Category Archives: Real Life : Alix

Kiddo Fieldtrip // Quickie Camping For the Win!

Kiddo Fieldtrips, Real Life : Alix, , , , , ,

Last weekend we went camping. For one day. Yup, ONE DAY. And you know what? You should too! Camping is so much fun, but if you’re like me you might be thinking, “Oh, I totally want to go….but we’re really, really busy! We just don’t have time. It’s kind of a big production.” So when Greg proposed we go camping for one night….wellll, I kinda thought he was crazy. And maybe he was, but I gotta tell ya we had a BLAST. It was such a good idea. We went to a site that was actually really close (barely 25 minutes away) so it was low stress but deep in the mountains and so gorgeous, we felt like we were a million miles away!

Although we were close to home, I promise this wasn’t glamping….there wasn’t a store nearby, we cooked all our food over the fire, and we slept in sleeping bags in our little tent. I think Sammy had the most to get used to. He was very nervous, not sure what was happening (“what? everyone is sleeping outside??”). Aaaand he had to be on a long chain/leash while at the campsite. Which he wasn’t sure he liked much. I thought he looked like Ghost, from Game of Thrones.

Greg and I used to camp all the time, but this was the first family trip we’ve taken. I’ve never backbacked into a camping site—I’m too much of a City Mouse for that. But car camping is still really fun/doable and still rugged. We packed well, but not quite as efficiently as we used to—I was a little bit rusty! We had a mini cooler with some perishables and lots of easy dry snacks and fruit. The guys brought a ball and we also brought some games to play together. It was really fun to look at all our old equipment and see what was still in pretty great shape and what we wanted to upgrade. Our lanterns were still awesome and we played a little Jenga under the starry sky. Wolfie taught us how to play, I’d never actually played it before! I found this set at the thrift store earlier in the week and scooped it up especially for our trip.

We definitely want a new tent. I can’t lie….the tent was reeeeeeeally squishy!! It’s an old one and meant for two people, not two grownups….one 8-year old wiggle worm and one giant 104 pound fur ball!! I have to say, ol’ Sammy was totally into the tent. He would poke his little snout out the zipper to make sure everything was ok. He took his guarding duties verrrry seriously. It got extremely cold at night and the wind was really whipping the tent back and forth dramatically. I don’t think Sammy slept at all. Wolfie slept like a log.

We were going to make pancakes but I also brought bagels and cream cheese……guess what Wolfie voted for?? The guys went on a little hike with Sammy while I tidied up the camp site (the wind had blown everything around!). And yes….we played a little more Jenga! The best part was seeing how much fun Wolfie had. He’s definitely a 21st Century Boy and loves his 3DS and anything computery. We didn’t bring any electronics (other than phones…and we only used them for photos!) and Wolfie never once mentioned that he missed anything. In fact, he wanted to stay longer.

Before we left, we all piled in the tent one more time for a few rounds of CLUE.

Final conclusion: One day was totally worth it, but I think I would have done 2 days for even more fun. Oh, and for the record,  it was Mrs. White….with the wrench….in the library.

How about you? Are you campers? Have you ever done a one day quickie camping trip??

UPDATE: A few people have asked me about the CLUE game. Wolfie got it as a gift from our awesome neighbors and we love it. It’s a reproduction of one of the original 1960s versions (officially called the Vintage Collection Clue Game). But what makes this edition so awesome is it comes in a great wooden box, that makes it PERFECT for camping. No little game pieces spilling out all over the back of the car! And if you’re interested, you can read about the original Clue game versions on this fun post I did on board games!)

Mini Golf is My Best // A Happy Birthday for an 8 Year Old

Kiddo Parties, Real Life : Alix, , , ,

Last month was Wolfie’s birthday and he had a special request. MINIATURE GOLF. Aw yeah! I was only too happy to oblige. It’s funny, when your child turns one or two, their birthday party is just as much for you as it is for them—more like “Hallelulijah! We made it through the first year!” But as they get older, they have more opinions and it’s less about snazzy decor and themes (although I love a good theme….and of course fun decor!) and more about doing something that THEY are into. And in my boy’s eyes:

We found a local place that did birthday parties and boy did we hit the jackpot! This place was super cool and funky and filled with lots of retro accents. Check out this sweet little midcentury “party room”!

I love those umbrellas! The kid’s played mini golf and then we hit the patio area where we feasted on pizza and cupcakes….and lollipops.

I admit, I always do a goody bag. I know people have mixed feelings about them, and it’s sort of lame that kid’s “expect” them these days. BUT it does make the kid’s happy and I think they can be fun. My tip is to make sure it’s super simple and filled with small, inexpensive things that I think the kids will actually be able to play with or snack on. I usually use a brown paper bag that we decorate, but this year I found craft paper handle bags at the dollar store and we filled them with a plastic tiki mug, tattoos, moustaches, Ring Pops and Candy Necklaces. Cheap but lotsa fun!

I think I had just as much fun as the kiddos. I was joking around and told them all that I was a golf pro….really bragging about how they better watch out, just to be funny. The kids were laughing and rolling their eyes. And on my first try? I got a hole in one! HAH! (I may or may not have played air guitar with the golf club in my excitement. Ahem.)

After cupcakes and birthday songs, we hit the mini arcade where the kids played and laughed and snapped up tickets that they could turn in for small treats. It was a HUGE success! It was an easy party for Greg and I, and my little guy had a blast. And that was all that really mattered.

 

So two questions. What do you do for Goody Bags? And when was the last time you played miniature golf?? It it’s been longer than 2 years, get thee to that putt putt range STAT! It’s the best!

I love you mom.

Real Life : Alix

My parents were visiting recently to help me clean up our basement. We called it a “working vacation” and it was something we had never done before. I was sooo appreciative. Oddly it was one of my favorite visits. Usually we have planned outings and try and take little day trips. But because we were working, we just hung out around the house. And it was so comforting and fun having them just be here….having breakfast/coffee with them in the morning. The luxury of them taking Wolfie to school in the morning. Sitting in the back yard “taking a break” and just chatting.

A while back Wolfie and I found a little vintage slide viewer at the thrift store (kind of like a fancy view master). I asked my dad if he would bring some slides so we could test it out and he did it one better—he brought the slides AND all the slides digitized on a DVD. SO GREAT! These were just a few of the photos. I loved looking at them. Look how foxy my mom is! I remember I loooooved her blonde farrah hair. I’m sure I’ll be sharing more of these photos soon. There are some hilariously awesome ones.

Mutti, thank you for being the best role model a girl could ever have! I had an amazing childhood and so many terrific memories. All the lessons you taught me have truly made me the lady I am today. And it’s because of you, that I am now this:

To all the mom’s out there….and to Dottie and HER sweet mama, HAPPY, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Droppin’ some science with Wolfie.

Real Life : Alix

For the first time ever, Wolfie’s school had a science fair (AND the annual pancake breakfast!). It was SO fun and he was so dang cute. All the participants had to stand with their project for the first 15 minutes to “field any questions” from the visitors. He was a bit nervous!

Wolfie’s Question was: Does Water Temperature Affect the Speed of Water Molecules? It sounds fancy but it was a really simple project! We took three glasses of water, one hot….one room temperature….one very cold. We then took a second set of glasses with the same water set up but added a tablespoon of salt to each glass. Then Wolfie added a few drops of food coloring to each glass and we watched to see which type of water “mixed” the color faster.

It was really fun! Wolfie had to come up with his own “Hypothesis” and “Conclusions”….we did the entire experiment a second time so we (aka mama) could take photos.

I don’t recall doing the science fair as young as second grade (I think I was in fifth grade when I did my first project) but we were excited to give it a go! I was kind of torn…on the one hand, I wanted him to have a good project that was fun and interesting, but I also was aware that he just turned 8 and this should be an age-appropriate project. There were some reeeeally great little projects there (and of course there were some that CLEARLY had a lot of parent man-power behind them…). There was so much creativity in the room it was pretty amazing. I have to say all the second graders and third graders really had an phenomenal showing.

Wolfie’s project was a really fun process for both of us and I was SO proud of him!

This was Greg’s favorite project. It simply said, “Question: Are UFOs Real?” and then “Answer: We are not alone in the universe.” Hee. (I think there were some stats about sightings as well….)

Afterwards we ate some tasty pancakes and then got to play with a bunch of really fun hands-on experiments. Such a special afternoon!

It got reeeeally hot so when we went home, my young scientist threw on some shorts and decided he had earned a little QT with his 3DS.

Do you remember the science fair? What kinds of projects did you do? I remember my fancy pants question from the Fifth Grade Science Fair to this day: “Does Age Have any Affect on Your Ability to Perceive an Optical Illusion?” Yep. And I won third place in the city. My follow up project the next year where I set little squares of wall paneling on fire didn’t go over quite so well.

Unearthed // Vintage Excavations From My Basement

Real Life : Alix

It all started here. One of my favorite things in the world. Thrift shopping. I was lucky that when I met Greg, I found a kindred spirit. He loves collecting and vintage as much as I do. In fact, our second date was actually an afternoon of thrifting (and then dinner and a movie). We’ve been together 10 years now. So that’s 10 years of joint thrifting. Not to mention all the stuff I had collected the years before I met him. In other words…..we got STUFF. Most of this was in our old Mission flat. Which had that kitschy cool charm of a San Francisco apartment. But when we bought a house we wanted it to look a little more “grown up cool”. Still funky, but less cluttered. We boxed up a lot of stuff. And tucked it away in the basement. So now our basement is filled with vintage clothing and bric-a-brac and miscellaneous stuff. Our garage and side storage room are also overflowing with STUFF……stuff like…well. THIS:

The problem is, while we have a mini hoarder sitch going on over here, it’s all cool stuff. Things that just make me happy to look at, but had forgotten about. Like this guy:

And our collection of vintage 70s 8-tracks and radios. They’re all so colorful and cool. “And they only play tunes from 1974!” Heh. I wish.

There were bins full of vintage magazines I didn’t even realize I had….

Magazines, dolls, dishes, lamps, books. BOOKS! So many books. I mean, who could resist the NEW COMPLETE POODLE??

Oh and vintage dance costumes?? Yeah. We have those too.

It’s starting to look a LITTLE cleaner. At least you can see the counter on the side storage room now.

If I’m being honest, there is also a lot of crap down there too. Papers. Books. Old suitcases (not pretty vintage ones). Camping gear. Random tools. Clipboards (we found EIGHT clipboards. WHY??) .TONS of empty boxes for toys that I saved “just in case we want to re-sell them”. I went through every single box that was stored on the shelves and we filled THREE recycling bins worth of paper. It’s still unclear why I saved an entire year of JANE magazine….or all those Vanity Fair magazines…or Martha Stewarts. Or that Rolling Stone issue with the Spice Girls on the cover (huh?) and every Rolling Stone with Nirvana on the cover. Or THIS:

HELLLLLLP!

My mom and dad came out here this week and have been helping sort and clean and take trips to the thrift store to donate and “put it back in the system” as I like to say. Ultimately there is a lot of pretty awesome stuff down there. Some of it I’ll keep. Much of it I need to sell. My mom always says, “You don’t need to ever go shopping again, just go thrifting in your basement!” She’s kind of right.  Most of it is just fun to share….so look for some followup posts on the craziness in my basement! (or follow me on instagram: @galexina….i tend to post lots of it there!)

I still have a TON of work to do. And to the untrained eye, the place still looks like a wreck…..but the piles are all organized. And i’m SO happy I went through all those mystery boxes and got rid of a ton of random things. Then again, so many things are soooo hard to get rid of!!

As I took my mom to the airport I couldn’t resist a quickie drive by at the thrift on the way home. I was going to take a joking photo of my out front and send it to her and Greg (because I am sort of forbidden from shopping there for a while). Of course as I walked in I spied an amazing vintage children’s book I have been on the hunt for for EVER (A Child’s Garden of Verses, illustrated by the Provesens) AND……a Pucci Scarf. $1.99. Sigh. And so it continues.

Do you have a collection problem??? Please share. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in this….