October Costume Capers

October costume capers at the Halloween store

Itchy & Scratchy mask fun, yep they're BIG Simpsons fans!

One of our favorite things about pre-Halloween season is our visits to Halloween stores for what's been affectionately dubbed as "October costume capers". While the girls search for their official costumes they make sure to try on all the other fun masks, hats, and silly wares before finalizing their decisions. This has become an annual family tradition and I notice that with each passing year our October Halloween costume trips grow in frequency. The girls crack me up with their silliness and while they are building up their bravery around all the scary Halloween animatronic invaders, I have to admit to being amused by their tiptoeing around the "press here" pads on the floors and slyly finding ways to occupy themselves in the costume rows to avoid watching these creepy displays. Bottom line - they are both Halloween lovers in the making and in a few years they will likely be tormenting/scaring their little brother during Halloween store visits. Poor guy.

After a very fun search, they finally settled on their costumes. Elise is going to be a vampire this year, her first scary costume choice ever, which deserves celebration! Alina is going with two costumes this year to fit her dual personalities, as sweet and pretty princess Cinderella by day (for her preschool parade) and as a cute yet deadly little vampire by night (for actual trick-or-treat). Hopefully baby boy will arrive before Halloween to join in on the fun!

More costume fun with friends plus brave Alina

Masquerade masks never get old

Elise the tiger, and introducing Demonic Alien Baby, 
Evil Clown Baby's new partner in crime

Happy Fouth of July 2015!

Fourth of July festivities 2015

Cuties all ready for fireworks

Hanging out with Nana & Papa

Smoke bomb fun

Alina's first sparkler of 2015

Such a joy to watch the girls play

Happy Fourth of July 2015! We enjoyed a very fun and festive display on our court this year. The grandparents joined us along with some close friends and the kids thoroughly enjoyed lighting up the night sky with sparklers and fireworks. The biggest hit each year have been the smoke bombs. They love the colors and running through the vibrant smoke filled air (whilst plugging their noses and laughing hysterically of course). Later in the evening, once the fireworks were exhausted, they moved on to glow stick dancing and we had to drag them inside by the end of the night. It was a very fun holiday and so nice to be able to enjoy all this just right outside our front door, no crowds or traveling involved. We're certainly loving these lazy summer weekends.

Elise with her super sparkler XXL

Sparkler fun

Alina with her super sparkler XXL

Firework display

Glow stick dance parties are a must

Elise has got the moves

Alina's got the twirls down pat

End of a fun evening. Happy 4th 2015!

LA Trip Part I: Fun in the Sun, Water, and Sand at Redondo Beach, CA

Watching sailboats at Redondo Beach

Our little beach lover, Alina

Redondo Beach Landing & Pier

They loved dipping their feet in the waves

Little beach bums

Two very happy girls having fun in the sun, water and sand

Redondo Beach Pier - My grandparents took me here years ago

Last weekend we took our third family trip to Los Angeles, except that this time there was no Disneyland fun/madness; we went to visit my Aunt, Uncle and little cousins in Torrance and got in plenty of relaxing beach time too. It was so nice to have a more laid back family trip where we weren't on-the-go from sun up to sun down. It was also wonderful to see the little cousins spend time together as they are all close in ages and shared so much laughter in the time they spent playing.

We also had the chance to take the girls to nearby Redondo Beach & Pier, which was a great experience for all of us. When momma was little, I used to visit here with my grandparents and had so much fun! It brought back lots of great memories from my childhood, even though the pier has changed so much from what I remember back in my youth. The girls loved exploring the fun little shops on the pier and we even enjoyed seal watching right out our table window at breakfast, which was a great treat for the girls. Their favorite part of all was the beach! They loved running through the sand and waiting for the waves to crash and drench their little toes. Alina was so brave around the water this time. She last experienced the ocean waves in Maui, and was very cautious back then. This time around she waded out even further and didn't have a care when one larger wave soaked her waist level. The smiles and laughter that they shared on the beach that day is unforgettable.

Windy day fun on the pier

Exploring Redondo Beach pier

Bright future indeed!

Walking the pier and seafood spotting

Pink & white shrimp

Seal watching at breakfast, the girls loved it!

Elise spotted this stoic Black Crown Night Heron watching us

Sweet little cousin play time

Early Easter Fun

Cute cousins with the Easter Bunny 2015

These five are the sweetest little pals. The girls love spending time with their cousins and enjoyed getting to meet the Easter Bunny and hunt for eggs together. It's been a joy watching them grow and develop sweet little friendships over the years. When these five are together the laughter and smiles seem endless!

Little pals after their Easter egg hunt

Elise's 2014 Preschool Class Reunion

Elise's Montessori preschool classmates reunion

These little friends had the best time playing together again

The smiles and laughter lasted all afternoon long

They all played together like no time had passed
...some were camera shy (hah!)

Happy kiddos - looking forward to their next little reunion

Duck, Duck...Geese

Feeding the ducks and geese at Land Park

After our fun day at the zoo, we took the girls over to William Land Park to feed the ducks and geese. This is probably one of their most favorite things to do and they love the opportunity to get up close with the friendly geese (the ducks don't play that). We just sit back and watch the girls run, giggle, laugh and relish in endless entertainment. I swear that they could do this all day and be perfectly content. The ducks and geese, on the other hand, move on quick once the food runs out. 

The best part of all this, is that it brings me back to when I was a kid and my grandparents took my brother and I to the duck pond. It was undoubtedly the highlight of our day. Feeding the ducks and geese never got old back then. Then one day, when I was around 12, I decided it just wasn't exciting anymore, so I quickly crossed it off my activity list and never looked back, until now. Seeing how much the girls love this brings all those special memories and moments back. It will be bittersweet when the day comes that they no longer want to go feed the ducks and geese, but I will always have these memories and the pleasure of knowing that both the girls (and mom and dad) will get the chance to relive our youth once again through their children. Shout out to the next generation!

Getting up close with the friendly geese

Alina's Summer Photo Shoot at 3-Years-Old

Alina at 3-years-old - sugar and spice and everything nice

Every variation of her smile is pure sweetness

I asked her to show me a 3-year-old pose :)

Alina enjoyed her summer photo shoot by the plum tree

Her sweet smile here was the best reward of the day

We had a very fun and impromptu backyard photo shoot for Alina's 3rd birthday. I think we really captured her sweet and playful little spirit in these photos. She had so much fun posing for momma, and in between all these photos she was proudly belting out the lyrics to "Let it Go" from Frozen. She loves that movie and is appropriately a big fan of Anna (the little sister), hence wanting her hair in long pretty braids for her photos. I love the age of three because she's growing up and mostly independent, yet at the same time she's still our sweet baby and needs plenty of cuddling and affection. Since she's our youngest, she really relishes in being babied. She loves kisses and hugs from mom and dad, and even being carried, but never...and I repeat...never try and open or close a door for her, flush her potty, or dare turn off Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she will certainly protest over those offenses. 

I love her spirit and how carefree she is at this age. She's a girly girl, who loves Minnie Mouse and dressing up pretty, but at the same time she's not afraid to get messy and flex her muscle when needed. She's the perfect balance of sweet and tough, and she is always the first to volunteer to try something new. Alina is one of the happiest and most even tempered kids. I am often taken by surprise in how quickly she will relent and apologize just because she wants to smooth over a situation and see everyone happy again. She's a determined little fighter where it counts, but is wise in choosing her battles. She embraces harmony and love, and all the revolving world of things that cultivate those feelings. We are so proud of our adorable little girl with her playful spirit and loving demeanor. We look forward to all the milestones this sweet girl achieves at three!

A break from posing to highlight her playfulness

Plum spotting

Exploring while still posing; such a good girl

Peek-a-boo momma - she's just so sweet