Presents are something you open

"Auntie, presents are supposed to be something you open...not a day." This was the matter-of-fact response my niece gave when we informed her that we would be taking her to Sea World for her birthday.  Though I couldn't exactly argue with her logic, The Boyfriend and I did our best over the next few weeks to get her to understand how a day at a theme park could also be an awesome gift.  Despite our promises of exciting sea creatures you could feed and touch, the thing she seemed to be the most excited about was.....the pickles! My niece just LOVES pickles and when told that they had giant pickles on a stick, she was definitely on board! Though I was certain she actually would love Sea World, we took her excitement about ANY part of it as good enough and hoped she would be won over upon arrival.

Monday morning we picked her up and headed down to San Diego. My sister-in-law told me that my niece was so excited waiting for us to arrive that she kept opening the door to see if we were there yet. Being "babysat" is pretty much her favorite thing in the world!  The Boyfriend picked up doughnuts on the way and we grabbed a few and left the rest for my brother, sister-in-law and my other niece to enjoy.  The 2 hour drive went very well and only required one quick pit stop along the way.  As soon as we pulled up into the parking line, she was ecstatic and good to go!

First item of business on the list was the Explorer's reef just inside the main entrance. She just loved the little fish that swim up and nibble on your fingers! I was busy taking pictures and she said "Auntie come try it! It tickles!"

She was a little apprehensive about touching the little sharks.  She was afraid that they were going to bite her.  After some awesome support and encouragement from The Boyfriend, she finally gave it a go and then was SOOOO excited that she touched a shark!

Next up was feeding the seals (or was it sea lions? I cannot remember the difference!) which she was ALL about! She had zero problem touching the gross little fish and had a blast sticking them through the little tubes that were just at her level and feeding the awaiting seals.

After that, it was straight to the sea lion and otter show which she loved! She was so impressed with all of their "back flips" as she called them.

 

Then, we headed over to the shark exhibit. She thought it was pretty cool seeing all of the big sharks from far away. Haha!

 

 

She was not too happy that she was not allowed to touch the baby sharks in this exhibit.

 





When we started walking into the great white shark area (its a tube tank where you stand on one of those moving sidewalks and it takes you through a tube aquarium with sharks all around you) she said "I don't like this sad music!" and turned to walk away.  The Boyfriend picked her up and told her he promised it would be cool.  As soon as we got into the tube she said to him "You can put me down now." and watched the rest of the shark exhibit with wide eyed wonder.

 

Next line of business was a quick stop to feed the flamingos.  My niece had been reading me a book with Flamingos in it and she was looking forward to this part of the day.

 



After that, we were off to the Shamu show! We got our seats and The Boyfriend went to grab us some beverages before the show started.  My niece saw a vendor go by selling Killer whale fan misters and she said "I want one of those!" I sort of laughed and said "I feel like if I get that, I am gonna end up carrying it all day." She replied "No Auntie, I will carry it!" Since this seemed like an item that might actually come in handy for us on such a hot day, I gave in.

Of course, I ended up carrying it most of the day.....total rookie mistake! Although, it did have a lanyard and was a nice thing to have while sitting in the hot sun all day.  Plus, The Boyfriend had fun squirting us all day. He returned shortly with beverages and-Drumroll please- PICKLES!! My Niece was SOOOO excited and enjoyed her pickle while being amazed at the giant killer whales and all their tricks.

Following the show, we took a quick walk around the dolphin pool and then went off to lunch.

Throughout the day, at various spots, we made and started her a collection of smashed pennies.  My Niece got to pick them all out and got quite a work out making them.

Next came the highlight of the day, The bat rays! Now, if you remember from my trip to Sea World, I was not too crazy about feeding them myself, but I loved petting them.  We weren't sure how she would do with them.  At first, she did not even want to touch them and was content with just letting The Boyfriend feed them.

He then explained to her what it felt like when they suck the fish out of your hand and she said she would try it but then backed out at the last second.

We were one of the only people who had bought fish so the bat rays were flocking to us.  She finally got up the courage to touch one and let out the most adorable, joy-filled childish laugh ever!!! It was the cutest thing and she was so excited!! She asked The Boyfriend to go back and get more fish so there would be more for her to pet. She absolutely loved them!

After that, we visited the sea turtles (which she said was her favorite at the end of the day but she breezed by them), the beluga whales, penguins and the other aquariums.

We then saw the Pets Rule show, which she loved, and then grabbed some ice cream while relaxing for a bit.

Next item of business was the tide pools.  She got a total kick out of holding all different colors and sizes of starfish and did not want to leave!

 

She finally agreed to leave when we told her it was finally time for her to get her souvenir! She has brought some birthday money with her and had been keeping an eye on what she wanted all day.  She kept coming back to these polar bear ear muffs.

She wore them around the rest of the day, yes in the 80 degree weather, even as we walked through the exotic animal exhibit.

We took a quick photo-op on our way to dinner before leaving for the day.  My niece even demanded a  couple solo shots!

After eating dinner, I got up to use the restroom. (for the first time alone all day! haha) When I came back out, I saw my niece laying on The Boyfriend's leg.

I asked if she was just resting or sleeping? He said "I think she's sleeping. She got really droopy-eyed and asked for her sweater and then just laid her head down." We woke her up so The Boyfriend could take a pit stop before we left.  She COULD NOT keep her little eyes opened!

She was SUCH a little trooper! We arrived at the park around 10am and left about 7:30 pm! We could not believe it! We totally planned to play it by ear and leave whenever she was ready. We thought that might be like around 3-4. She did not whine or get grumpy AT ALL! The only time she was carried was at the end of the day because we needed to get to the next show in a hurry. She was just having a great time and was wide awake right up until dinner.  We were so impressed and she was such a pleasure all day! She told me about halfway through the day "Auntie, this is the best present you have ever given me!"

It was about 10:30pm by the time we got her back home and she was knocked out!

Her little sister was wide awake however, and got to try on her gift we brought her. She loved her new shark beanie!

She also enjoyed the extra doughnuts we left behind and was apparently snacking on them all day. Haha! We also left behind our gift for my sleepyhead niece. We got her a display book for all of the smashed pennies she mad throughout the day.  My brother text me the next day to tell me that they had asked my niece how Sea World was when she woke up. She said "It was like a dream!" I guess that presents CAN be days after all, and a pretty amazing one at that!

Beach birthdays,Park picnics and Fishing trips

This past week I was on a little stay-cation from work. Time away from work is always a good thing.  For me, staying home and enjoying things that I otherwise would not be able to is my favorite thing to do on vacation. My eldest niece, Eva, turned 4 this week and to celebrate, she had a little beach party. The boyfriend and I were both off of work and headed down to Bolsa Chica beach for the afternoon.

 

 

She was having so much fun in the water and throwing sand all over herself.  She was so covered with sand at one point that it literally looked like she was wearing "sand pants". Silly girl!  Her amazing Mom decided to do face painting for the guests. My niece decided that she wanted a yellow dolphin.

 

 

I think she did a pretty great job!  We had a really good time relaxing on the beach. My niece actually shares a birthday with her Mom. (what an amazing birthday gift right??) So, it stands to reason that there would be TWO birthday cakes!  Eva, however, seemed a bit shocked....

 

 

....or perhaps that was just her being overwhelmed at having to choose a flavor? She ended up having a little slice of both. Problem solved! Her little sister was quite happy at the prospect of two cakes and even tried to sneak a bite of them during the singing of "Happy Birthday".

 

 

She enjoyed her chocolate cake VERY much! We had a great time at the party and we gave Eva a little outfit to wear during her actual birthday present from us which will be a trip to Sea World. (hopefully this week)

 

 

A few days later, I met up with my Nieces and sister in law again for a park picnic and some hanging out.  We found a nice shady spot and enjoyed some time at the playground.

 

 

When we got back home, we played for a bit at the house. My niece Audrey has a thing where she doesn't like people to put their hair up. We aren't sure why or where it comes from but we decided to try putting HER hair up and see how she liked it.

 

 

 

 

She seemed to like it pretty well! We tried them on Eva too and both of the girls got a BIG kick about having their hair up.

 

 

After my play date with the girls, I met up with The Boyfriend at a local private lake nearby for some evening fishing. It was such a nice night out! The weather was perfect and, to me, there is nothing quite like being near the water for some good relaxation.

 

 

We had quite a successful run and ended up catching 5 catfish and one random Tilapia.

 

 

This, of course, meant that the next day, The Boyfriend treated me to a lovely freshly made catfish dinner! Now, again I am not the biggest fan of fish or seafood. The Boyfriend has slowly decided to cure me of this dislike and has been wildly successful so far. He has made or given me several different shell fish and fish-fish and I have yet to find one that I really didn't like. I was, therefore, hopeful that I would like Catfish, but it was still up in the air. The boyfriend fried up the fish as well as some home made hush puppies.

 

 

And the verdict is......SUCCESS!! Catfish is officially on my list of fish I like! And that is a pretty small list so far. I actually thoroughly ENJOYED the catfish!

 

 

The other side dishes were pretty awesome as well. It was a nice evening. I won't bore you with the rest of the details of my little stay-cation, but I will say that I got a fair amount of sewing done and it was definitely a nice chunk of time away from work.  Back to the grind stone tomorrow! Hope you all have a nice weekend!

Stroller blankets and frozen yogurt dates!

Stroller Blankets
This past Saturday, one of my best friend's was in town for her baby shower.  She and her husband are expecting their first child, a boy in September.  I decided I wanted to do something a little different for her baby gift.  I knew that her in-laws' had given her the diaper bag that she wanted for her birthday and I wanted to seize the opportunity to roll out some new product!

During one of my "sewing lessons" (as we affectionately call them) with The boyfriend's Mom a while back, she showed me how to make strolled blankets.  They are flannel, self binding blankets which are square and are supposed to be less likely to dangle into your stroller wheels. They also make great "tummy time" throws or even a little blanket for small dogs.  We had a few hiccups when trying to make them the first time and I was busy trying to roll out the tote bags at the time, so I put them on the back burner for another time.

When I got my baby shower invite I scheduled another "lesson" to perfect the craft! :)  My friend's husband is half Japanese and they have started calling the baby their Little Ninja. I had some ninja flannel that just happened to match their invites, and a couple other prints that I thought would work well.

 

My second lesson went MUCH smoother and I went home and made two more, plus a few burp rags.

She LOVED them! The ninja blanket in particular. She could not wait to show them to her husband when she got back to Arizona! He loved the ninja one as well.  I got so excited making these! They turn out so cute and are pretty quick to put together. What's not to love? I am working on more now and am hoping to have them up in the shop later this month!

Frozen yogurt date
Monday, my eldest niece came with me to "Girl's day" while my friend was still in town.  She had a play date with one of my other girlfriend's daughter. They had a lot of fun together! My niece was so proud of this block tower that she built that was taller than she was!

She also got to feel my friend's baby kick! She thought it was pretty cool and said it felt like a heartbeat.

On the way home, we stopped and had a frozen yogurt date. My niece got plain flavor with lots of gummies and mochi on top, yum!

 She told me that I just HAD to try the mochi, or "little white things" as she likes to call them. I said OK, so she picked one off her yogurt and proceeded to suck the yogurt off of it and then hand it to me! I was laughing so hard! She wanted to make sure I got a true taste of mochi, completely untainted by her plain yogurt. SO considerate hahaha! We decided to get her sister some chocolate frozen yogurt to go. (Pinkberry will put little baggies of ice in with any to-go items so they don't melt on the way home.)

Her little sister was SO excited to get her chocolate yogurt! She loves food, and particularly chocolate food.

She started dripping it all over her dress, so Auntie made a command decision....we ditched the dress.

She could then FULLY enjoy her yogurt! It also left her free to paint her nails, along with her sister and I.

Her nail painting skills have improved quite a bit! It was a great day with the girls, both adult and child. :)

The rest of my days off were quite busy. I took The boyfriend and my visiting pregnant friend out to dinner to get to know one another.  That was a lot of fun! It was a nice weekend, but so busy that there was not much time for relaxing at home. I am looking forward to my next set of days off so I can squeeze in some R&R between finishing up some orders from the shop. Have a great week everyone!