The Happiest Place on Earth

We spent a few, glorious, sun-filled days last weekend in California at Disneyland and Seaworld.

The weather was beautiful and sunny (and we even got a little sunburned - it was therapy for my Vitamin-D starved soul).

The kids were happy and dirty and tired.

I had crab cakes and fish tacos at a great restaurant by the bay in San Diego

My parents are the best.

***All this stems from a bet I made my dad as a teenager - I bet him dinner anywhere in the country that I would never live in a basement aparement (don't know why but it sounded so dark and dreary). I never did, and we finally cashed in on it -- dinner at Disneyland.

Here are the outtakes:

The "before" picture

In front of the castle

"Hurry, Mom, I know there are princesses in here!"

This was great - she kept running up to the queen yelling "pwincess! pwincess!" until the actor stopped, smiled, and let her run up and take a picture. I feel a little bad about all those people we cut in front of . . .

Princess dress and shoe shopping with Grandma.
She hasn't taken off her princess dress yet.

Posing in front of the castle.

Evie's Disneyland uniform - princess dress and pink ears.
She yelled when I tried to take them off of her.

I have to confess, it was me that picked out the blue Mickey baloon.
And made the whole family cart it around for the weekend.

My favorite shot of the trip.

Soakin' up the sun at La Jolla.

Don't you just want to jump in?

Beach baby.

Luke and Ken petting the Dolphins at seaworld.
One of the coolest things they have done.

Little Lady

Evie's getting so grown up.

We are watching a friend's baby, and when she got up the first morning to find a new baby snuggling her daddy, she didn't pitch a fit or go for blood. She stood there for about 5 minutes, then walked away and promptly set the table with some of our styrofoam dishes.

I found her later that day with a tupperware full of water (and since there's only one place with water that she can reach, I know it wasn't clean) and a wad of toilet paper, "washing" the carpet. To which she replied, big smile on her face, "I cweaning! I cweaning!"

What a big helper she's turning out to be.

St. Paddy's Day

Did you kiss someone Irish? It's pretty easy to find someone around my house.

We celebrated with corned beef hash for dinner, green sweaters for everyone, and stories about our Irish ancestors who crossed over from Ireland during the potato famine in the 1850s.

And topped it off with a McDonald's Shamrock Shake (oooh, I soooooo love those. Seriously).

Go kiss someone!

photo from here.

First Glimpse of Spring

It's been gorgeous here today.

Sunny in the 60s, still dotted with snow.

It reminds me of the days in college where it was always beautiful the week before finals, and we would lay out in the common area between the dorms (watching the guys play soccer and guitar) and get our "studying" done.

Except now, of course, I'm watching my kids play and waiting for my cute husband to get home (and busting out my new summer sandals).

I know it will snow again (really, maybe this weekend) but these few days give some much needed hope that winter may actually end around here.

2 am Browsing

Slow night shifts lend for a lot of etsy browsing

Here are some favorites:



Felted wool bead necklaces.

Option 1. I love the flowers. I think I could make something like this. (Stacey?)

Option 2: basic beads

I saw a gorgeous one in green with silver accents. Now I can't find the picture.

Okay, found it:

If you're interested, we're making earrings that look at lot like these for a Make and Take night on April 2nd:

You're all invited!

Matching mother and daughter dresses, found here. What do you think? Cute? Too cheesy?

Worth it.

Every penny.


No, silly, I don't own her.

Just borrowed (okay, rented) for a day while I was in Las Vegas for a conference this weekend.
(I needed some sun like nothing else)

We drove her to Red Rocks canyon for some hiking and up and down the Strip.

I was sad, sad, sad to say goodbye

February Recap #1 - Wild edition

I think I've mentioned this before, but we get to work (ie get free tickets and be on call for any injured/sick fans) at the Wild games. Well, Eric Belanger came to Regions to meet some of us. I found out approximately 30 minutes prior to this, so I threw both kids in the car (Luke loves hockey). Luke would have nothing to do with him -- look how far away he is standing! But he did give him "5" and we got an autographed picture. That was very, very cool for my little guy (and his mom, too).