7 Quicktakes...from sometime in 2015

I am noticing as I go through pictures from this year that there is random stuff I never put up on the blog, so this post is meant to address the post-partum forgetfulness that is apparently my life these days.

1. Evening walks

These tend to happen a lot.  Sometimes we take family walks because we want to get out and enjoy the fresh air and each other's company.  Sometimes we just get out for walks because we want to make good and sure the girls are WORN OUT and go to sleep before 10pm.  

These backpacks were a Christmas gift to the girls from some friends up north.  They really liked to walk with them for a period of time (which has now passed).  Now they use them for other things, but rarely take them on walks. 

2.  Sophie's tricks

 

These pictures are clearly from at least sevearl months ago because they were taken in our old condo.  On the left we have Ava reading while Sophie does what Sophie does best- sleep.  On the right is a picture Chris snapped when Sophie was just beginning the rolling over phase.  Yes, that was also several months ago....

These are more recent (like within the last 3 weeks...)

Ava sure does love being a big sister.  And Sophie sure does love all the attention.  

Sometimes she gets just a little bored though and has to gnaw on something... 

3. Petting Zoo morning

 

My friend Meighan and her son, Teo, got Elise tickets to a petting zoo for her birthday.  Last month, we finally went to the petting zoo together.  It was so much fun.  The girls were a little shy about feeding the animals.  Ava was the least shy, which was a little surprising, since she's normally one to hang back a little.   

There was a train, and the girls were thrilled to ride it.  THRILLED! 

 

 

 They were way more thrilled to have their first ever pony rides though.  It was so cute watching each of them take their turn.  Kayla's smile was from ear to ear the entire ride.  Elise alternated between flapping her arms excitedly, "biting" her hand, and smiling.  Ava took a little longer to warm up, but perked up once she realized that they would let Daddy walk next to her. 

We took this sweet picture just outside the petting zoo in San Juan Cap. 

4. Beach day mermaids

 

A few months ago, we went to the beach with a few other families.  We buried Elise and Ava in the sand and they stayed and played happily that way for at least 30 minutes.  It was incredible.  And quite cute as well.  

5. Sophie's First Bath

Just kidding.  But Chris snapped this cute picture of Sophie getting a bath in the sink at our old condo and she is just SO CUTE!

6. Let's Go Fly a Kite

 

Shortly after Elise's birthday (she got a kite), Chris took the girls out to fly it, and came back with these SUPER ADORABLE pictures.  I could look at them all day.  It's so fun to observe the pure joy and excitement in these pictures.  

 

7. Disneyland

 

Random Disneyland shots...because there's always random Disneyland shots.  

Summer in Winter

Well we had some absolutely gorgeous summer weather here just days before winter ends and spring begins. It's pretty clear the groundhog seeing his shadow or not seeing his shadow does not have any bearing on Southern California weather. It was 90 degrees here yesterday and in the high 80's on Saturday. So like any sane person, we headed to the beach on Saturday, and went to the pool on Sunday. Next weekend the weather is supposed to be more mild and in the mid-60's and 70's, I believe, which will be nice for our big hike in the desert. What blessings!


Looking for sea life in the tide pools





Ava went in the water this time and LOVED it. We could not keep her out once she went in. Kayla, as usual, spent all her time either in the water with her dad or exploring (tide pools). She found some small crabs and fish, a few anemones, and tons of shells. Elise likes neither of those activities much and prefers to just sit and play in the sand happily.

Chris took the girls to the complex pool yesterday in their new "puddle jumpers" (basically some heavy duty water wings). By the end of the excursion, Kayla was "swimming" around on her own and Elise had dipped her toes in. I stayed back with Ava and cleaned the floors, then headed over to let Ava have a brief swim. Just like the ocean, she loved it. She grinned and giggled and kicked her little feet nonstop.

The Condo -Part 3 - Outside

Just a quick post to give family and friends an idea of the outside of our place. We can see the pool (though it's mostly blocked by plants) from our door.

The Condo- Part 2- Upstairs

In my last post about the condo, I shared about our living space downstairs: the laundry closet, kitchen, dining and living room. That leaves only our two little bedrooms upstairs that are identical (when they're empty). The bedrooms are separated by a little hallway with some shelves and each bedroom has a small walk-in closet and a bathroom. Ours has a shower only, and the girls' has a bathtub and shower.

When I met our next door neighbor the day we moved in, I was bringing empty boxes out to our garage. First Kayla ran out from our place, then Elise came bounding behind her, and when Ava toddled up the sidewalk, I saw his eyes widen significantly. "Is it a bit snug for you all in there?" he asked. And I replied, "Well yes, but we are fortunate that we have always had them sleep in the same room together, so it wasn't nearly so difficult a transition as it could have been". He nodded and we chatted about many other things. He's a sweet man who has 4 grand kids of his own whom he gets to hang out with regularly and he clearly loves it. But I digress.... I was speaking about our girls' sleeping arrangement. Chris and I got wise when Ava arrived, and decided to purchase a bunk bed, and not just a bunk bed, but one that has a trundle option underneath. Currently I have bags of the girls' clothes in sizes they aren't wearing right now bagged up and stored in the trundle, but it's there for when we need it...



When we moved from our house, we also lost our little play area for the girls, so we have to keep all their toys in their room as well. They fit pretty well surprisingly.


We don't have a beach view from our condo, but did I mention that we are only about 20-25 minutes from the beach? I am pretty sure we have spent a day at the beach every weekend since we've moved....we love it.

The Condo - Part 1 - Downstairs

Chris moved in to our condo down here in Orange County in mid-December, but the girls and I only just arrived about a week ago to our new home. We stayed up in the Sacramento area with my grandmother for Christmas and moved down the day after as a family. Chris was able to get some of our kitchen unpacked, and he put together the girls' beds before we got here, but he wasn't able to do much else with work and coming back up to Sac to visit and spend Christmas with us. So, I had a bit more work to do upon arrival.

The place is quite tiny compared to the house we sold. It was about 1500 square feet, while this place is 900 square feet. We are back down to 2 bedrooms, and we have a little patio instead of our spacious yard. Mind you, I'm not complaining; I'm just trying to give you an idea of the size so that my next comments make sense. Lest, I make Chris sound as though he did no unpacking, I must tell you that when the movers came and dropped off our things, the place was so full of boxes, that he could barely move around to unpack anything. Unpacking the 10-12 boxes was quite the chore, because Chris had to continually move things around just to get to cupboards and closets where items could be put after opening a box.

There was still a lot to unpack when we arrived, but at least we could sit at the table to eat and the kitchen was clear so I could make a meal. The living room still had boxes stacked around, but we could sit on the couches. My task was to unpack the rest of the downstairs and upstairs which is still enough of a mess that I will save pictures of it for another day.

So here is the virtual tour of the downstairs portion of our little condo.


This is the entry way. The closed door is a small bathroom and the laundry closet is to the left of the crucifix.


The laundry situation is one that I am going to have to get used to. I was very blessed to have a nice big washer and dryer in our house and this stackable set is tiny. We had one like this in our Roseville apartment back when we had 1 child (2 kids for the last 4 months we were there). Now we have 3 kids, and I am literally doing laundry twice a day now. Because the bedrooms are upstairs, I fold laundry on the love seat in the living room so there is nearly always laundry sitting there from my constant washing. It is teaching me patience and gratitude, because I just keep telling myself that I am SO BLESSED to have a washer and dryer at all AND one that is IN the condo and no across the parking lot or across the community.


Another blessing/curse depending on how one looks at it is the dishwasher. It is tiny. I do a load a day and then have most of the dishes from dinner to wash by hand, so I'm getting used to hand washing most things again. I don't mind the work; but it takes some getting used to since my large washer/dryer and dishwasher were luxuries I had become accustomed to. I don't know why that picture is sideways...


Here is the kitchen. It's a bit more closed than our old place and the fridge is smaller, but there is actually MORE cupboard space. Woohoo! Plus the living and dining areas are just off of the kitchen here, so if we have a few guests over and I'm cooking I can still be part of the group.


teeny, tiny dining area that connects to the living area. :)


Living room. Behind the curtains is the patio area.


I'm not crazy about the stairs with Ava being so small, but she had some practice at my grandma's and she is doing really well with ours here so far. They are not safe for kids as she can fit her head through the bars, and probably slide out some of the openings going down, but she is being cautious about it and so are we, so we have had no problems. I think I will get a few baby gates before too long though, because I have visions of one of them with their head stuck and I'd rather not have those become a reality.

We have a detached garage which helps with storage space and we are all adjusting to apartment-style living again with close quarters and close neighbors, but we are happy and we are home and that's what matters. I will update with pictures of the bedrooms when I get them organized.