Easter 2009

I can't really explain why, but I take great joy in helping the Easter Bunny find little odds and ends for our Easter baskets.  Creed's basket was such a big hit that it was quite a while before he was interested in searching for eggs (We each got those disguise glasses for our next photo booth session).

He especially took to this cute rocket with pieces that fit together magnetically
I bought an Easter suit for him on sale after last Easter and luckily it was a perfect fit.


He wore it again the next Sunday and was a little more willing to pose for pictures.
After church we had another Easter egg hunt with Matt's family.  Creed only hunted for yellow eggs of course.  Most of them were empty and he didn't even know or care.  This is their backyard.  Wouldn't you love that ocean view?
And after Creed was nestled in bed that night, we feasted on candy!

Spoiled in California

Larry grew up in California and his mom still lives in Irvine so when we visit her, we not only get to spend time with her, we get to be in one of the most beautiful and interesting places around.  And as a special bonus, Larry's sister Keri and her family ended up being able to fly in from Texas to spend Easter with us too!

Saturday we didn't do anything grand, but it felt like a day of perfection to me; watching little moments that I know brought each person in my family a happy thrill.

We started the day off at an Easter egg hunt at Irvine park.  Creed LOVES trains right now and he was overjoyed!

just check out his face in this picture

He also had fun hunting for eggs.  I wasn't sure if he would get it, but he went to town and was so proud of himself.
And when you live so far away from family, seeing your kids immediately warm up to them just seems sort of magical and perfect.

Then onto In-N-Out for lunch.
Where Larry got to introduce Creed to one of his favorite things, he own personal moment of magic and perfection.

And as if the day wasn't perfect enough, after we tucked Creed into bed, we got to go on a date.  I think we went to five dates while we were there.  Being able to tuck Creed into bed and then head off with Larry, knowing Creed is safe with Grandma and I didn't have to miss a moment of the day with Creed is my idea of heaven.

Larry's mom happened to see in the newspaper that the grunion we running so we were off to a moonlight night on the beach.

The calm of the beach at night is also magical.  During junior high and the beginning of high school, I lived in the beach on the north shore of Oahu and my sisters and I were all known to tiptoe out to the beach at night and spend hours on the beach (well, ok my parents didn't know)
Just when we thought a grunion run was not going to take place, the fish started to mysteriously appear on the beach.  It's one of those sites that doesn't seem real.

Yes, definitely a day filled with magic.

Vegas, Baby!

I took about a million pictures on our trip, but I barely took any of the things I really want to remember like Larry's family together and the friends that we visited.  I guess I was too busy just enjoying the moment.  We still ended up with a zillion vacation photos that I've been slowly wading through.  I'll try not to bore all of you so stay tuned, and I'll interrupt the vacation posts with some of the other funny things we've been up to since we got home.

We started our journey with a stop in Las Vegas.  It seemed like a good way to split that ride in half and Thanks to this blog and this one, I got a really great deal for a five star hotel in the middle of the strip.  Since we were arriving at night, we decided to spend two nights at The Venetian so we would have a day to relax and feel spoiled. The woman who checked us in was really great and when I told her how excited Creed was to see all the lights in town so gave us the best possible view of the strip. 

Creed was in awe.
And he had no trouble making himself right at home living in the lap of luxury.
We spent a lot of time relaxing in our room and the hotel pool.  Now I guess the Venetian didn't expect many kids because although we discovered at least six pools, none of them seemed toddle friendly expect the shallow pool designed for lounge chairs.  Luckily other toddlers had already taken over and there wasn't a lounger in site so Creed had lots of fun splashing.
We did venture out to see some of the sites.  Creed was in love with the Bellagio fountains so we caught a few shows there.  He also enjoyed the frozen hot chocolate and Serendipity (before this trip, I didn't even know they had a Serendipity in Las Vegas).
We had to introduce him to Fat Burger too (yep, we're really raising him to be a healthy eater!)
But really, if your room looked liked this, with three flat panel tvs and maid service, wouldn't you have spent most of your time in your room too?

Take a picture, it will last longer

Just after our photo booth session with Lisa and Tyler, they handed us a big bag labelled "roadtrip survival kit".  It contained a myriad of cool things, but the true gem was Lisa's Polaroid camera and a pack of film.  I was so excited!  

We just got back in the wee hours of this morning and I thought the best way to start telling you about our trip would be to show you the polaroids.  You'll get a few glimpses of what we've been up to the past two weeks, and I promise to tell you more about it later.

Let's go to the movies!

Thanks to his mom, Larry and I had the rare treat of a night out alone. We went to see this movie, and even though it ends on a postivev note, it broke my heart.
We saw a preview for The Brothers Bloom and now we are DYING to see it. I cannot wait for it to hit theaters!

What movies are you looking forward to?

March Favorites

Now that we're well into April, I figured I would post our March favorites.


Favorite Children's Book of the Month

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems


Favorite Kids' Song of the Month
Grumpy by Music for Aardvarks. So catchy. We can all be heard humming it around the house.

Favorite Clothing Items of the Month

Creed - Fruit of the Loom Socks. I know that may sound strange, but Creed has chubby little ankles and we have tries many different brands of socks because they all seem too tight on his ankles. Larry and I would both feel bad when we peeled his socks off at the end of the day and saw the deep red marks that his socks left. The Fruit of the Loom socks are really soft and stretchy so Creed no longer minds wearing socks and as an added bonus, on the inside of each sock they print a letter to indicate the size so they are really easy to sort.

Steph- polkadot cardigan from Target. It's not that flattering on me, but gray with polka dots! Need I say more?

Larry- Hideous yellow sunglasses, which he actually did purchase after I took this photo, even though Lisa and I advized him against it. I realize that they are really an accessory and not an item of clothing, but he loves them so much, how could I resist documenting that?

Favorite Song for Grown-Ups of the Month

Stephanie - Ordinary Day - Emilie Mover

Larry - a tie between "That's Not My Name" by The Ting-Tings and "1, 2, 3, 4" by The Plain White Tees (I promise that if you listen to "That's Not My Name" two times, it will be stuck in your head for the rest of the month)

Favorite Recipe of the Month

Turkey Burgers

I found this recipe on a blog I've shared before called Sugar City Journal, and I don't know why I waited months to try it. Much better than my traditional mush some grill seasoning into ground turkey and throw it on the grill version. "1 lb. ground turkey, 2 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 c. grated cheddar cheese, 1 t. salt, 2 T. dried minced onions, 1 T. garlic powder. Easy. Mix up, shape, and grill... so savory and so quick!"

April Photobooth Photos

I haven't downloaded our Easter photos yet, but I have some other beauties to share with you. Tyler and Lisa said they are always up for a real photo booth session so we met up with them a few days ago and all crowded in.

I'm pretty sure they steal the show. Lisa out-poses me by far! I'm already coming up with a plan for our next session. Watch for some serious competition next month Tyler and Lisa!

Every Jack Needs a Mary

Life is not all graphic design projects and parties around here. Sometimes I actually get around to making other things. I'm sure that many of you are not familiar with the TV show Jack's Big Music Show, but Creed's gal-pal Audrey is a BIG fan. Last year we made her a Jack puppet for her birthday so this year of course we had to make a puppet of Jack's gal-pal, Mary. It's pretty much impossible to pose with a puppet without feeling completely ridiculous.And Larry insisted that I pose like this because I did it last year.And of course we had to include a photo of our little dreamboat.I stole this picture from Nikki's blog of Audrey with her puppets because I love how happy she looks and I want to remember it forever!