10 years!

Better late than never!

Peter and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in May by taking a long weekend vacation in Monterey. It was wonderful. The weather was great (it could have been a little sunnier, but at least the rain that threatened to fall held off until we were on our way home).

WE stayed at a surprisingly nice Best Western a few miles away from Cannery row. The location was perfect for me, with a Beverly's fabric store within walking distance where I got some Amy Butler fabric. But I digress...

We traveled to Monterey on our anniversary day. Once we arrived we had dinner at the nice restaurant adjacent to our hotel. The dinner was a sweet gift from our best friends, they gave us a gift visa card to use for our dinner. Fire grilled pizza, fish and chips, corn and shrimp chowder, and grilled oysters. YUM!


The next day we headed out to Point Lobos nature preserve where we spent hours roaming and hiking, watching the harbor seals frolicking on the rocky shore and sunning themselves on a small strip of beach. We had a small picnic at Whaler's Cove and climbed the rocky stairs to the top of the cove to take in the breathtaking view.







Lauren finds some whale bones at Whaler's Cove and watching the seals.

We continued on down the road to search for Pfeiffer Beach, a hidden jewel close to Big Sur. It definitely was hidden, we drove down a two mile narrow, bumpy, twisty road to finally get down to the beach. Unfortunately, the whipping wind made for a miserable beach...the sand stung our skin and eyes. We huddled under a rocky cave to find shelter from the cold wind. It's too bad because the views were gorgeous and there were some unusual and cool rock formations. Maybe next time.

We headed back to downtown Monterey where we played at the Dennis the Menace park and rented a paddleboat. We paddled around the park for an hour until the sun set. Perfect.

The highlight of our trip was definitely the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Sigh...I could hang out there for hours and hours. I loved the huge outer reef, giant kelp, seahorse, and ocean deep exhibits. Lauren loved the turtles and penguins. Peter's favorite was the giant kelp and the sardines! We spent the next two days at the aquarium and then headed back home just as the rain started to pour. It was a wonderful weekend, and a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary and our family. Ten years has gone by in a flash, I wonder what the next 10 years holds for us? I can't wait to find out!

Lauren Gets Her Hair-Did!

This wasn't her first haircut, just her first visit to a salon. She did really well--she sat still and played quietly with some toys while she got a little trim. I'm sad to see the wispy ends of her baby hair go, but it was starting to look a little ratty so we decided to go get it cleaned up. I hope she didn't notice the back section with the little girl spa and mani/pedis.



Before....




During....




Blow dry and style (putting a purple flower clip in her hair).




After!

Roomba = Instant Playmate

How does an only child make new friends? By pushing a button on the robot vacuum.




Tag, you're IT!!!




Run mommy run! Here comes 'Boomba!'
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Build it, stuff it, dress it, PAY FOR IT!

We took Lauren and my niece to Build A Bear workshop over the weekend. The girls had so much fun picking out their animals. Lauren picked a frog-- the last one on the store-- probably because we watched Princess and the Frog last week (which she loved!) In case you've never been to Build A Bear, it goes like this:




Pick an animal shell ( unstuffed)




Stuff it at the stuffing machine. Lauren's stepping on the pedal to make it go while the attendant guides the stuffing into the animal.




Pick an outfit from the (literally) walls of outfits and accessories. I wasn't sure of the frogs gender until Lauren picked out a pink
blouse with floral appliques and a ruffly skirt with matching shoes. "Froggy" is a girl!




Pay an arm and a leg for a new best friend and take her home (buckled in, of course).



Lauren loves Froggy

The frog itself cost only $16. It's the accessories that added up
To a total of $42. Yikes! The clothes, although adorable, are expensive so I'm gonna try to find some bear or doll clothes patterns online and sew some myself. They look really easy to make and I can even make (gasp!) MATCHING outfits for Lauren and Froggy. Somebody stop me!!!

Our weekend, 4/23-26

A long weekend for us. My nephew participated in the Reno jazz festival so we went up there to watch him perform
And compete.




Climbing ropes at the park




Dairy Queen princess. I wish I had a picture of the chocolate mess that ensued.




Making oatmeal raisin cookies.


... And I helped!




Enjoying her first concert at the Reno Jazz Festival





Bravo!!!




At Build-a-Bear with her cousin.




The long weekend ends the same way it began: having fun at the park! Wheeee!

Art?

Sticker art (artful stickering?)





The artist (the stickerer?)


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Our weekend 4/17-18

Heading out to Picnic Day at UCDavis




Cotton candy, where have you been all my life?!




Monkey Bread is tasty (a new expression for her...she sounds so grown up when she says it)





Digging around in the garden. Our vegetable planter has tomatoes, carrots, onions, squash, eggplant, and cucumbers. So far everything's coming up nicely.







Project from her first day in Sunday School. Her first time didn't go very well. Lots of tears even though shr could see that
Daddy was standing outside the classroom door the whole time.







First of the season sweet corn is
always best enjoyed while wearing a pretty dress and cute boots.





Jammies from Honolulu Chinatown, a gift from Auntie Lali... She loves them!