One of Those Things

This is one of those things I have always wanted to do, and is a dream come true to have done it finally. What is it you ask? Well, I wanted to write a children’s book, and now I have. My first book (yes, I hope to write more) is called A Fairytale Tea Party, and the inspiration that made it finally happen was a few photographs that I took the other day.

Stopping at a bakery and seeing the goodies inside and the bunny baker outside was the icing on the cake (pun intended). The cake itself was an invitation to host a virtual tea party, which I had never done before, but wanted to. So I started there, working on my tea party ideas, and that led to the book.

The tea party will be filled with images and the fairytale tea party story, and I had so much fun writing it that I decided I would like it in book form for my grandkids and for my own keepsake. So one thing led to the other, and now both the party and the book are done.

The little thing (the online tea party) was the journey to the big thing (publishing the book). Kind of a metaphor for life: It’s all about the journey. Little things can lead to big things.

And this is one of Tricia’s Things, hence this blog post.

Blessings! ~Tricia

Colorful Sunny Fields Park in Solvang: Structures

SOLVANG in Danish means “Sunny Fields” and so this park in the charming little Danish-style village of Solvang California is aptly named Sunny Fields Park. This park has a great big playground full of smooth wooden castle tower playstructures with lots of nooks and crannies to explore, windmill walkthroughs, water mister for hot days, viking ship to climb on, swings, slides, theater cut-outs and more. Ages 3 and up.

There is also a separate section of the playground for smaller children from 2-5 with parent supervision. This section has an adorable little gingerbread house to play in.

At the park you will also find a baseball field, a huge lawn area, picnic tables (some are covered), and clean restrooms. This is not your ho-hum plastic and metal playground!

Location Address:

• Alamo Pintado Rd.
• Solvang, CA 93463
• Santa Ynez Valley
• Santa Barbara County
• Phone: (805) 688-7529

All photos taken by Tricia on my old Casio point and shoot camera.

Copyright (c) 2012 TriciasThings.wordpress.com

Tick Tock Photographing a Tower Clock

I realized that this clock has a different pastel colored band around the glass face on each side. The first photo has the pink.

Baby Blue.

And a soft mint green.

Somehow I missed taking a picture of the fourth side! Oh well….

SOLVANG CA: SUNNY FIELDS PARK

Photos: Ostriches

(c) TriciasThings.wordpress.com

I like the YES WE LIKE TO BITE! sign.

Ostrichland in Buellton CA

Ostriches are such unique looking creatures!

(c) TriciasThings.wordpress.com

So are ostriches birds or related to dinosaurs? Wikipedia says though flightless, they are the largest living species of bird. Other research shows they are related to dinosaurs as well!

Size: 8-9 feet tall and 350 pounds, an ostrich can run 35 miles per hour. They can live to be up to 75 years old! Source: OstrichlandUSA.com

Ostriches are native to Africa. Emus are native to Australia.

We enjoyed our visit to Ostrichland (we call it the Ostrich farm) and if you have young children, the farm sometimes suggests they feed a smaller Emu instead (though emus are not that much smaller).

It’s Not Uncle Toms Toy Store – It’s Toms Toys

In San Luis Obispo I often hear people call this toy store Uncle Toms, but that is incorrect. It has actually been named TOMS TOYS for about 25 years, and was only called Uncle Toms for a few years at the very beginning (with the original owner who then sold the store). That just shows you what power an old brand name has!

Etch A Sketch Art and Classic Toys

We happened upon this great ETCH-A-SKETCH art on RainyBayArt.com and just had to share it, since we are in the toy business. This artist is really good with Etch A Sketch art and here is one interesting question we read on his FAQ page:

“Where do you find Etch-a-Sketches these days?”
“I have powerful connections with Santa’s elves, who manufacture them by hand and deliver them to key drop-off points for me. These drop-off locations include: toy stores, department stores, Fred Meyer, etc. Apparently Ohio Arts doesn’t do a good job with their marketing, because a lot of people aren’t aware that you can still buy Etch-a-Sketches, exactly the same as the ones you grew up with, just about anywhere.”

Classic retro toys are still around and as popular as ever. Toys such as Slinky, Hula Hoops and Silly Putty, Radio Flyer Red Wagons and Wooden Blocks can be found in many specialty toystores today. People marvel that the classic toys are still around, and everyone enjoys taking a moment to slip back into childhood memories.

The artist’s site is www.rainybayart.com and he does sell Etch-A-Sketch art too, which he says he makes permanent (so you can’t shake it to erase it!). Check out his website to see how he does it.