May

The girls and I visited my sweet Grandparents last week. My Grandma Fernley (who may be my only blog reader) mentioned that she checks my blog every day, and has noticed that I'm now a "once a month blogger".  Sadly, it's true. I'll try to improve this month, GG, but no promises. It seems as if the calendar pages fly by. It's hard to believe it's already June and Kate has 1 week left of preschool--forever! We are looking forward to summer, I'm just afraid already that it's going to pass too quickly. I'm trying to enjoy and savor these days I have with my girls. They are my little buddies and we have so much fun together. When there is no hair pulling and everyone is sharing, of course.

The end of April/beginning of May we began our second phase of home renovations. We got the marijuana shed torn down (have I ever told that story on this blog? I should. And just to clarify, we were not the ones growing the weed!), the garage semi-organized and shelves put in, our pool re plastered (this was monumental!), pool plumbing and electrical fixed, a new front door, wood moldings repaired on the exterior of the house and finally a fresh coat of paint for the outside!  Just last weekend I got a few more tomato plants in the vegetable garden (since the first few did not survive) and it's all mulched and looking pretty. I planted avocado, apple and kumquat trees. I need to take photos. We still have a bit of landscaping to do around the front and back, but I LOVE the gardening. This is really the first time I've had an outdoor space that I could work with and it's so much fun. My fingernails constantly have dirt under them and I really have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm ok with that.

The pictures above were taken on Mother's Day. It was a special day and my favorite people took good care of me. Kate wrote me sweet love notes and decorated my pillow as a surprise before I went to bed. The girls and their babysitter made me a "Happy Mother's Day" banner and pipe cleaner crafts and Paul cooked up chocolate chip pancakes. 

Gwen and I finished our semester at "mom and me school". It was such a great program, I am going to miss going with her every Tuesday. We went on a field trip to the Balboa Island Ferry in Newport Beach. It was a beautiful day and we brought Kate along so she could join in the fun.

The girls (mostly Kate) and I finished reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and had a family movie night to celebrate and watch the original movie version of the story. It's a childhood favorite of mine and it did not disappoint. They loved it and I am constantly hearing them sing songs from it while they play. We were invited to dessert at a friends house last night named the Augustus family and when Gwen heard that she said "Augustus Gloop!? But he fell in the chocolate river!"

I've been saying forever how I want to try surfing. This month I was finally able to make it happen! My sporty friend Sally, who is an awesome surfer and instructor, took Kayla and I out in Seal Beach one Saturday morning. I should mention that Sally is 25 weeks pregnant and hasn't given up surfing yet! She's so much fun. I was pleasantly surprised that with a wet suit on I was not cold at all. I'm determined to enjoy this beautiful ocean we live so close to this summer. We may have to bring some babysitters with us to the beach!

Memorial Day weekend was the perfect mix of friends, family, sun, time at home and fun outings. Grant, Kelsey and baby Will came to visit for a night. The girls and I met them at Knott's Berry Farm and had a great day. It was a different feeling for me, the first time with no stroller or diaper bag at an amusement park. Both girls walked the entire day and did great! It was easy and fun. It helped having other adults there to keep me company--we wished they lived closer! The girls loved seeing Snoopy and all the rides. Gwen made comments about the Indian men dancing in the shows not being modest because she could see their underwear. Thanks, Gwen. And Will is the easiest and most smiley baby. We liked having them around.

And sadly, if you come visit us you may just get put to work. Grant helped Paul pull an old tree stump out of our front planter. There were some axes, chainsaws, ropes attached to cars and lots of shovels and pulling. They finally muscled it out. Thanks, guys.

Saturday we went to old town Seal Beach for paninis and crepes at Crema Cafe. 

Sunday we hung out our flag in support of Memorial Day and went on a leisurely bike ride.  Biking is another thing we've been loving lately. Thanks to hours spent outside on her bike with the neighborhood kids, Kate's a pro. The other weekend she rode with us for 4 miles! She does really well and Gwen is happy to be in the bike trailer. We have a greenbelt around the corner from us and if you ignore the power lines, it's pretty peaceful.

I loved Memorial Day.  I went on an early morning run with friends at the beach and we did chores around the house. We rode our bikes to a BBQ in the park with friends from church and then came home and took naps. Went for a swim and ate Popsicles on the grass. The weather was warm and sunny. It was the perfect start to summer.

 

 

This past weekend Stephanie (who is sadly moving to Virginia) and I got away for one last day trip to LA. We brunched at Bottega Louis (amazing!) and went to the opera. My talented and beautiful friend, Tammy, from Connecticut was here performing with the LA Philharmonic. It was so fun to see her perform and listen to the beautiful music. She's amazing. It made me long for dear friends in New Haven--miss you girls! 

 

And finally, we made a trip to meet sweet baby Ethan. He's our newest nephew and after a scary entrance to the world, he's made it home safe and sound. It's fun to see my brother, Rob, become a father. There is no other love like the one you have for your babies. We're so excited for him and Kristyn.