Easter 2013

This year I feel like we celebrated Easter week as opposed to Easter Sunday!

 It started with a package in the mail from great grandma in Hawaii with a kit to dye eggs which A received a week and a half before Easter. We told her we would open it for our Easter party "next week." Now anyone who's ever had a toddler can attest that you should never really tell them anything until absolutely necessary because they don't forget stuff...especially my kid. All week she would "remind" me about her dye kit and our Easter party and the eggs we were going to color. Last Sunday we all went to Brian's baseball game and I decided to bring some plastic eggs to "hide" at the field so A would have something to do and it would give her a chance to practice before the real hunts began. She held tight to those eggs all week...which didn't help her forget about the eggs we were going to dye!

 

On Thursday her bestie Jack came over and they dyed some eggs and had their own little egg hunt inside. They had a blast and it was hilarious to watch them race and knock each other over (lovingly) to get those plastic eggs!

 

  

 

 

Of course we let them open their eggs.

They even shared a few pieces of candy with each other...

but only a few!

On Friday we drove down to SD so we could have an early Easter with my parents since we wouldn't see them on Sunday. Anayah got to be a part of the party that the daycare kids were having which she loved

and Samara got to be spoiled by papa...and Grandma and Grandpa L!

More eggs (and candy) and her second Easter basket of the week! Even Samara got a basket!

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning then headed up to LA to spend Easter with Brian's side of the family.

 

It had been a while since we last saw all of them and most of them hadn't met Samara yet so we were excited to make the drive up. Anayah had a blast playing with her cousins and scored three yes, three, more Easter baskets full of toys and candy!

By the time we got home Sunday evening we were all exhausted but blessed to have been able to see and spend time with our family and friends. Now I need to figure out how to throw away clean up the candy and Easter basket grass (which is strewn all over my house) without A getting upset! Anyone need an extra basket? Or two?

Our Recent "Avenchur"

Last week we made our annual trip to AZ for B's World Series Tournament. You can read more about last year's trip here. Well this was our first trip with me being preggo and an active toddler who doesn't like being in her carseat for longer than 30 min. Let's just say I really wasn't looking forward to the drive!! We didn't have to be there until Wednesday afternoon and I didn't really feel like leaving super late Tuesday night after B got home from work so we decided we'd leave early Wednesday morning and hope that A didn't get too antsy. In hopes of keeping her excited, I told her we were going on an adventure. "Avenchur?" was her reply. Yes, honey, an adventure. We talked about the hotel (and the pool) and daddy's baseball games, we talked about being in the car for a long time and all the fun things she could do when we get there. It seemed to go over well and we headed out early for our 5+ hour drive.

 Having fun at our second stop...going to catch the penguin.

I think we ended up making 3 or 4 stops along the way, not necessarily all for her, but stops nonetheless, which wasn't too bad. She had a meltdown toward the end of the trip but that's because it was past lunch time and close to nap time. I wanted her to nap at the hotel rather than in the car. Yeah, right mommy. There's too much too explore in a new hotel room!! Some highlights from the trip:

baseball of course

playing in the dirt/grass at daddy's games

chillin' in the hotel

coloring with daddy between games

more baseball

ummm, napping?! or eating twizzlers I suppose


Overall, the trip was a success. Even though B's team didn't make playoffs this year (hey they can't win EVERY year!) we had a good time. We headed home late Saturday night so A could sleep during the drive and we could have a day at home to recover. When we got home I asked A if she had fun on her adventure. She replied with "yes mommy, time for 'nother avenchur?" Sure thing, kiddo. You've got a really big adventure heading your way soon! :)

We Are The Champions!

We're back from our trip to Arizona where Brian was playing in the NABA World Series Tournament. We got to relax, watch some baseball, visit with my parents (who drove up EARLY Saturday to make an 8am game) and brother (who is in Peoria with the Mariners), AND their team won the whole tournament so that was really cool too!

We drove out very early Thursday morning and came back Sunday evening. Brian played a total of 7 games in 4 days! Craziness, I know! Don't worry, I won't show you ALL the pictures I took (there are about 400 of them), I'll just show you the highlights

Here's one of B-man in action

A few of Miss A doing her thing at the baseball field

and the CHAMPS! Good job guys!

As much fun as it was to take a vacation, we're tired from back-to-back trips in such a short time. No more trips for us for the rest of the year! I've been trying to get A back on her nap schedule (which is proving to be interesting) but I'm determined to do it! I do have a couple projects I have in mind that I'll show you soon. Need to recuperate first.

Impromptu Date Night

So Brian's work schedule is different from most. He works 4 10hr days and has two days during the week off plus one weekend day which means our "weekends" are usually Wednesdays and Thursdays. I don't really mind the schedule since I'm not working right now anyway. It lets us do random errands on days when there aren't crowds of people everywhere and allows for unexpected date nights during the week. Tonight we trekked down to San Diego where we left baby girl with my parents and headed to Petco Park. The Padres and Phillies were in action and Brian splurged on fantastic seats for us!

(check out those condos...they can literally watch a game from their balcony!)

We were almost sitting on the field and it felt like we were part of the action. Brian was ready to jump out there and lend a hand if they needed it! He had to settle for trying to catch foul balls instead :) Here are a few pictures before the game started (on the old camera since it fit in my Brian's pocket):

 (requisite self portrait)

 (the fans trying to get autographs...they were literally standing on my feet...that's how close these seats were!)

 (Phillies' pitcher Roy Oswalt)

(Umm think this is just a picture to show how close the field is not to show of Maybin's butt)

It was a good game even though the Padres lost. Late night but fun...kinda reminded me of our younger days when we could stay out late and not have to down a 5hr energy for the drive home :) Oh and for those who noticed, yes I got a bang trim and I wear them like that for the first day or two until they grow out to the perfect length! Yes, I look like I'm 10 but it's all good. 

Mini Vacay

So we're back. 

Our trip to Vegas was fun. Brian's team didn't win the tournament but he did fabulous. For those who "speak" baseball, he ended up 8 for 15, with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 stolen bases, 4 RBIs and 6 runs scored. For those who don't speak baseball, just know that those are very impressive stats. He played a total of 4 games in two days (their team made it as far as the first round of playoffs) which has left him a bit sore but he loved every minute of it! He was on fire and we're so proud of him!

(Nice form!)

(Run, Spotts, Run!)

When we weren't at the ball field, we just relaxed and hung out at the hotel. Baby girl did great for her first road trip, staying in a random place, and being off her schedule. Now that we're back, getting her back on it (plus the adjustment to daylight savings) will be the interesting part! Hopefully she'll cooperate!

(I'm on vacation, what do you want?!)

(The girls in their hats)

 

(I do declare, this weather is just divine!)

(Time to head home, guys, let's go. I'll drive!)

We'll be back in a couple of days once we've gotten back on track!

Busy Weekend

This weekend we were on the go! 

On Saturday we made a trip in Orange County to meet up with Erika for lunch and some shopping and to just hang out. On the way there we made a stop for mommy to get her bangs trimmed, and on the way back stopped at Trader Joe's to stock up on some produce for baby food. Sorry for the crappy camera phone pic.

hey mom, this is SO much better than my carseat!

On Sunday we got up super early to go see daddy in action. When I say early, we were out of the house by 7am. Yes, you read that right. I'll let your imagination decide what time we had to get up to be out of the house by that time :)

Grandma Chris came over for a visit later, and we had some friends over to watch the Super Bowl. Anayah couldn't have any of the snacks which she was rather upset about so I gave her a frozen chunk of mango in her mesh feeder. She was in heaven.

This snack is SO much better than yours

It was a great weekend, just tiring. We spent today being lazy recuperating and just laying low.