Good old beach BBQs!!

Our beach BBQs were long overdue this summer so we finally had our first one for this summer. We were all in need for some rest and relaxation time...as if I'm not getting enough of that over this vacation? ;)Now 3, she is finally getting braver to head to the water!

Julia is so grown up now!

Mom and dad enjoying some chatting time with Doug!

"The Potty" travels wherever Makena goes!

She loves her Uncle Mike!

Nana always has to keep a close eye on this little one!


These two love hanging out!

Brat! Loves to be the center of attention...so unlike me! ;)

Loves being a big girl! Gettin' into the smores!

The fire was sooo nice!

Teresa enjoying some time with Makena!

So sad...she had to throw my cupcakes away because they had melted and were GROSS!:(

Mike is enjoying some down time with mom and dad!

All smiles of course....we were at the place we love...the beach!!

4th of July

Caradee and I did a great job in planning some last minute 4th of July fun! We started the day off at the Padre game...Padres vs. Dodgers. Yes, the Padres won! It was a great game and of course, great people watching...epecially those crazy Dodger fans!

We got park passes and enjoyed watching the game on the grass!
Mike was very excited to take his picture next to the Tony Gwynn statue...one of his very favorite baseball players growing up!


We took the Ferry to Coronado after the game.
We enjoyed sitting on the top of the ferry looking at the great view of the city!
What a view! We are so lucky to live so close to beautiful San Diego!
After riding beach cruisers around Coronado's beautiful streets, we headed over to the Hotel Del for some dinner and firework watching!

We totally had the best seat in the house! It was so nice!

We finished the night off by taking a fun filled cab ride back to Downtown! What an adventure that was...well at least the driver provided us with some good music! ;) It was a nice and relaxing 4th of July!

Legoland Aquarium

Mike and I decided to take a trip to the Lego Land Aquarium since it is basically in our backyard! You would think since we've lived here for 3 years now, we would have at least gone once....not true! This was our very first time and we were very impressed by how cool it was! We would go back again! It is really neat how it is all set up and centered around all the different California coastal regions!

Mike thought it was hilarious that I was terrified to see what an Eel felt like! Yuck!


Having been stung once before by a stingray while surfing, Mike wasn't too interested in seeing them! Who could blame him! Ouch!

Strawberry Picking!

Strawberry picking with the little ones was sure fun! Jenn, my mom, and Amber brought the girls down to go strawberry picking here in Carlsbad! Mike and I always buy our berries from the stand, but now I know that picking berries is a lot more fun than picking out a basket that's already been picked for you. It sure was messy, but the girls loved picking the berries with their mommies! Mike and I will be waiting for our yummy strawberry jam from my sister, muffins from my mom, and something yummy, too, from Amber (or well maybe just my hair done again!)! ;)

The girls just love each other! It's a good thing they live right next door to each other! Makena loves her "Eyyyee" and Emma!

Little Emma

Ellie Lou is so proud of the berries she picked (with mom's help)!

Yes that's right...the demo derby!

We love going to the demolition derby at the fair (I think this was something my sister started when she was little and we seem to go almost every year...it's all new to me!). It was a lot of fun though! Makena loves the derby just like her mommy!

Love the big grin!

This picture cracks me up! Nice mustache!

A day trip to Hollywood...

Friday was a fun filled day in HOLLYWOOD! Little did we know...we had planned our trip (well in advance I might add!)unexpectedly for the day after Michael Jackson died. The city was crazy due to the news that broke the day before...needless to say, we saw some interesting sights! It was fun regardless of the crazy people and the craziness we experienced!

We started our day at the Hollywood and Highland Shopping center and took a great Starline tour around both Hollywood and Beverly Hills. I just can't miss a night of TMZ on TV so I was so excited to see all of the HOT SPOTS around the city that I heard mentioned so often on the show. Our tour was rather exciting, stopping at such locations (well a stop long enough to snap a quick snapshot) such as Sunset Tan (an E! show that I loved!), both Courtney Cox's and Jennifer Aniston's homes, Michael Jackson's former residence (it was a zoo! With police outside and weirdo fans it was a sure sight!), the Spelling House, etc.

We finished our day by heading to The Grove (often seen on TMZ too! We set our sights on seeing a celebrity, but no luck!) and Farmers Market. Shopping, shopping, and more shopping was the name of the game that night! Unfortunately, I let my credit card do too much work though! Oh well, fun times call for a lot of spending! =)