day # 4 ~ easter

the easter bunny found us in california - how about that?

after our easter egg hunt the entire gang joined us for brunch. ever tried horseradish on your waffles? me neither but uncle john has!

while we all suffered from the bloat together the afternoon afforded us a couple of hours poolside dozing and chatting, chatting and dozing.

plenty of blessings to give thanks for this year and at the top of our list family!

day #3, the san diego zoo

aunt ally leading the charge

uncle john, pete, aunt allyson and kater

our little bears

Saturday morning came way too early but we rallied. can't say that we saw all that zoo had to offer but we enjoyed spending the afternoon with uncle John and aunt Allyson.

day #2 newport beach

aunt paula, my mom and aunt nancy

kate and cousin mika playing in the waves

so it's been said that i am not much of a blogger. i am merely a picture poster...

and ya know what? i am completely OK with that. i know darn well my readers aren't tuning in for my lack luster commentary. and i won't even promise to try to do better. i will just continue posting pictures of the moments that are near and dear to us.

day #2 was our marathon day. it started with the kids adjusting beautifully to the California time zone and sleeping until almost 8AM. and for our little peeps that was 11am NC time-ahhhh! we showered up had some red berry cereal in the room and went down to check out the resort. being a bit brisk we passed on the pool and opted for the sand box. trey couldn't have been happier however Kate tired quickly of the sand between her toes.

as were stood there i felt as if someone was staring at me. i looked up and on the second floor balcony just outside Starbucks there stood three familiar faces. we had no idea when we put this trip together that two of my aunts and my youngest cousin from Iowa were planning on being in California at the same time. and even more ironic i had no idea that my aunt Paula had lived in Newport beach 30 years prior. they were kind enough to come to us and spend the day showing us around. we toured the city, played on the beach and enjoyed an amazing lunch at the Harborside. by late afternoon we were all exhausted and we retired to our rooms for a quick cat nap before meeting uncle john and the sloman clan out for dinner. and again a crazy coincidence. the restaurant that our friends has chosen to meet us at was the same restaurant my aunt had tended bar at... a very cool blast from her past. we enjoyed a hearty Mexican fiesta and several pitchers of margaritas.

from there is was back to our rooms for yet another short cat nap. Milka took the kiddos to bed and Pete, john and i later met up with my aunt Nancy and two of her girls, meg and Laura. Laura flew in from San Fran and meg lives in hermosa beach. they arrived around 1030pm and we were off to celebrate Laura's 24th birthday. so in the spirit of family ties we took the poor girl out and proceeded to get her looped. we actually closed the bar down. i can't remember the last time I've been up that late.

thanks for all the laughs girls. it was great to see you. lots of love!

up up and away, southern california here we come!

killing some time between flights

they even had lyle lyle the crocodile, one of our favorites

breaking into the goodie bags on the plane is always fun

all the excitement was just too much for this little traveler

look who we bumped into...

after our long day of travel we dropped off our bags and made our way straight to the pool

Last Thursday we woke the kids at 445 am and started on our way. They both woke excited and full of energy. We flew from Asheville to Charlotte, made a quick stop in the club room where the kids ate their weight in muffins and filled their pockets full of complimentary mints. It was proud moment for Pete and I…

and then we boarded our 5 hour flight to Los Angeles. The longest flight to date for the kids. The kids were amazing and could not have been better behaved. Kate was delighted to find a new pack of crayons and a couple of work books in our customary travel goodie bag and trey was just thrilled to have his own seat.

In LA we met up with Mika picked up our rental car and set off for New Port. We weren’t in our room but a minute and Kate had already striped down and was asking for her bathing suit. So off we went.

happy, happy, HAPPY...

3rd to the marvelous little MOO!

just wish we were there to celebrate with you.

know that we love you and that we are thinking about you~

happy st. patrick's day 2008

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

talk about a gazillion kids...

keeley, reagan, britney, buddy and jessica.

the photo above all belong to my long-long, life-long friend danielle.

always missing you~

when is rome....

heather with a few of the kiddos

our curious little on-lookers

the Tennessee cloggers

the dads take their turn on the floor with the kids

do as the romans...

we are all familiar with this age old adage. and so... when in the south do as the southerns would. and that we did!

last night we met friends at the fiddlin' pig to celebrate heather's birthday. what do you do with a slew of kids and an adult birthday to celebrate. head to the fiddlin' pig and surround yourself with good music, good food and good people.

happy birthday dear heather. may you have many many more!

spring has sprung

such an exciting and refreshing time of year. the crocus have reared their beautiful little heads, the daffodils and forsythia are blooming and the tulips are 3 inches high.

poppa frank & ms. janine; to know them is to love them..

for years frank and pete have been doing business together and as of late we've been privy to a little more personal time with both he and janine as they hunt from a home in the asheville area.

saturday night we had them over dinner. kabobs, a tasty black rice saute and a fresh spinach salad and a whole lot of craziness!!!

these two... total sports. frank and janine totally embraced our ciaos and completely dazzled the kids. a little dancing followed dinner, then a movie and some good snuggling in front of our cozy little fire.

thanks for a great time. we'll see you again soon.

this is my family~

Fridays are one of our favorite days of the week to begin with...

and one of the Friday moments that i love the most is when Kate comes home from school and shares her work with us. i am amazed as i witness so many of her skills sharpen with each week. hers little eyes fill with excitement as she explains each and every assignment to me. wanting nothing more then to please. it is so genuine and so incredibly amazing to be a part of. what a gift our kater is to us. she is indeed making this world a more beautiful place.

celebrating like super heroes!

this past week 2 of three little gast super heroes celebrated birthdays. miles turned two and alex turned 4. so on friday alex and all of his little super hero buddies gathered at chuck e. cheese’s for some good food and whole lot of fun! happy birthday boys, we adore you!

our poor pets~

they are both given fresh food and water and least twice and day and still... this is what they prefer. for the record that is water digger is drinking. trey has learned the drill. if digger goes into the bathroom trey fills him up.

after...