Goodbye 2013 - Happy New Year 2014!

 Winter-Early Spring Blossoming 2013

Spring Fun 2013

Yet another year has come to a close, and while we did have some very fun memories throughout this year, I do have to admit that 2013 was a tough one to navigate. All of us were extremely sick with severe colds and flus from January through May, no joke. The viruses were relentless this year and not only took a toll on our physical health, but also our mental well being. We also had to make a couple ER visits, which is never a place anyone wants to be. As a parent, I felt completely out of control and I suffered considerable depression stemming from all of us being so ill for so long.

Despite such hardships, I am able to look back now and appreciate the fact that we are all tough, and made it through such an intense set of circumstances. Sometimes you need to just STOP and put things in perspective, there are millions of people who endure far more difficult circumstances on a daily basis. I admire those people and realize many of them have suffered unspeakable losses and still continue to be strong for their loved ones. Whenever I start to focus or fixate on the difficulties I'm having, I have to mentally check myself because it isn't good to wallow in "why me" scenarios. I have a wonderful family, whom I love more than anything in this world. Setbacks will happen, such is life, but finding the light and goodness through the dark days is the support role that family fills.

Looking back on 2013, I refuse to think in terms of setbacks and instead focus on the positive experiences. Our family bonds were innumerably strengthened. There is a very deep kind of appreciation you feel for one another when seeing how that person faces adversity. In my case, it was my girls who showed me the true definition of being tough. Through being intensely ill, they still managed to smile and stay positive. I have a tendency to immediately conjure worst case scenarios, whereas they were little rays of optimism professing their intentions of playing outdoors and eating their favorite foods once they recovered. Being around such positivity helped me tremendously.

Looking through the photos I gathered from 2013, I realize that the good times far outweighed the bad. There were more smiles and moments of joy, than there were tears and pain. I see two very lucky parents with a couple of the most precious little daughters imaginable. They are our world, our love, our life. 2013 was a good year, because despite setbacks, family always finds a way to bring out the best in each other.

Summer Love 2013

Fall & Winter Joys 2013

Night of 1,000 Pumpkins 2013 - Sutter Street - Folsom, CA

Momma Minnie with her Little Mermaid and Monster

Little cuties ready to trick-or-treat down Sutter Street

 

Double family fun with friends

The girls were thrilled by these doggy costumes

 

Miss Ariel admiring the jack-o-lanterns
 

Loved these handmade Gru and minion costumes; fantastic

 

Ending the night with two girls on a sugar high...frightening! :|

Las Vegas Trip 2013: Vegas After Dark - Part II

By the mini Trevi Fountain at Caesars Palace

Alina and momma enjoying the fountain views

Having fun by the Caesars Palace fountains

The girls were entranced by the fountains

On our last night in Vegas, we cruised by Caesars Palace and the Bellagio after dark. The girls had already had a wild and crazy night watching the Mirage volcano, so we had to follow that up with some more mellow sights to erase that traumatic memory. We headed to the fountains outside Caesars Palace and they loved watching the water. We took plenty of photos and especially enjoyed relaxing and making wishes at the mini Trevi Fountain. I call it mini, because we've been to the real Trevi Fountain in Italy and it is quite impressive not to mention massive in size. Ah, Italian memories, I digress, but overall Caesars Palace is a must see after dark. The fountains are much more impressive at night, all lit up.

 

The girls were quickly losing steam, so we decided to cap off the night at the Bellagio. We had wanted to see the Bellagio Botanical Gardens during the day, but time did not permit, so night it was. The atrium is gorgeous. The flowers are beautiful and all real. They change up the display during various seasons and holidays. It is much less crowded here in the evening and we would have loved to stick around longer, but the girls were d-o-n-e at this point, so off we went. As we were leaving, we got a quick glimpse of the Bellagio Fountain show. It was the perfect end to a great trip.

Inside the Bellagio. Elise loved the Fiori Di Como ceiling

We made a stop at the Bellagio Botanical Gardens

The Bellagio is a beautiful hotel, the girls loved the flowers

Momma and Alina in the lovely Bellagio atrium

Las Vegas Trip 2013: Vegas After Dark - Part I

Elise posing with daddy by The Luxor Sphinx

Mommy and Elise by the Sphinx

The Luxor lit up at night

The busy Vegas strip after dark

Vegas night lights

 

 

Vegas after dark, really is the ideal time for site seeing and exploring. 1. It's much cooler (translation: still damn hot, but not 100+ scorching degrees out) 2. You can walk a mile without sweating to death 3. The Vegas night lights shine all bright and things feel more festive 4. People watching goes into full force. The only downside to Vegas after dark is kids and their nightly schedule. This is why for one night, and one night ONLY, you let the kids stay up way past their bedtime and drag them along with you. You convince them that it will be fun, by telling them they may get to see a pirate show, a volcano erupt, and/or fountain display, then you choose one of those because unless you have multiple days or you've planned everything meticulously in advance, you will likely only get to fully see one of these options. As we all know, kids wear out fast, they are unpredictable, and are surely guaranteed to resist compliance at the most inopportune of times. That being said, out of all three of those options above, we ended up watching the Mirage Volcano strictly out of convenience. The girls were excited at first and walked all the way up to the railing for the closest view possible. When the show began, their excitement turned to indifference. Once the first round of scorching hot flames shot up from the water, they both made a beeline for the exit (translation - ran and hid behind daddy). After the show was over, Elise expressed how the pirate show would have been "way more fun". Note to selves, volcanos and kids don't mix, but hey at least we got to see a bit of Vegas after dark.

The Mirage after dark

The girls ready for the Volcano

The Mirage Volcano Eruption

Um yeah, they were not fans. No future volcanologists here

It was much more dramatic than what I remember as a kid

We managed to get a family shot after the chaos

Las Vegas Trip 2013: Vegas With Kids

Statue of Liberty by New York, New York Hotel & Casino

New York, New York - Las Vegas

Meeting SpongeBob on the Las Vegas Strip

 

M&M's World

Coca-Cola and M&M's; I'm getting a toothache
just seeing these two side-by-side

Fun inside M&M's World

Monte Carlo statues

Monte Carlo river run

 

 

On our second day in Vegas (with kids), we did some sightseeing along the strip. The kids immediately gravitated toward M&M's World, so off we went. On our walk over we met SpongeBob, and this was definitely a highlight of the day for the girls. Elise was very excited and Alina was well, let's just say, "cautiously eager". There were plenty of other popular cartoon characters hanging out along the strip and the girls enjoyed pointing them all out.  M&M's World was a fun place for the kids to explore, and the girls enjoyed filling up their bags with plenty of multicolored sweets.

 

After the short walk along the strip, we headed back to our hotel as we had planned to take all the kids for an afternoon of swimming at the pool. The pool at our hotel, the New York, New York, was so-so at best, and fortunately we were given free entry passes to use the Monte Carlo pool, which has a standard pool, lazy river run, and a wave pool. The Monte Carlo pools were incredibly crowded, but given that it was a Saturday afternoon in August we weren't at all surprised. There were few kids at the pools, it was far more of an adult party (I mean this is Vegas after all), but the kids didn't seem to mind as they spent most their time wading in the wave pool. When the waves started they scurried to the shallow end for rescue, until they finally got used to them and then started to enjoy the experience. It was fun watching the little cousins swim and play.

 

 

 

Statues outside the Monte Carlo

The crowded Monte Carlo pool area

Papa swimming with the kiddos

With the kids in the wave pool

 

Little cousins having fun in the pool

 

Little Alina after a fun swim day

Summer Family Photos 2013 - UC Davis Arboretum

Family Photo Summer 2013

Beautiful light, adorable subjects...LOVE

My favorites of the girls

 

Family shot; all smiles



With the girls turning 4 and 2 this summer, I decided it was time for new family photos. They've both grown up so much over the past couple years, and I wanted to do something fun and celebratory to mark the occasion. A huge thank you to Michelle McDaid, of Memories by Michelle, for these beautiful photos. I went into the session with high expectations, and she by far exceeded my initial hopes. At her suggestion, we chose the UC Davis Arboretum for our photo location. I couldn't have been happier with the variety of shots we got there. I've viewed the photos countless times, and each time I find more inspiration and love staring back at me. I included just a few of my favorites here, but there are so many great ones. She really captured the essence of our family and the love that we share. I plan to post a few more up for Alina's birthday post, so stay tuned.

Mommy and her beautiful girls



Love this photo of us; perfect sunset light



Playful silliness, plenty of laughs and smiles

 

Family shot in the redwoods

 

In the beginning, it was just us. I love you more today
than ever before because of the life we've made together