We're On Staycation!!

Rarely does everything align as it has this week: plenty of time off, no other commitments to have to stick around for, vacation money set aside...we were soooo excited to get away for a week of camping and hiking just the four of us.

Then our lovely springy weather from last week disappeared as winter made a comeback.

Gale force winds and lots of driving rain (almost snow) and bone-chilling cold.

There went the camping plans.

And our back-up plans up plans to the beach and the mountains.

We decided instead to take a series of day trips instead.

So, after a restful day of making plans on Monday, we went out that evening to see an impromptu movie. All of us.

It was awesome.



We saw Tangled in 3D. Even our teenage son enjoyed it.

Then Tuesday, we rose early and headed for Universal Studios, Hollywood.

Poor Judah couldn't ride on half of the rides there being such a short stuff, so he got his face painted instead.







Most memorable throughout the day was the House of Horrors...where characters from various Universal Studios horror flicks jump out at you while you're wending your way through the exhibit.

Jericho reported that the lady behind him grabbed him a couple of times so great was her fear.

Jeff said I was hanging onto his backpack and shrieking the entire time, and that the workers probably got the signal over their earphones, "Screamer in the white shirt!"

Believe it or not, poor little Judah was terrified. We didn't see the sign until afterward that it could be too scary for kids under 12. Bad parents!

It amazes me that in spite of the fact that the scary scenes from movies of 50 years ago don't affect today's children in light of all the high-tech, much more realistic special effects that they have in the movies nowdays...yet it is still so freaky to walk through a low-tech haunted house and have scary characters jump out at you...or to have an actor dressed like Norman Bates run towards your tram with a knife.



Judah did lean back a bit when Jaws rushed up out of the water towards our tour tram



but had no problem whatsoever with climbing inside the sharks mouth afterward.



It almost looks as though he's being spit back out, haha.



I never can get a serious photo of big brother, however.



:: :: :: ::

Day 2 of our Staycation is wide-open. We'd planned on the Arboretum near Pasadena, but the weather in that area is supposed to be rainy today.

Guess we'll be spontaneous and go anyway, and if we find it too miserable, we'll find something else to do in that area. There is always IKEA...

:: :: :: ::

On Monday, while driving around town, we saw a coyote on the loose. In our city. 5 minutes from the nearest WallyWorld.

We speculated that with all the recent rains, perhaps it's home got washed out or something. It looked kind of desperate and hungry.

Judah pipes up from the back seat, "Would a coyote bite a little boy?"

"They've been known to attack and even kill little kids."

"It wouldn't get me! I would do push-ups and sit-ups and then knock down a tree and use it to hit the coyote and kill it!"

What an elaborate and time consuming scenario, my son. Hahahaha!

:: :: :: ::

Jeff recently shaved off his goatee to begin fresh and new.

Judah saw him in the hallway and came to a screeching halt and stared.

Later that afternoon, when Jeff picked him up as usual, Judah grabbed both his cheeks with his hands and asked in an earnest voice, "Are you sure you're the same dad I always had?"

To which Jeff responded, "What? Why would you even ask that?"

"Because you're not the dad with the goatee that I remembered."

:: :: :: ::

We've been letting our outdoor dog in on cold nights as she's getting old and starting to show signs of arthritis when the temperatures dip. Now she gets to sleep on a thick comfy pillow on the boys bathroom floor.

I swear, sometimes I see her shivering outside on mild days, totally faking it while trying to look as pitiful as possible hoping for an invitation indoors. I'm thinking she might have a little Chihuahua in her somewhere.

So anyway, the other night, Judah had to go in there to brush his teeth after our dog was settled in for the night.

Not long afterwards, big brother went in to brush his teeth as well. From our bedroom, we hear him yell, "Judah?! Did you put toothpaste on Raisin's back??" And worse, "Did you squeeze it straight out of the tube?"

Sometimes, Jeff and I just look at each other and shake our heads. What possesses that kid to do such things?

:: :: :: ::

We have a rule that if anyone in the family is sharing a bottle of water, you have to 'waterfall it' so that nobody's mouth touches the bottle.

I become a real stickler about this during cold and flu season, especially, but have found that it works quite well to prevent 'floaties' in the water after a certain small member of our household has eaten and decided he needs a drink. Aaaack.

So for some reason, Judah was mulling this over the other day and says, "Why do we call pouring the water 'waterfalling it'? Why?" (He has been adding this very persistent WHY? on the end of every question he's posed to us lately...and the questions are legion these days.)

So I explained to him how if the water falls into our mouths, it helps to prevent the sharing of germs.

"I want to go down a waterfall someday."

**curling up in fetal position** Lord, have mercy.