Fire Aftermath & Pumpkin Patch

Thankfully, the Santa Clarita fires are all out, and we actually had some light drizzle this morning-- wish it could have come LAST weekend. It has been kind of weird to drive around and see the charred hills in every direction.

I thought this picture was amazing.... Shows how close the fire really was to Bill's school.

This afternoon, we went to Lombardi Ranch to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween. This is a locally-owned ranch that has been around in Santa Clarita for as long as I can remember. In fact, I remember going there as a child. Unfortunately, it was right in the path of the recent fires and suffered great losses. You can read about it here. Very sad.

Nevertheless, we had a great time. Here are some pictures....









Here are some shots that show the fire damage to the ranch....

BLACKENED HILLS

fire debris in background

Click on the "Hughes Family photo album" on the right margin to see more pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch.

All is quiet on the western front

Just wanted to say that all is well at our house...
TV coverage has returned to regular programming, so we (Santa Clarita) seem to be out of the woods.

I know from an early morning report that the fire in Castaic is still burning like crazy, but that is a good 5-10 miles north of us, and the winds are driving that fire west towards Piru and Fillmore. (For out-of-towners who've made the drive to Ventura/Santa Barbara with us, Piru and Fillmore are the little towns you pass through when driving on Hwy 126.)

Last I heard, the fires in the Lake Arrowhead area as well as the Orange County fire are still burning (and destroying homes). San Diego seems to have the biggest fires raging right now.... On the morning news, they were reporting that a major portion of Camp Pendleton is on fire; military families were given notice to prepare for evacuation. The I-5 freeway was shut in both directions. Continue to pray for the 1000s of lives affected down there-- both firefighters and citizens who are in the fires' wake.

Bill is back to work today, after a nice little 2 day break. I am busy catching up on laundry that was put on hold due to the hot water heater's death. Bill was able to get a new one installed yesterday evening-- disaster averted. Again, I am SO THANKFUL for my handy husband. :)

Thank you for checking in on us!

Update as of 2pm

We've been glued to the TV all morning watching the progress of the firefighting... I'm happy to report that 3 of the 4 fires seem to be "under control"-- no where near being put out, but no longer threatening houses and people.

The fire that was headed towards my brother's ranch this morning was seemingly under control until about 2 hours ago when the winds kicked up again. I haven't heard a TV report on its current status due to the fact that the fire burning in Running Springs (near Lake Arrowhead) and the one in Foothill Ranch (near Irvine) are going crazy. I do know that there are TONS of helicopters and planes battling our local fire from the air because I can hear them overhead. Lexy keeps looking at me shouting "Helicopter!" as she does the sign she knows from Signing Time. Fun the first 2 or 3 times. (not so fun the 100th time)

Some of you have asked... The horses did make it out okay and were moved to a field/meadow closer to the I-5 freeway. They are "out of harm's way" for now.... Another move could be required if the fire jumps. We'll wait and see.

We are still safe as far as I know. We have our own set of fun issues today as our hot water heater just quit on us (in the middle of laundry, of course). Bill is currently at Home Depot buying a new one. Thank the Lord I have a handy husband. :)

Smoke and Orange glow

I feel like all of Santa Clarita is on fire....

If you've seen the news recently, I'm sure you've heard about all of the fires in southern California. Currently, there are 4 burning in our little valley. I described it to a friend like this... It's as if our town is in the middle of a bowl, and the rim of the bowl is on fire on every side.

We were awakened this morning at 5:30 am this morning when my brother called to say that the area where his 3 horses are boarded is now in the wake of a new fire. Bill left immediately to go help evacuate animals. As I sit here and type, I hear multiple helicopters in the night sky. The news is reporting that the helicopters are water dropping aircraft busy at work trying to put out this "new" fire near my brother's ranch. This is crazy because usually they don't do water drops in the dark... I'm not sure if the fact that they ARE doing them signals the severity of this particular fire or what. For those of you reading that want area specifics, this is over by Eternal Valley cemetery, near where San Fernando road meets Sierra Highway.

Bill's school (West Ranch High School) was surrounded by fire yesterday afternoon, but nothing was damaged. WEIRD watching air shots on the news of fire surrounding the tennis courts and baseball fields. I found the below picture online... it is of the neighborhood ("Westridge") that surrounds his school...Thankfully, that fire seems to be dying down and all is clear around the school and neighborhood.

Here are a couple pictures Bill took last night around 10pm of the "Magic fire", which is burning in the hills behind his school, and behind Magic Mountain.

You can see the famous red "Six Flags" tower in the lower left corner of the shot above. I think it is the "superman" ride that is right in the middle.



I guess I should clarify that as of now, our family (and our home) are in no danger.
We are surrounded (at a distance) on all sides by fire, but I REALLY don't think the fire would ever burn a path towards us. If it did, it would have to go through HUNDREDS of homes first.

Please pray for the firefighters who are exhausted, I'm sure. They've been working for about 48 hours straight, and I don't think there is any relief in sight. Pray also that the winds would die down soon- they are what is driving all of the flames.

I'll update later.

Just a Cold?

Well, it turns out that Tori has an ear infection, not "Just a cold" as the Urgent Care doc said last night. We went to her pediatrician's office this afternoon because she still had a high fever and was tugging at her ear. Poor thing.

Antibiotics, here we come.
Ugh.

Urgent Care

My question of the day is this:

Why is it called "Urgent Care" when there is absolutely nothing "Urgent" about their care?

Yes, we spent the better part of 2 hours waiting in the local Urgent Care because poor little Tori seems to have come down with Lexy's cold. She woke up from her nap with a 101 temp which is really high for a baby her age. Thankfully, we were assured that all is well-- it is JUST a cold. Wish I didn't have to wait for 2 hours for that diagnosis. Oh well. Better safe than sorry.

Lexy-isms

Well, we are on week three of sleeping in the "big girl bed." I thought it was going to be quite an ordeal... I had visions (nightmares??) of playing the "go get back in bed" game over and over and over every night, but... (dare I even type this) She hasn't even crawled out once!!!! Shocking. Truly shocking to me, since she is such an independent little thing.

Currently she is under the weather-- we're hoping it's just a cold. Time will tell.
I spent a lot of time talking to her today (read 'listening to her whining') and realized that I should be documenting some of the hilarious things she says.

So, in no particular order...

"Dirty Animals"--
nothing is ever just "dirty", be in her hands, her clothes, the floor, etc. In Lexy's world, it "has dirty animals." A daily occurrence is Lexy raising her hands in the air, clearly dirty with food, paint, playdough, etc., and proclaiming, "Mom, I have dirty animals." Rather than try and reason with her, I've just accepted the fact that she is WAY ahead of the curve and already understands the ins and outs of microbiology.

"Go Get it"--
Two-year-olds have a lot of wants. Mine has a lot of want it RIGHT NOW. Yes, it sounds demanding, and well... it is. But it is really kind of funny when you watch the thought pop into her head and the subsequent action that follows... Example, "Mommy, I want cheese. (reaches for my hand and begins pulling on my fingers) Go Get It!" What's even MORE funny (and I dare not laugh to encourage it) is when this all occurs while I'm working the computer or reading. Then she adds the "Put that down right here" command in there also (motioning me to rid myself of all encumbrances).
This one also sometimes comes disguised in other clever little phrases... like the time I told her we were out of juice, and she succinctly responded "Go Buy More." I've wooed her into going to the store with me since then by telling her we're "going to buy juice." Works like a charm. She heads for the door saying, "bye bye Daddy! Be right back. We're going to buy juice!"

"ONLY..."--
This kid knows what she wants. Often, she'll tell me something she wants, and I begin listing off other wonderfully exciting options to try and dissuade her from whatever activity she wants to do. Oh, but she's too clever to fall for my trickery. Example: "I want to watch Monkey." Monkey=Curious George, her current favorite show. She watches it every morning when she wakes up, and a sad fact that I've learned about children's programming is that there are only about , oh, 15 episodes of any given show. They just constantly repeat them, which the kids couldn't care less about. But the poor, poor parent (read ME!) who watches begins to memorize the dialogue. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Bill and I can recite almost entire episodes.
So.... when the suggestion (ha! demand) is made to "watch Monkey", I calmly say, "How about Sesame Street, or Signing Time, or Veggie Tales, or ...." Each option is met with an immediate "No!" and then she pulls out the zinger. "I want Monkey, ONLY Monkey," shaking her head for emphasis.
Recently we have been trying to teach her that her name is Lexy HUGHES, not just Lexy. To bring home the point, Daddy is "Bill Hughes", Mommy is "Jenn Hughes"... She employed the "Only" here as well, telling me that Daddy is "Bill, ONLY Bill."

"I need a hug" --
From early on, when Lexy has having a not-so-good moment due to hurting herself, being punished, or whatever, I would always ask her "Do you need a hug?" Hugs always seem to make things feel better. She definitely latched onto that idea, and now says with increasing regularity, "I need a hug" whenever things aren't going her way. She's also been using it recently to get out of whatever task I've asked her to do--
Me: "Put away your blocks."
Lexy: "I need a hug."
or
Me: "Eat your sandwich."
Lexy: "I need a hug."

Clever little thing. But how can you not hug her?!? :)

There are countless others, but the dryer is done now, which means I can put the sheets on the bed and go to sleep. Sweet Dreams. :)

Tori is 3 Months old!

Here are some pictures of Tori in the last week...
We've had lots of fun going to Disneyland, Gigi's house, the Kern County Rodeo, and just hanging out at home in the swing and her new Bumbo seat. She is a great baby, always willing to offer a smile.

We went to Disneyland last week for the first time in a few months, so it was exciting to see Lexy understand the rides and parade in a new way. She LOVES the Teacups and couldn't get enough of them. I think between Bill and me, we rode them at least 5 times. Good thing neither of us get sick from the spinning. And yes, she wants it to be spinning as fast as possible the entire time.



Daddy's turn













Mommy's turn
(Daddy is a much better photographer!)

Everyone enjoyed the parade

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Last weekend, we traveled up to Gigi's house in Bakersfield to go to the Kern County Fair and Rodeo. Bill and I started going up there annually for the event about 5 years ago because it's kind of like a little piece of Texas for him. Now that Lexy is old enough to understand what's going on, it's even more fun! She LOVES the animals, and it is such a delight to see her get so excited about seeing them and petting them. Here are some shots of our time at the fair....

Watching the Pigs with Daddy


Looking at cows with mommy

There is always a big pen of pregnant cows, due to deliver any day, at the fair. A few years back I was lucky enough to watch a calf be born right in front of me. AMAZING. This year, we were hoping to get lucky, but we missed a birth by about 45 minutes. We did get to see the newly-born calf trying to stand and nurse for the first time. I told Lexy that the baby cow is called a "calf" and she quickly replied, "No, mommy, it's a baby cow."
In the above picture, Lexy and I are looking at about 10 different cows, trying to determine if one of them might be getting close to delivery time....

Here Lexy is excited because one of the cows is breathing really heavy and hard, and it looks like it might be time. Unfortunately, my 2 year-old doesn't have the patience to stick around and wait for the action, so I have no idea whether or not anything happened. :)

Later that night, we went to the rodeo and watched "horseys running around, and cows running around, and people running around, and the [cowboy's] hat falling down." Or at least, that's what Lexy remembers. Fun times had by all.