june vol 1

the month of june marks many significant

milestones. it means it's the last month of school,

the last month of ballet class, welcoming summer holidays

and 2 months living with my parents! woo hoo!

it was such a joy to watch our emma grace the stage

at her very first dance recital a few weeks ago...she is definitely

sprouting quick!

not a single sign of anxiety or nerves could be found 

in her as she prepared the week prior to the recital which

leads me to believe i've got a natural born star on my hands!

in june we get to honor a special member of the family:
dad! for fathers day!

the hubby got a pair of vibram fivefingers
and a lovely photo frame made by emma.
my sister hosted a lovely BBQ not only for father's day but
for my nephew's 5th birthday!

to make things a little fun, i made white chocolate and milk
chocolate mustaches to honor the dads!
everyone got a kick out of them!

the pic above is by far my fave, putting a stick next
to an authentic 'dad' mustache is definitely
funnier than a chocolate one!

disneyland vol. 3!!!

it's exactly one month

since we visited the happiest place on earth

and even though it has already been a month,

we can't stop talking about our trip!

as with every vacation we've been on

i've created a photo dvd of our disneyland trip

set to music from around the park

and our family favorites as well.

here is only a snapshot of

our magical vacation: believe me, 

there are far too many photos to sort through!

above: the fam getting ready to embark on day 1

of our vacation!

left: flik's flying contraption at a bug's life

right: belle's library at the beast's castle

in the sorceror's workshop

we had the pleasure once again to meet all of the

princesses during our princess lunch at ariel's

grotto! olivia's gotta work on her

picture taking skills...lol

top: the wonderful world of color!! 

top left: both emma and olivia enjoyed this

enormous lollipop, with all of those colorful displays, how can

one resist?!

bottom left: the girls first photo with mickey!

right: the first of many rides on the mad hatter's 

tea cups!

top left: emma and dad walking towards the magic 

kingdom..probably my favorite photo of the whole trip

top right: emma dresses as rapunzel! wig and all!

bottom left: the girls with minnie!

bottom right: the first of many many rides on it's a small world...

top left: daddy and the girls with the ever mischievous

chip and dale

bottom left: a family snapshot on the mark twain river boat

right: the coveted club 33 sign..i'll get a membership one day!

or at least know someone who has one!

left: t-i-double g-er! 

top: the entrance to critter country

middle: the girls with winnie the pooh

bottom: olivia carried this little ariel everywhere she went

including the winnie the pooh ride

right: olivia enjoying a delicious beignet!

top: the hubs most favorite ride..

left: tomorrowland!

middle: one of the many hat changes..

right: captain eo!! probably the best 80's 3D movie lol

top left: emma in the driver's seat!

top right: autopia!

middle left: mommy and olivia driving!

middle right: olivia peeking out of the submarine window

bottom left: finding nemo's submarine  voyage!

bottom right: oh that darla!

top left: a night time view of it's a small world, we were

gearing up for the magic, the memories and you!

top right: what is a visit to disneyland without churros?

middle right: olivia taking a big bite!

bottom left: king arthur's carousel

bottom right: mom and dad having a great time :)

top left: the fam infront of the mickey mouse garden

top right: the queen of hearts!

bottom left: the girls and tinker bell!

bottom right: the girls having a silly time at goofy's house

top: a snapshot of the awesome aladdin performance!

middle left: walt disney's famed quote

bottom left: the beginning of the soundsational parade!

bottom right: emma and olivia with alice!

top left: ariel during the parade

top right: emma clapping along to the parade song

middle left: daddy and olivia enjoying the parade

middle right: princess tiana! was so hoping we'd meet her

this visit but sadly we didnt :(

bottom left: the castle at night

bottom right: mary poppins and bert, my fave!

i think its needless to say that we had

such a fantastic time..the girls were another year older

and just the right age to appreciate all that disneyland has to offer.

myself and the hubs had an amazing time..always fun to be a kid with your

own kids!

as i've said before and will say again: until next time!!!

the countdown to disneyland: preparing the list

well folks, it's t-5 days until we're hopping

onto a plane to the most magical place on earth: disneyland!!!

the entire family is just gushing with excitement and

this time around we want to take the time

to see things that we rushed past the last time we vacationed there.

here are the things on our to-do list:

1. the mark twain riverboat

i think it's safe to say that the last time i went on this boat

was when i was 7 years old. it's charming and explores an area of the park

not visible on land and i think our kids will enjoy being on a boat!

2. main street, usa

there are so many lovely little shops and shows

rich with the history of disneyland's beginnings, the hubs

and i are soo intrigued by how it all got put together!

(did you know that the eucalyptus trees that surround main street, usa

are the ones that existed while disneyland was being built?)

3. aladdin: the musical

we have heard such good things about this show

that we absolutely have to watch it!

4. world of color
although we watched this the last time we were at california
adventure, we are attempting to get our fastpasses for
reserved seating this time!!

5. the magic, memories and you!
seeing as how we are visiting the parks during the week,
we will unfortunately miss out on the evening's festivities
like fantasmic! and the magical! fireworks display.
this will be something fun to take part in when the sun sets!

6. beignets
a visit to new orleans square just isn't complete without
a 1/2 dozen of mickey shaped beignets inspired by the
princess and the frog! we hope to try some gumbo and
get a photo with princess tiana and prince naveen while
we're there!!

i'm contemplating trying one of those turkey legs they so strategically place
around the park that smells like bbq goodness..and of course we can't forget
pineapple soft serve at the enchanted tiki room!

we have a scheduled lunch with the princess on our first day there
and emma's still unsure as to whether or not she'll get transformed
into a princess at the bibbidi bobbidi bootique

we leave this coming sunday...do you have any tips/tricks/favorites you
want to share?

WE CAN'T WAIT!

With a heavy heart...

You'll have to bear with me as I blog from my iPhone as we have no Internet connection and none of our neighbors are generous enough to share their wireless networks with me! So, here we are on the last night in our first home. Sigh. I mean don't get me wrong I am very very excited to move forward and see what wonderful experiences we will have living with my parents (that's right folks, a whole 5 months! Love you, mom and dad!) but I can't help but feel completely overwhelmed by the emotion of it all. I'm a sap, I know it..I'm the one that holds emotional attachments to inanimate objects (not like, garbage or anything) but to things that have a memory associated with it, like the gazillionth and 1 drawing that Emma has put on the fridge or the lovely scribble marks Olivia has left on the wall: every single thing in this home has a story to it. Emma became a big sister in this house, my husband and I became parents to 2; struggling to figure out how life was going to work, he and I both got great jobs and have been blessed so many times during our stay here. Though I can't leave out the times when the neighbors have pissed us off or pounded on our ceiling/floor/walls for being a crazy family of 4, in some weird and twisted way, I'll just miss hearing the sounds of the elephants trudging upstairs and the superbass from the dude below us..and let's not forget the inappropriate sounds from the lady next door! (oh my!) So, if a house had ears, this is what I'd say: Thank you for being the arms that held my family so close through so many wonderful and unforgettable times. Thank you for being a place my Emma went from a baby to a big girl and my Olivia from a little sprout to a rambunctious toddler. Thank you for being the test bunny for my husband and his home improvement skills (as directed by his neurotic wife, me) And finally, thank you for letting us outgrow you so that we can chase after bigger dreams. Feeling very blessed.

oh happy easter days!

happy easter everyone!

boy weren't we a little spoiled with the nice weather!

the girls had a wonderful time preparing for the easter weekend

and emma did an amazing job keeping her lenten promise

that we just couldn't wait for the easter bunny to arrive!

here are some snapshots of our easter weekend:

then on easter sunday emma woke up at 6am to announce

that the easter bunny had arrived!

here are some snapshots of their hunt and enjoying the goodies:

olivia didn't quite get the idea..she kept putting her eggs back where

she found them....lol

then we were off to church for easter sunday mass..which

was a zoo..but it was a blessing to see so many people celebrating.

our poor emma got so ill she ended up throwing up at church

hence why she looks a little grey in the photos coming up :(

we went for brunch at my parents house where

our beautiful cousins joined us!

then off to the in-laws for a quick visit..as it seems everyone

we knew was plagued with the stomach flu! :(

olivia did NOT want to let this little mickey mouse go..

thank goodness we're going to disneyland in a few short weeks!!

when we got home from all the festivities we 

decided to get the girls bathed and into their pyjamas for a good night's

sleep. the next morning the girls were bright eyed and bushy tailed

and since it was such a beautiful day we

decided to venture off to fort langley (one of our fave family hang outs)

for a walk and some lunch!

emma couldn't part with the ariel doll the easter

bunny gave her! 

a beautiful cherry tree in full bloom!

taking a stroll along the train museum..

best pals!

er, only in this photo lol

peek a boo!

it turned out to be quite the hot day so what better way to cool off than with ice cream!!

livi and daddy people watching...

enjoying a delicious strawberry milkshake!

mmmm turtle sundae!

olivia decided to make herself at home

at the diner...

despite all the sick moments we had, we still managed to make

the best of it and had a wonderful easter long weekend.

he has risen!

HAPPY EASTER!!