shhh...it's a secret menu

Has anyone heard of this before?  A secret Starbucks menu???  Is this one of those times where I am the last to hear about this?  I just found out about a month ago that you can order a "neapolitan" shake at in-n-out and it is delicious!  I highly recommend it.

Next time we go to Starbucks, I am trying the neapolitan frapuccino!

the best laid schemes o' mice an' men often go awry

The title of this post is a quote from a Robert Burns poem.  It was the first thing that came to mind when I thought of how our weekend road trip went.  I had every leg of our trip timed and planned perfectly.  I even had maps printed out in a report cover with estimated departure and arrival times at every destination.  I was prepared for a weekend packed with a lot of activities!  It all started beautifully.  We were on the road on time and made it to our first stop in valencia to have brunch with these lovely ladies:

It was so awesome seeing our old friend/roommate/co-worker (Jenn) and her beautiful daughter, Kadance.  It was our first time meeting little Kadance and she is even cuter in person! 

 Things started going wrong when we were driving into San Francisco.  Just before the Bay Bridge, the traffic suddenly got backed up and put us waaaay behind schedule.  We picked up my sister in the city and headed out toward Sacramento.  We were too late to make it to our dinner plans in my old hometown of Sacramento.  I was so looking forward to having deep dish pizza at Zelda's!  Instead, we went straight to our hotel room and that's when things got bad.  I got hit with a terrible stomach bug and spent most of the night in the bathroom.  So, our plans for the next day in Davis went out the window.  There was no way I was going to make it through a busy day in the sun at my old college Picnic Day event.  I was bummed that we had to miss out on the event that was the purpose for our trip.

Instead, I popped some pepto bismol pills and we got back in the car for the drive back to SF.  We did have some fun in the city.  Just about half a block from my sister's apartment is a huge park with a brand new playground for kids that just blew our minds!  The Hellen Diller playground is by far the coolest playground I have ever seen.  And, because it was such a beautiful and sunny day in SF (apparently a rare occurence), there were TONS of people there.  Here are some pictures of the park:

 The coolest slide ever:

 There were literally thousands of people at the park that day.

 Trisha's cute place.  Her apartment is on the third floor and her bedroom window is on the left.  We stayed with her Saturday night.

 Here we are in our brightly colored pants heading out for dinner.  We were sitting on Trisha's stoop for the picture.  That's Trisha's roommate, Melanie, in the mustard pants.  Instead of deciding to change when we all realized we were wearing bright pants, we just went with it and had fun!

 Here we are at the restaurant, "Luna Park" in the Mission District (Trisha's 'hood).  It was my first meal since the stomach flu experience, so I was a bit hesitant to eat.  The baked macaroni and cheese dish may not have been the best choice, but it was delicious!

 The next morning we went out for brunch with our old friend, Jonathan a.k.a. Compton.  We ate at a place called "Boogaloos" which was also in Trisha's neighborhood.  It was fantastic!  I'll say one thing for SF, they certainly have some good eats!  The company was unbeatable.  This brunch was one of the highlights of the weekend.

 Can you tell how much Lyla liked Compton?

After brunch, we high-tailed it to the Golden Gate Bridge so we could show Lyla one of the most well-known landmarks of San Francisco.  Wouldn't you know it, a heavy fog rolled in and we couldn't see it at all.  We called it a day and hit the road back home.  The ride back was horrible.  Lyla had a complete meltdown and cried/screamed/whined for hours no matter what we did.  It was surprising behavior from her. 

We made it back home in time to see sweet Cody before bedtime.  How I missed my little man!  I will never take a trip without all my kids...and I don't think we will ever take a road trip again.  It was kind of a disaster. 

holy cats! sophie is "already five"

We attended our dear little friend's fifth birthday yesterday in Fallbrook.  The party took place in Sophie's beautiful backyard.  I love Sophie.  She is a very precocious little girl and she definitely has her daddy's mannerisms.  She says things like "holy cats!" and "oh my stars!".  When you tell her something, she will often respond with "of course".  When we arrived at the party, Sophie told us, "I went to the zoo today and I already turned five".  Well, we celebrated anyways!  The theme of the party was "shabby chic" and Sophie's mom and aunt did a fabulous job of decorating for the theme.  Agi said that she literally had everything on hand except for the balloons!  That's the nice thing about being a crafty mom, you can throw together a gorgeous party using what you already have.  We had a wonderful time and we were so blessed to be able to celebrate such a fun little girl. 

Lyla and Sylvia (Sophie's little sis) play together.

Cake time!

sunday funday - oceanside pier

We headed down to San Diego today with no definite plans but to go enjoy the beautiful weather and have some fun.  We ended up at the pier in Oceanside and had lunch at Ruby's.  We saw great big pelicans, fishermen reeling in lots of fish, a school of dolphins, and a seal!  The pier never disappoints. 

april showers bring may flowers

The weather apparently can't decide what it wants to do today.  Rain? Sunshine?  How about both?  I put away all of our boots and coats prematurely.  It happens to me every April.  We get a few days of warm weather and I say to myself, "yes!  summer is here!"  Inevitably, another storm rolls in and I have to accept the fact that we are not done with the gloom.  At least Cody looks adorable in his cold weather outfit today.  Check him out in Trav's beanie!  Too cute for words.

Jean jacket from gap (another hand-me-down from big sis), stripe shirt from gymboree, sweatpants from h&m, and converse shoes.  He is posing next to daddy's penny skateboard.

 

Lyla was in rare form this morning.  She had so much energy.  On days like this, I like to put her in her "twirling skirt" so she can just spin, spin, spin.  Today she is wearing a fawn shirt from h&m, tutu skirt from target, tights from target, and ballet flats from zara.

 

just look at her go!

spider girl

Last night was "super- hero" night at AWANA.  The only thing that Lyla has ever dressed up as before is a princess, so this was a brand new concept for us.  She will occasionally ask us to tie a blanket around her neck so that she can fly around the house like super man, but that's about it.  She does love super hero movies like "Superman" and "Green Lantern".  So, I was pretty excited about super hero night.  Travis and I went to the Disney store to see what we could find.  The salesgirl had a really cute idea.  She suggested that Lyla dress up as Rapunzel and carry a frying pan as her super hero weapon.  I immediately thought about how many little AWANA cubbies would end up with concussions by the end of the night.  Nope, onto the boy department...

We had a good selection to choose from with "The Avengers" coming soon.  They had options like buzz lightyear, captain america, hulk, iron man, thor, and...spider man.  Since spidey doesn't require any props and is a fairly simple costume, spider man jammies it was.  We threw on a red beanie and showed her some spidey moves and she was ready for the night!

I wish there were sound effects here.  She makes a cute noise when she throws out her webs.

Lyla's bible verse for the night was "Children, obey your parents in the Lord."  - Ephesians 6:1.  For obvious reasons, I love this scripture and spent extra time in reviewing this with her this week!  I have to say that Lyla has been so good lately.  I think we are well past the terrible twos and onto a very enjoyable time with her. 

cody's first cut

Cody finally grew enough hair that he needed his first haircut from daddy!  He doesn't have a lot of hair, but the hair he did have was super long and scraggly, so it was time.  It was just days before Easter and I thought he could use a clean cut.  Documenting this experience brought me back to Lyla's first time as a "client" in her daddy's chair. 

Trav started with the shears while I protested.  I wanted him to use the clippers and just give him a quick fade. 

Cody sat very still for the entire cut!  He is such a good kid.

 

In the end, Travis did bring out the clippers to finish the haircut.  So, we compromised.  The result was a fresh cut for my handsome little man!

 

Jesus is alive!

Easter is a special holiday for us.  It's a big deal to celebrate the most important day in history....the resurrection of our Lord.  As Pastor Ted said at the church service, our faith means absolutely nothing if that tomb was not empty!  Now that Lyla is old enough to somewhat grasp what this holiday is all about, it's even more fun.  We spent the weekend discussing how Jesus died on the cross and then rose from the dead.  We sang "Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive, He rooooose agaaaain!"  It was so cute to hear those sweet lyrics come out of her little mouth.  The weather was just perfect all weekend, so this particular Easter was even more fabulous.  We hosted Easter lunch at our house again which I was so excited about.  It gave us an excuse to spruce up the yard a bit.  We spent a lot of time happily pulling weeds, pruning trees and vines, and planting new bushes.  Truly, the work was done with a smile on our faces!  We love giving our house some much needed tlc.

First thing in the morning, we gave Lyla her Easter basket. 

She got some stuff that she'll be able to use in the next couple months as the warmer weather approaches: swimsuit, sunglasses, candy, "The Berenstein Bears Say Their Prayers" book, nail polish, and a cute t-shirt.

Later, Cody got his very first Easter basket.  He was actually able to participate in the egg hunt this year!  He was adorable picking up the eggs out of the grass and gently placing them in his basket.

Checking their treasures

The group picture.  I love how the little girls are always eating their candy and therefore totally distracted in the picture.  It was the same thing last year.

Happy Easter, everyone! 

"He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay." - Matthew 28:6

Good Friday

It's fashion friday!  But more importantly, it's Good Friday!!!

Cody sporting his sister's hand-me-down encinitas surfboards t-shirt.

Pants from DKNY and shoes from H&M

new kicks!

Lyla in her gap romper

gap peep-toe sandals

Travis in brixton hat, soul collective buttoned shirt, h&m striped shirt, levi's jeans and sperry shoes.

And this one of me will have to do...tracy feith for target blouse, true religion jeans, and irregular choice ballet flats.  I would also like to mention how thrilled I am that buns are in style right now!  I love that I can wake up late in the morning and throw my hair in a bun and still look stylish.

This fashion friday is particularly special because we honor the remembrance of Christ's crucifiction.  We went to the Good Friday service at the Bible College this morning and listened to the teaching on Mark 15.  What a humbling reminder of what Jesus endured for us.  I look forward to this Sunday when we can rejoice in the celebration of His resurrection!