April and May adventures

The weather in Cali has been so nice, and we have definitely tried to make the most of it, with many visits to our neighborhood pool, bike rides, playdates, slip and slides, fun recipes, soccer, hikes... we love our family and friends :) These are the highlights!

 The girls love their bikes/scooters- and we have been hitting the pavement a lot lately! And, it is always fun to have their friends come along... especially these girls who are almost the same ages.

 Every Wednesday, Maddie has soccer practice and games on Saturday... at first, we thought soccer was going to be a big drag of a commitment, but we ave genuinely loved the team/kids so much. We have happily stayed with the same coach and families for 3 seasons now-  they are great - and we really look forward to talking with them and see the girls improve each week...and both Emilie and Sebastian are both excited to start soccer soon too!

 Walking to school is always fun... we are soooo lucky to live 1/2 block from Maddie's school-when we hear the bell, we just leave our front door. Can't get better than that.

Steve took the kids on a hike while I drove to Half Moon Bay to go on a run on the beach. It was amazing. I love running bear feet...

 We joined the "cabana club" in our neighborhood... not sure whyt  it's called a Cabana club, but I guess it's just a fancy way of describing a neighborhood pool. We were a little hesitant to join at first, but we have LOVED having a pool where we can swim all summer long whenever we want... and we can bike there too- which has been the best. Our goal for the summer is to get Emilie to swim- so we have semi private lessons for both of the girls. It has been a slow start, but with the help of Trader Joes Loli pops and some serious patience on everyone's parts, we are praying it sticks!

 This guy has also loved hang'n out by the pool and practicing his newly acquired crawling skills!!! (See more below)

 We took Maddie's friend out to Color Me Mine for an afternoon- and I couldn't believe how they could paint for 2 hours. They don't have that kind of patience at home, but just love picking out the colors and spending time there... good times!


 I haven't been the best temple goer in my lifetime, but I'm trying to go more- and these ladies, and the people in our church go every weekend- so I have no excuse. I was able to go with this beautiful lady to my left though the temple- she is 85! And, in the best shape, and very with it. I can only be so lucky when I get up there...

 My friend gave us this awesome walker- and Sebastian didn't really take to it for a couple of weeks, but now is the master of this thing- through doorways, around corners, and runs faster than our walk. We even took it outside on the playground, and he was laughing so hard with all of his new found freedom. Even though our pediatrician isn't super fond of these things (broken femurs when they collapse?), I just can't NOT use it. We love it!! Thanks so much Candace!

 We have been trying to walk more... but at some point everyone gets tired, and this is what I ended up pushing... not bad I guess!

 We have a chef friend- who taught us how to make this papaya/mango/red onion/green pepper/orange juice/lemon juice etc salad that is to DIE for. I love it- it is my favorite new thing- and Steve and I have to fight over the juice on the bottom of the bowl when it's done...

So lucky to have these girls in my life- we pampered ourselves at the pool at Hotel Valencia in Santana row with pedicures, with a visit to Burke Williams, and dinner. Way too short really, but I had such a great time just spending time with them. I tried a new treatment I've never done before- and I really won't do it again- let's just say I'm not a fan of detox/hot treatments. I think I'll go back to the signature facial next time :)

 We tried "Farm Fresh To You" for a while and loved it- the carrots/produce/apples/oranges seriously tasted SO much better than I've ever had. Not sure if it was because they were organic, or because they were just from the farm, but we could all taste a difference. The only problem is the cost- which isn't cheap- so we canceled, but maybe someday when we are trillionaries, we'll call them up again :)

 We had a playdate with Maddie's best friend and colored eggs for Easter which is always fun. This picture makes me sad because they will be moving soon- which is a real real bummer. But, alas.

 Our great friend hosted a great Easter egg hunt at her house (bless her soul for having so many people over to her house), and the kids had a great time finding all of the eggs- especially the ones with money in them!
Great tradition.

 Love little B in the background!

 Grandma S gave Steve a slip and slide for Christmas and we have been anxious to try it out- so far it has been a hit- and the kids have loved it. Of course they always complain about it being cold at first, but we are going to be pulling this bad guy out lots of times this summer!

 Love that face!

Our also super sweet friend invited us over for Easter dinner- and she decorated this adorable table for Maddie and Emilie with super cute books and treat bags. I was so touched at how thoughtful she was.

 She also invited the missionaries over... she is facing terminal cancer, which reminds me a lot of my mom. And, I felt so greatful that she invited us for dinner- she is doing great. We love Faye!

 Steve had some fun memories of April Fools Day growing up- and so we will be starting this with our kids of course! This year, we did the "cardboard in the pancake" trick, and the kids thought it was super funny. Ha ha ha.

 She took a picture perfect bite out of this pancake/cardboard- super funny!

 Steve took the kids on a hike- go him! They always have tons of fun going outside, and just getting away...

 The great hikers..

 You ok Emilie? Sunscreen in your eyes??

 Maddie has really been getting into cooking lately, and wanted to make us dinner with a menu and all. So- she picked out a kids cookbook and make us inside out spaghetti, fruit salad, quesadillas... it was awesome.
We were so proud of her!

 This is her menu that she wrote out!

 Our church has been doing some volunteer projects lately- and Steve was in charge of the "Full Circle Farm" project- they were doing the work so fast that we finished 1 hour early, so they had to figure out stuff for us to do. I wish I could have helped more, but not much you can do with a 9 month old! The girls had a great time, though...

 One of my favorite ladies..

 Nothing more fun than a pile of dirt.

 A teacher at Maddie's school donated this little dinosaur to us, and Sebastian has loved it. He cruises around with this thing, and is starting to get in a lot of trouble!!! I need to child proof and fast!

 I love his little body in these jammies...

 To be honest, it has been a bit rough these past months with friends leaving, and us changing church congregations, but there have been a couple of gems that I've met- who I love. I hope that we will continue to build our friendships- especially when they involve spa treatments. Around our town- we have tons of these $20 massage places (oddly?), and they are amazing. Seriously rival the professional places if you ask my opinion- especially for that price! We had a great time....

 This little cutie signed up for her school walkathon to raise money... and she decided that she wanted to walk 30 laps. I thought it was a pretty lofty goal, and I wasn't sure if we were even going to walk 10 laps, but even in the super hot heat of 90 degrees or so, she walked 33 laps! 7 miles! I was soooo proud of her. After every couple of laps or so, I'd ask her if she was done, and she would quickly walk past me and shout "no, way! I want to walk the whole time." And she did. This girl will do what she puts her mind to.

 One of the gem families we've met as of late, have a cute little girl that gets along with our girls like she was part of the family. She and Emilie play super well, and seem to have the same silly humor/temperament... which just warms my heart. They played for a morning and had a great time.

 Our cute little guy. Such a blessing to our family and a major answer to our prayers.

And, last  but not least, I have been slightly obsessed with coconut lately. So, we made a coconut/strawberry cake, and it was super good....

 Pretty without strawberries...

and with...