Friday Favorite

I know the Friday Favorite is usually very short and includes just one (maybe two) pictures but I HAD to share these with you because they honestly crack me up every time I look at them! So I had an indoor shoot scheduled last week and I ended up borrowing a bunch of gear from a friend since I don't normally shoot indoors or in a studio. Anyway, I was setting it all up and practicing with it and of course A wanted to "help" so I made her model for me. I laugh because some of them remind me of cheesy kindergarten pictures that we used to take in school. Totally fake and generic looking. Of course my child found a way to make it entertaining though! Enjoy :)

 Haha, total school picture pose! Even baby got involved

 Quick background change...This one is my absolute favorite one!!

 This was right before she decided to lunge at me to see her pictures.

Good times! This kid honestly makes me laugh several times daily. Hope these pictures brought a smile to your face.
Happy Friday!!

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! :)

Pumpkin Time

B was off today so after a morning of church, baseball, and donuts, we took naps then headed to the local "pumpkin patch." There weren't as many pumpkins as one would expect for a pumpkin patch but it's still early and it really is mostly just rides and games for the kiddos. There happened to be a groupon for this particular patch including ride coupons and a credit towards pumpkins so you know I scooped that up! You'll remember we visited the pumpkins last year but this year was so fun to see A running around and actually able to go on some of the rides and pick out her own pumpkin.

Do I really need to tell you how much she LOVED the big slides?! She was so excited that she kept going again and again! Daddy was worn out by the time they were done!

heading up by herself...daddy went to rescue her when she got stuck.

 I love the pure delight on her face in these pictures...sorry so blurry, they were movin' fast!

 Can we go AGAIN?!

 all by herself...

 different slide this time

Looking for a special pumpkin...

I think I want this pumpkin, daddy.

Showing off her prize she won from the fishing game...

Sitting with our family pumpkins

And just for fun, here are is last year and this year:

 crazy what a difference a year makes!

See you guys next time!

More Water Fun!

So on Monday we had our trip to the beach. With another HOT week out here we decided that more water wasn't a bad thing. On Friday I decided to take A to the new community park that just opened because I heard there was a splash park there. We headed out early-ish before it got too hot and met up with some friends for a fun day. Or so I thought. Now, for those who are in the know, you already know how much my daughter LOVES to play in the water. Of any kind. Yes, she's been known to keep herself occupied in a bucket of ice at a party or two. If there's a puddle on the ground, she will find it and play in it. Heck, she's been known to spill her own juice/water/milk just to keep herself entertained. I'm not kidding when I say if there's water around, she will seek it out and be perfectly happy for a good 30 minutes. I figured she would love the splash park.

Apparently she didn't love it like I thought she would. Perhaps she didn't like getting her hair wet? Perhaps the water was too cold? Or perhaps she was just being a DI.VA! While the other kids ran around and played and had a great time, little miss decided to just watch. I couldn't believe it. Of all the places she should have been happiest, this should have been near the top of the list!

Eventually she came around and dipped a toe in but not without some shoving gentle coaxing.

Event then, though, she only splashed around for maybe 10 minutes. Then it was back to the sidelines. Juice in hand, she was content to just hang out. 

She likes to save those trying special moments just for me...

Beach Day

On Monday I took A to the beach for the very first time! I know, I know, she's totally not in touch with her "island roots" but in my defense 1) we don't live as close to the beach as we used to, and 2) the beaches here are much different than back home (which means I hardly ever go...total beach snob, I know)!! Mandy was taking Jack for their last beach trip of the summer so we spontaneously threw some food in a cooler, grabbed a few towels, and headed out to San Clemente. We talked about our trip to the beach the whole way there...what we would see and who would be there and how much fun it would be etc... A was so excited that she just kept saying "beach, beach, beach!" Once we finally got to the beach, she was so excited she would barely keep still in her stroller. Note: a stroller at the beach isn't necessarily recommended but when you're solo and carrying as much stuff as I had, a stroller becomes highly convenient! Moving on...

After all the excitement from the little miss about the beach, it was quite annoying hilarious to see her FREAK OUT when I put her down on the sand! No, she didn't burn her feet (she had her sandals on). She apparently didn't like the fact that her feet were dirty or perhaps she was unsure of the texture, who really knows. All I know is she jumped on to the towel, sat down, and proceeded to clean sand from between her toes while whining about how "Nayah no like it." DI.VA! Imagine her reaction to me dunking her in the cold salt water! Hehe. After 15 minutes or so she calmed down and decided the sand and waves weren't too bad and ended up having a blast with her buddy Jack. 

she started out with her feet on the towel but her hands in the sand...

deciding whether or not to move off the towel...

giving in  to see what all the fuss is about...

hey buddy!

making sure the towel is nearby...just in case...

ok, ok, this is quite fun actually...

Although, with a whole beach at their disposal, these two still preferred to spend most of their day right here:

Silly kids.