Our Spontaneous Trip to the Beach

Adam and I have a lot of things in common-- our infatuation with Mexican food, watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, our love for hiking, all things to do with the the water and many, many more. Yet one thing we are total opposites on is our planning style, or Adam's lack there of. Adam is totally spontaneous, ready and willing to do whatever, wherever, whenever. I, on the other hand, crave structure. I have a schedule on my fridge breaking down the days activities down to the hour for crying out loud! I admit that the majority of the time my schedule is rarely followed but I would rather sit down on my computer and make a schedule than watch the latest episode of reality TV anyday! So last Saturday night Adam brings up the idea of wanting to sporadically take the kids to the beach the very next day. Family outings being my very most favorite thing, I of course said YES! But this left me only a few hours to prep and plan. I stayed up and got everything packed for our mini day trip. We woke up early Sunday and packed the kids and doggie, BBQ and ice chest, towels and sunscreen and set off to Big Sur, a new destination. We found a hidden albeit popular beach tucked between huge rocks and hills. It was breezy and chilly; the kids wore sweaters over their bathing suits as they played tag with the waves. We found an amazing tide pool where the teacher inside me had the kids learning, touching and exploring sea stars and sea anemones. It takes everything I have not to bring worksheets and homework for the kids on our trips, hehe. Finally the kids got tired of being cold, wet and sandy so we packed up and headed north to Monterey to have dinner on Cannery Row. We all enjoyed going into the candy store and picking out our favorite candy for dessert, although Adam went next door and bought a Nutella crepe, yum! Being it was a Sunday and we had a work week to get ready for, we headed home around dusk. It was a perfect day. My most favorite times are those spent with my wonderful husband and two amazing children. I'm so glad that Adam pushes me to be spontaneous so that I may have many more days and memories such as this.

The Hibdons, Big Sur 2011

Sunny Saturdays

As summer is nearing to an end and fall soon to be upon us I am taking every opportunity to let the kids play outside. Summers seemed to last forever as a kid. Now experiencing them as a mother they whizz by just like every other part of the year seems to. I'm sensing a theme for this blog-- the eeriness of time passing progressively faster and faster, hmmm... Although time seems to be slipping through my grasps, inching further and further out of reach, I'm sure time is always hanging around my kids, as it seemed to do with me not so long ago. So I try my best to slow down and make their long lasting moments the best they can be. While I may not have the opportunity during the week to do as much with my kiddos, I sure try to make up for it on the weekends, (although we are trying to implement a family game night with the classic Candyland. More to come on that in another post, although). Ahh yes, sunny Saturdays are made for riding bikes, creating temporary sidewalk art with chalk, and of course eating ice cream. The nostalgia I hope to create for my children is that of summer filled with family fun and togetherness. Here is just a glimpse of our fun day in the sun.

As times seems to last as long at the chalk artwork on my cement, here's to sunny Saturdays and precious time spent with the ones I love the most.

Our darling little girl turns three!

As cliche as it sounds, I can not believe my baby girl is already three years old! Where does time go? Time flies? They grow so fast! Any more cliches you can think of, insert here... Ok, seriously though, why does it seem like not long ago she was the flutter in my womb, the miniature me in her crib, the doggie carrying {daddy's girl} (well, that she still is)? Now she is not an infant, nor a baby, nor a toddler, but a preschooler?! She pushes around a stroller full of her babies, dances around with her barbies, and dresses up like a princess, fairy or movie star. She is still as {sweet} as the day she was born but now with just a little more sass. Little Miss "L" is now three; watch out world...
To celebrate I planned for weeks the {perfect} party-- ponnies. I had a lot of ideas and only a little bit of money... so it was time to get crafty and make almost everything on my own (well with the help of Auntie). For a week straight, every night we worked on the centerpieces, banners, party favors, and more to ensure my daughter had a party she would never forget. I was very happy with how it turned out and so was my {sweet} "L" :)

Part of the present and cupcake table




the handmade centerpieces, made of dum dum pops


The My Little Pony table and jumphouse


the party favors-- cotton candy, yum :)

The mini sized kids table



"L" and her friend (Tutu & bow by Bella Lily Boutique)

everyone singing "Happy Birthday"

Present time!


Overall it was a {fabulous} party; and besides the eeriness of my baby girl growing up so quickly, I am loving every minute of it!