Almond Blossom Family Pictures

For a couple weeks each year, the central valley turns into a magical place to live. The almond orchards are in bloom and it is oh-so-freaking-pretty. Now the rest of the year, not so pretty. But for those few weeks...

Before we move on I must warn you, I took a lot of pictures. More than 600. I have narrowed it down to my 200 favorite more than a few favorite to share with you. Even though I am not incredibly fond of any of the family pictures we took, I am pretty in love with the rest. I am thinking dragging my family into the orchards once a year for a photo shoot will become my thing...you know the things parents do just to annoy their children.

Again, don't saw I didn't warn you...

^^ Talk about a skinny little boy! I swear we feed him...a lot. 

^^Isla was so incredibly interested in the blossoms. She is such a girl! 

Imagination

Over the last season, Connor's imagination has come alive...and I love it. I love watching him on the floor having full blown conversations with toys. He has a voice that only comes out when he is playing and it warms my heart so much. 

I love that there are no limits to the imagination. It doesn't bother Connor that there is no furniture in the house he plays with...or that he only has one person to play with! He puts that person in the bathroom to "go poop" even though there is no toilet in there. They climb on the roof, knock on the front door and drive their car in (and on top of) the house. There are no limits.

In the bath the other day, Connor lined up two ducks face to face. I thought they were kissing, then I realized no, they are talking. And Connor proceeded to have them carry on a conversation for a few minutes. It doesn't matter that ducks can't talk, or that they are fake. Heck, the ducks have even had conversations with the trains before!  

I love the innocence and imagination that kids have. As I've gotten older, I have forgotten about it. We become so jaded and forget what it is like to spend our time lost in another world, a world that we create. It's fun to experience this all over again, through the eyes of my kids. 

And in case you care, a poorly shot video clip of Connor playing with his house yesterday. He drug it outside all by himself because "the house wanted to be outside". 

10/52

I just got my wireless shutter remote in the mail on Friday and didn't have a chance to play with it with the kids...though I did have fun running around the living room and playing with it by myself. I promptly deleted all those photos to save myself embarrassment at a later date. Hopefully I will think of something fun to do with the kids and my new toy this coming week! 

We took the kids to the almond orchards to take some pictures with the trees in bloom. Connor was not a willing participant in the whole picture taking exercise. Notice the death grip I have on him. There are more pictures to come from the almond orchards. Probably way more than you want to see will soon be headed your way.   

This week:

• It was a long week that went from the stomach flu to bad colds and ear infections. 

• None of us have gotten an uninterrupted night's sleep this past week. It has been exhausting. 

• Connor still wants to run around and play, but whenever we let him, he gets in a coughing fit and ends up throwing up. Awesome. 

• My aunt shared this article with me on temper tantrums. If you have a toddler, it is a good read. 

• I tried baking cake in a jar this week. It was semi-successful. It tasted good, but I overfilled the jars, so when I was baking them, the cake spilled out everywhere. 

• We went for a family walk this morning. It's been a while since we have done that and I really like it. 

A Wonderful Surprise

Today I went to Fresh & Easy. I never go there. Like literally, I went when they opened almost two years ago and haven't been back since. So why I decided to go today is somewhat of a mystery. Anyway, I am oh-so-glad I went to Fresh & Easy today. While browsing the store, I came across this gem.

A little back story, these amazingly rich molten lava cakes were a favorite of mine and Ian's when we lived in Scotland. We had them at least once a week. We sat there in our freezing flat with a cup of coffee and our little dessert. Good times. But they weren't available in the US, until now. The box even says so. Welcome to America GU Desserts! I am so freaking happy you have arrived...though my hips and wallet (these amazing little desserts also seem to come with an amazing price tag) aren't as thrilled. 

Who am I?

I have a friend that has a mommy day once a week. Her mom watches her kids for a few hours and she gets to do whatever her heart desires. One day when asking her what she normally does with her mommy day, she threw at me a bunch of things that reminded me of my childless years - pedicures, sitting in coffee shops, reading a book, browsing through stores and more. After realizing that I fully expected her to answer that her childless days were spent grocery shopping, running errands and cleaning, I was slapped across the face struck with a reality. Who I am is so different from who I was a few years ago. 

I used to fill my time with ease. Shopping, dinner with friends, coffee with different friends, hosting poker nights at our house, BBQs in the backyard with friends, going to the movies, reading books, fancy dinners, spur of the moment trips to Disneyland. Now-a-days, if I get a breather, I run around the house picking things up, taking out the trash, running the vacuum. And if I am really feeling crazy, I will run out to Target after the kids are in bed. 

Have I lost myself?

Have I become the person I swore I would never become? You know, the mom who loses herself in her children. 

After muling it over, I am pretty certain the answer is no. But I have become a different person. And along with that change has come different past times. Rarely do I get a true moment to myself to do whatever the heck I please. In fact, those moments almost never happen. Usually after the kids are in bed and the laundry is going, I will sneak some time in to go through the pictures I took of the kids that day and write a blog. That's about it before I fall into bed. 

As the kids get older, I hope I don't discover that I lost the relationships I once held dear. I don't want to lose myself, but I also don't want to lose others I love. I hope to not only grow old with Ian by my side, but with my friends and family as well. I hope to never lose sight of who I am. To never find myself trying to figure out what it is that I enjoy. 

And in case that happens, here is a little reminder. On the 5th day of March in 2013, here are some of the things I enjoy:

blogging

amateur photography

thrifting

reading (though these days it is blogs rather than books)

cuddling with Ian on the couch

coffee

reading the newspaper

going for a drive with Ian

listening to the rain

cuddling with my babies

the sun on my face

Some days I think I just need a little reminder that though I am a mom and that literally takes up all my time, I am my own person as well. I don't want to forget that and learn the hard way when my kids are all grown up.

Fairyland {Oakland}

With Ian's busy season in full swing, we tend to like to do something fun on Ian's one day off. On Sunday, we decided to take a trip over to Oakland. After stumbling across Oakland Museum's annual rummage sale (aka: white elephant sale) last year, we knew we wanted to hit it up again this year. Given that I didn't want to drag the kids to Oakland just for a rummage sale, I decided to search for other fun things to do there. That is how I found Fairyland. It reminded me of Storybook Glen, a place in Scotland my friend took Connor and I.

Besides Connor being far too excited and running away from us numerous times within minutes of us entering Fairyland, we had a good time. The thing I liked was the rides are included in the price of the admission. And Connor was just tall enough to ride all the rides...by himself.

While he was on the carousel, I had visions of Connor deciding to leap off. Thankfully, no such thing happened. And I was impressed that he managed to get himself off the horse at the end, all by himself. Such a big boy! 

Isla, on the other hand, was perfectly content playing in the sand and dirt. This girl loves her some outdoor play. I have never seen a stick, or a leaf for that matter, be more interesting to anyone than her. And, for the record, she also likes to eat dirt and chomp on sticks. Oh, and pick up rocks and carry them around. 

There was a hill made just for the purpose of sliding down on pieces of cardboard. Talk about a kid's dreams coming true! Heck, talk about an adult's dreams coming true! After Ian showed Connor what to do, there was no stopping him. In fact, once we did stop him, in true Connor fashion, he protested loudly. Ian suggested I take Isla down. Holding on to her and the cardboard at the same time proved to be quite the challenge, but we both enjoyed the ride. 

Connor got to enjoy himself on a little ferris wheel. 

And if it hadn't been the end of the week (or the beginning?) I totally would have used this picture for my weekly photo. 

I think it's funny how at certain times, like this photo, the kids will just sit still for the camera. If only they would do that whenever I wanted to take their picture. 

There was one ride that adults were allowed on, thus kids of all sizes could ride on. It was kind of like a miniature carousel. Isla certainly liked it. And except for me being afraid of her leaping to her death deciding to climb off, she really didn't need me there with her. She got to ride it twice and really enjoyed it both times...and both times held onto the hat of the thing she was riding rather than the handle. 

At first, Connor thought he was too cool for the ride, then decided to go on it. 

On our way out, both kids decided to try out being a princess for a minute. Speaking of which, I should probably send this picture to my brother. He hates when Connor does anything remotely girly and I love pushing his buttons! 

As when all good things come to an end, Connor shed a few tears. I think it had more to do with sheer exhaustion after a long day than being sad to go, but you know. And after just a few minutes in the car, both kids were fast asleep. 

It was a fun, and very long, day. 

09/52

Connor seems to have almost too much fun pressing the shutter for the pictures and running back into the shot. And I stand there nervous that he will knock over the camera and break it, which ultimately ends in me walking over and helping him. So, after weeks of out of focus photos, I have decided I am going to take the plunge and get a wireless shutter remote. Hopefully it will get here quickly so I can play with it use it for our pictures next week.

This week:

• Isla crawled up the play structure at the park and flew down the slide before I could even run after her. 

• Connor has begun asking for a hot chocolate with whipped cream whenever he sees starbucks. It appears we have an addict on our hands. 

• Isla climbed up on a box so she could turn a light on and off. WHAT?! Too quick. 

• I got a cover for our old floral couch in the playroom. When Connor saw it he said, "Oooh, we got a new couch!"

• Connor and I enjoyed our first purchase of the season from the ice cream man...I'm so excited for summer and all that comes with it.  

• Speaking of summer, I now have 21 quarts of lemon juice waiting to be made into lemonade this summer! All the lemons were from mine and my parents lemon trees.