Big Girl Booster!!

We are finally car-seat free!!

Kapri got upgraded to a backless booster seat today - and we all could not be happier! She's so tall for her age:  3 ft & 7.5 in. tall -- which is in the 90th percentile...

...so she definitely fits the height/weight requirements, so that was our main concern. At Target I found the Graco Affix Backless Youth Booster Seat with Latch System  - in the 'pierce' tan & black color (latching was a big PLUS for me!)...so I bought one for both James & my cars. According to their description: "It’s designed to help keep kids from 40 lbs. to 100 lbs., from 40 to 57 inches tall and from 4 to 10 years old safe while riding in a vehicle."

At first she was definitely confused...and said it was 'not cozy'...but after a bit she warmed up to it. It's so weird looking back & not seeing her so high up from being in a car-seat....she looks so 'little', but like such a BIG girl at the same time. She still needs a little help getting the buckle on herself, but over time I know she'll get it down. And she knows that she absolutely CAN NOT unbuckle herself until "mommy turns the car all the way off"!

Can't believe how quick my little girl is growing up - it really just blows me away at times.

K's First Bowling Night!

Picture post... at first she was very unsure of this bowling situation, but quickly caught on & loved every moment and kept wanting to take our turns!! Her bowls went veryyyy s-l-o-w-l-y, but eventually hit the pins. Somehow she was even able to help us a few times when we had 1 pin left during our individual turns - SO fun!

Kapri's 1st Flight!

Keeping a secret is hard enough, let alone one for your child that you KNOW they will be super stoked about. My sister & I had planned a trip to go visit her while she's temporarily in Arkansas months ago... so I, like most parents, knew I'd have to wait until the very last moment to even mention our exciting plans. Otherwise, you'd be inundated with the kid asking everyday if it's "time to go yet?" and/or run the risk of their inability to fall asleep the night before - no bueno!

She'd asked about going on a plane dozens of times...to which I would always reply "someday honey". A couple times over the past few months I couldn't help but sneak a smile when she'd mention 'missing SiSi' or her seeing a plane and wanting to go on one. Sneaky mamma & auntie...what a ride we had in store for her!

So on the morning of August 31st, after secretly packing both hers & my stuff over the prior week, I woke her up around 4:45am. With James capturing the moment on video, I told her that it was time to wake up, get dressed and hop in the car....because we were going on a PLANE to visit & have a 4-night sleepover at SISI's house!!! She was mega-happy...but did tell us that since we woke her so early, she "thought it was Christmas" - LOL! Silly kid

Being in the airport was of course so fun for her as she watched every single plane glide down the runway & take off in flight. When it was our time to board our plane she couldn't contain her excitement! I let her pick a window seat and get cozy.... this mamma was super prepared - here was my carry-on list of necessities:

• New coloring books/crayons
• Dollar store puzzles in little tin containers
• Her 'lamby' and a light blanket
• An extra change of undies & clothes - just in case
• A stack of new books I scored for ridiculously cheap at a local re-sale shop
• Her iPhone (my old one) full of educational apps (plus 2 new ones she's now obsessed with)
• An external battery to charge our phones
• TONS of little snacks & bars...including our fav watermelon gum to chew during take-offs & landings
• And a new portable DVD player with 4 new movies - seriously the BEST investment I've ever made - such a life saver....AND it has a mount to install it to the seat of my car - perfect!

I am happy to report that she did wonderfully during both flights, there & back - first was about an hour to Phoenix... then hopped onto another plane from Phoenix to Little Rock, which was about 2.5 hrs. Super proud of my little flyer....she listened & she was brave...it was awesome!

We spent the next few days all over Searcy & Little Rock... exploring "Sandy Beach", which is a little lake in Herber Springs...including picking up a little sandy froggy that crossed our path. Tasting local food {and a pretty spectacular Honey Vanilla Bean Latte from the Midnight Oil Coffeehouse...mmmm}.

Escaping the heat & humidity at Wild River Country water park in Little Rock - which was a first for Kapri - and she had a B.L.A.S.T., especially loved the wave pool and went down some BIG water slides!!).

Playing with my sister's cat Pumba (tirelessly) and making healthy food, fresh apple juice & yummy homemade fruit sorbet with SiSi's crazy-awesome juicer!

Walking around Little Rock...in blistering 90-ish (felt like 150) degree weather...what troopers we are:

...finding a truly unique little gem of an eatery called "The Root Cafe" - so delish! I was just obsessed with all their vintage nic-nacks... mason jar & bottle collections, and just overall coziness of this place. They had open stock of smaller mason jars to fill up your water with, and adorably mismatched silverware & cloth napkins - such charm!

We also checked out an eco-friendly store across the street  from The Root Cafe, called "The Green Corner Store" - complete with a full ice cream & soda-fountain bar, and tons of locally-made organic gifts & products! Just ooozing adorablness!

We also got to see the movie "Epic" at a super old movie theater, "Cinemark Tandy" that only cost one...I repeat...ONE dollar per person...whatttt?!!

It was a busy few days, but we enjoyed every second...making it SO hard to say goodbye to our beloved SiSi. Quality time with family & loved ones is seriously so important...we were so lucky to be able to visit & cannot WAIT for her return to SD in Dec., and hopefully another plane trip in the near future!

Anniversary Getaway {Mission Inn}

Riverside - never thought I'd go there for a weekend getaway....but when I was researching potential 'romantic' places to go, on a budget...I stumbled upon this place on the internet and was blown away. I literally could not stop thinking about it for a full weekend.

So we booked a room at the stunning Mission Inn Hotel & Spa.

The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa - Riverside, CA.

And were NOT disappointed!

I had coordinated with the hotel concierge via email in the weeks leading up to our stay. I asked for their tea-light candle service and sent her a cute little banner I made to have them hang up in our room prior to check-in....it came out perfectly!

After a quick change to our bathing suits & pour of Prosecco and a "CHEERS" to us...we went exploring the hotel before spending the rest of the afternoon at the pool. The grounds of this hotel were simply amazing. Breath-taking. I've honestly never stayed somewhere with so much richness & history...the architecture was beautiful and every inch was covered in such intricacy & detail....I fell in love!

Being the 'tourist' that I was for the weekend, of course I took a TON of pics...all James wanted to do was escape the heat & dip himself in the pool...but I wasn't leaving until I had my fair share of pics to remember this place!

**Check out the my PhotoBucket Slideshow:

At the pool, we quickly realized we were total late-comers...seeing as EVERY chair was taken by this point. So we stashed our stuff under a side table & got in the pool. Luckily we made a few friends with some other couples that were staying there, so we had a GREAT rest of the afternoon enjoying everyone's company...complete with lots of laughs, and pool-side waiters making sure the drinks kept flowing ;-)

We then headed back to our room to shower & freshen up for dinner...we had reservations at one of the on-site restaurants: "Las Campanas", which was on an adorable little outside patio with dim, romantic lighting and some seriously delicious Mexican food. We were sooo pleasantly full and quite exhausted from a full day in the sun & drinking...that we went back up to our room to take a nap...that nap turned into 2 hours later... and I jumped up & pleaded with James to do the same so we didn't waste the rest of the night!

I was hoping to see the rest of the hotel all lit up at night, and check out the "Presidential Lounge" downstairs which "pays homage to the 10 U.S. Presidents who have passed through its doors".

He finally agreed.....love him!

After the most enjoyable stroll through the grounds, with the warm evening summer air, getting lost in the glory of this hotel...and finding a few spooky nooks & crannies of this place...we finally wound up at the Lounge....where we also stumbled upon our friends from the pool! After some more laughs & drinks....bed called out name! Once back at our room, we filled in the "Breakfast Room Service" card and place it outside on our door handle.... a few hours later, at 8:30am, a knock at the door....mmmmmm breakfast in bed - so wonderful.

Then we hustled & bustled to pack up, check out, leave our bags with the bellman, then go exploring so more, and finally kick our feet up for a good few hours by the pool. Perfection! I was sad to leave.... one-night stays just fly by way too fast, but so grateful that we were allowed this time together, to re-connect and celebrate our love for each other after 6 years of marriage!

Love you babe!!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Cheers to 6 Years!

They say: "time flies when you're havin fun" - that is definitely true, because it feels like I only blinked, since I married my high school sweetheart 6 years ago!!

So we did our annual Anni picnic night at Cuvier Park in La Jolla, the same place we married. This is becoming a tradition now, just a good way to spend time together as a family, celebrating...us.

Celebrating life's ups & downs.

Celebrating growing.

Celebrating living.

Celebrating unconditional love.

I had realized that we never re-did our 'sand ceremony' vase...after it accidentally broke the night of our wedding, lame! So I found the cutest little heart-shaped cork-top bottle at Michael's and James filled it up with a little sand from our ceremony location! (A few days later we were gifted an awesome new vase from his mom, to re-do with colored sands as well, like we did at our wedding!)

It's so cute!

Officially FOUR

Although we had a great big birthday party the weekend before K's birthday...I knew we should send her to school the day of her actual bday with a special cake to celebrate with her school friends:

The evening, we also decided to have a simple dinner out - just us 3.

Happy Birthday Munchkin...we love you more than words can thoroughly explain. 

Over these past 4 years, your incredible light has brightened up our existence and taught us SO many things...

About appreciating life. 

About finding patience. 

About sheer exhaustion.

About never-ending fears. 

About immense joys.

About quality time. 

About astonishing strength. 

About unwavering, unconditional, pure love.

Kapri's little hand at 2 months old

Twinkle Toes - K's 1st Ballet Recital

After 16 weeks of Sunday morning ballet classes, Kapri finally had her very first ballet recital! The outfit chosen by Miss Sarah for all the little girls to wear was just adorable...K love it!

Invite I made in PicMonkey & emailed to our family:

We took a few pics of her that morning as we were leaving... of course she wanted to stand by the first rose of the season....

IN the dirt....

IN her nice new ballet outfit & white shoes.

Oye.

She's such a little poser sometimes!

The picture she's holding is something I saw on Pinterest awhile back and we made a few months ago... the tutu portion is her hands in pink paint, and the leotard part is a pink patterned piece of scrapbook paper. Then I hot-glued on some ruffle ribbon in the middle, and some loose pears to act as a 'faux' necklace. The little piece next to the pearls is actually where some pink paint dripped, so I cut out 2 little hearts, folded them down the middle and put it on like a 3-D heart to cover up the paint spill.

It really is adorable... I should get a little shadow box for it & hang it on her wall :-)

Then we arrived & took our seats...we had both grandmas, a grandpa, & an auntie in attendance with us - so I think K was a little shy & put-off by all the extra attention on her...but she did really well, and is improving with her slight case of 'stage fright' that she's had for the past year & a half or so. But she's really blossoming...little by little!

Afterwards we took more pics, she got a ton of flowers...

Love our little ballerina!

....then headed off to lunch to celebrate her job-well done...and since it was also Cinco de Mayo, we ate at a little Mexican food place: "Garcias" - $14.99 buffet brunch WITH unlimited champagne/mimosas...amazing deal!

Now time to sign her up for swim lessons, per the princess' request! haha

15 years...

I was chatting with my friends during my lunch break...in high school - yes, high school....when I was suddenly sidetracked.

Now, I can barely remember much from that long ago - especially since digital cameras weren't popular yet, and 'camera phones' were definitely not yet in the hands of us teens!! Photos help preserve memories - my brain however, cannot. That's a huge reason why I blog and now take tons of pictures to document our lives & memories.

Back to my story... one that I definitely remember well - I was sidetracked. Pretty much twitterpated with one look (look it up) ;-)

It was a boy. A super CUTE boy.

Jimmy was his name.

Total jaw dropping moment, which my friend's BF witnessed. I mumbled, "who. is. THAT?!"...to which the friend's BF replied "who, him... Jimmy Mejia?" --- sure, yes - "introduce us!"

That weekend we had our first date... I remember how giddy I was beforehand, telling my mom how cute he was. Literally from that moment on I was hooked.

...3 years later - we moved in together...still so young...total puppy love. Jimmy now goes by James.

...5 years after that - engaged (finally!!)

...1 year after that - married

...1 year after that (exactly) - pregnant

...9 months after that - our sweet Kapri was born & flipped our lives in the best way possible.

And now... 15 years later - we still celebrate our first date....and I love him more than ever!

We used to go to the same local restaurant were we had that first date... but sadly, it's gone wayyy downhill. So this year we changed it up & celebrated alone {left kiddo with GramMo} at a restaurant called Seasons 52 (check out my full review on Yelp). They sat us along with complimentary champagne & a Happy Anniversary card, handwritten by the staff - so sweet!

love how he addressed my card! he wrote me THE sweetest poem...I cried - love him!

This place is awesome!! Every dish is 475 calories or less...and the menu changes each 'season'... with new specials each 'week' (52 weeks/year) - hence their clever name!

For dessert, they had itty bitty"mini-indulgences" - which were perfect...Red velvet for me please!!

Happy 15 my love...cheers to another 15 & another 15 & more! xoxoxoxxx