Vacation Pictures

Our First Road Trip

2 weekends ago we took a road trip to Columbus, Ohio. We were there to go to James' birthday party and hang out with the family. It was a 3 nights/4 days type of trip. We left Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and got there a little before midnight. It took us 9 hours/15 minutes of driving, 2 rest stops, 3 states over, and a total of 12 hours of traveling all together for us to get there. Let me just say . . . . . it was a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong drive!! After all that time in the car, I've come to realize "I don't think I can ever drive across country . . . . I would go crazy!!"

Anyways, the kids were fairly good during our drive to Ohio. Alerina slept about 7 hours of the 9 hours of driving and Sebastian entertained himself by singing, talking to us, counting the cones/the bridges that we past by, or by just looking out the window. He did get a tad bit antsy at times but for the most part, he was fairly good :o)

James had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese on Sunday and the kids had a good ol' time :o). The rest of the time we were there, we just hung out and played with the kids. It was a good trip but it was way too short . . . . before we knew it . . . it was time to drive back home.

On the way back, it took us 9 hours and 4 rest stops. One of the stops the kids had a GREAT time because it had a playground in it. We left Ohio about 10:30 a.m. and got home about 9 o'clock.

It's nice to go on vacation from time to time but it's always good to be home :o)

Thank you, Brother and Sister-in-Law for letting us stay with you and showing us around . . . we had a GREAT time ~ see you next time :o)

A Special Birthday Shout Out . . . .

Happy 7th Birthday,

Koko James!

We hope you have a WONDERFUL Birthday!!
Hope it's a Birthday filled with LOTS
of Fun, Games, and Presents :o)

We love you very much!!!

Our anniversary

My hubby and I celebrated our 5 year Wedding Anniversary 2 weeks ago. Can't believe it's been 5 whole years!?!?!? Where do the time go???

Well . . . since it was a special day, I baked him his favorite muffins for breakfast. 2 dozens muffins, 2 loafs, and 2 hours later, he enjoyed them with his coffee :o) After breakfast, we headed out to town with the kids and did some errands. We've been talking about what we wanted to do/where we wanted to eat and so forth for the special day . . . so our plan was to eat at this Italian restaurant, Biaggi's, for lunch. Well, ever since we've discussed it, I thought about the restaurant and I couldn't wait to eat there!

Anyways, the place had a Maggiano's feel to it and like I suspected . . . the food was excellent!!! We had the stuffed mushrooms for appetizer - YUMMO, Hubby had the Chilean Sea Bass with mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach - EXCELLENT . . . the fish was crispy on the outside and tender, moist, and juicy on the inside and importantly, not fishy-like, I had rigatoni with Italian sausage, peppers, and tomato - YUM, and for dessert, we had this banana foster (banana wrapped in crepe with rum/caramel-like sauce with vanilla ice cream) thing - can you say YUM!!!! Well, to our surprise, both kids were super-super great at the restaurant which made the food taste even EXTRA-EXTRA YUMMO!!! This is definitely a restaurant worth coming back to!

Well, like I said earlier . . . . can't believe it's been 5 years!!!! Just wanted to say to my dear Hubby . . . . . "It's been a GREAT 5 years!! Can't wait to see what adventures lies ahead for us in the future ~ with you by my side, I'm ready for anything!! Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary, Honey! Love you very much!"

To all the Mothers out there . . . .

Happy Mother's Day :o) - enjoy this special day!

A mother is a person who seeing there are only 4 pieces of pie for 5 people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.
~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. ~Adabella Radici

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. ~George Herbert

There's nothing like a mama-hug. ~Adabella Radici

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

The mother's heart is the child's school-room. ~Henry Ward Beecher

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. ~Abraham Lincoln

[A] mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled. ~Emily Dickinson

Time to cool off . . .

It got to a whopping 84 degrees the other day and the kids were hot-hot-hot. We were out and about and when we got back in our car . . . . it was so TOASTIE that we had to cool off with some treats when we got home.

It was Alerina's first ice cream cone and let me tell you . . . she REALLY enjoyed it!!! Of course as always, Sebastian enjoys a good ice cream cone no matter what the weather is like outside!

What???? On a weekday???

It's strangely odd around here but people do not wait till the weekends to have a garage sale. Garage sale is huge out here!! Whether it's the middle of the week or the weekends, people do come and buy-buy-buy! I'm not just talking about 1 house having the garage sale, I'm talking about "Block-Party Garage Sale" in the middle of the week!!! How strange is that? I personally find it strange because I guess I'm used to LA weekend garage sales only . . . . . not running into a mad rush of cars and people buying goods while walking around the block on a Wednesday evening?!?!?!

Anyways, I've gone mad at trying to find where the next garage sales will be. I've been to 3 so far (2 on a weekday, 1 on a weekend) and I seem to find really-really-really exciting goods at them. Can't wait to see what I'll find at the next one :o)

Some of my "I'm super-excited" great finds . . . .