San Diego Trip

My boss and her family spent most the summer in Carlsbad so she invited us to come join them to a Padres game. How could I say no! She even got us a room at the Hilton Bayside in downtown San Diego. We met them for pizza and then walked to the ballpark. Of course we stopped to take our picture with the Petco Park Pals!


Thanks Joanne. I'm having a ball!

Here's a view of the game from our awesome seats!

Unfortunately the Padres lost, but we had so much fun!

I took this picture from the hallway window of our hotel. That's how close we were to Petco Park!

We went to Seaport Village to have breakfast by the water.

Then we drove over the bridge to Coronado Beach where Kayla enjoyed building her first sandcastle!

Yikes, the water is chilly!

Lemon Lily Festival

In late July we wanted to get out of the desert heat, so we went to the Lemon Lily Festival in Idyllwild . Kayla was excited to go hunt for pretty yellow flowers in the woods.

We hiked along this trail down to a little creek where the Lemon Lilies grow. Apparently they are very rare now-a-days and the only ones we spotted had not bloomed yet. Kayla was disappointed that we did not find any flowers. But at least we got to check out the Idyllwild Nature Center which had some cool exhibits!

We had lunch at the Ildyllwild Pub. Then on our way home we stopped at Hurkey Creek Park so Kayla could play on the playground (as we promised)!

4th of July

It was hot and humid, but a backyard barbeque is a must on 4th of July! We were especially excited to try out the new grill we just bought the day before! My old grill finally died after 10 years of heavy use and there's no way we could survive the summer without one. So we went shopping and found this one at Home Depot for a great deal (including free full propane tank)!

We always go watch the fireworks show in Palm Desert, so we decided to do something different this year and have our own fireworks show at home! After all, that's one of the benefits of living in Indio. (They're illegal in almost every surrounding city.) So we went to 2 local fireworks stands and got a variety of goodies. Here's Kayla enjoying a popsicle while waiting for Daddy to start the fireworks.

The fireworks we got were disappointing. Apparently, if you want the good stuff, you have to spend more than $50! We'll probably go back to Palm Desert next year to watch the free show.

We got a ton of sparklers and at first, Kayla was too scared to hold one. But by the end of the night when there were no more fireworks left, she got brave and tried it. Then we couldn't go inside until she burned every last one!

Father's Day

We thought it'd be fun to drive up to Pioneertown since we've never been there. We had lunch at the famous Pappy & Harriet's.

The food was delicious and we had a great time.

Then we walked to Main Street where they had a gunfight show! Nothing beats FREE entertainment! Too bad Kayla didn't find the cowboys very interesting. I thought it was cool.


We ended the evening at home with ice-cream sundaes!

Happy Father's Day Devin! We love you!

New Birdhouse

Kayla loves to stare out the glass french doors and watch the birdies in the backyard. We even put birdseed out for them. So when Devin had to replace a couple of boards in the fence, he cut the old wood up and built a little birdhouse. No birds have gone inside yet, but it sure looks cute!

Winning!

I received a very pleasant and unexpected phone call on June 1st. I was at work when my cell phone rang. It was Trader Joe's in La Quinta calling to tell me that I won the monthly raffle! As everyone knows, I shop there a lot and I always bring my own bags. So I've been entering my name into the drawing for the past 5 years and it finally paid off! They even put my picture on the wall. I was so excited, I took a picture of my prizes when I got home:

May 30 - Devin's Birthday

For Devin's birthday, we spent most of the day hanging out in our backyard. Our friends Mike and Christian came over to celebrate with us.

Kayla played with her bubbles while we BBQ chicken and corn-on-the-cob.

Then we had ice-cream cake AND banana cream pie!

Memorial Day Weekend

We usually go camping during Memorial Day weekend, but we were lazy this year and didn't plan for it. Instead, we just took a day trip and had a picnic. We picked a new trail out of our SoCal 4X4 book, packed the cooler, and headed out to Lower Coyote Canyon. This is a picture of "The Badlands" off the S22 on our way towards Borrego Springs. It reminds me of a mini Grand Canyon.

Arriving at the trail entrance.

It was a great day to enjoy the natural beauty of desert.

The book said we'd pass through 3 water crossings. Here's the first one.

And the second stream...

Then we approached this. See the arrow on the sign pointing right into the river? Yup, that's our trail! We started to go in, but then it got deeper so we got scared and backed out.

We pulled over and got out to explore while Devin contemplated whether or not we could make it through.

After watching 2 other vehicles drive through, we decided to go for it. But not until we took a family picture!

We took a detour off the main trail to check out this historical landmark.

Here's the open view from the landmark point.

At the very end of the trail was a small area designated for camping and a hiking trail that led up to an oasis. It was pretty cool so I'm sure we'll go back again sometime.

Girls Night Out

The Saturday after my birthday, I went to Fantasy Springs Casino with my friends Sonya and Debbie. We ate dinner at the seafood buffet and then hung out at the Rock Yard and listened to the Rick James tribute band. We had a good time and I even won a T-shirt for Devin!

May 18 - Sarah's Birthday

My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, but at least it was a fun easy-going day at the office. I basically ate my way through the day. First, we had cake and ice-cream for breakfast! Mike and Joanne made me a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and berries on top and it was yummy! Then, Nick and I had sushi for lunch at Musashi.

After work, Devin, Kayla and I went to Fisherman's Grill for dinner. (I was really craving seafood that day.) I'm so lucky that Kayla is a good eater. She ate ALL of her broccoli and a few bites of fish and chips.

Kayla was eager to get home. After all, she patiently waited all day to have a piece of chocolate cake that she and Daddy made!

Mother's Day

We had a delicious breakfast at the Shield's Date Garden Cafe.


The neighbor kids across the street were selling flowers. So Devin bought this bouquet for $5. He also helped Kayla color this card for me!

We went to Yogurt Island and brought home yummy treats!

Another Beautiful Day In the Desert

We've been taking advantage of the below average weather lately and spending alot of time outdoors. I met my friends Sonya and Valerie and her son Roman at the Palm Desert Civic Park for a picnic one Saturday.

The kids had fun feeding the ducks by the pond.

Easter Weekend

We drove up to Sacramento and visited with my family. Last time we were there, we went to Fairytale Town and Funderland. So this time we went to the Sacramento Zoo. We even got a 50% discount on the entry fee with our Living Desert memberships! Kayla was excited to see monkeys.


She loved going down the slide at the playground.

They had a huge reptile house, so of course we had to go inside! Kayla loves to look at snakes and lizards.

Saturday morning, we all went to Aunt Irene's house to dye Easter eggs.

Kayla really got into it and created some awesome designs.

On Easter Sunday we went to Aunt Irene's for dinner. Kayla and Daniel were showered with lots of Easter baskets and treats!

Then it was time for the Easter egg hunt!

They searched for eggs in the front yard.

And all throughout the house.

There were more eggs in the backyard.

Thanks Paw-Paw, Bock-Bock, and Bock-Gung! We enjoyed our stay.