Who wouldn't love an afternoon with volcanoes and dinosaurs?...
Beck's enthusiasm about dinos has Elle intrigued now. We grabbed a few books at the library and headed to the Nat to see the real deal. Well, as real as you can get 65 million years later...
After surviving a shark attack we watched the 3D movie "Walking With Dinosaurs."...
Draw your first memory of San Diego. Ellery's response was "the beach" naturally...
Kacie's baby shower!...
Zach and Ellery walked to the top of Mt Helix a while ago and Ellery still talks about the litter they saw along the way. She often said how we should get up there and clean it up. Beck spotted these grabber-toy-trash-picker-upper things at Target and said "hey mama, now we can pick up that litter!" How could I say no to that? My mom met us at the top for a different type of spring cleaning...
That's how we roll...
Best Friends...
Exploring the playground and neighborhood around Balboa Park...
Finding squirrels...
Bunnies...
Sydney...
And a suspension bridge...
It was the last Friday of museum month in SD so we hit up the New Children's Museum for a filthy good time...
Nola loves the kids' forts as much as they do...
Lego date with Sydney...
Beck had a sleepover with my mom so we got Ellery to ourselves. Out to Bo Beau...
Keeping the birds (and the kids) happy!...
Ha!...
We got to meet these tiny Cavalier's. Only 5 hours old...
Making soup with Aidyn...
Watching Alice in Wonderland with Stella and Ellie. Their classmate, James was in the play. He did a great job!...
Happy Birthday Suraya!...
All of the parents were victims of confetti eggs...
Happy Birthday to my mom!...
Papa Dance!...
Zach as a blonde bombshell...
Puppet shows are a big deal in this house...
Fairy Wren stayed with us again...
I could eat this baby up...
And Ellery can dress him up...
Beck absolutely loved playing basketball with my dad. He wished it would never end...
Good entertainment on the way to the tide pools in Cardiff...
Looking for the green flash...
The orangutans never get old...
Hot Chocolate 15k...
These munchkins got the good stuff...
I'm sitting here in front of the computer wondering how to approach this next picture. There is no easy way to say this but my Aunt Diana has been hit with the 1-2 punch. Near the end of last year I posted a picture of her recovering from the Whipple surgery in her hospital room at Stanford. Her scans came back clear, energy levels increased and things were looking up. Moving forward with a whole new appreciation for life she recently had a follow-up scan which shot us all back down. Big time. She now has over 30 lesions on her liver, and a few in her lymph nodes and lungs. Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Devastating, sobering news. She's tackling the beast with chemo and her new doctors at SFSU are considering her for clinical trials. Ever the optimist, she's staying strong and learning to manage her new life with love and a lot of laughter.
I was training for this race and was having an off day when I just wanted to quit. I thought of Diana and what she would give to be in my shoes (painful bunions and all) and it lit a fire in me. She was, and will continue to be an incredible inspiration to me...
Holding my kids a little tighter lately. This one just got his hair cut and wanted it "spikey like daddy."...
Water war with Suraya...
Happy Birthday to me!...
Wait. A splash pad, gelato and the new Cinderella movie? Who's birthday is it?...
Zach and I celebrated over the weekend with a kid free day/night in Solana Beach. Thanks mom!
That weekend turned into spring break!!...
Ladybugs on the beach. You never know what you'll find...
I don't know if it's a Waldorf thing or where it started but these horse reins are a fave among the younger grades. My mom made these and E & B love 'em...
My birthday cake!...
Quail Botanical Gardens...
I let the kids paint my nails. Elle got my right hand...
And Beck got my left. I really only took these pics to show Zach as I wasn't planning on keeping the colors on for long. But I got busy sewing some new hand towels for Elle's kindergarten class, feeling rather domestic, zipping along, when Fu-----------!!!!!!!!! I don't know how it happened but the needle on the machine slipped (or my finger slipped?) and the needle went through that yellow finger of mine. The blood was gushing and the kids were freaking. Ellery was trying to make me feel better by telling me that Dottie had to have 2 needles in her that day (vaccines) and she had a big owie once too. Beck was asking "is your finger going to fall off? If it does, will you die?" Then Ellery said "are you going to be able to make dinner?" Zach rushed down to take the kids so I could take myself to urgent care and THESE were the nails I had to show about 6 different nurses and doctors. Too funny...
Painting self portraits with Aidyn...
Last day of gymnastics... for a while...
There's been some road work on our route home causing some detours. The kids love cruising through different streets in our 'hood. We usually end up at the top of Mt Helix, far from the planned detour but oh so much better...
The end...
