What I NEED to be doing...

This is what I should be doing instead of posting (cleaning, assembling a race track given to us, and finishing kindergarten portfolios...I'm halfway done), so I'm off to be productive!

Emma

Oh, how we love Emma! She'll be turning a year old in 3 weeks!!! She's decided that crawling isn't such a bad thing and is actually getting pretty fast! She LOVES crawling under the stairs (you can tell by her big smile coming out the other side). When she crawls around her binky drags right along side her. We just got her a new car seat - doesn't it make her look so grown up???? She's still got her long, skinny arms and legs and double chin. I love it when they are "reading books"! So cute!!!

Tadpoles, Lizards, and Cherries

Last Friday, Zach and Camilla both invited a friend to go hiking and collect tadpoles. It was a little ambitious to take 6 kids hiking, but the kids had a GREAT time and can't wait to do it again! Catching tadpoles, counting lizards and eating fresh cherries were definitely the highlights(and, yes, I left my camera in the car)!

The REAL DEAL

So Saturday was Noall's REAL birthday. Since he had to work, the family went on a hike early in the morning. I was ambitious enough to make egg and bacon bagel sandwiches for everyone for the hike (homemade bagels) and they actually turned out really yummy! At work, his employees surprised him by decorating his office, bringing in dinner for everyone, bringing in treats, etc. he's a great boss! After work, Noall was given tickets to the Blues Festival (the concerts were on the beach). We saw Brian Setzer perform (Stray Cats) which was very fun! So we celebrated a birthday month and enjoyed every minute! :)

Playing for Change

Saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was really neat...a few people can make a difference! You can look up their individual songs on YouTube - I love "Stand By Me".

Today's Alex-isms

Today Alex has been on a roll:

I asked him if he washed his hands after he went to the bathroom. Instead of answering, he put them in my face and said, "Smell them". They were wet, so I thought he might have washed them. Noall repeated the question, "Did you wash your hands?" To wish he replied, "Yes...in the toilet."

When he started sneaking downstairs (when he should be in bed) Noall asked, "Alex, what are you doing?" Alex quickly responded, "I'm sleeping!"

There were a couple of other things, but I can't remember one of them and I've decided that the other one probably isn't appropriate!

Hope ya'll had a great Mother's Day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOALL!!! (a little early)

All Noall wanted for his birthday this year was to have a couple of days to get away. We're lucky enough to have quite a few options around here that are close, but we decided on L.A. since we had never gone to explore it together. We started out driving around Malibu and Santa Monica and had an AMAZING lunch there. It was a little cafe inside an old train station. The tables were made out of old aluminum siding, they had flowers in old tin cans - it had a lot of character and the food was AWESOME...maybe no one else cares about black bean burgers, but I have had failed so many times at making them, I was inspired to try again! The green drink is mint lemonade...YUM!!!



We spent the afternoon walking around the Santa Monica Pier and checking out some sports cars. Noall was going to get his picture taken by "his" yellow Ferrari, but that didn't work out!




Later we checked into our hotel...very cool.









Then we headed to a Spanish restaurant for dinner and a flamenco show. I included a couple of videos from the show for my friends who are "dance-appreciaters" (you know who you are). Emma was so tired that despite how loud the show was, she was still zoning in and out. After the show we chatted with the singer who is from a small village in Malaga (part of our mission) - so fun to hear his southern Spain accent!




Day #2 we slept in and checked out the pool on the top of the hotel. Then we headed out to see the L.A. Farmer's Market and have breakfast/lunch. Emma was such a hit everywhere we went - kids are definitely a novelty in L.A.! We were lucky enough to catch the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid game (for all you soccer lovers) and watched it while we ate.





Our last L.A. adventure was to check out The Getty - they had a lot of interesting exhibits to see. It was a shame it was such a cloudy day...the view is really amazing from up there! We ended the day going back home for dinner and a movie (Emma was grateful to be back in her own bed!). It's always rejuvenating to spend a few days together...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOALL!!!!!!!!!