Pumpkin Patch

We went to Spina Farms earlier in the month to get our little pumpkins.

It was a little grey out, but we still a great time. The boys rode the train and we had a nice little hayride through the corn field.

Happy Halloween!!!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

Phoenix learned how to ride his bike this month and I got this bike for my Birthday, so we have been doing a lot of bike riding recently. Phoenix is extremely proud of himself and so am I. He had one major fall ending in a fat lip and some road rash on his cheek, but he got right back on and kept on trying.

Those super awesome Nash cruisers ended up selling on Ebay for $76. I couldn't believe it! If they fit me I would have kept them, but I did come across my old roller skates yesterday in the shed. These were purchased at a thrift store for $7 about 8 years ago. I put them on and it was just like old times. Just gotta get Phoenix going on his own pair now.

A Pocket Full Of Change

I missed the Alameda Antiques Fair again this month, but I saved myself some dough and made it out to a few yard sales on Saturday with the G-sale crew. Mi madre, hermana, y los ninos piled into the car and had it filled to the brim in no time at all.

Picked up these Nash Cruiser roller skates for $1. I secretly dream of being in a roller derby someday. The L.A. Derby Dolls are pretty incredible and insane. These are cool, but wouldn't they be just dreamy in pink?

Score of the day! 2 pyrex dishes for 75 cents. I like them a lot :) Chips and dip anyone?

Speaking of Pyrex, I just happen to know someone who loves it just as much as I do and also blogged about it rather recently. Not only do we share a love of vintage goods, but we also have almost the same B-day. She is my very first blog follower and my go-to gal for blogging. Happy B-day, Mel! Check her out over at Selling Vintage.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Big Chill!

I have been so in love with these for so long. I really have a thing for retro kitchens and retro kitchen wear. We had an old white O'keefe and Merit that I just loved, but that only partially worked. I refused to get rid of it until I was forced to when it was destroyed in a fire along with my favorite red formica table (very short moment of silence). Luckily, Big Chill makes these incredible stoves, refrigerators, and now dishwashers too that look old skool, but are brand spankin' new. The best part? They make them in every color you could ever dream of. All images taken from Big Chill. Check them out!

Bug Birthday Party

The Party

I am a huge fan of inexpensive, yet fun. It is a recurring theme in everything we do. When it comes to birthday parties, it takes some creativity and planning for sure, but the outcome is usually well worth it. The bounce house is the one thing I splurge on every year because the kids really look forward to it and they have them for just about every theme you can imagine.

The Games

This year Phoenix chose to have a bug B-day party for his 4th birthday. I try to stay away from character-themed parties. They are limiting in the creative sense and I just dont like them, but Phoenix does have the final say. I asked around and researched on the internet for bug party games. My aunt had a great idea for a bug hunt. I went to the dollar store and purchased lots of little fake bugs and bug kits (including tweezers, a net, and the cage.) I spent probably less than $20 for all. This was really the hit of the party. Most of the kids spent the rest of the party finding bugs and I don't think they ever found them all. Instead of a goodie bag, they were able to take the little bug kit home with their new pet bugs.

We also set up the easel and had kids draw pictures of their favorite bug. This was in June, so we had the kiddie pool set up and the water table with a fishing game in it. Not really bug-themed, but fun still. We had bug stickers on the tables, which was cute, but they mostly just flew away.

The Cake

After Phoenix's 1st birthday, I realized I could save a lot and get really creative if I made my own birthday cake. The one above is not perfect, but it was super fun to make and I got tons of compliments on it. Making the cake is really my favorite part.

Day-trip continued...

Stop#2 was just a few miles from stop#1 at the very first Valencia Post Office. Just to clarify, to arrive at each of these stops we followed clues to find the letterboxes. So, the treat was more than finding the letterbox, but also discoving these really cool places. Each handmade stamp usually has something to do with the place in which it is located, so in case I neglect to take a picture at a certain location, I still have the stamp in my book as a reminder.

Phoenix and I finding the letterbox.

Stop#3 was a little hike towards the Limekilns in Felton. The Limekiln trail is located in Henry Cowell State Park and has many other trails one can hike as well. This letterbox was part of a series, but we wore Grammy out, so only found the first. I went back the following weekend to do the hike with a friend of mine (8 months pregnant) and I very highly recommend it. The hike is about a mile each way and runs along a gorgeous creek. Unfortunatly, no dogs allowed.

The last and final Stop#4 was near the Felton Railroad, also very highly recommended by Phoenix and myself, but will leave that for another post. This was a small park with an old covered brindge. I don't recall the name of it, but we had driven by it many times before and I was so happy to finally have a reason to stop.

Bang a Gong

This was one of our day-trip letterboxing excursions. I loved that we found all of these cool little places we would have otherwise bypassed or missed altogether. Stop#1 was to the Bamboo Gardens in Los Altos. We picked up a map at the front to guide us and teach us about the different types of bamboo. They sell the bamboo, but also cater to visitors and have a nice little picnic area, bathrooms, and gazebo.

These were the wierdest fungus I have ever seen. The woman at the front desk said they came uninvited with some Bamboo from Canada. She also said they smell like rotting meat in the summertime. YUCKY!

This turtle really has it made!

P and G checkin' out the turtles.