kamping

The vast majority of our friends camp.

We do not.

While this has been a non-issue for most of my life, kids -- shockingly -- have made this a complication, as all they want to do is "go camping like their friends."

Thank goodness for cabins.  Or, should I say kabins as the clever marketing people at the KOA have branded them.

This fall break I took the kids down to San Diego with some friends.

To say the kabins were a hit is an understatement.  A place where bunk beds are only trumped by

a porch swing.

Let me reiterate.  I. do. not. camp.  We own no camping gear.  I came armed with an electric kettle (the kabin had an electrical outlet).  It's amazing how much you can make with hot water -- cup o noodles, instant mac n cheese, coffee, need I go on?

We spent one of the days at Sea World.

(that's how the gangsters roll with one polka dotted legging up, right?)

After all that kamping, we had to stop at Fin's on the drive back.  I mean mommy earned that -- being all by myself!

Happy fall break!

leo carillo = lots of stuff to see

I have to admit,  we don't venture toward Los Angeles too often.  Mostly because, well, there are a lot of people when you head south.

Our friends convinced us to meet them at Leo Carillo Beach for low tide and I have to say.  I'm glad we went.

My kids are very satisfied with playing in the sand and just like being in the water.  My friend's kids like to do stuff.   And, this beach has lots of stuff to do.

There were the tide pools.

Caves to play in.

Because what's better than playing in a cave?

Playing in sand in a cave, or course.

And, there were tons of rocks to climb on.

The only drawback was that you can only wade in the water.  You can't really swim or boogie board as there are too many rocks.  

But, all in all another great beach.  

Thanks friends!

wish this little face lived closer to us

Was (finally) going through pictures from (early) July and found some I took of little Ariana.

We did a little trip this summer with her to Monterey in August (still haven't even gone through those pictures) which was really fun.  Her mom Lyndsay and I said we need to plan a little vacay with our families annually (I didn't forget) which I am totally committed to.

Because it's way too easy to lose track of friends who aren't in your everyday life of school, Daisy scouts, swim lessons, soccer, etc.

drowning

... in fun, that is.  

That would be body surfing ladies and gentlemen even though the particular shot above may look otherwise.

We've been keeping busy with friends and family, parades, fireworks, camps and a short road trip this summer, but we've still managed to clock the minimum requisite beach time for our family (which is admittedly lot).

The other day we didn't have enough boogie boards for all the kids, so they decided to go back to the old standard of bodysurfing. 

We hit the beach one day with our out of town cousins.

This little guy won me over that week.

Another day Katie finally braved getting on Papa's stand up paddle board.

Papa said she was white-knuckled holding onto the board.

She was quite proud of herself afterwards.

Man, I love summer.

the band

Katie and her friend Parker have been talking about starting their band for awhile now.

They've discussed playlists, literally drawn out who will be playing what instruments and where they will stand.  A litany of friends will hypothetically be "in" the band in any given discussion.

They've done just about everything except actually play together.

The other night they test-drove some instruments at Parker's house.

"I think I should still play the ukulele and Parker play the piano though," Katie told me later.

Can't wait for the first time they "play out."

In the meantime, here are some "performances" for you fans (a.k.a. uncles, aunts and grandparents) out there.

Father's Day song.



Video from her school's variety show.

happy

WEEKEND!

snippets of xmas

Lots going on in the land of the Little Wickies.

Katie taught Mo about her mantra "more is better" when decorating our gingerbread house.

Because even in Candyland, there are hoarders...

Katie sang at the Christmas Eve service.

Mo slept through the Christmas Eve service.

We visited huge Christmas light displays.

In the midst of the melee of the weekend, Katie lost her second tooth.

And, then there was Christmas day itself.

There was the inevitable chaos of kids ripping into presents

And, smiling faces.

And of course, there were the surprise "big hit" gifts like the voice enhancers that no one seemed to be able to put down.

Hope you and your family had a Merry one!

a christmas greeting from california

It's been almost two years since our friends Ellie, Lara and Luca left for Italy.

Hopefully we can do a third one of these someday in the future...

boys 2 men 2 dads

circa 1996

September 2002

November 2011

While they still act like teenage boys together at times, these boys have truly grown up and are dads to a pretty cute bunch of kids (yes, I'm obviously biased here).

We finally met the new addition Justin this month. Boy, I forgot how much they sleep at this age!

I took pictures of his sleeping feet, hands, etc. while I waited to shoot him.

I always love the tennis ball head baby fuzz...

Finally he woke up. What a cute boy.

Maybe someday we'll get all the 2036 crew and kids together, or at least a couple more of them.

Note to self: work on indoor night time photography...

introducing baby ariana

Visited my dear friend Lyndsay for four days earlier this month and finally got to meet baby Ariana in person.

She is a cute little thing, very smiley (like her mom).

Of course, I had to stage a photo shoot. The more babies I take pictures of, the more I lament not having a dSLR when my kids were babies. *Sigh*