Outdoor fun in the sun

Spring is here and our weather is absolutely gorgeous this time of year! We've been spending alot of time outside lately because before we know it, it will be too hot! Even Roxy enjoys relaxing in the sun. If only Devin would mow the lawn for us so that we could have some nice pictures without weeds. Oh well, maybe by next weekend.

Kayla has a gazillion toys, but guess what her favorite thing to play with is?

A rock, of course! We have lots of them in our yard and for the longest time, I tried to stop her from touching them. I finally gave in and let her play with this small one and she loves it.
Sometimes she even tries to sneak it inside!

What's so fun about playing with a rock anyway? Well, you can smack it around with a stick...

Or balance it on top of your head...

Or just simply dance around the yard with it.

Talk to the hand Mom, I'm busy.

She decided to take a break from her pet rock one day and play with her Kai-lan doll instead.

Oooooh, pretty "wower!" Kayla picked a few flowers off the bougainvillea that hangs over our fence from the neighbor's yard.

He loves me, he loves me not...

The future's so bright, we gotta wear shades!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Kayla and I went up to Sacramento to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family. It was a very busy, fun-filled weekend. We flew up on Friday afternoon. Luckily the plane wasn't full so Kayla got to have her own seat instead of sitting on my lap. On Saturday we went out to lunch with my friends Carol (and her son Roland, 4) and Margie. Too bad I forgot to take pictures. Then we went to Fortune House for dinner with the family. The restaurant was packed. Apparently, nobody likes to stay home and cook on New Year's Eve! Cousin Daniel was nice enough to share his coloring book and pens while we waited for dinner to be served.

Nothing beats opening presents first thing in the morning while still in your jammies! Happy Valentine's Day sweetheart!

Once we got dressed, it was time for brunch. Gung Hay Fat Choy! Kayla got to eat Jai for the first time (traditional Chinese New Year dish with rice, noodles, bean sprouts, vegetables, and tofu). It's my favorite! She seemed to like it too.

Someone was anxious to go outside to see the neighbor's doggies. Check out her little Chinese slippers. Aren't they cute?

Then we went out to dinner with the family again, but this time we had Japanese food. For dessert we had chocolate covered strawberries and Valentine's Day cookies. Notice how instead of taking the cookie Auntie May is offering her, Kayla grabs the whole tray! What a little piggy!

Everyone had Monday off for Martin Luther King Day so we had a play date. We all walked from Auntie May's house to the park. There were so many of us, people driving by probably thought it was some kind of Chinese New Year parade!

We stopped along the way because Daniel wanted to pick a dandylion and make a wish. Kayla impatiently waited for him to blow.

Finally, we made it to the park! Adrienne volunteered for swing-pushing duty while the rest of us sat on the bench and relaxed for a minute.

Wee! Going down the slide is fun!

It's even better to slide side-by-side with a buddy!

After all that playing at the park, we deserved a treat so we walked to the yogurt shop. Yummy chocolate!

What were we thinking? Now the kids are on a sugar high and running all around! But they are so cute and fun to watch!

Posing for one last picture before going to the airport to go home. Wow, look at all those lai sees Kayla got (red envelopes stuffed with "lucky" money)! Happy Year of the Tiger!

Happy 8th Anniversary to Us!

Valentine's Day may not be for a few more days, but Devin and I had a special celebration Monday night. Why? Because February 8th is the anniversary of our first date! We've been through a lot these past 8 years and our love for each other continues to grow each day!

Then...

At Mandalay Bay's Shark Tank in Las Vegas when Devin first moved there in 2002.

-

Now...

And now there are 3 of us going out to dinner to celebrate the 8-year anniversary of our first date.

Devin wanted to go to Tony Roma's for ribs, but I wanted to try someplace new. So we went to Harry's Oklahoma BBQ in La Quinta and we both got our way. The ribs were delicious and we totally scored because it just so happens that Monday night is "buy 1 entree get 1 free!"

Happy Super Bowl Sunday

Let's go Saints!

Gotta have good snacks for the big game. We made a couple of all time favorites: brownies and 7-layer bean dip (with fresh, homemade guacamole). Yummy!

Kayla enjoyed the snacks too!

Kayla and Kaylee the "Ditty"

Kaylee is Mike and Christian's new cat. I've been trying to teach Kayla the difference between a doggie and a kitty by pointing at pictures in books. This was her first encounter with a real kitty, or as she says "ditty." She loves to pet animals.

Kayla and Her 4x4 Collection

The Living Desert

Devin's friend Joe was in town last weekend with his girls Mackenzie (6) and Lexi (2) so we all went to the Living Desert Saturday morning. Luckily the weather was nice. We had 5 days of heavy rain last week so it was great to get outdoors again.
We went inside the petting kraal and Kayla wasn't scared at all. In fact, she walked right up to this brown goat and starting stroking his back. I wonder if she thought it was a big funny-looking doggie.

Kayla and her new BFF. There were plenty of other goats and sheep walking around, but she didn't have any interest in them. She just wanted to sit next to this one and pet him the whole time.

Then the other girls came over to pet him too.

Of course we went for a ride on the merry-go-round. It's actually pretty fast so Devin had a hard time getting any good pictures of us going by.

Holidays in the Desert

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We enjoyed ours at home. We don't like traveling during the winter because our weather here is so perfect this time of year (70's and sunny)! Although, we do miss spending the holidays with our families so we'll probably go somewhere next year.

Saturday morning at the park with Connor:

Wildlights! at the Living Desert: Every December the Living Desert (our local zoo and botanical garden) does a Christmas lights display throughout the park. They also have an animal show, arts and crafts table, and firepits where you can roast marshmallows and make smores.

The park intoduced a new attraction this Christmas, an endangered species carousel. Kayla loved it!

They also have a really cool model train display. It's huge and has at least a dozen trains running at once.

Christmas Eve: We took a morning drive up to Idyllwild and had breakfast at our favorite restaurant the Gastrognome. Unfortunately, there wasn't much snow for Kayla to play in.

Christmas Day: I struggled for weeks to keep Kayla from touching the ornaments and presents under the tree. Finally, it's Christmas morning and she doesn't want anything to do with the presents! Then she saw Devin and me opening our stockings and decided to join us.

Playing with her new toy from Santa:

Kayla LOVES to pet and play with the doggie!

She also LOVES to be outdoors!

Stomping on leaves is fun!

So is chewing on sticks!


Watching Daddy play with his remote control car:

Wow! It sure goes fast!

New Years Day: Kayla eats yogurt with a spoon all by herself!