For her birthday adventure, we took our baby (and the bigger babies) to the zoo! This girl is obsessed with animals and calls them baby, so we knew her attention would be absolutely captivated by all the animals at the zoo. Her favorite were by far the pandas; she didn’t want to leave them! We let her bring her “baby” along and she was so cute hugging that thing everywhere and ooh-ing and ahh-ing at all the animals.

All the animals are just so amazing. We marveled at the uniqueness of every single one. Like giraffes, they’re gorgeous creatures, but when you really look at their face, it’s kinda freaky looking (to me). Bravey’s favorite were the spider monkeys. No surprise there since her favorite is Spider-Man. We saw most animals at the zoo, but we did end up getting year passes, so you can be sure we will be back again for another visit.

We ended the day grabbing pizza locally before making the long drive back home. It was the perfect way to celebrate our littlest loves 2nd birthday!

on me: dress, handmade by me. shoes, new balance. on true: dress, c/o panache box (I want it in my size!). shoes, salt-waters. on brave: dress, little esop. pants, c/o panache box. shoes, old navy. on soul: dress, vintage. shoes, salt-waters. on glow: birthday dress, handmade by me. shoes, salt-waters.

This was The Zombie Run round 2! We loved it so much last year, that we signed up to do it again this year. The race was at a different location, it was much hotter, and it was steeper and rockier, so I had to be careful around those parts because I did not want to chance rolling an ankle. I’ve got 4 little ones to take care of, so it’s safety first even if that means I become zombie dinner. The course was filled with lots of zombies, which meant lots of interval running, and a whole lot of screaming and fun. One thing I  did notice this year was that there were less obstacles. I love the obstacles and I wish they would have put more on the track. Jumping walls, crawling in mud, and under barb wire are my cup of tea (well, for fun runs)! It just makes the whole thing much more exciting!

I did finish the course with one flag left, so I did come out a survivor even though they gave me a medal that said “infected.” Part of the fun is seeing the zombie outfits and makeup. They’re really good and the brides are always the freakiest ones. Our group mostly stuck together and it’s makes the whole race so much better (and less scary). I love running fun races with these people. We all loved it so much that we already signed up for next year’s Zombie Run in March! Anyone else wanna join?!

A half marathon or even a full would be on my to-do list, but Ben doesn’t run and it gets lonely to train by yourself. We do our workouts in the morning together and since he doesn’t run, I’m not as motivated to go outside to run because I’d rather be exercising next to him. I really want to try the Spartan Race. That one is a much more intense endurance test, but since it’s only 3 miles, I don’t think I really have to train and I can just keep my regular workouts with Ben, but probably throw in a few more burpees in preparation. I don’t know, we’ll see. Now the obstacles in that race kind of freak me out, but I’d really like to see if I could do it. Have any of you done the Spartan Race? How hard is it?

P.S. The photos were taken by Ben. He doesn’t run the race, but he comes as a spectator and tries to find us throughout the course to snap our pics. He’s such a sweetie. Also, don’t forget to check out last year’s zombie run here.

We headed out to our community Harvest Festival for the first time ever. We typically go to another one that takes place during the day at a local college, but we thought it would be fun to try something new this year. We went with some friends and in the early evening, we all strolled over to the park together. We packed a picnic dinner, some picnic blankets and we had no idea what to expect at this community event.

Ben and I were pleasantly surprised at how great the whole thing was. There was a petting zoo, hay rides, a zebra (A ZEBRA!), this corn kennel play area, a maze, (unhealthy) festival food, and live music. Of course, there were inflatable jumpers too, but we skipped that because we were having too much fun with the free activities (and we didn’t want to pay 10 bucks a kid!).

We loved that corn kennel play area, but we all came out with a lot of corn inside our shoes. Glow was smitten by the zebra, and the bigger girls liked the petting zoo, though they were a bit afraid to touch the animals. We set up a blanket with all our friends and had dinner together. I even brought fancy sparkling water for the occasion! It was just such a great night of fun together as a family and with our friends, who are pretty much our family too.

It was a cooler California evening, or rather it was really windy, so we were excited to wear some sweaters out. Summers seem to last forever here, but the sweaters have been coming out more often lately, so that’s very good. At least, for this cooler weather loving mama it is. I love the patterned sweaters Old Navy has for kids and I love my simple sweatshirt (it’s only 8 bucks online!). I can dress it up with a pretty necklace or leave it plain (it’s been my go-to top these days with a skirt or jeans). All evening at the park, we were definitely warm and cozy. We stayed a little past the girls’ bedtime, but breaking the rules is okay once in awhile, especially when it’s for some nighttime pumpkin patching. Wouldn’t you agree?!

on me: crew neck sweatshirt and necklace c/o old navy. denim skirt, vintage. shoes, converse. glasses, rowley eyewear. on true: graphic sweater and dotted skirt, c/o old navy. on brave: animal graphic sweater and shoes, c/o old navy. pants, c/o panache box. on soul: striped terry dress, c/o old navy. shoes, superga. cardigan, c/o panache box. on glow: polka dot sweater, c/o old navy. shoes, freshly picked. crochet bauble, ava mae & ruby lu.
*This post was sponsored by Old Navy. Check out Old Navy’s latest fashion lineup in store or online at oldnavy.com. I love blogging and these opportunities really wouldn’t be possible without you, so I’m very thankful for the time you take to visit this space! xoxo

It was one of those “we need to get out of the house” days and RJ (baby sister) was over, so we took this opportunity to go do some adventuring. We did some thrifting (found nothing) and then got the bestest ice cream ever. It’s a bit of a drive for it, and Ben thinks I’m crazy to do so, but he doesn’t understand how good it is. It’s seriously bomb dot com.

A la Minute Ice Cream is made to order using liquid nitrogen! Say what?! Not sure how it works, but look at that picture above with all the smoke, that’s how it works. It’s pretty much made for you in a minute. It’s utterly amazing! My fave flavors are their salted caramel and chocolate lavender… oooh so good! Our friend Steph, who introduced us to the ice cream, texted me the other day to tell me they had pumpkin. Unfortunately, the day we went, they had just sold out that morning. They said they were making another pumpkin one, so that means we will just have to make the trek back. I was bummed, but excited because that means we have to go back. There was also a thrift store that was closed that we want to check out, so another day of ice cream and thrifting must happen again very soon.

These rocks are my souvenirs from our summer vacation in New Mexico. I fell in love with so many rocks that I kind of took them home with me (Ben had to restrain me from taking more). The girls had their own collection going on while we were there, but really, they collect rocks everywhere we go. Some of these rocks are pretty massive and I spotted them on our way up the mountain (see here), but there was no way I was going to take them up, so on our way down is when I did my gathering. Ben also found a rock in the shape of a heart to commemorate the hike we did to celebrate our 8 year anniversary.

We aren’t much of souvenirs buyers, though we did let the girls each pick a little something, but these rocks are my souvenirs and I love them so much! Seeing them brings me a wave of memories from our time this summer. Some of them are displayed in our home, and some are just sitting in a basket waiting for a special spot. I think some of these pictures blown up might even make for a nice poster. There’s just so much beauty in something as simple as a rock!

Are you or your kids rock collectors too?

It’s back to summer weather here in SoCal and it has me missing our time in New Mexico. The crisp air, the cool morning and evenings, and the gorgeous views… oh, I want to go back to Taos Ski Valley so badly! This is the last of our 2013 summer vacation recap and we spent a lot of time out in the mountains, but we also spent a lot of time in our cabin too.

It was our first time renting an actual home (cabin) to stay in rather than a hotel. I was kind of nervous about it at first, but we had such a lovely time and the place was amazing. We had these large front windows that looked onto the mountains and the view was just breathtaking. We chose Snow Bear Inn to stay at and it was perfect for our group of 8. There were 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms, a full kitchen, dining and living room. It was nice to have a home away from home. We made all our meals (never ate out at all, but it took intense meal planning and packing!) and had a room of their own to go to bed at a proper time, and it gave us adult time to chat.

So many memories were made here. Mama, Ben’s mom, made wonderful breakfasts every morning; we were spoiled having waffles, pancakes, and french toast everyday. We had family dinners at the table and Ben’s sister, Suzy, would read from his mom’s old journal that she wrote when they would go on vacation when to New Mexico when Ben and Suzy were younger. That was an especially memorable night. The girls and Ben’s sister put on a show for us on the last night and the girls just loved that they had a new place to explore, everything was way cool to them! Another favorite memory were our family walks at night. They weren’t long, but they were just so peaceful and it was just wonderful to be surrounded by God’s creation under twilight. That blanket of stars above just left you in awe!

Snow Bear Inn was the perfect place to call home while we there and we were sad to leave. It made us dream of buying a cabin there one day. Donna, the manager, was especially helpful and always gave us the best suggestions of what to do and see. She went above and beyond and I was seriously calling her everyday for this or that and she was so great in answering my questions. I think Taos Ski Valley is quite popular in the winter since it’s known for skiing, so summer was a much more affordable time to go and stay there. Now that I think about it, it’s called Snow Bear Inn, but it isn’t really an inn, but more like a lot of cabin/condos put together. Most of them have individual owners that rent it out when they aren’t there and Donna manages it all. It would be fun to be one of those owners and have this little haven to go to every summer. A girl can dream, can’t she?!

If you could have another little place to call home anywhere in the world, where would you choose?