katjamiles

So....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! 2020, WOOT WOOT! So far this year, we have moved fully into the new apartment, however it is still stuffed with stuff, lol. We are slowly decluttering and minimizing our stuff so eventually our jump to travel trailering life doesn't feel so big...
The holiday season was a normal one for us. Since I've married my husband these holidays have been more of days off then any hullabaloo I've done growing up. Chinese food was a staple for a while here too, lol. Now that we have a drama llama princess of our own (she is turning 4 this year!!! Eeep!) I've been kinda crazy about her having THE TRADITIONS. So far holidays pictures are what we've been consistent about. I am also finding out that just being is awesome. Having those memories and moments of being together is a lot of fun. This past holiday season was the first season my kiddio realized that there is awesomeness in the holidays (mostly due to the music and decorations, :)) The entertaining portion of xmas came when my husband's bright idea of using her pups to "guard the magical tree" that brought the presents totally backfired on us spectacularly as she ignored everything that morning BUT the pups she saw when barging into our bedroom (as she does every morning). It was amazing and awesome and hilarious that it took us (the parents) pointing the presents out for her to see them and even THEN she was more interested in playing then anything else. :)

Goals I want to work on this year are: toilet training because life skills are important (and pull ups/wipes are expensive)...consistent crafting and reading explorations...and of course the dreaded life improvements of my mental, emotional and physical self being...

As I might of mentioned before holidays/ celebrations aren't that big a thing in our house. Since having a Luna, we've been pretty lucky in acquiring appropriate "costume" wear for Halloween though (as they have been onesies up until this year when she got princess play clothes for xmas of last year). This year was the first year she was aware of what was going on, too so everything was more...pronounced as she noticed the holiday seasons in every store we came across as soon as they were put out. Nonetheless, she made a pretty cute Belle (although not as cute as the 6 month old Belle of 2 years ago) and had a blast trunk'n treating at the local USO. As I am the push over in the family, I found myself lucky in that one event was enough candy for her to be satisfied and that she understood and enjoyed giving out the candy to the 2 knocks on our door, Halloween night. However, our family has not the patients or the attention span to wait as long as we did (even with the ghost craft and coloring book) for the trunk'n treat, so we will have to remember to be fashionable late in the future... or just wait and do it old school and knock door to door. :)

WOOT! Just came back from a waterslide bday party! Luna had a blast (to the point where she thought the barrel colored juice drinks she found would make the water you slide into just that much more exciting, lol). I think we are also in store for some race car activity carpet and playhouse wish-listing. Another adventure this week was the new playground at the park near our house. A massive structure (that is probably technically rated for older kids) with climbing, sliding, swinging, driving and noise making action! My only real complaint is that the plastic structure that connects through bridges has limited seating and (currently) no seating in the limited shade the park's trees provide. Actually, that seems to be a patterned trend with these playground parks I seem to frequent so much-limited to no shade and seating; it is like the ones designing/accepting the design forget that they live in weather climates from heat/humidity to rain/snow and how that would effect the material/people used/using it. Luna also managed to make a "milestone" (as my sister called it) when her second visit to the dentist resulted in her staying (mostly) put all on her own, without a "dadna" hug/hold. I truly appreciate the ingenious idea of the tv distraction, sunglasses for the blinding light/lamp and, for my child, the blue latex glove distraction that settled her down. There were some fun goodie bag/stickers/balloon rewards at the end too (ie, I don't have to shop for kid tooth care products for a while, lol)! YAY for Luna adventures!!!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!
What is an INDEPENDENCE DAY???? It is "a day celebrating the anniversary of national independence" (Thanks Google!). Here in America it is known as the 4th of July- July 4 1776, those parties representing the shiny "new land" that is US of A showcased a declaration of independence from the homeland of England (although technically it was settled a year and 2 days prior with the end of the Revolutionary War). Later we bought territories from the nations of Mexico, (with a little skirmish in between), Spain and France, the latter rewarding them for their help in the Revolutionary war with territory that is now known as Canada; and even later, millions of immigrants from all over came flooding in making our "melting pot" what it is today. Not to forget the sacrifices of those were shackled and slaved AND who already resided in this land! FUN FACT: 3 founding fathers (and coincidentally presidents) all died July 4th: Thomas Jefferson & John Adams in 1826, and James Monroe in 1831. Calvin Coolidge (the 30th president) was an independence baby born July 4 1872!

END of July
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME (and my sister, 5 years before me)!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, we checked out J. Betski's Restaurant up in Raleigh. It is German cuisine and delicious!!! A lot fancier than I am used to (IT HAD DUCK!!!) as it's reservation only with a selected menu all from scratch. My other half was pretty excited about their beer selection too. YAY FOR GERMAN FOOD!!!!! Oh and we mall walked and found a playground while waiting for our reservation time slot. Fun times!

Woohoo! it's been a few months hasn't it!?! Let's see...

APRIL wasn't too bad as we were recuperating/saving for May. This means the Luna Adventures were pretty localized with visiting the usual haunts (parks, plaza's, foods). I also got a tiny bite of the crafting bug again and finished some potholder/hotpads for the kitchen (which I am happy to note are doing well under pressure, lol). I have also thought a lot more seriously about finding ways write out all the plans stuck in my head (it is getting crowded and crazy...and forgetful in there). Luckily there were no localized b-days/celebrations that popped up. Ooooh, I am pretty sure I got some fun crafting toys/tools this month too! Yay for sewing machines and stitch making!!!

MAY was a big month for the Luna girl as she had a b-day of her own. As I might have mentioned, I prefer trips/activities/outings for these (and other) types of celebrations and this year we took the girl to the NC ZOO in Asheboro and then to her chocolate cake in Greensboro,-The Cheesecake Factory- and REI in between. I recommend both (all) of these places! Granted I didn't see much of Asheboro but as it holds the biggest zoo in NC-lots and lots of land space for both the homesteaders (the animals) and the visitors (the people). I believe it is one of the biggest in the USA, also- it is pretty...land-full, whereas Greensboro has a happy little city vibe to the town (in other words people-full). The zoo was oodles and oodles of fun! It took us a good five hours to cover it all. I calculated it to be about 6 miles of tread with all the uphills and downhills included. Heehee. Let's just say our feet needed a good rest afterwards! Luna loved wandering the paths and exploring the kid zones (the favorite, of course, was the man-made river she got to splash in). I must admit though, I think this year, we traded trips. SHE got the children's museum on MY trip and I got the zoo on HERS. :) I went a bit click happy with my phone's camera during this trip (it's becoming a habit) too. Sadly, we found out that our pizza place (Monster's Pizza) closed its doors for good in Jacksonville NC. :(

JUNE has just started but the biggest Luna Adventure thus far are the splash pads. Buckets and buckets full of wet wet wet fun!!!

Took a little extended day trip this weekend with the fam to Raleigh, NC. I didn't see all of it but what i did see was very pretty. An old town-city capital nestled into the forests around it, it has an old downtown feel while still being a sprawling city. We had the pleasure of of "wasting" time in some of the major shopping plazas that we don't see very often anymore (living in a small nowhere town like we do) and it has some fun restaurants we ate at (Waffle House, BJ's Brewery, Hibachi 88. I even got to sneak into the State Farmer's Market! Mmmm-mmmmm, they had some goodies there! Fruits and veggies (SUPER HUGE TOMATOES!!!), plants/flowers, meat (PIG's HEAD!!!), some eateries, and a really good German Bakery!!! I got me some Marzipan and some apple strudel, and even some chocolate raspberry brownie!!! My person said it was like my mom's birthday cake but less wet, lol (he liked it).

The main attraction, however, was the Marbles Kid Museum. My kid went crazy! Two floors of all things kids play, with each floor having 2-3 major sections. We had some fun imagining at the farm, the veterinary clinic and on all the major vehicles (firetruck, boat, ambulance, news 'copter, city bus, and a red sports car). We also played with a train set, learned with some letters/numbers at their read aloud zone, and dabbled in working with tools and paper/pencil. We had endless fun building with life sized legos and the blue foamed connect blocks. We slowed down and took a gander through the "splash" area with its pirate ship underwater seating and its seeding center attachment. It was an easy 3 hours of kid entertainment that we've had in quite a while and would love to go again!

LUNA LESSONS
LUNA SITS UP WITH HER HEAD UP HIGH
LUNA ROLLS OVER AND BACK AGAIN
LUNA CRAWLS INCH BY INCH
LUNA WALKS WOBBLING TO AND FRO
LUNA RUNS, PICKING UP SPEED
LUNA FALLS DOWN, PLOP ON THE GROUND

LUNA MESSES
LUNA EATS, LAP FULL OF NOODLES
LUNA PLAYS, TOYS ALL AROUND
LUNA READS, BOOKS OPEN WIDE
LUNA LEARNS, EXPLORING HER TERRAIN

LUNA LOVES
LUNA HUGS HER BLANKET
LUNA HUGS HER STUFFED ANIMAL
LUNA HUGS HER DOGS
LUNA KISSES HER DADDY
LUNA KISSES HER MAMA
LUNA LOVES

When we first arrived, I found in Jacksonville, three different indoor play areas that are/were reasonably priced. Sweet P's playhouse (an indoor playhouse that allowed them to rest and read, create the arts, (art supplies, puppets, theater/playhouse play-sets) and an indoor playground set full of climbing, sliding, ball pit, vehicle zooming fun. Jumping Jax (an indoor bounce house that was mainly for smaller children); and Megaplay, a mega version of Jumping Jax that has several different bounce structures for kids of all ages (and their adults), snack bar, lounge seating and arcade game options. It's (well, they all were) a pay once and stay all day family fun adventure. All of them also had fun events and activities for groups and parties.They offer group and military discounts. Parties include a variety of options depending the size/price but not excluding time frames, invites, party hats/favors, and food/drinks.

Sadly due to various reasons, Megaplay beat them all out and is the only one still standing. Due to my child's age and development, Megaplay can only keep her attention for so long, (to be honest, she lasted longer at the Sweet P's). However, she does enjoys throwing the soft plastic balls from the ball pit, sliding down both the bounce slides and the extra long plastic tube-like slides attached to the enclosed jungle-gyms, and playing with all the pieces attached! Woot for the Megaplay Luna adventures!!!

We took the opportunity given to go to Atlanta GA for a week(ish). It was the first time we visited and we had a fun trip! We crammed lots of activities and experiences (with my click-happy pictures) into the week, the Atlanta zoo, the lego center and a visit to a real life farm, lol. We also enjoyed local eats like the lovely waffle house, an upscale pizzeria and a fun focused hibachi grill (they made a cat out of rice!). There, of course, was interspersed with normal activities: store browsing/shopping, staying "in" and park playing! As it considered a big city, it was busy, busy, busy with lots of people, lots of activities, and not a lot of space...ENJOY!

I was impressed with it. It is located in a rural area (Richlands area) surrounded by a county neighborhood but it had a lot more space and animals then I was expecting. While it was mostly farm animals-and not necessarily american farms- (steer, sheep, goats, fowl, a miniature horse, bunnies, etc) they also had fun ones like: a fox, zebras, bobcat, owls, raccoon, tortoise/turtles, rodents, and a giant african porcupine! Luna loved feeding the pigmy goats and petting the animals they brought out for educating purposes (snakes, *shudders*). The zoo offers lovely scenery to look at while sitting and relaxing at the picnic tables by the pond. I saw no snack shack, though-unless it was with the ticket office in the front. As it is considered a smaller zoo, it is CASH ONLY and they do not have their own ATM at hand. A worthy note to remember is that they offer porta potties rather than an indoor outhouse. I have a thing for taking pictures of the zoo animals at every place we settle in, so I was mighty happy to go! I hope you all enjoy it when visiting! yay!

Halloween 2018...Luna adventures! This year she still wasn't all that excited about the concept (last year as Belle, she also prefered to just hang out). She enjoyed some chocolate and had fun (sometimes) with putting on her costume (stitch) but other then that...it was more of a free for all when it came to do anything. This year we tried going to a trick or treat event behind the navel medical center...the only way we got her going was the word...POPCORN ("DADNA, MAMA, HELP POPCORN!"). Heehee. The small event was cram packed with families of all ages. It boasted two "paths" of halloween fun-one little kid friendly, full of lights and activities to do, and another non little kid friendly, full of horror (and lets just be thankful I didn't have to go in that one, shall we). As the lines were long, long, long, and my family did perfect impressions of scenes from the Stitch movie; we didn't stay for anything but the popcorn and hot apple cider. However, my little stitch had great fun running around with and without other kids while there! I wonder what will happen next year!?!

So growing up we did a lot of sports, probably mostly because it was a good excuse mom could use to keep working and have more time for doing things child-less (an important thing to have). Also, of course, because of all the good stuff, like life skills, social skills, motor/coordination/balance skills, etc, it brings to the table. I never enjoyed the starting or ending of these sports but I always found a way to enjoy the middle.

Martial Arts kept my energy and temper from rising to quickly, I always felt the fastest when swimming (even if I wasn't), I LOVED to dance (still love it). The gymnastics and diving taught me coordination and balance (not that I was (am) ever good at it). The one sport I ended up wishing I could play but never did as a kid was Soccer. I think it was because I enjoyed kicking the ball so much (maybe I can live vicariously though my daughter now, lol).

After high school I only did some running (it was never my favorite way to exercise) or swimming (enjoyed that more) and some stretching like things (TI CHI, Yoga, Pilates, and just plain old stretching).

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katjamiles

June 2020

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Page Summary

Holidays and the new year
Halloween 2019
Luna Adventures: playgrounds, the dreaded dentist and waterslides
JULY and J. Betski's
April, May, and June adventures ahoy!
RALEIGH, NC
LUNA LESSONS
PLAAAAAAAAAAY TIIIIIIME!!!!!
ATLANTA GA- A trip worth taking
LYNWOOD ZOO
Halloween 2018
Exercising

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Entries tagged with luna adventure

Holidays and the new year

Halloween 2019

Luna Adventures: playgrounds, the dreaded dentist and waterslides

JULY and J. Betski's

April, May, and June adventures ahoy!

RALEIGH, NC

LUNA LESSONS

PLAAAAAAAAAAY TIIIIIIME!!!!!

ATLANTA GA- A trip worth taking

LYNWOOD ZOO

Halloween 2018

Exercising