Let's begin.

Honestly if I look over and over these photos and try to resize and edit, you all will never see them. So let's just begin the sharing!

California was wonderful.

I'm going to be honest here and say that we really haven't been able to say that about many of our trips since Alla was born because up until the age of two, she was a really crummy sleeper on vacations, so that meant we were not getting good sleep on vacation, which means it was always anything BUT a vacation.

This, however, was relaxing and enjoyable and worth it. Thank you Laughrey's for taking such good care of us and always making us feel at home in your home. We miss you already.

We headed to Disneyland when we woke up the day after our arrival. It was a hot 85 degree day in Anaheim, but I hated to complain since we need to be storing up as much vitamin D as possible since we're heading into winter here!

We got on the train and headed right for the princesses. So different than last year, when Alla didn't give a rat's behind about anything princess-y. She asked me last year if they had Fiona there. That was the only princess she would have wanted to see.

Not so this year. Bring on the hour-long wait to spend thirty seconds with each of three princesses, and then, if she'd had her way, get back in line to do it again. I wished I would have gotten back in line with her. That's all she wanted to do. And isn't Disneyland all about making dreams come true?

We knew going into this that Alla did not want to ride the rides. Here she's telling Wallis exactly what she does and does not want to do.No carousel, no Snow White, no Mr. Toad's, and especially no Yo-Ho. So it was all about finding things to make it fun for her (after we gave her a hard time about it, of course), or, should I say, finding things to make it worth the $150 for Ron.

So while Disneyland was not the highlight of her trip, it was definitely up there, and here's why:

Princesses.

Meeting up with the Stahrs in line for the princesses.

Going there with Kelsea.

Lunch at the kids' table.

Watching Mary Poppins sing and dance with Bert.

Seeing Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Winnie the Pooh ride.

Tom Sawyer Island.

Strawberry ice cream.

Amazingly, she did NOT take a nap on the way home! Fisher, however, was a super baby and slept from lunchtime til we left the park three hours later.

Stay tuned for our beach day. It was so warm that we actually went to the beach and the girls played in the waves. Or, should I say, Alla got pummeled by a wave and then she and Kelsea played in the sand.

While we were gone.

This little guy turned seven months old. Good thing, though, 'cause he got the official lifeguard tower treatment.

At seven months, he's 20 pounds 6 ounces.

He loves food. Loves.

Which is really too bad, cause in his seventh month we learned of his milk/wheat/peanut allergies, so we have to be really careful what we give him. And what we give ME.

He's so mellow.

He slept like a champ on our vacation; I couldn't have been happier. I can't believe how different these kids are, even this early on.

He's super excited about cell phones. Like giddy.

And we're giddy about him. Love you, little man.

It's Kelsea Day!

Yep that's what she's been counting sleeps for: Kelsea Day, and it's finally here! So check back in a week for photos from our visit.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Ron did the big garage clean-up this weekend, and I'm loving day two of parking my car (what? a vehicle IN the garage?) in there.

2. Especially since it was 40 this morning.

3. Fisher loves bananas, pumpkin, cereal, and is pretty fond of zucchini, avocado, and sweet potato. OK, so far he hasn't met a food he doesn't like.

4. This is way different than Alla. We got gagging pretty much from day one. And still do.

5. I'm supposed to be watching Private Practice right now.

6. Or making FREE signs for the trunk I've been carting around since junior high, and the bike that was replaced by the Julius Cruiser.

7. A few weeks ago, we had one last hot, 85-degree weather kind of day. And I'm so glad that on a whim, I packed up the kids and drove five minutes to do this:

8. Where was Fisher? On my hip. I decided it was time to go when my arm was just about to fall off.9. Yes she does own a bathing suit, but, as I mentioned in #7, it was a whim. I was smart enough to bring a towel since I'm not naive enough to think that she wasn't going to fully immerse herself in that giant body of warm water on a hot day, suit or no suit.

10. I'd really like to visually share with you what she did with said towel, but it's probably not suitable (no pun intended) for the world wide web. So I'll just tell you that she didn't exactly wrap it around her. She spread it out in the sun, and warmed her nakey buns there on the grassy edge of the lake. And that was a lovely, lovely end to a fine summer.

A different kind of leaf-scene.

Mostly I would guess that our fall leaf-type photos all contain little girls wearing sweatshirts and shivering. Yesterday, however, the weather was amazingly warm, and she frolicked barefoot with her buddies in their leaf pile (our tree is just barely starting to turn). I love that there's so much movement in this scene. And that she still has her bandaid on from her flu shot. She about lost it last night when Ron tried to take it off. No, she wants it on til it falls off.

While Daddy cleaned out the garage (yay my car's in there on this rainy Monday!), Fisher sat nearby on a blanket and we tried to interest him more in the toys than the grass.

Weekend in photos.

Here's how it looked in photographs.

Fisher's first wagon ride. We quickly realized he should be on the other side.
Love that she still adores Baby Rolla.Webcam with Nana + Pappi in Rhode Island. Love the wonder of technology. Carter finally got a caterpillar. Now their caterpillars can be friends.

My Sunday five miles.

Weekend mornings = movies. This weekend was Nemo, both days.

We quickly realized that the kitchen floor is not the easiest place to feed a baby. But it was fun while it lasted.
Both kids love to talk to Daddy on the phone.

Meeting up with friends for a park playdate. And goodness, when you don't see them for awhile, suddenly these kids who you knew in diapers are suddenly looking ready for college.


And that is it, my friends. All 168 Week in the Life photos are ready for pick up at Target, and I believe Target is as good a place as any to get an album for them and start adding words to all the lovely images of our regular, normal, everyday LIFE.

Week in the life.

I've been participating in Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project this week. Because I absolutely jump at the suggestion of documenting my life even more and because I absolutely need one.more.thing.to.do. No, honestly, I just think it might be incredible ten years from now to look back at the pictures of this one week and see all the magical little details of our regular old life.

So, since I've literally taken about 50 photos a day since Monday and still have the weekend to go, I'll share some here.

Muffin Tin Monday, of course. Fave part this week: blueberries (frozen of course)
The every-afternoon scene: they've made some sort of hide-out back there
She can brush her teeth all by herself

Hoarding that big giant bag of Kettle Corn from Tuesday's Farmer's Market. at the end of the day (wish that were my milk)
at the beginning of the day: pitter patter of little feet
breakfast one day: [soy] yogurt and granola on a waffle with bananas and maple syrup for me, banana waffle and plain yogurt with bananas for Alla, mashed avocado for FishAlla helping me fold laundry in 'half to half' (that's how she folds the smallish stuff) Fuzzy the Caterpillar was found on our Wednesday run. She is still with us. And was taken for Sharing Day on Thursday.

Just-a-sittin with her friend on the side of the street, chattin about what it is they should do next. First fall

She makes wipes for me while I feed Fisher cereal
Then she finishes feeding him while I make her sandwich.
Hope ya'll are having a lovely week and enjoying the little details of your lives, too.