Summer lovin'

I've always loved summer.  But that love multiplied when we moved out here.

The weather forecaster mentioned this morning that we were having "summer like" weather.

Translation: Sunny with a high of 67 degrees.

I never get tired of that.  

Last weekend, Andy and I had the rare occasion of a date night....it just doesn't happen much anymore.

Friends of ours mentioned to us that they were going to hear a cover band of Johnny Cash at a local venue and asked if we wanted to go.

I emailed Andy about it and within minutes had a clear response of "Yes, duh."

and I got the babysitter set up.

We went out for sushi and then stopped at the beach on the way to the concert.

I wanted to check out these tide pools I heard were neat to take the kids to.

Andy stopped here because he didn't feel like doing all the stairs..

and he told me the sunset looked the same up there as it would down here.

Wuss.

This was part of reef that becomes exposed at low tide. 

It's covered with oysters and barnacle and has all kinds of crabs, sea anenome, and starfish in it.

Very cool.....I was a science teacher once upon a time.

On to Belly UP in Solana Beach to see Cash'd Out.

Fun little fact....Belly Up was the place that Prince Harry frequented a few months back.

Thank you People and US Weekly.

Cash'd Out was awesome!! They were so good.

We lasted until 11:15ish....this time I was the wuss.

Monday we broke out the waterslide.  I will say this again.

Best $400 we ever spent.  

LOVE THIS THING

Last night Addison had her end of year pre-school picnic.

We have LOVED having Miss Amy.

Addison actually still gets a few days with her since school doesn't actually get out until June 12th.

While Addison was at school today, Graham and I went back to the beach.

He loved it.

Although remember those stairs Andy was standing on back a few pictures.

Graham didn't want to walk back up those and lugging 35 pounds of toddler up that far made up for me skipping the gym this morning.

 We're excited for summer over here.  Planning on living like tourists since we don't have any trips planned.  

 A staycation summer is in store.

And we can't wait.

Family Happy Hour

Friday night Andy got home at a great time, and we decided we still had plenty of time left in the day....not to mention that bedtime was a good 3 hours away, so we better get these kids out of the house.

We headed to one of our favorite spots for a happy hour....because anytime time during the workweek when Andy is home before 5 o'clock is TRULY a happy hour.

We went to our little hangout at the local airport, called the Landing.

They have the BEST happy hour specials until 7 o'clock every day of the week for you locals.

AND....the kids get a kick out of watching the airports, helicopters, fire engines, and whatever else seems to be hustling about....not to mention, they have a great deck where the kids can run around and burn off some energy. 

Good fun for all.

Graham enjoyed his beverage while we enjoyed ours.

2 draft beers and a fish taco entree....$9.  Total.

 If was a fun Friday outing, for sure.

The kids are already asking to go back.

Ok, twist our arm.

Palm Springs, Take 2

If you read my last post, you recall that our first effort for our family vacation last weekend was rescheduled when Addison got sick 5 minutes away from our destination.

We rescheduled for this past weekend, and I must have asked Addison a ganglion times on the way to Palm Springs if she was feeling ok.

"YES!!!".

Then I would say, "Graham, how are you?"

"Two".

Yes, yes you are.

The shortest route to Palm Desert takes you straight through the mountains and in the absolute middle of nowhere.  You better not have to go to the bathroom or run out of gas.

There was this one turnout that had a whole row of mailboxes that looked pretty cool but made you wonder where these people all lived.

It also made me consider how many bottles of water they brought with them just to check the mail.

 middle of nowhere

and getting hotter.....I think our car said 97 at this point.

 One side note....Andy went to check on Addison the night before and she was still help trying to "decide on what jewelry to bring to Palm Springs".

This is what she decided upon.

We got to the resort on Sunday afternoon, grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed straight to the pool to try and beat the 104 degree heat.

The resort is the PERFECT place to bring a family to.

It's got several pools, and an area they call "Splashtopia"...complete with lazy river, waterslides, and a splash area.  We pretty much hung out there all three days.  It was awesome.

We got to dinner out at both Tommy Bahamas, and Roy's, both of which could have gone horribly wrong, but were actually great.

It helped that Roys had a toy chest for the kids to pick from as soon as they walked in the door.....not to mention, Aloha Hour for us parents!!

A LO ha.

Also great, the dessert.

They put the kids' names on each of their sundaes.

Madison....Addison

Tomato, Tomoto......

she didn't care.

Staying up late watching movies....what vacation is all about.

Then there was a lot more relaxation

Walking to breakfast....

 And plenty more pool time. 

  

It all ended way too soon....we could have stayed a couple of more days, and we've already talked about going back again soon.  We loved every part of it.....except the two hour drive home where Graham screamed the whole way because he was a LITTLE overtired.

Could have done without that part.

But the rest of the trip....

loved it, always nice to spend time with these guys.

The Here & Now

I have a lot to catch you up on blog world.

Confessions, updates, random pictures.....happenings over the last few weeks....here we go.

Confession.

This darling no longer lives with us.

Those sad eyes are haunting me now, so I'm going to type fast.

Andy and I got Harley six years ago....newly married, no kids, when he was a cute little, harmless E-walk.

When the kids came along, he became a little more "difficult".

Basically, he had little dog syndrome and felt the need to let everyone else in the house know that his 10 pound weight meant nothing, and he ruled the roost.

Barking, growling, snapping, and most recently....."marking territory" on kids things.

I love(d) that dog, but after the most recent months of "Harley bit me...." "Harley peed in my room".....

"Harley won't give me back my toy".....it just became too much.

I'll be honest....it was the pee that put both Andy and I over the edge.

I talked to my dog sitter and asked for advice....afraid I would be permanently shunned in the world of dog lovers, but she affirmed my thinking, saying....you have to put the kids first....at the end of it....he is just a dog.

So, after much searching, we found a rescue shelter that took him in and he is now living with a foster family until he can find a more permanent home....with no little kids.

And I have to confess.....

Life is SOOOOOOOO much easier now.

Ok, judge away.

I was worried about how the kids would handle it, but Addison simply says, "Harley lives in a different home and now he can't bite me or pee in my room.".  Yup....that about sums it up.

I've been away from blogging for so long, because I've been blessed to be busy doing something I love......taking lots of pictures of sweet families.

I met a sweet family last weekend through a referral.

Amanda and I had no prior connection but after 5 minutes we discovered that we both are from Texas, went to Texas A&M and were Chi O's.

Crazy small world....especially since she was the SECOND person this exactly thing has happened with.  Lots of fun Texas connections out here in SoCal.

Here are some more pics from our fun session.

Because I've been so busy taking pics of other cute families, I have taken NO pictures of our cute family.  So tonight I took 2.

Mother's Day was a crazy time last weekend.

First of, a Mother's Day present that may be a little ridiculous, but I was thrilled....

No. It's not a new car.  My honda odyssey is just fine (for this crazy stage of life), but Andy allowed me to finally change my "decals" from blingin' gold to plain old siver.

I know, ridiculous, but has bugged me for way too long.

If you are wondering if it's me while driving down the road, have no fear, just look for the gold pinstripe down the side of my car, which he has drawn the line against me getting removed.  

So I'm still slightly blingin.

Last weekend, we planned a little impromptu getaway to Palm Springs with another family.

We were SOOOO excited.

We have never traveled as a family of 4 except to go see other family.

It was going to be a real vacation....with friends, no less.

Guys would golf....girls would get some pool time....

and then I checked the weather and found out why we had gotten such great rates at the resort.

So we packed lots of "summer in Houston" clothes and headed out....

a quick 2 hour drive.

As we were driving down the street 5 minutes from the resort, Addison started moaning that her mouth hurt.

10 minutes later we were at the pharmacy and found out she had 101 fever.

We tried lunch to and Urgent Care hoping for ear infection, but no such luck.

It became very apparent we needed to head home......2 hours turned into 3 hours back as we stopped a few times for the poor girl to get sick.

Happy Mother's Day.

Thankfully, it was only a 48 hour virus and (knock on any wood I can find), the rest of us never got sick.

So we have rescheduled our getaway for this weekend......can't wait!

However, before we leave, I'm going to embarrass myself participating in this little event tomorrow.

Should be fun!  

And now you're caught up on the here and now.