a picture says a thousand words...

monday, week 2

ok, who's bright idea was it to blog everyday of my summer break? oh, right, MINE. this is stressful! break is not supposed to be stressful! i've decided week 2 is going to be a picture blog--much more fun & self explanatory (and still sticking to my promise)! most of the photos are taken spur of the moment with my phone, so excuse the quality...it's the image that counts, right :)

decided to ditch yoga before my physical therapy (bad idea)

g & i met nette & fiona for lunch @ corner bakery. he was able to reach the water to refill my drink! that's the first time he did that...my baby boy is growing :(

even on vacation you can't escape it

at least catching up on law & order made folding clothes tolerable!
my little sweetie wanted to put on her own pj's, and by the end of the day i was tired, why not i say! isn't she a doll ;)

day for papa

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 7 - sunday!

it's r's 5th father's day - wow...i feel like it was just yesterday these kiddos fit squarely into our arms...
sweet babies

g & e woke their papa up with his present - an appointment for a 50 minute massage at coldwater creek. he said he didn't like massages, but that he'd try it (see how he liked it in a later post :)

we didn't really have any plans for breakfast, so i decided to give nette a call to see what she was up to. we decided to crash their plans & headed to frida for their sunday brunch. what we didn't realize was it was fully booked (reservations only). lucky for us a party of 8 was late and we got to steal their spot. between the handmade sopes & fresh ceviche, we couldn't believe how yummy it was! i do have to admit, it did come in a distant 2nd to all my old MOM co-workers authentic mexican cuisine. nevertheless, it's close by, and anytime we're in the mood for fresh mexican food, we know where to go! we think fiona has a crush on gavin :)

...as if we didn't stuff ourselves enough, we were invited to the deguzman home for dinner to celebrate with a bushel (yes!) of blue crab with all the fixins. ed ordered them straight from maryland--i didn't believe it til i saw it! this box is actually 3/4 empty! it was hilarious watching r & ed see who could tear out (filipino style) the biggest piece.
we think ed won
by the end of the day, the newspaper covered table was DONE!
we took the kids outside and the boys got a chance to relax and have some boy, oh, ahem, men-time the cigars were from the p.i.!

nicholas wanted in on the shots

it was a fun, food-filled day! we love you r!

the goonies

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 6 - saturday!

before all the festivities (and coughing) began

lees invited us to a family fundraiser for her cousin. we got a chance to chow down on good old fashioned movie novelties while the kids ran amuck. it was so much fun in myette & john's newly renovated backyard with all the fixins...big screen projector, fire pit, blankets & banigs all over the grass...between the licorice, hot cocoa (spiked with coffee) and the fire, we all had a wonderful time watching an oldie-but-goodie, the goonies, on a cool summer evening.

p.s. the only downer was lees was coughing her throat off all night...we discovered later it was bronchitis! :(

first thursday

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 4 - thursday!

ok, ok, i know i was supposed to be at yoga at 9am this morning...but it was much more fun snuggling in bed with my babies! even though they wake me up at the crack of dawn when i have at least a few more hours of sleep in me, seeing their chubby faces is worth it - i know this stage won't last forever!

we grabbed lunch with monica, sebs & mathias and i dragged gavin to yet another dr's appt; once again he was such a good boy :) i met my sister at loehmann's to buy a dress for meriel's bridal shower. i SO hate shopping! actually, i SO hate trying on clothes (that'll teach me - i guess i should have gone to that yoga class after all, huh?). finally i was able to find a really cute dress, now the fun part - a pair of cute shoes!

monica met up with us again since the boys had so much fun earlier. we were at the mission valley mall, supposed to go to sammy's, and i remembered it was happy hour and we were steps away from my all-time favorite hand roll, spicy scallop @ seau's:

yum! you can even see sweet baby mathias quietly sleeping, letting his mama enjoy her dinner. the boys were so behaved monica & i felt they deserved a treat :)

another wonderful summer vacation day!

p.s. nette i'll see you here @ 6am tomorrow! OR if you'd rather grab breakfast, let's talk ;) xo

where the surf meets the turf...

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 3 - wednesday!

oh yeah! what a way to celebrate day 3! we spent the entire day at the del mar fair (i just can't bring myself to call it the 'san diego county' fair)!

this was our 2nd time around thanks to unlimited tickets, but we still couldn't get enough of the yummy food! can we all scream for ice cream?
again

and again

and again!

my mama had never been to the fair, so she met us there to try all the food we are always talking about and much to the g & e's delight, hayden came along too!

wawa adores her granddaughters

our bff's the alfonso & quiros families joined us to partake in all the good eats!

we pigged out on corn dogs, pizza, french fries, tasti chips, zucchini, bbq sandwiches, ribs, shrimp, cream puffs, cotton candy, chocolate covered bacon (i know), and my most favorite cinnamon bun ever!

cream cheese frosting - yum!
did i mention i was watching what i was eating?


by the end of the day we were all pooped, but not as much as hayden was - quite literally! she pooped all over herself. i knew it when my sister gave me a pained look and said, "please come with me!" i cleaned the poor girl up & after being washed in freezing cold water and changed into clean, warm clothes, she knocked out...

i love having a niece :)

family, good friends & good food - that's what vacation is all about!

p.s. did i say i was going to yoga @ 6am today? um, emma turned off the alarm (true story!) nette has promised we're going on friday...stay tuned! :)

daily stroll

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 2 - toosdy!

today began like all others...kids jumping around wanting "biya button" and fighting to lie down next to me. i was up & ready to go to yoga, but then decided i would go later that night with my mom (ha!). i made the kids & r a very special breakfast - spam & egg sandwiches. if you know me, you know i never let my kids eat spam, but that's all we had & i was too lazy to cook anything else.

i dragged g along with me (he can sit, e would be all over the place!) to my chiro appt. he was such a good boy i decided to give him a treat - i promised him a bag of candy (of his own choosing) at his favorite candy store in plaza bonita. if you haven't been there lately you've got to check it out (before it gets ghetto-ed up). they re-did one half of the mall & it actually looks nice! on our way to the disney store i just happened to walk by these CUTE shoes:

at a store called "judy shoes" - they were only $12! i just had to grab a pair (or two). what a bargain! before i left i snapped a quick pic to send to some of my girlfriends who would appreciate this great deal. as i was leaving the (18 year old) sales clerk said, "you're not allowed to take pictures". i asked her if she wanted me to delete it & she said yes. poor thing, she was unaware of my new texting skills & with the help of my trusty crackberry it was already out in cyberspace before she could even finish her sentence.

still trying to make it to the disney store, i stopped by crazy 8's to grab some jeans for g&e - only 6.99! i don't normally like shopping, but i do when it's a steal :) we finally made it to the disney store for the UP shirts (pics to be posted on friday). g got his candy & i even bought him a cheese-stick since he was so well behaved. i started a new skincare line, too, so we'll see how that goes.

p.s. no, i never did make it to yoga so i will try for 6am tomorrow morning...ha!

summer break is here!

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 1 - monday!

inspired by my bff lees and her daily spring break journaling, as a promise (to myself), i am going to record each & every day of my summer vacation! if i had enough energy i would have done a "summer daily" album. maybe next year? breaks are so dear to my heart because i get to spend true quality time with my family. there's no need to rush in the morning, i can make them REAL meals, i can walk g & e to the park, we can take our time. oh, how i love these breaks!

day 1 - as usual, we got up at 7am (well, the kids did, then they woke us up). so much for sleeping in...i'm trying to keep the kids on schedule though, so i guess this is not an option. i made g & e their typical toast for breakfast (forgot we had to be somewhere) & since i am trying to watch what i eat (ha!) i had coffee.

i enrolled g in a 5-week reading program through sdsu's college of extended studies. it focuses on phonics, comprehension, and independent reading skills. the class requires one parent to be present, so i was able to experience what it's like being in a classroom with g. i tell you - there is such a big difference between boys & girls at this young age! the girls were much more verbal, more outgoing. if you know g, you know that he is extremely shy - and it's so much more in the classroom. i can tell you this though - i am so glad i have taught him manners because most of the kids (and parents!) didn't have any, but that's a whole other talkshow...oh well. five more weeks of class and homework (great)...the good thing is he enjoys it very much and he insists we listen to the cd everytime we're in the car (wait, is that a good thing? :)

since i had some time between class & my optometrist appt, g & i had lunch at panera - he was so upset because he wanted "just a snack". when i asked him what he wanted he said "an ice cream sandwich". um, me too gavin. we walked around the mall, found a cute summer scarf at anthropologie (yes, i returned ALL 3 dresses, lees!), and was off to my appt.

the rest of the day was uneventful..we cleaned up, read (too many books!), played, lounged around - everything a break should be :)