Not too long ago

me and my friend andi would go on all these fun outings with your girls (this back when we each had one little lady).  Andi and I both have a love of good food and while we love a good baked good any good food will put a smile on our face.  

So in our adventures food is always involved.

We are now a group of six but the fun and the food are just the same.

Today we went to some old favorites starting with a little eatery called Clementines

So yummy.

The last time we went it was national grilled cheese month this time it was not but that is okay I got one anyway.

It had sharp cheddar and a sweet tomato chutney on country white and it was tasty.

Andi got a watercress, cucumber, cream cheese and watercress that was awesome as well.

And for dessert there was a cupcake, a brownie, a blondie, a chocolate peanut butter bar, and a German chocolate cookie.  I tasted them all and was very very full and very very happy.

Next stop was LACMA 

The last time we went we just went to the boone children's gallery, 

this time we didn't even make it there but the girls enjoyed everything we saw.

Which included korean art,

 tube art, 

an exhibit called common place, 

metropolis II

 and a huge rock.

I am totally perplexed by the rock but I am sure it makes sense to some. 

Our final destination was another oldie but goodie

sweet lady janes

fruit tart 

key lime tart

princess torte

berry trifle

if i were alone in my house they would all be gone by me

i would eat them all and happily grumble over the tummy ache

but I am not home alone i have to practice some self control

otherwise people will get mad at me and say things like "hey that was supposed to be mine"

i try to teach sharing and sometimes it is harder than others to practice what I preach.  

A great great day.  Thanks Andi, cant wait to do it again.
as a side note I did blog about our first trip there and it was my second blog post, the now big girls were so cute.

what a great day

I take for granted that I live in a beach town

I know some people who go often

and I get it once you are there it is wonderful

the sound of the waves

the area my girls can cover without me hovering

the warmth of the sun 

total joy.

 

When we first arrived today it was cloudy but warm 

but as the day went on the sun broke through and it was just great.

 

I am working on giving dakota some room to roam

but at the same time keeping her safe.

so today she wanted to go wander the beach

she was with her friends so we moms gave them a pretty good distance

because it one direction there were very few people 

the rule was though if there were going to go they could only go into the water up to 

their ankles.  

All the girls can swim but the ocean is a whole other swimming ability.

So off they went to find sand dollars and practice their independence.

Of course not long after their outing ankles turned into knees and I couldn't the mom in me had to go and reign them in.  

Then miss dakota who was now in front of us went out to her waist and again I had that feeling of 

ahhhhh no not comfortable.

So after today I realized I need to get dakota into real swimming lessons so she can

be the girl swimming in the ocean that she wants to be

not that I will ever totally relax with her in the water but at least if I know she 

is a strong swimmer I will have a teensy tiny bit of calm.

Leela on the other hand was happy to stay and play in the sand.

She had a couple kiddos her age and they were having their own set of fun.

That is what I love about the beach it is an open place to play and there was something for both of my girls

and we were there for a long time and they were both happy the whole time.

looking back and today

I haven't been on here in a very long to and it was so nice sitting down 

last night and going through my old posts and old pictures.

for me blogging really made me quite the creative photographer 

and really what a great way to keep a scrapbook.

But also there is my dad, his thoughts meant the world to me then and 

now mean just that much more.  

I value this and want to share it with the girls someday

but in order to do that I have to post.  

So today we went to a very fun birthday party.

Randy stayed home to scrape the ceilings (fun) so it was just dakota leela and I.

 It was super fun.  we swam and then there was a good old fashioned sack race.

 

And even an egg on a spoon race, a very good time.

 

And these two loves mean the world to me and I am thankful for the life I have.

 

wish me luck

because I am going to give this another go.  not tonight of course that would be silly but i am, watch me.

butterflies alive

We went to a place in Santa Barbara today called Harry's Plaza Cafe

on the menu was a banana split for $25 and if you ate it all it was free.

I was so so so tempted but decided that I needed to plan for it so instead I ate lunch and ordered this

the cookie monster

and I am sad to say with the help of everyone we still didn't finish it.

We were up in Santa Barbara at the natural history museum

checking at the butterflies.

I was amazed at the patience dakota had,

one landed on her dress for a half a second and then it became her goal to have another one do the same.

So she sat for more than ten minutes waiting and waiting and waiting

it didn't happen again but it was so neat for me just to watch her.

We also ventured to the museum's back yard where anyone can push boats down a stream,

make mud pies, dig in compost it is awesome.

Little miss Leela loved it all, especially the hall with the birds

she was a little bit nervous in with the mammals too big for her.

We will be heading back soon.

too much

Do I even remember how to do this.

Just talk and post some pictures right.

Well summer is in full swing for the more girls

dakota is learning how to swim

leela is learning everything

and i am still learning

patience.

We started off the summer with a camping trip with some good friends

up at lake san antonio.

dakota went tubing for the first time and loved it

leela loved jumping off the boat into the water

the long lasting story of the trip though

(along with good memories)

is the song Party Rock by lmafo?

something like that

every time the kids went in the tube that was the song they wanted

the kids were on the tube a lot

we listened to that song

A L O T

and then being the brainy mom I am asked my friend to make us a cd of some of the

music we listened to including but not limited to "party rock"

to make a short story that could be longer shorter

leela is now singing

"pary rock in house too nye eweryone have good tine"

pretty darn cute

and in some ways so not okay.

That is all for now but I really miss this

so hopefully I will be back soon.

in the mean time here are some random pictures.

fooo fooo

that is leela's word for santa or hoho.

(thanks for the adorable jacket titi)

Sunday we went to Oxnard for their candy cane lane.

We went with randy's cousin's family.

Mr. M is about the same age and dakota and they have some wild fun together.

It is fun to see all the different ideas people come up with

but it is really fun to see dakota and mr. m and leela awe-struck.

Running from house to house and so excited that they can't stand still.

Leela was awestruck as well she is not so sure about fooo fooo but from afar she like to look.

Before we headed to oxnard dakota and i went to skating plus for some birthday fun.

Dakota has been three times now and she loves it.

It is funny to think that a million years ago skating plus was my friday night hang out, me and sierra thought we were so cool. How times have changed, not only the thinking we were cool part but also our parents would drop us off and we were only in the 5th grade, but we certainly were not the only kids our age there without parent supervision, it was just a different time, different rules, different concerns.

As for the rest of the week it was filled with days at the park

and fun in the backyard.