Allora Handmade Love

Oh my, I love my Allora necklace! I bought it at The Queen Bee Market in May. And I wore it every day. And then I lost it. I wish I knew what happend. I think Curren might have acutally thrown it away!?

To make me feel better Mags drew me a new one! LOVE her.

san diego botanical gardens

Last week, a few friends and I took our kiddos down to this fantastic local garden north of san diego. This is the same place Aron sent me for my birthday back in November of last year for a day of renewed life vision and reflection. We spent most of our time in the Hamilton Children's Garden, where the kids could climb an amazing treehouse, play music, build, play in sand, draw on giant chalkboards, see butterflies, float boats in water (Curren jumped off rocks and laid in the water and LOVED this part best), and run around with friends.

Love time like this with my kiddos! If you live in the area, I *highly* recommend this place!

last disneyland night...for now

One thing we have put to good use this year is our Disneyland passes. Our last day to use them before many weeks of blackout dates this summer was on Tuesday night, so we took M and C and had a blast.

The weather was perfect, the crowds were not. However, the kids held up well. We started the night by waiting in line for 45 minutes for the new Ariel ride at California Adventure. Maggie was talking about it all day so of course, we had to do this first. Curren and I are pictured above in the clam shell seat waiting to see the story unfold before us. Next, we headed to a super fun area I hadn't realized existed--a fabulous play area for the kids, complete with slides, nets to climb, wobbly bridges, tunnels, caves, a tire swing. They could have spent all night there!

We ended our time at the "Bug's Life" section, doing bumper cars (Curren drove ours! and riding the caterpillar train. On the way out of the park, we stopped for ice-cream. And it's really good ice-cream. The kind that is worth the $4.50 you pay. Trust me.

And for the first time, we said "yes" to a sprinkled waffle cone for Maggie. Isn't it such a wonderful feeling when you throw caution to the wind and say "yes" to your kids? Sometimes we all need to break free from the rules and systems we have in place for our family (which are needed and good things) and just say "yes" more. Very freeing and a memory Maggie will keep for a long time.

preschool ends+pretend city+starbucks

Last Friday marked the end-of-year field trip for Maggie's preschool class and we visited a local children's museum called Pretend City, where kids can use their imagination to become a fisherman, doctor, dentist, checker, gardener, builder, actor, and firefighter to name a few. Maggie spent the majority of her time in the grocery store, garden, and doctors's offices.

My mother-in-law watched my two little kiddos and it was *absolutely* fantastic to just focus on Maggie for over 4 hours. We first met some school friends at Corner Bakery for a special breakfast, then enjoyed the morning at Pretend City. Maggie had a ball and still can't stop talking about our time. A special way to end the first year of preschool to be sure.

Kate Evangeline: Month 10

What to say??! Kate's sweet smiles and joyful antics bring such joy to our family. She is fast learning many signs in sign langaage: more, all done, milk. She waves, just blew her first kiss tonight, plays peek-a-boo with a blanket, sticks her tongue out when you do, and loves to do "so big" with her arms.

What a great gift of God's marvelous grace she is. Truly.

what we've been up to

Dog watching
Popcorn eating
Smoothie drinking
Lounging
Teeth losing
Starbucks treat sharing
Water coloring