Random thoughts and lotsa photos

SinceI  have no time to consult with my in-person friends, I am turning to my Maya's mom freinds for advice.  I bought these two pairs of shoes and can't decide which to keep.  Confession here - I wore one today but am second guessing my decision, so when I walk from my car I take them off :)  These are for work, which is not super formal but I specifically wanted something for conferences, where I need to look somewhat professional but stand and walk around a lot, in a suit or dress pants.

Choice one - my 4YOs favorite cuz it's pointy mom :)

Choice two - I think they are cute and different, but perhaps a bit too young? 

 

 

 

 

 

And we all agreed these were way cute.  Even got a whistle out of hubby,  Never thought I could pull these off with my wide feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, I highly recommend Zappos (free OVERNIGHT shipping - great selection free returns) and Shoes.com (slower but still free shipping, lower prices and more limited selection), especially if you have unusual sized feet.

I got these from Shoes.com.  Way cool (look better in "real life", not so comfy :)

 

Spring is in the air, as evidenced by all the pretty flowers at Stanford Mall a few weeks ago.  Keegan was snapping photos galore, I love how he says everything is so pretty. 

The thursday before spring break a sign-up sheet awaited me at

preschool pickup.  Seems they were having a Spring

party.  They apologized for the late notice, but I'll take any excute to make cupcakes and the kids love to help.  Little setback when I mistook brownie for cupcake mix, but just meant more chocolate for all of us.  I did get mix and had my first fondant experience, cutting out little shapes for the cupcakes. I also discovered my mixer is not strong enough for buttercream frosting, which I had also never made before, but give kids butter and sugar and they could care less about what they look like.

  Of course I had to make enough for both classrooms.  The first party was in Keegan's.  The kids just love to pose for photos in there, not to mention surround visiting parents like we're celebreties. 

Donovan's class hadn't really planned a party, so were on the same circle schedule. 

They asked me to read, but my son, who cries when he has to leave, also wakes up very cranky from his naps and was very clingy, so dad read the book with visiting brother from down the hall.  Here's Donovan listening with his "girlfriend."  They were soon poking and snuggling each ohter, which cheered him right up. 

 

They also enjoyed the cupcakes and ice pops, yummy!

 

 

When I read about Baby Loves Disco, I told my husband I really, really wanted to go.  He normally works on the weekends, not to mention his refusal to dance to any music besides reggae or grateful dead, but I got him to commit to this. The closest was SF and after reading their website I thought it sounded just totally

cool.  Price wasn't bad either (although didn't take into account bar drinks and SF parking).  We ended up going with my nephew, who is even more into dancing than my kids, and has got some moves.  We grabbed our green shirts and were off, ready for an afternoon on the town.  There were cool tunes and disco lights downstairs, along with healthy snacks courtesy of Whole Foods.  The bar had juice boxes along with actual drinks.

Upstairs was the hula hoop room and  free face painting.

The hair adornment line was a lot shorter so Donovan opted for that, but then went for the bat when the line got shorter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here we are in action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUFgPauQaNI

Ikea - very child friendly play areas and cafe - only hard part is getting them to leave.

Here the kids are making trouble in the balls again.  I love taking them to Ikea, never try to actually shop there just let them play, which of course causes issues when kids come in and out, with parents saying "we need to go now" as the kids stares longingly at the play balls.  They are almost too big, but didn't want to go to the kid-only area (so much for my dream of reading a book with coffee and chocolate mousse while they whiled in there without me).  They cause trouble, inciting one baby to throw ball out, bonking another in the head, 

 

but have much fun and are generally careful.  I got annoyed as Donovan kept throwing the balls all over the floor, and threatened to leave, while Keegan tried to madly pick them up "I can't get them all!"  I was cute but I felt bad, wasn't really his job to pick up after his brother.  We played catch which is always amusing for onlookers, to see kid and mom alike pretty lame at catching and throwing.

 

I knew I wasn't crazy, sure enought the balls did used to be blue.  And here they are playing "I have boobies" - I refused to stuff the balls down my shirt, but it was pretty funny.

 

 

Show us something that warms your heart.

While I did get to enjoy a white Christmas in Salt Lake City, knowing it would not exactly be a relaxing time I decided to book a New Years weekend in peaceful Pacific Grove.  A late present for my husband (okay, that was an excuse when I realized how little I'd given him), I booked a room at the Asilomar a few months ago to get us away from work, phones, TV and just our daily life.  The Asilomar used to be a retreat I believe, and that's exactly what it looks like.  A sprawling set of beautiful wooden buildings facing the beach, it's now used for conferences and a great place to just get away.  My hubby raved about the place after a couple conferences spent there so I thought I'd surprise him (and keep him away from work) with a family only weekend hanging at the beach.  I even kept the place a surprise.

We got back from Utah and opened the presents Santa had left while we were gone.  Aren't the sleeping boys cute?  Daddy had to work after a long break, and he and the Cars team were just wiped out.  Guess I'll do the packing. 

We drove down Saturday afternoon.  I was sure he'd guess as we neared Pacific Grove, but alas he's a terrible guesser (as unlike me he doesn't not obsess about figuring out surprises), and it was not until we were pretty much turning into the place that he realized where we were going.  He was truly pleasantly surprised, remembered how relaxing the place was.  Just look at the sunset from our first evening.  

The beach is about a 10 minute (or 20 with distracted kids) walk on a cool

boardwalk with the kids just loved, although our little rascal refused to obey the "keep on the path" signs.

 

We spent most of the weekend just playing on the beach.  The played in the freezing water (my feet were numb, they never got cold), threw endless amounts of rocks,

and scaled the "sand slide". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We forced them back to try to rest before our rockin' New Years Eve dinner, with one quick stop to see sunset #2 before heading over to the Fishwife, a very yummy nearby seafood restaurant. 

Unfortunately, we were unable to get them to nap, so Keegan fell asleep before his food even got there.

We got there earlier than our reservations and he stomped around demanding to be seated and fighting with Donovan over who got to stand closer to the fish tank.  He was so excited about eating fish too, which so really yummy.  He stayed asleep all through dinner, we carried him home, and he welcomed in the New Year in his own special way.

Actually, everyone but me was asleep before 9!  So I opted to take the rare opportunity to lie down and read and saved my champagne for the next night.  It's a great place to reconnect and have some.  We brought along lots of toys and played endless games of Candyland (they have no TV and no internet).  In fact you can borrow games and puzzles from the hotel, they've got a big social hall and everything. 

 

 

Show us something that you really treasure. 
Submitted by An Olympic Dream.