Random

It's already late, so this will be a short, random Ari update. The first picture is Ari on the train at the UTC mall. They say you have to be 3 to ride alone, but they don't really uphold that and Ari loves riding in the engine which she has to ride alone, so here she is braving the tracks like a big girl in the lead car!The next picture is from Ari's soccer class. Last week we had the last day of class and on the last day, they gave them a medal for doing so well in class. You see it flying around her neck. She was so happy and proud of herself. It was really cute!

Other than that...

Has anyone else been watching DISCH L? It is now called Planet Green. I am learning so much about what we do that is not good and what we can do that can help. It is really affecting me. I always felt that I at least knew most of the things we are doing wrong (not recycling enough, too many plastic bottles, etc.) but there is so much more! I am hooked and changing a lot of things slowly but surely that I am doing to make our lives a little less environmentally unfriendly.

Now... don't think that I am becoming some crazy tree hugger nor do I even really consider myself an environmentalist. I'm not doing this because I am worried about the planet. I am doing this because I am worried about my daughter and my grandchildren's future. So.. I'm a people-ist. The planet will be here no matter what happens to it and it doesn't care in what state it exists. We on the other hand can't live on just any version of this planet. We need it to stay as close to the same as possible. That means that while I believe that the earth will eventually become unlivable just like it once was, we should do our best not to speed things along because we haven't figured out how to live somewhere else yet.

I also do believe that a lot of our decisions in the past to make life easier, have turned out to be poisoning us and I want support business that are creating products that are not full of harmful chemicals for us and for our landfills. What we have done to our food supply and to our soaps and moisturizers, etc. is amazing when you start reading about it.

Again, I am working towards a healthier life one step at a time, even if they are very little steps, they are something. One example of a baby step that someone pointed out to me, which is a good example, is that we have a real problem with how many plastic bottles we use in our society. Even though they can be recycled, there just aren't enough things made from recycled plastics that we are willing to buy to make sure we use up all the bottles being thrown away. One place to save on this is of course to get a water service instead of buying bottled water. It is really price equivalent, for the most part, is delivered right to your door, and you just need to get some bottles that you can use to refill. Another place though, which is the great baby step suggestion I mentioned above, is to buy only bar soap instead of pump soap. It just never occurred to me, but bar soaps are surrounded in paper which does have a high rate of recycle ability versus the pump. There really is no reason to have the pump. Another one that I would love to see is bulk shampoo. Why should I buy a new bottle of the same shampoo I get every time when I could just as easily bring my bottle to the store and refill it instead. If only this were available. *Sigh* Come on companies! Lets start figuring this whole thing out. Change is in the air. :)

Okay... Like I said in the beginning. It is late and time to go to sleep. Goodnight all!

Long Ari Update

It has been a busy time so I have not been very good at keeping up with my postings, but I know I need to do another Ari update before anything else, so here goes. :)

The last weekend in May we went to visit family near San Jose. We chose to drive up which took about 9 hours with stops for traveling with a toddler. Especially since we got out the gate and pretty soon after, she peed through her clothes. We switched clothes and diaper and went on our merry way. We eventually stopped at a Flying J truck stop thinking that the buffet they offer would give Ari enough variety that she would be happy eating. WRONG! I ended up eating crappy buffet food while my husband says he isn't hungry and Ari refuses to think about food. Also, we could buy gas or anything from the store because their computers were down. We went to another gas station and they had run out of gas. The last one finally offered up some gas and a way to pay. Hehe.. Of course while there, I changed her diaper again. About 20 minutes away from there, Ari pees through her clothes again. *groan* Are we sure we are going to make it? LOL Anyway, we finally did make our destination and we all had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, the trip back wasn't so good (you hear the sarcasm there). She was not in the mood to hang in the car for so long while being sick. There was much crying by the end unfortunately. Anyway... Here are some pictures from the trip. :)This first picture is Ari and Mommy at a really cool play area called The Jungle.
This one is also from the Jungle. They had some fun ride on toys like this cute dinosaur that Ari loved.This next picture is Ari showing off how she can play computer games all by herself now. She has become so good with a mouse. It is amazing!

In this picture, Ari was playing with her Daddy and Uncle. Daddy handed her random things from inside the house and Ari with her shoes on and Mommy's shoes on would race out, clomp clomp clomp, and give it to her Uncle Chris. It was a good time for all. Sometimes it is the simple things that entertain them. :)

The next weekend, we took Ari all over the place. Here are some pictures from the fun we had then.

This is Ari at the Air and Space Museum. She just loves the little Air Plane that they have for them to climb into. She spends so much time just climbing in and out and spinning the propeller. This is a really bad picture of me, but such a great picture of the two people I love most, so it had to make the cut. We are still in the Air and Space Museum in another airplane that you can climb into. She loves this place. :)
After the Air and Space Museum we headed over to an area near the zoo that has a carousel and a great train. This is Mommy and Ari on the Carousel. I don't know why Ari had to go on the Ostrich, but that's what she wanted. LOL

And this is Daddy and Ari on the train ride. She sat behind the engine and just had a blast!
Later that day, after her nap, we went to La Jolla Shores beach and enjoyed some sand. I originally tried to raise a tom boy and up to a point she is, but her favorite colors lately are pink and yellow. She looks so cute in it, it is hard to try to dissuade her. Guess she has a little girly girl in there. :)While at the beach, we saw the most unusual thing that just fascinated Ari. These college kids were making a movie about this robot couple. Ari got to watch the guy and girl play "dress up" in robot costumes. They then danced together. It was so funny. Notice the girl robot has designer yellow shoes, a pink bow in her hair, and her middle is long like a dress. Hehe...
The next day we took Ari to Sea World. We were in the Shamu area and people kept walking in front of our friend as he was trying to capture a picture of her. It turned out to be a cute picture though with her peeking through all those people.
Here is a broad shot from the same time. On this day Ari dressed herself. Yellow pants, red shirt, purple coat, pink hat, gold necklace, if I remember correctly black socks, and brown shoes. Doesn't she look cute? :)I also promised everyone a picture of Ari at soccer. This is the first one I got this last week. She is adorable in her little soccer shirt. I'll add more as soon as I get to downloading them.

Okay... that's it for this update. Besides everything above, this last weekend my husband and I went away to Vegas for my first night and day and a half away from Ari. I was nervous, but she had a blast with her Safta and Saba and I had an amazing time in Vegas with the love of my life. We walked like a gazillion miles ate a second dinner at 1 AM and slept in a little bit. While there, we saw the Cirque Du Soliel show LOVE. It was AMAZING! It has become my favorite Cirque show. I highly recommend it. Not sure I refreshed in the sleep department, but I definitely think I refreshed in the mental department. My husband and I got to talk about something other than child rearing. It was really wonderful! Anyway, this is why I haven't been as active as I should on here, but I'll try to play catch up for the next few days.

Thanks for reading!