San Diego Trip

We just got back from a trip to San Diego this past Thursday.  I had bought tickets for the Phineas and Ferb live show months ago and it just happened to fall on the day we were leaving to drive out to California, so we did the show and then hit the rode.  Lauren loved the show!

 

We spent one of our days at Legoland in Carlsbad. 

This was our first time there and Lauren loved it.  The magic height seemed to be 36” for most rides, so she was able to ride pretty much everything.  Most rides also had a second height scale to determine if the child could ride alone or had to ride with an adult.  Lauren was able to ride a couple of things alone and she really enjoyed that.  Here she is sporting her new driver’s license….

 

When all was said and done, we had a really nice day at Legoland.  If you’ve never been, I think it’s worth a trip if you’re in the area.  It’s certainly not Disney and you need to realize that going in and adjust your expectations accordingly.  Also, I think it’s best for kids at least 36” in height up to about 8 years old.  For the price of admission I would certainly rather do a Disney park, but the fact that Lauren could ride pretty much everything made it worth it for us.  

We stayed with some friends of ours in a rental house on the beach.  This is the first time we have stayed right on the beach and it was so nice to hear the waves…it’s such a calming sound to fall asleep to.  This was the view from our sliding glass door. 

This was Lauren’s first time at the beach and she had a great time playing in the sand and putting her feet in the water.  I think next time we’ll go when it’s warm enough to actually get in the water and lay on the beach. 

The best part about staying at the house was stepping right onto the sand from our door.  We had a bonfire each night and Lauren had so much fun roasting marshmallows. 

I love how plants and flowers thrive in the San Diego weather and we this beautiful little nursery.  I would have loved to bring some things back, but they would just fry in our Arizona heat. 

Just for the boat ride, we took the ferry from the Broadway Pier downtown to Coronado Island…

 

and here’s my girl and her mega-watt smile…

Fall is here!

Since Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year, I’ve got tons of great seasonal decor ideas on Pinterest.  You can check them out here.  It may not feel like Fall outside with our temperature still around 100 degrees, but at least it’s Fall inside.

Last weekend, I got motivated to do some crafting.  Inspired by the pumpkin specimen art at My Blessed Life, I picked up a leaf paper punch with my Joann’s coupon, some burlap and an IKEA frame I had laying around and made this for the shelf above my TV…

I saw this Halloween Banner for sale at an Etsy shop and thought it was really cute, so I copied her idea and made this banner.  I cut letters out on cardstock using my Cricut, removed the letters and used the paper as a stencil.  I used a little round sponge for the orange polka dots.  I’m thinking this is another crafting success!

 

Here’s a few shots of other Fall decor around the house…

 

What a great vacation!

We are back from vacation and finally settled back in at home. As a little bonus Lauren and I picked up a cold on the trip.

The first part of the trip was in Orlando, FL for a reunion. There were nine families and ten kids in all. We have been all been friends via a Yahoo group since the beginning of our long wait and get together annually. We hope to stay connected for the duration and that our girls will be a support system for each other as they grow up.

Here’s our cuties after a swim in the beach towel cover-ups I made (Lauren is 2nd from the right in the 1st row)…

Here's a video of how we tried to keep their attention...

After a visit to the ice cream truck, they are all enjoying their Dora pops (Lauren is on the far left)…

Most of us stayed in one huge rental home in Lake Davenport, FL about 20 minutes west of the Disney resort. I LOVED that we all stayed together and hope we can do this for future reunions. It maximizes the amount of time we can all be together and it’s so much fun watching the girls play in their PJ’s before bed. They all got along so well together and had a ball.

We were doing one day at Disney while there, so we decided on Epcot Center since it’s the least like any thing we have in CA. Lauren just made the 40” height requirement for Test Track and Soarin and loved both rides.

Here she is joining in for the Pledge of Allegiance. Never mind that she’s using the wrong hand…she was so proud of herself nonetheless.

Here’s the girls for our infamous tutu picture (Lauren is 3rd on the left)…

and here’s our pic from last year. It will be fun to have a collection of these from over the years…

One night the girls had a little party and did themselves up with make-up and jewelry and matching princess nightgowns. Aren’t we the bomb? Check out Lauren’s blue eye shadow on her eyebrows!

Here's a little video of the girls playing Ring Around the Rosie...

I love this pic of Lauren with Mary Alice. It just seems to show how much fun the girls were having. Lauren seemed to really click with her and I think that’s cool since the girls are from the same orphanage.

This is the morning we were leaving the house to head to Jacksonville for the second part of our trip. The pic is missing two of us who were headed out already for the day.

In Jacksonville, we stayed with my Aunt and Uncle and visited with them and my three cousins and their 9 kids. Lauren had an absolute blast running around with her cousins and they were SO great with her. This pic was taken in the historic downtown in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the country founded by Ponce de Leon in 1513 when he landed in Florida. It was a beautiful day.

As you might have noticed from a few of the pics I posted, Lauren’s beloved Perry the platypus made the trip with us. You wouldn’t believe the strange looks we got at the airports and around town from non-parents who have no idea who Perry is. We were walking off the plane back home in Phx and the pilot asked…is that a platypus?? Why, yes it is. ;)

Vacation!

I’m on vacation from work for two glorious weeks!!!  Yes, you heard that right…TWO WEEKS!  Can you tell I’m excited??  ;)  Part of the time we’ll be on a trip and part of it I’ll be kicking back at home.  When we get home from our trip (details to come later) I’m hoping to get some craft and sewing projects done.  I’ve got so many things I want to make and just not enough time to do it. 

This weekend, I spent a lot of time at home finishing up a project for my trip.  I was sewing like crazy on Saturday morning, but I took a break when my mom stopped by with some donuts.  It was 11am and Lauren was still in her jammies watching cartoons (ugh).      

 

Lauren went straight for the one with frosting and covered with mini M&M’s.  She picked off all the candy first…

 

Then went in for a bite…

Today was another sewing day to finish everything up and tonight I got my project all packaged up and ready to go!  It’s a great feeling to be finished and I think everyone will love them…