yummy.

she's just so yummy, i could eat her. i mean, jeeze, can you even handle that face?

spring break + mimi = hoooray!

oh, spring break. it's fab all on it's own. but it's even better when Mimi comes to visit. we're still learning this whole "visiting" thing with my parents, because, you know, that thing we're not talking about? how they moved to an ISLAND? in the middle of the PACIFIC OCEAN? anyhow. i digress. mimi was here for a whole week, and we lived it up. (p.s. if you want to skip right to the whole spring break set, click here.)

we went to the aquarium in newport.




we had a picnic at the park.



we played games...






we spent a beautiful day at the beach.








of course, it was difficult to sent her back home to Pa. but, by the time she left, we knew she'd be coming back in just a few short weeks to watch the babes... while shawn and i sneak away to New York City. NEW YORK CITY?! (please insert the voices from the pace picante sauce commercial here...) yup. mama will be set loose on manhattan. oh, what's that? i think i hear my bank account crying already. ;)

erin go braugh.

St. Patrick's Day is so different when you're a parent. We didn't drink green beer, or go hang out on the street with all the crazies downtown san diego, (not that we've ever done that. ahem.) or even make corned beef and cabbage. because we have three kids, and who are we kidding - there's no way in hell they'd eat corned beef OR cabbage, for that matter. But we did make a stop for some yummy treats - The Sweetest Thing is a fun cupcake bakery, and oooohhhhweee, they did it up right for St. Paddy's. That chocolate-y bundle of goodness right there? That's a GUINESS cupcake, people. As in, a chocolate and STOUT cupcake with...WAIT FOR IT - baileys creme filling and chocolate fudge frosting. Yeah. Mmmhmmm. It was as deeelicious as it sounds. There may or may not have been an incident with a cinnamon cake, maple frosting, and crumbled bacon cupcake as well. And my little Irish lass is easy on the eyes, no?

student of the month....

I know student of the month is like a totally stupid thing. And I know it makes some kids feel bad about themselves, and some feel great about themselves, and it's kind of not fair, etc. But when MY kid is student of the month....well, that's a different story, of course. Because LOOK at that face. He's so proud. So stoked to have us at his assembly. So happy to get his picture on the wall, and his baby pictures, and his fave color. So. Cute. Love him madly.

nana & papa.

Nana & Papa came to visit, and it was such fun. I didn't take a lot of pictures, because mostly we were busy just hanging out, playing games, having dance parties, and eating. It was a quick weekend, but a fun one! I did snap a few pics of us hanging out in downtown Portland, doing a bit of shopping and train-watching. I swear, sometimes you'd think my kids have never been to a city before! But kids are kids anywhere, and trains are still a fascinating thing.....

spring was here.....for about 6 minutes.

And oh, it was super glorious. We got out our flip flops, and cleaned off the patio furniture, and went to the zoo...







and walked on the waterfront in Portland....









....and then it all went away. And there were windstorms, and all the early blossoms blew off the cherry trees like pink fairy snow.

spring(ish).

I have so much to catch up on....there have been 8 year old birthdays, new bikes, fab weather, terrible weather, trips to the zoo and so much more, including visits from Nana & Papa and visits from Mimi coming up. It's all there.....but here's to hold you over. It's spring(ish) - or at least we thought it was ... all the cherry trees were tricked into blooming and I had to snap a few frames before the more recent windstorms blew them all away.

UPDATE: I'm posting as fast as my little fingers can get to it: look here for updates. :)

Jackson's birthday