Got messes like this?
I just asked them to wash their hands.
We had a few scary days thanks to the canyon fire 2. It’s burned over 8,000 acres, which includes homes and my favorite hiking areas. 😦
It started off a very calm day, and then the wind came blowing in with a vengeance.
I took these photos in my way to hike at Peters Canyon. My aunt and I decided not to hike in the crazy wind. We went to Costco. 
The view as we left Costco was shocking. Something was burning…but what?
There was a lot of traffic reaching Jacob’s school up the 55 because the 91 was closed. The fire started at the 91 and 241 and then moved east.
I was starting to get nervous about our house. Jacob’s parent-teacher conference was canceled, and then the school was evacuated.
Cars and trucks were exiting the 91 in the wrong direction up the on-ramp.
traffic was bad.
it looked pretty scary at our house.
(the picture above is the sun shining through Jackson’s window)
So here are some of my favorite pictures at Santiago Oaks (my happy place), Irvine Park, and Peters Canyon:
And some pictures of how it looks now from the parks’ Facebook feeds:
And my drive to BSF today:
Jackson started parent-and-me preschool in September, and he loves it! I am taking him to the wonderful St. Paul’s Preschool in Tustin, where Jacob spent three years. It’s so nice to see familiar faces of the teachers who meant so much to Jacob, and for Jackson to finally get to play here! It’s also fun to see how different the boys are through watching them both go through the same program.
True confession: I started decorating on September 21.
But! I’m really glad I did, because that day was cool and fall-like, and we’ve been in a heat wave ever since. I seized the moment. 🙂
These frames I painted and sanded this year to complement these cute prints:
Let’s back up and see this cutie on his first day!
School lunches aren’t too easy with a weird eater like Jacob. He won’t eat anything that should be hot if it isn’t (like a quesadilla) and he doesn’t like normal things like turkey sandwiches. He doesn’t even like pb&j all that much. So I have to get creative. Also, lunches can involve a lot of trash, and trash, like sandwich baggies, just means a lot of wasted money. We were happy to find a lunchbox solution that involves little to no trash at all! Jacob enjoys a lunch from his stainless steel PlanetBox. It’s a bento box, so I fill each little compartment with a different goodie. He also takes a snack to school to eat at snack time, and sometimes those snacks are pictured.
we made it to Michigan, and enjoyed walking around my aunt and uncles beautiful neighborhood. There is a forest behind their house full of trails through tall trees, and it reminds of Sherwood Forest. I expect Robin Hood to pop out at any time.
We traveled to the Ford Rouge Plant in Dearborn. They do not allow phones or cameras in the assembly line area, but take my word for it: it is fascinating!
The pictured above are from the Henry Ford museum.
We were hungry after all that learning, so we hopped over to Detroit and American Coney Island.
I loved seeing the community gardens right in the heart of downtown. It was raining pretty steadily at this point, so we couldn’t do a lot of walking around.
After a nice dinner (and pretty clouds) we started a new day with a walk in the forest.
Then we were off downriver to expose Jacob to a root beer float. The A&W drive in was a faithful stop for us on our summer trips when we stayed with my grandma. They bring your food and hang it in your car window on a tray, and the root beer is on tap and served in a frosty mug.
At cousin Michele’s house, the boys got to ride on her mower! That’s some serious fun!
and maybe even drive it!
More to come…
You guys: I was working on that Chicago part 2 post for weeks. WEEKS. I have been so busy, and I’m not finding the time to keep my blog baby updated. Shame on me. I’ll try to do better!!
Josh and Korey 