Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we had an intimate Thanksgiving at Megan's apt. That's Audrey in Megan's kitchen, trying to get more food - she can never get enough!
We all brought over a couple of dishes and had a relaxing afternoon. Alex watched some football and we played with the kids.
The next morning, we packed up for 2 nights in Big Bear with the Velez branch, at Christy and Mike's cabin. We stayed with the girls in a room on the first floor. Alex's parents with Cyndy, Rob and family, rented a house right across the street. They held their Thanksgiving for us to join them on Friday, so that was nice and a great treat to have another round of excellent food! A couple of Mike's kids were there, along with Mike's mom. The cabin is very cozy and i enjoyed just relaxing and pretty much doing nothing else. I think I barely stepped out of the front door! Alex took Laurel with the cousins up the street to sled in a patch of snow. The ground wasn't bare, but the covering was sparse. It was Laurel's first time in the snow:). She loved it - and I also realized I don't have enough cold weather gear! No water resistant mittens at all. Both nights, Laurel stayed over with the cousins. A treat for her, pretty much her first sleep over that wasn't down the street at Grandma's or Aunt Meg's. Granted, across the street from us, but in bed with other kids, in a house she isn't used to. We heard she did just fine! Audrey was pretty good most of the time. She didn't nap super well, so she had trouble at dinner time and was pretty fussy during thankgiving dinner. But as usual, ate really well!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Birthday continued

Here's a few pretty and funny faces from the weekend plus a couple of shots of Audrey opening some presents on her actual birthday.  I like to have something for them to open on their actual birthday.:)






Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Audrey is One!

We had a little party for Audrey's birthday this weekend.  Just a few friends and grandparents.  Like Laurel's party, I had much fun finding cute desserts to make and fun games on pinterest.  Seriously, what would I do without it now!  
We had the party in the late afternoon with snacks and desserts only.  I heated caramel and we had a make your own candy apple set up. 




We had a pumpkin roll with brooms and decorated mini gourds with feathers, sparkles, paint and other add-ons.  I thought the halloween theme would be fun to do while Audrey was small and didn't have an opinion:). Hopefully she'll enjoy her halloween birthday timing when she's older!  



Though she loves to eat, Audrey didn't really dive into her cupcake.  But we got enough for the camera:).







Saturday, October 22, 2011

Disney Halloween

Halloween is quickly creeping up on my favorite time of year. No shopping and weeks of preparation. No long hours in the kitchen or wrapping presents. Just lots of fun with little people in costumes and of course - candy. I thought it was fine as a kid, I did look forward to it. But it was pretty much one night of the year, no big deal. As an adult, I'm managing to drag it out all month long for my kids! And Disneyland is a great help:). Tuesday I took the kids and met up with some friends to do the Mickey's Trick or Treat party. The park is always decked out, the candy is flowing big time and there's characters everywhere. This was our 3rd year going and I just love it. The candy "trails" were all over this year and moved quickly. We even got on a couple of rides. Laurel looks so cute in her costume and her recent obsession with pigtails looked great with the ensemble:). I also brought some face paint and tried to give it a go!



Wednesday, October 5, 2011

These faces



These faces make everything worth it, every day.  No matter how trying, how many tantrums or exhausting errands.  They are sweet, loving and so very fun.  They're my companions day in and day out.  They are always up for anything and are patient with me when i'm not at my best.  I always wish for and want the best for them.  They're my babies, my life's best work.

Monday, September 12, 2011

First bike



Laurel's birthday present of note this year was a tinkerbell training bike from us.  Here's a quick shot of her "in action".  She's quite excited!  She'll grown out of this size quickly, but hopefully it will help her learn and move on to the next stage.  She always enjoyed riding her trike down the sidewalk, so now we're growing up.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Vegas 2011

We made it to Vegas again this year to meet up with the Ondercin family.  A smaller group this year, but it was nice to see the few that could make it and have some fun time out of the house.  We stayed for a few nights in the meeting hotel of choice, The Flamingo.  Laurel loves the novelty of staying in a hotel.  She always asks when we'll stay in a hotel - especially one with a pool.  So we spent lots of time at the pool:).  The water is always colder than I'd like, but we go in anyway cuz that's what the child demands, lol!  Audrey loves the water and enjoyed the trip in her own way.  Still being pushed around since we still have no crawling action.  She's starting to show a little zest in her temperment - doesn't like anything taken from her without her ok.  But she travels well, sleeps fine in the pack n play.  She's content with her tray of snacks in her stroller and takes it all in.  We journeyed to the bellaggio fountains and conservatory as always.  Saw the animals where we could.  In honor of our anniversary, Megan stayed with the girls and we went out for dinner.  We detoured for dessert and found the yummies restaurant that had a happy hour dessert/drinks bar.    Anne also moved to the city just this summer and so we met up with her as well.