Stimulation Overload! That summarizes our trip to the Autry Museum of the American West. Both Jayson and Kaitlin were thoroughly excited about going despite the more adult nature of this museum. Eric had wanted to go for some time as well, so everyone was jumping at the bit by the time we left in the morning.
Our visit began with a wonderful lunch at the Golden Spur Café. After having done this at multiple museums, Eric and I have gained some experience. We all ate off of the "Little Buckaroos" menu. Each meal was more than a true kids portion, and fries and a drink were already included. Plus, we only spent the same amount of money that we would have at McDonalds without the grease of fast food.
As for the museum itself, Kaitlin's favorite was the Family Discovery Gallery. There she donned an apron  and spent a good amount of time pretending to cook on an early 1900's stove. She really had quite a feast prepared foe she and the other kids she met.
Jayson's favorite was the Sparkle and Twang exhibit dedicated to country music. He enjoyed running from one MP3 player station to another and listening to the different country music genres. Then there was a small mock sound stage where he and Kaitlin got to pretend they were singing in a band and try to  play real guitars. Of course seeing anything in a museum with Jayson is like looking at it twenty different times on fast forward, so I saw all of the music costumes on the run.
Though it was not one of our longest excursions, The Autry was definitely a day well spent.  Three hours was a perfect time to see everything before the kids got too restless.. We had a great trip and were still had enough time to come home for a nap.

Our trip to the LA Arboretum was one of our best adventures so far. After having a delightful lunch at the Peacock Café, Kaitlin, Jayson, and I hiked the majority of the Arboretum's 127 acres.
Our original idea was to follow the map while reading each section of the walking tour.  However,, not long into our trip we discovered that the map and walking tour did not match.  Neither did the park directories.
This lead  to much more exploration and excitement. We abandoned the idea of sticking to the main road, and ventured into the underbrush for shade.  Consequently we had to use our own sense of direction as well as the location of the mountains (north) to find our way back out to the  front.
All together  our adventure was a wonderful success.  Kaitlin and Jayson had a great lesson in orienteering which was highlighted with glimpses of baby peachicks, pond turtles, and even a coyote,  sights not seen on the walking tour.

So far our garden is not very big this year. After letting both the front and the backyard over grow for more than a year, Eric and I have spent the past six moths just getting the front yard back into shape. We were going to go with a complete edible yard, but we are still loosing the battle with the crab grass. Our hope now is that most of it will dry out and we can just get rid of it.
Eric did a great job of cutting down and pulling out all the bushes though. This left the full side yard and front boxes open for planning. At this time we have lettuce coming up and jalapeno and bell peppers ready to be picked. The onions and leeks should be ready to pull by the end of the month. August does allow us one more month of planting before harvest. However, I believe we are more focused on clearing out and getting ready for spring planting by February of next year. No matter what, it's fun to spend time together while we work as a family towards a common goal.

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