The best things in life are FREE!

With all the changes our family has been going through recently, we find that we are somewhat...um....economically challenged. (And we aren't alone!)This has pretty much put a stop to our family outings, with the exception of our local dollar theater. That is why I was thrilled to find out that there is tons of cool stuff out there that we can do for FREE! We have been dying to check out the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage. I was excited to find out the the second Tuesday of every month is "Free Tuesday" at the Museum of Western Heritage. We paid a visit last week and had a great time. The girls' favorite exhibition was "Granite Frontiers: A Century of Yosemite Climbing" which will continue until October 4th. The kids were able to handle actual rock climbing tools and climb on a "portaledge", a hanging tent system which rock climbers use as a temporary shelter during longer climbs. We also especially enjoyed the "Chinese Home". The girls dressed up in authentic Chinese costumes. Skylar and Haley pretended to cook in the kitchen of the restaurant, while Kaelyn manned the old fashioned cash register. If you wish to purchase lunch at the museum, the "Golden Spur Cafe" offers children's meals at pretty much the same price as a MacDonald's Happy Meal. The meals are large, filling and the fries are great. If, like me, you would rather bring your own lunch, you can sit outside on the museum grounds and have a picnic lunch. There are even picnic tables!With its many interactive displays, I was pleasantly surprised at how "kid friendly" the Museum of is. My girls are already asking to return!

The Autry National Center’s Museum of the American West
Griffith Park Campus
Autry National Center
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA, 90027-1462
T. 323.667.2000
F. 323.660.5721
Summer Hours: On Thursdays, in July and August, the museum and Museum Store are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Golden Spur Cafe is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/

Haley's Art Work

A drawing of big brother Christopher playing basketball.

Annual Acton 4th of July Parade

The things we do for our kids...

I love my children more than anything. Like any good parent, I would be willing to risk life and limb for them. Therefore, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would be forced to watch "Hannah Montana: The Movie". First, I tried to convince my girls that Hannah Montana aka Miley Cyrus is really an evil child genius trying to take over the world through clever marketing. When this failed, I fell back on, "Well, we can't really afford a trip to the movies right know." However, when the Hannah Montana movie hit the local dollar theatre, I knew that my doom was almost upon me. Monday's at the Cinemark 12 in Lancaster is family night. Tickets on family night are only .50 per person. Ah, for the days when they couldn't read! So, last Monday, I packed my purse with enough chocolate to sustain me for 1 hour and 42 minutes of watching perky little Miley Cyrus bounce around the screen exclaiming "Sweet niblets!" Although the movie was every bit as awful and corney as I had feared, I must admit some of her songs are kinda catchy. The most important thing is, that my girls loved it and in spite of the movie, we really had a great
time.

If you are interested in an inexpensive movie night, the Cinemark can't be beat, as long as you don't mind seeing the movie after it has been out for a while. Here's the info:

Cinemark Movies 12
44790 Valley Central Way
Lancaster, CA 93534
Recording:
1-800-FANDANGO Exp Code 1438#
Office: 661-945-5183
Fax: 661-945-5084
Prices from $2.50 to $1.25
Mondays are Family Day, 3 guests or more pay only .50 each.

For more information, go to: http://www.cinemark.com

The Perils of Pickle

And the saga continues...
in my living room, I have a small sink with a cabinet underneath and one above. I have yet to determine it's purpose. I noticed that someone had written "mommy" in permanent black marker. Having recognized the writing, I called the culprit out. The discussion went something like this:
(Me): "Pickle, who wrote this on the cabinet?"
(Kaelyn): "Well, it's your name, mommy."
(Me, raised eyebrows): Are you saying I wrote that?"
(Kaelyn):Duh mommy...if it's your name, you musta wrote it!"
As the song goes...that's my story and I'm sticking to it....

The Joys of Parenthood

Tonight has been one of those evenings. It seems that when Pickle flushed the toilet in the second bathroom, it overflowed. She found this so entertaining, that she kept right on flushing. She was having a grand time when I waded into the living room. As the terror of the seven seas contemplated taking scissors to my only black skirt (she needs a Jolly Roger flag) I came to the realization that I am lacking, among other things, a plunger. Well, I'm off to Wal*Mart. I hope the living room carpet is salvageable! Isn't parenthood awesome!

Skylar Turns 9!

I just realized that this is Skylar's last year in the single digits. As foolish as it may seem, I cried over this milestone. Because of the challenges we are facing this year, we decided that a birthday party would not be possible. However, such a momentous occasion still merits recognition, so we decided to celebrate with a sleepover. When Ani turned ten, we celebrated with a sleep over. I awoke early the next morning to find all of our little guests scurrying around the roof, and there was enough soda on the floor to keep several colonies of ants happy. I was so traumatized that I vowed there would be no more sleep overs. It was with some trepidation that I agreed to allow my little angels to plan one. However, it was everything I've always thought a sleep over should be...makeovers, manicures and giggles. I myself was the recipient of a glamorous makeover that would have put Tammy Faye to shame. I fell asleep to the sounds of whispers and giggles about 1:00 a.m., then awoke bright and early to prepare breakfast for the girls who were of course bright eyed and full of energy. I think I enjoyed myself almost as much as the girls did! Perhaps sleep overs aren't so bad after all...well I'm off for a nap. :)

Denim Day

April 23, 2009: Please Support Denim Day USA by wearing your favorite jeans today. Let’s help correct the misconceptions surrounding sexual assault and send out a message against sexual violence!
www.denimdayusa.org

Earth Day!

Well, we may no longer be full time roadschoolers, but the adventures continue for the Ortega girls as we find interesting and fun stuff to do right here at home. My sister Roni turned us on to the Musical Circus at the Pasadena Civic Center: www.theorchestras.org. This morning we awoke at the butt crack of dawn to be in Pasadena by 8:00 am. The event actually started at 8:30, but I am well know for my habit of getting lost while driving just about anywhere...have I mentioned what a great driver I am? There, we met up with the girls buddies Jacob, Charlie and their awesome mom Amber. For the first half hour of the event we had a terrific time learning about and actually playing several instruments. Skylar's favorite was the violin, Haley's the flute and Kaelyn's the cello. Once we finished, we filed into an auditorium were we enjoyed the wonderful storytelling skills of Diane Ferlatte. Afterwards, we said good-bye to our friends and rushed home to change into jeans and sun hats and headed out to Burbank's Stough Canyon Nature Center to celebrate Earth Day! When we arrived, we picked some gloves out of a box, grabbed a trash bag and started pulling non-native plants from under the bridge. Since these plants are also a fire hazard here in dry Southern California, we were proud that we were doing our part to help out. Afterwards, we participated in activities and visited the different instructional booths. The girls had their faces painted, and decorated plastic flower pots where we will plant the drought resistant seeds we were given. We learned how to reuse old t-shirts to make practical shipping bags. We even saw a shopping bag made almost entirely of recycled tea bags! We also saw a terrific musical show called "All that Trash", which taught us all about recycling, reducing and reusing. We came home even more determined to do our part to go green! Happy Earth Day!

Placerita Canyon National State Park

Yesterday, the girls and I went hiking at Placerita Canyon National State Park, near Newhall. We wanted to take the Waterfall Trail, but opted for the shorter Ecology, Botany, and Heritage Trails instead. Altogether, are three hikes are just a little over a mile. They are very easy and child friendly, as well as cool and shady. Unfortunately, we went too late in the spring and the creek is already dried up. It was still a beautiful hike, and we really had a lot of fun. We did not, however, make it through the hike without mishap. Haley climbed into a tree and was immediately covered with ants. I quickly brushed them all off and she was not bitten but she was pretty frightened. Still, we had such a good time that the girls and I decided we would come back soon to try the Waterfall Hike!

Blue Shadows Mounted Drill Team

After our near death experience with laundry cart bumper derby, I realized that I needed to find constructive ways to channel my little troublemakers'...um, I mean little angels' energy. I decided the time had come to find activities they are interested in. Like many other girls her age, Skylar like horses. Actually, it's more like an obsession. She has been begging for riding lessons since she was about four years old. To be honest, the closest I've been to a horse was at the fair. I sat my kids on a pony for a photograph. Clearly, I needed to enroll her in private lessons or a class. However, at anywhere from $45.00 to $90.00 an hour, I found the cost of lessons to be prohibitive. After several weeks researching the Internet, I was fortunate to find a web site for the Blue Shadows Mounted Drill Team. www.blueshadows.org This awesome non-profit organization not only teaches children aged 9 and up how to ride and care for horses. They also teach leadership skills, responsibility and how to be part of a team. They are mounted drill team that is based off of early cavalry drilling, so the kids are learning drill maneuvers.
Blue Shadows has two posts, one in Agua Dulce and one in Lakeview Terrace. Owning your own horse is not necessary. Skylar is currently in the beginners group at the Lakeview Terrace post. Did I mention the cost for this terrific opportunity? $15.00 a week! The class lasts from 1-2 hours. Did I mention the best part? Skylar feels that this is a dream come true for her and is happiest when she is sitting on that horse with the rest of the team.

Easter weekend

My little sister Roni and her son Rafa invited us to join then at the Los Angeles Zoo for "Big Bunny's Spring Fling" on Friday. Not only did we get to check out our favorite animals and the new gorilla exhibit, we got to participate in some fun Easter activities. We made bunny ears which we proudly wore as we hopped around the zoo, we had our faces painted and learned a lot about rabbits. We saw a marionette show, and even planted our own carrot seeds! Friday was also my daughter Ani's birthday! So after our zoo outing, I joined the other grown-ups for a celebration dinner at Chiba's in North Hollywood. If you like Sushi, they have the best Sunset rolls and Spicy Crab rolls I've ever had. On Saturday we went to a reenactment of the Easter Story at Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce. This is one of our favorite hiking spots, with its unusual rock formations. It has also been used as a location for several television shows and movies such as "The Flinstones" and the last "Star Trek". It was a wonderful place for the reenactment, and we all enjoyed it. Afterwards, the girls and I had our own little celebration. We dyed our Easter eggs and dusted them with glitter while we snacked on sugar cookies. Afterwards we made our traditional Resurrection cookies. Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. After church, we joined our friends and family for dinner and a traditional egg hunt. It was special, because it was the first time my grand kids could hunt for eggs! I hope everyone survived there own exhausting weekend too....lol

Everett Jayden's Annual Easter Party

With Easter just a few days away, it was time for Everett & Earls Annual Easter party. This year it was held at a beautiful park in Canyon Country. I only got lost twice on the way, which according to the girls is a record for me. (Have I mentioned what a good driver I am?) The girls made out like bandits at the Easter egg hunt as they sought the quarter filled eggs. The Easter Bunny hopped by to say "hello" and take pictures with the kids. We blew bubbles and dyed Easter eggs. Skylar stopped to admire and pet every dog we saw. We had a great time at the party.
This weekend we stopped at Walmart for some Easter supplies and were pleasantly surprised to find out that the Easter Bunny was there posing for photos with the customers. I got a beautiful free 5x7 Easter photo of the girls. Photo packages are super affordable if you are interested. The Easter Bunny will be at Walmarts next weekend as well, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 2:00 p.m.
This weekend, April 10, 11 & 12 will be Big Bunny's Spring Fling at the Los Angeles Zoo. Some of the highlights will be: pet live bunnies in the giant egg patch; make your own bunny ears to wear throughout the Zoo; explore the real world of rabbits at the Bunny Discovery Zone; visit with Radio Disney AM 1110 on Saturday for music, games, contests and a chance to win prizes; meet and take a photo with Big Bunny for a fee; have your face painted; songs with Dan Crow; Spring Fling Puppet Show. Sound great doesn't it? Maybe we'll see you there!

Update

I haven't posted for a while, and it may be a bit before i am able to post again. We are no longer roadschooling, although we continue to homeschool. As a matter of fact, we are going through some major changes. I won't go into too much detail, but it is a difficult time for us and we face some huge challenges and adjustments. Although at times I find our situation overwhelming, I have come to truly appreciate my family and friends for their love and support. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by such amazing people. I also realize how truly blessed I am to have such awesome children. Although we may face some tough times, I am certain that eventually things will be better than ever! :) For those who are close to us and have kept us in their thoughts and prayers, I thank you.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

This is Haley's Chihuahua, whom she named Triton. He has the sweetest temperament of all our dogs. We were pretty excited to learn that Triton's grandmother had the starring role in the movie "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"! We finally got to see the movie last night. We really enjoyed the movie and it was very cool to see Chloe. Not only is she a gorgeous dog, but she is really amazing! Although the dogs who played Delgado and Papi where also very good, Chloe really stole the show. I think this also speaks volumes about Sherri's abilities to breed dogs that are not only adorable and good natured, but intelligent as well.
Well, I'm off to teach Triton how to "sit". After all, Disney may decide to make a sequel! lol

Vasquez Rocks

I hope everyone else's weekend was as nice as ours! Sunday after church, we were invited over for dinner by our friends, Jared and Joleen. Just because I think "cook" is a four letter word, doesn’t mean I don't admire the talent of those who can whip up a wonderful meal. And Joleen makes it seems so effortless! Even though she has a newborn, (along with two other young children) she prepared chicken cordon bleu, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, home made mashed potatoes and a salad. She even baked cookies for dessert! We had an awesome time.
Monday we joined our friends Jeff and Sherri and their kids for a hike through Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce. We enjoyed seeing the amazing rock formations as well as the company of friends. The weather was just a bit overcast for most of the day and not too hot. Perfect hiking weather! We hiked for three hours, and the kids were pretty great. By the last hour, Kaelyn started to get pretty tired. I was really amazed by Jeff and Sherri's little guy, Austin. He is younger than Kaelyn; he didn't seem to get tired at all. As a matter of fact, He didn't want the hike to end!
The kids stop for a well deserved break.
Jeff, Haley & Kaelyn having a Zen moment.

Feeding the Ducks in Acton

This week...

I know this may come as shock to some...but I am not the world's greatest driver. Why just a couple of days ago I received a stern reprimand by a gray haired ranger for speeding through the park. (I was doing 10 miles per hour in a 5 mile zone). So my recent accident may not come as a total surprise. It was a dark and stormy night (really) and I took a wrong turn back to the trailer. I went to make a u-turn, when I found the only guard rail in town. In my defense, they don't believe in street lights here. My minivan is currently in the shop. In the meantime, I am driving a rental. Some of you may be thinking "Kia", but I am currently driving a Dodge Ram pick up truck! Something about people nervously waving and then dodging as I come down the road makes me feel rather powerful. ;)
As I have mentioned before, it gets very windy up here. Recently, the high winds knocked down a large tree by the adult lodge. This is a photo of the stump of that tree.The tree took out the southwest corner of the wrought iron and brick fence surrounding the pool.
Skylar, Haley and Kaelyn surprised me this week by their enthusiasm helping me do the laundry. I thought perhaps my little darlings have inherited some kind of domestic gene from a remote ancestor, rather than my housework phobia. However, it turns out that while I was distracted with over-bleaching the laundry or untangling my unmentionables, the little angels were giving each other spine tingling rides in the laundry carts. You would think other patrons of the Laundromat would frown on child laden carts hurtling into the dryers; however they just smile fondly and grow misty-eyed recalling their own offspring's similar antics. I am certain that some day I will look back on some of the more harrowing moments of motherhood and grow teary-eyed...perhaps in gratitude that I survived!

Homeschooling vs. Roadschooling

Several months ago, I discovered a website for "Families on the Road". (The link is provided below) This site is dedicated to families that RV fulltime. There, I discovered that families that home school while living on wheels call it "road schooling". Doesn't that sound cool? We currently home school through a charter school using the K12 curriculum. I thought road schooling would be no different from homeschooling. However, like everything else in our new lifestyle, road schooling has presented a unique set of challenges. Most of these are due to our limited space. For example, we are provided with a ton of workbooks, but we haven't anywhere to put them. Fortunately, this problem was easily solved. We are able to download and print most of the workbook pages from school website. Unfortunately we are using a ton of paper and toner. Not exactly the greenest way to go. We are also having trouble figuring out how to complete school art assignments (and our regular arts and crafts projects). Not only do we have a tiny dining room table, it is completely carpeted underneath. It's just not a suitable area for painting, cutting and gluing! At first, the solution seemed simple enough. There is a wooden picnic table at our camp site. We would do arts and crafts outdoors! We could enjoy both the beauty of nature and our craft time together. We soon realized that it was too windy here in the winter. Papers, beads, feathers, markers and even glue sticks were quickly blown into the bushes. We organized the art supplies into a small Tupperware type container with a lid. That worked well. We tried putting small rocks on the corners of our papers to hold them down on the table. They were to light, and the stones soon joined the markers and paint brushes in the bushes. We tried larger stones, but they took up to much of the paper. Next we stapled the papers to the wooden table. This worked great, however, I am not sure the park management will be thrilled to find staples all over their picnic table. Then the rain started, and finally the snow. We had to give up art projects altogether. Although we are back to beautiful, sunny weather, it is still very windy here. We are still working on the perfect solution to this issue. The other issue we are having is not related to space at all. I'm not sure it is even really a problem. My children have always lived in the city or in the suburbs. Our contact with nature has been limited. The fact is we are enjoying camping full time. The distractions are endless! It is hard for the girls to concentrate when the outdoors is constantly calling to them. During our regular "school time" the girls frequently ask for breaks. "Mom, can I go out for some fresh air?" is a frequent request. Once they are out, they get their much needed breath of fresh air by running around like a pack of wild banshees playing and exploring. It's hard to get them to settle down again. Although I do sometimes find them intently watching an insect they've never seen before or trying to sketch a raven or hare. We've been able to incorporate some of this into our curriculum. We've discovered that we can see a million stars here, so the girls are now fascinated with the constellations. We have been picking up some astronomy. BTW, we found an awesome web site, Astronomy for Kids. The site is: http://www.kidsastronomy.com. I believe that using the method of homeschooling known as "unschooling" would solve this particular problem. However, this is not something I am free to decide on my own, so it is out of the question for the present.
Anyhow, I am sure that we will rise to the unique challenges of road schooling. After all, when we first started, homeschooling was no piece of cake!

Another Birthday!

It was my birthday on Sunday! Although I didn't get to laze about all day, I did get to have dinner with my family. I had a wonderful dinner and homemade chocolate cake. Yum! My birthday is always a time of reflection for me. As I get older, I find that I dwell on the goals I had set for myself. This year was no different. Last year had its ups and downs for me. I did well in school...managed to maintain a 4.0. I was invited to join Phi Theta Kappa and the National Scholars Honor Society. That was one of the highlights. Another was my first year as a grandmother. The lowest point was losing my small business. I really love working from home. Because of the changes in our living arrangements, I no longer have a land line, which is necessary for what I was doing. I hope that I will be able to find something else that I enjoy as much and that I can do while living "on wheels". Although I am not currently in school, I hope to take online classes in the Fall. I think that should give me plenty of time to adjust to our new lifestyle.
This week has also brought some sadness. Down the hill from us in a huge 5th wheel trailer there lives an older gentleman named Ralph. The 78 year old is a caretaker here at the RV park, and so is a "permanent" resident. He lives alone. Ralph always stops with a friendly "hello" for the girls as he drives his work truck with it's wooden trailer up the hill and past our trailer. On Tuesday morning we awoke to a commotion down the hill, and the sound of sirens. Ralph had a stroke. We offered to help in any way we could, as he was taken away by the ambulance. We have not heard anything since. I am sure that the park management will not say anything, so as not to alarm the guests. My heart goes out to Ralph. I hope that he has family to care for him.

Abuelo turns 97 years old!

Here is the handsome gent with his namesake, Little Rafael, and his oldest grandson, Ryan.

Starting out the New Year...

The Ortega girls had a nice quiet New Year's Eve at home. We played board games and put together puzzles as we waited to toast in the New year with apple cider. My girls are also big on the Jonas Brothers...sigh :( So we watched them on TV. On New Years Day we did our usual activities,a bike ride around the RV park, were it was a beautiful sunny day and a short hike with the dogs. Ani gave all three of the girls binoculars for Christmas, which make our walks and hikes a lot more fun. We had a change in plans, however, as we got a wonderful surprise. Ani and Alvin brought the twins up! We showed them around a took a stroller friendly walk through the RV park. We had such a great time...To top it off, USC won the Rose Bowl! I hope everyone else had as nice a start to their year too!

A New Year!

Wow! So much has happened since I last posted to this blog!It's a new year, with a great many new changes! We are going to have a new President, gas prices are down and people in general seem so much more optimistic! We had a lot of changes as a family. Kaelyn had a birthday & she is 5 years old! She is now a big kindergartner. :)Haley had a birthday too! She turned 7 on Halloween.. A few days before Christmas, the twins had their first birthday!
However, our biggest change as a family came in November. We no longer live in a regular "stick" house. We are officially full time RVing! We have a 37' trailer. We are currently in Acton, California. Acton is beautiful, we are in the mountains. It's a nice change after several years in the desert. It is strange to go to the post office and see a sign advising customers not to tie their horses to the rails! lol. We will probably be here until mid-January. We are enjoying "camping full-time" and have already had many adventures. Being city girls, we are not used to seeing much wild life. We have already seen raccoons, rabbits and coyotes. We were actually snowed in!Adjusting to our new life has been interesting. We were already homeschooling, so it was just a matter of establishing a routine. Our trailer has a separate bunk house, so the girls have their own space. The biggest adjustment was living in a much smaller space with a lot less "stuff". I think it is really a good experience. We are realizing just how materialistic we had become. I do miss my washer and dryer. The RV park has its own laundry facilities, but it's not the same...lol. We also shop for groceries a bit more frequently.On the other hand, we are fortunate enough to have a full sized refrigerator. Although RVing with children has not turned out to be very difficult, RVing with pets is another matter! I can no longer put the dogs into the back yard and let them run around to do their business. They have to be walked...frequently. I can't let them out alone for fear of coyotes and hawks. So, I get up at the butt-crack of dawn to walk them, no matter how cold it is, and I can't go to bed at night until they've been walked, rain or snow. As the old saying goes...every cloud has a silver lining. I have lost 10 lbs with all the extra exercise! All in all, we are really enjoying ourselves. We'll be posting more about our new life.
Happy New Year everyone!