Woohoo!

Yum!

Cambria Vaca

My mom and I went on a road trip up to Cambria about 5 or so years ago and I just fell in love with the place. I had such good memories there that I convinced Rene to go up there with me a few years later. This was our fourth trip up there and it still stands, in my mind, as one of the most exceptional places in California.

We scored a room in the back of the Palms Motel. It opened up to this:

We sat out on those chairs and just instantly eased into relaxation. Beautiful girl. She gets to sleep in the bed with us when we are on vacation. She digs it a lot.

We were checking out the baby elephant seals.

And then the tide pools in San Simeon.

This is Moonstone Beach in Cambria. There's some great running to be had there. I loved it! There was even a bagpiper playing in the background.

We brought our bikes a used them to get around. Bringing them was a good call because it helped us burn off the calories from the outrageous ham and cheese croissants that we became addicted to.

Uncanny

This is Lilly's 2nd cousin Natalie. born just after her. Check her out! She looks sooooo similar to Lilly! Maybe Jen and i rubbing our prego bellies up against each other had some effect on these girls. They are practically twins!

Holiday Truffle Shuffle & The Joy of Christmas

Ask her, Lilly will do the Truffle Shuffle for you. Anyplace, anytime. This kid loves the Goonies!
What do you like most about Christmastime? According to Lilly, not this dude! She could care less about Santa. She wouldn't even sit still until she got her hands on one of those delectable candy canes. At least she knows what she likes and has priorities.

Disneyland Trip

These days, you have to wait in crazy lines to see the characters. We lucked out and casually ran into Pluto. Lilly stopped a crowd with how cute her reaction was to seeing him.

Noni was our photographer. We need to get her in on the shots next time!

Ms. Poppins is lookin' freaky deaky. My parents call Lilly, "Lilly Poppins" because she is perfect in every way, of course. So we had to take a picture. And then we hightailed it outta there so that none of us ended up with Poppins nightmares.
She could carousel all dang day.
She's really into things that go around in circles.

Cosmopolitan Lady

Starbucks Apple Juice and Ticket in Hand

A while back, on Dia de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead), Lilly, Rene, Jessie and I hopped on the Metro and headed into LA to check out some city life.

I love Union Station. It makes me feel like I have been transported back to the 20s. That and it reminds me of the night that Rene and I got stuck spending the night there while waiting for a 6:30am train. We slept with one eye open, but that's another story, for another day...If you haven't been, get yourself on an eastbound Metro. It takes you all the way to Union Station and then the world's your oyster. Within walking distance is Olvera Street where you can sample all sorts of Mexican fair. Or, you can delve farther into LA because the public transportation can take you anywhere you want to go. It's awesome!

Orochan Ramen

Delish! Rene was on a nonstop mission to track this place down.

Halloween '09 (Better Late Than Never)

Sicky Tinky

We were going to join the Steeleys and Fam but all of the kiddoes seemed to be sick. My parents, I mean Dracula and the Wicked Witch, came out instead and we took Tinker Bell up to loot The Colonies. It was veeeeery fruitful. I highly recommend it to those looking to get a crud load of delicious treats.

This Little Piggy

As an homage to Lilly's best buddy, Piggy (or as Rene refers to her, Carnitas or Delicious) Lilly picked out this blog template.

I can't figure out how to get rid of that link line. Oh well.

Floody Day Activities

We tried to get out of the house for a predeluge bikeride but had to cut it short because the rain came a day early. So I decided that we needed a good old fashioned arts & crafts session. So those of you that are the type that would appreciate a valentine, handmade by a toddler, will be receiving one in the mail come February.

Party Time

Now that many of our friends have had kids we are on a constant loop of birthday parties. This is a picture of Lilly reveling in her loot bag from Brandon Kelley's 1st birthday party. It was fun but wild. In the words of Wendy, "Those two years olds really tore up my house!" No one got hurt or fell in the pool so I think it was a success.

Slacker

I have been a huge bum when it comes to the blog. Here are a couple pictures from our adventures in babysitting:Robin Steely and Lilly GirlPapa SMurphy Steely

My goal this weekend is to get things updated. It is a new year after all.