San diego

Keeping Busy

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Kaili has two more weeks at her school and then she is out for summer. I finished her Kinder paperwork which I have been procrastinating on. She is up to date with her school vaccinations but she still needs to have a doctor fill out a medical record and apparently they want the same done with her dentist.Two things that are easy to want to push aside, but I finally made appointments to get it done.

We have been watching a lot of soccer with the Copa America going on. Kaili picked out a new shirt to wear for our viewing pleasure.

How do you like that garden back there? We have been eating a lot of sweet tomatoes, plenty of  zucchini and we have six baby artichokes on the way.

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I have been taking Averi to the park in the mornings without K so I can focus on playing one on one with her. She is not as adventurous as her sister was but slowly she is starting to test her fear.

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Can you believe she is going to be two in less than a month? Ya, me either. She looks up to her sister, has to do whatever it is Kaili is doing, eating, watching you name it. It’s what I always wanted with siblings but it’s also very draining.

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The girls were  invited to a birthday party out in Ramona last weekend. The land you can have out there is attractive to me but then again you are out in Ramona which isn’t attractive at all, to me.

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We try to stop at a winery or two when we are out there. This time we tried one that had recently opened. It had a great outside area, live music and luckily some decent wine. The girls  spent most of their time chasing the dog around. The little winery Chihuahua was the hit until she stole Averi’s chocolate chip cookie and booked it across the lot. Averi was more stunned than upset and I was more worried about the tiny dog eating a whole cookie, but the owners weren’t phased. Must happen often.

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TK Graduation

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Kaili is officially out of transitional kindergarten and on her way to elementary school.

She has always enjoyed school and most of her teachers. Last week she “graduated” from TK and it brought all of the emotions.

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Saying thank you and goodbye to her 3 year old teacher, Mrs. Borck is moving back East.

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They handed out little diplomas, omg y’all SO CUTE!IMG_9029

Then they sang.

I was in the minority for only recording ONE of their songs, you’re welcome.

Kaili singing at graduation

She was the best, come on, you know I am right.

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Today was her Kindergarten orientation at our neighborhood elementary school.  It seems   most people aren’t attending  their neighborhood schools anymore. They are  lotto-ing into the local immersion programs, the “better” schools down the way, or they are coughing up the big bucks for the best private schools.

Now, don’t think we didn’t play around with the same thoughts, we did. But in the end we agreed on her attending our neighborhood school.

It’s diverse, ethnically, racially and monetary. She will meet friends that live near our streets and it’s walking distance. For me, those are all important factors I want her to know as “normal”.

Wandering around her soon to be Kinder campus I had mixed emotions. From holy shit, she is going to be in elementary school ! To holy shit, she is going to be in elementary school!

Call me biased but these are some of the best of the childhood years. We get to watch them become more independent, we get to watch them learn to read, most amazing thing ever AND we watch our littles become big- kids. They are full of confidence, accept everyone, want to help, thrive on positive reinforcement and still totally love the sh*t out of their mommy and daddy.

 

Congratulations baby girl, you’re moving on up!

 

See Food

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Catalina offshore is a local seafood market. We were told about it by a neighbor and watched it make its debut on a travel channel show. I don’t know why it took us so long to make our appearance.

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We strolled in early on a Saturday morning side swiping the local chefs and fishermen. A cook behind an enormous stock pot was  handing out bowls of piping hot bouillabaisse while we waited for our order. We came for mussels but left with a side of snapper. I love a whole roasted fish, if it’s one the specials at a good restaurant, chances are that will be my choice.  But scaling and cleaning a whole fish and then worrying about cooking it has intimated me. But standing in front of this array of fish, I decided this was my time  to tackle the snapper.

First up, mussels. We had an amazing dish at a local seafood restaurant a few weeks back.The Mr and I love our shellfish and after 10 years I think we agreed that those mussels were indeed some of the best. I needed to replicate this dish!  After intense recipe research I chose a favorite blogger of mine and used this recipe. They turned out better than I imagined, the mussels were the plumpest and juiciest I have ever had and the coconut curry broth was drinkable, like pour in a glass and cheers!

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Then there was the Snapper. Since I hooked it on a whim, I really had no idea what I was going to do. I chose to keep it simple and let the fish shine. I grabbed some lemon, herbs and salt. I wrapped it in foil and roasted it,  at the end I let it sunbathe under the broiler for a minute.

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We delightfully dug in.

IMG_8778 Along side we enjoyed caprese and grilled artichokes with an aioli, never forgetting the crusty bread.

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It was some good eating!

The Party

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This year Kaili had some of her own ideas for what she wanted at her party. Reminding her that Disneyland was her big present, we weren’t going to go overboard on the party. A few of her demands requests were that there was to be a piñata, preferably Peppa Pig and she wanted butterflies on her cake, she was totally reasonable.

I was able to get all the party shopping done in a day. I made the cupcakes and the birthday cake the night before. Kaili suggested a Peppa Pig birthday and even though she loves that show I wondered if it was a tad too immature for a fifth birthday. Right or wrong I agreed on some Peppa decor and of course the piñata. In the end, it was perfect.

My only concern was this precious face.

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So sweet but yet so deceiving. She has become so attached to me that anyone trying to take her or occupy her usually led to a complete meltdown, noodle body and all. It took a village to keep her away from me and we are not above using sugar as an incentive.

I set up a cupcake decorating station which was a hit. I ordered round plastic palettes from Amazon. I bought a bunch of different topping ranging from mini m&m’s to sprinkles. We put the cupcake in the middle of the palette and gave them a cup of frosting and let them have at it. Huge hit.

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After they devoured the cupcakes or should I say licked off the frosting…we moved on to a few party games and some memorable face painting.

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The kids were more than patient waiting for their turns.

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The party isn’t complete until someone beats the bacon, or pig or sausage….

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The piñata..

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was perfect for these little people..

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Kaili had her besties with her and that is all she really wanted.

When she blew out the candles I really, really wanted to ask her what she wished for but, I’m sure no matter what it is…

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Her dad and I will do all we can to make sure her dreams come true.

Losing Time

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I have been a terrible blogger, and I have no excuses besides blaming my kids. Ya, they are to blame!

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We spent a full weekend outside and it was perfect. We watched baseball, drank beer, ate brawts and splashed in the hot tub.

We spent a day looking at houses none of us can afford. The girls fell in love with the waterfall pools and I fell in love with a 4 million dollar home. You guys, this house was Amazing, hand carved doors with a wrap around second story that made you feel like you were in Italy. The pool was surrounded with flowers and the pizza oven was in a cozy corner begging me to curl up on the couch and live there forever.

But that is what dreams are made of and they end. So we ventured off to Del Mar for lunch.

Uncle Wags took the kids to pizza, they like him better than me….but he may take a better picture.

FullSizeRenderWe spent a few days at Disneyland, can’t wait to tell you about it.

Easter

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Kaili woke up eager and ready to see if the Easter bunny had left anything for her. Averi decided to sleep in….of course.

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Once Averi woke up and we were able to get some real food into the girls, we let them see what was hiding outside.

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The grass was wet and cold, Averi didn’t want much to do with it. Kaili didn’t care and managed to gather all of the eggs on her own. Averi found a couple on dry land but put them in sissy’s basket.

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We had brunch plans with friends so while the girls ate their weight in candy, I made my way to the kitchen and stayed there the next few hours.

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I made a grapefruit yogurt cake and a tomato tart.

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Luckily we weren’t going far. We walked over the pack n play, the kids toys, our food and we tucked in for a nice day with neighbor friends.

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We had quite the spread, baked donuts, savory scones, tomato tart, eggs Benedict casserole and fresh fruit all washed down with mimosas and good wine.

Averi napped in her pack n play for hours while we played in the backyard.

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We talked and drank the day away, nibbling on cheese as the sun started to set.

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Reminding us that tomorrow was Monday and we should probably bid adieu. The girls knocked out after a long day and we sat down for all the great Sunday night TV.

It was a very nice Easter!

Easter in Ramona

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Our old neighbors are now living out in Ramona. They have so much land, so much space, perfect for an Easter egg hunt. So the girls got their baskets and we loaded up the truck.

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Their house has quite the views, hawks soar above the citrus trees and squirrels dart across the path to their pool.

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If you squint you can see some of our favorite wineries.

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The kids had a lot of fun hunting eggs, well I should say Kaili had fun. Averi just wanted to chase the cat and explore.

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There was quite a spread for lunch, homemade quiche to fried chicken sliders and delicious fresh squeezed OJ from their trees. I made this lemon cake. I was overly cautious to keep an eye on it but somehow I overcooked it by a few minutes, but I would still recommend the recipe. I am going to try another recipe this week to compare and because I need a another piece of lemon cake in my life.

Once we were able to drag the kids away from their playground we headed down the road to Kohill winery. We are new members and had a wine pickup but also, you can’t go to Ramona without hitting a winery, i am pretty sure it’s illegal.

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The girls snacked because they don’t eat their actual meals and then they chased each other around the tasting room while we decided what wines to take home.

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It was a good practice run for Easter, now we get to do it all over again next week but without getting in the car.

Changing with the Time

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My sweet little Aves is turning into a grumpy toddler. She has a cold, that might count for some of it but she uses the word “no” quite frequently. She is also having some sleep regression. She went from going down with a wave goodnight and then not a peep til morning, to crying as soon as I close the door. Nothing makes me want to throw myself in front of a bus more than hearing her cry for hours. She knows what she is doing, and it’s been working. Mom needs to toughen up.

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We went ahead and changed all our clocks on Saturday and just went with it. Besides Averi’s hours of fighting bed time, it went decently.  Kaili’s daily routine involves a lot of clocks and timers. She gets a fair warning before every transition from getting dressed for school to brushing her teeth at night. It helps avoid power struggles and gives her time to process what comes next without the meltdowns. I can’t wait to start with Averi, it might make bedtime a bit easier. The other night when I was reading to K she said, “mommy, I hear my clock ticking!” She meant her heart beating, how cute is that? It made me smile, the pureness of childhood.

We are starting to get some goodies from the garden. Kaili gets to water and pick the red ripe strawberries. She usually gets too eat them too, but from what I have tasted they are perfect!

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Birth Day!

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The past four years we have been pretty good about going out, making time for lunches and winery days. Dragging Kaili around was like second nature. She just went with the flow, tucked into her back pack of goodies and for the most part kept herself entertained. Averi, on the other hand hasn’t been as complaisant to sit in a highchair or spend time twiddling with play-doh. She would rather manage the back of the kitchen or throw toys on the ground. Who the hells kid is this? I have found myself bowing out of a lot more things these days… just knowing how much of my time and patience will be spent managing Averi instead of actually enjoying myself, so we stay home. But for my birthday, I wanted to go out. Out, out…without kids. To the places that shun kids, the places I haven’t been to in years or ever. So we got a sitter and planned the afternoon checking into places that were just that, adults only.

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It was a whopping good time. I even got the courage, ahem, thanks to my nudging husband, to introduce myself to one of my favorite chefs. If you watch Top Chef than he needs no introduction.

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Richard Blais in a nutshell < Top chef runner up, Top Chef All-stars Winner. Guest judge on Top Chef, learned from some of the Master chefs aka Thomas Keller and now has two San Diego restaurants which is why I was able to capture this photo.>  Happy birthday to me.

We also squeezed in a quick stop at the Waterfront Bar and Grill. The oldest tavern in San Diego and I am embarrassed to admit neither of us had ever been there..hangs head in shame.

IMG_0349I will leave it at this. I had a great time and I crossed a lot of places off of my to-do list but I did not feel hot the next day. Next year I want to go kayaking and eat at Nobu in Malibu. Shane says we should wait until 2017 to decide…whatever, that just gives me time to plan a roaring 40’s birthday eating seaside in Hawaii!

Another Year Older

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It’s here guys, the last year of my 30’s is in affect and it’s gonna be a great one. My birthday week started with lunch on Saturday. Shane took us to Coasterra,  Mexican cuisine with ocean front dining. I ordered the tacos and they were really good, I think they gave Puesto’s tacos a run for their money.

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Blackened fish, Michoacan pulled pork and crispy shrimp

Averi wasn’t too much of a terror and I was actually able to eat and enjoy myself, the key was taking her there hungry and slowly giving her food to keep her busy.

IMG_7549She is a chips and salsa fan like her sister. It’s amazing that they devour salsa but won’t  touch tomato sauce.

It’s a tad overpriced, okay a lot over priced but you are paying for the view and the Chef’s name.

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On Monday, I took the girls to Sprinkles to pick out cupcakes after school. They are my all time favorite cupcakes, especially the coconut one, it’s SO delicious.

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Kaili chose chocolate and only ate about four bites but managed to totally destroy the entire thing in the process, making sure no one else could eat it.

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Kaili had her friend from down the street over for dinner and the girls played while the moms talked and enjoyed some wine. Then bedtime came and things went downhill. I don’t know if it was because Averi was wound up but she cried in her room for two hours, I am not exaggerating. She always goes down without any problems and if she fusses it’s short lived. But last night was something else. So Kaili stayed up with me and ate a second dinner until Averi finally wore herself out. By then, I was ready to eat a cupcake and crawl into bed. The kids were up before 6:30 and just like that, I was another year older.