Omigosh, you guys! I’m still reporting about the vacation that took place over a month ago… but I guess that’s just the way it goes. Life has been super busy and packed, but I’m determined to chronicle this stuff. I’ll just have to step it up a little and stay on top of all the happenings and so on.

So here we go! The main reason we went, or rather, our “Lighthouse”, or motivation, or whatever you want to call it, was to take the kids to LEGOLAND. I will fess up here, and say that I had unrealistic expectations for LEGOLAND, such as that I would actually get to ride more than one ride, ehem, but, once I changed my perspective, I was really glad we took the kids. The boys had a really fun time, and so did S.

At the gates, first thing in the morning. Luckily, some guy who was selling two for one coupons found us, and we were able to save about $90 off the entrance fee, and we also got admission to the aquarium next door. (I’m pretty sure the aquarium was my favorite part.)

S was terrified of this guy. She screamed and quickly belted herself back into the stroller!
And as evidenced on B’s face, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about him either. Heh. Silly kids.

Just one of the many Lego sculptures around the park.

Daddy and R waiting while I rode the only ride I rode that day with D, B, and S.

S was giggling the whole time we were on this little ride. Totally worth it.

The kids waiting to go on a cooler ride. One with lazer guns and flashing lights! Oooooh!

And this is what I did while I waited for them… nursed R in probably the most public place ever… (which I am totally FOR, btw. Just worry about having to deal with some sort of confrontation from a disgruntled whoever. I am so not a fan of confrontation.)

As harmonious as they get.

Drew volunteered for one of the little street plays. I was so proud of him for doing it, because this is the sort of thing that would have terrified me as a kid. In fact, it still terrifies me as an adult. Ha ha!

Having a blast on what basically amounted to a huge fun treehouse of sorts. Lots of places for the little ones to play, which I thought was super cool.

On our last day, after sauntering around the beach and the pier one more time, we drove around for a bit and found this cool little park in Dana Point overlooking the beach and the ocean. It was so nice!

(As a weird aside, it appears to also have been the park where our internet buddy, GirlwithaGreenCard, who we met in person the next day, got married. Of all the places!)

And as I mentioned, our impromptu internet meet-up with this lovely lady was on our way out of town…

She directed us to the healthiest food we had while we were there. It was a much needed reprieve from the greasy diner food previously eaten. I also enjoyed sharing my lunch chips with her adorable little son. What a cutie!

We can’t wait to come back and visit the squirrelies soon!

So back BEFORE B started kindergarten… we took a vacation. Our trusty Suburban had become not so trusty over the last year, and we waffled and went back and forth trying to decide what to do about it. Long story short, we had it fixed and promptly decided to give it the ultimate test by driving through the Mojave out to San Diego. Actually, we really just felt like we needed to take a vacation for our overall and general family health. So we picked a destination, which was Legoland and the nearby beach, booked a hotel and hit the road.

First we stopped and visited Papa D on our down. It was late and the kids were antsy after having been in the car for 6+ hours, so we decided to wear them out and take the bowling for the first time ever.

S had an inclination to kick the ball…

This is what I mean by “antsy”… (and this may have still been after the bowling.)

We got up super early the next day to try an make it to the beach by the early afternoon. And even with a pit-stop in Barstow, we were still pretty successful.

We hung out at this pier pretty much every day we were there. It was a good activity for our little family. The boys were enamored with the fishers, and it was easy to push the girls in the stroller. They also had a nice little 50’s restaurant at the end, which we dined in twice. The first night we went out, we noticed that we could feel the whole thing swaying a wee bit, which was kind of… well, interesting, if you didn’t think about it too much.

We also celebrated S’s birthday out there, and she was pretty thrilled to have this thing all to herself.

I’ve been super excited about our veggie (and now fruit) share each week (we are only 3 weeks in) and decided to take a picture of the share today. I am totally standing on top of my counter in this shot, ha ha! I was pretty pleased with the share this week (I’ll admit last week’s was kind of a disappointment)… lots of salad greens, which is good with me, because I’m pretty much a rabbit. The turnips, and daikon, and garlic scapes are new to me as far as veggies go, and I’ve enjoyed finding recipes all over the net to cook these different things. We’ll see how next weeks share compares…

This is also one of my 7 Days shots which is going on over here.

I woke up with a headache. That has been happening too often lately. BUT, this headache had not reached migraine proportions yet, and I was able to manage it by taking some ibuprofen, drinking lots of liquids and breathing. (I’m trying to become more conscious of my breathing, realizing that I hold my breath a lot… not good!) So what started out as a somewhat hopeless day, is turning out to be really nice. And after I get done with my laundry…

I plan on being a little crafty. After having a sewing machine (that my grandmother-in-law so generously gave to me) for over three years now, I finally took a beginning sewing class at a good friend of mine’s store. I’m so excited! Of course, I feel like I could sew anything now… Ha ha! Actually, I’m just inspired to be able to cultivate a skill that will allow me to do all sorts of things that normally I’d have to pay too much money for at a store (and still not get exactly what I want!) I’m just starting with pillowcases…

(sorry for the fuzzy iPhone photo)

Isn’t that fabric the cutest! I plan on kind of using it as jumping off point for designing a cute room for my two girls-fun!

We’ll also be hanging out in the back yard today, as long as it doesn’t get too windy. Enjoying the garden I just planted…

Lots of dill left over from left year (I guess it IS technically a weed.) and peppers, grape and cherry tomatoes, basil, strawberries and lobelia flowers just for beauty.

Also just flowers in my pots this year…

Kevin and I decided to take a leap and buy a share in a local CSA (That’s community supported agriculture) this year. It’s basically a big ol’ garden, and every week for about 18 weeks through the growing season, you get a family sized share of the harvest. I’m SOOOO excited to get to eat local, organic produce this summer and fall! We are going to really be enjoying our food! (And HOPEFULLY the weather is kind to us.) We will get our first share here on the 7th of June. Can’t wait!

Tonight I’m planning on making an Asian inspired feast. A yummy soup, edamame, veggie eggrolls and a lite chicken stir fry.

It’s gonna be a good day, no matter which direction it goes!

On the 18th of March, Kevin and I celebrated 10 years of marriage! I have to say I was really excited about this milestone. And though we didn’t plan a weekend getaway, or a return to our favorite restaurant from our honeymoon, we still had a perfect little celebration in our own way.
We ended up going shopping the day before for an outfit for me to wear on our date (as Kevin likes to have a say in these things. After all, he actually helped pick out my wedding dress too!) I had also let on to Kevin that I wanted an anniversary band (because you can’t exactly expect them to surprise you with something if they have no clue you want it! Communication is key. Yes… sometimes it’d be nice if they could read our minds, but then again, maybe not.)

Then we headed off to get ourselves a pair of iPhones as well. (Yes, I know, I am TOTALLY spoiled.) The next day, the day of our actual anniversary, my MIL came over to watch all four kids (FOUR! She is brave, and an angel!) so Kevin and I could go out for a hot little date. We went to a local fancy restaurant and paid exorbitant prices for our food, but we really enjoyed ourselves.

Honestly, by the time we were done with dinner, we were too tired to do much else, so we came home and called it a night, snuggled up with each other and relished the fact that we’d made it this far.

I didn’t realize I was that far behind… whoops!

Day 4: Mother Daughter- wherein I realize my daughter actually might look a bit like me… (I still think she takes quite a bit of her looks from my in-laws side of the family, in particular, Kevin’s paternal grandmother.)

Day 5 with a theme: Dinner- this is a rather literal interpretation of the theme this day, with a goofy spin from me. Had to do parent teacher conferences this day, so ended up eating by myself, more or less. And yes… I’ve been accused more than once of drowning my salad with my dressing… (blue cheese!)

Day 6 should have it’s own post really… I think I may just do that…

Day 7: My Bestie. Friday night we had the rare opportunity to meet up with our best friends. I’ve known Mel for 20 years now. I still remember the day she walked into my 5th grade classroom and I thought, “That girl is gonna be my best friend.” Little did we know that ten years later, we’d be related by marriage and our children are related by blood. (Our hubbies are second cousins.)

Yes indeed.

Going back to the style discussion in my last post; sometimes it is definitely “my style” to go without makeup. I don’t particularly mind if I’m seen without it, but I definitely don’t like pictures of myself without it. So yesterday, yes, you guessed it, I wasn’t wearing any makeup and didn’t feel like putting any on just to take a shot. Plus, Rory is super cute, and always a welcome sight… so here’s an aspect of myself that I don’t often think about showcasing… being a human teether. Also- proof that my four month old really is teething.