liqourice...why do they love it SO MUCH!

 We happen to be there on the First Catch Festival of Herring day.

 They had a booth in the back where they were serving fresh Herring that was imported from Holland. I forget the name of the festival but this herring was only available for this weekend.

 Gabe ofcourse Bought some and myself and the kids all tried it. It looks raw. I did not really care for it but Gabe LOVED it.  I bought some groceries from here such as cheeses, flavored syrups for home made sodas, some candy and mints and other odds and ends. Parker just LOVED the import store...he asked if we could come again. Afterwards we headed to cost plus to purchase some wines to go with our cheeses.

then we enjoyed a quiet evening filled with bossa nova and wine and cheese and candlelight then later watched a movie.

Father's day was this past Sunday and I made a big breakfast for Gabe and a Lunch for my dad and the rest of the family. It was a real nice quiet time at home. A not to shabby weekend I must say.

Field trip to JPL

I always loved school field trips. I think one of my favorite parts...well besides doing classwork all day was riding on the bumby school buses to the destination.

 When Gabe mentioned to me that Parker's school was having a family field trip to Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory We jumped on board on going to the trip!

 We had to arrive with all our permission slips at 8am to the school parking lot. We hitched a ride with our neighbor Sal cause he was dropping off his daughter and son to the school as well to go on the field trip.

 Ava sat with me and she was just FULL of smiles. She LOVED the school bus!

 Gabe and Parker sat across from us. The bus ride was fun as I remembered. Every little bump in the road set the bus on a amusement bumpy experience. The kids would all laugh every time it jumped.

 We finally got to our destination. JPL only has a open house to the public for free one weekend a year so as you can figure out it was PACKED!

 First stop was Mission Control

 So cool

 There were so many cool pictures of the planets

 We got to see some space craft at work

 And the kids got to play rocks on Mars and let e remote control model run them over...

 Parker is on one end and you can see Ava in the other

 We walked around..everywhere was like a long line to get in

 after awhile we stopped for a snack..Parker got a Ice cream cone

 and Ava wanted a Churro..which by the way I am never buying for her again...all she did was lick the sugar off....

 Then we went to have a 3-d picture of us done on Mars

 If you have 3-d glasses laying around take a look at these next few photos with them on . Pretty cool

 Then we looked at some models

 Ava had fun seeing herself on TV

 Saturn

We walked around for hours waiting in lines..Parker was So ready to go home. At 2pm everyone met back up at the school buses and back home we all went. It was a nice field trip. The kids got bored with it quickly though and I was just ready to relax after the long night out the previous night at the Magic Castle and the night before drinking mass amounts of wine with the gals. The rest of the day we relaxed at home and took it easy.