At the Drive-In

Last night we went to the drive-in for the first time with the girls.

We saw Horton Hears a Who.

Very cute movie! Avery loved it, but I think she enjoyed bundling up in the back of the car with blankets and pillows even more. She was so excited! Finley, on the other hand, just wanted to move, climb, and crawl, around. That made it a little hard for the rest of us to enjoy the show, but we still had fun! I had to remind Paul that we go to the drive-in for the experience- for the nostalgia of it all, and NOT for intense movie watching.

It is a pretty cool thing we have here- drive-in theaters are a dying breed! My sister Tiffany, her friend Beth, and brother Robert all came with us too- none of them had ever been to a drive-in! So, it was a first almost everyone in our party (Paul and I were the only exceptions)! The first one I ever went to was in the Bay Area years ago. It is gone now- in its place is a huge shopping complex and a megaplex theater with stadium seating. I guess that has been the fate of most drive-ins. I can only hope we will be able to enjoy the one here for a long time to come!

Strawberry Season!

I got my first strawberries of the season last night at farmer's market!

They are oh so very yummy! We ate them with whipped cream last night and made smoothies with them this morning! I am in heaven!

A local strawberry farmer told me this trick for making your berries last longer.... AND IT WORKS! I thought I would share! That way, you can take advantage of the price break you get when you buy a half or even a whole flat and not worry about them going bad before you can eat them all!

So here you go.... (start with fresh, UNWASHED berries)

Enjoy!

Kelly McCaleb Photos

So, these are just a FEW of my favorites from our shoot with my dear friend Kelly McCaleb while we were up in Utah. I love, love, LOVE her natural, casual, comfortable style- nothing is ever stiff or too "posed". She lives in the Salt Lake Valley and does photo shoots (and other amazing crafty things too) up there, so contact her (through her blog) if you live there or are going to be up there visiting. She is awesome! I am also trying to get her to come down (or over?) to SLO for a visit over the summer and I MIGHT be able to get her to do some photo shoots while she is here- just imagine what she could do at the beach! Let me know if you are interested and I will start a list! If I can entice her with a little work (+ little play+ a LOT of relaxing at the beach), she will HAVE to come, and that would make me happy!

Easter Weekend Fun

We had a busy, but FUN weekend!

Egg Hunt at church on Saturday

An 80 degree afternoon at the beach!

(yet another reason to LOVE San Luis Obispo in the spring)

Easter Morning

(a little rushed with 9 a.m. church,

but there was still PLENTY of time for excessive candy consumption!

It was also a special treat to have daddy home- NO early meetings today!)

Sunday afternoon...
I just had to get a few photos of the girls in their adorable Easter dresses!






The Easter Bunny, dyeing eggs, candy, baskets, and pretty new dresses are all wonderful and fun things we associate with this special holiday, but THE BREAD OF LIFE is a great new video that really helped our family remember the REAL reason we celebrate Easter! Watch. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

3 days of celebration

On the 1st Day of Avery's Birthday....

we had a fun party with friends and family, even after much CRAZINESS in the 36 hours leading up to the big day! Initially, we were going to have her party at the park. Then, the weather report said it was going to rain, so we conditionally moved the party to our house, if it did in fact rain. The thought of having everyone here while things are still torn up stressed me out to no end (when normally I am always up for hosting a party- ALWAYS), so we moved the party to Grandma Lee and Pa's clubhouse. Whew! Once the FINAL plan was in place, we moved forward and had a great time! Avery just had a wonderful time running around and playing with friends. With Finley's birthday just being a month ago, Avery REALLY got into the whole birthday thing- party, cake, presents, etc... No coaching needed!

On the 2nd Day of Avery's Birthday...

her ACTUAL birthday, which also happens to be St. Patrick's Day, we went to the Avila Barn (yahoo, it is open again!) to feed the animals, play "pirate princess" in the toy section, and enjoy the beautiful day! We then went and had lunch downtown. Avery got a birthday sundae at the end of the meal, but no one sang to her, which she was disappointed by. She turned to her Noni and me and asked us, "You sing Happy Birthday to me?" How could we say no? We sang (quietly) which at least seemed to placate her. After lunch, we walked around, along with a slew of drunken St. Patty's day partiers (in the MIDDLE of the day) and a parade of bag pipers. Good wholesome fun! The eventful afternoon was followed by a quiet family evening of pizza, cupcakes, and more present opening.

On the 3rd day of Avery's Birthday...

there was another celebration for her at preschool. I sent along some "spring-y" treats

- flower cookies in pots of "dirt". Avery helped "plant" the flowers, which she was incredibly proud of (she also ate her share of "mess- ups"). When I picked her up from Tiny Tigers, she was so excited to show off her birthday crown!

According to her teacher, her face lit up when they sang Happy Birthday to her and put the crown on her head, which she then refused to take off all day! There is no denying that she enjoys being the center of attention!

It has been fun, but... the celebration is FINALLY over!

At least until next year!