Greatest Show Gymnastics Performance and Rocket Launch

This year’s gymnastics Spring Recital was based on The Greatest Show theme, so Samantha and Amelia were dressed as cute clowns!

Ready to go on stage!

Samantha and Amelia were a little bit dazed by all the lights and loud music, but they followed along as best they could. Unfortunately, for some reasons, the videos I took recorded in slo mo, so too big to post! Besides the older kids’ routines, there wasn’t much gymnastics going on anyways! It was all to dress up, dance around to a routine and make parents smile!

The saddest clowns you ever did see!

Jake has taken the girls to the Boeing Rocket Launch for three years now. Jake was frustrated that this year, the rockets they made didn’t have as long of hang times as in years’ past and spent the day when they got home trying to figure out what went wrong! #competitive

Maybe Meredith had something to do with the faulty construction?

Amelia shows off her rocket before the launch.

Samantha is ready for blast off.

I’m pretty sure pizza and snacks contributed to this apparently being “The best day ever.”

Lots of love,

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Birthday at Carlsbad Flower Fields

For my birthday this year, I had always wanted to check out the thousands of ranunculus flower blooming in the spring at the Carlsbad Flower Fields. The girls humored me by posing for pictures as my present!

It was torture for the girls refraining from picking the flowers!

The flower field place had a little scavenger hunt the girls completed and flower maze in which Amelia found her way out first, but stood crying outside the exit when she couldn’t find us.

I wish we had brought lunch with us because the girls played forever in this cute fairy-themed playground.

Strawberry shortcake!

Meredith gobbled her shortcake down like there was no tomorrow.

 

That weekend, the girls and Jake also made me a delicious breakfast and dinner and gave these interviews and cards to me.

I love that Amelia said I am not good at “building!” Whenever they ask me to build a fort, I cringe and tell them to wait until Daddy comes home.

What is something mom always says to you? “Get your shoes on.” Truth!

Meredith didn’t take her eyes off that flourless chocolate cake for a second!

Thanks for a lovely birthday!

Lots of love,

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Baby #4 Sprinkle

Friends had been asking forever when they could plan a baby shower, but with this being #4 and us definitely not needing any new baby girl gear, I kept telling everyone absolutely not! Phi persisted and finally convinced me to consent to a casual family baby sprinkle at the park, which I agreed to with the caveat that no gifts were allowed! I instructed her to keep it as simple and casual as possible, so that we could all just show up at the park, hang out and eat some pizza and dessert, but of course she had to put way more effort into it than required! So many friends helped set up and everything was incredibly adorable and PINK!

Phi’s husband, Michael, is the rice krispie cake king, and since they know that’s one of my favorite treats, he made a two-tier version in honor of the occasion. THAT is what I call precision knife skills. Loved this so much!

Like I said, I told Phi to keep it simple, so of course she made way too many desserts. Such a beautifully decorated and tasty gluten-free bundt cake!

Super cute pink cupcakes with crowns and heart toppers. Meredith kept asking for more “muffins.” We think she was trying to trick us into thinking they were healthier by calling them this rather than “cupcakes.”

Along with the whole “keeping it simple” thing, Phi couldn’t resist making her own printable with her own original poetry. Can’t wait to show it to baby!

Thank you, Phi, Michael, and everyone who helped set up and brought food! I kept telling Phi to either assign everyone to bring a potluck-type dish or just order pizza because I didn’t want her spending any time/money on this! She just had to take things up a notch and ordered from a place that does both pizza and mediterranean (my fave!) She’s always my go-to person to ask for awesome catering places, and this did not disappoint. Everything from the pizza and desserts to the kabobs, greek salad and basmati was delicious.

Jodi with Baby Corbin, Allie and Maliyah.

It was a blast getting everyone together and the kids were all occupied running around with each other.

Amelia, Owen, Maple, Samantha, Parker and Meredith enjoy their picnic.

More, please!

These guys spent so much time and effort putting everything together, and it was truly a super fun and casual night, just like I wanted!

Sarah stopped by in between the three other birthday parties she had going on that day.

Bubbles!

Amy tries on Sheela’s new hat that we all covet!

Awesome dinner and dessert at the park with friends!

Leighton, Parker, Mia, Avery, Owen, Oliver, Amelia, Meredith, Samantha, Maple and Gavin.

Phi asked if we wouldn’t mind wearing flower crowns as she wanted to make the girls feel special as the little “princesses.” I found a crown for Jake in our dress-up box and the girls wore their Easter flower crowns. Phi bought me the prettiest one of all, and I immediately had to go search on Etsy for one the baby can wear! Love Maple photo bombing in the background.

 

It wasn’t that long ago that Phi and I were pregnant at the same time with Maple and Meredith and attending our joint sprinkle thrown by Sheela and friends.

 

So grateful Phi convinced me go along with the sprinkle! We had so much fun celebrating with everyone and these guys went way above and beyond for us! Best of all, the girls really felt special with all the attention and even more excited for the new baby (if that’s even possible!) It was honestly my ideal perfect sprinkle! Thanks, guys, you’re the best!

Lots of love,

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Strawberry Picking at Tanaka Farms

We’ve been alternating our spring berry picking between Tanaka Farms and South Coast Farms since the twins were 18 months old. This year, I took the girls on a weekday morning to Tanaka when it wasn’t too crowded. Nothing beats those fresh, huge, juicy strawberries!

Riding the wagon around the farm– not my favorite bumpy ride due to my huge belly!

The wagon stopped a few times and our guide brought over tons of fresh vegetables for everyone to try. The girls tried fresh onion, celery, kale, cilantro, carrots, and radishes– and actually ate them!

We were allowed to eat the berries as well as pick them and I thought the girls would be sick from all the strawberries they ate!

We had to keep an eye on Meredith who kept picking the little green baby strawberries.

Time to go home and devour the rest of our pickings!

Lots of love,

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