Dollar Day at Santa Anita

It was a beautiful 80 degree day at Santa Anita this past Saturday and it was also Dollar Day which meant that admission, programs, hot-dogs and drinks were all one dollar. That made for an inexpensive and fun way to spend a Saturday. I really enjoy seeing the race horses up close and all the fun and excitement that goes along with a day at the track. I'm not a big better and rarely win much money (for me it's more about the fun of watching the horses), but this day was different for me. I won about 50 dollars throughout the day just betting little amounts on races and winning about 4 of them. So I came home with more than I left with which is always a good thing. :-) I wanted to share some pictures of the day because it's such a picturesque venue.

My First Quilt that isn't a wall hanging :-)

I have been keeping this quilt a secret because I was making it for my brother, Steve (for his birthday), and I didn't want him to know. It was so hard to not blog about the progress but well worth it for the surprise factor. :-) This is my first quilt that is larger than a wall hanging and I'm so excited that it turned out looking like a quilt! My mom helped me a great deal (and Dad too- thanks for the help with taping it to the floor) and my parents were so nice to let me take over their living room with all the quilting debris and accouterments. I learned a lot while making this one and now I'm itching to start another. This one might have to be secret too though... hmm. :-) Also, thanks to my wonderful husband Chad for helping me pick "manly" colors for the quilt, and for putting up with my late night sewing and all the threads scattered throughout the apartment. He supports me so much in my new quilting hobby. :-) (And everything I do for that matter.)

West Coast Bash

We went to the West Coast Bash at Six Flags Magic Mountain today and had a fabulous time. It was a completely new experience for us and we were so glad we went.   This website called themeparkreview organizes trips and events for theme park and roller coaster enthusiasts all over the world.  We were lucky to get to join in on an event because the park is only 25 mins from our apartment and we have season passes this year. Thanks Mom and Dad!  

   The first cool thing was they had something called ERT which means you get to ride the rides when the park isn't open. You basically just walk in and get on and ride. They had 4 rides operating so we went on Tatsu and  Superman- my two favorites. yay!  One thing I noticed is that these were some serious roller coaster people. We rode Tatsu and no one was  screaming at all.  Well, except me.  It was like they were just taking it all in. Pretty interesting. It was soooo fun to not have to wait in line!  When the park opened there still weren't very many people there and we were able to ride 7 roller coasters before lunch! That's like what one would hope to accomplish in a full day at a park. The only side effect we noticed from that though was that our bodies got a little tired out pretty fast so we had to rest a little bit.  (We aren't teenagers anymore. )  

   We had lunch at the picnic pavillion with all the other theme park review peeps and we were so tired from the time change and getting up early, that we headed home after that. But we had gotten in all the fun rides already so we felt great.  We came home and took naps. (Once again, we aren't teenagers anymore).  :-)  Next time we would love to stay the full day and take the backstage tours and do the evening ERT too. Thanks theme park review!