Catch Up!!!

Ok, so I have been really lame about writing on my blog for awhile. The truth is we have been having so much fun, and there is just so much to document, that by the time the kids are in bed and I have time to myself I just want to rest! Anyhow, I have a small blurb of energy right now, so lets get to it.

So for starters, my dear friend Cheri Hoffman is pregnant and expecting a baby girl in November. Everyone is super excited, including me, which is why I offered to throw her a baby shower. Cheri and I know each other from our husbands working together, and we used to be neighbours in our San Marcos, CA home. Since us moving to CO and then back to CA, Cheri and her family have moved to CO just 15 minutes from where we were living. Total bummer that we never were there together, but I digress back to the point. She was to be in CA for a week this summer so I took that as an opportunity to host a shower with her Cali friends. My mother graciously agreed to let me hold it at their beautiful home.

Before the shower though we hung out in LA for a few days with her and her daughter, Caylen, who is Danika's age, and the three girls are good friends. First we visited them in Venice Beach and went swimming in the pool. All the girls were in swim lessons this summer and yet two of them managed to nearly drown each other, Reese going for a record of two near drownings in a day. Yay me! I win mother of the year. I do not have pictures of that event to share! Which is a bummer because Cheri jumped in the pool serving as life guard fully clothed. Go Cheri! It probably sounds pretty insane of me to be making jokes about this. I agree, drowning is no joke, especially when it involves someone I love, but it was really a comedy of errors looking back.

After swimming we drove back to our house and enjoyed playtime and dinner together, and Caylen stayed for a sleepover. Here is a pic of Dani and Caylen doing a dance for us and the girls snuggling while watching a movie...

The next day we met back up with Cheri and headed over to Beverly Hills to be fabulous. We dined at Villa Blanca which is owned by Lisa Vanderpump. She is a celeb apparantly, dont ask why, but she is. Anyhow the lunch was yummy and it was a great chance to people watch from the patio. The girls enjoyed drinking their water from wine glasses (I couldnt relax the whole time waiting for them to break one, but they loved it). After lunch we walked around looking for a Fro Yo place that never was, but we ended up at Pinkberry a few blocks further. Its so fun to see how the filthy rich live.

That night the girls and I drove to San Diego to stay at mums house so I could prepare for the shower. Dad was away on a business trip so it was a really nice time to spend just with my mum (missed u though Dad).

The girls helped Mum in the garden the next afternoon to remove any dead leaves or flowers off the plants to get the garden ready for the shower. It reminded me of when I would roam around my Nana's back yard in Australia, or when she would take me into her greenhouse and let me water the flowers. Good times....

That night we ate at my favorite all time Thai restaurant, The King and I. The girls have become slightly more adventurous by trying the Tom Ka soup which they really like. The food was delish!

The next afternoon we met Caylen, Cheri and Kyle at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for the Horse Races. I only caught one pic of the girls.

We didnt stay for long but it was nice to catch up. Afterwards we met up with Mum and went to another of my favorite restaurants (are we detecting a theme here?) Love Boat Sushi. The girls love Tempura Shrimp...Here they are getting their grub on!

The next day was Cheri's Shower. Mum and I spent two days prepping, decorating, hanging lanterns, tying bows, making favors, and drinking wine in between :) I must say I was very proud of us and the results. Cheri cried like 5 times which is a good sign that we done good! While the shower was on, my parents good friends Graham and Susan McMillan graciously offered to take the girls for the afternoon. Thank you so much guys! The girls had a blast playing dress up, and entertaining the McMillans. They are already planning their next trip over there which apparantly includes a sleepover.