"Yes!", to the Tea Party!

So,

my sweet baby girl whom I love,

-and who also drives me crazy-

has been hounding me for a tea party.

She loves to cook and bake

-wonder where she gets that from?-

and had an extravagant idea for something

very upscale and elegant.

Not wanting to rain on her parade

-again and again-

I relented.

And we both couldn't have been happier

with the fun we had together!

 Iris' Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Preserves

& Chocolate Drizzle

Iris Luciana

A girl after my own heart.

XOXO

Love you, babe!

Lazy Days at the Pool

This year,

to the kids delight,

we purchased a family pass to the local pool.

How am I ever going to keep track of five kids in the water?

Luckily I have momma's boys who prefer to snuggle...

...and in the case of Iris...

...she loathes the kiddie area and

refused to play anywhere near it!

Well, lookie there.

I guess she's had a change of heart afterall.

And that drew Owen out of his towel too!

But per our agreement,

after a bit it was time to head over to the "medium" pool!

{ That's what we call the 0 ft. sloping to 4 ft. + pool. }

The kiddies also held out for the BIG pool,

and did great in deeper waters.

Plucking the boys out of the water was easy

once they saw the swim team stretching on the lawn.

The love nothing better than to blatantly stare at people.

{ smile }

Here's a quick snapshot of the big girls

heading up to the slide!

They swim like fish and rarely get out of the water-

making the most of every second of our time there!

...

The pool:

Good times!

Day-Trippin' in Davis

The Perfect Backyard Escape:

Davis, California

A major foodie town,

we had to check out the acclaimed

Village Bakery.

Sumptious slices go for $2-3 ea.,

in addition to the addicting breads & pastries that

tempt you from the display cases.

Seriously...

G O  C H E C K  I T  O U T !

Walking the downtown we came across this

awesome sign...

I'm officially this kind of vegetarian! 

The kids can't resist taking to the stage at the local park...

But we can surely tear them away for

a frozen treat at

Yoloberry!

...

The best part about our trip?

In only thirty minutes we'll be rollin' up the driveway.

Not too shabby for a night out of town!

Our Private Art Show

The kids went into art overdrive

and within minutes created enough pieces for a small museum!

Within minutes,

that small museum was born

out of our kitchen!

Complete with a bench they dragged in for Samuel and I

to sit on and ponder each piece!

Artist are notorious for being drama-mamma's,

and these guys were no different.

There was some heated squabbling over who

got the best real estate.

Apparently the oven door is a hot spot...

My kitchen was beautiful for all of two days before

the clutter drove me crazy and the artwork

went into everyone's personal collection!

...

T H A N K S  B A B I E S !

An American in Paris

To celebrate the last day of school

we dined 'al fresco'

and presented them with a surprise:

We were all excited,

and everyone could hardly wait for the sun to go down!

All nestled in...



We ate TONS of caramel corn & cherries and

by night's end were ready to sleep under the stars!

Heaven!

...

What a great school year, ladybugs!

We love you so!

XOXO

Mom & Dad

Can You Guess Where We Are?

If you guessed

Roller King

- my favorite place on earth ;) -

you are correct!

The girls were thrilled,

especially since their previous foray with

ice skating proved pretty successful.

Turns out,

without the helper buckets to push around on the ice,

ice skating would be pretty hard.

Guess what?

No buckets at the roller rink!

Which means these girls were going down

A L L  N I G H T  L O N G !

Nursing those bruises...

Ava thought she found an injury-free way to enjoy the evening!

Not so, little missy!

I didn't pay $6 bucks to have you stand around!

All in all we had a great time!

And by the end of the evening,

they were doing their fair share of gliding (hobbling) around the rink.

Good times, girls!

XOXOMom



The Great Escape

This Father & Son's Camp-out

the boys headed for the hills,

Rollin's Lake to be exact,

where they enjoyed sunshine,

pancakes bigger than Samuel's head,

and a restless night courtesy of Gabriel who

couldn't decide if he wanted in,

or out,

of the sleeping bag!

...

Alternately we girls headed for San Francisco,

our first time going out of town together,

minus the boys!

All checked in at the Hotel Triton!

This hotel is decorated with every color and pattern on the planet

- perfect for a girly getaway -

and the price was right too thanks to Priceline!

The best part about our digs?

We were literally across the street from the

gates to Chinatown!

{ Crispy Chicken Wings-Ava's favorite! }

Yummy dinner!

{ Deep-fried Salt & Pepper Crab }

Why did I order this without Samuel to help polish it off?!?

Back at the hotel,

it was time for some deep meditation...

...and some fierce martial arts!

{ Nice robes, huh? }

Wakey-wakey eggs and bakey!

Open those beautiful peepers, Sleeping Beauty... :)

After breakfast,

we hit Union Square which

meant a tour of Market Street.

...

The girls were intrigued with the SF Muni,

wanting a glimpse of the closest thing we have to a NY Subway.

S.F. Wesfield Shopping Mall...

not quite like the one at home...

 

Next up,

Nob Hill!

This was where we found the best cheap eat ever:

Bob's Donuts

Seriously delicious!

Who ate what?

Ava
The Flaky Chocolate Crossaint

Bella
She never fails to go for the classic:
Glaze!

Iris
Jelly-filled!

Me
A Giant Meringue +
A little bit of everyone elses!

Lunch in Cows Hallow was next,

even though dessert was first!

{ Do you see Ava? }

After eating,

we were perfectly situated for a major walking tour.

First up,

the marina,

where the kites were going crazy!

Then we found a tiny inlet and the girls

enjoyed some much-needed sand-time.

I loved watching Bella skip rocks.

She's so good at it now,

and I love that it's one of the many things Samuel has taught her.

"Just down the street",

or at the least that's what I told the kids

when they complained of being tired of walking,

was the

Palace of Fine Arts!

It is so, so beautiful here

and my girls make a nice addition to the place!

As we sat on a bench looking out onto the water,

a man stopped abruptly in front of us and said

in a harsh, fast voice:

"For you!  For you!  For you!  For you!"

And into each of our hands he placed an ice cream cone!

As fast as he came, he was gone!

We were startled,

so appreciative,

and just delighted

to be on the receiving end

of such a beautiful act of kindness!

Needless to say,

as we enjoyed our ice cream,

we concocted a way to pay it forward!

Details are

TOP SECRET!

Right, girls?

Next we made our way to Crissy Field!

I LOVE coming here!

I can't tell you how many times I came here as a kid!

Now I'm here with MY kids!

That never ceases to amaze me...

How did I get to be so old?!?

Before we moved on to the beach,

Ava, my super-sleuth,

found a drainage pipe with a baseball in it!

This is a huge find for a girl whose been playing catch with...

yes,

I hate to admit it,

a bean bag!

Hey,

necessity is the mother of invention, right?

{ smile }

Despite the novelty of a real baseball,

nothing compares to good ol' plain sand!

My daughter,

at her happiest...

As I was munching on Ritz Crackers I almost choked

when I saw a fin emerge from the water.

Half-screaming and chewing I convinced the girls to

gaze out on the water until they saw it too!

Yea!

I'm not crazy!

It was a dolphin swimming in the bay!

...

After all the excitement,

it was time to pack up and go home.

We MISSED our boys and

couldn't wait to get back home to them!

What to do in the meantime?

How about snag the camera and take random shots

A L L  T H E  W A Y  H O M E !

I'm surprised my battery lasted that long,
but grateful too.

It's a peek into what they see through the lense.

What's fascinating, intriguing, or just plain funny to them.

I'm in there a few times. 
I wonder if I'm fascinating, intriguing,
or the funny...

...

T H E S E  A R E  M Y  G I R L S  !

They are stunningly beautiful,
extrememly intelligent, and so, so wonderfully silly!

It's a blessing to spend some one-on-one time with them.

To talk quietly,
late into the night...

to hold hands on streets
we've never walked before...

to try something new,
together...

I  L O V E  Y O U  A L L  S O  M U C H !

Now let's go give our boys some love too!

XOXOMOM