The McDonald Clan » Tomi

River K Pumpkin Patch

momitomi — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:57:10 +0000

This year around Halloween we decided to go and visit a pumpkin patch out in Paso. It is called the River K Pumpkin Patch and we had a great time. We met up with a couple of friends of ours and the kids had a great time exploring the pumpkin patch, going through the corn maze, looking at all the decorations and picking out a few pumpkins to take home. It was a really neat place and we hope to go back next year. To see more photos from our visit, please click here.

The girls getting a ride

Ghost Aubri

Checking everything out

Dylan showing off his corn he found in the corn maze.

Aubri and I (Daphni in belly)

Aubri and Dylan

Christmas Fun 2011

momitomi — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:15:58 +0000

When it was time to go and get our Christmas tree for the year Mike decided to take a day off and we spent the whole day out getting ready for Christmas. We first went and visited Santa and then we went off to the Christmas tree lot to find our perfect tree. To see more pictures from our tree expedition, please click here.

The three kids with Santa.

Daphnis first time visiting Santa

Aubri with these adorable little reindeer we found at the Christmas tree lot.

Dylan helping to decorate the tree.

Aubri putting up her ornaments.

The kids happy in front of the tree.

The best Christmas present ever.

This year for Christmas we just had a little quiet celebration at our house in Atascadero. Daphni was only 3 weeks old so we decided it would just be best to stay home and take it easy. My parents and brother came over and we just took it easy. To see more pictures from Christmas, please click here.

Aubri opening some presents.

Daphni hanging out.

Dylan digging into his gifts.

Baby’s First Christmas

Disneyland with Kristi and Kevin

momitomi — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 02:32:12 +0000

Kristi and Kevin came to visit from North Carolina and while they were in town we we had to make a visit to Disneyland. It ended up raining on us about halfway through the day, but we had a great first part of the day.

Here is Aubri making sure she knows the way on Small World with Auntie Kristi and Uncle Kevin.

Aubri had fun riding on the rockets with Auntie Kristi.

Dylan getting ready to take off with Uncle Kevin.

Here I am getting a snap shot with Daphni and Aladdin.

Aubri really enjoyed her ride.

Daphni really didn’t want to cooperate to get a picture in her new beanie. She was not sure about it and really didn’t like the wind.

We really had a great time at Disneyland and the kids LOVED being around their Aunt and Uncle for the day. If you would like to see more pictures from the day, please click here.

8th Anniversary Bouquet

momitomi — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:10:43 +0000

Today was our 8 year wedding anniversary and Mike surprised me with a beautiful flower bouquet when he got home from work. He knows I like different flowers and he didn’t disappoint with this arrangement. I am so lucky to have such a loving and caring husband and I couldn’t think of a better dad for my kids. I can’t wait to have many more years with him.

Midstate Fair 2011

momitomi — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 23:09:49 +0000

This year I decided to take the kids to the Midstate Fair. After living in this area for the past 10 years or so and never having actually been to the fair I decided this was the year to go. When we first got there, we happened across a mutton bustin’ competition that was just starting. For those of you that don’t know what mutton bustin’ is, basically they stick a kid on the back of sheep and the kid tries to hold on for as long as they can while the sheep runs across a field. It was really fun to watch, but in the end Dylan decided he didn’t want to try it. While watching the competition Aubri spotted the pony rides, so that was of course our next stop. Both the kids rode a pony and then decided it was time to get their faces painted. Aubri chose a whale but she wanted it done in Spider Man colors, and Dylan chose a dragon. The girl that painted their faces did a great job and she was super fast also. After this we just walked around and looked at everything that was at the fair. We walked through all the animals and watched a bit of a barrel racing competition. Before we left we stumbled across an area that had a whole bunch of reptiles and stuff in it, called Brad’s World Reptiles. In order to take care of all the reptiles, they allow you to take pictures with their alligator. We got in line and when it was our turn, my mom gave the job of holding the head of the alligator to me. It was actually really well behaved and just went to sleep once it was in your arms. I think we had fun and I definitely plan on going back next year. To see more pictures from the fair, please click here.

Spiderman Colored Whale

Scary dragon face to match his dragon

Alligator

Gilroy Gardens

momitomi — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 05:01:44 +0000

My mom had seen an ad in the newspaper about a dinosaur exhibit at Gilroy Gardens. Knowing how much Dylan enjoys dinosaurs we thought it would be fun to take the kids. Gilroy Gardens was a cute amusement park. It was very nice and clean and we found that it had quite a bit of shade while waiting for rides. The kids really enjoyed the water area of the park. It was where we spent most of our time while we were there. Unfortunately not too long after we got there the power went out. We were told it was affecting most of Gilroy and it was out for about 3 hours. During that time there wasn’t much to do, and we eventually decided it would be better just to head home. Gilroy Gardens was great though and they gave everyone a return ticket so we will be able to go back again for free because of the inconvenience. To see more pictures from our day, please click here.

Riding on the carousel with gramps.

Shooting the water gun.

Enjoying getting wet

Digging for dinosaur bones

Live Oak Music Festival

Mike — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:48:29 +0000

We have been talking about doing the Live Oak Music Festival for quite a few years now. But the relatively high cost and our total inexperience with camping has kept us away. But this year with some guidance from our friends, The Zimmerman family, who are Live Oak Pros we finally made it.

Live Oak is a Music Festival to benefit Public radio that is put on every Fathers Day Weekend. It’s three days of music, arts, crafts, camping and friends. The music was a great mix of Americana, Roots, Reggae, Rag time and Folk. Every morning at 8 people line up to get into the main stage area so they can lay claim to their place for the day with their low back beach chairs. If you get up to explore the kids area, or the arts for sale, or grab a bite to eat your seats are up for grabs so someone else can enjoy the show. Its an understanding that when you come back they will get up so you can enjoy your seats. Its just a really great friendly vibe from everyone there. There was a lot for the kids to do in the dedicated kids section. Aubri made her own hula hoop and Dylan got to create a rocket. They both made multiple paintings, played some ping pong and tetherball, and ran around with their friends Leo and Ruthie. They also saw a few friends from school that we didn’t even know were going.

On top of the excitement of the festival it was also our first family camping trip. We got to try out our new tent, mattresses, sleeping bags, etc… It all went even better than i expected. With the help of Maurica the tent was up in less than 20 min, and I even got it back in the bag when the trip was over. Tomi didn’t think it was possible. The kids were great. They both loved sleeping out in the tent and slept really well. They got to find firewood and roast marshmallows, which I think was the best part of the trip for them. They didn’t want to leave and I think they would both be very happy living in a tent the rest of their childhood.

Live Oak will definitely become a tradition for us that we go to every year for a very long time. It has also made us realize how fun camping is as a family and it has inspired us to seek out some new camping spots. We already have multiple trips planned for the summer. So stay tuned for more summer camping posts. See all the pics from the weekend here

Dylan loves live Oak this much

Aubri and the Rollie Polie

Aubri's Hula Hoop

This was an intense stare down

Family Disneyland Trip

momitomi — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:49:41 +0000

Recently we took a family trip to Disneyland. We loaded up the kids and met my parents and brother down in LA for a mini vacation. We spent three days at Disneyland and we all had a really great time. It had been a really long since my brother had been there so, there were lots of new things for him to see and do. Aubri had a great time going on a lot of rides that were more her speed. Her favorite ride right now is Small World and we rode that quite a few times. She also really enjoyed the Jungle Cruise. Dylan proved to be a little more adventurous this trip. The first ride he wanted to do when we got there was Pirates of the Caribbean and he also agreed to go on Soaring Over California. He also took his first ride on The Matterhorn with Mike and Jacko and he really seemed to like it. Both the kids also really enjoyed getting their faces painted. Aubri chose to get hers painted like a puppy and Dylan went for a dragon mask. My dad and brother spent some time off by themselves and hit up some of the bigger rides. We always have a really fun time when we are at Disneyland, but I think that this trip was really special because the kids got to enjoy it with their grandparents and uncle. Hopefully we can do another trip like this again soon . To see the album of photos from this trip, please click here.

Posing with Mikey

Little Miss Aubri Kitty

Dylan with his dragon mask

Jacko getting ready to ride Toy Story

Me with my little goofball

Monterey Bay with Jonny and Casey

momitomi — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:39:01 +0000

One of the places that Jon and Casey wanted to go to while they were visiting us was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. So, Mike took off of work one day and we all went. We started out the day having breakfast at one of our favorite places “First Awakenings”. It is a great place to have breakfast and they have a really nice outdoor area that we really like when the weather cooperates. After that we headed over to the aquarium. I think everyone had a really great time and we got to see some beautiful fish and many other creatures. After the aquarium we headed over to have dinner at Bubba Gump. The restaurant is right on the water in Monterey and it has a beautiful view. It is one of Mike’s favorites so he wanted to be sure that we ate there while we were in Monterey this time.

Jon and Casey in a clam shell.

Aubri and I snuggling in a penguin egg

After dinner we walked down to a place where you can get out on the beach and walk down to the water. The kids had a great time burning off a little energy there and exploring with their Aunt and Uncle. Below are a few pictures from our trip. Please click here if you would like to see more.

Uncle Jonny checking out the Monterey Bay with Aubri

Auntie Casey checking out the rocks with Dylan.

Trip to China Peak

momitomi — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:11:13 +0000

The kids had been asking to go and visit the snow for quite a long time. I finally figured it was time to try to make a trip up there and let them experience the snow. My brother Jack had been wanting to go snow boarding for quite a while, so we decided it would be fun to head up there together and let Dylan snowboard, Aubri ski and Jacko snowboard. My mom came along also to join in the fun and help take care of the kids. The first day up there Dylan took a snowboarding lesson first thing. He really seemed to love it and he had a lot of fun. He fell down a few times and thought it was hilarious and then got right back up and tried again. The first time he fell, the instructor ran down to check on him to see if he was okay. Dylan’s answer while laughing was “that was fun”. After his lesson was over, Dylan decided he wanted to take another lesson, so he signed up for a second one later that afternoon. Once Dylan’s lesson was done it was time for Jacko and I to take our snowboarding lesson. I have been wanting to try snowboarding for years and I was excited to try it out. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot harder than I thought it was giong to be. In usual fashion, my brother seemed to take to it pretty naturally and he was showing me up every time. I thought it was funny that when I got out the camera to video tape him he fell because he did really great most every other time. After a couple of hours, I had had enough and I spent time helping Dylan back up the hill so he could get some more practice in. That night we were all pretty tired and I think everyone slept pretty soundly.

Getting ready

Aubri watching with Grams

The next morning Aubri decided that she wanted to try skiing. Dylan thought it seemed like fun also so he was game to take another lesson and see what it was all about. Jack also decided he wanted to try skiing so he took a lesson on his own. Aubri seemed to LOVE skiing. She went down with a smile on her face and she couldn’t wait to get back up fast enough. Dylan lasted through about half the lesson and then he lost interest. He said he really like snowboarding a lot better so my mom took him back so he could exchange his ski’s for his snowboard and get some more board time in. Eventually they took the kids over to a little bigger hill and Aubri was ready with the other kids to take on this new challenge.

Excited to go!

Dylan and Unc's getting their ski's.

We all really enjoyed our trip up to the snow and we can’t wait to go back again soon. This time Mike really wants to come along so he can watch the kids also. If you would like to see more photos from our fabulously fun trip, please click here.

I have also put together a video of our trip. I hope you enjoy watching it!

Seu browser não suporta iframes.