we survive

Why am I wearing my winter jacket and sandals to work today!? 

Because I live in Minnesota, and it's March 31.

We have almost survived the winter, and I for one couldn't be happier about it. 

{Even if it is supposed to snow 4 inches on Sunday. Bleh to you, Mother Nature. Bleh.}

st patty

When I started writing this post, I seriously couldn't believe it had been a year since this one.
How are they getting so big so fast!?
And yes, Jacks is wearing the exact same outfit as last year.
In fact, he is four inches taller and the exact same weight.  When will that happen to me??

{Side note : Jacks is now picking out his own clothes.  At first, this meant he had a track suit for every day of the week.  Yesterday, he cried because we couldn't find a tie that fit him right.  He wears a dress shirt every day if I let him.  Oh, how will it be when Fin wants to change five times a day!?!?}

{Side note x 2 : I dropped Fin off at a different daycare today since her daycare Mom is on vacation.  When I told them her name, they asked if she was Irish.  That made me remember I hadn't yet put these pictures on the blog yet....and no, we're still not Irish.  Although I'm pretty sure in college I tried to drink like I was.}

So here you go....my Little Leprechauns circa 2011 St. Patty's Day.

As you can see by the glazed eyes, Finster had pneumonia.  

SUMMER!!!?  WHERE ARE YOU!?

to marry a geek {and i say that with love}

Well, I'm pretty sure I knew it would happen.

The day would come when the hubs came home with an iPad 2.

Now, let me tell you - it had rules from the wife.

You know, like you sure as hell better probably should sell the old one before you get a new one?

Well, it was on Craigslist for a total of 28 minutes before he was driving to meet the buyer of the old 'Pad.

I know I sound like a total hater, but really I do love the thing.

And with the new camera, it has been a source of some great entertainment...for me AND my non-clothes-wearing kiddos.

a few found

I found a few random pictures and thought I'd post them...

If you can't find the Finster, she may be laying by one of the doorstops...just listening.

During one of my favorite parts of the day.

Right after Fin goes to sleep, getting some cuddle time with my little man.

Probably the only part of the day where he is actually sitting still.

With a big brother around, you never know how your day is going to go.

This day was full of stickers on the face. "Baby Make-Up" is what Jacks called it.

A random little photo from Brad's company party.

Happy Monday, y'all. 

california - day four

Here we are, the last day of our trip, Wah.

Although I was SO anxious to see our kids, I was not looking forward to leaving the amazing weather.

We spent the day trolling around the streets of San Diego.

 

 I'm not sure why, but I was so obsessed with this old building, and especially this window.

 

After a huge breakfast, we went to Coronado Island...

We rented bikes and rode around the island.  It was so much fun, and made me long for summer when we can ride with the kiddos again.

{I will NOT have a basket however}

Back to the mainland for a late lunch on the street...

And then desert.  Scrumptious.

After a LOOOOOONG nap,

{yep, we decided that since a nap is a foreign language for us, we wanted to stop sight-seeing and take a nap. It was such a perfect decision.}

we got ready for an over-the-top dinner.

 

Overlooking the gorgeous ocean, and some wonderful seafood.

 OK, and add champagne to my martini, and this gal is giddy.

Our adorable server brought us this delish desert when we were finished.  

So yes, if you're counting, that's TWO deserts for the day.

{Uh hemmm....I can't figure out why I gained four pounds on the trip.}

And on to our last stop.

We had heard from a few different people that we couldn't miss going to Vin de Syrah on our trip.

It is the most adorable little wine parlor, all Alice in Wonderland themed.

This is the front entrance...

 

Since it was a Sunday night, it was fairly empty, which we loved...but there was one exception.

The most entertaining group of women I have ever met, having a Mad Hatter party.

They invited me in, and if I lived in SD, I'm fairly certain we would become quick friends.

They were also quick to offer to take pictures of Brad and I...

When we got back to the hotel, we snapped this quick on our way in.

It had just started raining, and didn't stop until our plane left the next morning.

 It was the perfect end to a perfect trip - definitely making us want to be home even more.

{If you want to read what the kids were up to at the Newmans' house....you can check it out here.}

california - day three

Day three: Saturday

We started the morning later than anticipated.  The best part of the trip was that we were pretty much on NO schedule.  Sleeping in until 8:00am?  That is unheard of in our house, so we were OK with taking our time to get on the road.

We checked out, got packed up, and were on our way down the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego.

Brad said this was his favorite part of the entire trip.  {Besides me hyperventilating over Chucky}

It was an awesome 82 degrees on our drive, and we were in heaven!

I know, I'm a sucker for back-lit palm trees, what can I say!?

And with a convertible to shoot them from...there are more than a few on my camera.

This was my sad attempt at taking a picture of one of the most gorgeous cars we have ever seen following us through Laguna Beach.  Also included, one of the most beautiful women we've ever seen driving it.  Short of turning around and snapping her picture, I did my best...
Brad was disappointed we didn't get a better shot!

I whip my hair, people.

GORG.  Nothing but complete gorgeousness.

Don't you love how you can see B holding the camera??  Hee hee.

Waiting for Brad, I decided to show how I spent my trip in the car.  And a bird flew RIGHT into my shot. 

Oh, Karma...apparently my camera was on your good side!

Having a quick cocktail at the hotel once we settled in.

And then...it was off to see ANG!  So blessed to have great friends to visit when we were out there.

 And I'm fairly certain there were some major shenanigans being told between the two of us here.... Love you, lady!

california - day two

Cali - day two started out at Universal Studios.

Since I couldn't get tickets to Ellen, this was second best :)

I remember LOVING Universal as a kid, so I was excited to go back, and knew it would be right up Brad's alley.

I also love the fact that we took so many pictures together.  I have a ton of randoms I took through the park, but since they're boring to anyone that wasn't there with us, I'll keep those to myself!  We rarely actually take a picture together, so we are set for a good year.

And then this is the point in the day where we needed to sit down...

I really can't believe I'm even telling this part of our day, as it was the WORST part of the trip for me.

The House of Horrors.

What we thought was going to be a museum of sorts that showed artifacts from scary movies just happened to be the most horribly scary haunted house I have ever seen in my life.

I wish I was kidding when I mentioned the following facts:

1} I was squeezing B's hand so hard he lost the feeling in his thumb.

2} I screamed bloody murder so hard and so many times my throat was sore the rest of the day.

3} I saw Child's Play when I was in fourth grade, and the REAL LIVE Chucky was enough to send me into hyperventilation when he touched me. 

4} Yes, they touch you.

5} As I was trying to catch my breath when we were done, Brad asked if I needed to stop.  I hung my head down and started crying. 

True story.  Like I said, down-right embarrassing.

If you want to see how truly scary it is, Ellen sent one of her staff members through....you can't tell how pitch black it was though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO-Ryd0MRIE

Needless to say, we sat down for a beer after that.

{Uh huh, my thoughts exactly}

Friday night, we were off to one of the most exciting parts we had planned for our trip...seeing ERIK!

He recently moved to LA, and we were pumped to be able to see him, it had been WAY too long.

{Don't worry, people...not only was he in our wedding, my hubs took the picture}

I just truly adore this man.  

Without him, there wouldn't be a Rach and Brad {he introduced us!}