Bummin' At The Beach House

Our buddies the Cannon's were in town last week and they rented a beach house on Mission Beach. Their little girls are close to Ella in age and they get along like a dream. I wish they lived closer b/c we always have so much fun.

We got to bum around and use their beach house with them, which was heavenly btw. I dream of owning a beach house one day....Awwwe wouldn't that be killer?? Just steps away from the beach...hearing the waves crash as you woke up in the morning...salty sea air through your windows...a girl can dream right!?

Our lil Lifeguards

Making "sand cakes"

Ice cream break

Enjoying a sunset stroll on the beach

The parents seemed to have made it out of every picture.....Hmmm, we will have to remember that next time, too busy chatting I guess. We had such a great time hurry back soon!

Pippy Longstockings

Ella's 1st braids! Well sort of... there a bit Pippy Longstocking-ish and her hair is too fine for french braids, but hey it's a start....she's still perdy darn cute with em'

Strawberry Fields Forever

I have wanted to go to a U-Pick your own fruit fields, since I moved to Southern California. I finally got my chance last week at the Carlsbad Strawberry Fields. This place is full of rows and rows of strawberries fresh from the vine. It's like a sea of strawberries. Ella is our little treasure hunter and this activity was right up her alley. It was like, trick-or treating, Easter egg hunts, and treasure hunting, all rolled into one for the lil tike. She grabbed her bucket and got to work! So funny b/c she was the most excited to find the green strawberries saying: "Wow mom, the have green strawberries here to!" We had to let her know to search for the brightest red ones, since she had filled our bucket almost half full with her "cool green ones" She quickly got the hang of it and along with our fellow strawberry lover friends, the Cannon's, we have been enjoying our fresh findings ever since....Strawberry shortcake anyone?? Yes, please! Mmmm.

Look Both Ways Before Crossing The Street

Remember THIS?

Well....I was lucky enough to be another witness for Dan's final in his advanced trial advocacy class. This time instead of Ms. Imelda North, drug addict and dealer, (whom everyone on the jury hated btw) I got to be the sweet Mrs. Alice Mallory, a 47 year old school crossing guard with poor eyesight. This time I was the jury's favorite witness (Awe it's nice to be liked) Maybe I chose the wrong profession, b/c it's so much fun to get to be an actor and pretend to be a whole other person. I had fun in this role and was much more cool and calm when they cross witnessed me. (I'm more experienced now being my second trial and all :) Of course Dan rocked this one too! (Our side won...again! yay.) I have to say he is smokin' hot while tearin' it up it court. I love seeing him as this don't mess with me lawyer in action. I am one proud wifey for sure. I love that I get to see and understand better how the court system works. It’s nice to have an insider perception and now when he talks in his lawyer language, I might understand him a wee bit better.

They didn't let us take any pictures inside the court this time (I'm sure Dan was over the moon for that rule...lucky break for him) So this is my interpretation of a crossing guard, I needed the big red stop sign and whistle, but this will have to do. Convincing?? I'm not really the crossing guard type. Good thing the jury believed me!

And The Award Goes To.....

My Mr!

Dan's law school, gave him not 1 but 2 different awards b/c he is so very awesome and deserves it for all the hard work he does. (I get bragging rights, having survived living through almost 3 years of law school don't I?!) Really though, Dan is a superstar in my mind. They way he juggles everything he does, gets great grades, works two jobs, and still has time to be a loving father and husband is beyond me. He amazes me everyday! Congrats hubbs, you deserve to be recognized for all the hard work you do!

Here are the certificates from his awards and he gets to wear a few more special tassels with his graduation robe! You are the bestest, we are so very proud of you. Whoop! Whoop!

Cook? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Cook!

Our buddies Kim and Ian, invited us out for dinner to celebrate Kimmy's birthday. They found this steak place where you grill your meat yourself, with all the fixin's to season it on top. We were our own top chefs! The name of this restaurant, you might gasp at....wait for it....It's called 'The Strip Club'. Yep that’s right, we had our date at the local strip joint. This place was really good and had such a fun atmosphere. And just to clarify, there was nothing naked about this restaurant. Even the waitresses were fully clothed. We checked the place out and not even a stripper pole :) Just strip steaks. It is kind of funny that they make you cook your own meal. What are you paying for right?! Thanks for the invite guys; we’ll hit up the strip club with you anytime ;)

EGGstatic!

Hoppy Easter Every Bunny!!

I guess 3 is Ella’s lucky number. Like a repeat of Valentines Day, the bean got 3 different egg hunts this year. The Easter Bunny sure must love her :)
Egg Hunt #1- Pre-School

This Egg hunt was very cleaver, they gave each kid an egg carton and when they filled it up, they were done looking for eggs. The kids loved that! And no one took off with a bunch of eggs, while leaving the younger kids to scramble for what was left. I think all egg hunts should have this as their rule. They also planted grass, did crafts, and had face painting. Fun stuff.

Egg Hunt #2- Playgroup

As some of you know, I'm in charge of playgroup in my ward and I'm also a holiday junkie so....of course we had to have an Easter egg hunt. It was a great turn out, the kids and the moms had a great time.

Egg Hunt #3- Stonecrest Community Easter Carnival

Dress to Impress! Thanks ML for her adorable Easter dress that Ella calls her “Cinderella dress” I curled her hair and she looked like a doll!

The community I live in has an HOA and when it comes to doing fun things for the kids who live here, they really excel! They had Face painting, Easter crafts, egg dying, bunny toss, an egg hunt, and the big Furry guy himself...The Easter bunny. To say Ella was excited to see the Easter Bunny would be a huge understatement! She was EGGstatic! Before he came out to meet the kids, Ella was happily doing her craft, when from the corner of her eye, she spotted the furry fella. She dropped everything and ran right into his bunny arms. She was sooo happy. It was adorable. She told him "Thank you for my Easter eggs, I love them so much!" I tell ya, Holidays are much more fun with kids!

Eggs To Dye For...

On the actual Easter day, we were lucky to have Dan home, since he didn't have to work on Easter. (Thank Goodness) Ella found her Easter basket 1st thing and I have to give her props b/c I hid it pretty well.

In between conference sessions, we dyed Easter eggs. Ella adores her daddy and was so thrilled to share her love for Easter with him. I love these two together, they have such a sweet relationship.

Getting' Crafty

Since we had all of these left over Easter eggs and nothing to do with them, why not turn it into a craft. Ella is quite the craft lover (I discovered this during pre-school) I found this templet and thought, hey why not?! We stayed up late and made a herd of EGGimals. I think they turned out party darn cute myself.

Funny side note: With all this Easter excitment in the air, Ella wanted to gather all her bunnies together, so I could "Take a family picture" silly girl.

Rattled Nerves

I had my 1st earthquake experience on Easter. There was a 7.2 Earthquake around Mexicali, Mexico, which is really close to the border. We went down to the beach after Conference and that’s when we felt it. It was such a weird feeling....Kind of like being dizzy and having motion sickness. At 1st I thought it was just from watching the waves (I know I'm an earthquake amateur) but then I saw all the cars in the Parking lot swaying back and forth simultaneously. Really crazy! It seemed like it lasted a while too. The whole beach was just buzzing; everyone was a little freaked out by it. I'm so glad we just felt it and that’s all, no harm was done. Funny thing, Ella didn't even notice it...this shocks me coming from a girl who is so particular and notices everything. She just kept right on gathering up seashells, while the rest of us had our nerves rattled.

Furry Friendship

Often times I'll hear Ella in her playhouse talking with her imaginary friends 'Rhello and Jelly' as they make some kind of soup of the day. But this last time, I heard lots giggles coming from her playhouse. I snuck into take a peek and this is what I saw....Looks like our kitty cat wanted to join in her fun. The cat loved it too b/c they were in there for close to 45 min. not kidding. Looks like it’s the making of a great friendship.

Cool Stuff

Polar Bear Plunge

Sad to say our zoo passes expired last month and we will be taking a break till after Dan's grueling bar to re-new. But luckily, we made it in time to see the zoo newest attraction "The Polar bear Plunge" Don't let these pictures fool you, we went on a hot, hot, day. They just put fake icecaps on everything in the exhibit. Ella loved all the interactive things there. The giant polar bear & the baby one, the huge books you can turn yourself, the caves you can crawl through and poke your head out the top, the fridges you can open and close, and the real helicopter you can play in at the end. I think SD zoo is one of the best, we have loved having a yearly pass and I'll just have to be patient and wait to re-new again....boo.

Besides the new polar bear exhibit, we did manage to meet a few other friends during our day at the zoo.

Ella loves any kind of petting zoo, so what better way to end our yearly pass, then to personally say goodbye :) till next time....