gentleman, please.

His first real "gentleman" haircut.

Choo-Choo!

I guess I could say it has become tradition to bring my kids to Zoomars during Halloween season over the years. Darren and I were one of the first ones to arrive so we got lucky and we were the only ones in the pen with the hungry little guinea pigs! Darren was squealing in delight whenever he handed/threw a carrot at the guinea pigs. He was like The Pipe Piper with all the guinea pigs scurrying at this feet. The quick movements of the rodents would cause him to quickly jump back and shuffle his feet backwards when they all would gang up on him for food. It was so funny.

^^A lady worker handed us a guinea pig to hold and told Darren, "This is Fred!"^^

^^Darren didn't like feeding the chickens and he was incredibly cautious when feeding the llamas. See his little hand of nervousness gently placing little pieces of lettuce along the railing? haha!^^

My boy is a lover of trains. The entire car ride to the petting zoo I kept saying we were going to ride a "choo-choo" even though I knew he had no idea what that meant exactly.

And just as I predicted, he lit up when he saw the mechanical train ride! During the ride he didn't look like he was having fun but I knew he was. It was all just really new to him!

^^Peek-a-boo!^^

 And don't worry, by round two he was a pro train rider...

San Clemente Beach

I have been highly jealous of the proper fall everyone else in the U.S. is getting right now while we are still baking in the heat. The only thing that will make me feel better is to remember that in a couple months while everyone is freezing, I can still be at the beach.
Last week I went out to lunch with friends in a cute little part of San Clemente and I just had to bring the family back to explore a new beach together! We ordered pizza, brought it to the beach, and soaked up much needed play and relaxation.

^^This beach had a ton of rocks which is right up my girls' alley. If you only knew the amount of rocks they have collected over the YEARS! Needless to say, it kept my kids pretty busy.^^

^^There is nothing better than new little toes in the water and sand for the first time. All four kids of pictures just like these. Love!^^

^^This boy.^^

California, thanks for the reminder why I live here...

2 month check-up

Weight: 12 pounds 4 ounces 62 percentile

Height: 22 1/2 inches 36 percentile

Head: 15 3/4 inches 87 percentile

GO! GO! GO!

I'm not going to lie. I have been dreading this soccer season. Mainly because of the heat I have to endure every Saturday and having to sit through soccer practice every week with a baby, and my crazy toddler. And I confess, the competitor in me has a hard time not yelling, "WAKE UP! GET AGGRESSIVE! GO, GO! STOP HER!" at my sweet, non-aggressive little girl. (Ok, I do yell out those things...)

I may be small in stature but I have been always told that dynamite comes in small packages. So, don't mess with me. ;) Naturally, I expect the same from Marisa. But parenthood has its ways to teach me otherwise. And it has been a learning curve for me to sit back and let my children learn and figure things out on their own.

So here we are. Trying out soccer season #2. Marisa loves it and for that I am glad. Plus, she has pink uniforms this year. And I like pink a lot.

So...GO PINK PANTHERS!

first day of school

This is probably the first time while looking through my lens that I didn't recognize my own subjects. Who are these girls? When did they get so big?

Marisa and Natalie are excited to finally attend the same school together.  They both have phenomenal teachers and we are all looking forward to what this school year has in store for us! We were all smiles this morning!