Enjoying the small things

I have been following Kelle Hampton's blog for some time. Something draws me to it, I get inspired to go out and do more things with my kids, to be more creative, more patient, to live each day to it's fullest. Yes it sounds a bit cliche, but it's true in so many ways. It's no secret I feel guilty to be a working mom, the fact that I don't always get to pick up my kids from school, and do all the things I want to do with them on a daily basis, but I think we do our best, and make the best of the time we do spend together.


I read this article today written by Kelle, and I decided I must have it on my blog TODAY. It doesn't matter than I have about 5 or 6 unfinished blog posts waiting for photos or just time in general to sit down and finish them. I had to do this one now. I want to remember these 6 things to follow.


1.Create Mantras!

I create new mantras every year and I repeat them to myself whenever I need to hear them. After Nella was born, I owned the word "Capable." I whispered "You are capable" to myself, I wrote about it, I believed it, I lived it. This year, I remind myself to "Breathe Compassion." I practice it with my husband, my children, my friends and when I'm ever faced with negativity, it helps so much to know that I am in control of my own response, and I can always be compassionate.

2.Give Room for the Low Points!

As a naturally positive person, my first response to feeling sad or discouraged is often to push those feelings away. But then they just dwell and build. I've learned to give a little hug to all of my emotions, to be aware of what I am feeling and take ownership of what I can do about it. Crying is good sometimes. So is sharing a vulnerable moment with a friend. And then, I move on.

3.Tell What-Ifs to Take a Hike!

Dwelling about all the bad things thatcould happen in life is pointless and destructive. I am a far more productive person when I believe the best and when I don't waste time worrying. Do challenges lie ahead for all of us? Most likely, yes. But I know I am equipped to handle them. My dad always tells me, "Don't let your worries for tomorrow rob you of the joys of today." There is so much truth in that statement.

4.Enjoy the Small Things!

It started as the title of my blog for me, and it's become a way of life. I am very aware of all the things in our life that make it rich, and I make time to think about them, talk about them, write about them. We tend to think big and flashy for the rock star phrase "Rock your life," but really it's about the little moments. Make time for fun and friends. Drink good coffee, cook with the good dishes. Find a signature perfume and own it, splurge on flowers. Let your kids help you bake and don't worry about the mess. Tell people you love them. Read to your kids. Sleep under the stars. Plan trips. Don't ever be too old to skip.

5.Dream Big!

Talk about your dreams—places you want to go, jobs you'd love to have, people you want to meet. My friends and I play a game called the "If" game, based on a book called "The Book of If." I used to take that book everywhere, pulling it out and asking questions like "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?" "If you could have any job, what would it be?" Not only is this a fun way to learn more about people, but it makes us realize "What are we waiting for? Who says we can't do these things now?" Write your dreams down and look at them frequently. Find ways to create action plans for the ones that are important to you.

6.Do Something for Someone Else!

Always. Think about others and find ways to help, encourage, be there for people. It's life changing. It's empowering. It affects you just as much as it does the person you are helping.

Obviously these aren't my ideas, but they ring so true for us. I agree 100% with every single one of them, and want to remind myself everyday to live by these simple principles. 

So this Saturday we "Enjoyed the small things" and loved every moment of it. We had a spur the moment idea to grab the kids and go to the beach. Yes it's less than 15 minutes away from us, and we just don't do it enough. The kids didn't even have dinner. I quickly sat them down with a few random things to eat, and some packed snacks and we were headed out the door! My parents joined us too. I am pretty sure they had just as much fun as the kids. 

We set up our blanket and a few chairs and walked barefoot for as long as we could with running in and out of water. At first both Cameron and Sascha weren't too excited to be touching the cold water, but then it became fun! We'd run towards it, and as a wave would come in, we'd start running away. Both of them were wearing clothes and they both got wet. 

Sascha, Baba and I collected fun shells and pretty rocks and put them into a mason jar until there was no more room. We got back to our blanket, had a quick snack and it was time to head home. I loved every minute of it, their sandy dirty feet, messy hands, all totally worth it. 

I love that they are holding hands here... even though it lasted a few seconds and they couldn't' wait to get free to run around

I love this photo of Cameron's sandy feet, even though his face is funny in it because I had just given him some crackers to snack on. I love our San Diego weather and living so close to the Torrey Pines beach. I love to watch and enjoy these sweet times between daddy and Sascha (she wanted to hold his hand or my hand while we walked), I love her sweet innocent smile and the hair in the wind, while she holds on tight to a jar full of shells. We went home and spent another hour washing and organizing them the next day. I love, love, love my  family and these precious little moments we get to spend together.

Picnic at the Poway Lake, PQ hike and Birch Aquarium

Even though I have to admit to being a big fan of planning things out, and very often get frustrated when we don't have a  plan, at times our spontaneous little outing are the most fun. This was the case with all 3 of these outings.

We wanted to get out of the house, so Daddy looked up a concert that he thought was happening at Poway Lake, but once we got there we discovered that nothing was going on. A bit disappointed at first, especially Sascha who was looking forward to music and dancing (promised by us), we made the best out of our time there. The kids played on the little playground, ran around,, had our picnic dinner followed by rolling around on the grass, (obviously daddy's idea to roll down the hill) and playing hide n' seek. 

These pictures are just pure joy, and make my heart all warm and fuzzy when I look at them...

PQ Canyon hike was a last minute decision as well, and even though we didn't make it very far because Cameron started to get tired and cranky, it was still enjoyable. After our little picnic at the Lake, Sascha was very fond of the idea and asked if we can have another one, so we set up a little blanket off the trail and had lunch. A ranger actually stopped by to check on us to make sure we weren't around any poison ivy. Luckly none was right next to us, however right behind the tree we sat by, she pointed out the shiny 3 leave plants. Sure enough it was poison ivy! Glad we didn't let the kids run around too much. :) We packed up and headed out on the trail. I am hoping next time we get an earlier start so that we can make it to the waterfall. 

Cameron loves being outside, and Sascha is really liking hiking. Not sure how long she would last before starting to complain about walking since we didn't get very far, but I do see a lot of hiking in our future!
(only had my phone while hiking... pictures to come soon...)

Birch Aquarium - it's been over a year since we've been there, and we wanted to meet up with our friends who proposed the aquarium which I thought was a great idea. It was a gorgeous sunny day outside, and after the kids explored the inside there was also plenty to do outside. Sascha loved looking at all the underwater creatures, and wasn't afraid to get up real close. Cameron was much braver this time compared to when we took him to the Sea World aquarium on his first birthday. He pointed and talked, and didn't mind standing on the ledge where the rest of the kids were. We also got to hang out with Luka who is just a few months older than Cameron. Once we got outside, the little guy fell asleep so we let Sascha play in the tide pools and some of the water play they had set up for the kids. Seemed like she would be happy to stay there for hours!

Sascha's Summer Dance Recital

It was a tap number this time, to a song called "Stupid Cupid". The choreography was really fun and sassy. The girls looked adorable in their red dresses with red ribbons, and their tap shoes. Sascha cooperated with putting on her costume unlike last year, she did complain that the arm bands were itching her, but we told her she wouldn't have to put those on until right before she goes on stage.

She was in absolute awe watching other dancers rehearse when we did a test run at the rehearsal. They did the number twice and the second time she did much better than the first. I noticed that she was getting very distracted standing next to her friend Sadie the first time, so on the actual performance day I asked Miss Jackie if she could separate the two of you which she did.

We got to the Center of performing arts right on time, and Sascha watched the whole first half and was mesmerized by the older dancers. She never complained and while sitting on Baba's lap. During the intermission I took her back stage, helped her et dressed and left you with the rest of the girls to color and have snacks while you all waited for your time to perform. Cameron was a total trooper, the first half he just watched and didn't make a peep. The 2nd half, he got ansy, and I had to distract him with snacks and water, and anything else we could think of. I didn't have to get up with him once to take him outside, he endured the whole thing. I once again felt so nervous for Sascha, I just couldn't help it.

Sascha did great, although she did look a bit frightened while on stage, she danced her little heart out. When we talked to her, she said she had fun doing it, and that's all that matters. She makes us proud every day!

 The performance photos are from the rehearsal

A few after shots taken w/her friends and Miss Jackie

Muchkin and one proud mamma

Proud Baba and Deda

Family Photo

Cameron's First Disneyland Trip

Our Disneyland adventure was action packed. Although it started out a bit slow since we happened to get in line for a ride that broke down, and Cameron wanted to be held by me the whole time or he cried, we didn't let that get us down. After his little nap in the stroller and lunch, Cameron was a total trooper. We went on a ton of rides and happened to be at the right place at the right time for so many events. We had front row seats to the Parade because it happened to be right next to the area where kids got to meet the new princess Merida from Brave. We barely made it for Sascha to meet her because while J stood in that line, we went on the Nemo ride which was one of Cameron's favorites. He also really liked Small world, Pirates, and really loved the show in the Tiki Room. It was actually my first time in the Tiki Room as well. Sascha was super well behaived and went on every single roller coaster ride with us. I think I was more scared than she was on some of them. After Space mountain, she asked "why is it so fast?". She clung to daddies arm, or mine and was super excited after every single one of them.  We got her an autograph book and she was able to get autographs from Minnie, Goofy and princess Merida. She is very excited to start filling it up with more autographs since she'll be going back there with Grandma & Grandpa before her year pass expires.  Thanks to grandma who stayed w/Cameron a bunch of times while we enjoyed a break from the kiddie rides.  We watched the fireworks show and after our last roller coaster ride on the Matterhorn mountain, the kids were passed out in the stroller while we headed out of the park. A very successful day.

Cameron about to get on his first ride... looking not so excited

Goofing off with daddy

Meeting princess Merida

Sascha with Characters    Such a fun day f

Mother's Day and Father's Day

Our Mother's day morning started out pretty low key at home, I got to sleep in, we had breakfast and most of the morning the kids and I worked on a cute little project for Baba. Sascha was extremely proud to give her when we came over, and Baba was just as excited to receive it. The afternoon we went to Coronado with the family to walk around, take photos together, enjoy the sunshine in our beautiful city of San Diego, and have dinner. It was just a wonderful day to hang out together as a family and reflect on how lucky of a mommy I am... having 2 beautiful children, an amazing husband, my parents, sister and family all so close by.

On Father's Day we enjoyed a brunch feast at Baba & Deda's house, followed by playing outside. Then the daddies (J, Deda & Grandpa) enjoyed a few cold beers at a local brewery. It was a relaxing day for Daddy! Sascha made a few crafts, while Cameron enjoyed a nap and we played and enjoyed our time together as much as possible.

We also celebrated the kids half birthday. Sascha and Cameron got a few small gifts, and we took them to Chick-filet to grab a quick dinner and play inside their structure. We also planned a Disneyland outing the day after Father's day and have been looking forward to it for some time. 

 Sascha and I at her preschool Muffins for moms morning. She gave me a cute little bouquet of flowers made out of buttons

Family shots on Mother's Day

3 Moms, + kiddos, +whole family

Playing around with Daddy

Donuts for Dad's at Preschool where Sascha also made a special gift for her daddy

Daddies and Grandpas enjoying a beer at a local brewery

Camping in Seqouia National Park and Rafting the Big 5 on the Kern River

Lucky for us Baba and Deda were willing to stay home with the kids so we could go on this fun little adventure. A guy that J plays softball with has organized this trip for years, but we really never even considered to go until this year, and I am so glad that we went. There is no better way to re-charge than to go someplace like this. No cell phone reception, no TV, no computers, no other distractions!

We left Friday morning to drive up to Seqouia National Park with a super packed car, friends, and all the gear. Our drive there was pretty good up until we hit a ton of traffic and realized that the was a huge fire and a section of the I-5 was closed because of it. We took a nice little detour to the west, through dirt roads and some ranch houses. At one point it looked like we were driving right into the fire... because the cloud was above our heads as well as in front. Then we were detoured once again to go up the mountain east of the 5, and from there we had an amazing view of the fire. I later found out that more than 650 acres burned! So that made our drive up pretty eventful and a lot longer than expected. We still were able to make it up to our camp before dark, to set up tent! It was way colder than we anticipated, so I layered like crazy, but was still cold. Half of our food froze because it was next to the dry ice, so our dinner was pretty quick and not the greatest, but it was camping to the expectations weren't too high. We even fit a little night hike in to go to the trail of 100 giants. It was pretty amazing to see such massive seqouia trees, not to mention to check out the one that fell just last winter. The size of the roots and the tree itself are indescribable. There were millions of stars up in the sky and we laid on the road and just stared up marveling in it for some time, looking for shooting stars. 

The next day we embarked on a day hike. It was about 4 miles down, and then that same 4 miles back up. We crossed a creek multiple times, saw a few little water falls, but mainly just enjoyed the peaceful nature and being in the presence of something that is thousands of years old. We stopped for a lunch break and headed back up to our camp site. Beers, dinner, and smores and good company were enjoyed. Did I mention how cold it was!? When we woke up early the next morning to pack up and head to Kernville for a our rafting, the temperature read 37 degrees! Brrr... 

We made it to Kernville on time, and spent our Sunday rafting before heading home. The rafting was a lot of fun. It was called the big 5 because on this particular part of the river you hit 5 big class 4 rapids. There was a scary class 5 rapid which we had to skip on by carrying our raft over it. We were bused over the site where the rafts as well as our guides were waiting for us. Once we went over all the rules and etc, we were on our way. We stopped for a lunch feast in the middle as well as a little cliff jumping. I really wasn't planning on doing that, but every person in my boat went off to jump so of course I couldn't stay behind. It was a 25 ft jump and the whole way up I questioned doing it. It was definitely an adrenaline rush. J did a front flip, while I ran and jumped feet first. We wrapped up the rafting, got bussed back to the shop and had a nice early dinner near by with our whole group. Great times! Now we are really looking forward to the back yard camp out coming up on June 23rd with the kids! We even bought a new 6 person tent to try out before we take it on an actual camping trip.

Our Day Hike -  I don't think we've ever hiked with 17 people before

Bon Fire, Smores and friends