Happy 2018

January 1, 2018 by

Meredith is already SO over 2018…

Happy New Year!

So excited to be done with all the moving and craziness of 2017 and looking forward to an undoubtedly crazy, but perhaps more fun 2018.

Beginning 2018 off right with some twirling.

We had some onlookers watching our little photo shoot who freaked out when Meredith kept stepping in the water in her stockings and sandals!

Meredith is usually always game for yelling, “Cheese!” whenever I break out the camera, but was feeling uncharacteristically grumpy today.

Maybe a little spinning would help?

Not feeling the 2018 joy.

Time to break out the graham crackers!

Suddenly everything is better.

Princess Amelia.

The queen on her throne.

Take me to the sand, loyal subjects.

Change of clothes and sandcastle time.

Sammy makes a sand angel.

2018 here we come!

Lots of love,

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Year in Review 2017

December 31, 2017 by

When I look back at 2017, all I can remember is the overwhelming task of selling our house and moving to our new house! There was so much stress and work involved, and even more work to do in our new house, that it seems like it took up most of our time the entire year! However, our photos from 2017 tell a different story– I was amazed to see that we actually managed to cram in a whole lot more in between the packing, moving and and unpacking!

Here’s our 2017 in review!

JANUARY:

Meredith turned the big ONE.

Despite running out of gas on the way to the party and not having much time left to set up, Meredith’s Teddy Bear Picnic Party was my favorite party of all time!

FEBRUARY:

Once Meredith started walking, a few weeks after her first birthday, the twins exclaimed, “She’s a toddler!” Yup. It’s official.

Valentine’s Day and fun in the midst of being forced to keep our house clean for showings at any given time.

MARCH:

Happy 4th birthday, Samantha and Amelia!

My assessment of the girls’ first time at Disneyland: “So, basically, we could have stayed at home and gone to the park, splash pad and pool for free and the girls would have been just as happy. But then we wouldn’t have been able to experience family bonding through the exhausting, tantrum-inducing sugar and sensory-overload that is the magic of Disney!”

St. Patrick’s Day and taking advantage of the nice weather to hit the beach.

Learning to ride bikes!

APRIL:

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Beach camping in San Clemente.

It’s not spring without strawberry picking.

MAY:

Happy Mother’s Day!

Sammy gets glasses and Meredith gets her first hair cut.

The twins enjoyed being polar bears for their gymnastics recital.

Fun with Grandpa, the Kagels and Gerin’s in Mission Bay, San Diego for Ben’s law school graduation.

JUNE:

Farewell to our beloved neighborhood friends!

New house chaos and cooling off in the summer heat.

Happy Father’s Day!

Swim lessons at Miss Conni’s and dance recital.

JULY:

Happy 4th!

Enjoying our neighborhood water park, a superhero-themed Vacation Bible School and picking out American Girl dolls.

Our Pioneer Day trip to Utah with the Gerins! We had a blast river rafting, exploring Park City, hiking to waterfalls, going to the Tracy Aviary with Aunt Sarah, and hanging out in Grammy’s backyard!

AUGUST:

On our way back from Utah, we took a detour to Cedar Breaks and loved our breathtaking hikes through the red rock and meadows.

A morning at Crystal Cove.

And the award for first twin to break her arm goes to… Samantha! The twins still refer to that zipline where she broke it as “The park where Sammy broke her arm!”

SEPTEMBER:

First day of preschool!

Raspberry and apple picking.

Breakfast with the mermaids, cooling off in the pool and yoga!

Fall pics.

OCTOBER:

Visiting the pumpkin patch with Grammy and Grandpa.

Legoland with the Gerins.

Hailey’s first birthday and Meredith tags along to a preschool field trip to Zoomars.

Aunt Sarah joined us at the water park, the pool and beach and took some adorable photos!

Happy Halloween from Harry Potter and Hermoine, Samantha the mouse, Amelia the cat and Meredith the owl.

NOVEMBER:

School pics!

Trying to block out morning sickness while running the Color Run and hanging out in San Diego with Lucero and her family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Post-Thanksgiving trip to Aunt Linda and Uncle David’s and fun at the Living Desert Zoo.

DECEMBER:

Gender Reveal– it’s a girl!

Christmas recital and seeing the neighborhood lights with the Nguyens.

Preschool Santa visit and Christmas carol sing-along.

Celebrating Hanukkah with the Kagels and Gerins and exciting excursions to the beach and Knott’s with Grammy and Grandpa.

Merry Christmas!

Post-Christmas trip to San Francisco while the girls had fun at home with Grammy and Grandpa.

And that’s a wrap, 2017!

We asked the twins a few questions about their year and even when one answered first, they tended to agree with teach other…

Favorite part of 2017: Playing in Grammy’s backyard and swimming in our pool

Least Favorite part of 2017: MOVING!

Thing they like best about our new house: the craft room and the pool

Things they miss about our old house: their bedrooms, our herb garden and the garage play area?!!

Favorite party: Meredith’s Teddy Bear Picnic 1st Bday

Favorite theme park: Disneyland

Favorite trip: Utah

Favorite holiday: tie between Christmas and 4th of July

Favorite part of preschool: their birthday celebration and snacks/crafts, freeze dance (Amelia)

Favorite winter activity: sledding

Favorite spring activity: picking strawberries and Easter egg hunt

Favorite summer activity: the beach, going to the water park and riding bikes

Favorite fall activity: pumpkin patch

Activity they want to do again soon: camping

Most grievous injury (Samantha): breaking her leg

Most grievous injury (Amelia): hurting her knee badly while running down a hill and tripping

Most grievous injury (Meredith): getting bit by a lorikeet bird at the zoo

Biggest accomplishment (twins): mastering all the letters, beginning to read, and getting good at folding laundry

Biggest accomplishment (Meredith): walking and talking

Favorite class: Primary

Least favorite class: swimming lessons

Favorite game: Pie Face and What Time is it, Mr. Fox

Favorite gift: new frilly nightgown pajamas from Santa

Favorite everyday activities: picking flowers and making bouquets for mommy, scootering/biking around the neighborhood, coloring and crafts and playing “family” and “family picnic” with Meredith and their dolls

What they look forward to most about 2018: new baby sister!

Lots of love,

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Newport Marina and Knott’s Berry Farm

December 28, 2017 by

While we were in San Francisco, Grammy and Grandpa kept the girls busy at the zoo, We Play Loud and at all the parks around town. When we returned, Jake took a few extra days off work to work on putting in the new floors upstairs, so we took the kids on a few long excursions to get them out of the house.

Not missing Mommy and Daddy at all…

Our favorite beach park: Marina Park in Newport Beach.

Cheese! Grandpa remarked that the fact that the girls love eating seaweed so much goes again the natural rules of kid food!

Stylish beach baby.

Concentration.

The girls had never been to Knott’s Berry Farm, so to give Jake another full day to work on the floor, we took off on our adventure for the day. We mostly stayed in the Snoopy/Peanuts characters area, which was perfect for small kids, and ventured off to some of the bigger rides later in the day. It definitely was not Disneyland, but the girls had fun, especially mining for gold in the old western town and scarfing down the famous Knott’s chicken and boysenberry pie at the end of our long day.

Being pregnant, I couldn’t go on most of the rides, which was very convenient! Grammy and Grandpa win “Best Grandparents Award” for accompanying the girls on all the rides!

Grammy is a trooper!

Poor Grandpa!

Just watching the spinning Mexican Hat Dance ride made me nauseous!

Jake completed a good amount of flooring during our all-day excursion, and now that we’ve experience Knott’s, we don’t have to go back! Mission accomplished.

Lots of love,

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San Francisco Getaway

December 26, 2017 by

The day after Christmas, with the girls enjoying having Grammy and Grandpa as their babysitters (and likely bribing them for treats and movies), Jake and I flew to San Francisco for a few days for a little getaway. Not having to take anyone potty or wipe little sticky faces and hands on the airplane ride was luxurious enough to count for a vacation on its own!

We stayed right around the corner from Union Square and had an amazing time doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, no nap or bedtime schedules involved! We Ubered everywhere (and met some interesting people along the way) and my only complaint was the nausea accompanying flying up and down those crazy steep and hilly streets of the city.

We hit up the major sights– Union Square, Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Sausalito, Muir Woods, Golden Gate Park, and the Ferry Building Marketplace and enjoyed the festive Christmas atmosphere. At night, the streets around Union Square were packed and we had a good time people-watching at the crowded outdoor ice skating rink. It was amazing how much we got done and how much energy we had to stay out late without the kids in tow!

The food was, of course, the most amazing part of our trip and we had a blast trying everything from authentic szechwan stir fry in Chinatown to clam chowder on the water in Sausalito  to boutique gluten free chocolate tarts at the ferry building farmer’s market. In short, our kid-free getaway was rejuvenating! Thanks, Mom and Dad for allowing us to escape and enjoy exploring the big city for a little while!

A few pics…

We once again remembered why we despise group tours on the only tour we booked during our stay– a guided bus ride over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and Muir Woods. We had to wait forever for the late bus to arrive, and our ancient Chinese driver and young, bubbly tour guide with a thick Alabama accent were constantly at odds with each other, yelling at one another about where to stop and which directions to take. Due to the tour guide’s accent and nonsensical commentary on the history of Muir Woods, we couldn’t understand half of what she was saying (example: “During the Mexican French War in 1850, when Mexico gained its independence from France…”) We were cracking up listening to her made-up historical facts on our bus ride and an Uber would have been a much better choice! Muir Woods was gorgeous, though, and we enjoyed our peaceful hike through the ancient redwoods, as well as walking around the cute town of Sausalito and relaxing with some delicious sea food on the bay before ferrying back to the city.

More sights downtown.

One morning, we rented bikes and rode around Golden Gate Park all the way to the beach. I underestimated how tired I would be from all the hills, and had to walk some of the way.

The girls barely noticed we were gone, and upon our return immediately asked what kind of treats we had brought them. They were happy about the toy trolley cars, sourdough bread in the shape of a lobster, and Ghirardelli chocolate we brought back and are already counting the days until they get to spend a few days with Grammy and Grandpa again.

Hope to visit again soon!

Lots of love,

 

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