Oso Fabuloso - 6 months later

I cannot believe how fast dogs grow. Amazing.

 Then & Now

Happy 6th month birthday, fella!!

First Road Trip of 2014 [Jerome, Arizona]

I know I wrote a similar post back in the day -  maybe for 2009? Either way, I am very excited to announce that yesterday... we got away!

We decided to head 2.5 hours NW to Jerome, Arizona and from there up north a little more to Flagstaff. This time around, Alex wasn't able to join us; he had to work. Bummer. But let me tell you, Isabel and Nico were on their very best behavior (thank you Mr. Steve Jobs) and we had a blast.

Personally, Jerome was a little more artsy-fartsy than I normally like... I was really missing the history of the place. I wanted more ghosts, less sculptures. But, it is a beautiful town with great crumbling buildings.

After Jerome, we headed out to dinner in Flagstaff. And on the outskirts, we found leftover snow. It's been years since we took the kids to play during the winter. Shame on us. I think we've decided to head up there just as soon as they get another snowfall. Nico was so hoping to build a snowman, but the snow was pretty hard and icy. They were able to make a few snowballs and throw them at each other.

We had dinner at one of our favorite places, albeit new to Flagstaff, Someburros (Mexican food - quick and delish!). We stayed there for well over an hour, just relaxing and eating all the free chips we could handle. After that, we may our way back down to the valley. And after a quick pitstop at Culvers for some frozen custard, we were back home in just over 3 hours.

I will say, for once I wasn't the one asking for all of the bathrooom breaks. Nico had us stop TWICE. I think he drank too much lemonade. :)

While we missed the heck out of Alex, we had a great time. We plan on doing a whole bunch more intra-state road trips this year!! Cheap & fun entertainment! 1 tank of gas and a dinner for 4... not bad! :)

Our Christmas

This year was different from all years past. I think that's a good thing. We learn to appreciate the little things more. It's not always the same.

I was determined to enJOY the holiday season; to not feel stressed out. Stress takes the fun out of everything. Gift giving wise, it was a smaller Christmas than ever before. Yes, the kids did get underwear and shoes. I don't think there was even a HINT of technology that was unwrapped. And that's okay. We were all together; that's what truly matters.

Here are few pictures from around my house:

 

 

We hosted not only the extended family for a Christmas party, but also my parents and grandma for Christmas. We had such a blessed season!!

Christmas Spirit

While I am not overdoing it, I can say that the Christmas Spirit is alive and well in my heart and in my home this year. I am trying to enJOY everything, to take it all in.

We are still 9 days away from the big day! I know the littlest kiddo in my house is exrtemly exited. The other two are gearing up towards Finals week (this week)... and then looking forward to their Christmas break.

I am hosting our extended family Christmas Party this year, so I have some work to do. Thank gosh I believe in magic! ;)

P.S. If you aren't following me on Instagram, please feel free to @jaime_queenofthecreek

A Plethora of Photographs

I've been busy. And cranky. And going 200 miles an hour. But I've managed to take on a few clients over the past 8 weeks... here are a few of the outputs...

#AyalaAdventures | Part 2

If you missed our beach post, you can check it out here.

We really tried to pack as much into our 5 day trip as we could... and one of the places on our must-do list was the San Diego Zoo. I took several dozen photos - too many to share here. The last time we went to the Zoo, we only had one kid and I don't think we made it around the place. This time, 15 years later, we decided to take the bus tour. Well worth it. We got to see just about everything... and any exhibit/animal we wanted to see up close, we just made our way over there by foot.

I think our most favorite were the Pandas...(he looks just like our new pup, Oso!) and the Polar Bears.

The weather was perfect and we ended up spending nearly 5 hours wandering and meandering. Nic loved seeing all of the animals and different birds and trees. I loved that he ran around so much, he fell asleep the moment we got back to the hotel for the evening! :) Score!

#AyalaAdventures | Part 1

Yes... I gave us a hashtag for our recent San Diego vacation. Lame, huh? :D I know I posted pics and updates on Facebook and Intagram along the way, but I wanted to be sure I also document our trip here on the good ol' blog. I will break it up - I am too tired to sit here and edit a gazillion pictures. 

The first day in San Diego, we went straight for Coronado Island... and the beach.

Someone before us was kind enough to give us some opening remarks material. Thank you kind, sirs.

The weather was unseasonably warm... near 90 degrees; we loved it. We didn't actually plan to enjoy the golden sand (no, seriously, we think there was GOLD in the sand!) and cool water, so we weren't prepared. That didn't stop Nico though. Nope, not one bit. We scavenged for sea creatures, shells and seaweed. And we found them all.

I think we spent nearly two hours just allowing Nic to run up and down the beach, in and out of the water. He hadn't been to the beach in nearly 4 years and his reaction this time around was much different. He LOVED it. 

This last picture here pretty much sums up Nic on this trip... (and in life in general, now that I am thinking about it). 

The birds will never be the same on Coronado Island. But... who cares? My guy had a BLAST.