Los Angeles Wildfire October 2008 Update

As of 6:55pm PST, 10,000 acres are ablaze. A state of emergency has been declared. "Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said firefighters are concerned that the blaze could burn to the 101 Freeway and perhaps to the Pacific Ocean".

Los Angeles Wildfires 2008

This is a pic of the wildfires just a smidgen North of Los Angeles that have burned 3,200 acres so far. One of L.A. Mama's best friends, who is also the boys babysitter lives in this area (Sunland). We are watching this fire closely and keeping her and all of her neighbors in our thoughts.


The 210 is shut down in both directions between the 118 and the 5. The eastbound 118 is closed at Glenoaks Boulevard. The 3,200-acre blaze has forced 1,200 residents to evacuate. Go to the sidebar at the right for up to the minute feed of Los Angeles Wildfires 2008.

Update at 2:28pm 10/13/08: The Sunland fire has spread to 3,700 acres and there is a now a second fire that has burned 2,000 acres in Porter Ranch. Air quality is poor in the San Fernando Valley. Please stay indoors, but especially keep your children indoors. Their lungs are small and vulnerable.

Click HERE for school closures, mandatory evacuations and road closures.

Pumpkin Picking in Southern California

We went pumpkin picking at Underwood Family Farms today. It is located at 3370 Sunset Valley Road Moorpark,CA 93021
(805) 529-3690. They are smack dab in the middle of their 11th Annual Harvest Festival. If you live in the Los Angeles area, this is worth the drive as you can see below.



When we arrived at Underwood Family Farms, we were greeted with friendly faces and good old fashioned common courtesy. Underwood Family Farms is totally sustainable and uses no pesticides on their produce. They supply produce to 12 farmer's markets in the L.A. area.



Kids love searching for that perfect pumpkin! Here is a pic of Tennessee and California happily wondering through a real pumpkin patch(unlike the one's you see up on every corner in urban L.A.).



Posing with Mama.



Posing with Daddio.



Here is a sunflower forest!



This is the wagon we rode in to tour the farm. The horses names were Mark and Spencer. We think Mark is part donkey. He didn't pull his weight and Spencer had to do most of the work. During the tour, we saw fields on lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, corn and thickets of nectarine, avocado and apricot trees. We saw the fields being primed to plant strawberries for harvest next Spring. We also saw the most darling baby crows.



There were several vendors there. We found a man who made wooden toys with the utmost attention to detail. California loves wooden toys and immediately fell in love with the wooden train below. We also bought a wooden caterpillar that holds a package of 24 crayons. This man was also kind enough to supply the crayons! These toys are true treasures!



We stopped by the market at the farm on the way out and bought farm fresh corn! I immediately cooked the corn and served it to the family. Tennessee said "It is so cool to eat corn that wasn't bought at the store...and it tastes so much better!"



Here is a pic of our bag of goodies! We also brought home three large pumpkins that are outside. We will be making something yummy soon with the sugar pie pumpkins. Stay tuned and Happy Harvest to you all!



Go HERE to find a Southern California pumpkin patch near you!

Zen Baby

California loves to meditate. He chose to meditate on our walk to the park today in his stroller as noted by his finger placement(mudra)in the picture below:



Once we got to the park, he found a "beautiful big rock"(his words)and continued his meditation (please also notice the mudra):



He knows how to do this because he is a Soul Centered Kid. Go to www.SoulCenteredKids.com to learn more about meditation, reiki, yoga etc classes for kids. Go to the Soul Centered Kids Blog to get the inside scoop of Soul Centered Kids!

Be the Change You Want to See in the World (kid version)

Tennessee's top three things that he doesn't like about the world:

1. The way we misuse our resources.

2. The way we fight for no reason when we can debate and not hurt people(war).

3. The way we are not trying to figure how we can sustain our own ecosystem and keep the animals alive.

...and this is how he has begun to be change he wants to see in the world:

1. I already conserve water, electricity and gas.

2. I am a nonviolent debater.

3. I love animals.

Click HERE for more Gandhi quotes.