gone fishing..

we went to the legoland aquarium this week and the girls loved it..
we found nemo..
we touched starfish, sea cucumbers and crabs..

we saw

bright fish

white fish

big fish

little fish

scary sharks

friendly sharks

sting rays

&

seahorses..

it was quite the journey and we can not wait to go back!

ps- our butterflies or caterpillars ALL died and are at the bottom of that cup. I called the company and they are sending new ones. Ya- ALL 5 died?????? So Makena thinks they are sleeping for a long time and I am going to try to be sly and switch out the cups. Wish me luck! So not cool butterfly pavilion supplier person....

my FAVORITE question..

today at the beach chloe is playing so sweetly with the 4000 buckets and 9000 shovels i sprawl out on the edge of my huge beach quilt that I like to sprawl out on...
she looks up at me and says "mama?mama?.. waaannnnaaa keeeesss?"
me- "ohh yes, i would love a kiss sweetie"
chloe-"say peeeaaasss."
me-"oh please can mama have a kiss?"
i was then tackled with a big wet one..
love it.

concert in the gardens

do you know of him??

he is a folk singer who use to be a teacher..

his name is steve and he sings kids songs titled "blah blah blah" and "sippy cup"...

kids everywhere LOVE him..

my girls on the other hand..

were a bit critical at first..

BUT..

he won over this one..

about 5 minutes into it..

chloe kicked off her shoes..

once she was footloose and fancy free..

she was a rockstar..


she danced her little heart out...

let me tell you, the girl's got some moves..

grass between her toes, she danced, mingled, sang, cracked up and cheered after every song..

i actually thought for a moment she was acting a bit like a "groupie"..



makena on the other hand, thought it was too loud, did not want to dance and she stood in the back observing (covering her ears) the entire time..

it amazes me over and over again how opposite these two are and how they are their very own person..

i truly am one lucky gal to be front row, center for that show.. daily and forever :)

dr. visit

i am ready for this week to be over..

it has been a wild and crazy week with the girls..

i don't know, summer winding down..

the weather has been yucky..

cherry on top, we took chloe to the doctor for her 2 year old check up and she threw tantrums galore..

she suspended her little legs into the air when i picked her up to weigh her, refusing to drop them for the nurse..

she ripped at all the paper on the bed..

threw her shoes..

this of course gets makena going..

she's running in circles chasing her tail basically..

i AM the mom you look at and say "can't she control her kids?"

chloe fought (dirty i might add) with the dr. trying to examine her..

we chatted about these tantrums and i was begging for advice and he states the usual " she is 2, it will pass, just pick and choose your battles"..

i told him i do, afterall she SLEEPS in dresses because i gave up on that battle..

anyway..

as the dr. was leaving he comments on how well she is talking and everything looks great..

he adds "you be good to your mommy chloe"

she replies in her sweetest little voice "oh-tttaaaayyyy, taaaaaannnnks.."

she really does have great manners..

and she has been an angel the rest of today..

daddy..??

makena- "daddy..why do you eat sooo fast? can you try to slow down so i can have more ice cream toooo..."

special delivery

we have been anxiously waiting for this package!!!
can you guess what it is???

those are caterpillars for our butterfly pavilion!!!!

we are going to watch these caterpillars turn into butterflies!!

once opened,the girls immediately collected leaves and stems and stuffed the butterflies soon to be home...

we are now waiting for these caterpillars to climb to the top of this cup and hang from the lid

(5-10 days)..

we will then transport them to their luxurious new leaf/stem filled home and wait for the cocoons to form..
when they turn to beautiful butterflies, we will RELEASE them to freedom!
we get to actually watch the life cycle of a butterfly!!
chloe calls them "fff-whys-sss"

we will keep you posted on their progress...

and ours..

tomatillo salsa

ohhhh yum..
it is delish..
fresh...
spicy..
refreshing..
healthy..
a fabulous..
summer afternoon treat..



here is the recipe...
go for it..
you will looove it!

great find..

BINOCULARS!!!




we took them straight to the backyard for bird watching...
we brought them to the zoo..
we even took them to trader joe's..
on our walks..
in the car..
everywhere we go now..




thank goodness i found 2 pair, same color, same size..
no questions asked..
except..
why exactly did we have binoculars in our hall closet?

since she turned 5.

so, about a week before makena turned 5 i realized she had outgrown her shoes..
i did not tell her though..
i also noticed her tops were becoming "mid-riffs" and her dresses were now more like "tunics"..
i did not tell her that either..
the morning of her birthday when she came into our room while i was still snoozing, i peeled open my eyes and with a huge grin, threw myself to the other side of the bed and shouted..
"ohh my gosh makena!!! you are 5.. look how BIG you are!!"
i then grabbed her hands, feet and face and inspected them with all the ooooohh's and ahhhh's

i had the energy for..
"ohh my gosh, you turned 5 last night" i said it over and over again..
"here, pull my hand, see if you are stronger?"
i fell to the floor..
she was ecstatic..
running through the house like a superhero shouting..
"i am 5, i am 5, i am 5"
so we went to go buy shoes and this was my cherry on top!.. i was so excited..
"ohh my gosh! your toes are hanging over your sandals! your feet are too big for your shoes now!!"
ok but can i just tell you?
she skipped a WHOLE size! really..she did!
she went from a 10 to a 12????
ok- cue the screeching record player..
this little girl is growing like a weeeeeed!!
i can't take it! she is starting kindergarten in less than 3 weeks, skipped a shoe size, brushes her own hair, rides a bike, climbs trees, tells ME what her little sister is trying to say and picks veggies by herself from the garden she waters, loves and tends to.

daily i might add...
what's next?

her asking for the car keys?

she actually did ask me the other day if she could go for a walk by herself...

ya, she did...
can you believe that?

ya right..

a walk..

by herself..

some today's..

today damian brought me home flowers just because..




today makena built a pyramid of deflated birthday balloons when she discovered the air conditioning vent for the first time..


today the girls danced and played for hours with those same deflated birthday balloons..

today he sang and juggled deflated birthday balloons..

(who knew deflated birthday balloons provided such great entertainment?)

today she got a barbie "big girl" bike and LOVES it.. ecspecially the streamers!!

(thanks grandma and grandpa)

today we put off potty training and potty training tea parties.. just for a tiny bit..

today i grew a GREEN thumb..

today she got her first tricycle..

today she went to a princess birthday party..

today she officially became a fish..

today we officially retired the polka dot dress.. yes we did!

*and whistle, that was a bad, bad purchase. i take full responsibility for that one.

**damian and i decided after this last washing to just neatly fold the dress and put it in her keepsake box to avoid the drama that unfolds EVERYTIME we try to take the dress off her and in hopes she will branch out and wear something new.

***and of course along the same lines, avoid ANOTHER picture of her wearing it!

today my beautiful niece turned one..

those are some of the "today's" i have been meaning to post but have been too pooped to blog!

3 cheers for sunday naptime! :0)

swinging from the trees..

i love these pictures of the girls swinging..

summer is fun isn't it??

i think so.

loving my library card..

i am really starting to get the hang of this library thing..
the girls and i go, sit at the little tables (yes, even chloe sits!!) pore over tons of books, pick our favorites, check out 1 different book for each day of the week to read, return them all a week later and start all over again..
the girls looove it ..
some books are harder than others to return..
for example, the pinkalicious book above is the cutest book ever..
i think we may have to purchase that one...
I.. (ahh-hem)
i mean..
the girls are obsessed with it!