happy easter.

Easter has always been a favorite holiday of mine and every time it rolls around every year, I'm reminded of the fun memories I had when I was younger...

The excitement of shopping for a new Easter basket every year because there was no way you could use the old one from the year before.
The joy of getting together with my family and spending quality time with my cousins.
The smell and taste of the delicious food.
The pastel-colored outfits that our parents made us wear.
The impatient waiting we had to endure while the adults went and hid the eggs...
The even more impatient waiting we had to endure while the adults made us sit together and take pictures...in our pastel-colored outfits.
The rush of excitment when we finally were released to begin our search for eggs.
The chocolates, the treats, the money. The pure fun and joy of it all.

I truly do miss being a kid, especially around Easter time. What makes it even more joyous for me now is creating the same memories for my son. Seeing how much he has come to love the holiday as much as I did as a kid warms my heart more than he'll ever know. Happy Easter, son!

 

 

 

 

a clean home makes mommy happy.

Spring time calls for Spring Cleaning!

I've never been much of a "Spring Cleaning" type of gal, but I told myself that it was going to happen this year. Cleaning itself has always been therapeutic for me and that is exactly what my Saturday consisted of.

It's such a cleansing feeling to purge and reorganize everything. I absolutely hate clutter in the home and I refuse to hoarde things that we don't need. The best part of my Spring cleaning day was organizing my son's toys. Did I mention that I hate toys, too? My son has this obsession with trains and cars, specifically Hot Wheels. I didn't know how bad this was until I laid out all his toys on the floor...

It was the attack of the toy cars and my life was taken over by them. Thank goodness my wonderful son was out of the house for a couple of hours. What he won't know won't hurt him...

 

wordless wednesday

{happy holidays!!}

a day out with thomas

It was a Sunday we've been anticipating.

We were on our way to Holi-Day Out With Thomas at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

My son is a huge Thomas The Train fan!!

And he had no idea what was coming.

For the past few weeks he's been saying, "I wanna go to the Island of Sodor."

So that day, we told him we were going on an adventure to find the island.

It was a beautiful winter day in Santa Cruz.

Perfect for riding a blue train.

Perfect for meeting Percy.
Perfect for some hot dogs and garlic fries.

Perfect for tattoos, face painting, and ornament decorating.

Perfect for hanging out with Santa.

Perfect for seeing the happy look on our son's face.

Mommy and Daddy were a little starstruck, too.

my weekend in photos

A road trip to Pomona for a cousin's wedding.

Just me, my cousin, and these three crazy kids...

My son with my uncle's {my dad's brothers}. Every time I'm around them, it's like being around my dad again.

Photo booth time!! Anyone obsessed with these like I am? I wish I had one in my house.

A haircut for Mr. Handsome

Made it home just in time for my beautiful goddaughter's 5th birthday party on Sunday. Hello Kitty theme! 

lemos farm pumpkin patch

One of my goals for the month of September was to take my son to Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay. That goal didn't really go as planned, but I'm so glad we waited till this month to go. It was the perfect time with all the Halloween and pumpkin decorations. Pony rides, train rides, bouncy houses, pumpkin patches, haunted houses, petting zoo, and music. It was a Sunday Funday to remember...and you know it's a good time when your son knocks out in the car on the way home and doesn't wake up till the next morning. He was pooped!

Dylan and his buddy Roman

what's up with the sad face?

his first pony ride!

excited for the train ride!

all aboard!

family trip traditions

One of my favorite traditions growing up was going on Tahoe trips with my mom's side of the family. 

One of my uncles had a friend who owned this beautiful cabin and every so often, we'd take a trip up to Tahoe and spend the weekend there. Now it wasn't just my mom, my dad, my siblings, and me on this trip. It was my grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins - about 20 of us. My family has gotten a lot bigger since then, but at the time, that was a lot to me. 


For Labor Day weekend, we went on a Tahoe trip with my cousins from my dad's side of the family - all 30 of us. I was really excited to go on the trip just because of how much fun I used to have when I was younger. It was always a tradition to take family pictures in front of the cabin before we left to go back home. I always enjoyed looking back at those pictures, especially as the years went by. Now with my dad's side of the family, we've started the very same tradition...

All of our kids in front of the cabin

the girls

the guys

It's a wonderful feeling to be able to let my son experience trips with his cousins just like I did when I was little. Can't wait for the next one...

me & my honey 

{w/ our son in the background refusing to take a pic}

My non-swimming beach outfit: H&M tank, Forever 21 shorts, H&M belt :)