A Party at the Beach

Our Blaire turned three on July 8th.  What better way to celebrate than unlimited carousel rides at the beach, homemade cotton candy, and a fabulous pink cake?  It truly was a wonderful party with lots of dear friends to help us celebrate.

Our sweet neighbor, Eva, made this decadent chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream.  

Love Our New Cotton Candy Machine!  

Craft Table for the Tiny Party Guests.

Raspberry Lemonade.  Yummy.

Cotton Candy Cookies.

Mommy made these pinwheels.  

It's Great to be Three!

Summer Photo Shoot

Family photos are hard work.  I am a bit obsessed with documenting my babies and so I always have to remind myself that all the stress and investment will be worth it.  While in Utah, we had Julie Burton snap a few family shots, primarily to document our Ireland's first birthday.  She did a great job.  Not easy to manage a frazzled mommy and two tired babies.

Small Town Girls

We just finished a week in Ferron.  I hadn't spent that much time at home since before Dean and I were married.  I must say, I was surprised to see the small town girl in me reappear. The little town hasn't changed.  I had some nice long runs, we played at Millsite, had a shake at the Grub Box.  Quiet nights and beautiful sunsets over Ferron Mountain.  Visits with good friends.  Small town life especially agreed with Blaire who ran free and took charge of play time with the neighborhood children.  What could be better than running through the sprinklers with a popsicle in hand?  Until next summer...

Sisters

It has warmed my heart to see my two girls begin to interact with each other.  When I was expecting Ireland I knew in my heart that if Blaire got a little sister they would be best friends.  I am beginning to see their relationship develop and it makes this momma proud. The other day they were playing and cuddling in Blaire's bed and I was lucky enough to capture the moment with my camera.

UCLA Botanical Garden

We're finally to the point where we feel we can start to venture out more as a family without total chaos. A little field trip to the UCLA Botanical Garden seemed like a nice, close, and stress-free idea.  I had visions in my head of our wedding reception at the stunning Red Butte Garden at the University of Utah.  UCLA's garden is not quite at that level, but it was quiet and secluded, and an overall lovely outing for our little ones.  

Summertime and the living is easy...

First item on the summer bucket list is complete.  Strawberry picking at Underwood Farms is always a fun field trip.  The berries are gorgeous and perfectly sweet and we Angelenos get to feel like we've escaped to another time/place.  A great day.  On to more summer fun!