December, the Cold and the Holidays

This December has been one of the coldest months in history of me living here in California. I mean 30F!!! We had frost, we had ice...and we had to buy thermals for under our clothes! Even with the heater on.

Arya had also been sick so many times from school.

But finally some time off for the holidays! :) Christmas always brings smiles to kids faces. I love that glow in their eyes in the morning. This year Arya got Star Wars Legos with Luke Skywalker & Renkor, Angry Birds Go Pirate ship, Skylander SwampForce Wii starter pack, an Angry birds hat, 2 Surprise Angry birds, and Anikan Skywalker and the Stormtrooper figures. He's sort of into Star Wars now.



This is our family picture together minus Kami, Tina and Jamil because Kamran was sick this year. It was nice of Tina to drop off a crock pot of stew and gifts for Arya. We sent Kamran's gifts with her back home.



A few days before, it was the longest night of the year or Shabeh Yaldah in Farsi. We had a nice dinner together and watched some tv. To me, these simple days/nights don't need to be glamorous to be meaningful. It's the quality time that counts. Not where you go or what you do.





All in all, 2013 has been one tough year. Totally looking forward for 2014. Hope it will be a good year for everyone. :)

Thanksgiving 2013

This year is the only year that we did not buy the traditional Thanksgiving food. And I think it's a good thing. We still celebrated Thanks as we are always thankful for all the things God has given us.

Instead, we had our regular Persian food (Khoresh Gheymeh, Bademjan, Rice, Salad, and some chicken) with a few more things...Noono Panir, Pies and my Pumpkin Roll.



Jamil and Arya had fun watching Monsters Inc and the rest of us just ate and had fun listening to the Atomic Fart App. LOL!



A great evening with food, good company and laughs :)

Fieldtrip #2 - Sacramento Children's Museum

Since Arya's school doesn't do Halloween, they decided to have a field trip. It was to an interesting place that had a lot of things for them to play with and learn at the same time. It's amazing how after 19 years of living in Sacramento, I still did not know about the Sacramento Children's Museum. So much changes after having a child.





Not sure what the green guy is supposed to be? Science booger?



Counting the kids all lined up. My little Arya...I love you...



Using Solar power to create lights and sounds. Neat!



Solar Power to do a car race? Interesting!



Trains with special effects lighting



Dress up time. Arya is a firefighter! Put the Fire out cutie!





Let's get wet! Water play stuff.



Giant Light Bright! Where was this when I was a kid?



Let's build something fun! Then break it!



Craft time!



Let's play house! Arya's favorite.



Amelia, Sophie, Arya, and Ala. Such good kids. Eli was with his dad but he was in their group too.



Snack time. They had goldfish packages and water.



Little after this they went back to class. It was a fun day I think for all of them. Arya passed out on the way home (after Target).

K Field Trip to Upickit Pumpkins

This is Aryas first field trip on a bus with his school. Destination: U-Pick It Pumpkins pumpkin patch.







There were about 50 kids from 2 kindergarten classes and only 7-8 parents. It was a little crazy.



The bus was a little looney tunes since it was 30 min late and all the kids were already antsy.
Once there, the group took a picture and we had all the kids get ready to go on the hay ride.



The hay ride was fun except for the exhaust from the truck. Arya is sitting between Sophie and Amelia, the two friends he's become familiar with since I've been friends with their moms.



And it's silly face time



Arriving at the pumpkin patch. Which pumpkin should we choose?







Arya's friends Amelia and Emmet



The gang tired, hungry and ready to be out of the sun!



Back to the play area and snack time.




Arya's a ghost! eeek!



No, I think he's Lucy?!



Corn box fun



Playground fun



A tunnel?



Hay, what's up?



Then when we got home, he tells me he has a sore throat!?!! Great. here we go again (x3) :(

Folsom Lake and a bike

Sundays are great when Ali can get away from Happy Wiggles. We can spend time together and enjoy the day.



We took Arya to Folsom Lake to ride his bike and he enjoyed it a lot. There was nobody there except bikers which made me miss my bike a lot, but glad we had the chance to take him. He really loved it.





He also walked around and checked out the squirrels. There were a LOT of them. I guess Sacramento must be the land of the Squirrels! hehe

The weather has been amazing. I almost don't even feel it being Fall. 70-80's and cool nights with a breeze here and there. Though there are some really cold days. So we just need to be careful with those! :)

More events

We went to old Fair Oaks and Arya got to see the Chicken Festival.



It's a small section in Fair oaks where there are shops, and historical areas that are cute to admire and see.
There were a lot of booths and vendors as well but we mainly went for the festivities.




There was a concert playing lots of oldie hits.



Arya got to see how to hear a chicken from a cup



He got to play in a park area.



And get prizes from some games. I think he had fun. In the end it started to pour rain really hard so we had to leave. But glad we had the chance to do it.

Fairytale Town

This weekend we went to Fairytale Town with a few kids from Arya's school. Two girls came one named Sophie and the other Atusa. It was a fun venture for Arya at his first time here. It wasn't too big of a place but it had its own cute play areas for kids that parents could enjoy.



This is a pirate's ship



You'd think they were actually reading this...?



King Arthur's Castle and the Round table. Arya fits right in.



And the decision is, my knights, to have pizza every time for dinner!



Playground props...turtles



Arya talking about what to do next



Indian village. A Tee Pee!



Wizard of Oz



Train ride....Can you go any faster???



Arya and I with Sophie and her mom Michele



Face or Arm painting - Arya got Picachu from Pokimon and Sophie got Hello Kitty. In this picture, Arya is telling the lady to make sure he gets Picachu.





Mush!



So cute!!!



There were animals to see. Pigs, Lambs, Lamas, Goats, Rabbits.





An ABC Garden to water. How fun.So much parsley and basil...yum



They chased down and found Humpty Dumpty. This was a rewarding pic for them!