A little glimpse....

Here's a cute video of the kids playing in the play pool. Disclaimer...that is not trash in the garage...it's clothing to be given away...
***at the end there is a stunning solo by Lily from Barbie Island Princess... :)

Today in the backyard....

I love our backyard...the kids have played many hours back here already :)
Will doing a difficult skating trick
An action shot.

Lily skating
Lily getting to go down head first...I usually don't let her cause I am a big chicken...but today I was feeling daring.
Hank filling up water balloons...which he later soaked me with. It's okay because I got him back with the hose.
Otter pop break.

Lily and Will out back

Will is almost able to pedal his tricycle. It's hard when you have such short, chubby, cute legs!

Dippin' Dots

After dinner we took a walk/bike ride through Heartwell park to the Dippin' Dots. It was a fun time. Lily rode her bike the entire way!

Garden Week #3

So we forgot to take a picture from last week, but here is what our garden is looking like today. The squash, corn, green beans, peas and sunflowers are all doing really well. The carrots are doing okay and the tomatoes and peppers, well they are trying.

Take me out to the ballgame....

On Thursday night Darin got to take the boys to see their first MLB game. They saw The Angels vs. The Twins. They even got to be on the Jumbo-tron because we know the person who runs it. They had an amazing time and can't wait to go again!

Glamorous

We went to some friends' house last Wednesday and the little girls who live there have a makeup table with real makeup. As you can see...Lily is very talented in the art of eye shadow.

Coldplay

Darin and I got a chance to see Coldplay at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine last night. We were sitting very far away, which wasn't so bad I guess except that we had to walk about a mile from our car to the grass sitting area...uphill....in really bad shoes (my fault, but still). Charles, a friend of ours, gave us the tickets as a going away present. It was so nice of him and we had a really fun time going out without kids and seeing the concert. The concert itself just wasn't great. The opening bands were AWFUL, we were sitting FAR away (and the tickets weren't cheap...even though we didn't pay) and the sound was POOR. All that to say...I think Darin and I realize that although we love going to concerts, we love going to small venues where the music is louder, the crowd is smaller, the band is closer, and preferrably the walk is shorter :) We are very thankful for the gift of the tickets though.

Long Beach Aquarium

We forgot the camera today, but we visited The Aquarium of the Pacific today with Grandma. I wish I had lots of fun photos of us there. We had a really fun time. But these are the only two pictures we took using Darin's phone. My mom bought us a year pass for our family...so we will be going back and I will be posting better pictures from future visits. It's a really great aquarium with lots of fun things for the kids to learn and touch. We had a good day. It was super hot and humid today though.

Hair

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Today's post is about hair. I got my hair cut today and I think it turned out pretty good. Finding a new salon is always a challenge and then I am always looking for the hair stylist who can give me the exact hair cut I have in my brain....despite the flawed way I communicate what I want...and that when it's done I would look 30 lbs lighter and have nice hair. The hair is nice so I guess I mostly succeeded today.

I have been practicing on Lily's hair too. I saw this ridiculous website from a mom who makes absolutely beautiful creations in her daughter's hair everyday and then posts them on her blog. It made me wonder, yet once again, what it is that I am truly good at? Definitely not little girl hair... It also made me wonder why this lady has so much time on her hands and how she makes those little girls sit for so long? I guess that is why she is so good at it...she knows the answers to my questions and makes it work. Lily's hair is a far cry from the masterpieces on this mom's website, but I have to say that I am making strides...it is better today than the first time I tried. Maybe by the time she is ready to go to prom I will be able to braid her hair nicely. ( I know, by then that's the last thing she will want)

Lily in the sand....eww.

This is a perfect example of why Lily is perfect for living in Southern California...it also is a perfect example of why I don't love the beach. It is really windy so the audio is not great...but it is a funny video.

Bolsa Chica Beach with Grandma

Today after Darin got off work we went to Bolsa Chica Beach. It was very windy, but we still had a good time boogie boarding and eating snacks (mostly Will).

Animal Adventure Day @ 1BL

Will touches a tortoise
Lily
Playing a frog hopping game
An elephant game where you push a peanut with your nose!
Lily and a tiny tortoise
Will holding a leopard gecko.
Ewww....a squishy toad.
A giant toad
Will touching a snake
A giant snake!
Lily and Will
Will pets the bunny rabbit.
Lily holding a dove
Will and a giant lizard

New Kiddie Pool

We wore the other one out...

Royal Palms State Park

Today Darin came home for lunch and took us to visit the tide pools and picnic area at the Royal Palms State Park. We had a picnic lunch and then we went over and explored the tide pools. Everyone, including Will, had a great time looking around in the shallow water for sea life. Grandma Braithwaite is here visiting so it was fun for her to come along!