Strawberry Patch

"Twist and pull!" is the reminder that my oldest child gave her younger siblings as we headed out to the strawberry fields this morning.

Ironically, just the other day when I had already noted on my calendar to take the kids to pick their own strawberries, Marisa randomly asked, "When are we going to go pick strawberries again like we did last year? That was fun." Perfect timing!

The gray clouds, light wind, and the sun peeping out every once in awhile still made for what is looking like another memorable family tradition. Luckily, South Coast Farms, a local farm fav, is close to us to easily make this a yummy yearly trip.

Marisa told me that her favorite thing was that when she twisted and pulled the strawberries off the vine that it would make a kind of popping sound. And I would have to agree! Fresh, delicious strawberries never sounded better!

Natalie was proud to show off the tiniest little strawberry she found. And she is also recounting the many ways we can use all the strawberries we pick, like, strawberry cupcakes, strawberry drink, strawberry smoothies, strawberry frosting...

Cara was surprisingly indifferent to the whole experience. I don't think she liked the uneven ground she had to trek through or the fact that she was mostly likely cold. Poor parenting on bringing her a sweater. Sorry baby. 

Back and forth...

row by row...

With good team effort we collected 12 pounds of strawberries! When we got home we made an assembly line of cutting and storing the strawberries in gallon sized ziplock bags. I have a feeling it isn't going to last too long.

a year of disney

With the older girls now both in school all day I knew this year would be the perfect year to get a Disneyland pass for me so I could take advantage of spending some extra quality time with my two littles. I very much enjoyed a few girls nights with friends and having my fun mother-in-law join us just about every time as well. Great perks to living in Southern California!

Darren and Cara both hated "Pirates of the Carribean" and cried in the dips every time but they both loved "It's a Small World" and "Storybook Land Canal Boats" with "Buzz Lightyear" as Darren's absolute favorite. Clearly, I need to toughen my kids up. With my pass coming to an end I thought I would show our Disney year in review!

Until next time Disney!

Feelin' 22...

well...more like 32, but who is really counting? Bring on another year!

18 month check

Fiercely independent. Curious. Best facial expressions. Always happy. Loves her puppy, baby doll, and blankie.

{weight: 23 lbs 1 ounce 57 percentile

height: 30 3/4" 18 percentile

head: 18.70" 82 percentile}

Darren had his 3 year check-up at the same time so here are his stats for journaling purposes:

Weight: 31 pounds 40 percentile

Height: 37 1/2" 45 percentile

Happy 34th!

It is true. Life gets sweeter over time and growing older with my love is just too fun! We celebrated Tim's birthday this year in true California style for my true California boy. Breakfast at Ruby's on Huntington Pier and shopping at the one and only store he will shop at only once a year. Truly!

We continued to celebrate throughout the day some more for dinner at an Argentine restaurant called, Villa Roma. There is a restaurant side to the place and a more casual cafe/store on the other side. We ate in the cafe part where it felt more authentic being surrounded by Argentines and genuine products from Argentina. (Tim lived in Argentina for 2 years and has many fond memories of the people and food there. This wasn't our first time here but it had been awhile.)
Tim ordered the popular Argentine "Vacio" dish while the rest of us had empanadas and pizza. And we had to try the popular pastry called, "Facturas". We ate it as a dessert although it is typically a breakfast pastry, but whatev! It was good!

Happy 34th Tim! We love you so much!